Support Teacher Candidates Research Articles

Getting critical with compelling questions: Shifts in elementary teacher candidates’ curriculum planning from inquiry to critical inquiry

ABSTRACT While recognized as a foundational practice, social studies educators struggle with enacting inquiry-based instruction. With critical inquiries that examine sociopolitical and other injustices, developing aligned compelling questions represents a challenge, particularly for elementary teachers. Informed by four lenses of criticality from social studies scholarship, this design-based mixed methods research follows 28 elementary teacher candidates from two universities and regions as they formulated compelling questions for critical inquiry units together. Data sources included audio transcriptions of group discussions, course assignments, curriculum planning documents, and reflections. Qualitative and quantitative findings show that candidates created more critical questions with the intervention scaffold, suggesting a new criterion for determining open questions: identifying ongoing issues of empirical injustice. Most still struggled with identifying implicated social groups and clarifying relationships of interdependence. Group members’ positional awareness of sociopolitical identities appeared to support more critical collective question design trajectories through understandings of structure, agency, and place relative to the content. Results suggest the importance of scaffolding critical inquiry question development—with special care to support teacher candidates’ sociopolitical consciousness, and consider their and K-12 students’ implicated identities in power systems, situated in specific teaching contexts.

Fostering Inclusive Dispositions: Integrating Disability Studies in Teacher Education

In the era of inclusive education, every educator can expect to have students with disabilities in their classroom. Unfortunately, preservice teachers who are not specifically pursuing special education licensure are often only expected to take one course focused on teaching students with disabilities. Given the increased emphasis on less restrictive educational placements of students with disabilities, it is vital for teacher education to promote asset-based, inclusive approaches. In this article, we share the rationale for embedding critical perspectives from the field of disability studies into teacher education courses. We further detail five course design priorities that support teacher candidates’ development of inclusive dispositions: (1) centering models of disability; (2) integrating disability history; (3) addressing language and terminology; (4) prioritizing first-person narratives; and (5) illustrating disability-inclusive curriculum. Inspired by our own experiences with developing and teaching introductory courses, the article follows one teacher educator’s fictional journey of redesigning a “Special Education 101” class with these priorities in mind. This article spotlights small but powerful shifts teacher educators can make to prepare future inclusive educators who think, talk, and teach about disability through a critical lens.

21st-century Skills as Predictors of Pre-Service Teachers' Professional Qualifications: A Cross-Sectional Study

This study aimed to determine the impact of teacher candidates' 21st-century skills on their professional competence by controlling for gender, grade level, and income status. 380 teacher candidates from different classes and departments were selected to participate in the study. The data obtained using the Multidimensional 21st-Century Skills and Professional Competence Scales were analyzed using the structural equation modeling method. The results indicate that teacher candidates' 21st-century skills positively affect their professional competence when controlling for gender, grade level, and income status. These findings highlight the importance of teacher candidates acquiring 21st-century skills such as using information technologies to create modern learning environments, critical thinking, problem-solving, entrepreneurship and innovation, social responsibility and leadership, and career awareness. It is concluded that teacher education programs should be redesigned to support teacher candidates in acquiring 21st-century skills and enhancing their professional competence

“Living in These Two Places Really Shaped My Life”: Examining Multimodal Playlist Assignments in Social Studies and Language Arts Methods Courses

In this article, the authors consider the use of a “Playlist of My Life Assignment” in helping social studies (SS) and English language arts (ELA) teacher candidates (TCs) conceptualize multimodal and humanizing SS and ELA curricula. The Playlist Assignment asked teacher candidates to center the music, texts, land, spaces, and places that are most important to them, and potentially relate these back to their own pedagogies as SS and ELA teachers. Taken from two qualitative studies of two teacher education courses at two separate, large research universities in the U.S. Southwest, this article examines teacher candidates’ understandings of their disciplines as humanizing and multimodal, and as centered in their and their students’ communities, through the Playlist Assignment. Data included the Playlist Assignment, curated by TCs in each methods course, and TCs’ class response journals. TCs offered profound texts they carried within them throughout their lives, demonstrating (1) their multimodal disruptions of the definition of a “text” and (2) the empowering and limiting effect of life texts for humanizing curricula. This work has implications for SS and ELA teacher educators interested in supporting teacher candidates as they conceptualize multimodal and humanizing curricula with and for their future students.

“Going for Broke”: Working with Teacher Candidates to Bring about Intersectional Socially Just Teaching

Embodying James Baldwin’s call to “go for broke” in the face of the current “dangerous time” and ongoing “determined resistances,” this article argues for an intersectional social justice praxis for preparing and supporting teacher candidates and novice teachers to work with diverse students. We posit a sustained intersectional social justice framework for teaching, coaching, and mentoring that requires reckoning with the foundations of the field of teacher education and working with teachers and teacher candidates.

Explaining skills of prospective teachers – Findings from a simulation study

Providing instructional explanations is a central skill of teachers. Using interactive simulations, we examined the explaining skills of 48 prospective teachers attending a teacher education program for accounting in vocational schools in Germany. We used a performance-based assessment that relies on explanatory quality as an indicator of teacher candidates’ explaining skills. Video analysis was used to assess the quality of prepared and impromptu explanations in respect of different quality aspects. We found that the prepared explanations of prospective teachers were of high quality in terms of student–teacher interaction and language. With respect to the quality of content (e.g., accuracy, multiple approaches to explaining) and representation (e.g., visualization, examples), prospective teachers performed significantly worse. The quality of teacher candidates’ improvised explanations was significantly lower. This was especially true for the quality of representations, the process structure, and the interaction between student and teacher. For four of the five quality criteria examined, no correlation could be found between the quality of prepared and improvised explanations. For the language criterion, however, there was a correlation between the two types of explaining situations. Implications on how to support teacher candidates in developing explaining skills during teacher education are discussed.

The emotional work of being a teacher educator and persisting through a pandemic

Dunbar and Baker (2014) identify the personal experiences of teaching as “emotional labor” based on Hargreaves (1998) “emotional practice” of teaching. We engaged in a collaborative self-study investigating the emotional work of teacher educators during a global pandemic. We examined the role of liaison in our context - university faculty working to support teacher candidates in school placements for a “professional year.” Liaisons serve in “boundary crossing” (Akkerman & Bakker, 2011) roles and negotiate stressors within multi-membership across contexts. The development of teacher educators would benefit from explicit attention to care, relationships, and negotiating boundaries in sites of clinical practice.

“I Will Fight. I Will Advocate. I Will Tell Others”: The Impacts of the Deliberate Attention to Caring about Effective Elementary Science Instruction in a Methods Course

ABSTRACT Given the myriad mandates and policies related to math and language arts education, U.S. public elementary teachers must care about teaching science for it to actually happen. Consequently, this study sought to explore the impacts of assignments in a science methods course supporting teacher candidates (TCs) in caring about effective elementary science instruction (EESI). Different from other teacher dispositions, this study defines caring about elementary EESI as having the ability to articulate the value it provides to students and society and internalize the importance such that one is driven to teach science at a high level, even if they must overcome obstacles. Data were collected via two care-focused assignments, a pre/post-survey, and an interview. Findings indicate that a) for many, this course was the first time they realized the value of EESI; b) the care-focused assignments in the course allowed TCs to flesh out arguments as to why elementary science is important; and c) TCs were more assertive and specific about actions they will take in the future to support and/or advocate for EESI. Explicitly attending to the notion of caring about EESI in a science methods course is necessary if instructors are to support TCs in teaching EESI.

Development of the system for observing virtual real time lessons in physical education (SOVRTL-PE): A tool to support preservice teachers’ applied learning experiences

In tandem with increased reliance on virtual teaching in K-12 schools, the purpose of this study was to develop a systematic observation instrument – the System for Observing Virtual Real Time Lessons in Physical Education (SOVRTL-PE) – to support teacher candidates' development of distance-delivery teaching skills during preservice training. SOVRTL-PE is designed specifically to capture and measure recommended instructional practices for teaching synchronous online physical education (OLPE) lessons to students in K-12 school settings. Instrument development entailed steps taken to address validity and reliability. To address validity, we created an a priori conceptual framework from the literature on OLPE, drew from observations of OLPE lessons and conducted a Delphi survey. Steps taken to address reliability included devising a coding system, pilot testing the instrument, and establishing inter- and intra-observer reliability. Results supported the validity and reliability of SOVRTL-PE. This new instrument provides teacher education programs with an evidence-informed tool to optimize teacher candidates’ preparation for effectively conducting lessons when OLPE is a suitable alternative to in-person educational programming.

Teacher candidates’ reflections on the learning outcomes of video-based supervision

Thorough supervision during field placement is vital to support teacher candidates' reflective capacity and professional development. Moreover, a coherent teacher education also requires shared beliefs and visions among teacher candidates, mentor teachers and higher education teachers of what constitutes good teaching and learning across contexts. Hence, the present study explores how a project with video-based supervision aided by a theoretical framework for analysis of teaching interactions may facilitate such shared beliefs and improve the quality of field-based training for teacher candidates in Norway. Qualitative individual interviews with teacher candidates (n = 7) identify some key dimensions of reported learning outcomes of such supervision from the teacher candidates’ perspectives. Most prominent among these are raised self-awareness, enhanced professional confidence, improved knowledge about key components in lesson planning, and the ability to better analyse and understand complex teaching interactions. However, more research is needed to explore subject-specific differences in the use and relevance of the theoretical framework as a basis for video-based supervision.

Using Asynchronous Discussions to Teach Classroom Management Skills in Online Teacher Preparation Courses

Classroom management is a vital skill for all teachers. Special education teacher educators are tasked with ensuring that teacher candidates are prepared to implement evidence-based practices for the prevention and intervention of challenging behaviors. Many teacher candidates are taking their coursework in an asynchronous online format, which likely includes the use of discussion boards. In this article, we offer suggestions for using four discussion board formats to support teacher candidates in learning classroom management skills. These effective discussion board formats are (a) sharing products that students have created, (b) video-based discussions, (c) jigsaw discussions, and (d) debates. When high quality discussion boards are integrated into asynchronous online courses, student learning and engagement will increase, therefore, creating higher quality preparation programs.

Rejecting “normal”: UDL as a lever for equity in rural teacher education

AbstractThis chapter explores the application of Universal Design for Learning (UDL) as a lever for equitable and inclusive pedagogies in teacher education. Building on our prior work as teacher educators in the northeastern United States, we analyze how UDL can be used to support teacher candidates in identifying, interrogating, and resisting problematic practices embedded into the structures of schooling.

A DisCrit Analysis of Quality in Early Childhood: Toward Pedagogies of Wholeness, Access, and Interdependence

Background: In U.S. contexts, the language of “quality” early childhood education is widely invoked to evaluate the “goodness” of teaching and learning and is often leveraged in attempts to ameliorate inequities. Likewise, efforts to define and achieve generalizable conceptualizations of early childhood quality often guide what takes place in teacher education. Though objections to quality reform efforts and the ways they uphold white supremacy have been extensively discussed, less work has explicitly examined how ableism intersects with racism in the ways quality is defined and applied in early childhood. Purpose: The purpose of this conceptual article is to extend prior critiques of quality to critically examine intersections of racism and ableism in the definitions, measurements, and enactments of quality early childhood teaching and learning. We bring disability critical race theory (DisCrit; Annamma et al., 2013) into conversation with literature on quality in early childhood to examine how traditional notions of early childhood quality position and affect multiply-marginalized children, families, and teachers. We emphasize how dominant notions of early childhood quality are reinforced and can be disrupted in teacher preparation. Interpretive Analysis: We utilize DisCrit’s seven interrelated tenets to analyze how ableism and racism mutually reinforce notions of early childhood quality by: (1) predefining universal goals for teaching and learning; (2) reducing the complexity of teaching and learning; and (3) discarding the wisdom of multiply-marginalized children, families, and teachers. Each of these technocratic processes rely on one another (and at times, overlap) to uphold whiteness and ableism in both early childhood practice and teacher education; exposing them allows us to imagine alternate ways of conceptualizing and enacting meaningful early education. Through DisCrit praxis, we offer an alternative language of evaluation that centers multiply-marginalized young children, families, and teachers using pedagogies of wholeness, access, and interdependence. Conclusions: At the nexus of ableism and racism, standardized notions of early childhood quality create myriad forms of harm for multiply-marginalized children, families, and teachers. Although the language of quality pervades the field, we know it is not the only way. We implore teacher educators to support teacher candidates in developing a DisCrit praxis, as we engage in such processes of reflection and action ourselves. When teaching and learning are rooted in principles of wholeness, access, and interdependence, we put multiply-marginalized communities at the heart of our work, reclaiming and enacting meaningful pedagogies in early childhood.

Understanding self perceptions of wellbeing and resilience of preservice teachers

Research has shown that university students face higher distress than the general population; further, those in helping professions are at a higher risk. A survey was distributed to preservice teachers in one Bachelor of Education program to understand their perceptions of wellbeing and resilience. Results indicated that students' satisfaction declined as they neared the end of their program, and many indicated they had experienced issues with workload/work-life balance. By eliciting students' responses on their wellbeing and developing a more fulsome picture, the findings may be used to consider innovative and effectual approaches to best support teacher candidates' wellbeing. Furthermore, helping preservice teachers develop an understanding of how to support their own wellbeing may further impact the promotion of students’ wellbeing and potentially mitigate issues with beginning teacher attrition rates.

Supporting teacher candidates to become collaborative teaching professionals: developing professional capital through a collaborative inquiry-based community of practice

PurposeThis paper draws on data from a research project that examined the impact of a community of practice (CoP) model of teaching practicum that engaged teacher candidates in collaborative inquiry projects based on self-identified problems of practice that emerged during their practicum experiences.Design/methodology/approachA qualitative approach was adopted to better understand the ways in which the CoP served as a support mechanism for teacher candidates to develop social capital during internship. Data collection included anecdotal observation notes, student postings in online discussion forums, and a one-hour post-project focus group. Data analysis was rooted in phenomenology (Lin, 2013) and was guided by the four pronged coding process outlined by Bicudo (2000).FindingsAs the paper illustrates, the CoP created rich opportunities for teacher candidates to cultivate social capital, which positively impacted their human and decisional capital. Relatedly, teacher candidates demonstrated an enhanced sense of collective efficacy and an understanding of the significance of collaborative professional cultures on their continued growth as members of the teaching profession.Originality/valueWhile a number of studies have considered various factors impacting the professional capital of practicing teachers, the development of professional capital amongst interning teachers remains as an under-explored area in the research literature.

Wrestling with racism and anti-blackness: confronting legacies of coloniality in teacher education programs

PurposeThis paper argues that to preserve black lives, teacher educators and teacher candidates need to develop a decolonial lens. A decolonial lens can provide clarity in understanding how the centering of Western epistemic perspectives perpetuate hierarchies and processes of racialization and invisibilized structures of domination that (re)produce differential learning experiences and outcomes for black students. This study aims to build on prior research to help teacher candidates more effectively recognize and challenge racism and anti-blackness in their schools and teaching practices.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, the author discusses how racism and anti-blackness are perpetuated in schooling and why teacher educators must address them in our work with teacher candidates. Drawing upon existing literature on teacher education, my experiences as a teacher educator and social justice scholar, and insights from the decolonial scholarship, the discusses the importance of a decolonial lens for disrupting racism and anti-blackness, and I offer examples of how teacher educators and teacher candidates can engage in this work.FindingsMulticultural education has done little to change the conditions of black students in schools. While most teacher education programs have made efforts to become more oriented toward social justice, there is a wide gap between program goals and teachers who can work effectively with the diversity of students that they serve.Practical implicationsThis paper outlines an approach that teacher educators can use to further develop an antiracist decolonial teaching and research agenda and support teacher candidates regardless of their racial/ethnic group.Social implicationsA decolonial analysis can help teachers develop a better understanding of the structural and school inequalities that create disparate outcomes for black students and how to intervene. This is urgently necessary, as schooling remains a site of non-belonging and marginalization for black children and youth.Originality/valueThis paper offers a new race-conscious approach to disrupt systemic racism and anti-blackness in education.

Selecting and Integrating High-Quality Videos into Teacher Education

High leverage practices (HLPs) in special education are 22 critical skills related to collaboration, assessment, social/emotional/behavioral, and instructional domains. These practices are supported by research and recommended for use in PK-12 classrooms serving students with and without disabilities. Given the vast instructional modalities used within teacher education (i.e., face-to-face, online synchronous, online asynchronous, or hybrid flexible), it is important to have an array of resources that support teacher candidates’ knowledge of HLPs, in addition to providing a glimpse at HLP implementation in authentic contexts. Videosare an advantageous option for achieving both goals; however, there are important considerations for maximizing the effectiveness of this learning support. Therefore, the aim of this article is to provide teacher educators with guidance on selecting and integrating videos to address critical HLP content. With a focus on leveraging effective design elements, this article describes the benefits of using video to address HLP content in special education teacher preparation programs, and offers guidance on integrating video within coursework through the use of a multimedia instructional tool called Content Acquisition Podcasts (CAPs).

Recommendations for Helping Cooperating Teachers Support Teacher Candidates with edTPA

The aim of this manuscript is to provide PHETE program coordinators/faculty with recommendations for improving CTs ability to better support TCs during the physical and health education edTPA process. The authors will provide specific examples of how they used their own empirical research findings to improve edTPA success within their respective undergraduate PHETE programs.

A Question-Based Framework for Co-Constructing Supervision in Clinically Based Teacher Preparation

The field of teacher education has embraced robust models of clinically based teacher preparation. In part because these models rely upon school-university partnerships for which shared missions are an essential component, they also demand increasingly complex, co-constructed conceptions of supervision to support teacher candidates’ learning during clinical practice. However, even as the need for supervision has grown, good supervision is seldom clearly defined. Many supervisors begin supervising largely underprepared for the complexity of their work in clinical settings. In response to these challenges, this paper proposes a framework for co-constructing supervision consisting of four key components—conceptions, models, tasks, and techniques—that could simultaneously inform supervision scholarship and offer a practical tool for building shared understandings of supervision in clinically based teacher preparation contexts.

‘You can say that they were being racist’: confronting white comfort in anti-racist teacher education

ABSTRACT If teacher education is to become a site for disrupting racism and promoting racial justice, teacher educators must critically analyse how whiteness shapes our work and develop strategies to avoid reproducing it in our instruction. Here, I examine an instance of my own teacher education practice in which I, a white woman teacher educator, attempted to use an instance of classroom teaching to support teacher candidates’ development of anti-racist practice. I find that I made a series of moves and non-moves to construct and maintain white comfort zones that interfered with teacher candidate learning. I explore how I prioritised white safety and white emotionalities in ways that undermined my stated anti-racist instructional goals. I offer implications of this analysis for teacher education focused on disrupting racism and promoting justice.