The experience of teaching: Beyond teaching skills the case of the academy-class practice model

Building upon calls for increasing linkage to practice in teacher education, we shed light on the ways by which teaching skills (pedagogical knowledge, benefit, considerations) shape the experience of teaching (satisfaction, enjoyment, confidence) of pre-service-teachers (PSTs) during practice. A Likert-type questionnaire was designed to examine the degree and manner of the contribution of teaching skills to the explanation of the variance in the experience of teaching in the academy-class practice model (ACPM), as perceived by 106 PSTs from both Jewish and Arab societies. Evidence regarding the opportunities and challenges of incorporating the ACPM in teacher education was collected through a one-way MANOVA. This study asserts that in addition to teaching skills, and despite cultural differences, caring relationships play an essential role in the experience of teaching, which needs to be used, in part, to help PSTs learn how to implement caring relationships in their teaching.