Exploring change and continuities in internationally mobile pre-service teachers’ conceptualisations of effective teaching

This qualitative study investigates the changes and continuities in conceptions of teaching and learning from course commencement to course completion for a group of international pre-service teachers undertaking a two-year Masters-level degree in Initial Teacher Education (ITE). Data were collected through a series of graphic elicitation activities and ranking tasks at baseline and endpoint. Findings indicate that there was: a growing emphasis on student engagement and its linkages to student learning; a shift from viewing teaching as the transfer of knowledge to learning as an active process; and a more developed repertoire of professional language to explain what is valued and why. This study provides valuable insights into international pre-service teachers’ evolving conceptions of teaching and learning. These findings suggest that international pre-service teachers need many opportunities to interrogate and refine their understanding of teaching and learning and how this applies to the contexts in which they will teach.