Pre-service Teacher Education Curriculum Research Articles

Enhancing Pre-Service Teacher Education Curriculum for English Language Instruction in South African Classrooms: Navigating Technological Advancements and Cultural Diversity

The educational environment in South Africa is characterised by linguistic diversity and technological advancements, which present particular difficulties and opportunities for pre-service teacher education programmes. This systematic literature review explores the effectiveness of current pre-service teacher training programmes in addressing the demands of teaching the English language in South African classrooms. Drawing upon a synthesis of empirical studies, theoretical frameworks, and policy documents, this review critically examines how existing teacher education curricula prepare educators to navigate the complexities of English language instruction within diverse cultural and linguistic contexts. The review follows the PRISMA guidelines, systematically searching and synthesising relevant literature published between 2000 and 2022. The findings reveal a range of insights into the strengths and limitations of current pre-service teacher education programmes in South Africa concerning English language instruction. Key themes emerge around the integration of technology in language teaching, strategies for addressing linguistic diversity, and the alignment of curriculum with the needs of diverse learners. The review highlights the importance of incorporating pedagogical approaches that leverage technology to enhance English language learning outcomes while fostering intercultural competence among pre-service teachers. Furthermore, it underscores the need for a culturally responsive pedagogy that acknowledges and respects the linguistic diversity present in South African classrooms.

Home and school gardening: Practices, attitudes, and beliefs of pre-service teachers

The study investigates the attitudes and beliefs of pre-service teachers on home and school gardening as the basis for incorporating gardening activity in teacher education courses. Utilizing a descriptive research design, the data was gathered through a researcher-made survey and analyzed using various statistical methods such as percentage, mean, standard deviation, t-test for independent sample means, and Pearson r. The findings reveal a high positive regard for gardening among pre-service teachers, irrespective of sex and geographical location. The geographical location shows some variations in beliefs about gardening, particularly between coastal-rural and other areas, whereas attitudes were consistently positive across locations. A significant correlation between beliefs and attitudes suggests that fostering positive beliefs may enhance positive attitudes toward gardening. These results underscore the potential for integrating gardening into teacher education, promoting values like environmental conservation, and healthy habits. The study acknowledges limitations like the limited diversity of the sample and unexplored translation of attitudes into practice and recommends the incorporation of gardening into the curriculum and the provision of practical gardening spaces and training. The conclusions affirm the role of pre-service teachers in addressing challenges like limited food supply and environmental degradation and emphasize the need to include gardening values in teacher education. This study recommends that gardening activities be integrated into the pre-service teacher education curriculum.

DECOLONISATION OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION CURRICULUM FOR EQUITY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE IN HIGHER EDUCATION

The transition from apartheid to democracy came with high expectations for a speedy transformation. The education system in South Africa before 1994 was rooted in segregation and inequality among the social groups that exist in South Africa. Hence, the education system post-independence has endeavoured to provide not only physical access but also epistemological access to learning for all students. Therefore, the fundamental purpose of education is to provide an impartial and comprehensive curriculum. Pre-service teacher education is a critical component of higher education in any country. Thus, the provision of teacher education within institutions of higher learning is a crucial societal force capable of advancing a curriculum that is transformative and grounded in a framework of social justice. The objective of this research is to enhance the potential for decolonising pre-service teacher education to promote equity and inclusivity, utilising social justice. The curriculum in question revitalises social justice that prioritises the significance of the individual aspects of pedagogy, the politics of diversity, and the correlation between pedagogy and agency. The utilisation of literary voices in teacher education was deemed a valuable approach in examining the potential of social justice theory as coined by Rawls (1971), to contribute to a more inclusive and equitable teacher education curriculum, guided by transformative principles for pre-service teachers. A systematic literature review of various literature sources revealed that the integration of novel concepts and topics into teacher education is critical for transformation. The integration of indigenous knowledge, history, and languages into teaching and learning will critically engage students in knowledge, power, and being. Thus, the transformative curriculum through social justice will enhance parity and inclusiveness in the delivery of educational curricula. This research contributes to the discourse on the decolonisation process for higher education, which has long been predominantly framed in Eurocentric pedagogy in South Africa. Hence, an alternative viewpoint on pre-service teacher education curriculum calls for decolonisation using social justice theory.

Pre-service ELT Teachers’ Prospective Needs and Desires for their Pre-service Teacher Education

The purpose of the study is to explore the voices of pre-service ELT teachers on their prospective needs and desires for their pre-service teacher education curriculum. A qualitative research was conducted with freshman and sophomore students at an ELT Department in a Faculty of Education of a public university in Turkey. To reach an in-depth understanding of participants’ knowledge, qualitative data were collected through 10 focus group discussions which 66 pre-service ELT teachers attended. Inductive analysis revealed that participants’ prospective needs are categorized under two emerging themes: (a) instructional/practical and (b) attitudinal/behavioural development. In addition, the prospective desires of them are categorized under two emerging themes: (a) instructional/practical development and (b) content development. Finally, the participants emphasize reducing the number of theoretical courses from the program and increasing practical courses instead.

Teaching in IP Schools: An Analysis of Teachers' Experiences as Input to Pre-Service Teacher Education

The demand to make education inclusive requires assurance that the future teachers of indigenous students are fully equipped to handle multicultural classes. Hence, with an end goal of identifying inputs that could enhance pre-service teacher education, this study was conducted to determine the profile, experiences, knowledge, attitudes, and skills of the randomly selected teachers of indigenous students in the province of Occidental Mindoro. The data were gathered online through a questionnaire that underwent validity and reliability tests. Findings reveal that the teachers are graduates of bachelor of Elementary Education and have been teaching in the IP schools for not more than three years. The teachers frequently experience implementing the curriculum, monitoring student’s progress, and living with the IP community, and occasionally experience travelling to and from the IP community as they embark on the day-to-day activities of teaching their IP students. The knowledge, attitudes, and skills they have acquired from their pre-service teacher education curriculum have prepared them in teaching IP students. Five themes emanate from the teachers’ suggestions on how to enhance the pre-service teacher education curriculum such as inclusion of IP education, awareness program on the culture of Indigenous People, inclusion of IP language, training on how to handle combined or multigrade class, and conducting immersion activities in IP or minority schools. The College of Teacher Education may consider the suggestions of the teachers in reviewing and revising the existing curriculum of pre-service teacher education.

예비초등교사들의 체육교과 안전영역 교수를 위한 역량 및 직전교사교육과정의 역할 탐색

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to explore the teaching competencies of pre-service elementary school teachers in the safety domain of physical education, and the curriculum’s role in this training.<BR> Method: 20 participants who were enrolled as seniors in an elementary education department during Spring 2020 were recruited to collect data from written assignment as the first survey of this article. Afterwards, six(male: 2 and female: 4) of the 20 participants were selected to collect data from the in-depth interview and lesson plan. For data analysis, a constant comparative method for inductively analyzing data was used at each of the three steps (open, axial, and selective coding) to categorize themes. The authenticity and validity of the data were secured by identifying triangulation, member check, and peer examination.<BR> Results: Two main themes were as follows: 1)‘teaching competencies for the safety domain of physical education’ and 2)‘learning experiences during pre-service teacher education curriculum.’ The sub-themes from the first primary theme were categorized as ‘consideration emphasizing the importance of the safety domain’, fully understanding about the content system of the safety domain’, and ‘the difficulty and limitation about teaching the safety domain.’ The sub-themes from the second main theme included ‘positive learning experiences in developing teaching competencies for the safety domain’, and ‘limited learning experiences in developing teaching competencies for the safety domain.’<BR> Conclusion: The pre-service teacher’s education curriculum needs to provide the content and management of methods course and physical activity courses, which emphasizes cultivating pedagogical content knowledge for the safety domain.

Inclusion of Global Citizenship Education and Sustainable Development in Pre-Service Curriculum: A Perspective Study

Education Agenda 2030 emphasizes the role of Sustainable Development Goal 4 which focuses on excellence in education and its prominence for the attainment of sixteen other sustainable development goals. For this purpose a study was carried out to investigate the opinions of Educationists/Curriculum developers for inclusion of themes of Global Citizenship Education (GCED) and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD) in Pre-Service Teacher Education Curriculum (Elementary) level in Pakistan. There are six broad themes of GCED and ESD: Human Rights, Education for sustainable Development, Peace, Gender Equality, Health Education and Global Citizenship. It was a descriptive study. On the pre-determined themes suggested by UNESCO, a survey questionnaire was developed having both open and close-ended questions. There were 70 participants in the study who were M.Phil to Post Doctorate and had professional experience of 10 -35 years. Data for close-ended questionnaire were analyzed through SPSS 21 and the qualitative part used descriptive explanation with verbatim quotes and word clouds using NVIVO 10. The results showed that participants strongly favored inclusion of these themes in curriculum and believed these to be cross cutting themes. It was recommended that these may either be integrated into already existing subjects of B.Ed. or may be taught as separate subjects.&#x0D; Keywords: Pre-Service Curriculum, Target 4.7, Global Citizenship Education, Education for Sustainable Development

Exploring Pre-service Science Teachers’ Perspectives on the Nature of Science: A Comparative Study Between China and Canada

The Nature of Science (NOS) is an important component of scientific literacy. Science teachers’ Views of the Nature of Science (VNOS) directly affect their teaching behaviors. Therefore, it is of great significance to explore science teachers’ VNOS and find ways of improvement. This study was designed to comparatively investigate preservice science teachers’ VNOS between China and Canada. The study employed a survey design to explore how Chinese and Canadian preservice science teachers understood the seven different aspects of NOS. Data showed that preservice science teachers in China and Canada both hold a modern view about science education. The level of Chinese and Canadian participants’ understanding of NOS was above the relatively naive level. Chinese teachers had better macro-understanding toward science education, but their micro-mastery was insufficient. The Canadian participants had a better understanding of the NOS than their Chinese counterparts. The study suggested that there is a need to reconstruct the preservice science teacher education curriculum in China and promote the transformation in the science teacher educational system.

Effectiveness of Arts Integrated Learning (AIL) in Developing Conceptual Understanding in Geography at Elementary Level

Arts Integrated Learning (AIL) is an innovative and cross-curricular approach to teaching and learning, which integrates different arts form with school subjects. It is relevant to study the effectiveness of AIL in developing conceptual understanding in geography and to compare the effectiveness of AIL in developing conceptual understanding among boys and girls and high achievers and low achievers at elementary level. The pre-test–post-test quasi-experimental design was carried out by the researcher with AIL as the independent variable and conceptual understanding as the dependent variable. In this study, sex and level of achievement were used as categorical variable. The researcher has selected 68 students of two sections of seventh grade from Derozio Mission High School, North 24 Parganas, West Bengal, India as a sample. The sample of the present study was selected by purposive sampling technique but groups were assigned randomly. Self developed lesson plans based on AIL in geography for class VII were used as instructional tool and self developed achievement test on geography as measuring toos in the present study. The experiment was carried out for 15 days in the selected school. The collected data were analysed by using inferential statistics such as t-test and accordingly interpretations were made. The study indicated that using AIL in classroom teaching significantly develops the conceptual understanding of students in geography as compared to the traditional method of teaching geography and the AIL was equally effective for both boys and girls. It also reveals that AIL was significantly effective in developing conceptual understanding for high achievers than low achievers. The study has suggested for orientation of elementary school teachers in AIL for making them skilled in AIL for teaching all school subjects. Further, AIL must find a place in the pre-service teacher education curriculum and must be integrated in pedagogy courses and practised during internship in teaching.

Toward Conceptual Clarity: A Scoping Review of Coteaching in Teacher Education

While coteaching is not a novel or even new approach in P–12 classrooms, its application in teacher education contexts has become increasingly prevalent. Coteaching in teacher education has been touted for its potential to promote collaborative classroom practice, connect theory and praxis, counteract sociocultural disparities in classrooms, and improve outcomes for teacher candidates as well as P–12 students and inservice teachers. This article presents a scoping review of the 103 empirical studies focused on coteaching in teacher education to enhance conceptual clarity and heighten understandings of the nature and extent of such research. We map the methodological characteristics of these studies that serve to the breadth and depth to which coteaching in teacher education has been examined. Next, we describe the outcomes and phenomena explored by the 103 studies to reveal the intended results as well as points of tension for coteaching in teacher education. Finally, we couple an analysis of coteaching definitions within these studies with an analysis of the ways in which coteaching is implemented in teacher education. Notable findings of this scoping review include the extensive range of ways coteaching is implemented across the preservice teacher education curriculum, the variety of aims for coteaching in these contexts, and the need for continued grounding in frameworks to enhance understandings of coteaching practices and impacts for stakeholders including P–12 students, inservice teachers, teacher candidates, and university faculty.

21st century skills of CEIT teacher candidates and the prominence of these skills in the CEIT undergraduate curriculum

In the age of globalization and information and technology, changes as in all the fields of human life are being actualized in the education systems, too. It is of great importance for the teachers who are the most notable agents to transfer the changes to the next generations to be equipped with skills and knowledge so called 21st century skills in their pre-service education and start their profession. In this respect, the prominence of these skills in pre-service teacher education curriculum is a subject to be considered. With the constant emphasis on technology age, Computer and Instructional Technologies (CEIT) teacher candidates should have 21st century skills in terms of their contribution to their students as well as the schools they will work in. In this study, the “Multidimensional 21th Century Skills Scale” developed by Çevik and Şentürk (2019) was applied to 123 teacher candidates studying CEIT Department of Gazi University, Gazi Faculty of Education in 2018-2019 Spring Semester. The CEIT curricula were also examined in terms of their inclusiveness about the 21st century skills. The analyses of the scale indicated that CEIT teacher candidates’ scores are generally high for the scale overall but highest in Career consciousness and lowest in Critical Thinking and Problem Solving Skills sub-dimensions. It is also seen that 21st century skills are generally reflected in the CEIT curricula with the courses and their contents especially in the updated curriculum which shows that curriculum development processes were performed according to the changes and needs in the world. Further studies could be conducted for the efficiency of the updated curriculum in the following years.

Language ideologies in science education

AbstractDrawing on sociolinguistics research regarding common beliefs and justifications about language, we applied notions of language ideology to an analysis of the formative assessment practices of secondary science teachers from linguistically diverse schools. We identified two language ideologies that were demonstrated by teachers as they engaged in the formative assessment of student work. Here, we introduce the terms language‐exclusive ideology and language‐inclusive ideology. A language‐exclusive ideology holds that certain forms of language are expected in a science class, and others are not appropriate. What we have termed a language‐inclusive ideology suggests that multiple forms of language use are acceptable in science classrooms, and this approach finds synergies with the literature on translanguaging, or the integration of multiple languages for complex communicative purposes. We argue that science teacher educators should consider teachers’ language ideologies as they prepare professional development and preservice teacher education curriculum materials, and we discuss potential implications for science education and teacher education. Finally, we call for more explicit consideration of issues of language ideology within the science education community to understand how various approaches to language can provide affordances or barriers to content learning and language development.

Developing Preservice Elementary Teachers’ Global Competence

Today it is imperative that preservice teachers become globally competent specialists to effectively work in diverse classrooms and school environments. The author briefly focuses on the contemporary globalization, characterizes the essence of global education, concentrates on some issues of developing future elementary teachers’ global competence, and discusses the results of an empirical investigation that was aimed at substantiating the level of candidate teachers’ global competence. The findings indicate that integrating meaningful global knowledge base in the preservice teacher education curriculum makes a profound influence on their professional and personal growth. They come to understand that globally competent educators should indeed have a solid global knowledge base, possess a tolerant attitude to human diversity, and realize themselves as participants in solving vital global problems.

The reconceptualisation of knowledge base in the pre-service teacher education curriculum: Towards ELF pedagogy

This article examines “what will be taught” or the knowledge base demonstrated in the English language teacher education curricula by using the framework of English as a Lingua Franca. The need for enhancing the professionalism of English teachers in the ascendancy of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) in Indonesia demonstrates a critical point where pre-service teacher education holds strategic roles. This epistemological turn needs to ensure that the teachers are devised with knowledge base as well as contextual approach suited to each particular educational environment. Fifteen Indonesian pre-service teacher education programmes were randomly selected and meta-analysed to aggregate the extent of reconceptualisation of the knowledge base provision by focusing on the curricula’s emphasis (linguistics and/or language proficiency) and the integration of socio-cultural perspective. Although these curricula cannot wholly represent cultural responsiveness and pedagogical practices, they could serve as sites concerning the values and knowledge held as important in the institution. We argue that there is a need to place a greater emphasis on the language proficiency that matches the ELF paradigm, as well as to reconceptualise the knowledge base to respond to the diverse Indonesian socio-cultural realities encountered by the recontextualising agents, the teachers. The reconceptualisation of knowledge base would foster greater awareness of sociocultural relativity and learning expectations of teaching ELF situated in the Indonesian educational context.

教職課程入門期における社会科教員志望学生の社会科観・授業構成力の形成過程とその特質 ― 被教育体験と大学カリキュラムの関係に注目して―

教職課程入門期における社会科教員志望学生の社会科観・授業構成力の形成過程とその特質 ― 被教育体験と大学カリキュラムの関係に注目して―

Towards decolonising a module in the pre-service science teacher education curriculum: The role of indigenous knowledge systems in creating spaces for transforming the curriculum

Post-apartheid South Africa has witnessed many changes in a quest for social justice. However, these changes have not infiltrated the South African higher education landscape, which continues to privilege epistemic traditions that are embedded in western frameworks. The science curriculum had been instrumental in promoting western worldviews as universal. This has resulted in normalising the subordination of non-western people and their knowledge systems. In seeking a change in the tenor of science education, this paper reports on a qualitative study that explored the intersecting influence of the pre-service science teacher curriculum and indigenous knowledge systems. In reconceptualising a part of one science module, the curriculum is used as a vehicle to depart from western epistemic canons, by reframing who teaches, what is taught and how it is taught. A purposively selected sample of 224 pre-service teachers engaged in a field trip and a gardening project that was facilitated in part, by an indigenous knowledge expert. Pre-service teachers planted a vegetable garden using indigenous methods, and cultivated indigenous and non-indigenous plants. Pre-service teachers captured the processes of planting and growing the gardens in their portfolios and reflected on their learning by responding to questionnaires. Data drawn from the portfolios and questionnaires were analysed thematically. Findings revealed a consciousness-raising of pre-service teachers about the value of indigenous knowledge and their endorsement of an indigenous knowledge expert as a legitimate teacher in higher education. Insights into using IKS to create spaces for transforming and decolonising the curriculum by engaging an IK expert to teach, bringing previously marginalised IK to the centre, and finally, teaching and learning in contexts which maximised interaction between the pre-service teachers and the materials being studied in their natural setting, were also revealed.

Elementary School Preservice Teachers Perception on Ski Lesson in Preservice Teacher Education Curriculum

Elementary School Preservice Teachers Perception on Ski Lesson in Preservice Teacher Education Curriculum

Racial politics, Latin@ youth, and teacher education

ABSTRACTTeacher educators concerned with creating equitable classrooms for Latin@ youth should attend to how racial and national politics affect this group of students. Latin@ youth face particular forms of marginalization that hold implications for pre-service teacher education curriculum and pre-service teacher preparation. Teacher educators committed to social justice should focus on how they equip prospective teachers to explore emotions of racist nativism, integrate multiple perspectives into the classroom, and discern how pre-service teachers understand culture. The questions raised by Latin@ youth experiences challenge what it means to prepare teachers in classrooms marked by increasing cultural pluralism.

アメリカの教員養成教育カリキュラムにおける「文脈的教授・学習」 : ジョージア大学での開発プロジェクトに注目して

アメリカの教員養成教育カリキュラムにおける「文脈的教授・学習」 : ジョージア大学での開発プロジェクトに注目して

Analysis of the Student Teaching Program of Selected Teacher Education Institutions and Its Alignment with the Professional Standards for Teachers

The study analyzed the profile and extent of alignment between the components of the Student Teaching Program (STP) and the domains and performance indicators of the National Competency- Based Teacher Standards (NCBTS) as possible input to the improvement of the program including the appraisal system for practice teachers. Participants of the study were three purposively selected teacher education institutions (TEIs) in Metro Manila with 387 stakeholders surveyed. Document analysis verified through survey and unstructured interview examined the alignment of the components reflected in the documents of the STP of the sampled institutions. The study concluded that the STP of sampled TEIs is not fully aligned with the professional standards for teachers. Hence, a standardsbased pre-service teacher education curriculum, STP, and performance appraisal system for practice teachers are recommended to address this non-alignment of the STP components with the professional standards for teachers and to increase readiness of the graduates of teacher education programs to enter the teaching profession.