Teacher Training Approaches Research Articles

The Influence of Generation and Experiencing Daily Routines on Educators’ Training

Abstract This qualitative study follows the two questions, how the factor of the generation, an educator in training belongs to, influences his or her general concept of how sustainability-related lessons should be conducted and how the factor of living in groups influences this as well. For this interviews with 206 students were held and their own educational approaches monitored. In conclusion, this study has three major findings. The first is the attempt to define the difference between the concept of environmental education and environmental instruction, as being different approaches to the same subject, with the latter being less participative and effective, according to this study. The second is, that there is apparently a generational gap between the Generations X, Y, and Z, concerning their approach on this subject. Apparently Education for Sustainable Development is becoming more and more implemented, with each generation. Finally, in-house living in everyday situations can make change towards sustainability happen with students and learners, but the other way is possible to. Considering this, learning in a group in an everyday situation might be a new approach for teacher training in Education for Sustainable Development.

Полихудожественный подход в подготовке учителей предметной области «Искусство»

Полихудожественный подход в подготовке учителей предметной области «Искусство»

Adaptação e utilização de portefólio para aprendizagem reflexiva e autónoma nas práticas pedagógicas de inglês

A Formação Inicial de Professores (FIP) tem sido marcada internacionalmente com a introdução de instrumentos de reflexão, que fazem parte das boas práticas de ensino e aprendizagem no âmbito das Ciências de Educação. Mas no contexto angolano esta inovação não é um facto. Assim, o presente artigo propõe adaptar e utilizar na Prática Pedagógica do curso de Inglês, o Portfolio for Students Teachers of English no Instituto Superior de Ciências de Educação de Luanda (ISCED-POSTE). Para tal, utilizamos a metodologia quantitativa com recurso ao programa SPSS para determinar as frequências de preenchimento do portefólio e recorremos a metodologia qualitativa com realce à análise temática das entrevistas dos participantes. Da análise feita à sessão Self-Assessment, o Resource foi a categoria mais refletida com 38%, enquanto o Independent learning com 6% foi a menos utilizada pelos estudantes. A categoria do Dossier mais expressiva é o Evidence From Lesson Observation and Evaluation (EFLOE) com 50%. Tal como os participantes consideram que o ISCED-POSTE estimula a criatividade, promove a aprendizagem autónoma e reflexiva, contribui na organização do processo de aprendizagem e recomendam a sua utilização. Auguramo-nos que o presente trabalho sirva de protótipo para outros contextos de formação inicial de professores que privilegiam abordagens tradicionais de ensino nas práticas pedagógicas ou estágios.

Integrating the arts into head start classrooms produces positive impacts on kindergarten readiness

Arts enrichment may provide important opportunities for the development of pre-academic skills, since much of what young children do as play, including singing, drawing, and dancing, engages the senses and primes the brain for learning. The Wolf Trap’s Early Learning Through the Arts program, a national program that is designed to integrate performing arts into the early childhood education (ECE) curriculum and provide instructional training on delivery strategies, is an exemplar program that provides this type of experiential learning; and program implementation and teacher training approaches vary for each individualized program.

Полихудожественный подход в подготовке учителей предметной области «Искусство»

Полихудожественный подход в подготовке учителей предметной области «Искусство»

‘The principal character’: the triad approach and improvisation in teaching

ABSTRACTThis article focuses on a teaching case, Rona, a student in the educational dance-theatre programme that adopted improvisational teaching to deal with her lack of self-confidence. This lack had denied her feeling free and teaching without inhibitions in the classroom. Rona found a way to release her lack of self-confidence by spontaneously acting the ‘character’ of a funny and assertive ‘principal’ for ensuring a flowing dialogue with the pupils without disturbances to the planned procedure of the lesson. I analyse the Rona’s case through Shifra Schonmann’s triadic approach for teacher training, based on the theatrical perception which differentiates between a dramatic character, a social role and a performer’s personality and the through the directions of improvisational teaching.

Generalist and specialist primary music teachers’ uses of nonverbal and verbal support during music practice.

Generalist teachers, also called nonspecialist teachers (Henley, 2011), are teachers in primary schools who teach music, but have not studied education at a university or a conservatory, nor attended any (or only a few) preservice or in-service teacher training courses on education. Many studies report much primary school teaching of is provided by generalist teachers (Henley, 2011; Pascoe et al., 2005). Generalist teaching is a wide-spread phenomena in Australia (Pascoe et al., 2005), Great Britain (Henley, 2011; Holden & Button, 2006; Seddon & Biasutti, 2008), North America (Sinclair, Jeanneret, & O'Toole, 2009), and European countries (Eurydice, 2009), including Germany (Hammel, 2011), where this research study is based. The amount of lessons taught by generalist teachers at German primary schools ranges between 72% and 86% (Hammel, 2011) of all lessons in primary school. In German schools, a specialist teacher cannot always be found to act as a helping mentor for the generalist teachers (Hammel, 2011). Furthermore, lessons taught by generalist teachers are often cancelled (Bahr, Fuchs, Gallus, & Jank, 2004; Fuchs & Brunner, 2006). Removing (and arts) lessons from a primary school's seems to be common practice, when resources (e.g., time, finances) decrease. Therefore, music and the arts are frequently considered to be the 'frills subject' in a school's timetable (Garvis & Pendergast, 2012, p. 107). The main problems generalist primary teachers face are little musical training (abilities; Heyworth, 2011; Pascoe et al., 2005) and that they often lack the confidence to teach the practical aspects of in the classroom (Henley, 2011, p. 25). A lack of confidence to teach among generalist teachers has been revealed as prevalent by many qualitative studies regardless of their site or setting.1 Further research on generalist teachers stated generalist teachers are often lacking self-confidence to teach (Garvis & Pendergast, 2012; Hennessy, 2000; Mills, 1989; Schellberg, 2005). Other common problems of generalist teachers are their lack of personal experiences and the overall lack of priority for in primary schools (Russell-Bowie, 2009). Advantages of generalist teaching are the generalist teacher's knowledge and awareness of each child in the class, compared with a nonclassroom teacher. A generalist teacher may adjust musical learning conditions fit best to their students' interests and needs. Another advantage of generalist teachers who are teachers is they do not have to adhere to the school's to practice music. They have more capacities and can fit in practice in the many times a week.To help generalist teachers to teach these practical aspects of music, adequate professional development measures need to be researched and established in initial teacher training and during their time as qualified teachers. Thus, the abilities and the confidence of generalist teachers to teach can be improved (Biasutti, Hennessy, & De Vugt-Jansen, 2015; Henley, 2011; Holden & Button, 2006; Schellberg, 2016; Telemachou, 2007). One of the few studies documents the quality of teaching in primary school is the Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills report (2009). It does not distinguish between generalist and specialist teachers, but it reports that: Only half the teaching in art, and religious education was good or outstanding. The best teaching showed teachers understood the particular demands of individual subjects in relation to pupils' learning. (Office for Standards in Education, Children's Services and Skills, 2009, p. 5).Nonetheless, the question is which teacher training approaches might improve the learning outcome of generalist teachers? …

Entrevista con la Dra. Marta Cecilia Gutiérrez Giraldo: La formación del profesorado basado en prácticas reflexivas

En esta entrevista se desarrolla el enfoque de formación docente basado en prácticas reflexivas. La Dra. Marta Cecilia Gutiérrez Giraldo menciona que la formación del profesorado debe realizarse desde campos de formación interdisciplinarios que sean comunes y partiendo de las características del profesorado; puesto que en la formación de docentes reflexivos, las prácticas educativas constituyen la base sobre la cual los profesores dialogan y analizan problemas reales que acontecen en sus aulas y proponen soluciones a estos. También, se menciona que el aprendizaje debe ser flexible considerando los ritmos de aprendizaje de los estudiantes. La Dra. Gutiérrez concluye afirmando que, las emociones son esenciales dentro del proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje.

Language Teacher Training Approaches in Japan: What Are the Issues?

In November of 2013 at a high school in Kanagawa prefecture, 19 students sit for an English test. The test is a mid-term test in a course called Writing, yet the students have not done any writing compositions in class, nor is there any writing on the test, despite MEXT guidelines calling for more emphasis on language production and a call for more communicative activities (MEXT, 2011c). Instead, during the 45 minutes of the test, the students attempt to answer a series of grammar-focused multiple choice test items. It is plainly a grammar test, and a difficult one at that. Later, the results reflect this. The basic class students manage an average of only 25%; another group, the advanced class, fares not really much better with an average of 46%. This scenario is not fiction, nor is it not all that uncommon, based on anecdotal evidence. At the same time, this event begs several questions. Why are grammar questions used for a writing class instead of writing questions? Why does the course itself not focus at all on developing English writing skills? Why is there such a focus on discrete grammar points on both the test and in teaching when it is so widely accepted in the field of second language acquisition (SLA) that this approach is only of nominal effectiveness? (Swan, 2006). Why are the four teachers in charge of this course ignoring both MEXT directives, and established SLA theory? On the surface, it seems to make no sense.

The effects of cluster-based mentoring programme on classroom teaching practices: lessons from Pakistan

This paper presents and evaluates a teacher training approach called the cluster-based mentoring programme (CBMP) for the professional development of government primary school teachers in Pakistan. The study sought to find differences in the teaching practices between districts where the CBMP was used (intervention) and control districts where it was not used (non-intervention). Data were analysed to examine the effectiveness of the CBMP in terms of enhancing teacher practices and student behaviour. The paper differentiates those aspects of classroom teaching where the CBMP has been the most effective and where it has been marginally effective or not effective at all, thus leading to concrete policy lessons for teacher education programmes in Pakistan.

Development of a classroom observation schedule for measuring the efficacy of a teacher development programme

The paper describes the processes used to develop a classroom observation schedule designed to evaluate the efficacy of an innovative and contextually significant teacher training approach called the Cluster Based Mentoring (CBM) Model. The main quantitative analysis of the observation schedule data collected during a pilot study has shown that the observation schedule has high internal consistency. The simple t-test has demonstrated that a large number of items show potential to differentiate. The qualitative analysis of written comments and focus group data yielded useful information for further enhancing the schedule's validity and technical quality. In conclusion, I argue that it is possible to develop an observation schedule which is contextually relevant and also has good psychometric properties.

Teachers as Professionals and Teachers' Identity Construction as an Ecological Construct: An Agenda for Research and Training Drawing upon a Biographical Research Process

The study of teacher identity developed greatly during the 1990s and, in a way, replaced other studies on teacher professionalism. Highlighting the interactions, emotions and cognitions in their everyday expression, these studies contributed to making visible the role of specific communities of professionals in valuing and improving professional action. However, after almost two decades, it became clear that the study of the construction of teacher identity could not be based solely on the description of the interactions, but in fact also required a macro-sociological analysis. Coordinating these levels of analysis is important for developing the construct of the teacher as a professional, a profile that inspires current teacher training policies in Europe. Based on theoretical contributions such as the ‘construction of professional identities for real social change’ (Claude Dubar), and the ideal-typical model of professionalism (Eliot Freidson), this article aims to present the construction of teacher identity as a subjective dimension of the process of teacher professionalisation, viewing it as an ecological construct. To this end, the article presents the results of research carried out during the 1990s and the early twenty-first century, in order to shed some light on the dynamics inherent to each of the levels of analysis and the interactions which are established between them. The article concludes with a discussion of the advantages of this approach for teacher training and research.

Cost‐effectiveness of online teacher training

This study aims to compare the cost‐effectiveness of an online teacher training method with a face‐to‐face training method in teaching ‘ICT integration in the school curriculum’. In addition, the study explores the possibilities of a school‐based voluntary training method in supporting other approaches to ICT teacher training. The analyses of various quantitative and qualitative data showed that online teacher training was more cost‐effective than face‐to‐face teacher training, mainly due to the lower opportunity cost of the participants. The voluntary teacher training revealed the possibility of providing cost‐effective training, especially in the actual application of ICT in classrooms. Based on the results of the study, factors affecting cost‐effectiveness of the teacher training approaches are discussed and further research areas suggested.

Context and Culture in Language Teaching and Learning

1. Introduction: Context and Culture in Language Teaching and Learning - M. Byram and P. Grundy (University of Durham, UK) 2. From Practice to Theory and Back Again - C. Kramsch (University of California, USA) 3. Carrying a Baby In the Back: Teaching with an Awareness of the Cultural Construction of Language - R. Holme (University of Durham, UK) 4. Autobiographical Contents of Mono-cultural and Bi-cultural Students and their Significance in Foreign Language Literature Courses - C. Facke (Universitat Bremen, Germany) 5. Learning Culture by Communicating: Native - non-native Speaker Telephone Interactions - G. Holtzer (Universite de Franche-Comte, France) 6..Exporting Methodologies: The Reflective Approach in Teacher Training - A. Halbach (Universidad de Alcala, Spain) 7. 'We Would Have to Invent the Language We are Supposed to Teach': The Issue of English as Lingua Franca in Language Education in Germany - H. Decke-Cornill (Universitat Hamburg, Germany) 8. Teaching India in the EFL-classroom: A Cultural or an Intercultural Approach? - R. Wandel (Otto-von-Guericke Universitat, Germany) 9. European Communicative Integration: The Function of Foreign Language Teaching for the Development of a European Public Sphere - S. Breidbach (Universitat Bremen, Germany) 10..Context, Culture and Construction: Research Implications of Theory Formation in Foreign Language Methodology - M. Wendt (Universitat Bremen, Germany)

Exporting Methodologies: The Reflective Approach in Teacher Training

In the field of English language teaching there seems to be a generalised tendency to accept and use teaching methodologies and textbooks in certain contexts that have been developed in and for a different context. Recently, this rather unquestioning use of methodologies has been challenged (see, for example, Holliday, 1994), with authors pointing out that what might be suitable for one situation might not be equally so for a different one. Thus, it would seem to be more fruitful to try to establish the appropriateness of what has been imported and, if necessary, make the suitable changes and adaptations, so as to make most of the methodology. This is precisely the aim of the present paper, which explores the extent to which a reflective approach to teacher training is suitable for teaching undergraduate students a course in methodology at the University of Alcalá in Spain, and, if not, what kind of changes will make it more fruitful in this specific context.

An innovative teacher training approach: combine live instruction with a web‐based reflection system

Introduction Since 1997, Hong Kong SAR government has been working very aggressively in promoting paradigm shift in education in order to promote the trend of “knowledge economy”. Several universities in Hong Kong have developed training programs for primary and secondary school teachers in the past four years. Among these training programs, the AIT (Advanced Information Technology training for teacher leaders) program is the most recent and advanced. Started in April 2001, this training program plans to train up 1,200 primary and secondary school teacher leaders (with class size of 30 trainees per class) in Hong Kong with both technology and education tracks in two years. The training program consists of three core modules:

A Five-Year Journey: Integrating Teacher Education Methods Courses

Abstract For the past five years, students preparing to be elementary teachers at this four-year college have taken all their elementary teaching methods courses in an integrated block during the semester prior to student teaching. The authors describe the advantages, planning challenges, and pitfalls of creating such a network of classes. Additionally, this paper discusses the resulting level of preparation for the students who experienced this integrated approach, by reporting data collected from the cooperating classroom teachers. These data were collected in order to help assess the effectiveness of such a teacher training approach for K-8 classrooms. Finally, the pros and cons of an integrated approach are weighed and recommendations are made.

The importance of language awareness in the phonology component of a teacher training programme

Abstract In this article I set out to discuss the need for a systematic approach to phonology in language teacher training. I begin by outlining the deficiencies inherent in the current ‘atomistic’ approach to phonology in EFL and suggest that a ‘holistic’ approach to this area in both teaching and teacher training will enable both learners and teacher trainers to develop a more accurate understanding of the sound systems of the English language and how they interrelate with each other. I argue that when we look at the psycholinguistic processes that determine the sounds we utter we should be concerned with top‐down processing, from speaker meaning to suprasegmental considerations and finally seg‐mental considerations; and that a teaching approach to phonology needs to reflect this sequence of processes. I suggest a procedure for using this approach in teacher training and provide a sample exercise by way of illustration of the approach. Throughout the article I argue the need for teacher trainers to deve...

Preparing Teachers for Emotionally Disturbed Children: A Psychoeducational Teacher-Training Approach

Preparing Teachers for Emotionally Disturbed Children: A Psychoeducational Teacher-Training Approach

Increasing Children's Creativity Through a Combination of Teacher Training Approaches

With current educational emphasis on releasing children's creativity as a national concern, a summer institute of four weeks was designed for this specific purpose. This institute was held in August of 1964 on the campus of San Fernando State College in Northridge, California. The primary objective was that of training teachers for encouraging children's creativity. An associated objective was the release of creativity within gifted children.