Critical incidents in teacher training

Being an educator is a hard task; most of us had to learn a lot and prepare for this incredible experience that is teaching. But, Were we really prepared? Teaching may be much different in practice than in theory. As a result, the use of critical incidents has been included in teacher training in order to prepare future educators for unexpected classroom situations.
A critical incident is a strategy in which particular teaching situations are presented to the future educators, who are asked to take a decision taking into consideration the provided information. This allows students to make an analysis of the specific situations without running any risks; thus, getting closer to reality (Fernández & Fernández, 1994). Furthermore, critical incidents in teacher training are structured in a) the context in which they occur, b) the description of the incident, c) the possible causes, and d) the solutions. Consequently, students have many aspects to consider when reaching their conclusions.
Personally, I do not think I was really prepared when I started teaching but I learnt to manage critical incidents in the practice. During my first month at school, I realized that one of my students was very active in class but got very low marks in the weekly tests. I tried to find out what was wrong and so I asked him/her whether he/she found tests very difficult or if he/she didn’t understand instructions. He/she insisted that he did not know what the problem was. I also noted that his/her handwriting was very careless and almost illegible. Finally, after consulting my coordinator and talking to his/her mother, we decided that he/she should take weekly tests orally. Therefore, the solution was reached but I was not able to find out what the real problem was; at that moment I realized how unprepared I was and how much more there was still to learn.
Concluding, I want to point out the fact that it is absolutely essential that future teachers get involved in more real classroom situations before graduating. The implementation of critical incidents in teacher training is a fantastic strategy that will definitely lead to the improvement of teaching-learning processes.


Reference

Elórtegui Escartín, N., Fernández González, J. & Medina Pérez, M. (2003). Los
incidentes críticos en la formación y perfeccionamiento del profesorado de secundaria de ciencias de la naturaleza. Revista Interuniversitaria de Formación de Profesorado, 17 - 001. Zaragoza, España: Universidad de Zaragoza. Retrieved November 10, 2009, from http://redalyc.uaemex.mx/redalyc/src/inicio/ArtPdfRed.jsp?iCve=27417107