US Teachers Research Articles

Critically Teaching Criticality?: Modeling Social and Pedagogical Inquiry with Literary Texts

Within US teacher preparation programs, critical pedagogy and a desire for social change can lead teacher educators to prioritize transformation of prospective teachers’ beliefs through self-reflection. In pursuit of effective critical pedagogies, teacher educators also need to examine their own practices and beliefs. This self-study, a manifestation of teaching as inquiry, reframes evaluations of teaching away from what students do toward what teachers do. Here I undertake a reflexive examination of my own recursive practice as a teacher educator in children’s literature. Drawing upon a complex notion of teaching and learning, I argue that student learning outcomes are unpredictable, and as a result, successful teacher education should model self-inquiry as a vital part of teaching. Findings show that teaching choices (and omissions) in response to students’ responses led to unintended outcomes that undermined my motivations. I conclude that teacher educators’ self-inquiry and reflection in broader social contexts offers access to critical ways of thinking that underlie their work toward developing similar capacities among their prospective teacher students.

Which Clients are Deserving of Help? A Theoretical Model and Experimental Test

Abstract Street-level bureaucrats have to cope with high workloads, role conflicts, and limited resources. An important way in which they cope with this is by prioritizing some clients, while disregarding others. When deciding on whom to prioritize, street-level bureaucrats often assess whether a client is deserving of help. However, to date the notion of the deserving client is in a black box as it is largely unclear which client attributes activate the prevailing social/professional category of deservingness. This article, therefore, proposes a theoretical model of three deservingness cues that street-level bureaucrats employ to determine whom to help: earned deservingness (i.e., the client is deserving because (s)he earned it: “the hardworking client”), needed deservingness (i.e., the client is deserving because (s)he needs help: “the needy client”), and resource deservingness (i.e., the client is deserving as (s)he is probably successful according to bureaucratic success criteria: “the successful client”). We test the effectiveness of these deservingness cues via an experimental conjoint design among a nationwide sample of US teachers. Our results suggest that needed deservingness is the most effective cue in determining which students to help, as teachers especially intend to prioritize students with low academic performance and members of minority groups. Earned deservingness was also an effective cue, but to a lesser extent. Resource deservingness, in contrast, did not affect teachers’ decisions whom to help. The theoretical and practical implications of our findings for discretionary biases in citizen-state interactions are discussed.

The promising potential role of intercultural citizenship in preparing mainstream teachers for im/migrant populations

The multilingual reality of migration in the 21st century has presented US schools and teacher education programs with pressing challenges: more and more P-12 educators have become de facto language teachers, asked to make their content and classrooms accessible and meaningful to newcomer students whose home language(s) and culture(s) differ from those in their new schools and communities. These challenges are exacerbated by climates of anti-immigrant rhetoric, xenophobia, and demographic shifts that impede or foreclose interaction between different racial, cultural and linguistic groups. This article addresses a number of questions arising from this situation: What is the role of second language teacher education in the preparation of mainstream teachers serving newcomer students and their families who never imagined themselves as language instructors? How might infusing the principles of intercultural citizenship and immigrant integration policy frameworks expand and enhance current linguistically and culturally focused teacher preparation approaches? This article presents a multi-year study with in-service teachers working in immigrant/refugee communities in a small state in the Northeastern US. Findings indicate some promising potential, yet a stronger, more explicit Intercultural Citizenship approach needs to be articulated and integrated much earlier in the program.

Modern Trends in the Development of the US Teachers’ Skills in the System of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education

Modern Trends in the Development of the US Teachers’ Skills in the System of Postgraduate Pedagogical Education

The Effect of Classroom Capacity on Vocal Fatigue as Quantified by the Vocal Fatigue Index

Objective: Previous research has concluded that teachers are at a higher-than-normal risk for voice issues that can cause occupational limitations. While some risk factors have been identified, there are still many unknowns. Patients and Methods: A survey was distributed electronically with 506 female teacher respondents. The survey included questions to quantify three aspects of vocal fatigue as captured by the Vocal Fatigue Index (VFI): (1) general tiredness of voice (performance), (2) physical discomfort associated with voicing (pain), and (3) improvement of symptoms with rest (recovery). The effect of classroom capacity on US teachers’ self-reported experience of vocal fatigue was analyzed. Results: The results indicated that a classroom’s capacity significantly affected teachers’ reported amounts of vocal fatigue, while a teacher’s age also appeared to significantly affect the reported amount of vocal fatigue. A quadratic rather than linear effect was seen, with the largest age effect occurring at around 40–45 years in all three factors of the VFI. Conclusion: Further factors which may affect vocal fatigue must be explored in future research. By understanding what increases the risk for vocal fatigue, educators and school administrators can take precautions to mitigate the occupational risk of short- and long-term vocal health issues in school teachers.

Principals and teachers “craft coherence” among accountability policies

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine how US school leaders and teachers make sense of multiple accountability policies, including the Common Core State Standards and teacher evaluation, and how this process relates to school priorities and classroom practice.Design/methodology/approachThis study uses a comparative case study approach to understand how principals and teachers in three high-poverty urban schools respond to policy.FindingsAlthough principals and teachers viewed academic standards and the teacher evaluation framework as complementary, two of the three schools focused on meeting the expectations of the teacher evaluation framework at the expense of attention to academic standards. Without attention to the connections among policies and school priorities, the introduction of new policies may detract from rather than reinforce attention to academic standards.Research limitations/implicationsPrincipals who are stronger instructional leaders may be better able to “craft coherence” among multiple standards-based policies and school priorities for instruction and student learning. Although their experiences are not generalizable, findings suggest that attending to standards for student and teacher performance without connecting to the implications for content and students’ learning may lead to superficial integration of accountability policies with school priorities.Practical implicationsFindings provide further evidence that principals play an essential role in responding to policy and suggest that districts and external support providers can assist their efforts by creating opportunities for professional learning about the connections among multiple policies and their implications for practice.Originality/valueThis paper extends Honig and Hatch’s conceptualization of “crafting coherence” to the work of teachers and the implications for classroom practice.

An examination of US first-year teachers’ risk for occupational stress: associations with professional preparation and occupational health

Previous research has demonstrated associations between teacher stress and occupational burnout, but few studies have attempted to operationalize a central tenet of most stress theories, namely that teachers’ appraisals of their classroom demands vis-à-vis their classroom resources is a central driver of vulnerability to stress. The research is particularly silent on risk for stress among the most vulnerable workers in the education sector – first-year teachers. The current study, utilizing data from the US National Center for Education Statistics Beginning Teachers Longitudinal study, sought to replicate prior research, conducted with more experienced US teachers, demonstrating that perceptions of classroom demands and resources can be used to classify new teachers according to their risk for stress. In an extension to previous analyses, the current study also examined the association between first-year teachers’ risk for stress and professional preparation. Results from this study aligned with previous findings, teachers classified at risk for stress reported more burnout symptoms (d = 1.48) and less classroom control (d = .62). Teacher education characteristics and exposure to first-year support programming were also found to be associated with first-year teachers’ risk for stress classification. Findings have implications for how US teacher education potentially shapes first-year teachers’ appraisal of their working conditions and corresponding risk for stress.

The accountability era in US teacher education: looking back, looking forward

In keeping with the theme of the 40th anniversary issue of EJTE, this article looks back and forward at US teacher education accountability. It argues that “holding teacher education accountable” has been the major approach to reforming teacher education in the US for the last two decades, assuming that enhanced teacher education quality depends on vigilant public evaluation and monitoring of outcomes related to teacher education institutions, programs, and teacher candidates. This article looks back at the “era of accountability” by examining five policy, political, and professional developments that contributed to its emergence and strong hold on US teacher education. Looking forward to the future of teacher education accountability in the US, the article argues that we need a new approach – democratic accountability in teacher education – which is based on intelligent professional responsibility for students’ learning including democratic knowledge and skills, strong equity, and genuine collaboration with multiple stakeholders.

‘This is my new normal’: teachers’ accounts of evaluation policy at local school board meetings

In this study, we seek to illuminate teachers’ constructions of US teacher evaluation policies through close analysis of the way teachers in one district describe these policies. We conducted a thematic discursive analysis of 60 teachers’ speeches, recorded during local school board meetings in a Tennessee school district. Using discursive psychology as a lens, analysis focuses on the teachers’ constructions of teacher accountability policies and their own positioning within the policies. We also attend to the linguistic resources teachers used in justifying their decision to speak during the meetings. Findings showed that while drawing upon repertoires of human capital and one-size-fits-all education, the teachers’ patterned participation involved the contestation of status quo practices of teacher evaluation and effectiveness by contrasting them with imagined possibilities of what evaluation could be instead. Implications for developing teacher evaluation are discussed.

Comparing US and Spanish student teachers’ perceptions on social media

This study investigated social media use for educational purposes in the contexts of two countries where social media is pervasive, many people manage multiple social media accounts, and the use of diverse services is relatively common. Student teachers (N=153) from two universities in the USA and Spain participated in course-based learning activities with social media, and subsequently were asked about their experiences with and perceptions of such educational social media use. Quantitative data were collected via an online survey featuring primarily Likert scale items, and complemented by qualitative data based on written reflections. Results show positive perceptions in general regarding educational uses of social media among studentteachers from both contexts, although some differences and nuances are observed between the two countries: for example,use of some services were only detected among US students, who at the same time showed more positive attitude towards Twitter and Pinterest. Conclusions reflect on the importance of considering and seeking to influence student teachers’ attitudes and beliefs regarding educational uses of social media. Keywords: Social media; teacher education; comparative study.

Teacher respiratory health symptoms in relation to school and home environment.

Few studies have evaluated teachers' respiratory health, especially its relationship with school/home environment, and school policies. This study assessed asthma and smoking prevalence among teachers in Romania, teacher's perception and knowledge of the school environment, policies and asthma management, and how school and home environment affected asthma, allergy, and respiratory infection symptoms. This cross-sectional study obtained information from 104 Romanian teachers utilizing teacher questionnaire data for Romania only, as part of the Schools Indoor Pollution and Health: Observatory Network in Europe (SINPHONIE) study, a multicenter European research project conducted between 2010 and 2012. The SINPHONIE questionnaire collected comprehensive information on school and home environment, respiratory symptoms, smoking, and school policies. We used unconditional logistic regression analysis to examine environment-outcome relationships while controlling for socio-demographics and co-exposures. Our results showed the prevalence of asthma-like symptoms and smoking among teachers in Romania was higher than in other SINPHONIE schools and among US teachers. Factors statistically associated with asthma, allergy, and respiratory infection (all p<0.05) include perception of health related to poor air quality in school, inappropriate cleaning of ventilation systems, dwelling proximity to busy traffic, and multiple school/home exposures. We also found lack of asthma management and environmental policies in the investigated Romanian schools. We concluded that multiple school and home environmental factors were related to respiratory and allergic symptoms. High asthma burden and smoking are important public health problems in Romania. Future studies including larger sample size and exposure measurements are needed to confirm our findings.

Risky teachers: mitigating risk through high-stakes teacher evaluation in the USA

ABSTRACTAs a post-structural critique of US teacher evaluation policy, this paper aims to disrupt accepted conceptualizations of teachers by (1) identifying discursive constructions of teachers in political talk, action, and legislation; (2) unpacking the ways that these constructions operate to legitimize punitive accountability policies and practices; and (3) mapping the associated accountability practices used by one school district to understand how they function to manage teachers and shape teacher subjectivities. Drawing on data that include official federal- and state-level policy documents, policy supplemental materials, and local teacher evaluation materials, this analysis demonstrates how teachers have been discursively positioned as ‘risky’ subjects. By doing so, the means to mitigate such ‘risks’ are rationalized, insofar as high-stakes accountability policies and practices ‘make sense’ to protect the well-being of students and the country. This has enabled a set of intrusive and punitive mechanisms that assess and discipline teachers to behave as low-risk subjects.

Insights from teacher leavers: push and pull in career development

This article examines the career pathways of US teacher leavers, individuals who have voluntarily left classroom teaching prior to retirement. Based on the perspective that teachers construct their own career pathways through an ongoing negotiation among intrinsic and extrinsic factors, this research captures the experiences of 24 teacher leavers from geographically diverse regions of the United States. Using life history interviews, this study inquires into individuals’ experiences before, during, and after classroom teaching. Unexpectedly, only one of the 24 individuals initially intended to enter teaching. Data also indicate that teachers’ career pathways were shaped by dynamics pushing and pulling their careers into and out of the classroom. These life history interviews suggest that teachers were pushed and pulled into teaching, pushed and pulled out of teaching, and pushed and pulled around their passions. The trajectories of these teacher leavers, who have now moved into fields as diverse as non-classroom education, medicine, government, and caregiving, suggest important theoretical and practical implications for understanding and shaping teachers’ careers in today’s workforce.

Reformed Teaching and Learning in Science Education: A Comparative Study of Turkish and US Teachers

Achievements of educational reform advantage constructivist understandings of teaching and learning, and therefore highlight a shift in beliefs of teachers and apply these perceptions to the real world. Science teachers’ beliefs have been crucial in understanding and reforming science education as beliefs of teachers regarding learning and teaching science impact their practice. The purpose of this study was to compare US and Turkish science teachers’ beliefs about reformed learning and teaching science. As an instrument, we used Beliefs about Reformed Science Teaching and Learning (BARSTL) to collect and measure the teachers’ beliefs regarding teaching and learning science education. We used an independent-sample t-test to analyze Turkish and American science teachers’ beliefs about reformed learning and teaching science. In total, 38 science teachers from the US and 27 science teachers from Turkey participated in this study. Results showed that US science teachers’ beliefs about reformed learning and teaching science are statistically higher than Turkish science teachers. The results of this study also indicated that although American and Turkish science education aim similar constructivist views on learning and teaching science, American science teachers hold more reformed beliefs in science teaching and learning than their Turkish colleagues.

Teachers’ perceptions of their most significant change: source, impact, and process

The purpose of the study was to examine the differences among significant changes in the practice of individual teachers. Seventeen US teachers were interviewed about the most successful change in their teaching career. The differences in teacher change were based primarily on the source and impact of the change. The sources of change were divided into two categories: other-initiated or self-initiated. The level of impact was determined in three ways: by whether teachers described a new practice, a new direction, or a change in their beliefs. By organizing according to both the source and impact of the change, four types of change were identified: Response to School Initiatives, Professional Development Initiatives, Student-Centered Changes, and Self-Designed Changes. Self-Designed changes were further distinguished based on the time required for the change process. Implications for developing new strategies to foster teacher development are discussed.

Promoting self-efficacy through microteaching in a flipped classroom in US teacher education: focusing on elementary pre-service teacher's ESL teaching for culturally and linguistically diverse English language learners

Promoting self-efficacy through microteaching in a flipped classroom in US teacher education: focusing on elementary pre-service teacher's ESL teaching for culturally and linguistically diverse English language learners

A comparative study of two pre-service teacher preparation programmes in the USA and Romania

This article presents an overall exploratory comparison of two specific pre-service teacher preparation programmes at two research-intensive institutions of higher education in the USA and Romania. The main conclusions suggest that US and Romanian teacher candidates differ very little in their ratings of their respective programmes in terms of learning in the programme, preparation for general teaching and twenty-first century skills. The largest differences were recorded for the university supervisor and cooperating teacher constructs, which the US teacher candidates rated considerably higher than their Romanian peers, namely in the quality and extent of applied field and clinical experiences, which merit further exploration.

From Arrigunaga to Yoknapatawpha: Ramiro Pinilla and William Faulkner

From Arrigunaga to Yoknapatawpha: Ramiro Pinilla and William Faulkner

Intuitive Thinking and Misconceptions of Independent Events: A Case Study of US and French Pre-Service Teachers

In this article we study the conceptions of an American and a French group of undergraduate pre-service teachers regarding the concept of independent events. Specifically, we study the role that intuition plays in their answers, ascertain the presence of probabilistic biases, and compare the findings with previous results collected on a different population. Participants were asked to provide essay-type answers to a three-part questionnaire that asked them to solve problems, react to hypothetical students’ answers, and answer direct questions. The concept of independent events was problematic for most participants as was the distinction between mutually exclusive and independent events. In addition, representativeness bias and the Falk Phenomenon were observed among several participants.

Cut to the core practices: Toward visceral disruptions of binaries in PRACTICE-based teacher education

Situated in the field’s burgeoning attention to identifying and specifying “core practices” of teaching and drawing on data from a study of a writing methods course in a US teacher preparation program, this article draws on poststructuralist discourse and affect theories to show how attending to the affective dimensions of practice was crucial to “un-naming” discourses of Control and Failure in one preservice teacher’s writing lesson. The authors argue that binaries within metaphors of practice(s) must be continually troubled to ensure that children’s racialized, classed, and gendered positioning in schools is centered within practice-based teacher preparation.