In response to national and state trends promoting inquiry-based social studies over the last decade, social studies teacher educators at the University of Kentucky revamped their pre-service program to create alignment around the key inquiry concepts of questions, tasks, and sources. Part of the program revision involved the creation of a new observation instrument to assess students during their field experiences. Drawing from four years of data from the instrument, the authors discuss what the observational data reveals about the strengths and weaknesses of their students’ inquiry practices as well as what the data suggests about program coherence between university coursework and field experiences.

Traditionally teachers have experienced higher rates of stress, burnout and attrition than most other professions. In the midst of a teacher shortage and child mental health crisis, teacher preparation programs must look at new, proactive ways to prepare teachers to meet the increasing demands of the profession. Teacher training programs have the opportunity and obligation to help preservice teachers learn how to manage stress, increase their social emotional competence and improve their wellbeing early on. Mindful awareness practices have been shown to reduce stress, increase wellbeing, and improve teacher efficacy in the classroom. Using archival student journals, this study explored pre-service teachers’ experiences with mindful awareness practices embedded in their courses. Findings include; positive experiences with mindfulness practices, challenges with mindfulness practices, struggles with mental health challenges, the importance of social emotional competence, and the interconnection between these factors and teacher wellbeing.

Many teacher preparation programs have a commitment to preparing teachers who teach equitably. However, current research shows that many teachers struggle to move beyond theoretical understandings into practical enactments once they enter inhospitable teaching contexts. This case study examines the effect of co-creating a conceptual framework of equitable and inclusive teaching with preservice teachers (PSTs). Findings show that a shared framework was critical to PSTs’ concept development of equitable teaching: noticing opportunities for equitable instruction, enactment of equitable pedagogy, and reflecting on teaching practice and commitments. This study highlights the value of designing programs that build PSTs’ concepts of equitable teaching in multiple contexts.

To promote inclusive practices in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) classrooms, this research explores teacher candidates’ (TCs’) views and understandings of differentiated instruction (DI). The article addresses the following research questions: (1) What are intermediate-senior STEM TCs’ initial views and understandings of DI? (2) What is the impact of a curriculum and pedagogy course enriched with DI practices, on TCs’ views and understandings of DI? The study adopts a mixed-methods approach, in which data sources include pre–post surveys and semistructured interviews. Participants are 19 TCs enrolled in the teacher education program at a Canadian university. Findings suggest that the course resulted in a notable improvement in TCs’ DI views and a deeper understanding of DI strategies. The article highlights the importance of contextualizing practical applications of equity, diversity, and inclusion principles in teacher education courses.

Increased teacher attrition has gained attention globally. Stories of teachers who leave chronicle how the accountability climate diminishes teachers’ agency and removes the moral rewards that bring teachers to their profession. Veteran teachers’ stories deepen and broaden our understanding of how teachers express moral dispositions when they stay. This phenomenological study explored one veteran teacher’s stories and how they revealed dispositions through interviews with the veteran teacher and five of her mentees. The dispositions evidenced in the data–curiosity, innovativeness, hopefulness, authentic caring, and presence—add to our understanding of how moral dimensions of teaching operationalize in practice; suggest the relevance of veteran-teachers’ stories for cultivating dispositions in teacher education; and, illuminate possibilities for teachers to reap the moral rewards of teaching and remain in their profession.

Given the continuous increase of students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds in K-12 classrooms in the United States (US), there is no doubt that meeting English language learners’ (ELLs’) linguistic and academic needs is a pressing matter. However, teachers report feeling unprepared or believing that ELLs are the responsibility of other specialists. This study responds to the call for preparing mainstream teachers for today’s diverse classrooms by exploring teacher candidates’ teacher professional identity (TPI) construction. Using multiple case study designs of three mainstream teacher candidates, the findings of this study highlight (a) multiple I-positions engaging in dialogues, (b) relevant teacher education experiences (re)shaping TPIs, and (c) relevant diversity-related issues in macrosociety entering minisociety. Findings indicate the importance of critical reflection in teacher education programs and facilitating opportune and considerate practicum placements. Further implications and recommendations for teacher education research and practice are discussed.

Research shows that relational competence is essential in teacher education, including special education teacher training. It also shows that virtual simulations using avatars are useful for developing teacher competencies. However, there is a research gap regarding how virtual simulations can be utilized to develop relational competences. The present study has two purposes: (1) to explore preservice special educators’ (PSEs) relational competence in an avatar context, and (2) to delineate research-based guidelines for using avatars to enhance relational competence. The data comprise video observations of virtual simulations and interviews with PSEs. The results show that PSEs perceive relational competence as a pedagogical approach and, mainly, as an organization of interaction. Furthermore, relational competence is manifested by different degrees of communication attunement. The guidelines suggest that teacher educators should direct PSEs toward the pedagogical approach and a high degree of attunement. Overall, avatar simulations are useful for training teachers in relational competence.

This study leverages cross-sectional data collected via the 2018 Teaching and Learning International Survey (N = 1907) to estimate national “trends” in pre-service teacher education (PSTE) from 1990 to 2018 in the United States. In particular, the study examines linear trends in the content emphases of U.S. lower-secondary PSTE and in this teacher population’s initial level of preparedness in various domains. Results indicate more stability than change over this period nationally. PSTE emphasis on classroom practice in some or all subject(s) taught, and on monitoring students’ development and learning, decreased in frequency over time. PSTE emphasis on use of information and communication technology for teaching increased over time. Only teacher preparedness ratings for the use of information and communication technology for teaching statistically increased from 1990-2018.

Preparing teachers to develop a critical lens on educational inequities and to leverage all students’ resources and potential are central projects for teacher education. This case study examines how critical asset-based teacher inquiry in diverse K-12 English and ELD classes, supported by teacher noticing, may support development of equity-oriented teaching for racialized multilingual learners (MLs). We report three themes in preservice teachers’ (PST) practices and reflections that evidence affordances of our assets-focused teacher inquiry design, as well as areas of need in our design and PST learning: (1) centering MLs through unit design and early use of inquiry resources, (2) documenting ML engagement for achievement, and (3) critiquing assessment and context as potential impediments to an assetbased focus. Our study marks both possibilities and need in teacher education for pedagogical innovations and designs that intentionally shape an assets-based perspective on racialized MLs.

Given the difficulties that newly trained teachers currently encounter in entering the profession, it has become increasingly necessary to reexamine the nature of pre-service clinically-based teacher preparation. This paper focuses on the role of clinical supervisors in the context of the College–Field Partnership (CFP), an innovative program that reframes clinical preparation as going beyond a focus on classroom teaching to experiencing the school as a whole. The paper is based on “Self-in-Field” action research (SiFAR) involving eight experienced clinical supervisors who were leaders of teams of clinical supervisors in the CFP program. Through joint reflection on their professional practice, they came to see the clinical supervisor’s role as constructing a “clinical preparation field” that extends beyond the traditional “triad” of pre-service teacher, mentor teacher, and clinical supervisor. Constructing an expanded clinical preparation field involves building relationships among a wide variety of actors within the school and the academic preparation program as well as fostering learning and development for students and school staff alike. Two important implications of this new role for clinical supervisors were the need to become more skilled at (1) dealing with the emotional elements of school practice and (2) facilitating organizational learning processes in the school.