Support Teacher Educators Research Articles

Teaching the Teacher: Co-Designing a Visual Tool to Support Teacher Educators' Mentorship of Novice Teachers

Teaching the Teacher: Co-Designing a Visual Tool to Support Teacher Educators' Mentorship of Novice Teachers

Pre-Service Teacher Preparedness for Fostering Education for Sustainable Development: An Empirical Analysis of Central Dimensions of Teaching Readiness

While it is generally agreed that teachers can shape student learning outcomes, there remains considerable debate on how national policies and training programmes can best support teacher education to address sustainable development challenges. This study aimed to develop a teaching readiness model with a focus on education for sustainable development. Therefore, the research investigated pre-service teachers’ readiness for fostering education for sustainable development by applying its principles to teaching and learning activities. Pre-service teachers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics responded to a survey regarding their perception of the readiness for designing, conducting, assessing, and engaging in teaching and learning experiences underpinning sustainable development. The results suggest professional knowledge and practice, professional engagement, and self-management could be considered central dimensions of teachers’ job readiness, each of them encompassing a set of components or vectors. Moreover, professional knowledge has a strong and positive influence on teaching practice and professional engagement. In regard to professional knowledge, the ability to conduct didactic transposition is the most influential component. The most significant vectors of the professional practice dimension were found to be the ability to design effective evaluation tools and interpret learning outcomes. The research also revealed weak areas of teacher training: the ability to manage students’ disruptive behaviors, to customize learning and to self-regulate teaching emotions.

The hidden professionals? An interview study of higher education-based teacher educators´ professional identity

This article investigates teacher educators’ self-understanding by asking how they explain their professional identities as teacher educators, based on socialisation and further professional development. Teacher educators facilitate learning from the initial teacher education phase to in-service teachers’ further professional development. The data consists of thirteen qualitative semi-structured interviews and two focus-group interviews with teacher educators from two universities in Norway. Using Bryman’s four-stage approach of analysis, 15 categories were re-organised into three main categories: (1) Recruitment and socialisation, (2) Professional identity, and (3) Professional development. The findings illustrate that teacher educators have different understandings of being a professional. For some, their identity is rooted in the discipline in which they were educated. However, others have built identities as teacher educators supplementary to their primary careers. This knowledge has implications for how universities can and should support teacher educators in the development of their identities. This can apply to educational strategies, institutional leadership and the role of teacher educators themselves. Their further professional development can be facilitated by a clearer understanding and appreciation of this profession reflected in educational policy.
 Norsk sammendrag
 Norsk tittel: Den skjulte profesjonen? En intervjustudie av lærerutdannere og deres profesjonelle identitet
 Formålet med denne studien er å studere lærerutdanneres selvforståelse med problemstillingen: Hvordan uttrykker lærerutdannere sin profesjonsfaglige identitet basert på sosialisering inn i rollen og sin videre profesjonelle utvikling? Lærerutdannere er definert å være de som underviser lærerstudenter og lærere både i grunnutdanningene og i videreutdanningene. Profesjonell identitet beskriver utviklingen av personlig identitet knyttet til utøvelsen av en profesjonell rolle. Datamaterialet består av intervjuer av lærerutdannere fra to universiteter i Norge. Tretten kvalitative semi-strukturerte forskningsintervjuer er gjennomført og to fokusgrupper er modellert. Datamaterialet er analysert i fire trinn. Gjennom analysen ble 15 kategorier arbeidet frem. Disse ble så i iterative prosesser samlet til tre hovedkategorier. De er (1) rekruttering og sosialisering, (2) profesjonell identitet, og (3) videreutvikling av profesjonsutøvelsen. Funnene viser at lærerutdannerne har ulike forståelser av det å definere seg tilhørende en profesjonsgruppe. Flere hadde fremdeles sin identitet i den fagdisiplinen eller profesjonen de først ble utdannet til. Studien fant at noen i utvalget hadde utviklet en sterk identitet som «lærerutdanner». Denne kom da som et supplement til deres første karriere. Studiens resultat har implikasjoner for universitetene og på hvilke måter lærerutdannere blir støttet i sin utvikling av identiteter. Det kan gjelde både utdanningenes strategier, dets ledere og lærerutdannerne selv. For lærerens videreutvikling, er det behov for en tydeligere utdanningspolitisk forståelse og verdsetting av det er å være lærerutdanner.

Performing the performance assessment

Purpose In this paper, the author extends the current research on standardized performance assessments in preservice education by moving with novice teachers from their student teaching experiences into their first years as fully certified classroom teachers. Here, the author draws on scholarship that conceptualizes literacies as performative (Alexander, 2005; Youdell, 2010) to examine how engaging in a standardized performance assessment process shaped the teaching identities that participants carried into their first years of teaching in the field. Design/methodology/approach Through a qualitative case study, the author investigates the experiences of a group of six novice elementary educators in their first years in the classroom after completing the standardized performance assessment Educative Performance Assessment as a major component of their certification program. Data, which included focus group and individual interviews and artifacts (instructional handouts, teaching videos, lesson plans, written reflective commentaries), were analyzed through a performance lens. Findings Findings highlight how engaging with a standardized performance assessment shaped the meanings that participants made of their teaching practices, including lesson planning and implementation for and with students from diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Originality/value This paper offers insights that can support teacher educators working toward preparing teachers for work with diverse students in public school classrooms that might produce more equitable policies, practices and transformative reforms, particularly for historically marginalized groups.

“My greatest challenge happens to be my greatest success”: Overcoming barriers during an early preservice teacher practicum with a high percentage of dual language learners

This qualitative study investigated preservice teachers’ experiences working with dual language learners within an early university-based practicum with young children. Our data were multiple reflective journal entries that each preservice teacher composed during the practicum. Our initial analysis revealed a subset of preservice teachers who described major challenges in their initial work with dual language learners but ultimately formed more professional dispositions toward working with this population. A constructivist paradigm guided our further collaborative, iterative coding process that yielded three principal themes: (1) struggling to connect with dual language learners, (2) trying out “child-centered” approaches, and (3) articulating a sense of professional empowerment. Additional research is needed to support teacher educators in their mission to empower all early childhood teachers to work effectively with dual language learners.

Curriculum interpretation and policy enactment in health and physical education: researching teacher educators as policy actors

ABSTRACTPast research in Health and Physical Education has repeatedly highlighted that curriculum development is an ongoing, complex and contested process, and that the realisation of progressive intentions embedded in official curriculum texts is far from assured. Drawing on concepts from education policy sociology this paper positions teacher educators as key policy actors in the interpretation and enactment of new official curriculum texts. More specifically, it reports research that has explored four teacher educators’ engagement with a specific feature of the new Australian Curriculum in Health and Physical Education (AC HPE); five interrelated propositions or ‘key ideas’ that underpinned the new curriculum and openly sought to provide direction for progressive pedagogy in Health and Physical Education. The paper provides conceptual and empirical insight into teacher educators consciously positioning themselves as policy actors, motivated to play a role in shaping policy directions and future curriculum practices. As such, the teacher educators in this project are identified as policy entrepreneurs and provocateurs. The paper details a dialogic research process between the researchers that was designed to make curriculum interpretation a more transparent, collaborative and generative process. The data reported illustrates the research process supporting teacher educators to engage in productive debate about the possible meanings and enactment of the five propositions. Analysis reveals differing perspectives on the propositions and a shared investment in efforts to support their progressive intent. Empirically, the paper highlights the critical role that teacher educators will play in the ongoing enactment of a new curriculum that is overtly identified as ‘futures oriented’. Conceptually, the paper adds depth and sophistication to understandings of teacher educators as policy actors. Methodologically, we propose that the research process described can be usefully adopted by other teacher educators and teachers engaged in similar processes of curriculum development, interpretation and enactment.

Designing digital storytelling for mathematics special education: an experience in support teacher education

In this paper we present and discuss a designing experience carried out by prospective support teacher. They have been introduced to digital storytelling methodology and they are required to design story-problems in mathematics, devoted to support students with disabilities. Story-problems have been analyzed with respect to the narrative dimension and mathematical correctness. The teachers, who worked in groups, have been able to design and implement striped problems, i.e. stories with a deep integration between the mathematical and narrative aspects. However, most of the groups showed difficulties in creating well-posed problems from a mathematical point of view.

Niels Bohr, espectroscopia e alguns modelos atômicos no começo do século XX: um episódio histórico para a formação de professores

O físico dinamarquês Niels Bohr (1885-1962) é conhecido pelos físicos e químicos por causa de seu modelo atômico, que foi relevante para o desenvolvimento da teoria quântica e da química teórica. Suas contribuições são, usualmente, apresentadas de modo simplista em boa parte dos materiais didáticos de ciências, em especial aqueles voltados para a escola básica. Na maior parte das vezes, reforça-se a visão de uma história linear, elitista, neutra, ingênua e produtora de provas irrefutáveis, mediante um único método universal. Tais concepções acabam por fomentar uma visão estereotipada e ingênua sobre a ciência, em contradição às recomendações da literatura especializada e de documentos oficiais que sugerem uma formação crítica acerca do conhecimento científico e de seu desenvolvimento. Partindo desse pressuposto, neste artigo, apresentamos um enfoque alternativo às narrativas presentes em materiais didáticos, especialmente no contexto da formação inicial de professores. Enfatizamos modelos atômicos pouco conhecidos, aspectos pessoais de cientistas e alguns elementos do desenvolvimento da espectroscopia na elaboração de alguns modelos atômicos do começo do século XX, com ênfase nas contribuições de Niels Bohr. Apresentamos os pressupostos teóricos e metodológicos utilizados na delimitação de um recorte histórico e na elaboração de uma narrativa historiográfica. Esse resultado aqui apresentado objetiva oferecer elementos para subsidiar os docentes formadores de professores quanto ao uso da abordagem histórica das ciências, de modo a promover, em sua futura prática profissional, o ensino e aprendizagem de conceitos científicos e reflexões sobre a prática científica.

Re-imagining mentoring as a dynamic hub in the transformation of initial teacher education

PurposeTeacher education in many countries is under reform with growing differences in its form and function. This is indicative of the ongoing negotiations around the place of theory, research and practice in teachers’ professional learning. However, the demand for mentoring of trainee teachers during often extended and multiple school-based placements is a relative constant. Indeed, with the trend towards greater school-based professional experience mentoring practices become ever more critical. The paper aims to discuss this issue.Design/methodology/approachThis is a conceptual paper written from the perspective of an experienced teacher educator in England, drawing on both practical experience and a body of associated research. It can be conceptualised as related to cases of practice, linked to episodes of practitioner research grounded in the ethics of the improvability of practice, the desire to meet the needs of the professional communities and a deep understanding of the demands and cultures of their workplaces.FindingsMentoring can be re-imagined as a dynamic hub within a practice development-led model for individual professional learning and institutional growth. Acting on this conceptualisation would allow mentors, trainees and other supporting teacher educators to contribute to the transformation of professional learning practices and educational contexts.Originality/valueThis paper goes beyond offering merely helpful guidance to participants and stakeholders in mentoring, or stipulating standards to be achieved, to considering what might be described as a hopeful or transformational stance in relation to mentoring. Teacher educators can continue to bring value to the transformation of teacher education through a focus on mentoring as an educative process.

Internationalizing teacher education curricula: opportunities for academic staff development

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to understand the impact of a collaborative workshop, aimed to support teacher educators in embedding a “global outlook” in the curriculum on their perceived professional development.Design/methodology/approachThe workshop included working sessions, during a period of 13 months, and was structured as participatory action research, according to which volunteer academics designed, developed and evaluated global education projects in their course units. Data were gathered through a focus group session, conducted with the teacher educators at a final stage of the workshop, and analyzed according to the principles of thematic analysis.FindingsResults of the analysis suggest that the workshop presented a meaningful opportunity for teacher educators to reconstruct their knowledge and teaching practice to (re)discover the importance of collaborative work and to assume new commitments to themselves and to others.Originality/valueThe study addresses a gap in the existing literature on academic staff development in internationalization of the curriculum, focusing on the perceptions of teacher educators’, whose voices have been largely silent in research in the field. The study concludes with a set of recommendations for a professional development program in internationalization of the curriculum.

The effect of an exercise program on communication and behavior of a child with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Background and Study Aim: The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of exercise in the communication skills and behavior of a child with Autistic Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Material and Methods: The survey involved a 7 years old boy attending a mainstream school who was diagnosed at 2.5 years of age with pervasive developmental disorder and at 3.5 years of age with ADS. The annual re-assessment, at the age of 6 defined him as a child with high functional autism. The study consisted of three phases. In the interview process through a questionnaire, data concerning the overall picture of the boy was collected. The same questionnaire was answered by all participants (parents, general class teacher, parallel support teacher and physical education teacher) two days prior and two days after the implementation of the intervention program, so as to record observations. The questionnaire investigated four areas, that is, intention or function of communication, semantic categories and use of words, context (framework) communication and ways (means) of communication. The intervention program lasted 12 weeks, at a frequency of 3 sessions per week, of 40-45 minutes each session including balance activities, self-awareness exercises, group games (3-4 people), visual - motor coordination activities, lateral movement and time and space orientation games. Results: After the implementation of the intervention program, the child showed significant improvement in all domains and in almost all subcategories. Conclusions: An individually structured exercise program results in a significant improvement in behavior, skills and communication for a child with ASD.

From professional knowledge to professional performance: The impact of CK and PCK on teaching quality in explaining situations

AbstractIn recent years, many studies have researched the impact of teachers' professional knowledge on teaching quality. Those findings are still ambiguous providing unclear evidence for supporting teacher education programs that aim at developing professional knowledge. In this study, we followed a new approach and used a “performance test” to take a closer look at the impact of professional knowledge on teaching quality. We simulated one particular teaching situation in a controlled, standardized setting in which student teachers (N = 109) enrolled in physics teacher training courses at five German universities had to explain given phenomena to high‐school students. These high‐school students were trained to behave in a standardized way and to ask standardized questions. Videos of these situations were analyzed using an established model of explaining physics. The validity, reliability, and objectivity of these performance tests for explaining physics were examined in previous studies. In this article, we report on the analysis and interpretation of the results of our study concerning the impact of physics content knowledge (CK), pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), and two groups of beliefs (specific aspects of (i) self‐efficacy and (ii) teaching and learning) that mediate the effect of CK and PCK on student teachers' explaining performance. Using path analysis, we can show that student teachers' PCK mediates the influence of their CK on explaining performance in that CK only has a positive influence if PCK has also increased as well. Our findings stress the key role of PCK. For one particular teaching situation, we can show the positive influence of student teachers' CK and their PCK they acquired in academic teacher education on their teaching quality.

Eliciting student teacher’s views on educational research to support practice in the modern diverse classroom: a workshop approach

ABSTRACTTeachers’ professionalism includes using educational research to support their work in the modern diverse classroom. Student teachers’ views as they enter the profession are therefore important. Within a Higher Education Academy social science priority research strand, ‘Supporting research-informed teacher education in a changing policy environment’, this study developed workshops to ascertain student teachers’ views on educational research, preparing materials suitable for primary and secondary sectors. These could be updated, and used by other higher education courses. Face-to-face or email workshops asked participants about their current uses of educational research, and to read and comment upon one policy research extract and one ‘what works’ research review. Small-scale piloting suggested the workshops readily elicited views, and students identified some personal changes following participation. Participants were generally unfamiliar with the principles of ‘what works’ research. Thematic analysis suggested students considered educational research was often inaccessible, but wanted accessible research to inform their practice.

Understanding the Process of Generalization in Mathematics through Activity Theory

The practice of generalization is a powerful process that should be present in mathematical learning from kindergarten to college. It is crucial for teachers at all school levels to have a deep understanding of the process down to knowing its genetic decomposition. Activity theory framework provides basic principles that allows us to define generalization as an activity that is socially and historically developed through tools and artifacts mediations, internalization of social knowledge, and that is transformed through learning and development I present the means of the generalization activity using Leontiev’s activity theory intertwined with Rubinshtein’s description of the generalization process. This theoretical framework may also support teacher educators and teachers while they use high-leverage teaching practices such as: eliciting and interpreting individual student’s thinking, diagnosing particular common patterns of student thinking and development, or leading a group discussion. https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.16.12.4

EMPIRICAL DIRECTIONS TO DESIGNING SUSTAINABLE IN-SERVICE TRAINING FRAMEWORK FOR PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER IN CAMBODIA

In-service training is an imperative for ongoing flexible development of teacher in this changing world. This study is to explore directions to ensure this need that later the study will propose a design of these exemplary sustainable in-service training frameworks. The study administered questionnaire surveys, interviews, and school visits in total of seven stages of field studies in Cambodia, in addition to existing literatures. As such, quantitative and qualitative analyses were made carefully. The results of the study found that (1) teachers acknowledged the significance of in-service training opportunity for their personal/professional/school development, (2) they desire to have regular opportunities in their career, (3) they need an actionable framework for it; but (4) they face some challenges within their schools specifically schools in rural and remote areas. The study would suggest: a) extend to larger survey samples, b) test the designed framework to see how effective and efficient it will be and to what extent it will get sustainable, and c) further find ways to raise awareness from more teachers to make more acceptable decision in their career, from community people to support teacher education, and from stakeholders to provide timely supports to teachers especially rural and remote teachers. Article DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.20319/pijtel.2017.12.1738 This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Non-commercial 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ or send a letter to Creative Commons, PO Box 1866, Mountain View, CA 94042, USA.

Living the stories we tell: The sociopolitical context of enacting teaching stories

This article draws from two separate classroom-based studies of early career teachers that yielded overlapping findings about the diminished opportunities teachers and teacher educators have to construct sophisticated stories about the complexities of classroom life and the ongoing process of learning to teach. The teachers' stories represent the intersection of research, policy, and practice, illuminating contradictions between teachers' beliefs about teaching and what they were able to enact in their classrooms. These findings may be leveraged to support teacher educators to support teachers to create coherent narrative identities that help them creatively respond to problems of practice and contextual constraints.

Project Evidence: Responding to the Changing Professional Learning Needs of Mentors in Initial Teacher Education

This positioning paper seeks to contribute to the knowledge base of the changing professional learning needs of supervising or mentor teachers in initial teacher education. To do so, we draw from the work of Project Evidence, an Australian Office of Learning and Teaching funded project, designed to support teacher education through the development of a professional learning website. Our focus in this paper is our growing understanding of the complex work of teachers as they navigate new supervisory and mentoring roles in the current education context of high stakes standardisation. We examine the implications for their changing work practices within the policy imperative to build effective school-university partnerships in teacher education. Within this context, we discuss the ways in which Project Evidence has attempted to (re)position the emphasis of the work of the mentor teacher away from the dual role of assessor and supervisor to encompass their own professional learning.

Understanding the Underlying Factors Affecting the Perception of Pre-Service Teachers’ Teacher Identity: A New Instrument to Support Teacher Education

Understanding the Underlying Factors Affecting the Perception of Pre-Service Teachers’ Teacher Identity: A New Instrument to Support Teacher Education

Choosing how we choose: A review of teacher education admissions literature

Regulation 283/13 and the Ontario Ministry of Education’s decision to reduce teacher education admission rates by 50% provide a clear opportunity to reflect on the alignment between admissions practices and the programs that they serve. This article presents an overview of teacher education admissions literature, identifying the many purposes that admissions processes serve, the ways teacher educators may connect purpose to practice, as well as the equity issues inherent to program admissions. The strengths and limitations of seven common assessment tools are also presented. This information will be of interest to stakeholders involved in teacher education, and is intended to support teacher educators in making informed selection and admission decisions for their particular programs.

TEACHER EDUCATORS: FROM “THE HIDDEN PROFESSION” TO REVEALED PROFESSION

Knowledge about the EU policy regarding teacher educators is of significant interest to both scholars and stakeholders of higher education. The authors of this paper have identified four key areas where the analysis of current trends and the formulation of relevant questions for discussion seem to be particularly important for those involved in teacher education and training. These are the development of our knowledge basis about the EU initiatives on teacher education in Europe, the EU policy regarding teacher educators, the challenges and new trends characterising the role of teacher educators in the initial education and the professional development. This study also concentrates on teacher educators’ status, their profile of core values and areas of competence that underpin teacher educators’ diverse and multifaceted roles. The paper uses literature review as a basis in identifying critical parameters for the EU policy analysis and its implementation to higher education sector. The European expert study made some very specific proposals for the definition of a teacher educators’ competence profile, making a distinction between first-order and second-order knowledge, skills and attitudes and defining key competence areas. Two key actions to support teacher educators in Member States are characterized: to develop an explicit profile of the competences required by teacher educators; to reinforce collaboration between all the key actors in all phases of teacher education.