Case studies in Romanian teacher education: flipped classroom and microteaching opportunities

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.35824/sjrs.v6i1.24899

Keywords:

Romanian teacher education, heterarchical student-teacher relationships, flipped classroom, microteaching, loop input

Abstract

This paper aims to problematize and conceptualize the teaching approaches used by two trainers in the Applied Linguistics MA program at the Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iași, Romania. Data collection was undertaken during the first semester of the academic year 2017-2018 for approximately two months during which I attended the first module of my master’s studies as a post-graduate student. The approach adopted combines a conventional literature review with the examination and discussion of two case studies incorporating post-observation field notes and teacher questionnaires for the purpose of triangulating data and methods. The paper lists findings consistent with the idea that the Romanian teacher education program helps trainees develop a reflective stance on their pedagogical practices through micro-teaching and presentation opportunities. Both courses have similar ultimate aims and rely on a non-hierarchical teacher-student relationship, using teaching and presentation sessions embedded in the training classroom to bridge the gap between theory and practice.  The ultimate aim of the present study is not to persuade anyone to flip a classroom or let students embark on micro-teaching, but rather to provide potential readers with feasible resources should they decide to modify a university course or a pre-university lesson using one of the approaches described herein.

Author Biography

Mădălina Elena Mandici, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Faculty of Letters

Mădălina Elena Mandici is an Assistant professor at the Department of English Language and Literature at the Faculty of Letters, Alexandru Ioan Cuza University of Iasi, Romania, where she teaches seminars in English morphosyntax, Victorian Literature and English Didactics, as well as Grammar and practical courses on text discussion/analysis. She publicly defended her doctoral dissertation, Female Readers in the Nineteenth-Century British Novels, in December 2022, and received a Summa cum laude distinction. Mădălina Mandici published one book – English Morphosyntax. A brief course for EFL university students – (co-authored with Ileana Oana Macari, Ph.D., and published by the Demiurg Printing Press, 2021). She has articles appearing in Studia UBB Philologia, Acta Iassyensia Comparationis, Studii de Știință și Cultură, and other peer-reviewed journals. She is a member of the European Society for the Study of English (ESSE) and The Romanian Society for English and American Studies (RSEAS). Her research interests include – but are not limited to – Victorian literature, English morphosyntax and TEFL. She also holds an MA in Applied Linguistics – Teaching English as a Foreign Language (2019) and a BA in Romanian and English Language and Literature (2017) from UAIC.

References

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the front gate to the Memorial House of Constantin Brâncuși in Hobița, Gorj County, Romania

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Published

2023-05-15

How to Cite

Mandici, M. E. (2023). Case studies in Romanian teacher education: flipped classroom and microteaching opportunities. Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies, 6(1), 162–190. https://doi.org/10.35824/sjrs.v6i1.24899

Issue

Vol. 6 No. 1 (2023): Swedish Journal of Romanian Studies

Section

Education

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