Engaging Preservice Teachers Research Articles

Engaging Preservice Teachers with Equity-Related Cases to Make Visible the Inequities in Mathematics Teaching

ABSTRACT Reform in teacher education seeks to engage preservice teachers (PSTs) in authentic classroom situations that explore equitable practices by connecting theory to professional practice. One way for PSTs to examine how equity and inequity operate in schools is with the aid of equity-related case-based instruction. This study reports on mathematics teacher educators using equity-related cases in their mathematics methods courses to encourage critical reflection on the various ways inequitable practices can create invisible barriers that have disenfranchised marginalized students from learning mathematics. Two cases are reviewed that were designed to prompt PSTs to examine implicit biases and school policies that reaffirm systemic inequities in mathematics education. Findings detail how mathematics teacher educators and PSTs used the cases to prompt PSTs to recognize and respond to inequitable practices in mathematics teaching. Particular attention is drawn to how PSTs made educational inequities visible, critiquing teachers’ assumptions and examining how such assumptions impact instructional decision-making. This study offers recommendations and a planning tool for designing and using similar equity-related cases in teacher education to strengthen professional practice that challenges and disrupts unjust beliefs that sustain educational inequities.

Translanguaging in teacher education: engaging preservice teachers in culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogies

This qualitative case study challenges monoglossic teaching practices in mainstream classrooms with emergent bilingual learners. I examine how pre-service teachers in a California teacher education course took up a culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogy (CLSP) that centers students’ identities, cultures, and language practices, as well as the ways they engaged with translanguaging during an examination of their own and their students’ language practices, and in enacting a translanguaging pedagogy. I discuss the opportunities that teacher candidates experienced in their student-teaching placements as they planned and implemented CLSP, and the ways in which their interactions with the children informed the urgency of a transformative pedagogy. I argue that we must fully embrace translanguaging as a culturally and linguistically sustaining pedagogical practice in our continued effort toward transforming education and in seeking to eradicate systemic injustices in schools and beyond.

Engaging Preservice Teachers in the Design of Digital Breakout Games in an Educational Technology Course

Educators have recently begun using digital breakout games as an instructional strategy in K–12 and higher ed curricula. However, research has thus far explored outcomes associated with playing these games, rather than designing them. This study investigates what happened when 23 preservice teachers in a technology integration course designed digital breakout games for the secondary curriculum. By conducting a basic qualitative analysis, we found that digital breakout game design promoted skills, competencies, and perspectives in support of preservice teachers’ future practice such as TPACK development, 21st-century learning, and positive technology integration perceptions and intentions. We provide evidence and implications for these findings, as well as opportunities for further research. (Keywords: breakout game, escape room, digital breakout game, preservice teachers, escape game, teacher education, game-based learning, educational technology)

Learning in Context and Practicing in Place: Engaging Preservice Teachers in Urban-Focused Context Specific Teacher Education

Teacher education programs are increasingly taking up commitments to prepare new teachers for equitable teaching. Despite best intentions, programs feel challenged to help candidates translate these commitments into classroom practice. Using a context-specific teacher education framework, we conducted a mixed-methods study of seven urban-focused programs to understand how they targeted preparation for urban contexts. We found that while programs offer multiple opportunities to learn about content embedded in context, fewer opportunities exist for candidates to practice in context, and that faculty play a critical bridging role in designing practice opportunities that are informed by program vision.

The Framework for Analyzing Video in Science Teacher Education (FAVSTE)

ABSTRACT Engaging preservice teachers in the analysis of videos of teaching has become a widely-used and highly-regarded approach within teacher preparation. This approach has become even more pronounced in the wake of COVID-19. Despite the myriad ways that video can support teacher preparation, uncertainties remain regarding how to design and facilitate productive video tasks. This paper reviews existing frameworks to guide the use of video tasks. It then introduces and describes the Framework for Analyzing Video in Science Teacher Education (FAVSTE) to highlight important decision points regarding the implementation of video tasks for teacher educators. Further this paper discusses how the FAVSTE connects to and expands on existing frameworks. Finally, the paper provides two examples to illustrate its use so that it might support teacher educators in maximizing the effectiveness of video analysis/reflection tasks.

Toward Emergent and Relational Curricula: Engaging Preservice Teachers in Social and Interventionist Art Practices for an Uncertain Future

RECENT TRENDS IN ART SUGGEST THAT CONTEMPORARY ARTISTS ARE INCREASINGLY MORE INTERESTED IN MAKING SOCIAL CHANGE AND LESS INTERESTED IN MAKING STAND-ALONE OBJECTS. In this spirit, artists and educat...

Challenging Anzac myths in tertiary teaching: Engaging preservice teachers

Challenging the embedded mythologies that surround Anzac, especially as the centenary of First World War played out over the 2014 to 2018 commemoration period, can be confronting for tertiary students as well as a difficult space for tutors to navigate. This is especially the case for teacher education students who form the majority cohort taking a first-year course in Australian History as part of their teaching education degree programs at a large New South Wales university outside Sydney. Experiences of student disruptions, confrontations and occasional anger prompted tutors to question whether the topic of Anzac should be covered at all. An alternative was sought, where careful interrogation of teaching practices was undertaken. Three pedagogical approaches were examined; the traditional lecture format, using documentary film to glimpse at deeper historiographical problems within lectures and tutorials that allowed for more intense critical thinking and analysis of historical resources via focused questions. The efficacy of these pedagogical approaches was systematically assessed through surveying students in the Australian History course prior and post teaching about Anzac. This paper examines the background of teaching Anzac in the tertiary space, the use of specific pedagogical approaches and the results of the survey. Students’ main preference for teaching methods about Anzac was through documentaries in both surveys. However, the second most preferred method was the lecture format more generally and this preference increased in the post survey. There was also evidence of less resistance to the contested nature of Anzac mythologies.

Engaging Preservice Teachers in Universal Design for Learning Lesson Planning

Abstract General education teachers often feel unprepared to serve the needs of students with disabilities, including those with intellectual disability, because many teacher preparation programs do not adequately prepare teachers for the diverse classrooms they will encounter. With the increase of inclusion for students with disabilities, it is imperative that teachers develop the necessary skills for engaging all students, including those with intellectual disability, in meaningful instruction. Universal Design for Learning (UDL) can assist teachers in designing instruction that meets the needs of their diverse learners. The current study consisted of two parts. First, researchers surveyed preservice teachers on their perceptions of including students with disabilities in their future classrooms before and after instruction in UDL. Second, researchers analyzed preservice teachers' ability to design lessons using the principles of UDL. Results indicated perceptions of inclusion were positive prior to intervention and did not significantly change after the intervention. Lesson plans improved significantly in the use of UDL principles from baseline to postintervention, but there was no significant difference between the postintervention lesson plans and the end-of-semester lesson plans.

Factors Necessary for Engaging Preservice Teachers Studying in Virtual and Blended Courses

In their encounter with a virtual or blended learning environment, students are liable to perceive the situation as a challenge or as a threat. The physical separation between teacher and students may lead to “transactional distance,” which in turn can cause a sense of threat and create anger, gaps in understanding, or misconceptions among the learners about themselves and about the learning process. Students may grasp the situation as a “challenge” or a “threat.” The aim of the article is to determine the factors necessary for engaging preservice teachers studying in virtual and blended courses, which are critical to feelings of challenge and threat among these students. The sample included 578 participants in a mixed-method study. The present study found that differential interpersonal communication, feedback, and forums may lead to a decrease in feelings of threat and an increase in the sense of challenge. Some learners need only intellectual interaction; others need both intellectual and emotional interaction.

Catalyzing Cultural and Global Competencies: Engaging Preservice Teachers in Study Abroad to Expand the Agency of Citizenship

Study abroad is an experiential learning pedagogy that has many positive outcomes. In the field of teacher education, study abroad provides opportunity for the development of global competencies and agency. Similarly, study abroad can help expand notions of what it means to be a global citizen. This article examines the effects of preservice teachers engaging in a study abroad program to South Africa. Critical Cosmopolitan Theory provides the article’s theoretical frame for the investigation of the impact of this study abroad program. The study’s participant sample comprised preservice teachers from a large research university located in the Southeast region of the United States ( N = 21). Using a mixed-methods research design, the study examined the participants’ perceptions of their study abroad and international teaching experiences. It was found that the study abroad experience was a catalyst for enhancing preservice teachers’ global competencies, intercultural awareness, and cultural responsiveness as the participants widened their perspectives of what it means to be a critically cosmopolitan educator and citizen.

Preservice Science Teachers’ Opportunities for Learning Through Reflection When Planning a Microteaching Unit

ABSTRACTAlthough microteaching is a common approach to engaging preservice teachers in reflection on teaching in on-campus courses, this reflection is usually carried out as a separate part. We examined how preservice middle school science teachers reflected amid planning a 20-min microteaching unit on sustainable development. Six groups of preservice teachers were video recorded and their conversations transcribed. We used practical epistemology analysis to analyze moments of reflection in these conversations. The preservice science teachers recurrently engaged in reflection in the course of their planning, which led to changes in perspective concerning important aspects of how to plan teaching that may be considered central for preservice science teachers to learn during their teacher education. Preservice teachers’ reflection was related to the openness of the task, as they had to make decisions about many different aspects of their teaching. Even aspects that are not on the table in a real-world setting, for instance having the possibility of deciding on the age of the target students, led to productive reflection and opportunities for learning. Our results contribute to increased awareness of the possibilities of microteaching for facilitating learning during planning. This may provide science teacher educators with better possibilities of supporting their preservice science teachers’ reflective practice.

Engaging Preservice Teachers in Professional Development about iPads

The iEducate mini-conference was a professional development approach used in a college of education that has a one to one iPad initiative. Students were strongly encouraged to attend workshops on effective iPad integration strategies for the classroom during a one-week period. A total of 87 students, faculty, staff, alumni, and community members participated and two-thirds indicated they would participate in similar events in the future. Participants indicated that opportunities to share their knowledge and collaborate with peers to explore new applications and integration strategies, connect new knowledge and skills to K12 classroom practice, and talk to K12 students about their vision for technology integration were beneficial outcomes of the experience. Discussion of the structure and management of the event, student feedback and plans for future implementations are provided.

Engaging Preservice Teachers in Context-based, Action-oriented Curriculum Development

Physical education teacher education programs have a responsibility to prepare students in the technical aspects of teaching physical education, while also helping them to develop an awareness of the micropolitical cultures of schools that have implications for the implementation of what has been learned. Without the latter, beginning teachers may experience reality shock when transitioning into school contexts that do not align with the messages instilled during teacher education. Drawing upon lessons learned through research related to occupational socialization theory, the purpose of this article is to present a formative, context-based approach to curriculum development linked to project-based learning. The project is broken into seven steps that build upon one another and span the entire academic semester. Students work closely with cooperating teachers to develop units of instruction that utilize innovative curricular approaches and can be implemented in the teachers' contexts. Strategies for assessment are discussed, as are implications of the project more generally.

Engaging Preservice Teachers in Critical Dialogues on Race

Rarely do White, middle-class Americans, the population from which most teachers are drawn, have the opportunity to consider themselves as racialized beings. Although personal experience is usually the best teacher, our increasingly homogeneous teaching population oftentimes lacks experience with diversity, and schools of education often struggle to find appropriate and meaningful diverse field experiences for their teacher candidates. This study uses a documentary in an attempt to provoke thoughtful conversations about race and racism in the United States among the mostly White teacher candidates. The study identifies racial themes that emerge from the conversations, explores the ways the groups’ racial diversity alters conversations on race, and explores how the race of the group’s facilitator may affect the conversations. The study suggested that racially diverse groups are more likely to explore greater numbers of racial themes and engage each other more deeply through polite disagreement. Although racial diversity of any kind seemed to promote deeper conversations, participants reported greater satisfaction from the conversations when the students themselves were racially diverse rather than with the facilitator alone.

Pulling Back the Curtain: Engaging Preservice Teachers in Expert Practices of Evaluation and Reflection

In this article, the authors explore the experiences of preservice teachers in two methods courses that introduced these students to the feedback process and cultivated their teacher identities.

Engaging Preservice Teachers in Disciplinary Literacy Learning Through Writing

AbstractThe field of content area literacy instruction is shifting from a general understanding of literacy towards disciplinary literacy. Much of the work in the field of disciplinary literacy has focused on reading, while writing has often been overlooked. This article summarizes the findings of a qualitative case study of two preservice teachers as they experienced a unit of study during a Reading in the Content Areas course. Described in the article is how the unit of study as a writing assignment encompasses three aspects of disciplinary literacy: (1) discourses and practices in disciplinary learning and literacy, (2) identities and identifications in disciplinary learning and literacy, and (3) knowledge in disciplinary learning and literacy. Results found the unit of study enhanced preservice teachers’ knowledge of their discipline and writing instruction. The unit of study approach to writing instruction may offer literacy educators a way to engage preservice teachers in writing specific to their discipline.

Engaging Preservice Teachers and Elementary-Age Children in Transformational Geometry: Tessellating T-Shirts

Elementary-age children and preservice teachers learn about and use transformational geometry and creating tessellations. Tessellations and transformational geometry are taught two both groups in different ways. The elementary children create a T-shirt made from tessellations, whereas, the preservice teacher makes real world connections

Teaching as Inquiry: Engaging Preservice Teachers with Research

This paper describes an initiative aimed at fostering inquiry-oriented learning through the introduction of the core unit Teachers as Researchers into the first year of the undergraduate program at the Institute of Early Childhood, Macquarie University. The unit contained three components: 1) introductory research skills for first-year students; 2) training for information technology skills; and 3) a hands-on approach where staff were engaged in research about the students’ learning. These aspects of the Teachers as Researchers unit combined to make it a powerful learning experience for students and staff alike. Several outcomes are evident in the early data analysis. First, students gained confidence in their developing ICT skills, and second, the unit has made a notable contribution to encouraging a ‘community of inquiry amongst pre-service teachers.

Engaging Preservice Teachers in Hypermedia Authoring: Process and Outcomes

This article presents the methods and outcomes of a semester-long course in hypermedia authoring and instructional strategies for preservice teachers. Participants were required to learn a hypermedia authoring program and work in cooperative learning groups to produce a hypermedia software product for use with children with special needs. Data were collected from process logs; semi-structured, open-ended interviews; questionnaires; and pretest and posttest measures of computer anxiety. During the development of their projects, participants spent nearly an equal amount of time planning their software as they did in the mechanics of producing the software. Posttest findings revealed that participants showed a decrease in computer anxiety through their involvement in the course, and the lowest levels of anxiety were associated with graduate rank and prior teaching experience. Following the course, participants expressed confidence in their abilities to author hypermedia software and an interest in future involvement in hypermedia authoring as teachers.