Teacher Education Practices Research Articles

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

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

Inclusion in Russian schools: Exploring parents' perspectives

AbstractAs schools in Russia become more inclusive for students with special educational needs (SEN), there is a scarcity of research on stakeholders' perspectives. Parents are one of the main actors in education, who possess valuable knowledge about their children and can represent their children's needs in a vicarious manner. This study gives voice to the parents of children with SEN and offers parents' perspectives on the liaison between families and schools. The article focuses on the experience of two families with children with special educational needs (namely, Autistic Spectrum Disorder and intellectual disability). Data was collected through semi‐structured interviews and questionnaires and analysed using the Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA). The main findings demonstrate that parents' expertise is sometimes neglected and marginalized for different reasons and the school system in Russia is rigid and not able to adjust its approaches to different learners as well as address and allay parents' concerns. Lack of direct interaction blocks the pathway for compromises and mutual understanding. In the parents' view, teachers act on their own assumptions which are oftentimes emotionally loaded and not clearly articulated for the parents. However, parents believe that all the actors of the educational process, that is, teachers, learners and parents, would benefit if teacher‐parent relationships involved a more sensitive and attentive attitude towards each other's requirements and wishes, providing opportunities for negotiating and discussing arguable issues. The paper demonstrates two cases of misunderstanding between teachers and parents and offers implications for practice in teacher education, policy‐making and social work.

Infusing Indigenous Content and Treaty Education into Physical Education Teacher Education (PETE): A Collaborative Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices (S-STEP)

ABSTRACT This research responds to calls for the decolonization and indigenization of education and higher education spaces and institutions within Canada, specifically within the physical education (PE) and physical education teacher education (PETE) sub-disciplines. Recognizing our own responsibility to attend to decolonization and indigenization, we recently engaged in a collaborative self-study of our own teaching practice so that we might be better able to appropriately infuse Indigenous content and Treaty Education into our university’s PETE program. We identified this goal – infusing Indigenous content and Treaty Education – as one that would support us on our reconciliatory journeys as we aim to decolonize and indigenize our PETE spaces in authentic, genuine, and meaningful ways. Our collaborative self-study yielded findings related to our PETE practice, framed herein as six themes. Four of these themes relate to the tensions observed and felt (pushing past performative fears, inviting imposter syndrome, honouring the local Mi’kmaq contexts/peoples, critical friend[ships] as key) and two of the themes relate to our perceived positive outcomes and additional potential happenings (knowing better/doing better, possibilities beyond ‘simply’ infusing Indigenous content and Treaty Education). A discussion of these findings is offered and would be especially insightful to others who are interested in or engaged with self-study, indigenization and decolonization, and/or PE and/or PETE.

Recognising the newcomer: education policy and teaching practices in Norway and England

Education policies in different countries recognise the needs and abilities of newcomer students in different ways, with consequences for their social inclusion and academic progress at school. We highlight the importance of context to debates around the politics of recognition in newcomer education by drawing on qualitative research in Norwegian and English secondary schools. Taylor’s (1994) political theory of “recognition” provides the analytical lens through which we explore how teachers perceive newcomer students to be recognised (or not) in national education policies in each country. We underscore teachers’ agency in responding to these policies through their own politics of recognition at school.

Developing a teaching-research nexus in teacher education: recounts of an educator’s self-study

ABSTRACT This study shares perspectives on how a teaching-research nexus could be developed in teacher education practices. The focus is on one teacher-educator’s experience of learning to communicate the mutuality of teaching and research initiatives with a group of learner-teachers and colleagues during a college-based teacher education course in Eritrea. A self-study that includes interactions with critical friends, interviewing, and researcher diaries, facilitated in exploring the challenges and improvements in developing a teaching-research nexus while supporting the reflective collaborative practices of a group of learner-teachers. Using the analytic notion of turning points, we share findings on how the teacher-educator positions roles in the process of pedagogizing research, encountering uncertainties and finding practical resolutions while learning to support reflective practices, and a reframed notion of modelling. The study highlights a pedagogy of showing in contexts where teacher-educators are challenged to mediate between aspired and actual teaching practices.

Decolonising practice in teacher education in Australia: Reflections of shared leadership

Decolonising practice in teacher education in Australia: Reflections of shared leadership

The Role of Reflective Practice in Teacher Education: A Comprehensive Review

The Role of Reflective Practice in Teacher Education: A Comprehensive Review

The contemporary value and practical strategy of sports education in colleges and universities under the perspective of “five education”

Abstract A physical education and fitness course is a course with physical practice as the main means. Teachers often pay more attention to students’ physical practice in teaching but neglect the development of moral education, aesthetic education, intellectual education, and labor education. Aiming at this kind of teaching problem, this paper combines the concept of “five education” and the characteristics of physical education teaching. It puts forward the physical education teaching mode and practice path that permeates the idea of “five education.” Selection of research subjects, design, and distribution of a humanistic literacy questionnaire to obtain data, reliability test processing to ensure accuracy of research, and analysis of this paper. SPSS software is used to analyze an example of sports education work that integrates the concept of five education. Data presentation: the mean values of the post-test students’ humanistic literacy in the experimental group and the control group are 9.45 and 9.36, respectively, and the P value is 0.009, which indicates that the integration of the concept of five education in college physical education teaching is more advantageous in the cultivation of students’ humanistic literacy in comparison with the traditional physical education teaching mode. This study makes physical education classroom teaching more dynamic and versatile, gives a new meaning to physical education classroom teaching, and improves the effectiveness of physical education teaching.

De la spécificité des disciplines aux pratiques enseignantes et à la formation : quelques réflexions pour les mathématiques et les sciences

This article addresses questions relative to teachers of mathematics and sciences. We first establish the notion of the specificity of both disciplines as an epistemological background to underpin our ways of tackling questions about teachers’ practices, knowledge and training initiatives. Addressing issues about practices (of teachers and of teacher education) in relation to each disciplines’ specificity invites taking into account the nature of scientific and mathematical activity in itself. These orientations lead to consider the possibilities, in contrast to prescriptions, for adressing issues of teachers’ knowledge and practices, and their implications for teacher education practices.

Research on the Innovation of Smart Teaching Mode of University Physical Education Driven by Digital Technology

Abstract Physical education teaching mode is the link between physical education teaching theory and physical education teaching practice, which has a direct impact on the quality and teaching effect of physical education teaching. In this paper, the recognition algorithm is applied to physical education, and a graph-convolutional neural network is constructed. In order to solve the problem that a graph convolutional neural network can only deal with non-motion graphs, using the Masked Attention mechanism, assigning different weights to neighboring nodes, extracting node features and features between neighboring nodes, thus the graph attention neural network, and introducing the YOLO model to predict the single and multiple postures and correct the students’ technical movements. Through the comparative experimental study in this paper, it was found that the p-values of the four dimensions of students’ attention to athletics, adverse interest in athletics learning, positive interest in athletics learning, and daily athletics exercise were all 0.000<0.05. In the two dimensions of positive interest in athletic learning and daily athletic exercise, the mean values of the students in the experimental group reached 29.11 and 32.89, respectively. In terms of comparing the results of the students in the two groups, the 50-meter Run p=0.021<0.05, Vertical Long Jump p=0.002<0.05, Seated Body Flexion and Sit-ups for girls p=0.000<0.05. Therefore, the data-intelligent physical education teaching model constructed in this paper can increase the degree of students’ interest in physical education, improve students’ participation in physical education classrooms, and optimize students’ physical education achievement and performance.

The Importance of Art and Museum Education in Teacher Training

Since art is an action specific to the individual, the development of aesthetic feelings within the education and training processes is an important condition for creating an effective society. People who do not have an artistic consciousness or love for art cannot realize and enjoy the works of art, cultural values and natural beauties they own, cannot protect them, cannot contribute to the cultural development of the society. It is important that art and museums, which have a great impact on all stages of life, are integrated with educational content by future teachers and that teacher candidates learn to integrate them into the classroom within the curriculum, taking into account the interests of the students. In this sense, it can be seen as a necessity for teacher candidates who undertake the education of the next generation to use artistic activities and museums effectively in the classroom, as they undertake the task of transferring social culture. This study aims to reveal the thoughts of Social Studies educators on the importance of art and museum practices in teacher education. In line with this general purpose, evaluations were made in parallel with the opinions of field experts at the end of the research.

The Practicum Evaluation Conundrum: Perceptions of Preservice English Language Teachers and Their Mentors

The evaluation conundrum during teaching practicum concerning the criteria used and perception of them by faculty mentors, school mentors, and preservice teachers remains a critical concern in language teacher education. This multi-perspective research quantitatively investigates the viewpoints of preservice English teachers and their school and faculty mentors regarding the significance of the evaluation criteria set by the Ministry of National Education for evaluating preservice teachers’ teaching in teaching practicum. While all three groups considered the evaluation criteria to be significant—although at varying degrees—the faculty mentors ascribed greater importance to the evaluation criteria, compared to school mentors and preservice teachers, for both the evaluation criteria used by faculty mentors and school mentors. The study highlights the key role of evaluations and feedback provided by school and faculty mentors during teaching practicum despite higher degrees of significance attached to the evaluation criteria used by school mentors. The implications can inform policy and practice in language teacher education, promoting better outcomes for the preparation of future English language teachers in Türkiye.

Retracted: Data Collection and Analysis of Physical Education Teaching Practice Based on Multisensor Perception

Retracted: Data Collection and Analysis of Physical Education Teaching Practice Based on Multisensor Perception

Attitudes towards Online Teaching: Gender, Experience, and Age among Iranian English Language Teaching Teachers

The field of education is currently experiencing a profound technological revolution, driven by the pervasive influence of the internet. This transformation has made the integration of technology indispensable. This research explores the nuanced influence of gender, age, and experience on the attitudes of 160 Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers toward online teaching. Central to this investigation is the 'Teachers' Attitude Towards Online Teaching' (TAtOT) questionnaire, thoughtfully adapted and validated for Iranian EFL teachers by Kianinezhad (2023). The study reveals a significant gender-based disparity, with male teachers exhibiting a more favorable perspective on online teaching. Additionally, the research establishes a negative correlation between attitudes and both experience and age, indicating that teachers tend to view online teaching less favorably as they gain more experience and age. This study underscores the critical importance of tailored training, well-designed support systems, continuous professional development, collaborative initiatives, and substantial investments in policies and infrastructure to foster a positive attitude toward technology integration among educators. In conclusion, the research not only highlights but also underscores the dynamic interplay of gender, age, and experience in shaping attitudes among Iranian EFL teachers. This understanding empowers educational institutions to develop strategies for promoting technology integration and, consequently, enhancing the quality of online education in the EFL context. Further research in this field is strongly recommended to refine and expand upon these insights, guiding evidence-based practices in teacher education and support in the future.

Australian music education training and teaching practice: investigating the latitude of ICT resourcing and application

Covid-19 disrupted the way in which music teachers taught across education settings. It challenged and opened up new possibilities to think about pedagogy, content, assessment, and delivery. This paper forms part of a national study Reimaging the future: music teaching and learning, and ICT in blended environments in Australia. The authors are tertiary music educators working in initial teacher education (ITE) programs. In this paper, they discuss two questions: what can be learnt from teachers across education settings as they embraced pedagogical challenges? What are the implications for future focused classrooms? A mixed methodology were employed drawing on quantitative and qualitative data through an anonymous Qualtrics survey. The data reported were collected in Phase One March-April 2021 (N=105) and Phase Two December 2022-February 2023 (N=108) using thematic analysis to identify and analyse patterns of meaning. Three emergent themes: changes across teacher practice, collaborating and connecting practice through ICT, shifts in teacher confidence and competence are discussed. The study highlights the changes and reform required for ITE programs as students prepare for future focussed classrooms that meet the demands of the 21st Century. The findings may resonate with other countries, and generalisations to other learning areas cannot be made. Recommendations are offered that highlight the need for ITE programs and in-service for teachers to rethink, reframe and reimagine the latitude of ICT resourcing and application in music teaching.

Language Teacher Identity in TESOL, Teacher Education and Practice as Identity Work

Although identity is something that every language teacher has, language teacher identity (LTI) has been established and researched as a concept recently, in the past two decades. Language teacher identity has a critical role in language teachers’ professional and personal lives as it portrays how they position themselves and how others (i.e., colleagues, students, and other professionals) perceive them within the field and the work they do. Thus, LTI has the potential to drive the language teachers’ transformation into the teaching professional they want to become. Language Teacher Identity in TESOL, Teacher Education and Practice as Identity Work, edited by Bedrettin Yazan, Associate Professor of Educational Linguistics at the University of Texas at San Antonio, and Kristen Lindahl, Associate Professor of TESOL/Applied Linguistics at the University of Texas at San Antonio, USA, is a much-needed book that showcases ways of using language teacher identity to inform language teacher education practices.

Exploring Single Primary School Teacher's Pedagogical Practices and Attitude Toward Students Learning

Primary education is the foundation step of formal education, including various subjects, e.g., languages, science, mathematics, English, Urdu, and social studies, which require different subject teachers. Single-teacher schools face unique challenges such as limited resources (staff, teachers, etc.), a lack of support systems, and isolation, all of which can significantly impact pedagogical practices and attitudes. The study was opted to explore the relationship between pedagogical practices and attitudes of single primary school teachers. The study employed a descriptive research approach, and a survey technique was used for data collection. The population and sample were the same, i.e., 74 single primary school teachers (both male and female) in District Sargodha. Two questionnaires validated through experts' opinions and pilot tested with 0.92 Cronbach Alpha value) were used for data collection through personal visits. Data analysis was carried out using frequencies, percentages, mean scores, and Pearson correlation. The findings were that the overall pedagogical practices and attitudes of single primary school teachers were effective, except for the factor of teacher behavior and a moderate relationship between the teacher's pedagogical practices and attitudes. It is recommended that single teachers be relocated from overcrowded to understaffed primary schools to improve teaching practices and attitudes toward student learning.

Editorial. The hard, but rewarding, work of collaborating across sectors - dance in cross-sectoral educational collaborations

This special issue is motivated by a firm belief that cross-sectoral educational collaborations are needed and have value. In response to the recognised gap in research addressing the possibilities and challenges inherent in cross-sectoral educational collaborations, we initiated this special issue. We invited research contributions focusing on dance within cross-sectoral educational collaborations, encompassing schools, teacher education institutions, and other formal or informal educational institutions as the contextual backdrop. As we initiated the special issue, we pondered around a myriad of questions: how do teachers, teacher educators, and/or teacher candidates organise, develop, implement, and carry out collaborations with external choreographers, professional dancers, and/or dance teachers? How do collaborative planning, pre-workshops among participants, or other preparatory actions before the actual school, teacher education, or other educational institution practice support transformational mutuality? How and why do obstacles, friction, and tension arise, and how are they solved in dance in cross-sectoral educational collaborations? Furthermore, how might dance in cross-sectoral educational collaborations critically challenge stereotypical views on knowledge or uneven power distribution among participants in different positions in cross-sectoral collaborations? How do collaborations with other arts fields influence, support, or complicate dance in cross-sectoral educational collaborations? Additionally, we contemplated the integration of dance and technology in cross-sectoral educational collaborations and how these two domains can complement each other. The eight peer-reviewed articles included in the special issue touch on and contribute knowledge in response to these, and more, questions. We warmly invite readers to actively immerse themselves in these articles, as each presents a unique viewpoint and profound insights into the complex landscape of dance in cross-sectoral educational collaborations. In doing so, we hope to ignite a passion for this important topic, inspiring transformative and collaborative approaches to dance education.

СУЧАСНИЙ СТАН І РЕЗУЛЬТАТ ПРОФЕСІЙНО-МЕТОДИЧНОЇ ПІДГОТОВКИ МАЙБУТНІХ ВЧИТЕЛІВ ФРАНЦУЗЬКОЇ МОВИ ЯК ІНОЗЕМНОЇ У ЗАКЛАДІ ВИЩОЇ ОСВІТИ

The article is devoted to the study of the current state and results of professional and methodological training of the pre-service French teachers. The pre-service French teachers get a higher education according to the educational program “Foreign languages and literatures, methods of teaching foreign languages and foreign literature (French and a second Western European language)” in the specialty 014 Secondary education, specialization 014.023 French language and literature for the first (bachelor) level of higher education. To achieve the goal of the research, qualitative and quantitative methods were used. The qualitative methods included an anonymous survey of students in order to find out their attitude to the organization of the educational process, to demonstrate how the students evaluate the acquired methodical knowledge and skills in the process of French teacher’s professional and methodical activity in general secondary education institutions, to show students’ attitude towards the organization of pedagogical practice in the French language in institutions of general secondary education, as well as the assessment by students of the level of acquired methodical skills for carrying out the professional and methodical activity of a French teacher and the assessment by the teacher according to established criteria. Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of reliability was used as a quantitative method to process the obtained results in order to determine the results of professional and methodological training and the professional and methodical competence formation of the pre-service French teachers. In the research, it was found that the professional and methodological training of the pre-service teachers of French as a foreign language lasts for four semesters. The professional and methodological training is carried out within the mandatory (curricular discipline “Methodology of teaching French in institutions of general secondary education” and practical training, which is implemented in two types of pedagogical practice) and optional disciplines. In order to expand the content of targeted training (in the period of 2021-2022 academic year), the preservice French teachers chose the following optional disciplines: “Testing in French language learning” and “Methodology for the formation of French-speaking linguistic and sociocultural competence”). Within the academic disciplines, the pre-service French teachers mastered methodical knowledge and skills of planning lessons by developing plans of the lessons’ parts and the whole French language lessons. They used various teaching aids, independently developed non-standardized tests for the formative assessment of the foreign language competence, and integrated linguistic and sociocultural competences. The preservice French teachers apply their knowledge and skills in the proposed conditions – training (during the educational pedagogical practice “Educational Studies (methodical aspect)”) and real (during the production pedagogical practice in an institution of general secondary education). In the process of professional and methodical training, current and summative types of assessment are applied. The criteria for control were established by the teacher. The results of the professional and methodological training of the pre-service French teachers during the educational process as well as the results of the exam and the results of their performance of tasks of various types of pedagogical practice were analyzed. The results were higher than 0.7 according to Cronbach’s alpha coefficient of reliability. This proves the sufficient level of formation of the professional and methodological competence of the pre-service French teachers under the specified educational program. On the basis of the conducted research, recommendations were formulated to increase the effectiveness of the professional and methodological training of the preservice French teachers: 1) widely use self-assessment and peer-assessment; 2) compare the students’ assessment with teachers; 3) analyze and interpret the obtained results; 4) systematically involve students in reflection, in particular methodical; 5) to involve the students in different types of pedagogical practice. It is promising to study the impact of the content and scope of professional and methodological training on the achievement of program learning outcomes within educational programs in the specialty 014 Secondary education for the training of the pre-service French teachers.

Reflections on Distance in Remote Placement Supervision: Bodies, Power, and Negative Education

School placement plays a critical and complex role in the professional development of student teachers. When universities and schools shut their doors and moved all teaching activities online in March 2020, initial teacher education (ITE) providers across Ireland had to implement emergency alternative practicum supports in order to ensure that students could complete their ITE programmes. Many initial teacher education providers across Ireland introduced professional online conversations as an alternative approach to professional practice supervision. It is easy to view this response to the COVID-19 crisis in purely deficit terms. For obvious reasons, no sensible teacher educator would advocate for abandoning school visits and replacing them with online professional conversations. Nonetheless, emergency measures arguably brought about affordances to the delivery of teacher education, which are deserving of consideration and may help to inform future practice. In this paper, we draw on our recent experience of ITE emergency practicum supervision to explore assumptions and tensions inherent in traditional teacher education practices. We reflect on how we enacted and experienced professional student–tutor conversations without the normally preceding classroom observations and interrogate normalised assumptions about the value and purpose of classroom observation. Our reflections are infused with ideas gleaned from philosophy and sociological theory and are underpinned by a theoretical formulation which we call “negative education”. “Negative education” refers to the learning that takes place as a consequence of deprivation. In these terms, we come to examine the negotiation of power and relationships in different learning environments. We explore the benefits of “zooming out”, to disseminate power, and show how this helps to engage with the broader aspects of teaching which are so easily overlooked by both tutors and students during “normal” school visits.