University Teacher Education Research Articles

Identity discourse in teacher education: Developments in national-cultural identities of pre-service teachers in Israel

In our multi-cultural world, it is crucial that teachers have the ability to engage in dialogical and pluralistic discourse on identities. This qualitative study aimed to characterize the process that preservice teachers underwent in their course, “Identity Discourse in the Classroom,” in a teacher education college in Israel. The analysis focused on the development of their national-cultural identity. The results demonstrated that the students moved from ambiguity to clarity and reflexivity concerning their national-cultural identity. They also demonstrated that the course created an infrastructure for the emergence of a non-essentialist identity consciousness, one that reflects a moderate constructivist view.

A word to the wise (gair i gall): university teacher educators’ experiences of emergency response pedagogy in Wales

A word to the wise (gair i gall): university teacher educators’ experiences of emergency response pedagogy in Wales

An investigation into how preservice EFL teachers perceive their mentors' pedagogical knowledge

This study aimed to explore pre-service EFL teachers’ perceptions and expectations of their mentors’ pedagogical knowledge in light of the five-factor mentoring model. Data was collected in two phases during pre-service teacher field studies. The participants were 10 purposively selected pre-service EFL teachers and 5 cooperating teachers, and 107 pre-service teachers were purposively selected from one Teacher Education College. The five mentors also participated in a semi-structured interview. A questionnaire was administered to 107 pre-service teachers. The data gathered was analyzed based on descriptive statistics using SPSS version 16. The finding revealed that effective mentoring practices arm mentees with pedagogical knowledge that enhances their professional expertise. Besides, mentors who demonstrate well-organized pedagogical knowledge give mentees access to a lot of benefits. Nevertheless, some mentees felt uncertain regarding their mentor's pedagogical knowledge. This study proposed implications for pre-service EFL teachers mentoring programs and forwarded recommendations for improving the professional development of mentors' mentoring programs. Keywords: Mentors; pedagogical knowledge; perception; pre-service teachers

Teaching twenty-first-century skills: examining collaborative learning in initial teacher education in Finnish universities

ABSTRACT This study investigated whether and how research-based knowledge on collaborative learning is applied as theoretical content and a pedagogical approach in the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) curricula in Finnish universities. It adopted a qualitative approach, triangulating curriculum documentation and in-depth interviews with curriculum development experts responsible for designing ITE. Results suggest CL's central ideas are present in the curriculum documentation and transversally addressed as a teaching practice of group work, highly dependent on the teachers’ approach. However, the up-to-date empirical discoveries of the learning mechanisms involved in CL processes are not visible in the formal curriculum, creating tensions between content/theory and method/pedagogy. The study uses the Finnish case to critically discuss the challenges of evidencing clear guidelines on CL in ITE curriculum. It emphasises the importance of addressing CL theories and practical methods in ITE to bridge gaps between theory and practices, preparing teachers for contemporary teaching and learning. contexts.

Teacher education in Israel: a fifty-year journey (1974–2024)

ABSTRACT This study explores the evolution of teacher education in Israel from 1974 to 2024, analysing key policy actions, reforms, and initiatives that have shaped the field over the past five decades. During these years, extensive efforts were undertaken at the state level by the Ministry of Education and the Council for Higher Education to elevate the status of the teaching profession by advocating for the professionalisation and professionalism of teaching and teachers. These efforts include the academisation process of all teacher education colleges, the establishment of task forces and standing committees to address challenges, continuous upgrades and adjustments to the initial teacher education curriculum, support mechanisms for newly qualified teachers, ongoing professional development for practicing teachers, including master’s degree programmes, salary adjustments, and the decision to move the colleges of education to the sole auspices of the Council for Higher Education and the Planning and Budgeting Committee. Despite these numerous attempts, the status of teachers has continued to decline, and the profession has struggled with low public perception and prestige, leading to both quantitative and qualitative teacher shortages. The repeated policy shifts and inconsistent implementation strategies have often exacerbated rather than resolved these issues. By providing a comprehensive historical analysis, the study offers insights into the successes and significant shortcomings of past initiatives, aiming to inform future policy-making and strategic planning to enhance the effectiveness and appeal of the teaching profession in Israel.

Assessment of the barriers to AI integration in teacher education programme through Deiph method Nigerian Universities lecturers’ experience

The study adopted survey design to examine Michael Okpara University OF Agriculture Umudike and Alvan Ikoku University of Education Owerri teacher educators’ experience on the barriers to AI integration in teacher education programme in Nigerian universities through Deiph method. Researchers’ made experience response questionnaire titled” Teacher-educators Questionnaire on the barriers to Ai integration in Teacher education programme in Nigerian Universities using Deiph method” (TQBAIEEP). TQBAIEEP was used for data collection. It had reliability coefficient of 0.8 5 determined using Cronbach Alpha. The data collected was analyzed using mean and standard deviation in answering research questions. The findings showed that teacher educators’ experiences indicate that barriers to AI integration in teacher education in Nigerian universities exist at the institutional, technological, and socio-cultural factors levels. Recommendations were made which span institutional, technological, and socio-cultural dimensions, emphasizing cross-cutting strategies and capacity building. The Deiph method provides a structured framework for diagnosing, evaluating, identifying, and prioritizing the barriers.

Preparedness of the vocational higher-order thinking skills of pre-service teachers during internship program implementation

This research aims to analyze the vocational higher-order thinking skills (V-HOTS) of pre-service teacher interns at teacher education colleges during an internship at vocational high schools. The research employed mixed methods through (1) observation and evaluation of student preparations, (2) semi-structured interviews on the role of teachers in improving V-HOTS in schools, and (3) distributing questionnaires of students' perceptions to the tenth grade across six vocational high schools divided into two clusters. The results demonstrate that the intern teachers succeeded in mastering V-HOTS according to students' perceptions, where they achieved scores that far exceeded the previously set standards. Further statistical analysis revealed significant differences in perceptions between the two groups of intern teachers (Clusters I and II), indicating variations in the understanding or application of V-HOTS between the two groups. This implies that the pre-service teacher interns in Cluster II have better V-HOTS in implementing internship programs, although the schools in Cluster II are less supportive of information and communication technology (ICT). This research provides insights into the effectiveness of V-HOTS among pre-service teacher interns, suggesting that additional support and resources might be needed in schools that are less supportive of ICT to ensure consistent application of V-HOTS.

English language teacher educators’ knowledge and skills on early grade reading instruction

This study investigated English language teacher educators' knowledge and skills on early grade reading instruction. It employed a quantitative design, particularly the descriptive comparative one, utilizing cluster random sampling method to include all (N = 43) English language teacher educators from three teacher education colleges (15 from Arba Minch, 11 from Hosana and 17 from Hawassa) in Ethiopia. The study used test and years of teaching experience as instruments to collect data. It employed descriptive statistics and One sample t-test to identify level of knowledge and skills English language teacher educators had on early grade reading, Multiple regression and Beta weights to determine the combined and relative contributions of domains of the early grade reading for English language teacher educators' knowledge and skills while Spearman's rho Correlation to examine the relationship between English language teacher educators' years of teaching experience and their knowledge and skills test score. Findings revealed that majority of English language teacher educators were at low level of knowledge and skills; they scored the skills test better than the knowledge one. Moreover, English language teacher educators in the current study had significantly low’ level of early grade reading knowledge and skills compared to participants' early grade reading knowledge and skills in the hypothesized population, indicating that there are substantial differences on early grade reading knowledge and skills between the two groups. Although early grade reading domains together significantly contributed to English language teacher educators' level of content knowledge and skills, phonemic was the most while morphology was the least contributor. However, English language teacher educators' years of teaching experience did not show any significant correlation with their early grade reading knowledge and skills. The study concluded that English language teacher educators might not fully equip the preservice English language teachers with the content knowledge and skills to teach the early grade reading.

Leadership matters: The role of destructive leadership behavior and teachers’ demographic characteristics on teachers’ social engagement with students

The study intended to investigate the role of destructive leadership behavior, and teachers’ demographic characteristics on teachers’ social engagement with students in colleges of teacher education in the State of Amhara. A mixed method with an explanatory sequential design was employed. 397 teachers and 366 students participated in the quantitative data collection (questionnaire), whereas the qualitative data were collected with the help of interviews with college deans and teachers. Data collected through a questionnaire was analyzed through descriptive and inferential statistics. On the other hand, narration and interpretation were employed for qualitative data analysis. Findings revealed that deans’ destructive leadership behavior was exhibited significantly. Teachers were socially engaged with students (t (396) = 58.902, d = 0.54, p = .000). Deans’ destructive leadership behavior and demographic characteristics explain teachers’ social engagement with students. However, demographic characteristics only have a minimal contribution in explaining teachers’ social engagement with students. In conclusion, demographic characteristics have no role in teachers’ social engagement with students but destructive leadership behavior plays a role. Finally, recommendations were forwarded to potential stakeholders.

“My Parents Rejected all these Employment Opportunities”: An Intersectionality Perspective on Minoritized Gender Ideology

In the case of conservative minority women who are dependent on their families, selecting a field of study can be clarified by understanding it from an intersectionality approach underscoring their minority status, living within a family in a way that changes and manifests itself in different ways along their life-course. The weight of dependency on parents who are more conservative, a weight allowing for the inter-generational gap in conservatism to predominate the selection of field of study, is often neglected, receiving less attention. In this article we focus on Arab-Palestinian women in Israel, minority graduates of a teacher education college, as an opportunity to investigate possible inter-generational discrepancies. More specifically, the weight of these discrepancies in the development of a minoritized gender ideology; namely, the process in which a field of study and the institution of study were selected, selections that are currently reflected upon vis-â-vis employability considerations and family obligations. By studying minoritized gender ideology, we contribute the voice of an additional social location to the repertoire of diverse Muslim women’s voices. Further, we elaborate on the notion of minoritized gender ideology together with embedded agency, pointing out the salience of the temporal dimension of intersecting religion, ethnicity and gender.

Innovative Approaches In Artificial Intelligence In University Teacher Education: A Systematic Review

Innovative Approaches In Artificial Intelligence In University Teacher Education: A Systematic Review

Reclaiming Initial Teacher Education in universities: Moving beyond a technicist model

Recent policy developments in England, particularly since 2021, have resulted in increased regulation and marketisation of Initial Teacher Training (ITT)/Initial Teacher Education (ITE). Although the origins of these developments go back much further than 2021, the current context in which ITE operates in England is, arguably, both challenging and unstable. Since 2010, the Government has increased the involvement of schools in ITE, creating an unstable climate for those who work in ITE in universities, through the School Direct initiative. School-Centred Initial teacher Training (SCITT) routes also precede this. The involvement of schools in ITE in England has extended to schools taking a leading role in the recruitment, selection and training of teachers and these developments have also, in some quarters, resulted in an anti-intellectual, anti-theoretical and anti-university discourse, which has been damaging to universities. This paper argues that current policy developments in ITE are reductionist and technicist and makes a case for the role of universities in ITE.

Designing and Implementing Sustainable Professional Development Programs: Embodied Curriculum and Instruction for Kindergarten Teachers

Embodied design is a theory-to-practice and pedagogical framework and emphasizes the role of embodied and situated activity. Since embodiment has a powerful impact on young children’s learning, implementing embodied deign in kindergartens is essential and beneficial to their future mathematical learning and performance. Therefore, this qualitative study aimed to develop a professional learning community composed of eight kindergarten teachers and university teacher educators (researchers) and to co-construct a professional development model for curriculum design and instructional implementation of embodied design in mathematics. Accordingly, the main research objectives were to obtain a sustainable professional development model and summarize principles of embodied mathematics curriculum design and strategies for embodied instructional activities, which can be used both in practical settings (i.e., kindergarten and preschool) and early childhood teacher education programs in higher education. Data were gathered through participative observations, including PD meetings and classroom observations, in-depth and follow-up interviews, teachers’ lesson design and reflection notes, and children’s learning profiles, and then were analyzed qualitatively using a descriptive and explanatory approach with replication logic. Based on the data collection and analysis, two major sections of the findings and discussion were included in this report, which were as follows: first, a sustainable “task design professional development model” was generated for collaboratively future improvements of both in-service and pre-service teacher training programs in higher education; second, two principles of embodied mathematics curriculum design and two effective embodied teaching strategies were proposed to promote kindergarten teachers’ professional knowledge and capabilities and their young children’s mathematics learning capabilities.

Implementing a process-based reflective teacher training course through situational role play, video, and scenario evidence and its effects on EFL teacher candidates’ perceptions of caring and reflective practices

ABSTRACT The current study examined the teacher candidates’ perceptions of ways a process-based reflective teacher training course-especially those focused on bumpy moments in the classroom, through situational role plays, video reflections, and scenarios- could assist them in their reflective and caring practices. In this regard, a sample of 45 pre-service teacher candidates enrolled at a teacher education university in Iran partook in the study and filled in the reflective and caring practices questionnaire before and after the treatment. Moreover, three teacher candidates were offered to keep reflective journals about the procedure based on their observations. Furthermore, pre- and post-phase interview was conducted with 15 participants. The results of this study revealed that the participants across all three intervention groups experienced improvement as a result of engaging in the teacher training course. The scenario group had the highest mean, followed by the video group; the role play group showed the least amount of improvement in reflective questionnaire mean score of all the treatment groups. The implication is that the process-oriented reflective teacher training course through situational role-play, video-based reflection, and scenario-based reflection can make teacher candidates more cautious about the caring and reflective aspects of their teaching.

An Investigation into English Language Teachers’ Practices and Challenges of Alternative Assessment: Selected Teacher Education Colleges in Focus

Alternative assessment has got an important place especially in education due to the belief of education should focus on students’ totality cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills in order to produce students that are balanced physically, emotionally and intellectually. This study was aimed at examining education college English language teachers’ practices and challenges of alternative assessment with reference to Hawassa, Hossana, and Arba Minch Colleges of Teacher Education. To this end, a descriptive design with a mixed approach was employed. A questionnaire with five-point scales was used and data were collected from 56 teachers. SPSS version 23 was employed to compute descriptive statistics (frequency, percentage, mean, and standard deviation). A semi-structured interview was also conducted with 6 teachers randomly selected from among those teachers who had filled in the questionnaire and the data were thematized and analyzed qualitatively. The results of questionnaire reveal that the practice of alternative assessment was not effective and efficient due to different challenges (students related challenges, teachers related challenges, characteristics of alternative assessment related challenges and resource related challenges. It is also found that data from interview witnessed that alternative assessment was not practiced effectively due to the aforementioned challenges.

Coping with uncertainty in a sociocultural context: the case of Arab preservice teachers in a teacher-education college in Israel

ABSTRACT The present study examined how Arab students, as a minority group in a teacher-education college in Israel, coped with uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic. The insights gained can inform how educators support Arab students during other challenging times, such as periods of political instability. The study aimed to enhance understanding of participants’ experiences, increase sensitivity to diversity, and improve the inclusion of Arab students in the college. A qualitative interpretive phenomenological methodology analyzed students’ written reflective tasks as part of an Arabic-speaking course. Two main themes emerged: a) Arab students’ perceptions and experiences during the COVID-19 crisis and b) their strategies for coping with challenges. The findings showed that students were able to express feelings in writing, contradicting previous research indicating difficulty expressing personal emotions among Arab populations. The findings may encourage reviewing practices to promote the inclusion of various sociocultural groups in teacher education.

Towards an Integrated Model for Orienting Preservice Science Teachers for 21st-Century Teaching

This conceptual paper builds the case for orienting preservice science teachers for 21<sup>st</sup>-century teaching on a footing of Miller et al. (2013) framework for science teacher preparation called the Model of Research-Based Education for Teachers (MORE for Teachers). MORE for Teachers frames science teacher preparation as anchored on four pillars: in-depth subject matter, research-based science teaching methods, guided practicum, and a shared vision of the pedagogy of science learning. Based on the limitations of Miller et al.'s linear model yet still maintaining the value of its central tenets the paper proposes a model that is interactive and framing standards in science teaching, curriculum development, rigorous content, research-based science methods course, and quality field experiences as the essential aspects for producing teacher candidates with the right skills for science teaching. The paper argues that pre-service science teachers (PSTs) development in teacher education colleges and universities requires a framework for harmonization that ensures consideration of all the necessary ingredients for science teacher preparation. Drawing on a diversity of literature sources on science teacher education the paper discusses the application of the proposed model in Zimbabwe, illustrating the importance of detailed methods courses, rigorous science content, expert mentoring, personal teaching philosophy, and a consideration of international trends in science teaching.  In conclusion, the paper recommends other contexts in which the integrated model for science teacher preparation can be used and some steps for its practical implementation.

TPACK Ability Test for Junior College Teacher Internship Students in Primary School Chinese

Background and Aims: TPACK (Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge) is an essential ability for teachers in the digital era that has a high effect on the quality of basic education. In this paper, 55 junior college teacher education students in the class of 2021, majoring in elementary education as teacher education students in Guangxi, were measured at the beginning of their educational internships to understand their level of TPACK. Methodology: Using a homemade TPACK measurement tool, a test paper, which experts had evaluated. Research results indicate that the scores in the seven dimensions of TK, PK, CK, TPK, TCK, PCK, and TPCK range from 30.5% to 61%, among which TPK was the highest and TK was the lowest. Overall, the TPACK ability was at a low level. Results: Results showed that the TPACK test results of teacher education students of primary school Chinese will provide an important basis for formulating TPACK improvement strategies in the internship stage. Conclusion: The results show that measuring TPACK competency in Chinese teacher education students in elementary schools is an essential first step toward developing focused tactics to improve TPACK in the internship stage. This realization emphasizes how important it is to match educational interventions to particular skill development requirements to maximize teaching efficacy in elementary school environments.

Recontextualising Stenhouse: Instantiations of the ‘teacher as researcher’ metaphor in Greece and Cyprus

AbstractThis paper explores the transfer, translation and recontextualisation of Laurence Stenhouse's work, as encapsulated in the ‘teacher as researcher’ metaphor, to the Greek language and in the fields of research and policy in Greece and Cyprus. We first briefly frame action research work as emerging through and within a specific space‐time (and in conversation with others in North America, Australia and Europe). We then trace its translation from English to Greek in specific key publications in books and articles (including his 1975 seminal work An introduction to curriculum research and development), which have since been central to curriculum studies as an academic field in both countries. We then construct four vignettes as cases of different uses of the metaphor in different fields. The first two refer to the institutional context of a new type of school called ‘second chance schools’ and a state policy for the professional development of teachers in Greece. The other two refer to an initial teacher education university programme and to the most recent school curriculum change in the Republic of Cyprus. We conclude by discussing certain patterns of constriction across the four vignettes in the recontextualisation of the ‘teacher as researcher’ to particular aspects of the metaphor as it morphed in two rather centralised contexts with a strong historical presence of a formal, state‐mandated curriculum and of teachers as public servants. Despite these patterns of constriction, we also note how other aspects of the metaphor provided conditions for some transformation.

Research on the Teacher Education Training System Under the Perspective of Deep Learning

In the context of informatization, deep learning has become an important way of education and teaching. In order to implement the requirements of the reform of the teacher education training system in the new era and meet the social demand for high-quality teachers, this paper explores the teacher education training system under the perspective of deep learning. Taking university teacher education as the research object, through a preliminary investigation of the university teacher education training system, the current status of the teacher education training system is grasped as a whole, and through literature combing and content analysis, the theoretical interpretation of deep learning is explored, and the research on the teacher education training system under the perspective of deep learning is explored, so as to establish and improve the teacher education training system and respond to national policies to build a high-level teacher training system.