Teacher Education Research Research Articles

Transdisciplinary perspectives on ‘the narrative’ and ‘the analytical’ for critical literacy

This paper reports on the design of a multimodal metalanguage developed by teacher education researchers to support pre-service teachers’ understandings of critical literacy and critical health literacies in a changing communication landscape. The design of metalanguage constitutes the first stage of an ongoing transdisciplinary project, Multiliteracies Across Teaching Areas (MATA), which aims to design and implement cohesive disciplinary multiliteracies pedagogies across teaching areas of an initial teacher education (ITE) programme. The focus on metalanguage design is motivated by concerns shared by critical literacy scholars and scholars in health literacy to balance deconstruction of texts with actionable response through the ‘deep moral grammar of narrative’ Kindenberg and Freebody (Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 44(2), 90-99, 2021). Such concerns also align with recent World Health Organisation calls for the use of solution-oriented literacies to empower communities. These sociocultural understandings of critical literacy and Kindenberg and Freebody’s (Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, 44(2), 90-99, 2021) call to balance ‘the analytical’ and the narrative’ in critical literacy practice provide the starting point for designing metalanguage for transdisciplinary research in Health and Physical Education (HPE) and English. We firstly review relevant models of the critical informing both subject areas to establish synergous understandings and then analyse expectations of critical practice in descriptions and elaborations of the HPE and English curricula. We provide an overview of the semiotic resources available for transdisciplinary conversations within the English curriculum with clarifying ‘bridging’ terminology informed by social semiotic descriptions. Through close analysis of four representative texts selected for critical literacy practice by English and HPE teacher educators in the MATA project, we demonstrate how such metalanguage was shared to build understandings of both critical analysis and actionable response. Along with analytical features to build and analyse issues according to disciplinary criteria, we show how stories are used to build rapport with their diverse audiences and to motivate their peers to take positive health action.

Unraveling the relationships among EFL teacher emotions, immunity, and teaching quality: A multilevel structural-equation modelling analysis

Underpinned by Positive Psychology, this study sought to unravel the relationships among teacher emotions (i.e., enjoyment, anxiety, and anger), teaching quality (i.e., cognitive activation, student support, and classroom management), and a novel concept − language teacher immunity − among 77 middle school teachers and their students (n = 1,861) in English-as-a-foreign-language (EFL) contexts. Multilevel structural-equation modelling was implemented to account for the nested structure of the data and to examine the interplay of the target constructs. The results showed that EFL teacher immunity and teaching quality were significantly influenced by teacher emotions. Both constructs were positively related to teacher enjoyment and negatively to teacher anxiety and anger. Additionally, teacher immunity partially mediated the association between teacher emotions and teaching quality. These findings indicated that happy and robustly immunised EFL teachers are more liable to offer quality teaching and improve students' learning experiences, thus highlighting the necessity of boosting language teachers’ positive emotional experiences and psychological well-being. Implications for EFL teacher education and future research were discussed.

A meeting place for meaningful collaboration – student teachers’ experiences and learning

ABSTRACT Background Internationally, teacher education usually involves close school-university cooperation. In Norway, such collaboration includes enabling student teachers to develop into researching teachers. In this article, our interest lies in how the Change Laboratory (CL), a form of participatory workshop, can lay the foundation for three-way collaboration between student teachers, teacher educators, and practice teachers, in terms of resolving practice issues and facilitating student teachers’ research planning. Purpose The study, contextualised within cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), sought to better understand student teachers’ experiences and learning gleaned from collaboration in the CL. Method Eight student teachers participated in the research, which was carried out over a four-year teacher education research and development project involving one university and one primary school. During this time, the student teachers met in the CL with the teacher educators from the university, and the practice teachers, who were working as mentors in the training schools. The data collected, comprising presentations and dialogues from the CL sessions, were analysed qualitatively. Findings According to the analysis, the student teachers thought that their CL experiences had supported them along the trajectory of becoming reflective, professionally oriented practitioners. They felt that, through participatory meetings with the teacher educators and practice teachers, they had developed in-depth subject knowledge; learned to collaborate; learned about school development; and learned how to be well prepared for the profession they were entering. In addition, they considered whether the project could be expanded to the entire teacher education system. Conclusions The findings draw broader attention to the role of participatory meeting places in creating a community of trust, and their potential to support teachers’ learning at crucial stages of their professional journeys, from early career phases and beyond.

Mathematics teaching and teacher education against marginalisation, or towards equity, diversity and inclusion

The interrogation of often unintended practices of marginalisation has gained focus in research on mathematics teaching and mathematics teacher education throughout the last decades. In this introductory survey paper, work against marginalisation in these contexts of mathematics education is viewed in terms of work towards equity, diversity and inclusion. Based on this interpretation, we present a framework on awareness and practice of equity, diversity and inclusion in mathematics teaching and mathematics teacher education research. We then use this framework and a survey method of mapping review to identify and comment on a selection of studies. As a result, we illustrate three research moves towards equity, diversity and inclusion, in the form of interconnected themes: (1) Widening the understanding of the mathematics and the mathematics education curricula (2) Improving the practice and discussion of mathematics teaching (3) Unpacking ideologies in mathematics teaching and mathematics teacher education. We finally examine the themes and the special issue papers together to foreground commonalities regarding awareness of discriminatory discourses and practices of creating and distributing opportunities for all groups, including those historically and currently marginalised. Despite the important increase of equity-driven principles of awareness, we conclude that mathematics education research on teaching and on teacher education needs more examples of practices whose development has been proved to challenge marginalisation.

Conceptualizing political knowledges needed to teach inclusive mathematics: theorizing through counterstories

How do teachers develop and use political knowledge to create equitable and inclusive conditions for and with disabled students, particularly disabled students of color? In this essay, we build on concepts of political teacher knowledge in mathematics education, critical inclusive mathematics education and disability studies to explore teacher knowledges that support disabled students’ mathematical learning. We focus on four aspects of political knowledge for teaching mathematics: (1) knowledge as relational and unfolding over time, (2) understanding and negotiating the political contexts in which we teach mathematics, (3) deconstructing deficit discourses about marginalized students, and (4) learning to creatively resist the systems for and with our students. To develop our theoretical analysis, we use a counterstory of a middle school Latino student named Luis and his Latina mathematics teacher, Ms. Marquez. Our aim is to open up discussions in mathematics teacher educational research about the politics at play in teaching inclusive mathematics.

Interpretation With/Through/Toward Intersectionality: Difficulties and Opportunities

This article discusses difficulties and opportunities in working with/through/towards intersectionality, which we illustrate using work conducted during our interpretive workshop. Speaking from the perspective of emerging researchers in educational science and teacher education, we are united by our critical examination of research in and about relations of inequality, whereby intersectionality represents an important point of reference as a sensitizing concept for theory and practice. However, the concrete discussion and use of the concept of intersectionality raised many questions.

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.

Constructing expertise: reframing intelligence with preservice teachers

ABSTRACT We argue that part of inclusive teacher preparation is building a mindset that positions all learners as valuable and capable members of the classroom community. A key piece of developing this mindset is engaging pre-service teachers in authentically rethinking their understanding of intelligence and expertise. This article is a descriptive piece of an inclusive education teacher preparation programme making changes to construct teachers and peers with intellectual disability as experts to help develop future teachers. We describe the programme and two features that position people with intellectual disability as experts: hiring a teaching assistant with an intellectual disability for an introductory special education course and embedding a semester-long experience that pairs pre-service teachers with college students with intellectual disability. We describe these experiences and what preservice teachers shared about them. Implications for teacher education and future research are discussed.

Physical Education Teacher Education: The Past, Present, and Future Questions

The purpose of this article is to overview the history of research in physical education teacher education (PETE), discuss contemporary trends, and identify future directions for scholarship and teacher education practice. Teacher education is defined as formal and informal experiences that contribute to teachers’ education across their careers. Using the phases of occupational socialization and Kosnik and Beck’s “seven priorities of teacher education” to frame an analysis of literature from the 1980s through to the present, a brief summary of research on PETE is provided, using the chronological categories of past and present. The analysis takes into account implications for PETE that were left by the global pandemic, where traditional PETE practices were significantly disrupted by a shift to online learning. The chapter is concluded by listing questions regarding PETE that researchers and teacher educators might tackle in the future.

Columns: Teaching Multilingual Learners: #ToBeMoreFree: Supporting Multilingual Learners’ Literacies toward Activism and Social Justice

Drawing on one multilingual youth’s literacies, a teacher educator and social media researcher presents a culturally digitized pedagogical framework to guide educators in exploring youth identity, activism, and language, with a focus on social justice issues.

Validity evidence for the attitudes on person-centered behavior toward students questionnaire (APBS): Internal structure and associations with external variables

Building positive teacher-student relationships (TSR) is a central task for teachers. According to the person-centered approach, teachers create positive relationships by treating students with unconditional positive regard, empathic understanding, and genuineness. Numerous studies demonstrate the impact of person-centered teacher behavior for students’ achievement and well-being. The effectiveness of person-centered behavior is supposed to be determined by underlying attitudes. Accordingly, person-centered attitudes should receive greater focus in both teacher education and TSR research. However, a suitable measurement instrument is currently lacking. Therefore, the APBS instrument was developed, a theoretically-grounded self-report questionnaire that measures pre-service teachers' attitudes on person-centered behavior toward students. In previous studies, the suitability of the test's content and internal structure were empirically examined using EFA. The present study investigated the internal structure using CFA, as well as the associations with external variables, in a sample of N = 1284 pre-service teachers from German universities (Mage = 23.3, SDage = 5.2; 79.8% female). Different factor models were tested and compared. The model with four first-order factors (unconditionality, empathic understanding, trust, genuineness) along with the APBS higher-order factor showed the best fit (χ2/df(1504.868/520) = 2.894, p < .001; CFI = .968; RMSEA = .038). Both the four first-order scales (ωt* = .81-.90), and the second-order scale (ωt* = .95) exhibited satisfactory internal consistency. In addition, structural regression and mediation analyses revealed mostly theory-consistent relationships with respondents' attachment representation, empathy and relational competence. In summary, the findings support the intended interpretation of APBS test scores. The questionnaire can be used as a measurement instrument in TSR research and as a self-exploration tool in teacher education.

Understanding teachers' perceptions of geomedia: Concerns about students’ critical literacy

This study examines Finnish geography teachers' (n = 16) perceptions of the significance of geomedia and geomedia teaching. Thematic analysis was applied. The findings reveal teachers' concerns about students' cursory critical geomedia literacy as well as the potential of geomedia to enhance students' management of information overflow. Teachers' perceptions of digital geomedia teaching were diverse. The significance teachers associated with geomedia was not aligned with their perceptions of digital geomedia teaching. This study suggests that diversity and incoherence regarding teachers’ perceptions of geomedia should be addressed in teaching and teacher education research internationally.

School Principal Management In Improving Teacher Competency Vocational School In Jambi Province

This research aims to look at the phenomenon of school principal management in improving teachers' pedagogical and professional competence. Principal management includes planning, implementation, supporting and inhibiting factors and evaluation carried out by the principal. This research uses a qualitative phenomenology approach which was carried out at State Vocational High Schools in Jambi Province. Data collection techniques include interviews, observation and documentation. The research was carried out at SMK Negeri 4 Sarolangun, SMK Negeri 4 Jambi City and SMK Negeri 4 Tanjung Jabung Timur. Research subjects included school principals, deputy principals, heads of skills programs, teachers and school staff. Research results: (1) principal planning in the form of teacher needs analysis, in house training, teacher internship program, bringing in guest teachers, upskilling and reskilling programs, (2) implementation includes: learning planning, application of learning methods, classroom management, professional development , collaboration with colleagues, curriculum understanding, use of educational technology, teacher skills development, educational research and measurement and evaluation. (3) The supporting factors are: leadership commitment, teacher empowerment, providing space for teachers to develop initiatives. Meanwhile, the inhibiting factors are budget limitations, resistance to change, unavailability of human resources, teachers' insufficient ICT capabilities and lack of support from related parties. (4) Evaluations carried out by school principals include teacher performance assessments, evaluation discussions with teachers, training and professional development. Based on the research findings, it was concluded that management was carried out directly by the school principal in improving the competency of State Vocational School teachers in Jambi Province. Recommendations were submitted to the Indonesian Ministry of Education and Culture, the Jambi Provincial Education Office and the Industrial and Business World to develop teacher competencies in accordance with industry needs.

A Practical Study on Improving the Professionalism of Elementary School English Teachers Based on Compulsory Education Testing

In the face of the ever-opening contemporary China, English has become an indispensable communication tool. Based on the results of basic education quality monitoring and existing research results on teacher professional quality, this paper investigates the professional quality of English teachers in representative primary school in Xi'an, examining the teachers’ professional quality in five dimensions, namely, the basic situation, professionalism, professional knowledge and professional abilities, and training status and conducting interviews with relevant teachers. Through the survey, it was found that elementary school English teachers in Xi'an have high professional ideals and good professionalism, have a high sense of teaching effectiveness, and have a good grasp of English education professional knowledge. The teachers' professional abilities basically meet the requirements of English teaching, and they hope to receive further regular training in teaching methods, skills training, and the ability to write papers. At the same time, some problems were also discovered: the gender ratio of teachers is disproportionate, and teaching philosophy is not fully implemented; teachers lack mastery of theoretical knowledge and scientific research knowledge, and their oral English expression still needs to be improved; parent resources cannot be better utilized; the adoption of teaching methods requires to be further improved, teaching methods need to be further improved; teachers’ scientific research capabilities are weak, etc. In view of the existing problems, the article puts forward suggestions for improving the professional quality of elementar school English teachers in Xi'an: strengthening teachers' professional emotional quality; deepening teachers' understanding of teaching concepts; strengthening the cultivation of teachers' professional knowledge and professional abilities; strengthening the cultivation of teacher's educational research ability.

Employing reflective practice to capture Indonesian EFL pre-service teachers' conceptions of English learning

Understanding the English language learning concept is crucial for success in learning English. Numerous studies have focused on English as a foreign language (EFL) in-service teachers' perceptions of English language learning, while only a few have examined EFL pre-service teachers. This research delves into the different aspects of the experiences, reflections, and conceptualizations of English language learning among EFL pre-service teachers. A group of eight Indonesian EFL pre-service teachers engaged in participatory action research (PAR) during their field experience practices (PPL) in junior and senior high schools. This study employed a thorough approach to data collection, incorporating photovoice, an open-ended questionnaire, and in-depth interviews. The results of data analysis involving identifying and categorizing themes reveal a diverse range of perspectives, wherein English is likened to a lamp, dictionary, cuisine, flowers, class, and artificial intelligence (AI). Furthermore, learning English is often portrayed as an engaging and demanding process, highlighting the importance of innovative pedagogical approaches. This study emphasizes the significance of collaboration between language and technology departments to remain at the forefront of educational advancement, establishing a solid foundation for future research and improvements in EFL teacher education.

Embodiment and aesthetics in teaching and examinations

In a democratic society, knowledge and research grounding play central roles. To support students' learning, it is necessary for teachers to be able to motivate and create challenging and stimulating learning opportunities. Questions regarding academic literacy often lack embodied and aesthetic perspectives (Carlgren, 2015), leading to challenges in bridging the gap between knowledge and teaching. Studies have shown that traditionally academic teaching methods and dualistic conceptions of learning can be identified within certain higher education contexts (Pastorek et al., 2021; Østern et al., 2021). The aim of this paper is to highlight and discuss the potential of embodiment and aesthetics in teaching and examinations in higher education. To enhance student engagement, a more holistic approach to education is required, where individuals are touched and given space in various ways (Østern, et al., 2019). By paying attention to students' bodily communication, contact, and presence, the quality of the learning processes can improve (Winther, 2018). Based on research in preschool teacher education (Pastorek et al., 2021), a picture emerges where academic values, such as writing and speaking, take up a significant space in content, goals, and assessments at the expense of aesthetic and bodily perspectives. Instead, embodiment and aesthetic perspectives on knowledge and knowledge production in higher education can be a contribution to varied forms of teaching and examinations and a way to further develop in the discussion around Artificial Intelligence (AI).

Exploring the role of research in teacher education and teachers’ professional development

This paper explores and discusses the role of research in teacher education and teachers’ professional development. It does so by presenting some perspectives on research-based teacher education and conceptual frameworks for teacher professionalism. The relationship between theoretical and practical knowledge is discussed together with central dimensions of teacher professionalism. Three metaphors and figures of thought for the theory–practice relationship are introduced and discussed: research as a mirror, as a compass, and as a stone in the shoe. Against this backdrop, a couple of examples of models for teachers’ professional development through critical engagement and enquiry are presented. Special attention is given to a critical dialogical model for teacher education and professional development that promotes reflective learning through sharing experiences and engaging with theoretical frameworks. This model integrates reflective-analogical, critical-analytical, and interactive self-building processes, enabling teachers and students to transform their knowledge and practices based on new insights.

Editorial Note from Editor in Chief

In the realm of education, the spotlight is shining brightly on the interconnected fields of teacher education and education management. These two areas are crucial pillars in the foundation of a robust educational system, as they directly influence the quality of teaching and learning experiences in schools around the globe. The trends and developments in these spheres are not only significant for educators and administrators but also for policymakers, parents, and society at large.&#x0D; As we navigate the challenges of the 21st century, research in teacher education and education management will continue to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of education. By staying attuned to emerging trends, embracing innovation, and fostering collaboration across disciplines, we can create a more equitable, inclusive, and effective educational system for generations to come. Stakeholders at all levels must come together to support and invest in research that advances the field of education and empowers educators and education managers to lead with vision, purpose, and impact. And we are here to provide you with the opportunity to publish with us your quality research.

Relocating assessment in pre-service teacher education: an emerging model from activity theory lens

ABSTRACT This empirical study aims to understand the assessment pedagogies used to support pre-service teachers’ assessment development in the post-pandemic. The study involved sixty 4th year English language pre-service teachers, and data were collected from interviews, practicum observation notes, field visit notes, and reflection papers. The study aimed to identify research-based pedagogical constructs that effectively contributed to pre-service teachers’ learning and practice of assessment in the practicum. Using an activity theory lens, the study developed a model that could be used in pre-service teacher assessment education across different contexts. The paper concludes by suggesting research and practice-oriented implementations for pre-service teacher education based on the identified pedagogical constructs. Also, it has important implications for developing effective assessment education for pre-service teachers, which can contribute to better student learning outcomes in the future.

A Sentiment Analysis of Emergency Online Special Education after COVID Mass Vaccinations Started

This study examined people’s sentiments toward emergency online special education after mass vaccinations became available to determine whether people had positive, negative, or neutral sentiments towards emergency online special education. The results revealed that most tweets were positive and focused on special needs and special education during emergency online special education. Specifically, most tweets focused on special education, and they included a positive content with average daily sentiment scores never getting smaller than zero. Similarly, special need and special education turned out to be the most frequent expressions used, and topic modeling indicated that target tweets’ content focused on the needs of students with special exceptionalities. All these findings suggest that emergency online special education can be a viable alternative during times of crisis and availability of vaccinations at a larger scale may help to create a positive atmosphere thereby informing teacher education and special education research and practice.