Changes In Preservice Teachers Research Articles

When ‘picking the right people’ is not enough: A Bourdieuian analysis of social justice and dispositional change in pre-service teachers

Teacher educators across the world face a daunting task: preparing predominantly White, middle class, pre-service teachers to be effective educators of diverse students. With predispositions arguably more powerful socialising influences than pre-service education (Lortie, 1975), selective recruitment has been advocated: ‘picking the right people’ rather than trying to ‘change the wrong ones’ (Haberman, 1991a). This article focuses on changes over time in dispositions towards social justice in two of ‘the right people’. Drawing on Bourdieu, it analyses tensions between the habitus of Australian secondary pre-service teachers and the field of schooling practices. It argues for the arrangement of practicum placements (i) with supervising teachers with recognitive dispositions towards social justice; and (ii) that facilitate engagement with students from diverse backgrounds.

Changes in Preservice Teachers’ Self-Efficacy: From Science Methods to Student Teaching

The purpose of this research was to assess preservice teachers self-efficacy at different stages of their educationalcareer in an attempt to determine the extent to which self-efficacy beliefs may change over time. In addition, thecritical incidents, which may contribute to changes in self-efficacy, were also investigated. The instrument usedin the study was the Teaching Science as Inquiry (TSI) Instrument. The TSI Instrument was administered to 38preservice elementary teachers to measure the self-efficacy beliefs of the teacher participants in regard to theteaching of science as inquiry. Based on the results and the associated data analysis, mean and median valuesdemonstrate positive change for self-efficacy and outcome expectancy throughout the data collection period.

How Pre-service Teachers' Beliefs and Assumptions About Diverse Students Change through their Reflections on a Study-Buddy Program

Fifth-three pre-service teachers participated in a study-buddy program and wrote reflective journal entries and a field experience paper in which they analyzed their study-buddy's learning dilemmas and proposed possible solutions. The pre-service teachers' writings were then analyzed for assumptions they made about their study-buddy. The results of the study documented the nature of pre-service teachers' assumptions about the diverse students they tutored and how these assumptions changed over time. In addition, this study illustrated how reflective assignments, in conjunction with participation in a study-buddy program, can serve to facilitate change in pre-service teachers' preconceived notions about diverse students.

Changing personal epistemologies in early childhood pre-service teachers using an integrated teaching program

This study investigated changes in pre-service teachers' personal epistemologies as they engaged in an integrated teaching program. Personal epistemology refers to individual beliefs about the nature of knowing and knowledge and has been shown to influence teaching practice. An integrated approach to teaching, based on both an implicit and explicit focus on personal epistemology, was developed by an academic team within a Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood). The teaching program integrated content across four units of study, modelling personal epistemologies implicitly through collaborative reflexive practice. The students were also required to engage in explicit reflections on their personal epistemologies. Quantitative measures of personal epistemology were collected at the beginning and end of the semester using the Epistemological Beliefs Survey (EBS) to assess changes across the teaching period. Results indicated that pre-service teachers' epistemological beliefs about the integration of knowledge became more sophisticated over the course of the teaching period. Qualitative data included pre-service teachers' responses to open ended questions and field experience journal reflections about their perceptions of the teaching program and were collected at the end of the semester. These data showed that pre-service teachers held different conceptions about learning as integration, which provided a more nuanced understanding of the EBS data. Understanding pre-service teachers' epistemological beliefs provides promising directions for teacher preparation and professional enrichment.

Learning, teaching, and constructing identities: ESL pre-service teacher experiences during a short-term international experience programme

Short-term international experience programmes are a common element of English second language (ESL) teacher education in many countries. This study problematizes the belief that such programmes necessarily result in beneficial changes in pre-service teachers thinking about themselves as teachers – their beliefs, habits, and values – by exploring the experiences of eight pre-service ESL teachers from Hong Kong as they undertook a short-term international experience programme in Australia. Drawing on a theory of identity construction, the findings suggest that identity conflicts impacted how the student teachers experienced this programme as they struggled to reconcile past, present, and future trajectories of teacher identity. In particular, the student teachers constructed rigid divisions between different types of teachers and teaching they experienced at home and abroad. These divisions were reflected in antagonistic relations between the types of English language teachers and teaching they aligned their own teaching activities and practices with and the teacher identities that they perceived to be available to them within the Hong Kong education system. Implications for addressing such identity conflicts throughout international experience programmes are considered and implications for future research are discussed.

Preservice Teachers' Beliefs and Attitude About Teaching and Learning Mathematics Through Music: An Intervention Study

This article presents exploratory research investigating the integration of music and a mathematics lesson as an intervention to promote preservice teachers' attitude and confidence and to extend their beliefs toward teaching mathematics integrated with music. Thirty students were randomly selected from 64 preservice teachers in a southern university. A 90‐minute mathematics lesson integrated with a music composition activity was taught by the first author. Pre‐ and postquestionnaires were provided to evaluate the change in preservice teachers' attitude and beliefs toward mathematics. The results demonstrated that the mathematics lesson integrated with music had a positive effect on preservice teachers' attitude and beliefs toward mathematics teaching and learning.

Identifying Program Characteristics for Preparing Pre-Service Teachers for Diversity

Background/ContextEducating pre-service teachers to develop multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills for teaching diverse students is a major responsibility of teacher education program coordinators and teacher educators. Numerous studies have discussed and explored the characteristics of teacher preparation that improve pre-service teachers’ competency to teach diverse students. However, only a few empirical studies have examined the relationship between preparation characteristics and pre-service teachers’ multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills.Research QuestionsThe study answered two research questions: 1) How do the initial level and change in pre-service teachers’ beliefs about diversity in personal and professional contexts differ by their background characteristics? and 2) What characteristics of teacher preparation for diversity reported by pre-service teachers are associated with positive changes in their beliefs about diversity in personal and professional contexts, controlling for their background characteristics?ParticipantsThe participants were 243 pre-service teachers enrolled in eight sections in a diversity course and accompanied field experience component in a teacher education program in a Midwest Research I university.Research DesignPre- and post-surveys were conducted to examine: 1) pre-service teachers’ background characteristics (gender, socioeconomic status, class standing, hometown location, and prior exposure to diversity), 2) beliefs about diversity in personal and professional contexts, and 3) four characteristics of teacher preparation for diversity: classroom as a learning community; instructor modeling constructivist and culturally-responsive teaching; field experience for understanding diverse students; and opportunity for reflection.FindingsThe study found that three characteristics of teacher preparation for diversity reported by pre-service teachers: 1) classroom as a learning community, 2) instructor modeling constructivist and culturally-responsive teaching, and 3) field experience for understanding diverse students were significantly associated with positive changes in pre-service teachers’ beliefs about diversity in both personal and professional contexts.Conclusions/RecommendationsCreating a sense of community in classrooms, and modeling constructivist and culturally responsive teaching are likely to promote positive beliefs about diversity among pre-service teachers. In addition, field experiences should promote pre-service teachers’ interactions with people from diverse backgrounds, assign a mentor to support their learning experience and promote self reflection, and provide opportunities to understand the connection with diversity coursework.

Use of diaries to investigate and track pre-service teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning English as a foreign language throughout a pre-service training program

Although teacher beliefs have been widely debated and studied in the area of language teacher education, there has been less discussion of the methodologies employed to explore this area. The literature indicates that as beliefs usually remain unstated, emotional and hidden, they should be carefully and indirectly studied (Pajares, 1992). Consequently, various data collection instruments have been proposed. While interviews, questionnaires and classroom observations have been used in a number of studies (e.g. Cabaroglu, 1998; Mattheoudakis, 2006), less is known about diaries in terms of how successful they are in eliciting beliefs and if they are able to obtain relevant and valid data. The proposed study examined the use of diaries to investigate and track student teachers’ beliefs (whether they change or not) about teaching and learning English as a foreign language throughout a nine-month pre-service training program in a university in Northern Cyprus. Three pre-service teachers were given several short booklets to keep and return at regular intervals throughout their training. The findings indicate that diaries are able to reveal what sort of beliefs pre-service teachers held when they started their training. Moreover, they suggest that the entries recorded constitute short immediate stories that could be helpful in linking, understanding and tracking what pre-service teachers experienced during their training and how their beliefs and feelings were affected as a result of those experiences. Furthermore, comparing and analyzing each diary entry provided useful insights into the changes and the reasons that led to changes in preservice teachers’ beliefs. The main problems highlighted are the recording of irrelevant information by the participants and issues relating to how to interpret some of the diary data. Suggestions are made regarding how to overcome such difficulties. The methodological implications of the study for further research are discussed.

Effects of the Experimental Modules of Mendelian Genetics using Rapid-cycling Brassica rapa on the Change of Preservice Teachers’ Concepts in Genetics

Pay off reel is the device to release in the form of coil. Every time the device becomes a hassle to exchange, each diameter of two forms has been applied to the coil reel. There is the change of reel diameter of the sleeve portion to be the part of segment geometry. This unit is conducting on 3-dimensional modeling design. The basic strength and deformation of the device could be checked in advance by the basis of 3-d modeling data to perform simulations. The production of each part can be completed and assembled. Conducted for the final product which is tested and measured, all items are satisfied within the limits of targets. Due to the development of this device, the efficiency on operations can be increased and the production time becomes shortened.

The effects of practice teaching sessions in second life on the change in pre-service teachers’ teaching efficacy

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effect of practice teaching in Second Life on the change of preservice teachers’ teaching efficacy, and the difference of changes between individual teaching practice and collaborative teaching practice in their teaching efficacy. Participants were placed into the individual teaching practice or collaborative teaching practice group as a part of a teaching methods and educational technology course. Both groups completed practice teaching sessions twice in Second Life and an instrument adopted for measuring of pre-service teachers’ teaching efficacy beliefs was administered after each of three stages. The researcher collected data from both groups before the first practice teaching, after the first practice teaching session, and after the second session. Results from a Repeated Measure ANOVA indicated that the practice sessions influenced changes in participants’ personal teaching efficacy but not teaching outcome expectancy. In addition, the results indicated significant difference between groups on their personal teaching efficacy after the second practice session, but not on teaching outcome expectancy. The difference between the two groups is attributed to the different methods in preparing for the practice session, practicing the teaching, and the reflection methods posed to each group of participants. This research suggests that pre-service teachers can gain valuable teaching practice in Second Life, and furthermore that collaborative practice teaching is more effective way than individual approaches to practicing teaching.

Pedagogical treatment and change in preservice teacher beliefs: An experimental study

This study addresses if preservice English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ beliefs about the effectiveness of authentic, commercial, and teacher-made instructional materials can be changed after a semester-long pedagogical treatment. Data were collected from 90 preservice EFL teachers (Experimental: 45, Control: 45) at a public university in Turkey using questionnaires, semi-structured interviews, and retrospective reflection essays. Data analyses involved t-tests, multivariate analysis of gain scores, and interview transcriptions. Findings suggested that although change in preservice teachers’ beliefs after a well-structured treatment was not very common, they were far from rare. Qualitative results also revealed that some beliefs of participants became more favorable about the effectiveness of some aspects of these materials while others remained unchanged or became less favorable.

Effective Comprehension Instruction At The Pre-Service Level

A higher education development team consisting of four professors of reading at two universities designed a set of lessons for possible use in helping teachers or preservice teachers develop strategies to produce effective comprehension skills of elementary students. These techniques were first used with undergraduate candidates and then revised to use with reading coaches in the literacy demonstration sites around the state of Alabama. The author describes a set of four interventions based upon this work that was used with graduate preservice teachers in a reading methods course. Three areas were emphasized in this investigation: changing preservice teachers’ misconceptions about the meaning of comprehension, helping them understand what readers do to comprehend text, and teaching them how comprehension can be explicitly taught to elementary students. Through these interventions, the preservice teachers gained a better understanding of how to teach comprehension more effectively to K – 6 students.

Professional identity creation: Examining the development of beginning preservice teachers' understanding of their work as teachers

The importance of reflection in supporting the continued professional learning of preservice practitioners is well recognised. This study examines one aspect of the outcomes of preservice teachers' reflection: the development of their own self-image as a teacher. In making the transition from student to teacher, preservice teachers create their own professional identity. Their ability to articulate this identity is examined through a new construct, a “teachers' voice”. A teachers' voice, develops when preservice teachers interpret and reinterpret their experiences through the processes of reflection. A teachers' voice is articulated as part of the persons' self-image. The construct, a teachers' voice, was investigated by examining changes in preservice teachers' contributions in an online discussion forum. Two complementary approaches of content analysis were applied. Both methods revealed changes in preservice teachers' levels of engagement and showed that in the first semester of preservice teacher education, the majority of preservice teachers moved towards a more professional stance in their contributions.

Perceptions from New Zealand: Effecting Change in Preservice Teachers' Reflectivity

This article draws on a recently completed study in which preservice teachers identify aspects of their initial teacher education that act as hindrances or aids to developing reflectivity. It articulates the concept that reflection must be seen not as something to be done or acquired but rather as a disposition or way of being. Also identified are key components of preservice teacher education that confront initial reliance on technique and tools and contribute to change from technicist to authentic reflective practice. Preservice teachers' initial and influential beliefs and practices related to teaching are well established in the literature. However, this study clearly indicates that they have equally influential beliefs and practices related to learning and what it means to learn. These beliefs and practices influence the degree to which preservice teachers access desired learning outcomes within coursework and, therefore, the process of becoming reflective.

Prospective elementary teachers use of representation to reason algebraically

We used a teaching experiment to evaluate the preparation of preservice teachers to teach early algebra concepts in the elementary school with the goal of improving their ability to generalize and justify algebraic rules when using pattern-finding tasks. Nearly all of the elementary preservice teachers generalized explicit rules using symbolic notation but had trouble with justifications early in the experiment. The use of isomorphic tasks promoted their ability to justify their generalizations and to understand the relationship of the coefficient and y-intercept to the models constructed with pattern blocks. Based on critical events in the teaching experiment, we developed a scale to map changes in preservice teachers’ understanding. Features of the tasks emerged that contributed to this understanding.

Improving Preservice Middle Grades Science Teachers’ Understanding of the Nature of Science Using Three Instructional Approaches

The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in preservice teachers’ understanding of the nature of science (NOS) as a result of four activity-based interventions that represent three instructional approaches used in a middle grades science methods course. Ten participants’ understanding of NOS and their perceptions about the activity-based interventions were investigated. Data were collected using open-ended questionnaires and in-depth interviews before and after the interventions. Written artifacts and recorded group discussions were collected during the interventions. The results of this study showed that inclusion of various approaches to teaching NOS can contribute to developing preservice teachers’ understanding of NOS. The activities complemented each other in the teaching of the NOS components. In addition, the preservice teachers perceived that the four interventions were helpful in improving their understanding of NOS and in preparing them for future teaching.

The effect of case methods on preservice physical education teachers' value orientations

Background: Preservice teachers' beliefs and values develop during their K-12 ‘apprenticeship of observation’ and filter both compatible and incompatible ideas about teaching and learning. Preservice teacher education has been suggested as a critical period for examining beliefs about teaching and learning. Case methods may be one curricular tool to instill change in preservice teachers' beliefs and values. Method: Ten Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE) students completed the Value Orientation Inventory-2 (VOI-2) and were interviewed four times over one academic year during which they were also engaged in three teaching practicums. The intervention consisted of reading and discussing eight cases in physical education focused on either the disciplinary mastery or social responsibility value orientation. Results: Results indicate that case methods had differential effects on PETE students' value orientations. PETE students' value orientations changed in the direction of the case theme at differing rates and not all students completely shifted their value orientation toward the case theme.

Using the history of mathematics to induce changes in preservice teachers’ beliefs and attitudes: insights from evaluating a teacher education program

Scholars and teacher educators alike agree that teachers’ beliefs and attitudes toward mathematics are key informants of teachers’ instructional approaches. Therefore, it has become clear that, in addition to enriching preservice teachers’ (PSTs) knowledge, teacher education programs should also create opportunities for prospective teachers to develop productive beliefs and attitudes toward teaching and learning mathematics. This study explored the effectiveness of a mathematics preparatory program based on the history of mathematics that aimed at enhancing PSTs’ epistemological and efficacy beliefs and their attitudes toward mathematics. Using data from a questionnaire administered four times, the study traced the development of 94 PSTs’ beliefs and attitudes over a period of 2 years. The analysis of these data showed changes in certain dimensions of the PSTs’ beliefs and attitudes; however, other dimensions were found to change in the opposite direction to that expected. Differences were also found in the development of the PSTs’ beliefs and attitudes according to their mathematical background. The data yielded from semi-structured follow-up interviews conducted with a convenience sample of PSTs largely corroborated the quantitative data and helped explain some of these changes. We discuss the effectiveness of the program considered herein and draw implications for the design of teacher education programs grounded in the history of mathematics.

Changing Preservice Teachers’ Attitudes for Teaching in Rural Schools.

Australia continues to face teaching shortages in rural schools. Indeed, preservice teachers may be reluctant to apply for rural teaching positions, particularly as most have had no rural teaching experiences. What may motivate non-rural preservice teachers to seek employment in rural schools? This study investigates 17 preservice teachers’ first experiences of teaching and living in rural areas. These second and third-year preservice teachers were involved in a five-day rural experience, which included interacting with local communities, living with host families, observing teaching practices, and teaching rural middle-school students. These self-nominated preservice teachers were placed in a variety of rural schools centred around a feeder high school. Data from written transcripts before their rural placements and reflections on their teaching and rural experiences indicated very significant attitudinal changes for teaching in rural areas and dispelled misconceptions about rural living and teaching. Non-rural universities can contribute towards motivating their preservice teachers to seek employment in rural areas. Providing these preservice teachers with a rural experience can create attitudinal changes for teaching and living in rural areas.

A Preliminary Investigation of Prospective Teachers' Reasoning About Case Studies with Expert Commentary

Case methods have emerged as a popular technique in teacher education, proposed as an important means of promoting conceptual change in preservice teachers. This article presents the results of a research study that used a mixed design methodology to investigate the effect of expert commentaries on prospective teachers' reasoning about inclusion case studies. Results indicate that prospective teachers are reluctant to accept theoretical and pedagogical information that conflicts with their own previously held conceptions, even when it is presented through case methods.