6.4.2 Teacher as expert

The metaphor, Teacher as expert, could also be discerned in the data provided by this small group of trainees. In addition to the nurturing traits that the good teacher must possess, trainees believe that teachers must be trained in order to acquire the required pedagogical and other skills. Trainees expressed the view that pre-service training is necessary:

I believe that sending people straight into teaching from secondary school or whatever, you learn by trial and error, and so you do a lot of damage.

They need to be trained. You don't know everything. When you go as an AT II [untrained teacher], you are green. You are very green. Sometimes you might want to know why a child is acting in a particular way, not knowing that is how the child has to act. So you need to be trained to get all this knowledge about the children.