Final-year students on the Bachelor of Education programmes spend several weeks each year on supervised placement in local schools. This account follows one student through a typical week of teaching practice at a primary school in Tin Shui Wai, from early morning lesson preparation through to after-school meetings with her supervising teacher. The week included planning and delivering lessons across two subjects, observing colleagues' classes, and taking part in a staff meeting on supporting students with additional learning needs. Alongside classroom teaching, the placement gave the student an opportunity to see how a school organises its daily routines, communicates with parents and responds to individual students' needs. Reflection remains a central part of the placement: students are expected to keep a daily journal and to discuss their teaching with their supervising teacher and Faculty tutor on a regular basis. Accounts such as this one are shared with incoming students to give a realistic sense of what a placement week involves.
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A Week on Teaching Practice: A Final-Year Student's Account from Tin Shui Wai
What the week involved
Lessons were planned the evening before and reviewed with the supervising teacher each morning. Two subjects were taught across the week, with additional time spent observing other teachers and helping with small-group work. Thursday included a staff meeting on supporting students with additional learning needs, and Friday closed with a written reflection and a short meeting with the Faculty tutor visiting that week.
Teaching practice is where everything from the programme starts to make sense. You plan a lesson carefully and then the class responds in a way you had not expected, and you learn from that more than from any single seminar.
Ms Wong
Final-Year Student, Bachelor of Education (Primary)