Preservice Teacher Preparation Research Articles

The effects of an early childhood-elementary teacher preparation program in STEM on pre-service teachers

The increasing interest in early and elementary STEM education comes with a need to increase training and support for teachers of children in the early grades. Early and elementary pre-service teacher preparation in science, math, and integrated STEM can play a critical role in enhancing teachers’ self-efficacy and pedagogical content knowledge in these areas. However, few quantitative research studies have been published on this topic, especially involving early childhood and elementary programs. Because few STEM courses are typically offered in these programs, we need courses and experiences that can be transformational. This study evaluates the short- and long-term impacts on pre-service teachers who participated in our STEM Collaboration approach (n=164), which was created to meet this goal through an innovative early childhood and elementary collaboration. Analyses of mixed methods data collected from surveys, tests, open-ended feedback, and a focus group revealed immediate, long-term, and positive impacts on science, math, and integrated STEM self-efficacy and pedagogical content knowledge. Participation in STEM education experiences in pre-service programs that include innovations such as collaboration across colleges and professionalization opportunities made a difference, and one that persisted.

Supporting the inclusion and retention of autistic students: Exploring teachers' and paraeducators' use of evidence-based practices in public elementary schools.

Educators in public schools are required to serve students in their least restrictive environment. While many evidence-based practices (EBPs), defined as practices and strategies shown by research to have meaningful effectson outcomes for autistic students are documented in the literature, less is known about EBP use among educators in public schools. Eighty-six general and special education teachers and para educators completed a survey about familiarity, training, and EBP use for included autistic children. Across roles, educators reported familiarity (98.8%), use (97.7%), and training (83.7%) in reinforcement. They reported the least familiarity with behavioral momentum (29.1%), training in both video modeling and peer-mediated instruction and intervention (18.6%), and use of video modeling (14.0%). Follow-up interviews (n = 80) highlighted mixed understanding of EBP definitions and use. Implications for inclusive education are discussed including autism-specific EBP training within pre-service teacher preparation programs.

Pedagogical adaptability as an essential capacity: reflective practice of applying theory to practice among first-year early childhood teachers during remote instruction

ABSTRACT Situated within the theoretical framework of reflective practice, this phenomenological study investigated how early childhood teachers reflected on the ways in which they were able or unable to engage in developmentally appropriate practices during the first four months of the 2020–2021 school year in the context of COVID-19-induced remote instruction. The participants were nine first-year early childhood teachers (teaching preschool to third grade) in a northeastern state of the United States. These teachers (ages 22–32 years, M= 28 years) were all females, consisting of five Hispanics, two Caucasians, one Black, and one Mexican. Except for one Caucasian teacher educating all Caucasian children from affluent backgrounds, the other eight teachers were teaching children from mostly ethnic/racial minority and low-income backgrounds. The data were collected from interviewing each teacher virtually via Zoom for 1.5 hours. A thematic analysis of the data was conducted. The findings revealed four salient themes: (1) theory-practice consonance, (2) theory-practice dissonance, (3) pedagogical challenges due to contextual constraints, and (4) pedagogical adaptability emanating from reflective practice. Collectively, the affordances and constraints engendered by the remote environment seemingly created both a fluid and a constricted space for the teachers to apply theory (e.g., developmentally appropriate practice) to practice. The findings of this study yielded important implications for preparing preservice teachers in teacher education programs and supporting in-service teachers in professional development activities.

Exploring the Effects of Team-Based Learning in a Preservice Reading Methods Course

Teacher educators are tasked with preparing preservice teachers with both the content and pedagogical knowledge and skills to teach children to read. In this study we investigated the use of team-based learning (TBL) in a reading methods course as a framework for improving student learning outcomes. TBL is an instructional approach that has been used across a variety of fields in higher education but has only recently made its way into teacher preparation programs. Using mixed methods, we compared TBL to the traditional lecture to explore whether participation in TBL affected preservice elementary teachers’ level of preparation for class, achievement of learning outcomes, and perceptions of TBL. Results showed no statistically significant differences in preparation or learning outcomes. Overall, preservice teachers reported that they liked several TBL components. Further research is required to determine whether TBL has an impact on learning outcomes after a longer period of implementation, over time, and/or on teaching behaviors.

Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Early Childhood Education Pre-Service Teachers in Teaching Psychosocial Skills Across the Kindergarten Curriculum In The Volta Region, Ghana

The purpose of this study was to examine pre-service early childhood educators pedagogical content knowledge in teaching psychosocial skills across the kindergarten curriculum in the Volta Region of Ghana. Descriptive survey design was used for the study. A mixed method approach was adopted. Purposive sampling was used to select 4 colleges out of seven colleges in the 18 districts for the study to avoid selecting a college that do not pursue B.ed in early childhood education. Sample of 140 final year pre-service teachers pursuing a degree in early childhood education in colleges in Ghana, who have completed their macro teaching practice programme was employed using census and simple random sampling. Questionnaires were administered after which ten were reselected for the interview session. Data was analysed using means, standard deviation and narratives. The study revealed that pre-service teachers had enough knowledge to achieve two goals of the curriculum and also not much attention has been given to psychosocial skills of the kindergarten curriculum during the preparation of pre-service teachers. Pre-service teachers also had enough knowledge in the use of observation and conversation among others. A thorough examination of the kindergarten curriculum by pre-service teachers during supported teaching in schools and macro teaching practice before getting into the teaching field was recommended.

Integrating Computing into Preservice Teacher Preparation Programs across the Core: Language, Mathematics, and Science

This paper describes the beginning of a design-based research project for integrating computing activities in preservice teacher programs throughout a middle and secondary education department. Computing integration activities use computing tools, like programming, to support learning in non-computing disciplines. The paper begins with the motivation for integrating computing that encouraged widespread buy-in, design goals, and design parameters. The primary motivating factor for this work was preparing teachers to use technology to support learning in their classrooms. Involving computing education faculty in the preparation enabled the activities to include computer science and spread computational literacy. The paper also describes the process and year-long timeline for designing and implementing the integrations, followed by the details of the computing integrated activities. Last, the paper describes preservice teachers’ reactions to computing integration, focusing on before-and-after perceptions and knowledge of computing. Preservice teachers perceptions and knowledge of computing evolved similarly to teachers who engage in different approaches to learning about integrated computing, such as in elective or educational technology courses, suggesting that this approach is effective for engaging all teachers in integrating computing. In particular, the common feature that ignited teachers’ excitement about integrating computing was offering new opportunities to improve student learning and providing engaging activities within their non-computing discipline.

Assessing effectiveness of teaching practice towards quality preparation of preservice technical teachers

The study assesses effectiveness of teaching practice towards quality preparation of preservice technical teachers for the world of work considering support received from cooperating teachers vis-à-vis: planning/development of lessons, classroom management/control, professional personality/responsibility, teaching skills, number of periods and challenges confronting preservice teachers, were investigated. The study adopted a descriptive survey research design. Data were obtained using a structured questionnaire from the sample of 82 preservice technical teachers. The collected data were analyzed using mean, standard deviation, independent sample t-test and ANOVA to test hypotheses at 0.05% level of significance. The study found that supports and training have positive impacts on preservice technical teachers with vis-a-vis training domains towards quality preparation. However, the study shows that gender and school type does not influence preservice technical teachers’ perception regards to support and training. Consequently, the study recommended that schools administrators and cooperating teachers should increase acceptability and guidance of preservice teachers, work out modalities with institutions to ensure quality preparation of teachers for the world of work, challenges identified should be taken care of to improve preservice teachers’ competence

Teacher Educator Reflections on Preparing First Year Pre-Service Teachers for School-Based Work Integrated Learning in An Online Learning Environment

Due to the COVID 19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, higher education institutions were forced to embark on online teaching and learning. This came at a point where the entire teacher fraternity was not prepared for this shift from traditional face-to-face interaction to virtual learning. This qualitative, exploratory study was undertaken as a comparative analysis of the teaching, learning and facilitation experiences of three Teacher Educators. The focus was on teacher educators who engaged in a formal online teacher training program with first year pre-service teachers enrolled on the Bachelor of Education qualification. Data was collected from the Teacher Educators in the form of interviews and reflective reports prepared at the conclusion of the 2021 academic year. The data was thematically analysed to distil common lessons, challenges and points for the 3 Teacher Educators with the intention of learning from and improving on practice. The paper addressed three research questions which guided the study and presents the researchers findings in the areas of student access to the learning platform; knowledge transfer from online lectures to practical application in the form of portfolio of evidence and the alignment between theory and practice. Recommendations include using a hybrid approach to preservice teacher preparation; using formative and summative assessment in making a judgement on competence and mastery and re-focussing student feedback as reflective essays.

Preparing Preservice Teachers by Building Content and Pedagogical Knowledge of Integrating Technologies

After the declaration of Covid-19 outbreak in March 2020, the system of education changed from traditional field experiences to virtual environment of online learning. As per the need of time, this paper discusses the methods of online learning that learners and educators use to keep up with the flow of education. With the complete incorporation of technology in the educating system, the challenges and training support provided to preservice and in-service teachers is the vital essence to deliver beneficial impacts. However, delivering education with proper expertise in specialized software such as Google Classrooms, Zoom, TV school, online portals, Microsoft teams, and different social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Youtube, also requires learning materials to excel in terms of quality and accessibility. Hence, preservice teachers are being assisted by online forums, webinars, courses, and even degree programs to learn and develop their careers in a virtual context to prepare for their futures. Current research was conducted with over forty preservice teacher respondents which was consistent with a previous study of over one hundred pre service teacher participants. This article aims to highlight the current pandemic scenario and its impacts on the educational sector in the preservice teacher education programs and to discuss methods and measures currently in use to promote the technological way of learning and how the trainers are affected by it.

Preservice Teacher Preparation for Second Language Writing Instruction: A Content Analysis

Writing assessments in the United States show that young emergent bilinguals perform significantly below their English-only peers. Researchers have attributed this to underprepared teachers resulting from the lack of second language (L2) writing preparation in teacher education programs (TEPs). This study examines the positioning of writing within early childhood and elementary English as a Second Language (ESL) coursework in TEPs across the United States. Course titles and descriptions of all ESL coursework within public universities across the country were evaluated and used as an indicator of the overall focus of the course. Of the 398 ESL courses identified, only three included the word writing in the titles, and 47 included writing in the descriptions. When included, writing was typically only referenced alongside other linguistic domains (speaking, reading, and listening). This content analysis is intended as a call for action for teacher educators about preparing preservice teachers for L2 writing instruction.

Developing a socially-just teaching personal and social responsibility (TPSR) approach: a pedagogy for social justice for physical education (teacher education)

ABSTRACT Background Social justice as a concept and a pedagogy has (and is) gaining traction in physical education teacher education [Walton-Fisette, J. L., and S. Sutherland. 2018. “Moving Forward with Social Justice Education in Physical Education Teacher Education”. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy 23 (5): 461–468] and school physical education [Philpot, R., G. Gerdin, W. Smith, S. Linnér, K. Schenker, K. Westlie, K. M. Moen, and L. Larsson. 2021. “Taking Action for Social Justice in HPE Classrooms Through Explicit Critical Pedagogies.” Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy 26 (6): 662–674]. Despite this growing body of research, there seems to be a lack of understanding around the ‘how’ question; ‘how’ can we teach about, through, and for social justice (pedagogies) in PETE (in preparing pre-service teachers) and in school physical education? Reflecting on a number of papers as part of a Special Issue in Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, [Flory, S. B., and D. Landi. 2020. “Equity and Diversity in Health, Physical Activity, and Education: Connecting the Past, Mapping the Present, and Exploring the Future.” Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy 25 (3): 213–224, 221] suggest the need to re-think and re-imagine physical education curriculum, practice and policy by making new connections and relationships between models-based practices and sociocultural theories. Purpose Guided by asking ‘What is worth doing?’ and ‘Is it working?’ [Hellison, D. 2011. Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility Through Physical Activity. 3rd ed. Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics], we explore, re-conceptualise, and re-imagine the Teaching Personal and Social Responsibility (TPSR) model as an approach to teach about, through, and for social justice (pedagogies). Discussion A Figure, consisting of three strands, was constructed to visualise the socially-just TPSR approach. As part of this, we have reconceptualised the TPSR levels to ‘spaces’. As spaces, students can start in different (and multiple) spaces and move between spaces throughout the lesson. The first two strands of the Figure (social justice topic and the TPSR spaces) inform the pedagogical approaches (strand three) and the pedagogical approaches are underpinned by the teaching about (social justice topic – strand one) and through (TPSR spaces – strand two) social justice. The alignment of the three strands can therefore lead to meaningful, informed, and socially-just learning experiences. Conclusion The need for social justice education is clear. And yet, teachers and teacher educators remain uncertain about how to implement social justice content and pedagogies into physical education contexts such as the field and gymnasium. Honouring Hellison’s forty years of (re)developing the theory of TPSR based on what is learned in practice, we suggest this socially-just TPSR approach may open possibilities and potentialities in which educators (i.e. teacher educators, in-service teachers, and pre-service teachers) can learn to teach about, through and for social justice (pedagogies). We have used the litmus test of ‘What is worth doing?’ to guide us. We truly believe providing educators with a socially-just TPSR approach which may enhance the teaching about, through, and for social justice (pedagogies) is worth doing.

Teacher educators’ knowledge about diversity: what enables and constrains their teaching decisions?

ABSTRACT Internationally and in Australia, there is growing evidence that graduate teachers feel under prepared to teach diverse groups of children. This study, using a social lab and drawing on theories from Archer and Foucault examined Australian teacher educators’ views on knowledge about diversity and the enabling and constraining factors that influenced their teaching around diversity in their universities. Eleven discourses emerged, revealing knowledge associated with teaching about and to diversity, rather than teaching for diversity. The authors argue that all three facets are necessary for thorough preparation of preservice teachers for today’s diverse classrooms.

INTERNATIONAL PRACTICUM: SUPERVISORS’ AND COORDINATORS’ PERCEPTIONS OF INTERCULTURAL KNOWLEDGE

This study, which is part of a larger research, focuses on exploring intercultural knowledge perceived by Thai tertiary supervisors and coordinators. In an international practicum context. Based on in-depth interviews, the results indicate that both supervisors and coordinators emphasized the role of intercultural knowledge in facilitating preservice teachers’ and interns’ cultural adaptation and implementation of their professional duties. The study also highlighted various suggestions made by supervisors and coordinators regarding the preparation of preservice teachers and interns for their placements in cross-cultural settings.

Views across the boundary: School-based co-teachers experiences with co-teaching in initial teacher education

School and university partnerships are widely promoted as an effective means to support the preparation of pre-service teachers (PSTs). However, these partnerships are rarely conceived with practicing teachers working in a university context as co-teachers with university teacher educators. School-based co-teachers (SBCTs) (practicing teachers who contribute to Initial Teacher Education (ITE) by teaching alongside university-based teacher educators) contribute to ITE through their support for curriculum and assessment development, providing opportunities for observation and experiences in schools, and teaching with university teacher educators. However, the role of a SBCT requires some careful navigation and negotiation of the educational spaces that a SBCT must cross as they teach in university classrooms and foster a co-teaching relationship. This research articulates the process of boundary crossing that four SBCTs undertook as they supported the development of pre-service science teachers. Boundaries exist between the practices and perspectives of teaching school science students and teaching science PSTs at university. Data were collected from four SBCTs across one academic year, including an initial survey at the beginning of the year, an interview at the end of the year, and documentation from co-teaching meetings across the year. An inductive thematic approach was taken to analyze the data. Five themes were identified that describe the ways SBCTs viewed their role as a co-teacher and their associated learning in this role. Drawing on literature around boundary-crossing dialogical learning mechanisms, the themes are described with illustrative excerpts to represent the range of SBCTs experiences. Our data indicates that SBCTs found many opportunities to share their wealth of knowledge and experience with pre-service science teachers but also identified, and often sought out, opportunities to professionally learn and grow. Findings include the importance of sharing aims and purposes to understand the context and the generation of shared knowledge through peer reflection on teaching. This article offers insights to others who are looking to form and sustain productive relationships with SBCTs to support learning for PSTs in ITE courses.

Student teachers’ perceptions of motivation, independence, and supervision preferences: An exploratory study

The student teaching experience is one of the most impactful capstone experiences for the preparation of preservice teachers. The supervisor, either a cooperating teacher or university supervisor, plays a critically important role in the student teaching experience. The purpose of this study was to explore preservice teachers' perceived motivation and independence throughout their student teaching experience. It is recommended that early in the student teaching experience, a directive supervision style should be utilized. Then, as motivation starts to decline in the middle of the student teaching experience, the focus of supervision should shift to providing moral support and encouraging commitment to the profession of teaching. Recommendations for future research include replication of this study with future cohorts of student teachers across multiple institutions so data trends can be analyzed longitudinally. Additionally, it is recommended that future iterations of this study should administer a post-then version of the quantitative plotting instrument to control response shift bias.

Omani EFL Teachers Engagement in Action Research: Challenges & Opportunities

Action research engages practitioners in rigorous cycles of planning, observation, action and reflection, which can lead to change in understandings and practice; so, they become reflective practitioners. Despite the importance of action research in informing classroom practice, the literature has shown that there are many challenges that hinder teachers from performing classroom research. This qualitative research study investigated Omani EFL teachers' experiences of participating in classroom action research and the challenges they face in doing research. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews with EFL teachers. 22 participants have been interviewed, out of whom were 18 English teachers and 4 Senior English teachers from 4 public schools in Oman. The findings revealed that some respondents participated in action research activities either as part of their pre-service teacher preparation programmes or through joining in-service action research courses after becoming practitioner teachers. However, they described their action research experience as difficult. The findings highlighted a number of challenges that hinder EFL teachers in Oman from doing action research such as, lack of knowledge, lack of time and lack of interest. The findings suggest that educational policy makers in Oman should create a research culture in schools, and provide incentives for teachers who participate in research activities. Moreover, there is a need to provide EFL teachers with the needed training on research so they become equipped with the knowledge and skills in doing research to improve the quality of teaching and learning in schools and create a community of teacher-researchers in Oman.

“I relate everything in my life to music”: How music pre-service teachers make sense of and envision using English language development standards

Content area teachers need specialized knowledge about language to teach a growing population of multilingual learners (MLs). This includes knowledge of English language development standards and how they can be applied to classroom instruction in each teacher's content area. Traditionally, the preparation of pre-service teachers (PSTs) for teaching MLs has revolved around core content areas (e.g., science, math). However, MLs’ learning takes places across a range of settings in K-12 schools, including in non-core content areas (e.g., music, art). This study investigated how music PSTs made sense of language, as represented in the latest English language development standards in U.S. K-12 education, by making connections to music. It also investigated how PSTs envisioned using the standards in their future music classrooms with MLs. Findings highlight the need to adopt an asset-based view of non-core PSTs as bringing rich disciplinary knowledge and experiences to their preparation for teaching MLs.

Combatting Disproportionality Before It Is Perpetuated: Initial Results of a Pre-Service Teacher Preparation Practice

Combatting Disproportionality Before It Is Perpetuated: Initial Results of a Pre-Service Teacher Preparation Practice

Exploring the sign language proficiency of university undergraduate students in a preservices preparation program for teachers of deaf students

ABSTRACT Communication through sign language is essential for teachers of deaf students. This study sought to assess and evaluate the sign language proficiency of preservice teachers of deaf students to help preservice teacher preparation program designers identify what aspects of sign language need to be focused on and provide recommendations to improve preservice teachers’ sign language levels. An exploratory research design was used through questionnaires distributed to a convenience sample. The research subjects were undergraduate female students (N = 36) enrolled in a Saudi Arabian university’s preservice preparation program for teachers of deaf students. This study’s results indicate that preservice teachers of deaf and hard of hearing students scored highly for lexical signs, on an average level for iconic lexical signs, but on a low level for the domain of arbitrary lexical signs. There was a significant effect of participants’ grade point averages (GPAs) on their overall sign language proficiency score. No significant effect of age, academic level, and the number of completed sign language training on overall sign language proficiency score was reported. This study’s outcomes show that preservice teachers’ sign language level needs to be improved and developed. Recommendations are presented for future research and preservice teacher preparation program designers to develop learners’ sign language skills.

Preferences, Substitutes, and Complements: Mapping the Relationship between Data Sources within Teachers’ Instructional Practice

ABSTRACT The extent to which teachers collect, interpret, and use information from multiple data sources is a key distinction between novice and expert data users. Understanding and exploring this dimension of teachers’ instructional decision making requires a shift in contemporary perspectives toward the interconnectedness of data sources within teachers’ practice of data use. In the present study, I develop and apply a conceptual framework for mapping the structure of connections between data sources within and across instructional practices. Findings indicate teachers typically use two to six data sources in the context of a given instructional practice, with considerable variation in the relationship between those data sources across instructional practices. Toward this end, the present study advances a typology for classifying teachers’ preference for, substitution between, and complementary use of data sources. Findings have implications for preservice teacher preparation, in-service teacher professional learning, and research perspectives on data use in education.