Pre-service teachers' pedagogical learning during practicum placements in special schools

•A group of pre-service teachers completed a three-week practicum in special schools.•They expected to find unique pedagogical knowledge about teaching disabled students.•They found little in teaching and learning that was unique to special schools.•They noticed aspects of pedagogy that had previously been less visible to them.•Some tacit pedagogical knowledge became more explicit within the unfamiliar setting.

This paper discusses the pedagogical learning of some South African pre-service teachers during a practicum in ‘special’ schools. Besides promoting their understanding of diversity, these pre-service teachers noticed aspects of pedagogy that had been less visible to them during previous practicum sessions in ‘mainstream’ schools. An analysis of focus group interviews, Facebook posts, and journal entries suggests that their attention was drawn to the value of multiple representations of core concepts, lesson pacing and behavior management in responding to learning differences. Observing and teaching in special schools enabled some tacit aspects of their developing practice to become more explicit.