Page 146 - LA ENSEÑANZA APRENDIZAJE DE LENGUAS

LA ENSEÑANZA APRENDIZAJE DE LENGUAS:
146 UNA MIRADA DESDE EL SURESTE MEXICANO

how reflective practice influences PST professional identity development. To accomplish this,
we invited PSTs to reflect upon the challenges they had faced during the 480-hour community

service component of their SLTE programme and how their experiences had shaped their

professional identity. This investigation aimed to develop an improved understanding of the

challenges confronting PSTs during their service learning activities, such as the impact of social,

institutional and personal obstacles on the construction of participants’ professional identity.

The findings illustrate that service learning enhanced PST learning and identity formation

as participants made sense of how to navigate the school contexts where they were placed,

developed reflective practices, exercised teacher agency and found opportunities for profes-

sional development.

Key words: second language teacher education, preservice teacher identity, service lear-

ning, teacher agency, teacher learning.

INTRODUCTION

There is a lack of information regarding preservice teacher education in Mexico. To address

this gap, we investigated how a group of 10 preservice teachers (PSTs) in a second language

teacher education (SLTE) programme perceived their experiences throughout the 480-hour

service learning component of their B.Ed. degree (Licenciatura en la Enseñanza del Inglés: LEI).
This is a mandatory period of social service, during which PSTs are placed in schools in different

parts of the state of Chiapas, Mexico.

The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) defines service learning as

combining community service with academic instruction, focusing on critical, reflective thinking

and personal and civic responsibility (Prentice & Robins 2010:1). This has had a great impact

Universidad Autónoma de Chiapas