Support Teacher Educators Research Articles

The role of classroom silence in teacher educators’ well-being: A case study in TESOL initial teacher education

This study explores the role of classroom silence in the well-being of teacher educators (TEs) within a TESOL ITE program in Türkiye. Data were collected from two experienced TESOL TEs, Ayşe and Bahar, through individual interviews, a paired-depth interview, and weekly voice memos. Although TEs are essential for the professional development of pre-service language teachers (PTs), their well-being, particularly concerning classroom silence, has been largely overlooked in existing research. Applying the Job Demands-Resources (JD-R) model, this study examines how classroom silence impacts TEs’ ability to support PTs effectively. Findings revealed that classroom silence arises from three primary sources: curriculum-related issues, PT preparedness, and TE strategies. Curriculum misalignment with PTs’ language proficiency and theoretical demands contributes to silence, intensified by PT unpreparedness and cultural backgrounds. In the ITE program, TEs reported emotional tension when managing silence, highlighting the need for adaptive teaching methods (e.g., multimodal materials). The study suggests examining institutional policies to create strategies that alleviate stress and support TEs. Implementing support networks, mentoring programs, and modules can offer emotional and professional resources, reducing isolation and classroom-related stress. Revising the ITE curriculum and providing administrative support can aid TEs in managing demands, enhancing their well-being and engagement with TESOL programs.

“Close to my Heart”: Teacher Educators Building Racial Literacies

Although building preservice teachers’ racial literacy is a key goal to reducing racial inequity in K-12 settings, little attention has been paid to how literacy teacher educators are prepared to conduct this work. This is unsurprising given the neoliberal logic underpinning universities today. In this multiduo autoethnographic study, six literacy teacher educators utilized reflection on critical incidents to examine their own racial literacy development. By forming cross-racial pairs and utilizing a combination of writing and dialogue, these six participant/researchers interrogated their own views and experiences of race and racism. Findings suggest that the examination of critical incidents can support teacher educators’ racial literacy growth. Specifically, participants reflected on the vulnerability necessary to support preservice teachers’ racial literacy development and utilized ethnographic methods to build the practice of sharing about their own racial literacy learning. They also used critical incidents to come to a deeper understanding of the construct of racial literacy itself. These results imply that for professional organizations such as the Literacy Research Association to deliver on their espoused commitments to addressing ongoing institutional racism, they must intentionally create professional spaces for coreflection and dialog about racial literacy. Further, we consider the implications of this work for literacy doctoral programs and teacher educator preparation within contexts of college and university-based teacher education programs.

Learning in motion! Design of an evidence-based professional development programme to empower teacher educators to adopt play-based, gender-responsive pedagogies

ABSTRACT The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for action to achieve global goals relating to quality education and gender equality. Teacher education is a setting where novel pedagogical practices can be introduced and mainstreamed, ultimately influencing the educational experience at the school level. This study aimed to design a professional development programme to support teacher educators at Palestinian universities to adopt gender-responsive and play-based learning practices. The researchers used the Behaviour Change Wheel (BCW) to develop an evidence-based intervention, resulting in the selection of six intervention functions (education, persuasion, training, environmental restructuring, modelling, and enablement) and 16 behaviour change techniques from the following taxonomy categories: natural consequences, feedback and monitoring, comparison of outcomes, comparison of behaviour, shaping knowledge, repetition and substitution, antecedents, social support, and goals and planning. Mode of delivery primarily involved face-to-face group-based facilitation. Using the BCW to guide the intervention development process allowed for a comprehensive review of teacher educators existing perspectives and the design of programme content to support them to change their teaching practices. The resulting novel professional development programme for teacher educators will be further researched to confirm relevance and impact.

Supporting elementary preservice teachers' content knowledge for teaching about matter and its interactions

AbstractKnowledge of science content and the ability to translate knowledge into effective teaching is known as teachers' content knowledge for teaching (CKT). Teachers with developed CKT are able to more effectively determine instructional and assessment activities that will deepen K‐12 students' scientific literacy. However, preservice teachers (PSTs) can have limited opportunities to develop CKT, and little is known about how to support PST CKT development in elementary science teacher preparation. In our work, we developed instructional materials (i.e., “CKT Packets”) intended to support teacher educators (TEs) in developing elementary PSTs' CKT for one content area—matter and its interactions. We facilitated a professional learning community for TEs to support their learning how to implement the materials in their courses. We report on results from a mixed‐methods study using a quasi‐experimental cohort control design with a pretest and posttest to understand differences in PSTs' CKT (N = 250) in eight TEs' science classrooms. Nesting PSTs within their TEs' courses, and controlling for PSTs' prior CKT, engagement time on the assessments, prior coursework, and TE time‐invariant effects, we found preliminary evidence that PSTs achieved greater CKT when TEs implemented more CKT Packets. Salient factors that we hypothesize influenced TEs' productive uses of CKT Packets included disruptions to courses/contexts, TEs' sources of motivation for implementing Packets, TEs' entry points for the alignment of curricular materials with existing topics and pedagogical course emphases, TEs' approaches for first‐time use of curricular materials, and TEs' experiences with the instructional routines of the Packets. We bound our interpretation of results within limitations (e.g., small sample size, quasi‐experimental design) and suggest avenues for new research. Throughout this article, we include implications for TEs, PSTs, educative curricula developers, and researchers working to improve science teaching and learning for students.

The troublesome nature of learning to teach critical thinking: Using Threshold Concepts Theory to support Teacher Education

Teaching critical thinking is fundamental for students’ academic success and helps to equip them for life after university. There are some studies which discuss teachers’ perceptions of the barriers regarding the teaching of critical thinking. However, more empirical evidence is needed about the actual challenges which educators experience when learning to teach it. Using the lens of threshold concepts theory, this small-scale collective case study examines the barriers encountered by 14 HE educators in the UK, as they experimented with teaching critical thinking in their disciplinary contexts. Educators identified the troublesome and transformative nature of learning to do so experienced through shortcomings in curricula, learning environment and ways of thinking and practising. These findings suggest that the process of learning to teach critical thinking could be a threshold concept of higher education which supports educators to think differently about how to teach this subject. It provides initial considerations for professional development programmes and resources to support educators to overcome their barriers and learn to teach criticality within their disciplines.

Motivation and professional development needs of foreign language teacher educators

ABSTRACT This study explores the motivational factors and professional development needs of lower secondary foreign language teacher educators (FLTE) at a Swiss University of Teacher Education (UTE). Existing research on the motivation of teacher educators is scant and mainly focused on their identities, professional development and professional standards. Understanding their motivation, however, is crucial owing to the pivotal role of teacher educators in enhancing teaching quality. The study uses semi-structured interviews with eleven lower secondary FLTEs and applies Ryan and Deci’s Self-Determination Theory to investigate the motives which drove them to become FLTEs and work at their institution, and their current motivation. Preliminary findings indicate the importance of relational aspects of motivation, in particular the relationship with student teachers and colleagues. The results can inform policymakers and the academic community in optimising decisions related to teacher education and supporting teacher educators in their profession.

Interaktionsprozesse in einem virtuellen Austauschprojekt – duoethnografische Reflexionen der begleitenden Lehrpersonen

In the discussion of international student mobility, virtual exchange(s) (VE) become increasingly important. Similar to on-site exchanges, VEs aim to provide students with an international experience and transcend geographical, social, and cultural boundaries. While students’ experiences with VEs have been presented repeatedly, this paper focuses on an aspect that features less prominently in the literature: the perceptions of a VE from the perspective of the facilitating team. We report on our experiences, interactions and reflections as supporting teacher educators in a VE project between German and New Zealand pre-service English teachers and New Zealand students of German. We employ the collaborative research approach of duoethnography to critically reflect on our experiences and practices with the VE as well as to portray our reflections on duoethnography as our chosen research approach. Our findings are based on continuous individual and collaborative written reflections throughout the project.

Decentering teacher voice - And stance? Teacher candidates’ explicit and implicit disclosure in social studies discussions

How teachers can best facilitate student-centered discussions on open socio-political issues, while navigating their own stances, remains contested in scholarship and practice. Experienced teachers often state neutral stances but implement them inconsistently, while limited research examines teacher candidates' approaches and practices. This qualitative study draws from online classroom recordings, video-stimulated interviews, and written reflections to examine candidates' beliefs, goals, and practices of stance-sharing. Findings show candidates’ implicit disclosure patterns were frequent and related to tensions with teaching role, goals, and content. We offer implications to support teacher education research, pedagogy, and K-12 practice with the complexities of discussion facilitation.

‘Weak’ physical education teacher education practice: co-constructing features of meaningful physical education with pre-service teachers

ABSTRACT While the meaningful physical education approach serves as a unifying and focused framework for both physical education teachers and teacher educators, it is focused on teaching physical education and not how teacher educators can teach pre-service teachers (PSTs) how to teach using meaningful physical education. Consequently, Learning about Meaningful Physical Education (LAMPE) has emerged as a comprehensive pedagogical approach designed to support teacher educators in their decision making to educate PSTs about meaningful physical education. However more work is needed to exemplify PETE practices when enacting the LAMPE pedagogical principles and explain their effectiveness in preparing PSTs to learn about meaningful physical education. This research aims to address the knowledge gap in answering: What are the realities of enacting principle four of the LAMPE principles (i.e. Teacher educators should frame learning activities using features of meaningful participation) in PETE? Rather than providing the already agreed critical features of meaningful physical education (i.e. social interaction, challenge, motor competence, fun, and personally relevant learning), and reproducing what is already known, Dylan engaged in a self-study of teacher education practices (S-STEP) methodology to inductively co-construct a shared language with his PSTs. Data was collected through different sources: (i) Four community of learners meetings; (ii) 11 reflective journal entries; (iii) Critical friends interrogation on such reflections; and (iv) the teaching artefacts. Through data analysis, three categories were constructed: (1) Inductive disruption encouraging co-construction of meaningful physical education features; (2) Tensions in developing a shared language through identification, exploration, experience, and reflection; (3) An uncomfortable space of ‘knowing’ and ‘not knowing’. The inductive analysis led us to make connections to Biesta, G.’s [2014. The Beautiful Risk of Education. Paradigm Publishers] notion of ‘weak education’. Informed by this, this research advocates for ‘weak practice’, the development of a pedagogy of teacher education, and a principle zero.

Responding to the moral complexities of climate change education through intergenerational dialogue in teacher education

ABSTRACT Persistent youth advocacy for climate action worldwide, and recent policy activity in England, UK focused on climate change and sustainability education (CCSE), provide the context for this study. Drawing on reflections and insights predominantly gathered whilst working as a geography teacher and geography teacher educator in both England and Scotland, I explore the ways in which intergenerational dialogue can support teacher educators in the context of climate change and sustainability education. This includes the ways in which initial teacher education (ITE) involves different groups (e.g., teachers, teacher educators, school students) and provides different spaces (e.g., school sites and university classrooms) which support intergenerational dialogue. I consider the ways in which intergenerational dialogue can help teacher educators engage with the spatial and temporal facets of the moral complexities of climate change and sustainability education.

Preparing teachers for critical global and democratic practice: shifting inquiries into the teaching of democracy and global citizenship in teacher education

AbstractThere is an ongoing and increasingly pressing need to prepare teachers and students for a still globalising world. Such work requires that we contemplate how we are preparing learners to think globally and embody critical practices of citizenship. Much work has been done in this space yet there is little work that focuses on teacher educators and their respective views of global citizenship education, the primary paradigm through which the global context and civic action converge. Recognising the important role that teachers play in this educational process and the evolving nature of the notions of citizenship and democracy, this project focuses on Initial Teacher Education (ITE) to understand how teacher educators envisage their roles in preparing pre-service teachers (PSTs) to teach about democracy in schools. To learn how teacher educators understand global citizenship education as part of their research and teaching, we undertook a small case study wherein we interviewed teacher educators to solicit their views of global citizenship education. Through a presentation of the voices of teacher educators, we argue that there is a pressing need for those working in global citizenship education to consider how to better support teacher educators to navigate what we argue are two consistent themes: (a) a complex and unclear conceptual terrain that teacher educators find themselves navigating and; (b) an ever increasing set of regulatory and institutional hurdles that make enacting critical global citizenship challenging.

The effects of generative AI on initial language teacher education: The perceptions of teacher educators

Since the public release of ChatGPT in November 2022, generative AI tools—capable of creating human-like content such as audio, code, images, text, simulations, 3D objects, and videos—have gained significant attention. While the impact of these tools on language teaching and learning has been widely speculated, the perspective of language teacher educators concerning their influence on initial language teacher education (ILTE) remains unexplored. This study investigates how teacher educators, who play a crucial role in adapting ILTE to technological advancements, perceive the effects of generative AI tools on ILTE. Data were collected through in-depth interviews with thirteen English language teacher educators from all four Hong Kong government-funded universities offering ILTE. Findings reveal that participants believe generative AI tools will substantially affect the ILTE curriculum, instruction, and assessment. However, most participants believed they lacked the confidence and competence to address the implications of generative AI tools effectively. This study highlights the need for further research and training to support teacher educators in adapting ILTE to the emerging influence of generative AI.

The importance of context in teacher educators’ professional digital competence

ABSTRACT Digital technologies permeate modern life, and schools are accordingly expected to help students develop related knowledge and skills. As a result, educators’ professional digital competence (PDC) has received substantial attention from school leaders, policymakers, teacher educators, and researchers. Theory and prior research suggest that educators’ PDC does not solely determine their technology use, with contextual factors, such as competing curricular demands and access to technology, influencing technology implementation and ongoing PDC development. While some prior research has addressed how PK-12 teachers’ contexts shape their digital technology use, few studies have explored similar matters with respect to teacher educators. Drawing on an established set of teacher educator technology competencies, we report results from an international survey of 336 teacher educators regarding their self-reported PDC and its development and enactment. Using qualitative coding, exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis, and quantitative analysis, we find that teacher educators develop and enact their competencies in various ways including through informal endeavours as well as formal, institutionally supported, and/or led activities. Three types of assets and barriers (access, leadership, personal characteristics) present differently for participants in different contexts. These findings have implications for how institutions support teacher educators’ PDC development and technology integration in various settings.

Quality initial teacher education in the grip of teacher educator ‘academic tribes and territories’

ABSTRACT Examining quality in teacher education is considered a complex task. One dimension of this complexity is examining teacher educators as key stakeholders in ensuring quality teacher education. However, the influence of teacher educators towards quality teacher education seems to be still under-researched. The theoretical framework on academic tribes and territories is employed to investigate how teacher educators' affiliations and scholarly domains lead a quality teacher education. This is a qualitative study reporting on 40 interviews conducted with teacher educators and management staff over three data collection stages in initial teacher education institutions in Kosovo. Teacher educators leading quality teacher education is characterised by many tensions and contradictions that originate in their professional embeddedness. The study endorses systematic interventions that require institutions to recruit and support teacher educators to have: wide-ranging roles that move beyond teaching, competencies to enact contemporary study programmes that facilitate research-based approaches, and open-minded views that promote interdisciplinary collaborations.

The Design of an ICT Enabled Active Teaching and Learning Model for Use in Teacher Training Institutions in Uganda

In this paper, the author describes the theories behind the model that was designed in a study that was conducted in Eastern Region, Uganda. The paper provides examples of the teaching model based upon the model and illustrates the support systems required to facilitate the implementation of the model. The e-Model for Active Teaching and Learning to enhance the teaching and learning process utilizing technologies as a result of the growing use of technology over the past 10 years has been designed. The e-Model targets the teachers in a bid to improve the learning outcomes. The study design was a mixed method which employed qualitative and quantitative approaches and was conducted in the Eastern Uganda with a total population of 313 participants from the 6 participating teacher training colleges. The findings demonstrated a substantial link between teaching methodologies, ICT tools, and tools for active learning. Using the data collected on the relationship between aspects an e-Model for Active Teaching and Learning (e-MATL), to support teacher educators in effective use of technology to enhance active learning strategies.

Inclusion in school physical education: a look at diversity

This study aims to map and analyze the research published in the last five years on inclusion in physical education in schools. The motivation for this study arises from the practical demands in the school setting regarding architectural accessibility, instrumental resources, teaching strategies, and interpersonal relationships, where the social world is constructed by different social actors in the school and students with disabilities. A systematic review methodology was employed, utilizing electronic databases and reference lists of identified articles. The inclusion criteria included studies that focused on adolescents with physical disabilities, utilized measures of inclusive physical activity, were related to elementary education, involved the training of physical education teachers, and were original research articles. The review process involved the evaluation of titles, abstracts, and full texts according to predefined criteria. The selected articles were analyzed for sample characteristics, assessment instruments, inclusive activities, and teaching methodologies in physical education, implementation of active methodologies with physically disabled students, teacher training and pedagogical methodologies, ethical considerations, and the journal in which the article was published. The studies analyzed encompass various perspectives and methodological proposals for physical education and the inclusion of students. Five categories emerged from the analysis: concepts and practices of inclusion, student participation, diverse socio-educational environment, use of technological resources, and teacher perception and practice. The findings emphasize the importance of promoting inclusive practices, listening to students' experiences, creating an inclusive school environment, incorporating technological resources with pedagogical mediation, and providing continuous teacher training. These conclusions underscore the need to consider the needs of students with disabilities, support teacher education, and foster an inclusive school environment in physical education.

Embracing a culture of talk: STEM teachers’ engagement in small-group discussions about photovoltaics

Abstract Background Small-group discussions are well established as an effective pedagogical tool to promote student learning in STEM classrooms. However, there are a variety of factors that influence how and to what extent K-12 teachers use small-group discussions in their classrooms, including both their own STEM content knowledge and their perceived ability to facilitate discussions. We designed the present study to specifically target these two factors in the context of photovoltaics, an interdisciplinary field at the intersection of all STEM disciplines with potential to yield widespread benefits related to the use of solar technologies as a sustainable, renewable energy source. Teachers engaged in a series of small-group discussions based on photovoltaic source material (e.g., scientific articles) to build both their STEM content knowledge and capability with discussions, promoting their potential to design and deliver STEM instruction in their own classrooms using small-group discussion. Results Overall, teachers productively engaged in rich STEM talk as they spent most of the time in the discussion asking authentic questions about photovoltaic topics in alignment with a variety of science and engineering disciplinary core ideas, responding to the questions with rich, elaborative talk, and taking on ownership of the discussions. Teachers also evidenced increases in their photovoltaic knowledge and their perceived capability to facilitate discussions. Finally, most teachers’ end-of-program lesson plans included the use of small-group discussions, and a subsample of teachers who completed a follow-up interview one year after the summer program reported greater enactment of discussion in their STEM classrooms. Conclusion Our manuscript forwards an important contribution that draws from a practice-based approach to professional development in a way that not only better prepares teachers on what to teach (i.e., through enhanced PV content knowledge), but it also supports their ability to implement this instruction into their classrooms more effectively (i.e., though the use of small-group discussion). As such, this manuscript illustrates an innovative pedagogical approach for potential use in supporting teacher education and informs ways to enable teachers to build enhanced curricula for their STEM students.

‘Let’s Teach as We Preach’: The Design of a Professional Development Initiative to Support Teacher Educators’ Responsiveness to Diversity

(1) Background: In preparing the next generation of teachers, teacher educators are key actors in fostering diversity-responsive education. However, evidence-informed professional development initiatives (PDIs) are needed to raise teacher educators’ awareness and increase their diversity-responsive practices. This study provides insight into the design of a PDI that addresses this need. (2) Methods: After consulting the educational literature to define PDI objectives and general design principles, a participatory design process was initiated at two teacher education institutions to create a tailored PDI. Therefore, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a key policy-maker of each institution (n = 2) and with all participating teacher educators (n = 19). (3) Results: The participatory design process resulted in (1) the identification of both institutional contexts and participant groups’ needs and (2) the subsequent design of a PDI to support teacher educators’ diversity-responsive practices. Particularly, a three-phased PDI was designed, of which the overall and context-tailored design choices are discussed. (4) Conclusions: This contextualised PDI is a unique and concrete contribution to the teacher educator literature. Moreover, three new design principles are proposed for teacher educator PDIs in general. This article might inspire policy-makers and teacher educators to design their own PDIs to foster responsiveness to diversity.

Self‐regulated learning and technology among teacher candidates

AbstractExtensive evidence indicates that self‐regulated learning is associated with crucial academic outcomes and the significant ways digital technologies enhance pedagogical approaches in diverse learning environments in postsecondary education. Despite this evidence, self‐regulated learning and digital technologies have not been fully integrated to support teacher educators and teacher candidates. This chapter extends the existing literature about self‐regulated learning by integrating it with digital technologies among teacher candidates and describes a technology project in which teacher candidates identify the benefit of self‐regulated learning and technology. The chapter concludes by offering recommendations about integrating self‐regulated learning and technology in teacher preparation programs, including helping candidates to be proactive, self‐directed, and self‐efficacious. Candidates need to be agentic in their pursuit of the teaching profession during training programs that encourage and support a culturally proactive pedagogy.

Professional development in the digital age: supporting improvements in teacher education through MOOCs

ABSTRACT Education policies across sub-Saharan Africa require teachers to change from being transmitters of knowledge to facilitators of learning. This means that teacher education needs to change as well and professional development which focuses on practical teaching is urgently needed. The Teacher Education for sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA) MOOC - Making teacher education relevant for 21 st Century Africa - was designed to support teacher educators in changing their practice. The MOOC modelled socio-cultural theories of learning and focused on issues identified by the TESSA network. It ran four times, over two years, and nearly 9000 participants, mainly from sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), registered. For many it was their first experience of online learning. They studied on phones, in environments where electricity and connectivity were erratic, and supported each other in local communities. We draw on survey data from the first two presentations and in-depth interviews with four MOOC graduates to understand who took part, how they studied, what they learnt and how it has impacted on their practice and professional identity. For some individuals the experience was transformational. The study highlights the potential of this form of professional development, to make a difference particularly in a policy environment which is seeking pedagogic change.