Practice In Initial Teacher Education Research Articles

Reframing British history: teacher education after Black Lives Matter

ABSTRACT The Covid-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter protests have given renewed impetus to campaigns against racial inequality. In education, the issue of curriculum – and particularly the history curriculum – has been at the centre of campaigns to “decolonise the curriculum”. While barriers to the teaching of “diverse” British histories in England’s classrooms have long been recognised, relatively little research has been done on the crucial role of history teacher educators and teacher training in developing a diverse profession, practice, and curriculum. This paper seeks to address these gaps through analysis of interviews with history teacher educators, trainee history teachers and key stakeholders. In particular, it explores the responses of history teacher educators to recent calls for curriculum reform, charts how these demands for change have influenced thinking and practice in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in history and identifies ongoing challenges to the development of more inclusive curriculum and pedagogic practice.

Supervised Teaching Practice in Initial Teacher Education of Early Childhood Teachers in Portugal

Supervised Teaching Practice in Initial Teacher Education of Early Childhood Teachers in Portugal

Online Instrumental Orchestration: perspectives for the initial education of pre-service mathematics teachers in the context of the supervised teaching practice

The role of the supervised teaching practice in initial teacher education has been the focus of investigations in the area of mathematics education due to the emergence, in this scenario, of theoretical and practical knowledge for the professional performance of pre-service mathematics teachers. In this article, we aim to discuss the use of the notion of (online) instrumental orchestration as a theoretical-methodological proposal for the development of classes in the context of a supervised teaching practice. For this purpose, we present the components of instrumental orchestration, linking the theoretical and practical dimensions, to illustrate the data produced from the implementation of orchestrations by a pre-service mathematics teacher under the supervision of a teacher-supervisor, in an online class with students in the 6 th grade of elementary school at a federal public school. Among the results, we highlight the didactical configurations, the exploitation modes, and the didactical performances around using a digital artifact which made it possible to perform interactive simulations for the study of the equality relations, through collective work, in the remote teaching modality, between the participants of the research. In short, we found the importance of systematically planning the arrangement of the teaching environment for online classes in the context of supervised teaching practice.

Career-changers’ technology integration beliefs and practice in initial teacher education: A summative cross-case analysis

Fundamental to career-changers’ successful transition into teaching is the design and delivery of post-graduate initial teacher education (ITE) programs. Career-changers enter teaching eager to share applied knowledge from prior occupations; however, support during ITE to facilitate the inclusion of these skills into teaching is often lacking. This study explored this phenomenon from a technology perspective and presents the outcomes of a cross-case analysis of four pre-service career-changers from an Australian university during ITE. Results indicated career-changers perceived their capacity to link existing technology skills to curricula depended on modelling and mentoring of technology integration during ITE subjects and school placements. School cultures combined with IT infrastructures also reportedly impacted technology practice. Recommendations to better support career-changers during ITE are discussed.

Synergistic co-teaching: Surfacing the invisible flows of dramaturgy in practice in initial teacher education

Global disruptions in higher education provide further impetus to recent calls for fundamental changes in initial teacher education (ITE) curricula and pedagogies. This video-based Interactional Ethnography of on-campus co-teaching practices aims to surface the ‘invisible flows’ of co-teaching as social interaction. The micro-etnhographic discourse analysis of four interaction units across a 2-hour teaching session and a video stimulated recall interview revealed that the co-teachers used intertextual references to signal shared understandings while engaging their ITE students in preparation for a Capstone assessment. Drawing on Goffman's (1959) seminal work in dramaturgical sociology, the joint close micro-analyses of classroom talk, actions, disciplinary expertise and professional histories made transparent how, as a team, the co-teachers relied on their bond of reciprocal dependence and familiarity to gain intersubjectivity. When a disruption arose, they synergistically demonstrated the defensive attributes and practices of a dramaturgical team constitutive of circumspection, discipline, and loyalty as they (re) formulated their planned lesson and co-operatively maintained their common learning goals. This process enabled them to demonstrate a different type of co-teaching pedagogical practice, which we propose as synergistic co-teaching . • Adopts Interactional Ethnography to study co-teaching in Initial Teacher Education • Revisits Goffman's (1959) dramaturgical sociology, teamwork and intersubjectivity • Proposes ‘synergistic co-teaching' as an extension of existing types of co-teaching • Reflects on the affordances of video analysis in studying teaching-learning in-situ

Shifting the Delivery but Keeping the Focus: A Reflection on Ensuring Quality Teacher Preparation during a Pandemic

There is a strong focus to connect theory with practice in initial teacher education (ITE). This discussion paper explores how we shifted teaching modes and assessment tasks in light of the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) when digital technologies were unexpectedly catapulted to the main delivery mode for the preparation of future teachers. During this time, connecting theory to authentic practice became a complicated issue. Globally, teacher educators were faced with the challenge of providing authentic learning opportunities for ITE without the ability to be physically present in school and classroom environments. Tertiary institutions were swiftly and unprecedently required to re-think and re-imagine their pedagogical practices. This change affected the self-efficacy and confidence of many academics who were underprepared for this major shift in teaching as they created, transitioned and implemented online material for their students under strict timelines. Our reflections in this paper present a guide and example for others to follow.

RETRACTED ARTICLE: How do EFL in-service teachers reflect on their critical incidents? The case of Iranian teachers

Statement of Retraction We, the Editors and Publisher of the Journal of Reflective Practice: International and Multidisciplinary Perspectives, have retracted the following article: Haideh Molani, Mohammad Hosssein Yousefi & Farzad Rostami (April 2021). How do EFL in-service teachers reflect on their critical incidents? The case of Iranian teachers, Reflective Practice, 22(4), https://doi.org/10.1080/14623943.2021.1913578 Since publication, it has been brought to our attention that this article has substantial overlap, with the article(s) listed below: Mahmood Reza Atai and Hassan Nejadghanbar, (March 2016). Unpacking in-service EFL Teachers’ Critical Incidents: The Case of Iran, RELC Journal, 47(1). Link: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0033688216631177 Oliver McGarr and Orla McCormack, (July 2015). Counterfactual mutation of critical classroom incidents: implications for reflective practice in initial teacher education, European Journal of Teacher Education, 39(1), 36-52. Link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02619768.2015.1066329?journalCode=cete20 Monique M.J. Engelbertink, Jordi Colomer, Kariene M. Woudt- Mittendorff, Ángel Alsina, Saskia M. Kelders, Sara Ayllón & Gerben J. Westerhof, (2021). The reflection level and the construction of professional identity of university students, Reflective Practice, 22(1), 73-85. Link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/14623943.2020.1835632?needAccess=true As this represents a serious breach of publishing ethics and of warranties made by the author with respect to originality and provenance, we are retracting the article from the journal. The authors do not agree with the retraction. We have been informed in our decision-making by our policy on publishing ethics and integrity and the COPE guidelines on retractions. The retracted article will remain online to maintain the scholarly record, but it will be digitally watermarked on each page as ‘Retracted’.

Diffraction as an otherwise practice of exploring new teachers’ entanglements in time and space

ABSTRACT In this paper, I propose shifts in perspective and practice in initial teacher education from the reflective to the diffractive practitioner as a productive way of supporting new teachers to prepare for the complex and non-linear nature of teaching. The reflective practitioner is a figure deeply embedded in humanist and anthropocentric discourses, aligned to standardised outcomes. Accordingly, reflection risks being a fixed, technical exercise that is predominantly cognitive and linear, ignoring the complex, uncertain and affective ways of knowing that emerge within teaching encounters. Here, I use theories from posthumanism to suggest diffraction as an otherwise means to explore teaching as non-linear and materially and affectively entangled through time and space, in ways that are attentive to difference and the complex world-making of education as an ethically engaged practice. In refusing simplistic, reductionist narratives about teaching, about ‘what works’ and about what it means to ‘be’ a teacher, diffractive practices are responsive to contemporary educational landscapes. I offer an example of thinking and practising diffractively, drawing on data from a creative collaging workshop for new teachers to illustrate how reconfiguration of spatial temporalities and an attention to entanglements in teaching encounters can offer generative ways to think about professional practice.

Mathematical knowledge and overall practice in initial teacher education of early childhood teachers

ABSTRACT This paper presents an instrumental multiple-case study composed of two representative cases selected from a Mathematics Initial Teacher Education course. Data collected include concept maps, classroom observations, and interviews, which were analysed quantitatively and qualitatively. Differences in knowledge and practices were compared between pre-service early childhood teachers: one with greater content and pedagogical knowledge, and appropriate teaching practices; and another, with insufficient content and pedagogical knowledge, and repetitive mathematics activities. Findings from these two cases indicate a relationship among content, pedagogical knowledge, and good practice; and thus, support the existence of a dialogical and integrative relationship between knowledge and practice in teaching. Accordingly, the teacher practice dimension from the Mathematics Teaching Capability framework should play an important role in the initial teacher education of early childhood teachers.

Developing Professional Identity and Ethos through Research and Practice in Initial Teacher Education: The USW ITE Partnership Approach

Reform of the education sector in Wales has given university-school partnerships of Initial Teacher Education (ITE) in Wales much to grapple with conceptually and practically, in order to design new programmes of ITE that can attract national-level accreditation in line with the recommendations made by Professor John Furlong in 2015. These reforms have required a system-wide rethink of ITE, based on a philosophy for new provision. This article outlines an approach to ITE inspired by the work of Lee Shulman (2005) who argued that teacher education should prioritise the acquisition of three habits, corresponding to the 'what' the 'so what' and finally the 'who' of teaching, namely an understanding of one's professional identity, ethos and character. We describe a pedagogical model for embedding these principles in ITE, based on the work of Parker, Patton and O'Sullivan (2016). Finally, we consider the implications for mentors and lecturers, noting in particular the need to see all members of the ITE partnership as learners, both to ensure effective role models for beginning teachers, and also to remain faithful to the principle laid down in social development theory (Vygotsky, 1978) that learning is interactive and symbiotic.

Final Year Preservice Teachers' Views of Professional Experience in Partnership Schools

This study investigated the perspectives of preservice teachers’ (PSTs) on their final year placements in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs offered at Deakin University, Victoria, Australia. It compared the views of PSTs in two placement models; the Alliance school (partnership)and non-Alliance school (or conventional) models. The Alliance model draws on Activity Theory (Engeström, 2015) to strengthen the links between theory and practice in ITE, providing additional support during school placements through an ‘in situ’ boundary crosser. These boundary crossers use an Assessment Circle process that supports professional conversations about teaching and learning. A mixed method approach has been used to compare the reported experiences of final year PSTs who completed placements in an Alliance partnership schools or a non-Alliance schools. Findings indicate significant differences in the experiences of the two cohorts of PSTs in relation to perceived levels of support and their understanding of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (AITSL, 2011).

Wilding pedagogy in an unexpected landscape: reflections and possibilities in initial teacher education

This article stems from our participation in the Wild Pedagogies colloquium on Tasmania’s Franklin River in December 2017. The two authors embarked on the 10-day rafting trip with a group of nine other educators and academics from Australia, Canada and England, engaging in extensive conversations about wild pedagogy principles in education. Conceived and developed by some of the Franklin river participants on earlier colloquiums in North America and Scotland, wild pedagogy thinking and practice is constituted by six key touchstones, including: (1) agency and the role of nature as co-teacher; (2) wildness and challenging ideas of control; (3) complexity, the unknown, and spontaneity; (4) locating the wild; (5) time and practice; and (6) cultural change. The touchstones framed our group’s discussions pre-, during and post-colloquium. Drawing on the colloquium’s conversations and engaging with a number of the main touchstone ideas post-colloquium, in this paper the teacher educator authors use two distinct case studies (regional and online contexts) to locate the wild within their initial teacher education practice. They do this by initially making links between current teacher education practice and the touchstone ideas, before re-engaging with the touchstones to collaboratively envisage future wilding possibilities. In conclusion the authors advance the touchstone ideas as particularly relevant to those teacher educators seeking to wild their teaching practice in challenging times.

Developing research-informed practice in initial teacher education through school-university partnering

ABSTRACTThere is limited research investigating models of partnering between University and Schools in initial teacher education (ITE). This project investigated, over a 10 year period, how student teachers in an English University on a one year course, draw on theoretical models, introduced in university sessions, when planning for a ‘creative week’ placement in schools. Working within an interpretivist paradigm drawing on data from 52 student teachers, 10 teachers and 50 children this case study explored a model of teacher education provision. Findings illuminated factors that inhibited student teachers from planning engaging lessons, which challenged their learners, including poor relationships between stakeholders, misunderstandings of the purpose of the placement and under developed knowledge and understandings of how to successfully draw on theoretical models to enhance learning, together with the challenges of limited time during a one year course. Findings also uncovered the extent to which student teachers were ‘allowed’ by some teachers, but not by others, to take risks in their practice, and the impact this has on student teachers’ sense of autonomy and confidence. Implications of the research demonstrate how findings can impact on ITE course design and partnering models between University and schools.

Relaciones entre teoría y práctica en la formación inicial. Percepciones de formadores y estudiantes del Grado de Maestro en Educación primaria

<p> </p><p> </p><p>El propósito básico de este artículo es el de explorar las relaciones teoría y práctica en la formación inicial del Grado de Maestro en Educación primaria de la Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (USC). El trabajo forma parte de un proyecto de investigación más amplio que se propuso identificar, analizar e interpretar las percepciones de futuros profesores y sus formadores sobre los conocimientos que están construyendo en el desarrollo del Plan de estudios del Grado de Maestro en Educación Primaria y la contribución de estos a configurar una identidad profesional determinada. Con un enfoque metodológico cualitativo se utilizó análisis documental, relatos, grupos de discusión y entrevistas a profesorado, coordinadores de titulación, decanos, estudiantes y tutores/as de Practicum durante el periodo 2013/2016. Para su análisis se ha empleado una categorización deductiva-inducti-<br />va llevada a cabo con el apoyo del soporte<br />informático Atlas.ti.<br />El análisis e interpretación de los datos<br />evidencia un modelo de separación teoría<br />y práctica en el que la teoría precede a<br />la práctica y ésta es comprendida como<br />aplicación de la teoría. Una situación que<br />genera tensiones e insatisfacción entre<br />formadores –profesores y tutores- y es-<br />tudiantes, pero también la búsqueda de<br />estrategias alternativas para la co-implica-<br />ción deseable entre ambos tipos de sabe-<br />res. Sin embargo, los obstáculos son más<br />poderosos que los deseos de cambiar una<br />realidad socialmente construida en la que<br />el juego dialéctico, bidireccional, se cons-<br />tituya en principio para la acción.</p>

On constructs and the construction of teachers’ professional knowledge in a post-Soviet context

This paper examines the understandings (‘constructs’) of teachers’ professional knowledge and its sources that underpin current practice in initial teacher education in Kazakhstan and in particular the way in which pedagogika contributes to these. Drawing on empirical data collected over four years, the paper illustrates the ways in which professional knowledge and professional preparation of teachers in pre-service institutions are constructed within the Kazakh and Soviet pedagogical traditions, albeit with some reference to international scholars. Teachers’ professional knowledge is formed from pedagogic theory mediated by academic staff in what is seen by many from outside and inside the country who are engaged in educational ‘reform’ in Kazakhstan as a largely didactic style with little or no critical engagement or exploration of the implications for practice. This stands in contrast with two recent professional development programmes: the Collaborative Action Research and Center of Excellence, which are focused on interactive learning and teaching, reflective practice, classroom action research, and teachers’ collaboration as sources for teachers’ professional knowledge. This paper highlights this contrast and begins to explore what happens when these two different approaches to the construction of teachers’ professional knowledge encounter each other.

Student teachers' perceptions of poverty and educational achievement

This paper reports on a mixed methods study carried out within the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programme at the University of Oxford on the ways that the course sought to frame and address the link between poverty and poorer educational outcomes. The study was concerned with the views held by ITE students on the effects of poverty on pupils' learning, well-being, and educational achievement. The paper initially explores why these questions are important, how they are framed internationally, and how they relate to current education policy, particularly in England. Data were collected from student teacher pre- and post-PGCE course questionnaires and a focus group discussion. The findings showed a tendency for student teachers to associate low achievement more strongly with family and cultural factors than with socio-economic or school factors, although there was some evidence that the thinking of some students changed during their programme. Implications for policy and practice in ITE are discussed with a view to ensuring that the social justice commitments espoused by many such courses are actually enabled more effectively to influence the learning experiences of beginning teachers.

R-NEST: Design-based research for technology-enhanced reflective practice in initial teacher education

This paper reports research into developing digital storytelling (DST) to enhance reflection within a specific professional learning context – that of a programme of teacher education - while concomitantly producing a transferrable design framework for adaption into other, similar post-secondary educational contexts. There has been limited substantive, evaluative design-based research investigating empirically the potential of digital storytelling for reflection in professional, post-secondary education. Consequently, there has also been a lack of robust and reusable models to guide and inform design-based research in this context. This paper illustrates the development of a repeated study, undertaken on a longitudinal basis, over 3 years, and on a large scale, involving 323 pre-service teachers. The design-based research developed at the three key stages along the triadic spectrum of maturity: from (1) analysis and exploration, through (2) design and construction, to (3) evaluation and reflection (Kopcha, Schmidt, & McKenney, 2015).The innovation reported here is now a mature intervention, constituting a core part of the professional educational formation of pre-service teachers within a two-year, graduate teacher education programme. Further, the R-NEST design framework, which emerged from this longitudinal design-based research, enumerates key criteria and principles for designing, implementing and evaluating DST to enhance reflective practice in post-secondary professional education.

Counterfactual mutation of critical classroom incidents: implications for reflective practice in initial teacher education

This study explores reflective practice through the lens of counterfactual thinking and examines its role in encouraging student teachers to reflect on negative ‘critical incidents’. The study posits that reflections on critical incidents are often not ‘critical’ in nature. They more frequently result in counterfactual thinking processes which leads to a counterfactually mutated outcome congruent with one’s initial beliefs. To explore this issue, the study examined a collection of school placement reflections (n = 180) from a cohort of initial teacher education students on a 4-year B.Ed programme in the Republic of Ireland. The data revealed that, where present in the student teachers’ reflections, critical incidents of a negative nature did invoke counterfactual thinking. These counterfactually mutated scenarios and actions tended to draw on quite traditional views of teaching and tended to reinforce the idea that teachers should be authority figures. The study discusses some of the factors, specific to teacher education, that increase the likelihood that counterfactually thinking is invoked and raises questions about current practice in teacher education that contribute to this.

Discovering and developing student teachers' practical teaching theory -- writing logs as a tool?

This paper explores how writing logs sustain student teachers’ professional development. This is done through analysis of logs written during field practice in initial teacher education. The reason for writing and sharing these logs with fellow student teachers and mentors is embedded in theories of writing to learn, following Vygotsky and Bakhtin. Sociocultural theory also guides the research process. The study is designed as a qualitative case study. Data is collected from nine student teachers’ logs over a period of one and a half years. The paper presents findings from the initial phase of a content analysis showing thematic breadth and presence of traces of learning theory and traces of pedagogical content knowledge. The examples presented indicate the potential logs have as rich texts representing a dialogue and a bridge between theory and practice.

Discovering and developing student teachers' practical teaching theory -- writing logs as a tool?

This paper explores how writing logs sustain student teachers’ professional development. This is done through analysis of logs written during field practice in initial teacher education. The reason for writing and sharing these logs with fellow student teachers and mentors is embedded in theories of writing to learn, following Vygotsky and Bakhtin. Sociocultural theory also guides the research process. The study is designed as a qualitative case study. Data is collected from nine student teachers’ logs over a period of one and a half years. The paper presents findings from the initial phase of a content analysis showing thematic breadth and presence of traces of learning theory and traces of pedagogical content knowledge. The examples presented indicate the potential logs have as rich texts representing a dialogue and a bridge between theory and practice.