Master of Arts (Instructional Design & Technology)

The research question “How blogging as a personal reflection tool can aid pre-service teachers in their first teaching experience” was researched by setting up a social blogging environment only accessible by the participants (the pre-service teachers taking part in the research) and the researchers. This resulted in several blog entries, as well as comments on blog entries which were being analysed as the main data. Besides the blogs, gatherings (in the form of focus group discussions) with the participants were organised at the half-way point and after their Teacher Practicum experience had finished. These semi-structured interviews were partially transcribed and notes were taken during the sessions. The data was analysed using the activity theory framework as a lens, to look at the data from various angles not only taking the mediating tools into account, but also the community and the social interactions.

The content of the blogs expressed internal struggles, conflicts between expectations from their NIE supervisor and the CT at the school, conflicts between their own teacher beliefs and how trying to apply this turned out in practice. Interactions in the social blogging environment between the participants and between the participants and the researchers did show that this helped those struggling to look at their problems again in a different light and encouraged them.

Should blogging be used as part of the assessment for the practicum or as an official part of the curriculum, it should be taken into account that in that case the discourse might be quite different.