Implications For Teacher Education Research Articles

Pre-service teachers evaluating online texts about learning styles: there is room for improvement in justifying the credibility

Teachers’ abilities to critically evaluate the credibility of online information are fundamental when they educate critical online readers. This study examined pre-service teachers’ abilities to evaluate and justify the credibility of online texts on learning styles. Pre-service teachers (N = 169) read and evaluated two more and two less credible online texts on learning styles in a web-based environment. Most pre-service teachers were able to differentiate the more credible texts from the less credible ones but struggled with justifying the credibility. Pre-service teachers’ inaccurate prior beliefs about learning styles impeded questioning the less credible texts. Implications for teacher education are discussed.

EXPLORING KAZAKH EFL TEACHERS’ PROFESSIONAL IDENTITY: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY

This study's extensive quantitative research design to investigate the professional identities of in-service EFL teachers in Kazakhstan and Turkistan makes it stand out. A comprehensive survey, unparalleled in scope and exhaustiveness, was distributed to 470 English instructors in 45 state schools, offering an extensive synopsis of how these educators see their professional identities. The survey findings provide insights into several professional identity factors, including the propensity to teach, act as role models, and establish productive learning settings. The results show that participants' professional identities were generally average, with major exceptions for knowledge-sharing and role modeling. Simultaneously, less emphasis was placed on recognizing students' original language culture and establishing a favorable classroom atmosphere. The study also looks at how different professional identities are within qualification categories, and it finds statistically significant variances that highlight how teachers' self-perception and professional growth are influenced by their educational background. These findings have implications for teacher education and professional development initiatives and a deeper knowledge of the elements influencing EFL instructors' professional identities in Kazakhstan.

The interplay between teaching for social justice beliefs and intergroup contact experiences in teachers’ responses to new curricular autonomy

ABSTRACT This study explores how South Korean teachers’ beliefs about social justice teaching intersect with their intergroup contact experiences when teaching migrant students under expanded curriculum autonomy. A comparative qualitative case study approach was used, drawing on interviews, classroom observations, and stimulated recalls. The findings reveal three models of social justice teaching – functional, critical, and liberal – as manifest in each teacher’s practice. The discussion highlights two key aspects: First, regarding contact experiences, teachers’ experience of being minoritized in intergroup contact has a more pronounced effect on their prejudice reduction than the density or frequency of contact per se; and indirect contact with outgroup members can be as effective as direct contact in reducing stereotypes. Second, concerning teacher beliefs and policy implementation, teachers’ beliefs significantly shape their interactions with minoritized students; and increased curriculum autonomy does not necessarily lead to critical social justice teaching. Implications for teacher education are discussed.

Exploring diverse educators’ language ideologies: how lived experiences shape understandings of bilingual education goals

ABSTRACT This study explores the ways diverse educators’ lived experiences shape their understanding of dual language bilingual education (DLBE) goals, responding to calls for research to better understand how educator ideologies impact the equitable implementation of program goals. This qualitative case study highlights the voices of DLBE educators who identify as transnational, Latinx and African American and includes data from classroom observations, interviews, focus groups and pláticas. We offer a conceptual framework that reveals how ideologies related to language acquisition, status, and variation are impacted by teachers’ prior schooling/teaching, institutional positioning and understandings of racialization and cultural identity – sociocultural factors that are co-constructed across micro and macro-level discourse. Our findings suggest that through teaching in DLBE programs and reflecting upon their lived experiences, educators’ ideologies are constantly developing and can shift to foreground equity and center multilingual learners in DLBE programs. Our study has implications for teacher education and professional development that recognizes educators’ diverse experiences (e.g. transnational and/or lived experiences related to race/ethnicity and institutional positioning) to support the ongoing development of ideological clarity that has bearing on the realization of DLBE goals in the pursuit of equity.

Exploring EFL teachers’ beliefs and practices about translanguaging pedagogy: A qualitative study from Iran

In the past decade, research on EFL teachers’ beliefs about translanguaging has significantly grown. However, little qualitative research has been done on teachers’ translanguaging beliefs and practices and the congruity between them. To address this gap in the literature, the current study investigated Iranian EFL teachers’ beliefs and practices, and the correspondence between these beliefs and practices. Data was collected from ten teachers who taught English as a foreign language through semi-structured interviews and classroom observations (three per teachers). The data was analyzed based on the principles of thematic analysis. The results showed that the teachers perceived six dimensions of translanguaging, including diverse beliefs of translanguaging, perceived relevance of translanguaging, pedagogical beliefs and approaches, attitudes toward benefits, concerns and challenges of applying translanguaging, and student-centered approaches. In regard to their practice, the teachers practiced translanguaging in various contexts and through different instructional strategies in their classes. Regarding the correspondence between beliefs and practices, it was found that there was a mainly direct correspondence between beliefs and practices. The study provides implications for teacher educators in running professional development courses that enhance teachers’ awareness of using translanguaging in their classes.

EXPLORING LEARNING OPPORTUNITIES FOR PRIMARY TEACHERS: THE CASE OF KNOWLEDGE FOR TEACHING EARLY ALGEBRA

Understanding how to constitute and develop opportunities for primary teachers teach early algebra to younger children is still an important research gap. In this paper, we bring results of a research program developed in Brazil over the past five years. We aim to discuss how professional learning opportunities emerged when teachers collectively planned, discussed, and analyzed lessons involving different meanings of the equality symbol and the development of functional thinking. Developed from the perspective of a qualitative-interpretative research, data analyzed consists of curriculum documents, protocols for the resolution of formative tasks, audios and videos collected during teacher education processes for in-service teachers. The results highlight that professional learning tasks, combined with the actions of teacher educators during collective discussions, favored in-service teachers to differentiate and understand the students’ reasoning. Some implications for teacher education as well as the professional development of primary teachers are discussed, especially regarding early algebra thinking, because teachers do not normally have the opportunity to study these contents on their own experiences in school.

How language teachers can go beyond speech etiquette: Adapting L2 Russian coursebooks to improve pragmatic competence

Within the field of RKI – russkij kak inostrannyj ‘Russian as a Foreign Language/L2 Russian’, so far little attention has been paid to teaching pragmatic competence, as the issues of language in context are traditionally covered by the subject rečevoj ėtiket ‘speech etiquette’, leaving pragmatics an underexplored field.The present study aims to analyze whether and to what extent current L2 Russian textbooks introduce topics related to pragmatics and, if so, how the existing material can be adapted to improve explicit instruction of pragmatic competence.The analysis was conducted on two handbooks of Russian rečevoj ėtiket ‘speech etiquette’ for L2 learners and a series of four textbooks designed for L1 Italian learners. Data analysis confirms the global tendency for textbooks to provide scarce to null meta-pragmatic explanations. The coursebooks were then searched for elements related to the speech act of request, and the materials were adapted to fit explicit pragmatic instruction. The material adaptations proposed in the current study are based on previous research on Russian pragmatics and L2 pragmatics and aim to overcome the ethno-nationalistic perspective of speech etiquette toward a more transnational Russophone context. Implications for teacher education are presented.

Neurodivergent Students in English Language Lessons: Reflections at the Teaching Practicum

The inclusion of neurodivergent learners in English language lessons has gained significant attention to promote equitable and effective learning environments for all students. This article presents reflections stemming from my role as a mentor in an English language practicum. It is within this context, supporting student-teachers, that I have helped to develop lessons designed to embrace autism as a unique neurological diversity within the realm of English Language Teaching. Employing narrative inquiry as a research methodology, the transition from instrumental to humanizing perspectives regarding lesson planning is examined providing insights into meaningful practices for teacher education. The narratives inspected reveal the potential to contest normative curricula perpetuating oppression, silencing, and marginalization. Insights into challenges, opportunities, and meaningful practices associated with neurodiversity inclusion in English language teaching (ELT) settings are provided, along with implications for teacher education. The study underscores the adaptability of lesson planning to address the diverse needs of neurodivergent students and highlights how teaching practicum experiences enhance student-teachers’ abilities to cultivate inclusive and effective learning environments.

Teachers' perceptions and implementations of global Englishes and Frenches in language classrooms

AbstractAn important first step to globalizing and decentralizing foreign language education is to clarify current language teachers' perceptions of language varieties and how these perceptions influence their pedagogy. The present study looked at English and French language classrooms in K‐12 and university settings in the United States to compare attitudes around varieties of two dominant global languages with colonial legacies through an anonymous questionnaire completed by 36 language teachers. The study aimed to understand to what extent English and French language teachers drew on the linguistic diversity of the respective languages and if there was a connection between received ideas and attitudes around varieties and approaches taken in language classrooms. Findings suggest that language teachers were influenced by their own language learning histories, leading to a misalignment between teaching beliefs and pedagogical practices. Additionally, language teachers were subject to curricular constraints that influenced their teaching practices around language varieties. Implications for teacher education are discussed.

Exploring the Literacy Experiences of Preservice Early Childhood Teachers: Social and Contextual Influences, and Implications for Teacher Education

Considering that early literacy (reading and writing) is critical for later literacy and academic success, this study investigated the social and contextual influences on the early and current literacy experiences of 70 preservice early childhood teachers in the United States through a questionnaire. Analyses of both quantitative and qualitative data revealed eight key findings: First, the strongest influence on these individuals’ early literacy development was parents, followed by teachers. Second, their current literacy experiences were shaped primarily by professors/academic work followed by self-motivation. Third, nearly half of the preservice teachers regarded themselves as average readers and writers. While the majority of them enjoyed reading and more than half also enjoyed writing, those who lacked such enjoyment provided various reasons, especially citing insufficient intrinsic motivation, limited time for reading, and inadequate writing skills or ideas. Fourth, most of them prioritized their literacy time to fulfill academic requirements. Fifth, most devoted a limited amount of time to literacy activities. Sixth, there was a relatively strong positive correlation between reading fluency and writing fluency. Seventh, a positive correlation was found between years in college and writing fluency. Eighth, there was a negative correlation between grade point average and time spent writing per week.

Rupture as generative of professional agency: narratives from student teachers on placement during school closures

ABSTRACT Existing ways of knowing how to prepare people to become teachers were insufficient when COVID-19 closed schools, and some enduring hierarchies in teacher preparation were unsettled. This re-positioned qualified and student teachers as equally inexperienced in the circumstances. We contribute to post-COVID-19 educational research by considering the impact on student teachers through the historical socio-cultural lenses of phylogenesis (societal), ontogenesis (cultural) and microgenesis (individual). Our small qualitative study conducted interviews with four student teachers from undergraduate and postgraduate programmes whose practical placements, in a range of geographical contexts, were disrupted by school closures. Thematic analysis of student teachers’ narratives during school closures identified how disrupted hierarchies became generative spaces for the development of student teacher professional agency. Though the initial ruptures of social activity have passed, successive global (financial, environmental, political) and personal crises characterise the current era, with implications for teacher education about developing student teachers’ professional agency to cope with ongoing types of disruption in professional practice.

Holding our Ground in the Face of Public Mistrust: The Future of Professionalism in Teaching and Teacher Education

Globally, enduring skepticism around professionalism in education systems has questioned the efficiency in which teachers meet students’ educational needs and their authority to do so. Presently, efforts toward professionalization in teacher education (TE) are threatened by neoliberal reforms promoting alternative pathways into teaching and performance-based accountability mechanisms to monitor teachers and schools. In the face of public mistrust and external threats, this conceptual paper aims to envision the future of TE in light of the complexities inherent to the notion of professionalism. To this end, two competing ideals of teaching, which represent co-existing conceptions of professional work in education are examined: The teacher as an expert clinician ideal entrenched in expertise-driven professionalism and the teacher as a democratic pedagogue grounded in democratic professionalism. I offer ways in which these competing discourses could be fused to set the discussion about professionalism in teaching and its implications for TE on firmer grounds.

Becoming and being a critical language teacher educator: A duoethnography

AbstractLanguage teacher educator (LTE) identity development is an emerging field exploring how LTEs learn to teach and negotiate their identities and how their identity construction processes help teacher candidates learn. The complexity of the issue has prompted researchers to explore their professional journeys and experiences in various contexts from differing perspectives. Still, the field is constantly evolving as LTEs strive to understand the multifaceted nature of the profession and its implications for teacher education. Within this perspective, through a duoethnographic study, in this research the authors aim to explore how they construct, negotiate, and enact their critical LTE identities and agency as two Turkish‐speaking, mid‐career English language teacher educators situated currently in two different higher education institutions in Türkiye. The researchers collected lengthy personal narratives recounting their experiences and thematically analyzed them through iterative coding. Three major themes concerning their meso and micro contexts emerged: their trajectories in becoming LTEs, issues of belonging and marginalization, negotiating their LTE identities, and exercising agency. Their narratives indicate how they followed different trajectories to become teacher educators, were positioned as others in their institutional settings, legitimized their LTE identities in time, and became empowered to practice their aspired identities. Despite being marginalized in different contexts, their narratives show they have consistently created counter‐hegemonic discursive and experiential spaces in their classrooms and institutional contexts as micro‐level policy‐makers enacting their critical LTE identities.

Conceptualisation and empirical verification of the affective role of the teacher

ABSTRACT The affective role is an integral aspect of the teacher’s professional role, but has not received adequate scrutiny. The aim of this research was to conceptualise the construct of the affective role of the teacher (AfRT). In study 1, qualitative content analysis was employed to identify potential components of the AfRT from literature. Study 2 involved operationalising these aspects through interview with teachers, questionnaire for students, and classroom observations. In addition, preliminary conceptualisation was refined based on results obtained from 10 both highly and less favoured teachers. Study 3 proposed conceptualisation comprising 17 components, utilising a sample of 100 seventh-grade teachers.. Employing the exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and mutitrait-multimethod approach, a three-factor solution of the AfRT was tested, along with more restrictive nested models. The results suggest three core dimensions of the AfRT: Emotional awareness and management, Emotional connection, and Emotional attitude. Implications for teacher education and evaluation are discussed.

Developing summative assessment literacy: Novice language teachers' perceptions in Sweden and Finland

AbstractThe purpose of this study is to investigate summative assessment (SA) perceptions and the sources of summative assessment literacy for novice second/foreign language teachers in Sweden and Finland. Data were collected through a questionnaire (N = 27) and a semi‐structured interview (N = 22) from a group of novice teachers who graduated from two Swedish universities and one Finnish university. Descriptive and content analysis of the data reveal that novice teachers perceive themselves to have a good understanding of most of the basic SA areas. They consider teacher education as the main source of their conceptual understanding while they attribute their skills mostly to experience in schools. Swedish and Finnish teachers present both similar and varied perceptions of the role of teacher education in developing their summative assessment literacy. Context and implications Rationale for this study What summative assessment literacy pre‐service teachers acquire during teacher education, and how this literacy reflects on their teaching are critical questions in understanding novice teachers' learning and use of summative assessment in schools. This study investigates the perceptions and experiences of novice teachers of second/foreign languages in Sweden and Finland. Why the new findings matter The findings provide an understanding of novice language teachers’ perceptions on key components of summative assessment and the sources and processes enabling development of this literacy. Insights into theoretical and practical aspects of summative assessment that novice teachers need are expected to guide teacher education programmes in realigning their programmes respectively. Implications for teacher educators and policy makers Novice language teachers are confident about their theoretical knowledge of summative assessment but need to develop skills to put their knowledge into practice. Hands on exercises through content‐specific materials and tasks are critical in developing skills such as test construction, grading, analysis of exams and exposure to national tests. Special needs and diverse sociocultural contexts should be taken into consideration in teacher education. Steering documents should make the summative assessment requirements and expected competencies clearer to guide TE programmes in organising learning experiences for pre‐service teachers.

Top-ranked U.S. and U.K.’s universities’ first responses to GenAI: key themes, emotions, and pedagogical implications for teaching and learning

The emergence of ChatGPT, a Generative AI program, has sparked discussions about its teaching and learning value, and concerns about academic integrity in higher education (HE). An extant review of the literature indicates that a scarcity of research exists on GenAI, specifically a synthesis of the official views, guidelines and articles of top-ranked universities on the use, limitations, challenges, and opportunities brought by ChatGPT in the early phase when ChatGPT was released in 2022 until early May 2023, which can offer insights into the concerns and recommendations for educators. Using the corpus assisted discourse analysis approach, this study identified the key themes and emotions elicited by evaluations of the ChatGPT situation from a self-built corpus containing 151 articles from 47 top-ranked U.S. universities and 34 U.K. ones. Our findings indicated three prominent themes discussed on official websites, including ChatGPT as a text and content generator, use of ChatGPT in teaching and learning, and potential implications and opportunities of using ChatGPT in HE. Further examination revealed that bias, concern, worry, threat, fear, and trust were the prevailing emotions relating to ChatGPT. Illustrated with examples collected from our corpus, this paper offers an in-depth discussion of universities’ first responses to the use of ChatGPT. The insights gained have some pedagogical implications for academics, researchers and educators and may inform policy and practice in HE on the use of GenAI.

Disentangling pre-service history teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge

History education would benefit from insight into teachers' pedagogical content knowledge [PCK]. A thinking-out loud protocol was used to get insight into 12 pre-service history teachers’ PCK in Belgium and the Netherlands. A reconstructed lesson planning process was used to disentangle the individual constituent components of PCK. Not all PCK components developed simultaneously, participants demonstrated more knowledge of teaching strategies than of their students or the curriculum. Some participants were only partly capable of establishing relationships between certain PCK components, a situation that can be interpreted as the result of cognitive overload. The implications for teacher education are discussed.

How pre-service teachers talk about observed lessons: Implications for teacher education

The analyses of observed lessons are an important part of learning to teach. Pedagogically focused conversations are one way for pre-service teachers to do so. But how do pedagogically focused conversations enable pre-service teachers to make sense of observed teaching? Using a collective case-study approach, the study qualitatively explored the complexity of pedagogically focused conversations among differently qualified pre-service teachers during a focus-group interview. Complexity in participants’ conversations was operationalised using constellations from Legitimation Code Theory. I found that when participants had access to a shared conceptual language of practice, their pedagogically focused conversation could take observed practice apart and analyse its parts in terms of their suitability, what was lacking, and how it could be improved. A more complex conversation means that the pre-service teachers have a conceptual toolkit from which to draw to make sense of observed practice.

South African Teachers’ Application of Inclusive Education Policies and Their Impact on Learners with Learning Disabilities: Implications for Teacher Education

Global inclusive education policies compel teachers worldwide to accommodate all learners in the teaching and learning environment, including learners with learning disabilities. This study aimed to investigate the application of inclusive education policies in South African mainstream educational institutions. The study further aimed to promote the acceptance and recognition of all learners with disabilities. The study employed a qualitative research approach and phenomenological design. In-depth interviews were used to generate the data, which were further transcribed and analyzed thematically. Ten teachers from five different mainstream schools were purposively selected to participate in the study. The findings revealed that South African teachers have adequate theoretical knowledge regarding inclusive education policies, with limited self-efficacy to apply such knowledge in inclusive teaching and learning environments. The study suggests the re-enforcement of the application of inclusive education policies through collaboration between special schools as resource centers, inclusive full-service schools, and mainstream educational institutions. The study argues that there should be continuous professional development for teachers in the field of inclusive education. The study’s findings will serve as a springboard for future research surrounding the same topic and to conscientize educational practitioners on the need to accommodate learners with learning disabilities in mainstream educational institutions.

Navigating controversy and neutrality: pre-service teachers’ beliefs on teaching climate change

Teachers’ climate change knowledge, beliefs, and the controversy surrounding the topic influence their curricular decisions. However, there’s limited understanding of pre-service teachers’ competencies and beliefs to address controversial aspects. This qualitative interview study with nine pre-service teachers in Switzerland explores their perspectives across the audience segmentation groups of Global Warming’s Six Americas and their preparedness to teach controversial aspects. The thematic analysis revealed distinct differences. Teachers’ beliefs influenced their teaching intentions, avoiding bias and controversy. Factors like inadequate pedagogical and content knowledge, the controversial nature of the topic, and perceived pressure result in teachers adopting a neutral stance. Yet, the interpretations of ‘controversy’ and ‘neutrality’ vary individually and contextually. Climate change is often approached as a scientific issue, focusing on private sphere actions, neglecting critical discussions, and hampering transformative learning. These findings highlight the importance of recognizing diverse perspectives in addressing controversial aspects – with implications for teacher education.