Work Of Teacher Educators Research Articles

A Path Forward: A Critical Race Mixed-Methods Study of Social Justice Teacher Education

Teacher preparation programs are being called to comprehensively engage preservice teachers (PSTs) in expansive learning about equity issues beyond one “diversity” course or superficial approach. Our interdisciplinary faculty collaborative within a Midwestern predominantly-white institution met this call by implementing a Critical Social Justice Teacher Education (CSJTE) framework, redesigning three foundational PST courses around social justice. We then conducted a critical race mixed-methods (CRMM) study to measure the impact upon PSTs’ social-justice dispositions and commitments to action in their future classrooms. The results yielded findings that were both expected and unexpected and present a path forward for critical social justice work in teacher education.

The (im)possible mission of language teacher educators in Germany: Identity formation, development, and practice in institutionalised settings

AbstractResearch on language teacher identity and its development has shown that it can be crucial for teacher education to understand how identity development takes place. The few findings to date on language teacher educators and their identities show individual negotiation processes and antinomies, particularly due to transitions from teacher to teacher educator, the parallel roles of researcher and teacher educator, and so on. The project presented here examines the language teacher educator identities of 12 professionals within a highly structured training program in Germany through narrative inquiry as a means to allow for the reconstruction of biographies, identities, and practices. The narratives illustrate the normative settings of the structured system, such as set curricular guidelines, which can rarely be fulfilled by the teacher trainees, a lack of trust and professional relationship, or the struggle of the teacher educators between advisor on the one hand and evaluator on the other. The results provide implications and recommendations for other institutionalised settings in which language teacher educators work.

Grappling with wicked problems: teacher professionalism and pedagogical mappings for reparative futures

ABSTRACT Wicked problems confront educators to consider whether K-12 education is fulfilling its promise for more equitable futures. This challenge demands teachers understand how past and present are implicated in the formation of injustice and its repair as central to their professional practice. In this context, we ask: How can the professional educator grapple with a history of systemic violence without being paralyzed or overwhelmed? To answer this question, we draw on our experience as teacher educators in a course on teacher professionalism. More specifically, we use pedagogical mappings to trace the difficult work of teacher candidates and teacher educators in self-examination when dealing with wicked problems in education. We suggest that teachers’ ability to identify the thinking and affective patterns that prevent them from engaging with difficult histories is key in committing to reparative futures. We close by offering three provocations to think about how these patterns can help teacher candidates and teacher educators alike forge a professional identity committed to the repair of educational injustices.

Substantialising: a descriptive framework for studying sociocultural influences on teacher educators

ABSTRACT Researching teacher education often focuses on the content and practices used in training teachers, but rarely focuses on why that particular knowledge or those particular experiences are selected. This paper presents a descriptive framework for investigating the question of ‘why’ in teacher education by exploring sociocultural influences on the work of teacher educators. Beginning with the idea that all educators face dilemmas in deciding what to teach, the framework categorises influences into three domains: the national and local environment, the professional field, and the individual experiences and beliefs. Brief examples in two teacher education contexts serve as illustrations of using the framework in empirical research. The framework presented is applicable across different teacher education content areas and contexts, for both researchers studying the teaching of teacher educators and for teacher educators examining their own practice.

Enablers and constraints to teacher educator wellbeing amidst institutional accountability cultures: a PERMA perspective

AbstractThe work of contemporary teacher educators in university contexts is under increasing political and public scrutiny as the focus on Initial Teacher Education (ITE) reform intensifies. Consequently, there are growing concerns for teacher educators’ wellbeing amidst escalating expectations and pressures. While research has explored the wellbeing of university academics more generally, less is understood about teacher educators more specifically. This paper aims to deepen understanding of the perceived enablers and constraints influencing how teacher educators experience wellbeing within their everyday work as academics in higher education contexts. Using metalogue as method, nine teacher educators from two Australian universities collectively reflected on their wellbeing during an online focus group session guided by an arts-based activity. Framed by the key constructs of the PERMA wellbeing framework, the ensuing metalogue was analysed thematically. Findings highlighted the particular importance they place on feeling a sense of value, purpose, and meaning in their work as educators for their wellbeing. Findings further showed how the impact of current external reform-driven accountabilities on their work and that of educators in the profession more broadly constrain their wellbeing. These findings have implications for institutional leaders and teacher educators in Australia and internationally where academics are experiencing performative cultures.

Language teacher candidates of color's critical emotional work toward interrogating raciolinguistic shame

This study draws on raciolinguistic perspective (Rosa & Flores, 2017) and theorization of emotions (Benesch, 2018) to examine two teacher candidates of color's (TCCs’) experiences of racialization. Data come from two research projects the authors conducted as part of their dissertations. Findings demonstrate TCCs’ experienced raciolinguistic shame or a hovering sense of embarrassment that results from speaking marginalized linguistic varieties. Findings also show TCCs engaged in critical emotion work to challenge feelings of raciolinguistic shame by foregrounding alternative identities. Our discussion highlights how TCCs reconfigured perceptions of their linguistic dexterity and call for centering emotion work in language teacher education, as a critical component.

Student-centered school, competency development and playful, experiential mathematics learning in Hungary

As colleagues of the Faculty of Culture, Education and Regional Development at the University of Pécs (Hungary), we have been striving for decades to ensure that teachers contribute as successfully as possible to the development of the most important competencies of their students. In our thesis we highlighted three topics (each related to a renowned psychologist) we found important in our teacher training practice. Based on the work of Carl Rogers, the person-centered approach has influenced the mindset of helping professionals worldwide over the past sixty years. In the 80's we started spreading it from the Juhász Gyula Teacher Training College in Szeged, and than from the University of Pécs. John Raven's psychocybernetic approach points out that education is a complex system in which positive changes in one factor can be detrimental to overall performance due to complex interactions. When the University of Pécs awarded John Raven an honorary doctorate, it also wanted to show that we want to build more on his work in teacher education. Zoltán Pál Dienes is considered the most exciting figure in playful, experiential, exploratory mathematics learning/teaching worldwide. In the last years of his life, he also became an honorary doctor of the University of Pécs and we undertook to bring his mathematical games (learning aids) to Hungarian schools. We hope that the "Dienes method" will make everyone like this anxiety-inducing subject, which is still foreign to many students today. The trends presented in this paper can help make our educational practice more child-centered and effective if we continue to make serious efforts.

Critiquing ‘powerful knowledge’ in school geography through a decolonial lens

ABSTRACT The concept of ‘powerful knowledge’ has risen to prominence in the school curriculum in England, taking on a life both in educational policy and in the work of schools, teachers, teacher educators and students. This article conducts a decolonial critique of ‘powerful knowledge’ in school geography. We begin by reviewing research about ‘powerful knowledge’ in geography education before turning to its interpretation in education policy and curriculum framings. We then offer our decolonial critique. We argue that the concept adopts reductive binary frames and neglects the racialising politics of geographical knowledge production. In doing so, ‘powerful knowledge’ marginalises the everyday knowledge of people globally and glosses over their ‘hidden’ geographies and histories in ways that sustain racialised global inequalities. We conclude by explaining the reasons for the emergence of ‘powerful knowledge’ and arguing for its demise on account of lack of analytical rigour and inattentiveness to social justice.

The Multifaceted Field of Virtual Exchanges in Teacher Education: A Literature Review

Virtual exchanges can be seen as a powerful tool in fostering digital- pedagogical, intercultural, and foreign language competences in teacher education. Since the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, virtual exchanges in teacher education have gained increasing attention both in research and practice. Despite a growing number of publications and various fields and themes covered by research and reports, few publications are concerned with connecting and systematising the discourse on virtual exchanges between 2020-2023. This paper, thus, aims to offer a comprehensive overview of how virtual exchanges are employed in teacher education by adopting a scoping study approach and examining research papers published in this period of time. Our findings cover the planning, implementation, and evaluation of virtual exchanges, as well as some overarching recommendations for improving the delivery of virtual exchanges in teacher education as they are provided in the research papers. Virtual exchanges in teacher education are a multifaceted field since it has multiple aims, usages, and impacts, which largely depend on the (mostly voluntary) work of teacher educators, the institutional framework within which the exchanges take place, and student teachers’ motivation to participate. The future of virtual exchanges in teacher education would benefit by opening up beyond foreign language teacher education and combining small-scale with large-scale studies to better inform research and practice.

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.

Learned from a Semester Spent in Schools

ABSTRACT This article reports on the experiences of a mid-career teacher educator who spent a full semester supervising student teachers in schools. Adopting a self-study methodology, she and a critical friend collected and analyzed data, often in the form of reflection, on her experiences of third space and liminality. The time that she spent on the project helped her to develop more nuanced understandings of the complex daily realities faced by elementary teachers, which led to changes in her instruction with the preservice teachers with whom she worked. Importantly, the experience helped her to rediscover a sense of passion for her work. Her approach led to deeper insights on the importance of spending time in schools and of emotions and relationships in the work of teacher education. The experience points toward interesting professional development possibilities for teacher educators at mid-career.

Motivation to Work of Teacher Educators at Elementary Level of Teacher Education Institution

Motivation to work denotes the directs aptitude and persistence of an individual’s behaviour in understanding the task. The objective of the study was to compare teachers’ motivation to work in the elementary level teacher education institutions due to the categorical variables like gender (male and female), teaching experience (more than 5 years teaching experience & less than 5 years teaching experience), type of management (Government and Self-financed) and locale (urban & rural). Descriptive survey method has been adopted in the present study. A sample of 100 teacher educators were randomly selected of which 50 teachers were from Government and 50 teachers were from self-financed institutions. The major variable is motivation to work and categorical variables are gender, teaching experience, types of management and locale. The finding revealed that there is no significant difference in motivation to work of teacher educators in relation to gender variation but significant difference in relation to teaching experience, type of management and locale variations.

Who do they think they are? Professional identity of Chinese university-based teacher educators

ABSTRACT University-based teacher educators (UBTEs) are critical to teacher education quality. Studies have mainly explored the professional identity of UBTEs who were previously schoolteachers, whereas less is known about those who followed academic pathways. This study examines how UBTEs perceive their identities in the Chinese context, where academic pathways are common. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 34 purposively sampled participants from two university types: first-class normal universities, and provincial normal universities. Five identities aligned with previous research: teacher in a higher education institution; researcher; teacher of teachers; collaborator; and coach. Three new identities emerged from the data: teacher of tradition; questioner; and doctoral student. Similarities and differences in identity perception were also discovered between university types. This study suggests the complexity of being a UBTE is shaped by institutional context, national and cultural milieu, and the nature of teacher education work, and concludes with recommendations for teacher education programmes.

Between a rock and a hard place: leading university teacher education in England

ABSTRACT Processes of market-making and regulation are recalibrating the work of teacher education. While an established body of research has examined changes to the content and control of teacher education in the UK and internationally, the impact of audit-based accountability on the work of academic leaders is neglected. This study explores the career transitions, experiences and commitments of leaders in professional education at a time of jurisdictional challenge. Drawing on interviews with Heads of Department of 10 large-scale university providers of pre-service teacher education in England, the analysis addresses the impact of multiple accountabilities on professional agency, identity and efficacy. The study finds participants’ need to demonstrate compliance with policy directives in a highly volatile operating context diminishes possibilities for critically reflexive leadership practice and policy activism.

Critical love praxis as pro-Black pedagogy: a literature synthesis of empirical research in K-12 education

PurposeThis study aims to examine how critical love theory is operationalized in K-12 classrooms to support Black children. The authors use BlackCrit and a conceptual framework of critical love to describe the strategies educators used as pro-Black pedagogies of resistance.Design/methodology/approachThe authors conducted a thematic analysis to identify how critical love praxis is used by K-12 educators as a tool to address anti-Blackness, neoliberal multiculturalism and ahistoricism as defined by the framings of BlackCrit theory. The authors produced a literature synthesis of qualitative research that responds to this study’s research questions: How are critical love theories operationalized? What educator practices do researchers identify as material manifestations of critical love?; and How and to what extent do critical love praxis address anti-Blackness, neoliberal multiculturalism and ahistorical approaches to social transformation as defined by BlackCrit theory?FindingsCritical love theories manifest as critical love praxis. Educators used critical love praxis to address anti-Blackness, neoliberal multiculturalism and ahistoricism by cultivating and supporting the co-creation of homeplace for Black students in K-12 education. Homeplace is cultivated through critical love praxis as classroom-focused, person-focused and politically focused approaches.Originality/valueThis study’s findings extend current theoretical research on critical love by describing its material form in K-12 education and by identifying how a critical love praxis can work to directly challenge anti-Blackness. The authors find implications for their work in teacher education and teachers’ in-service professional development.

Making the Invisible Visible: Identifying Shared Functions that Enable the Complex Work of University-based Teacher Educators

ABSTRACT Through our shared interest in articulating a knowledge base for teacher education, we believe a deeper examination of the work of teacher educators would contribute to a fuller understanding of who teacher educators are and the work they do. Recognizing how context and positionality influence conceptions of teacher education and with a desire to refine our own understandings of the work of teacher educators, we engaged in a collaborative self-study to examine the work of 12 university-based teacher educators in the United States. Through our analysis of one day in our work, we identified three key functions that transcend our positions and, at the same time, are essential, even core, aspects of the work that we enact daily. These functions of Design, Leadership and Advocacy are all framed by the educative purpose of the work of teacher educators. These functions are overlapping and highlight the movement and energy among the functions and collective purpose for teacher educator work. An underlying thread of connectivity, building and maintaining growth-oriented relationships through positionality, communication, and interaction weaves throughout the functions, and we found our community of practice developed throughout the collaborative self-study was a key aspect of connectivity and collaboration in our work as teacher educators. Identifying the key educative functions across our work enabled us to codify a shared language and challenge the assumption that there is no knowledge base in teacher education as an enterprise. We believe our examination of our work informs future inquiry into collective teacher educator practice.

Transnational teacher educators in internationalised higher education in the Arabian Gulf

ABSTRACT This interpretive study contributes to an understanding of the work and beliefs of transnational teacher educators in diverse international contexts. Due to their influence on the development of future teachers in their host country, and the influence of those future teachers on future generations of learners, transnational university-based teacher educators are a particularly significant, yet understudied, group of mobile academics. The study investigates, through in-depth interviews and a selection task about preferred conceptions of teaching, how ten transnational teacher educators experience and conceive of their work in higher education in the Arabian Gulf cities of Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, and Dubai. Despite diverse international backgrounds, participants in this study express common critically reflective, constructivist, and sociocultural conceptions of their work as teacher educators who are preparing future teachers to work in transformed schools in a region engaged in ongoing educational reform. They report that they explicitly model active, learning-centred strategies while coaching future teachers. They believe that their work is important for national capacity building, although they would welcome greater involvement in educational planning. They are cognisant of local cultural considerations, while noting pedagogical challenges around teaching students through English as the medium of instruction in higher education in the Gulf. This study yields understanding and provides implications for professional development and orientation programmes for transnational teacher educators migrating to work in such internationalised settings.

Extending the dialogic space: developing interprofessional expertise through a student-created podcast

ABSTRACT Teachers must relate to practitioners from a range of professions, which represent different, sometimes conflicting, perspectives on teaching and learning. Thus, student teachers must develop the expertise to understand, challenge and make constructive use of the perspectives of other professionals. From a socio-cultural perspective, this study investigates how a student-created podcast emerges as an arena and genre for interprofessional work in teacher education. Interaction analysis was used to examine student teachers’ engagement with perspectives provided by professionals from the ed-tech sector. The results demonstrate how the student-created podcast affords dialogic spaces for developing interprofessional expertise in teacher education.

The emotional work of being a teacher educator and persisting through a pandemic

Dunbar and Baker (2014) identify the personal experiences of teaching as “emotional labor” based on Hargreaves (1998) “emotional practice” of teaching. We engaged in a collaborative self-study investigating the emotional work of teacher educators during a global pandemic. We examined the role of liaison in our context - university faculty working to support teacher candidates in school placements for a “professional year.” Liaisons serve in “boundary crossing” (Akkerman & Bakker, 2011) roles and negotiate stressors within multi-membership across contexts. The development of teacher educators would benefit from explicit attention to care, relationships, and negotiating boundaries in sites of clinical practice.

Degree completion among students with an immigrant background in short-cycle welfare-oriented professional education

This article examines degree completion among students with an immigrant background who enrolled in professional bachelor’s degree programmes in early childhood or teacher education, nursing, or social work. By using the high-quality Norwegian register data covering national cohorts of students enrolled in higher education between 1990 and 2014, the analysis indicates that immigrants and native-born descendants of immigrants were less likely to complete these study programmes, compared with native majority students. Explanations for this could be linked to ethnic minorities being inadequately integrated—socially and academically—in these study programmes and therefore less able and/or motivated to stay enrolled until graduation. In all four professional study programmes, students with an immigrant background had comparatively higher probabilities of transferring to other study programmes or dropping out of higher education altogether. On the positive side, minority-majority gaps in degree completion were considerably smaller for those who achieved academically well in these professional study programmes, measured as high first-year GPAs. However, it is quite alarming that immigrants and immigrant descendants who achieved poor academic results were substantially less likely to complete a degree than native majority students with correspondingly poor results.