Teacher Education Research Research Articles

Disaffected teachers: disrupting normalized feelings of race and gender in teacher education research

ABSTRACT Making sense of normalized feelings in teacher education, scholarship on race and gender has spotlighted the affective and emotional landscapes of teaching and detailed how the profession has been shaped around its primary workers, cisgender straight white women. Disaffection, though, or unfeeling in ways that disrupt the sociality of affective norms, provides one conceptual and methodological tool for shifting well-worn patterns of normalized feelings in teacher education. Revisiting data from two previous studies of teachers’ affective practices, we used disaffection as a lens to analyze interview and group session transcripts, interpreting how unfeeling disrupts the racialized and gendered norms of grieving and liberationist politics of outness in classrooms. Inviting antisociality, disaffection offers researchers and educators a methodological expansion for studying affect, emotion, and feeling in teacher education, specifically by looking for the absent presence of unfeeling.

The emergence of autonomy in intertwingled learning environments: a model of teaching and learning

ABSTRACT Nelson and Nelson (1987) coined the term “intertwingularity” to express the complexity of interrelations between the various facets of human knowledge. This theoretical paper explores the intertwingularity of learning environments by proposing a model for understanding and operationalising the relationship between learning environments and their relative degrees of cooperative freedoms and the learning technologies used by teachers and students. Two case studies demonstrate that these types of learning environments generate far more complexity, in the form of recursion and iteration, than do traditional learning environments. While these types of distributed learning networks have been observed in adult learning settings, they have only been rarely observed in K-12 classrooms. Implications for teacher education and teacher education research are discussed.

The development and validation of the teacher professional identity scale in a Chinese university context.

Professional identity has become a central topic in teacher education research and a crucial factor in shaping teachers' self-perception and perspectives on various aspects of their profession, including teacher roles, scholarly research, curriculum design, classroom instruction, instructional methods, and strategies, as well as their interactions within the educational context. Despite the considerable scholarly interest in teacher identity development, relatively few studies have considered how to measure teacher professional identity. This study developed and validated a new measurement of professional identity among Chinese pre-service teachers from an English language education program. A total of 560 pre-service teachers majoring in English language education were invited to participate in a survey and 542 questionnaires were deemed valid and subjected to analysis. Through this analysis, a scale with 17 items was developed, focusing on three different dimensions: professional self-efficacy, career commitment, and professional knowledge. After excluding items with a relatively poor correlation with factor loading, the final scale consisted of 13 items. The results showed that the developed scale has relatively good reliability (α = 0.939) and structural validity (χ2/df = 2.46, p < .001, CFI = 0.978, TLI = 0.971, SRMR = 0.033, RMSEA (90% CI) = 0.071 0.054, 0.089). This study may provide a quantitative instrument for future research to measure professional identity among pre-service teachers, both in Chinese and other contexts.

‘Where the Good Ideas Are’: 75 Years of the Journal of Teacher Education

Taking our lead from Karl Mannheim’s sociology of knowledge theory, and utilizing qualitative content analyses of data extracted from editorials, articles, and public-facing documents, this current editorial details the story of how the myriad of editors for the Journal of Teacher Education (JTE) safeguarded a space to highlight ideas essential to research of preservice and inservice teacher education within an ever-changing global context for nearly 75 years. Fourteen JTE editorships over four eras— competency, reformation, legitimization, and resilience—are laid bare.

Doing Action Research: Operating a Research Approach or Feeling Change in a Researcher’s Way of Life?

This reflection traces the author's journey into action research, sparked by a seminar led by Hilbert Meyer in 1993. Drawing from personal experiences in teacher education and chemistry research, the author advocates for bridging the gap between educational research and teaching practice. Highlighting the influence of critical theory, the author emphasizes the transformative potential of action research in educational contexts. Action research, as perceived by the author, seeks to enhance teaching practice, foster continuous professional development, and engage learners as partners in educational reform. Through collaborative efforts with practitioners, the author demonstrates the practical implications and scholarly contributions of action research. The narrative underscores the significance of publishing action research findings and challenges prevailing paradigms in educational research. Ultimately, the author posits action research as a means to navigate the complexities of educational practices while advocating for critical reflection and paradigmatic shifts in educational research.

“Always Trying to Dig Deeper”: The Enactment of Teaching Expertise as an Emotion-Laden Continual Learning Process

Background or Context: Amid a backdrop of increasing deprofessionalization of teaching and teacher education, education researchers and reformers continue to highlight the complexity and expertise of these professions. Expertise-as-process (Bereiter &amp; Scardamalia, 1993) is a conception of expertise that eschews the traditional focus on accumulated knowledge, emphasizing instead expertise as a process of identifying new challenges and using challenges to continue learning. Although this conception has been used to inform thinking regarding expertise more broadly, it has rarely been applied in empirical studies of teaching and teacher education. Purpose, Objective, Research Question, or Focus of Study: Using expertise-as-process as a framework for analysis, this instrumental case study focuses on one expert literacy teacher/teacher educator who enacted expertise as a continual learning process. Research Design: The case study draws from 18 months of data collection to examine the lived enactment of expertise-as-process through praxis. The study focuses on the focal participant’s planning, teaching, professional learning, collaborative discussions, and recollections of her 20+-year career as a high school English teacher and teacher educator. Conclusions or Recommendations: The focal participant enacted progressive problem-solving by engaging in complex thinking about teaching and students, actively seeking opportunities to improve her teaching, and involving collaborators in these pursuits. This approach to teaching was accompanied by diverse emotions: passion, care, anxiety, and dissatisfaction. This case study provides a detailed picture of an expert teacher’s practice across domains through a theoretical lens rarely used to understand expertise in the teaching profession, and adds a needed emotional dimension to the research on teacher expertise and on expertise more broadly.

Integration of topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge components in secondary school science teachers’ reflections on biology lessons

Teachers’ reflections on their practice are a powerful tool for measuring and supporting their professional knowledge. Pedagogical content knowledge is one of the most influential domains of teacher professional knowledge. This multiple-case study investigated the topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge (TSPCK) components that Zambian secondary school science teachers integrate when reflecting on biology lessons. Three teachers from the same school were observed teaching a biology lesson and attended post-observation interviews. Data were mainly collected through lesson plans, lesson observation field notes and post-observation interviews. The data were analysed using in-depth analysis of explicit TSPCK, enumerative and constant comparative approaches. TSPCK maps were constructed to illustrate each teachers’ integration of TSPCK components. The results revealed four features about the integration of TSPCK components: (a) None of the teachers depended solely on a single TSPCK component as they integrated other components (b) The components curricular saliency, students’ prior knowledge and misconceptions, and conceptual teaching strategies were central in the TSPCK maps of all the teachers, while representations and analogies, and what make the topic easy/difficult to teach/learn were least integrated (c) All teachers had different pairs of reciprocal connections among TSPCK components, and (d) All teachers had different pairs of most integrated components. The implications of these findings for science and teacher education research were presented and discussed. It was concluded that teachers’ reflections revealed the integration between TSPCK components and showed them differently. The study recommends investigating teachers’ reflections over several lessons and tracking any changes in their TSPCK integration.

Moving beyond reflection and toward disruption in the post-field context of mathematics teacher education

Prospective teachers bring countless stories of success and failure from different mathematics classrooms to their post-field teacher education courses. These reflective stories often glorify school mathematics classrooms and dominant traditions within, instead of confronting the marginalization of diverse groups in school environments. Mathematics teacher educators have a significant role to play in teaching prospective teachers to reflect critically on their field experiences and, in doing so, create spaces for disruption and disruptive pedagogies. Drawing on critical and equity-based theories applied within the fields of mathematics education and teacher education research, we propose a disruptive pedagogy analytical framework that enables us to study the roles and practices of mathematics teacher educators as they conduct their work in these post-field contexts of teacher education. In this paper, we introduce our disruptive pedagogy framework and present the results that followed from using it to analyze data from a research study in which mathematics teacher educators from across Canada and Norway were interviewed. We claim that our analytical framework can be used to identify those disruptive and transformative practices initiated by mathematics teacher educators—practices that are necessary to bring about shifts in inequitable and unjust classroom practices of school mathematics and in becoming a teacher. Unfortunately, however, results reported here point to the need for further shifts and growth toward more explicitly disruptive practices initiated by mathematics teacher educators in the post-field context.

Leveraging Indian Knowledge Systems for Holistic Development of Prospective Teachers

The holistic development of prospective teachers is crucial for fostering effective and efficient educators who can nurture the all-round development of their students and contribute to a thriving society. Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS), with their rich insights into human development, offer a valuable framework for enhancing teacher education curriculum and pedagogy. By integrating the principles and practices of Indian Knowledge Systems into teacher education programs, we will empower prospective teachers to become holistic educators who embody the values of knowledge, compassion, and well-being. This paper delves into the significance of leveraging IKS for the holistic development of prospective teachers. It explores the multifaceted nature of IKS, highlighting its potential to enrich teacher education curriculum and pedagogy. Additionally, it outlines practical strategies for incorporating IKS into teacher education programs, emphasizing the importance of collaboration, experiential learning, and community engagement. Finally, it underscores the need for promoting IKS research in teacher education to further advance the integration of IKS principles and practices in this field.

Frames of Learning: Privileging Teacher Perspectives for Decolonizing Lesson Study for Mathematics Teaching

Lesson study’s international popularity spread as a unique, agency-oriented model of teacher professional development that is context-rich and deeply rooted in teacher subjectivities. This project aimed to answer the question, what do mathematics teacher education researchers learn about teacher learning by focusing on uncertainties as they arise when the group is trying to construct new knowledge in lesson study? Using ethnographic case study, this article explores the ways one community of practice in a Chilean school negotiated evolving objectives over the course of one school year and how I as the lesson study facilitator took up roles to support collaborative meaning-making and decolonize lesson study as a professional development tool through the use of framing.

Environmental and sustainability education in teacher education research: an international scoping review of the literature

PurposeHalfway into the United Nations (UN) sustainable development goals (SDGs) timeline, we deemed fruitful an injunction into current teacher education (TE) practices at higher educational institutes (HEIs). The scoping literature review used all known English nomenclature interrelating to environment, sustainability, development, and education as regards TE. We explicated and modelled the data through timelines favourable to UN initiatives within a spatiotemporal metric. Thematic research topics and research methodologies strictly pertaining to TE were rigorously researched and delineated. Our study aims to elucidate a grander picture of the trends-as-patterns of environmental and sustainability education in teacher education (ESE-TE) research in HEI and potential contributions to come.Design/methodology/approachThe spatiotemporal study adopts a scoping review as an investigative tool to probe current research trends on ESE-TE in the academic literature with respect to thematic research topics and research methodologies midway through the SDGs.FindingsA total of 2,142 research papers spanning five decades, 152 journals and 96 countries were screened equally by two researchers. Of the 788 papers deemed eligible (i.e. English-language, peer-reviewed, pre-service/in-service TE that explicitly mentioned ESE-TE research), data from 638 studies have been included in the authors’ study.Originality/valueComprehensive trends in the international literature of all known environmental and sustainable education nomenclature specific to international ESE-TE research throughout the time period (1974 – 2021) were identified. Value is accrued by illuminating international trends in research topics and methodologies, exposing gaps in the history of the subfield, and predicting future trends for Agenda 2030 (e.g. SDG 4 – education) to mature the field.

Research on the design of panoramic virtual learning environment screen elements.

Panoramic video and virtual reality technologies create learning environments that provide learners with an "immersive" experience. In recent years, panoramic video design to create immersive learning environments, in particular, has become an increasingly popular topic in teacher education and educational research. However, few studies have explored the elements of panoramic virtual learning environment screens regarding the design of learning environments. Therefore, this experimental study uses eye-tracking technology to investigate how learners are guided by panoramic video elements in a panoramic virtual learning environment. Participants (n = 90) were randomly assigned to one of six conditions: (1) no caption + live interpretation, (2) no caption + AI interpretation, (3) 120-degree caption + live interpretation, (4) 120-degree caption + AI interpretation, (5) static follow caption + live interpretation, and (6) static follow caption + AI interpretation. The results of the study show that when learners experience a panoramic virtual learning environment with different narration methods, the live interpretation method is more likely to attract learners' attention and bring better emotion and experience than the AI interpretation method. When experiencing a panoramic virtual learning environment with different caption presentation methods, the caption presentation methods induced learners' attention, learning emotions, and experiences in the order of no caption >120-degree caption > static following caption. Finally, the rules for optimizing the design of panoramic virtual learning environment screens are given based on the findings of the study, which provide new ideas for designing and developing panoramic video teaching resources.

Tailoring Teacher Supports: A Mixed-Methods Analysis of Responses to Coaching and Self-Reflection

To ensure that new teachers enter classrooms poised for success, we need more evidence regarding supports that can expedite skill development during teacher education. In this study, we capitalize on mixed-reality simulations as a setting for evaluating such supports. Using a randomized control trial, we examine the extent to which coaching improves text-focused instruction compared to the more typical practice of self-reflection. Then, employing a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design, we qualitatively and quantitatively explore the extent to which candidates’ individual characteristics might influence the effectiveness of those supports. We find that, on average, coaching is the more effective support for skill development, but we also surface potential drivers of heterogeneous effects of both coaching and self-reflection, including self-efficacy, extraversion, and prior skills. We conclude with implications for teacher education programs and researchers.

Driving Digital Transformation in Certificate Management: A Blockchain-Based Solution for Vinh University

In today’s digital age, secure and reliable certificate management is crucial for validating achievements and establishing credibility. Traditional methods face challenges such as fraud and cumbersome verification processes. However, blockchain, digital signatures, and QR codes offer a more secure and streamlined approach. Vinh University, renowned for its teacher training and educational research, annually grants thousands of diplomas and certificates. This paper presents a customized Certificate Management System for Vinh University, which utilizes blockchain, digital signatures, and QR codes to ensure integrity and simplify verification. By integrating these technologies, this system not only upholds the integrity of certificates but also sets a new standard for efficient and trustworthy verification processes in the digital age. Implementing this certificate management system represents a significant advancement in certificate management, promising to enhance the credibility and reputation of Vinh University while benefiting its graduates and other stakeholders.

Collaboratively Stepping Back as a Method in an Arts-Inspired Self-Study to Move Forward in Professional Learning for Social Change

We are a team of two South African teacher educator researchers at a higher education institution in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. Each of us has distinct research niches, and stem from different racial and cultural backgrounds. Our common interest in and commitment to social change through education led to this collaboration where we explored ways of extending the learning we had acquired whilst completing our doctoral research projects. In our doctoral projects we focused on teaching, learning, and our professional responsibilities as South African educators in the HIV and AIDS context to facilitate social change in education. For our current study we asked the question: “What professional learning in the HIV and AIDS context can we (re)construct by stepping back and co-reflecting using arts-inspired approaches?” We used the following data sources: (1) self-chosen exemplars from each researcher’s completed doctoral projects; (2) e-mailed communications as to why we selected the particular exemplars to enhance our professional re-learning in the HIV and AIDS context; (3) individually selected artefacts used as metaphors to explore our research question; and (4) transcriptions of Zoom dialogic meetings where we probed our metaphors and found poems. Our analysis commenced with individually composed found poems using our data sources. These poems were used for poetic interrogation using a co-created Red Ribbon silhouette found poem. Combining all these arts-inspired methods and through co-reflection we could step back and look forward to answer our research question.

Enhancing educational research pedagogy: Integrating in-house peer review in a flipped/hybrid classroom environment

This paper introduces a novel approach to teaching educational research—a two-semester course employing an in-house peer review approach within a flipped/hybrid learning environment. The study engaged 21 pre-service mathematics teachers enrolled in the Research in Mathematics Education course. Employing a concurrent triangulation mixed methods design, quantitative analysis from peer review ratings was triangulated with quantitative data from focused group discussions. Results showed that the in-house peer review feedback provided significant improvement to both Research 1 proposals and Research 2 full articles, from initial drafts to final versions. The findings highlight the efficacy of the in-house peer review approach in enhancing student research outputs within the course activities. The hybrid classroom format fosters in-depth research discussions during consultations. Complementing these interactions, the flipped classroom approach facilitated additional learning opportunities. The integration of qualitative and quantitative data enabled an understanding of the peer review process as a distinctive pedagogical approach in educational research courses. Policy directions aimed at further advancing these practices were delineated.

Literature review on teachers’ mindsets, growth-oriented practices and why they matter

This literature review focuses on earlier research on teachers’ mindsets, i.e., teachers’ implicit beliefs about the malleability of basic human qualities such as intelligence. More specifically, the review focuses on what teachers’ mindsets are, how teachers’ mindsets manifest in the teaching, studying, and learning process, how teachers’ mindsets and growth-oriented practices are related to students’ mindsets and learning, and how teachers’ mindsets can be developed. Three electronic databases and backtracking references were used to search articles published between the years 2012 and 2023. After evaluating the eligibility of the articles, 64 were finally included in the review. The findings indicated that teachers’ mindsets and growth-oriented practices matter. Most earlier research has found some kind of connection between teachers’ mindsets and growth-oriented practices, and/or students’ mindsets and learning. The implications for teacher education, policy, and future research are discussed.

Business Anthropology and Education: Approaches, Methodologies, and Implications

The contribution of anthropological contents and methods in different aspects of the study of education is significant. The business functions of education in terms of leadership and management of humans, materials and financial resources for optimal outcomes mandates anthropological insights and underpinnings in educational systems. The early works of Hewett, Boas and Montessori paved the way for the application of anthropological contents and methods to the study and practices of educative processes and systems for better understanding and improvement of learning. Anthropological concepts and principles are integral to the domains of foundations of education, curriculum development, culture studies, classroom interactions, multicultural education, business education, policy implementations, educational research and educational administration. In this study, efforts have been made to show the contributions of both anthropologists and educators in the rise of a new field of anthropology of education since the early decades of the twentieth century. The study, thus, examines the confluence of business anthropology and education resulting in the field of anthropology of education. It highlights the historical development of the convergence of anthropology and education, implications of anthropological concepts, contents and methods in educational studies, and the anthropological approaches in the areas of educational research. Ethnographic methods such as grounded theory, documentary content analysis, and action research have greatly contributed to the knowledge of complex educational issues and challenges. They are integral to the study of educational issues through the techniques of purposive sampling, interview, observation, constant comparison, triangulations, key incident, narration, interpretive stance, and other tools of data gathering, interpretation and analysis. The present study emphasises on the significance of anthropological methods in the study of life in classrooms in term of interactions, and the impacts of the classroom environment on learning as school settings and classroom life provide the requisite environment for anthropological inquiries. It also addresses the current practices in the applications of anthropology of education in the areas of teacher education, curriculum development, multicultural education and educational research.

The Scope of Second Language Teacher Education Research from 1980 to 2020: A Systematic Review

This paper presents a comprehensive and rigorous systematic review of the trajectories and challenges in Research Articles (RAs) of Second Language Teacher Education (SLTE) from 1980 to 2020. The RAs were carefully retrieved from two sources: (1) a pool of 100 top-tier journals based on SCImago Journal Ranking (SJR) in Linguistics and Language category and (2) seven well-known electronic databases. This study used thematic analysis. After conducting full-text screening and data extraction, each study was systematically coded for publication contents, themes, theories, and variable levels. Each study was further coded for methodological features, including research design, analyses, and sampling. The findings indicate a rapid and consistent growth in SLTE research with a notable emphasis on Teacher Professional Development Programs (TPDP), research in teacher education, psychology in teacher education, culture, knowledge-based teacher education, and CALL. In addition, analysis of the data revealed several trajectories, including fewer publications in teacher education journals compared to other journals, lack of adherence to a clear theoretical framework in 27% of the studies, limited use of software in qualitative studies, and underdeveloped themes that received little attention. This review sheds light on the most significant and emerging areas of research in the field, and the article concludes with implications for SLTE scholars, researchers, and practitioners.

Study on the Tripartite Collaborative Training Mechanism for Secondary School Mathematics Teachers

Based on the principle of "local colleges and universities serving the local community", the university has established a tripartite collaborative training mechanism with the local secondary schools and government with clear rights and responsibilities, stable coordination and win-win cooperation. Based on the theoretical teaching and practical guidance of teacher education, and oriented to the improvement of educational and teaching ability, the university is striving to build a cooperative community integrating the training of secondary school mathematics teachers, the training of in-service secondary school mathematics teachers, and the research and service of backbone teacher education.