Surfing Semantic Waves: Using Semantic Profiling to Focus on Knowledge in Practicum Lessons

ABSTRACT In Sweden, although all teacher education programs require the completion of the practicum, little focus has been placed on consistent evaluation of how content knowledge is included and built during practicum lessons, or how lesson planning and teaching are aligned. This article presents a novel method for teacher educators, mentors, and student teachers to engage in knowledge focused post-lesson conversations as well as for supervisors to understand student teachers’ lesson planning and subsequent teaching in the practicum period. This research utilized semantic profiling as a method to provide a knowledge-focus for learning during the practicum period. Semantic profiling provides a visualization of how student teachers’ lesson plans and delivered lessons allow for cumulative knowledge-building. The plotting and analysis of 54 semantic profiles, based on lesson plans and in-situ observations, suggest that the more knowledge-driven lesson plans also provided better opportunities for school students to engage in cumulative knowledge-building during delivered lessons. The semantic profiling tool made visible how planned content knowledge was delivered in class to both teacher educator observers and student teachers and stimulated rich practice-focused conversations, suggesting the method to be used across teacher education departments for a shared approach to practicum discussions and evaluations.