| Summary: | This study investigates a group of pre-service teachers’ experiences of implementing stories as authentic materials in language education. The research focuses on the pre-service teachers’ lesson planning and teaching experiences with
non-traditional materials in the form of stories in order to provide a deeper understanding of how these materials can influence pre-service teacher’s pedagogical decisions and classroom dynamics.
The study was conducted as part of a master’s level university course in
which participants taught two-hour long English classes at a local Finnish school
with stories as the main material of their lesson plans. Open-ended questionnaire
responses (N=17), meeting notes, and post-teaching reflections were implemented as the data collection methods in this study. Thematic analysis was used
to analyse this diverse data set and to identify common participant experiences
in this qualitative study.
The results showed that pre-service teachers viewed storytelling as an engaging and effective method for activating the students, practicing vocabulary,
and building empathy. However, the participants also encountered some challenges while managing the time, finding suitable stories, and designing lesson
plans. Pre-service teachers also noted an increase in their confidence levels after
the experience, though some of them expressed a need for more detailed training
on the matter.
The findings emphasize the importance of addressing teacher competence
in teacher education programmes by focusing on structured support on using
stories and other authentic materials in education. A deeper understanding on
how to implement authentic materials can help language education in the long run.
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