In-service vs. pre-service

Hi, I’m Josie and I’m one of the teacher trainers here at the ELTC.
I worked with both pre-service teachers and in-service teachers. As with many people, my journey into teacher training started when I was working, as a director of studies abroad, and part of that involved mentoring, doing a little bit of teacher development training, et cetera. It was something I really enjoyed, and so it’s something I decided to carry on when I returned to the UK. I’ve worked on different types of pre-service course, some certificate courses, Trinity, Cambridge, that type of thing. I’ve also worked with undergraduates, with MA students and DELTA in-service trainees.
Okay. So, I’ve been asked to talk a little bit about the differences between pre-service and in-service teacher training. The first difference that came to mind was that of motivation. Pre-service teachers are often very motivated. They’re making a change in their lives or they’re looking forward to an exciting adventure. And they tend to be very motivated and have a real, really clear goal as to where they’re going. In-service teachers, that can be a little bit different. So they may be taking a course for developmental reasons and therefore have that motivation for themselves. It can be a career move, that they see they need to do that in order to progress. It can also be that they’ve been told to do it, that they have to do it. And in some cases, they have to do it to keep their job, which obviously drains all motivation right out of them. So motivation is definitely one that, that I feel is quite different when I’m training.
The second one that came to mind was the experience of being a learner. Very often pre-service courses, the trainees are closer to the end of their own education journey. Maybe they’ve graduated more recently, or they’ve thought very carefully about the change that they’re about to make and the role that they will take on as a trainee. For in-service teachers, they very often are far more used to being at the front of the classroom than being sitting as a trainee and having a trainer in front of them. So it can be a strange dynamic for them to change their own role within the classroom.
Subject knowledge was the next one that I thought of. At certificate level, sometimes people have very, very basic knowledge of the language itself and of teaching and different methodologies, etc. so they come sort of fresh for that if you like. They’ve got very little. The Masters students we have, have got fantastic theoretical knowledge. Fantastic! But they’ve never actually stood in front of a class. They’ve never managed a classroom. They’ve never made choices about materials, etc. So in that way, their subject knowledge is different. With the undergraduate students that I taught. I very much felt that I was trying to sell my profession. They didn’t really know what was involved in the elective that they’d signed up to. I think most of them had ticked the box because they thought it might be quite an easy one. So I felt a little bit like I was trying to sell it and subject knowledge there was quite, quite low. The wonderful thing about teaching in-service teachers is that they have got subject knowledge and they have opinions, and they have their own views on teaching and learning. And the teacher’s role. And the methodologies that work or are less successful and that can be really exciting. And as a teacher trainer, I find that the different experiences that they bring along really makes the job very interesting and diverse. It can have a negative side in that maybe sometimes ideas are quite entrenched, but generally it’s a very positive thing.
The next area is thinking about my role. I think that differs based on what I’ve just said about experience, that differs with pre and in-service. In-service, I very much feel that we are colleagues; that we’re all in this profession together; that we all have different amounts of experience and different expertise to bring to a training session. Sometimes that can make me feel a bit like an imposter. That these people have a wealth of experience of teaching that I’ve not had. Maybe in countries I’ve not been to. Class types I’ve not taught, etc. It’s far more a facilitator role. Whereas with pre-service, generally, there’s the feeling that the trainer is the knower. Generally. I would say.
And finally: paperwork. Paperwork. Pre-service, there tends to be a lot less to cover. In-service teachers, there tend to be a lot of criteria. You’re looking at different elements Courses tend to be a lot longer. So just in terms of paperwork, in-service and pre-service are different.
So I think the two different trainee types, there are challenges. With pre-service, we are, as I said, helping them to maybe succeeded to achieve a goal, to reach their goal. And it’s something that they’re very excited about and want to do. But not everybody is a natural, not everybody gets it. And for some Chinese it can be hard work, it can be very stressful. They spent a lot of money on the course, and maybe it’s not for them. So that, that can be quite difficult. For in-service trainees, I think the biggest challenge for me is sometimes to break down those barriers of resistance to doing things differently or trying things differently, or experimentation. That those ingrained patterns can be quite difficult to break down. But generally, I would say teacher training is a complete joy. The relationship between the trainer and the trainees is often a really, a really special one and very supportive and a lovely relationship to be involved in. I learn a huge amount, no matter whether teachers are in-service or pre-service. I never watch a lesson without learning something, which is lovely. It also keeps me up to date. Forcing me, if you like, to think about new methodologies and new approaches, and just look at the way people do things. And that was, that’s true with both online and face-to-face training. The energy in the training room is lovely. Always. You see progress, you see changes in people over the course of a training course, which is a lovely thing to be part of. And often, years later, you still receive emails, pictures, messages, which is a very rewarding part of the job.