An introduction to practicum curriculum in teacher education: With an Emphasis on Narrative Inquiry

Practicum curriculum, as one of the most important parts in teacher education, is an experimental and reflective learning program based on scientific and professional qualifications of student teachers. In this curriculum, student teachers can gain the teaching knowledge, skill and attitude through the integration of their practical and theoretical knowledge in real educational environment. The purpose of this study, which is an introduction to narrative inquiry, is to determine the importance of practicum curriculum in teacher education. Narrative inquiry is concentrated on developing reflective thinking in classroom and deep understanding of educational experiences. Narrative inquiry gives the possibility to reflect on learning and teaching theories in action and beside the explanation of educational phenomena provides the opportunity for the description of sudden and thought-provoking occurrences. In practicum curriculum, student teachers could encode and organize the reports gathered from educational situations in a narrative manner and explain educational problems through narrative inquiry. So, this article aims to analyze the role and importance of narrative inquiry in practicum curriculum of teacher education.