Secondary Teacher Preparation Research Articles

Preparation of secondary mainstream teachers to ensure equitable outcomes for English learners

Preparation of secondary mainstream teachers to ensure equitable outcomes for English learners

Making university mathematics matter for secondary teacher preparation

Internationally, questions about the perceived utility of university mathematics for teaching school mathematics pose an ongoing challenge for secondary mathematics teacher education. This special issue is dedicated to exploring this topic and related issues in the preparation of secondary mathematics teachers—by which we mean teachers of students with ages, approximately, of 12–18 years. This article introduces this theme and provides a semi-systematic survey of recent related literature, which we use to elaborate and situate important theoretical distinctions around the problems, challenges, and solutions of university mathematics in relation to teacher education. As part of the special issue, we have gathered articles from different countries that elaborate theoretical and empirical approaches, which, collectively, describe different ways to strengthen university mathematics with respect to the aims of secondary teacher education. This survey paper serves to lay out the theoretical groundwork for the collection of articles in the issue.

The Journey towards Inclusive and Equitable Education for Students with Disabilities in India

This article is a descriptive review of several policy documents initiated by the government of India regarding inclusive and equitable education for students with disabilities to bring them into the mainstream education system. India has one of the most progressive disability policy frameworks for educating students with disabilities among developing countries. Over the last three decades, the government of India is taking various initiatives and policy programme to promote inclusive and equitable education for students with disabilities. The most recent policy in India, the National Education Policy 2020, focuses on inclusive and equitable education for students with disabilities. Some other major initiatives focused on inclusive education for students with disabilities at different levels of education like Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), Inclusive Education of Children and Youth with Disabilities (IECYD), Rastriya Bal Swaasthya Karyakaram (RBSK), Inclusive Education of the Disabled at Secondary Stage (IEDSS) and Teacher Preparation in Special Education (TEPSE), Higher Education for Persons with Special Needs (HEPSN), etc. Despite all these policies, students with disabilities are facing various challenges in regular school. Therefore, India has to go a long way to achieve the goal of inclusive and equitable education for all, including students with disabilities.

Supporting the Development of Pre-service Teachers’ Pedagogical Knowledge about Planning for Practical Work

ABSTRACT Practical, or laboratory, work is a common pedagogical strategy used in school science classrooms, yet its effectiveness for enhancing student learning is contested. Developing teachers’ pedagogical knowledge about planning for practical work can improve its effectiveness by ensuring that tasks are well-conceived and effective for linking what students actually do in practical work with the concepts teachers intend them to learn. This paper reports findings from an intervention that aimed to develop pre-service teachers’ pedagogical knowledge about planning for practical work. The intervention took place during a 12-week secondary biology teacher preparation method unit over two consecutive years. The intervention introduced the problems associated with ineffective practical work then engaged pre-service teachers in recall, immersion, noticing, microteaching and reflection experiences designed to promote their pedagogical thinking about practical work. The effectiveness of the intervention was assessed using data collected from 76 student assignments and one focus group. Thematic data analysis used declarative and procedural knowledge as a theoretical lens to seek evidence of the development of preservice teachers’ pedagogical knowledge. The intervention was found to enhance the development of PST declarative knowledge about various aspects of planning, in particular by recognition of the complexity of planning for practical work, the need to link what students do with objects and the ideas the teacher intends students learn, and the value of reflective practice. Findings indicate more scaffolding is needed to support PSTs when developing procedural knowledge in relation to practical work.

All it Takes is One Click to Join Me on a "Meet": The Positive Impact of Technology on Peer Observations in the Virtual Learning Environment

Physically stepping foot into the middle and high school classroom is the opportunity teacher candidates (TCs) look most forward to as they enter their final year in our middle and secondary teacher preparation program. It is in this internship year when TCs practice the theory they have learned and start making their own pedagogical choices. The internship year and its experiences are recognized by AMLE Standard 1: “Middle level teacher candidates understand, use, and reflect on the major concepts, principles, theories, and research related to young adolescent development and use that knowledge in their practice” (AMLE, 2012). The question I faced with the arrival of COVID-19 and the shutdown of in person school this past spring and fall as a teacher educator (TE) was this: How will I be able to provide these valuable moments of professional growth for my TCs if they are not in the buildings? The following description presents fellow teacher educators with my response to this question. I describe the creation of virtual peer observation experiences and in-real-time peer coaching that occurred in the virtual internship. Additionally, I describe the impact this process had on virtual post-observation conferences. Keywords: Virtual, Peer Coaching, Teacher Candidate, Observation

Deconstructing health and physical education teacher education: a mapping and analysis of programme structure and content in Australia

ABSTRACT Background: In Australia, Initial Teacher Education Institutions (ITEIs) provide undergraduate Health and Physical (HPE) programmes that meet a number of regulatory requirements, including those of the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) and the Tertiary Education Quality and Standards Agency (TEQSA). In addition, ITEIs must also ensure programme alignment with state/territory-based jurisdictional requirements. While historically varied philosophies and practices have shaped HPE teacher education nationally, ITEIs are thus operating in an increasingly regulated environment. Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to report research that has critically examined the structure and content of ITEI undergraduate programmes in Australia that prepare teachers for HPE in secondary schools. Analysis at programme and unit levels was undertaken to explore programme variance, ITEI priorities and consideration of the implications that programme structure and content has for graduate secondary HPE teachers and their employers. The paper seeks to contribute to wider debates about the role of teacher education in shaping HPE curriculum futures and the challenges faced by ITEIs to navigate increasing government regulation. Methods: An audit and document analysis of 15 Australian ITEIs identified programme structures and specific units of study for the preparation of secondary HPE teachers. These programme structures were compared to those of an ITEI in Western Australia (WA), similarly preparing secondary teachers of HPE, and undertaking internal programme renewal. The WA ITEI’s programme nomenclature and elements therefore provided the reference point for analysis of variation across programmes nationally. Findings: Findings show that graduate secondary HPE teachers in Australia are variously prepared, with ITEI programme structures ranging in nomenclature, breadth of content, positioning of units and the amount and placement of school-based practicums. ITEIs variously meet state, territory and federal accountability and accreditation requirements in preparing secondary HPE teachers. Programme variations may mean that graduate secondary HPE teachers have differing perspectives on HPE curriculum and pedagogy. Schools employing graduate teachers cannot assume all graduate teachers have a common outlook on or backgrounds in HPE, while meeting the graduate standards. Conclusions: The significant variation between programme structure and content at the 15 ITEIs preparing teachers for HPE in secondary schools indicates that in a heavily regulated sector, ITEIs in Australia remain critical players in shaping HPE practices across Australian schools. Further research is needed to appropriately ascertain the impact of ITEI programme variation on HPE teachers’ values and professional practice.

Arts at the core: Considerations of cultural competence for secondary pre-service teachers in the age of Common Core and the Every Student Succeeds Act

ABSTRACT Arts integration is a transformative platform for teacher candidates to think, plan, and teach for understanding that extends beyond the curriculum. This qualitative content analysis explores what pre-service teachers learned about arts integration as a route to cultural competence. The researchers show how pre-service teachers’ experiences with arts integration shift their thinking about their future pedagogical practices. Using Culturally Relevant Pedagogy as a lens, the researchers analyzed written reflections from teacher candidates (n = 15), who experienced creative processes such as problem-solving and art-making in an Arts Integration course at the end of a secondary teacher preparation program. Teacher candidate reflections show a new consideration for a culturally relevant solution to an ongoing problem or perception; plans to relate and connect to students’ interest, perspectives, and ideas; and a focus on the barriers and benefits of creative and critical problem-solving in and through the arts. The paper concludes by suggesting an art-integration themed program in teacher education as well as art-based learning as a component of professional development for novice teachers.

Bringing a social semiotic perspective to secondary teacher education in the United States

Recent economic, demographic, and policy shifts in the United States are making EAP practice increasingly relevant to the preparation of secondary content-area teachers, particularly those serving students labeled English language learners (ELLs). This article describes how some teacher educators in the United States are using Hallidayan principles and practices like a model of text/context dynamics, the concepts of genre and register, functional metalanguage, and genre pedagogy to support secondary pre-service teachers in conceptualizing language teaching and learning in ways that better prepare them to teach ELLs in the content areas. Based on a mixed methods study of this approach, this article highlights two longitudinal findings: (1) studying social semiotic theory and practice facilitated shifts in how secondary content-area teachers conceptualized language teaching and learning in ways that remained relatively stable over time; and (2) participants’ developing knowledge of Hallidayan concepts and pedagogies influenced how they assessed student writing and attempted to incorporate explicit teaching of disciplinary English into their content teaching, though some promising practices regressed over time. These findings are discussed in terms of their implications for the design of future EAP coursework for secondary content-area teachers that supports reflection and revised pedagogies in the long-term.

Professional Training of Teachers in the United States as an Example for Improving the Professionalism and Competence of Pedagogues in Ukraine

The process of reforming of the system of compulsory secondary education in Ukraine challenges teachers and determine new requirements for them. The study and analysis of teachers’ professional education and training in other countries are one of the main ways to settle strategic directions of pedagogical education modernisation and thus to improve the quality of education in Ukraine. The national education systems of Ukraine and the USA are functionally common despite some differences in cultural and social aspects. This makes it possible to use the experience of the USA in reforming the system of professional preparation of teachers in Ukraine and improving their educational and professional qualifications. The study aims to make a comparative analysis of professional education and training of teachers in the USA from professionalism and competence and propose a way to adjust the most successful American experience to Ukrainian conditions. The study applies a comparative-historical method to compare socio-pedagogical phenomena and views. The structural method makes it possible to consider the pedagogical process based on system components of theory and practice of professional education of teachers. The prognostic method is used to ascertain the successful experience of the USA and outline the prospects of its implementation in Ukraine. Our research concludes that the system of professional preparation of teachers should be improved in order to increase the educational potential of the country. The study reveals a significant contrast between academic competence and professional qualification of teachers. It is determined that the objectives for professional preparation of secondary school teachers are the following: improving teaching competence, the combination of teaching practice and pedagogical theory and integration of pedagogical subjects and subjects of specialisation.

Student Reflections on Teacher Identity Development in a Year-long Secondary Teacher Preparation Program

Student Reflections on Teacher Identity Development in a Year-long Secondary Teacher Preparation Program

Seeding long-term, sustainable change in teacher preparation programs: the case of PhysTEC

BackgroundThe continuation of teacher preparation activities after a 3-year Physics Teacher Education Coalition (PhysTEC) grant is used as a case study to examine multi-faceted aspects of sustainable change in higher education. Since teacher preparation is outside typical physics departmental activities, success is highly dependent on finding a department and institution who values this cause. Throughout the history of providing grants, PhysTEC has identified ten components of successful sites that they consider during the selection process. In this paper, we retrospectively analyze characteristics of six comprehensive PhysTEC sites, to see how department histories, values, and activities affect long-term sustainability as sites moved from grant funding to matched institutional funding and beyond.ResultsThe most important components required to sustain these programs were (1) institutional commitment—both financial support as well as intellectual and cultural support for potential teachers—(2) champion, a respected change agent at the university who ensures program success through advocacy and support, and (3) activities that enhance not only the production of teachers but also the undergraduate education activities of the department. Of the six PhysTEC sites, three sites were able to institutionalize the majority of PhysTEC activities into departmental routine. These three sites have departmental leadership and administrators who valued and invested in physics teacher preparation. At these sites, PhysTEC symbiotically supported typical departmental activities including increasing majors, improving courses, and involving undergraduates to support teaching. Two sites were sustaining activities at the time of study but attitudes toward teaching as a profession were mixed so continued sustainability is precarious and reliant on external funding. One site discontinued the majority of PhysTEC activities because of a lack of alignment with a different physics teacher initiative on campus.ConclusionsBecause physics teacher preparation is not often prioritized as a part of undergraduate departmental activities, success emerges when departmental and institutional value systems align with this goal. PhysTEC funding is not enough to create this culture; it must exist prior to funding. Sustaining PhysTEC activities is easier when they are seen as enhancing the undergraduate experience as a whole. The PhysTEC grant helped bring physics teacher preparation to the forefront, and a well-respected champion in a leadership position can help set this tone and advance departmental activities accordingly. This study has implications for sustaining reforms of typically undervalued activities in higher education or secondary teacher preparation programs in any discipline.

A Study on the Secondary Teacher Preparation Policy and Self - Controlled Accountability of the College of Education -

A Study on the Secondary Teacher Preparation Policy and Self - Controlled Accountability of the College of Education -

Improving Middle and Secondary Teacher Preparation for Inclusion: First Lessons Planned, Lessons Learned

Improving Middle and Secondary Teacher Preparation for Inclusion: First Lessons Planned, Lessons Learned

What do we value in secondary mathematics teaching methods?

ABSTRACTTeaching methods courses are a crucial factor in the preparation of secondary mathematics teachers. Throughout the United States, secondary methods courses have diverse curricula, including variation in the topics covered in these courses. To assess this variation, the authors identified 41 topics potentially valued by secondary methods instructors, referred to here as touchstones. The set of touchstones was revised based on peer feedback and was used as the basis of a survey administered to 116 secondary mathematics teaching methods instructors from different U.S. universities. The survey asked respondents to determine the value they placed on each touchstone. Simple means and standard deviations were calculated, and variations by instructors’ departments (mathematics or education) and levels of professorship (i.e., assistant, associate, and full) were examined using analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results indicated which touchstones were highly valued and which touchstones were not. Variances between departments and levels of professorship varied significantly for a few of the touchstones. Finally, the limited open-response suggestions for additional touchstones indicate that most respondents agreed with the survey’s design.

Secondary teachers’ experiences with students with disabilities: examining the global landscape

ABSTRACTThis study contributes to the international conversation about the education for students with disabilities at the secondary level by providing some international data about secondary teachers’ training and experiences with inclusive practices. Teacher leaders from 20 different countries participated in this exploratory survey research about the context in which they work, their experiences and their training as related to their efficacy to educate individuals with disabilities. We acknowledge that efficacy and teacher training for inclusion are predominated by a discourse defined through Western best practice. We learned that despite variations in the countries’ concept of disability and their implementation of inclusive educational systems, the teachers had moderately high self-efficacy for inclusive practices yet had limited training and experience with students with special needs. Results are discussed in relation to the preparation of secondary teachers for educating students with special needs.

Making Sense of Abstract Algebra: Exploring Secondary Teachers’ Understandings of Inverse Functions in Relation to Its Group Structure

ABSTRACTThis article draws on semi-structured, task-based interviews to explore secondary teachers’ (N = 7) understandings of inverse functions in relation to abstract algebra. In particular, a concept map task is used to understand the degree to which participants, having recently taken an abstract algebra course, situated inverse functions within its group structure (i.e., the set of invertible functions under composition). In addition, their particular conceptions of functions and function composition throughout the interviews were then also considered as a means to explore further their responses during the interviews. Findings indicate that only two participants showed evidence of the desirable mathematically powerful understandings from abstract algebra in relation to inverse functions, and further analysis suggests a variety of challenges in terms of developing meaningful connections, which were more related to conceptions about secondary content than to the abstract algebra content. Implications for the mathematical preparation of secondary teachers are discussed.

Impact of the course teaching and learning of mathematics on preservice grades 7 and 8 mathematics teachers in Singapore

This paper explores the impact of the course “Teaching and Learning of Mathematics (Grades 7 and 8)” for the preparation of pre-service secondary mathematics teachers. It examines how pre-service teachers perceived mathematical problem solving and communicating mathematical knowledge before and after the course. The main objective of the course is to equip them with a working knowledge of basic teaching principles, an understanding of the theories of learning that inform instruction, and a thorough knowledge of the curriculum. The participants of the study are professor X, who teaches the course, and her five pre-service teachers (PTs). The PTs wrote a journal entry after every topic explored during the tutorials, detailing their learning during the course of study. For their journals, specific prompts were provided for them to reflect on their learning and experiences. At the end of the course the PTs were also interviewed. The interview sought PTs perceptions about their communication of mathematical knowledge during the microteaching sessions. The data collected were subjected to qualitative analysis. The findings of the study show that the course deepened PT’s knowledge of mathematical problem solving and also shaped their ideas about how to communicate mathematical knowledge in ways that address the why and how of it.

Virtual forms, actual effects: how amplifying student voice through digital media promotes reflective practice and positions students as pedagogical partners to prospective high school and practicing college teachers

AbstractDigital media have unique potential to amplify student voice in both high school teacher preparation and academic development for college faculty. This paper applies narrative analysis to participant descriptions of how three uses of digital media amplify student voice in the context of a single higher education consortium: (1) high school students and prospective high school teachers use email to engage in dialogue as part of a larger project within the consortium's secondary teacher preparation program, (2) undergraduate student consultants use visual mapping technology as a classroom observation tool through one of the consortium's academic development programs for college faculty and (3) graduate and undergraduate students, faculty and staff engaged in pedagogical partnerships within and beyond this consortium use on an online platform to publish reflective essays on their collaborative work. Amplifying student voice through these uses of digital media has the following actual effects: it creates the possibility for exchanges between students and teachers across space and time; it supports the development of reflective practice; and it encourages the embrace of a partnership approach to teaching and learning.

Bullying en estudiantes de secundaria de las instituciones educativas estatales de la Ugel 07 y nivel de preparación del docente para abordarlo

El fenómeno del bullying es una problemática compleja que comprende no solo a los estudiantes que lo practican o padecen, sino también a los docentes que interactúan permanentemente en las aulas y en el centro educativo. Este trabajo buscó indagar sobre la presencia de bullying en los estudiantes del nivel secundario y la preparación docente para abordarlo. El diseño de investigación es descriptivo comparativo, la muestra fue de 789 estudiantes y de 40 docentes, todos ellos provenientes de centros educativos estatales de la UGEL 07. Los resultados encontrados señalan una prevalencia de bullying de 26,4% y un 22,5% de docentes que conocen y utilizan estrategias adecuadas para abordarlo. Se halló diferencias significativas en la prevalencia de bullying según grado de estudios; según género solo en tres dimensiones: coacción, agresiones e intimidación-amenazas siendo la media más alta en los varones. No se halló diferencias significativas en el abordaje del bullying por parte de los docentes según género, edad, tiempo de servicio y grado académico; por último no se encontraron diferencias en los puntajes de bullying de los estudiantes con docentes preparados y poco preparados. Estos resultados muestran que las actuaciones de los docentes, en ambos grupos, son limitadas para afrontar esta situación.

The Impact of Critically Reflective Teaching: A Continuum of Rhetoric

ABSTRACTThis qualitative case study explored teaching approaches designed to develop critically reflective thinking (CRT) for preservice teachers in an urban, secondary teacher preparation program. Despite concerted use of CRT within course lessons, online discussions, and case studies, participants demonstrated varying degrees in their understanding of diversity and how they will respond in their teaching practices. Findings speak to the critical importance for teacher preparation that acknowledges conceptual readiness and receptivity among preservice teachers when challenging beliefs regarding diversity using critically reflective pedagogy. Findings will inform other teacher educators in the development of pedagogy and the tools for supporting critically reflective thinking, problem solving, and decision making in urban schools.