Student Teacher Confidence Research Articles

Culturally Sustaining Initial Teacher Education: Developing Student Teacher Confidence and Competence to Teach Indigenous Learners

This article describes how we prepare teachers to be confident and competent teachers of indigenous Māori learners. Programme components are critiqued in relation to promoting culturally sustaining practice using four dimensions: accommodation, reformation, transformation, and representation. We argue that culturally sustaining teacher education is limited by historically Eurocentric policy and programme design and student teachers’ and university faculty members’ attitudes, skills, and knowledge. Toward transformative and equitable teaching, we offer an example of cultural partnership in programme development and delivery.

Inclusion in physical education: Perceptions of Irish and Swiss student teachers following participation in a European exchange programme

This study focused on inclusion in physical education (PE) and investigated, using the theory of planned behaviour, how a teacher education exchange programme across two European countries: (i) influenced the attitudes of student teachers (ST) towards inclusion; (ii) critically challenged the subjective norm; and (iii) impacted on the confidence of STs towards inclusive practice in PE lessons. The methodology used was qualitative (n=6) and included focus group interviews and reflective reports. Four themes emerged from a thematic analysis of the data: (i) understandings of inclusion in mainstream PE; (ii) learned methods of including children with special educational needs (SEN) in mainstream PE; (iii) perceived barriers to inclusive practice; and (iv) the important role of professionals in inclusion. Teaching education universities should be mindful of the expectations and practices with regards to inclusion within their respective countries and provide opportunities for STs to critically question subjective and behavioural norms. A cultural exchange is recommended as a proposed teaching methodology at teacher education based on the findings of this study. The opportunity to compare inclusive practice in two different countries brought the subjective norm into consciousness for participants in this study and facilitated critical questioning of this norm. Findings highlight the benefits to including intercultural opportunities into teacher education specifically for PE teachers.

Practicum as Nexus: Using student voice to improve digital pedagogy within ITE

A digital dilemma has emerged in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in which student teachers’ (STs) confidence and competence to use actively digital pedagogy has been undermined by a mismatch between digital expectations and the reality of programme experience. This mismatch has a potentially negative impact on a ST’s ability to develop confidence in using digital technology as a pedagogical tool. The image of the self-aware, proactive, and confident ‘digital native’ as graduate is fading. Instead, at least some graduates may be digitally underprepared or even unwilling to face what one graduate described as an “alien invasion of technology”. This ‘invasion’, which is considered too advanced to understand, seeks to take over educational pedagogy. It typically surpasses the digital ability of both associate teachers (ATs) and STs. This article presents the perspectives of graduating ITE Primary and ECE students from two New Zealand based ITE providers, firstly, about their experiences within their programme of study and how this supported the development of confidence in using digital technology as pedagogy, and secondly, how ITE providers can intervene to prevent the development of the kind of digital mismatch which may undermine student teacher confidence and competence. As a result, two models that potentially can empower practicum experience as the nexus for developing a ST’s digital pedagogical confidence for professional application. The first model, ‘Practicum as nexus for digital intervention’, engages a whole course strategy for ITE to empowering practicum as the nexus for the development of digital pedagogical confidence. The second linked model provides an approach ITE could use to create space in coursework and practicum to safely develop digital pedagogical confidence.

Approaches to increasing the competence and confidence of student teachers to teach music in primary schools

ABSTRACTThe National Plan for Music (DfE (Department for Education). 2011. The Importance of Music: a National Plan for Music Education. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-importance-of-music-a-national-plan-for-music-education.) reflected the need for increasing the numbers of primary class teachers able to teach music and of teachers with expertise in music to become subject leaders. The plan stated that a pilot project would be funded ‘to trial new primary music ITT modules in summer 2012 to boost new teachers’ confidence and skill in teaching music’ (DfE, 2011, 21). Approaches to addressing this intransigent problem, exacerbated if not caused by policies which have led to the marginalisation of music education in the primary curriculum, have been investigated and shared for many years but this was the first opportunity (since the early 1990s) to apply and evaluate effective practices in a national context. The 21 pilot modules were selected and funded to run in 2012–2013. Changes in policies and structures meant that the planned evaluation did not take place but all providers who ran a pilot module did complete their own evaluation and many submitted extensive teaching materials. These data will form the basis for a consideration of the approaches used by the 21 different providers; what informed their module design, pedagogical approaches and choice of content. Follow-up interviews were undertaken to learn what the legacy has been for their training provision. Finally, there is a discussion of how the knowledge gained through this work can be used to support those involved in school-based training.

Diversity and Social Justice – Beyond Motherhood and Apple Pie

The majority of teachers are aware that inequalities impact on the lives of individual pupils. For others, there is also deeper awareness of how inequalities impact at community and societal levels. For those who work in areas of multiple deprivation, many are reminded on a daily basis of the ‘everydayness’ of coping or survival for their pupils and their families. However, research has also found that teacher and student teacher confidence levels on addressing equality and discrimination issues vary depending on the issue and the context. This article considers why it is important for teacher personal commitment to equality issues to be underpinned by an understanding of social justice concepts and frameworks.

Disablist bullying in schools: giving a voice to student teachers

This paper reports in detail on the qualitative findings from a study which aimed to critically examine the experiences and confidence of student teachers in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in relation to disablist bullying. This paper focuses in particular on the voice of student teachers from six focus group interviews (n = 29) carried out among final year teacher education students in both jurisdictions. Students were asked about their experiences of dealing with bullying incidents during school placement, and in particular incidents involving children with special educational needs and disabilities. The study highlights the lack of preparation of the student teachers as a result of the absence of any focus on disablist bullying in initial teacher education courses, and a subsequent lack of confidence in dealing with such incidents which were found to be often challenging and complex. Students reported that they often resorted to ad hoc, instinct‐led responses or overlooked incidents entirely, with few basing their responses on prior learning in initial teacher education. Implications are discussed and a policy and practice update is provided since the completion of the study in 2011.

Disablist bullying in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland: an investigation of student teachers’ knowledge, experience and confidence

This study explored the knowledge, experience and confidence of student teachers from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland in relation to disablist bullying. Adopting a mixed methodological approach of four focus groups (N = 18) and a pencil-and-paper questionnaire (N = 257), the study explored the students knowledge, experience and confidence in relation to disablist bullying. Results highlight that none of the participants, in either jurisdiction, had received guidance in relation to disablist bullying as part of their Initial Teacher Education (ITE). Results highlight the need for practical, solution-focused and evidence-based input at the level of ITE and Continuing Professional Development in both jurisdictions.

Knowledge development at the time of use: a problem‐based approach to lesson planning in primary teacher training in a low knowledge, low skill context

Primary school teachers generally have to teach several subjects. Their training, however, is often fairly short and it is tempting to force‐feed them with everything they need to know to teach these subjects. It is more realistic to accept that a short course cannot do everything. Instead, it would be better to equip these students with skills that help them cope when their initial knowledge is weak. This study describes a problem‐based learning (PBL) approach to skill development in science lesson planning where subject knowledge was initially weak. It examines student–teacher confidence in and satisfaction with this planning, motivation and feelings about collaborative work. Advice is offered on adopting a PBL approach for developing lesson planning skills.

Addressing the Challenge of Preparing Australian Pre-service Primary Teachers in Environmental Education

Concerns have been raised for some time about the preparation of Australian teachers in the area of environmental education. Few tertiary institutions that undertake teacher education in Australia have specific units or modules dedicated to environmental education. This article reports on an evaluation of such a dedicated unit recently introduced to the BEd (Primary) award at an Australian university. Students were surveyed pre- and post-instruction and the findings indicate that most participants felt more confident about teaching environmental education. This was largely attributed to improved pedagogical content knowledge and an appreciation of how to integrate environmental education into the everyday learning of their students. The efficacy of this unit in terms of the motivation and confidence of student-teachers regarding environmental education lends support to those who call for more specific environmental education content in teacher education courses.

The Cooperating Teacher I's: Effective Mid-Lesson Responses to Student Teachers' Critical Teaching Incidents

When student teachers experience difficulty during lesson implementation, seasoned cooperating teachers choose among 6 alternative strategies by which to assist. Collectively called cooperating teacher I's, the strategies are as follows: Ignore, intervene, interject, interact, interrupt, and intercept. Appropriate use of these strategies can be taught directly or made more explicit to cooperating teachers as a means to facilitate quick resolution of problems; maintenance of student teacher confidence, self-esteem, and classroom authority; cooperating teacher confidence in the mentor role; and active or passive choices as they may be appropriate to specific circumstances. Included is a brief summary of research about cooperating teachers and their feedback practices, a description of behaviors that generally prove to be ineffective in response to these situations, detailed descriptions of the 6 cooperating teacher I's that appear to be effective, and a discussion of general observations and implications.

A longitudinal study to ascertain the factors that impact on the confidence of undergraduate physical education student teachers to teach dance in Scottish schools

This paper reports on the complex construct of student teacher confidence and the usefulness of practicum and the ITE course in preparing students to teach dance in their pre-probationary years. A longitudinal study tracked 85 students (f = 46, m = 39) for four years during their undergraduate degree programme in physical education (PE). Students completed questionnaires annually to ascertain the factors that impacted on their confidence to teach dance. In addition, ten student teachers took part in semi-structured individual interviews after their third and final year teaching practicum. Multiple regression results indicated that a model of ‘previous experience’, ‘practicum’ and the ‘university dance module’ explained 55 percent (female) and 43 percent (male) of the variance in level of perceived confidence to teach dance. Comparative analysis of the interviews supported the findings from the questionnaires and revealed that students' sense of identity was central to producing feelings of confidence to teach dance.

Encouraging student teacher confidence in the use of information technology

Homerton College has taken action to improve the confidence of student teachers on a 4 year primary B Ed course, in the use of computers. Surveys taken over 3 years show that students entering the course describe themselves as having low information technology skills. A 2-h IT induction session, supported by self-study materials, was introduced to raise the level of student confidence. A second survey of first year students at the end of the Autumn 1992 term indicates a significant change in students' perceptions of their own skill levels. However, although a majority felt competent in their own use of IT, few felt sufficiently confident to teach others. In a second course, offered in year three, students engaged over a much longer period in preparation of multi-media classroom resources. This experience does seem to have a more positive effect on students' confidence in terms of personal and classroom use of computers. As a result of this course, the students have all shown themselves prepared and able to use IT based resources in the classroom.