Reflection through drama and concept maps for preservice teacher education in information communication technologies

Preservice teaching is one of the most difficult times in the course of becoming a teacher. Preservice teachers are expected to develop not only their teaching skills but also gain a teacher’s perspective and a solid understanding of what teaching entails. However, they have few opportunities to do so in actual classrooms, and teacher education programs hardly provide the transition from theory to practice. This study presents the results of technology-integrated implementation of a model of preservice teacher education based on drama and reflection. The purpose was to help the participants build on their emerging concepts of teaching and being a teacher, as detected though repetitive use of concept maps, and reflection on their maps. The changes over time in the type and frequency of the concepts used by the participants showed that they became increasingly aligned with a more egalitarian, student centered, and constructive view of teaching. The role of the teacher evolved from more of an implementer to a designer and learner, with a growing amount of teacher knowledge and knowhow. There was a twofold increase in the number of participants who intended to teach when they graduated.