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The purpose of the case study is to contribute knowledge about how supervisors guide student teachers (ST) in reflective conversations before and after their teaching at practicum, and how supervisors seem to influence STs to experience their practicums in constructive ways. The methodology consisted of me observing two STs teaching on three occasions, recording the reflecting conversation they had with their supervisor after the lesson, and conducting an in-depth interview with the STs after their practicum period. The focus when collecting the empirical material was to shed light on how the supervisors seemed to influence STs’ reflections on their teaching during practicum, and how these reflections affect what experiences STs gain from their teaching practice and stimulate their further growth as professional teachers. When analyzing the material, I focused on how controlling the supervisor’s guidance was in the reflecting conversations, whether they asked questions, explained, or instructed, and how the PETE students responded to their guidance. To do that, I used Biesta’s (2022) concept “act of pointing”, which describes what and how educators direct students to focus on. Then in the next step, I focused on how the STs experienced their practicum based on these reflective conversations and the in-depth interview. For this, I used Dewey’s (2015) understanding of what separates the meaning of experiencing and having an experience, and how different experiences can be described as educative, non-educative, or mis-educative. The results indicate that the supervisors’ guidance varied regarding how controlling they were, and I identified four different acts of pointing in the reflective conversations: - The restrained and constructive ‘act of pointing’, - The rule-focused ‘act of pointing’, - The direct and technical ‘act of pointing’ - The restricted and condemning ‘act of pointing’ Based on these various acts of pointing, I describe the STs' gained experiences as two different kinds of journeys during their practicum. ST A gained educative experiences - he experienced an adventurous journey because he got the opportunity to experience unexpected situations during practicum and thoroughly reflect on them. ST B gained non-edu-cative, or maybe even mis-educative experiences - he was restricted and often told what to do, making his reflections technical and superficial. Enabling STs to find their own path as teacher can stimulate their professional growth as teachers and make them gain educative experiences, that stimulate their growth in a constructive direction. However, supervisors’ control over STs cannot be too free, they need to control them somehow – it is a matter of loosening the control, but never losing it.

Biesta, G. (2022). World-centered education: a view for the present. Routledge.

Dewey, J. (2015). Experience And Education (Reprint ed.). Free Press.