much theory and too little practice. This made it very difficult for them to
implement new pedagogical approaches in class.
The trainee teachers felt they should have more opportunities to engage
in practical teaching training such as the ‘Teaching and Learning Activities
at School’, ‘Out-Of-Class Activities’ and the ‘Regular Pedagogical Practice
Programme’. Many trainee teachers stated that they enjoyed doing practice
at the Pedagogical Practice School because ‘the concrete instructions of
teachers and micro-teaching help us improve our pedagogical skills’.
According to all of the trainee teachers, they frequently use group-work and
group discussion in class. The second- and third-year students identified
presentation, practice and game-based approaches as the most frequent
approaches used. A few respondents mentioned using a cooperative,
problem-solving approach. Most of the trainee teachers said they liked
participating in group discussions to practice and do experiments because
they could work with peers to exchange ideas. One said, ‘exploring new
knowledge together helps us absorb lessons more insightfully’.
With regard to the curriculum, around 86 per cent of first-year trainee teachers
participating in the FGD felt that they were not well-prepared during their pre-
service training to utlize the school curriculum. However, among the second
year students participating in the FGD, 83 per cent felt prepared, along with
72 per cent of the third year students, stating that they had engaged in some
activities to prepare for implementing micro-teaching, making lesson plans
and undertaking class observation at schools.
Innovative pedagogy in Viet Nam
The researcher examined an example of ‘innovative pedagogy’ through
observing a Vietnamese lesson conducted by a teacher using ICT as a
pedagogical tool. The researcher observed the lesson and also watched
a video-recording of the lesson. Analysis of the lesson indicated that the
teacher had used several innovative practices, and that these were manifest
in the teaching techniques, procedures and attitudes of the teacher.
The teacher used various forms of ICT to deliver the lesson, including
presentation and mind mapping applications, to enable students to visualize
the concepts of ‘synonyms’ and ‘antonyms’, and she used computer animation
to create game-based activities that generated strong interest among her
students.