Digital Commons Network^™

Facing Publishing Paralysis In Teacher Education: Book Critique Of Writing Your Journal Article In Twelve Weeks (2nd Ed.), Donna Zerr, Carissa Gober, David Wolff

Essays in Education

Our lived experiences as Teacher Education faculty in the realm of scholarly writing was filled with anxiety and trepidation. In the attempt to develop as writers, we participated in a professional learning community book discussion on Wendy Laura Belcher’s workbook, Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success (2nd ed.). The text’s exercises helped motivate our steps through the writing process and developed productive writing habits for publication. This article is a critique of the book which helped us face and overcome our fears of writing with the intention to publish academic scholarship. The workbook …

Self-Perceptions On Efficacy In Reading Teacher Education: A Case Study In An Online Literacy Clinic, Mary L. Hoch, Michelle Fry

The Reading Professor

As our educational landscape continues to shift, so must our practices in higher education, including those of the literacy clinic. As we transition to various digital modalities, it is essential to research the self-perceptions and feelings of preparedness that result from the completion of the practicum experience. This case study was designed to examine participants' perceptions of their ability to plan, design, and implement literacy interventions with school-age students. Participants were in-service teachers who were seeking a graduate degree and/or reading endorsement in an online program. As part of their reading endorsement practicum requirement, they served as tutors in an …

Using Case-Based Instruction To Support Teaching Self-Efficacy For Cultural Responsiveness In Pre-Service Teachers: A Mixed Methods Study, Marisa Nodine, Carolyn Hushman, Ashley K. Vaughan, Kira J. Carbonneau

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Using a mixed methods design we quantitively examined how case-based instruction (CBI) influenced preservice teachers’ (PSTs) cultural responsiveness teacher efficacy development across three classroom case studies. Qualitatively, we examined how PSTs were able to engage in self-insertion when writing about their reactions to the classroom cases. Specifically, PSTs were randomly assigned to one of two conditions; one group received a content-based text excerpt prior to reading and responding to two classroom cases (Text–Case). Another group was given a series of three classroom cases (Case–Case) that contained similar information to the Text–Case group. The Text–Case group maintained their cultural responsiveness teacher …

The Middle School Developmental Vocal Methodology: A Middle School Vocal Music Instructional Methodology - The Vocal Pedagogy Branch, Eunice Nogueras

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Middle school can be a precarious time for students and teachers. During this seemingly difficult time, some students cope by participating in choir. Studies outline that middle school choir can be notably beneficial for students. However, teaching middle school choir can be challenging, as directors must respond to students’ varying physiological development, especially when training their voices and establishing a choir. Further, choral music education throughout the United States tends to lack uniformity in curricula despite national and state standards, particularly at the middle school level. While some choral music educators in low socio-economic locations maintain successful programs, some are …

Conceptualizing Images Of Supervisors In Teacher Education, Steve Haberlin, Rebecca W. Burns

Journal of Educational Supervision

Due to the marginalization of supervision (Butler, et al., 2023; Nolan, 2022) and few frameworks to conceptualize supervision in teacher preparation, educational supervision of clinical experiences receives less attention and fewer resources, which perpetuates its marginalization. It is imperative that scholars develop additional theoretical models or constructs to improve the understanding and practice of supervision to elevate its status beyond technical helping. In this paper, we draw upon several sources in the instructional supervision literature to re-conceptualize commonly used images of supervisors in teacher education. In addition to traditional conceptions (The Critic, the Popular Parent, the Co-Inquirer), we ‘introduce’ two …

Teacher Candidate Supervision For Social Justice: Orientations, Practices, And Challenges, Andrew E. Hood

Journal of Educational Supervision

The need for teachers who are thoughtful and attentive to issues of social justice is more apparent now than ever before. Teacher education can and should be tasked with preparing teachers to serve a student population that is becoming more diverse over time. As teacher educators who function within both the university coursework and student teaching fieldwork spaces, teacher candidate supervisors are well-positioned to support candidates to make sense of and incorporate social justice-centered practices in their teaching. Building on the findings of Jacobs (2006), a comprehensive literature review of journal articles published in the last 20+ years revealed that …

Special Education Teacher Preparation In Saudi Arabia: Qualitative Interview Design, Salman Almughyiri

The Qualitative Report

This study explored preservice special education teachers’ perceptions regarding special education teacher preparation courses, practicum, and evidence-based practices they recently completed. The participants of the study included five preservice special education teachers from two universities, Shaqra University and King Saud University, in Riyadh. A variety of qualitative interview designs, such as semi-structured interviews and in-depth interviews were employed to gather the data. This involved conducting a total of 15 interviews. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Additionally, peer debriefing and member checks were used to increase the credibility of the study and help prevent personal bias. The study …

I Didn’T See It Coming: Navigating An Uncomfortable Episode During Doctoral Research Fieldwork, Narina A. Samah

The Qualitative Report

In this article, I revisit my experiences during my doctoral fieldwork from the lens of a novice qualitative researcher. Initially embracing the role of narrative inquirer, I was in the midst of navigating my inquisitive journey by re-examining my personal practical knowledge as a means to confront my puzzle of practice. Six months of fieldwork allowed me to re-experience my classroom teaching practice through a pair of new eyes. As my research was ending, events took an unexpected turn, leading to the delicate issue of female teacher/lecturer-student relationships during research fieldwork and the dilemma of deciding whether to include or …

Literacy Instructional Coaching Practices In Writing And Writing Instruction: An Exploration Of K–6 Teachers' Perspectives, Jadelyn Abbott, Katherine Landau Wright, Hannah Carter

Literacy, Language, and Culture Faculty Publications and Presentations

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to identify if and how K–6 teachers perceive that their literacy instructional coaches influence their writing teaching.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors employed a parallel convergent mixed-methods design with survey data. The authors used thematic analysis to identify patterns within short-answer responses.

Findings

K–6 teachers receive little literacy coaching specific to writing. However, when they do receive coaching, they believe it benefits their writing instruction. Sustained coaching through the coaching cycle, frequent collaborations, and support with writing instructional resources and strategies were reported as the most influential writing coaching practices.

Research limitations/implications

Sample size was …

Room For Breathing: Mindfulness, Currere, And Contemplative Practices In Teacher Education, Hongyu Wang, Jo Flory

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

This paper explores the intersections of using autobiographical (currere) writing and mindful meditations as two forms of contemplative practices in teacher education, from the perspectives of both a secondary classroom teacher and a teacher educator. An experientially-based conceptual inquiry, it is contextualized through first-person autobiographical narrations reconstructed from the authors’ currere writings and mindfulness practices, in order to draw connections between both through the theme of making room for breathing. The pedagogical contexts surrounding how students practice mindfulness and currere in teacher education are discussed, and the body, emotions, temporality, space, and relationality are analyzed as intersecting and complementary …

Walking Toward The Demonumentalization Of Qualitative Research: A Collaborative Autoethnography Account While Producing An Educational Podcast, Carmen H. Guerrero-Nieto, Alvaro H. Quintero-Polo

The Qualitative Report

This article examines how two teacher educators, as researchers and as research teachers, engaged in a collaborative interpretation of their autoethnographies about questioning an instrumentalist and positivist research culture in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT). The autoethnographies simultaneously emerged from the research activities related to the production of a bilingual podcast named “Conversing about "Investigación Cualitativa.” Specifically, the authors conducted a qualitative study of autoethnographic and collaborative nature while working on their podcast. The data were individual written retrospective accounts, which were shared, discussed, and interpreted in online live meetings. The outcomes of the study were …

A Call To Serve: Novice Urban Catholic School Teachers' Sense Of Purpose In Life, Compassion, Faith, And Justice, Ella Anghel, Kierstin M. Giunco, Audrey A. Friedman, Myra Rosen-Reynoso, Charles T. Cownie Iii, Cristina J. Hunter

Journal of Catholic Education

Educators are instrumental in nurturing students’ sense of purpose, particularly in urban schools. Consequently, these educators must not only have a strong sense of purpose but also possess other key virtues. This mixed-methods study explores these virtues among a group of 30 urban Catholic school teachers. They responded to scales measuring purpose, compassion, faith, moral development and agency, and completed a modified Youth Purpose Interview online. Scores were compared to those of the original samples upon which these scales were validated as they were also emerging adults. Participants scored significantly higher on almost all scales than the original samples. These …

Sparking Pre-Service Teachers’ Self-Awareness Through A Strengths-Based Psychometric Tool: A Pilot Study In A Christian University, Lisa Devall-Martin Dr.

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

The pilot study outlined in this article aimed to explore the relevance and value of a strengths-based psychometric tool, Lumina Spark©, in a teachers’ education program. The study involved pre-service teachers from a Christian university and was conducted over a six-week winter teaching practicum. The psychometric assessment and workshop were designed to help pre-service teachers explore their personality and develop self-knowledge, social awareness, and stress management skills. The study found that the Lumina Spark© tool was effective in helping pre-service teachers understand their strengths and weaknesses and how they relate to others. The study also found that the tool helped …

It Makes You Nervous When You Start Talking About Racism": Shining Light On Teacher Educators’ Experiences Of Anti-Racist Pedagogy In Australian Teacher Education, Sasha Janes

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Teacher educators have a significant responsibility in promoting anti-racist pedagogy and guiding preservice teachers to engage in critical self-examination regarding dominant narratives. However, many teacher education programmes fall short of adequately equipping aspiring teachers for diverse classrooms as they often perpetuate a predominantly white system and curricula. Informed by Critical Pedagogy and underpinned by a lens of Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies, this paper discusses the experiences of teacher educators facilitating anti-racist pedagogy within teacher education programmes at Australian universities. Semi-structured interviews were held with 23 experienced teacher educators employed at universities across Australia. Data reveal teacher educators’ efforts to promote anti-racist …

Examining The Influence Of Secondary Math And Science Teacher Preparation Programs On Graduates' Instructional Quality And Persistence In Teaching, Danielle M. Rhemer, Will Rogers, Sherry Ann Southerland

Teaching & Learning Faculty Publications

This quantitative, non-experimental study explored the relationship between the features of math and science teachers’ preparation programs and their graduates’ instructional rigor and persistence in teaching. Five math and science teacher preparation programs from across the United States were examined. Six sets of instructional tasks were collected from forty-six recent graduates of these programs to provide insights into novices’ instructional rigor, and employment data were collected for thirty-seven of these graduates three to eight years after graduation. Regardless of the program’s features, all teachers could design and implement instruction with moderate to high rigor. However, this ability was not the …

Teaching For Social Justice In Middle Grades Mathematics: Lessons From A Field Instructor/Preservice Teacher Partnership, Kelsey L. Benson, Ashley Conlon

Middle Grades Review

This paper discusses the implementation of social justice lessons in middle grades mathematics by a preservice teacher enrolled in a social justice-oriented teacher education program during her practicum placements in 7^th and 8^th grade classrooms in a rural county in the southeastern United States. We begin with an overview of relevant literature on the importance of teaching for social justice in mathematics, particularly with/for young adolescents. Next we describe the social justice Math lessons Ashley designed and taught. We conclude with implications for both teachers and teacher education programs undertaking justice-oriented work in divisive and hostile political contexts.

Pre-Service Teachers’ Experiences With Multi-Tiered Systems Of Support: Universal Screening & Intervention Planning, Alexandra J. Taylor, Tommy Wells, Amy Lein

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

Assessment plays a key role in the multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) model. Universal screening is an assessment component embedded into MTSS, specifically within the response to intervention framework. The process of administering, scoring, and analyzing data from a universal screener is an essential skill that pre-service teachers need to gain in their educator preparation programs. In this qualitative, case study approach, we examined the ways an experimental learning project in implementing universal screeners impact pre-service teachers’ beliefs and practices for Tier 1 of MTSS. The project was provided to pre-service teachers to give them familiarization with the implementation of …

Learning From Faculty Mentors Who Had To Mentor And Evaluate Teacher Candidates Completing A Remote Practicum In The Early Stages Of The Covid-19 Pandemic In Canada, Sheryl Macmath, Deirdre Degagne

Journal of Educational Supervision

In the Spring of 2020, the COVID-19 global pandemic impacted all aspects of life throughout the world, including education. Teachers who had never taught online before, all of a sudden had one week to get ready to engage with their students in a virtual setting. On top of these changes, our small post-degree Canadian teacher education program had teacher candidates on practicum in K-12 schools. That meant our faculty mentors, responsible for recommending teacher candidates for certification, had to figure out how to mentor, support, and evaluate teacher candidates who were teaching remotely. This research aimed to address the following …

Special Education Teachers’ Emotional Well-Being And Work-Related Stressors In The School Environment, Mallory J. Laravie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

There is little to no research regarding novice elementary special education teachers (SETs) and their emotional well-being while in the school environment. The goal of this work is to illuminate special education teacher’s voices missing in previous research. Additionally, this research examines the impact of work-related stressors on novice elementary SETs' emotional well-being in the school environment. The theoretical perspective of heuristics is used to illuminate a problem or answer a question about the lived experience of the researcher. Lazarus and Folkman’s (1984) transactional theory of stress and coping framework guided the research question development, data analysis, and presentation of …

Building A Community Of Practice: Shifting An M.Ed. Program To A Pds School-Based Cohort Model, Elizabeth Hale, Hope E. Wilson, Lauren Gibbs, Jessie Didier, Carolyne Ali-Khan

Faculty Publications: Education

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to examine how participants experienced and perceived an M.Ed. program that had a school-based design. In particular, the authors sought to understand: (1) how participants experienced being in a school-based cohort and (2) whether and how participants experienced the three designated tenets of the M.Ed. program: teacher inquiry, social justice and student engagement and motivation.

Design/methodology/approach

This qualitative study used semi-structured focus group interviews (n = 7) to examine teachers’ perceptions, using a constant comparative method (Corbin & Strauss, 2008) of open coding to analyze the data and determine emergent themes.

Findings

The …

Looking Back In Order To Move Forward: Lessons From Covid-19 For Teacher Education, Kiersten Greene, Lizabeth Cain, Elizabeth Brennan, Brianna Vaughan

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

This article provides critical perspectives on education technology integration in a teacher education context in a post-pandemic world. The authors—two early career teachers, one in a pre-school and one in an elementary school, and two elementary teacher education faculty members at a mid-sized public university—use the U.S. Department of Education’s 2016 guiding principles for educational technology in teacher education for analysis. The commentary evolves directly from and reflects the authors’ collective experience across the P-20 spectrum in education technology, with close attention paid to what was learned during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent pivot to remote learning …

“I Changed My Mind”: Exploring Why College Students Change Majors To Become Teachers, Ross Bussell

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

While teacher education programs have long studied what draws students to choose a career in teaching, a less studied aspect of teacher candidates relates to students who change majors to become teachers. As a phenomenon that is common in teacher preparation, I am interested in better understanding why this happens. This article centers around six participants who began college choosing a science major, changing their course of study after at least one full year. Through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, a discussion of what led the participants to change majors, what they were looking for when deciding to become teachers, and …

Book-Tasting Presentations Within An Early Childhood Educator Preparation Program, Johannah D. Baugher, Narges Sareh

The Advocate

This manuscript discusses a teacher education experience utilized within an early childhood literacy methods course named, book-tasting presentation. Existing literature suggests that book-tastings, in a variety of forms, are evident at the PK-12 level, yet not prevalent in higher education and specifically, teacher education. The aim of the book-tasting presentations is to expose early childhood teacher candidates to diverse, high-quality picturebooks and their application in early childhood settings to cook up a love of literacy among our youngest readers. This is achieved through the Experiential Learning Cycle as teacher candidates are tasked to experience, reflect, think, and act throughout this …

Meeting The Needs Of Multilingual Students: Using Teacher-Reported Challenges And Successes For Teacher Preparation, Vanessa Z. Mari, Steve Hayden

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Preparing teachers to meet the needs of multilingual students is the goal of TESOL and Bilingual education programs in higher education. What these programs use to determine what these needs are can vary by location, faculty, and population of learners. This qualitative study surveyed in-service teachers applying for their TESOL or Bilingual endorsements in a college in the southwest United States. Research questions asked about the challenges and successes teachers face in meeting the needs of multilingual students and used this data to determine themes. The data showed that teachers encounter challenges meeting the needs of multilingual students in the …

Investigating An Instructional Model For Integrated Stem In Teacher Education, Laurie O. Campbell, Nicole Damico

Journal of STEM Teacher Education

Active learning experiences that incorporate technology, design, and making combine to form an important and necessary pedagogical approach that supports the 21st century skills of collaboration, communication, creativity, digital literacies, and computational thinking as a problem-solving framework. Active learning experiences in teacher preparation serve as a model for future educators to follow, while building the educators' efficacy to conduct future implementations with their own students. In this study, a multidisciplinary Pop-Up Makerspaces activity was conducted as an active hands-on approach to interdisciplinary STEM education. The intersectionality of English language arts with integrated STEM through design and making included: (a) enriching …

Preparing Educators To Coach For Equity: Title Ix And The Power Of A Coach, Rebekah Dimick Eastman

Essays in Education

This piece takes a look at Title IX history and policy and the potential impact that teacher educators can have on the athletic landscape, especially as it pertains to girls. History of Title IX and athletics is reviewed. The current situation is reviewed, showing a stagnation of growth of girls’ and women’s sports. New data, collated from coaching directories, is shared and clearly shows a need for improvement in gender representation in coaching. Finally, a path forward to recruit and prepare coaches to coach for gender equity is given.

Investment In Teacher-Education Versus Teacher-Educational Research For Effective Teacher-Professional Learning, Nipael Mrutu, Esther Kibga, Aladini Hoka, Peter Kajoro, Fredrick Mtenzi, Hamis Nkota, Tage Biswalo

Institute for Educational Development, East Africa

Purpose: This systematic research paper provides a comprehensive review of studies and literature on three terms i.e., teacher education, teacher professional learning and teacher education research more specifically in the context of the Tanzania education system. One of the most important aspects identified in teacher education in recent years is teacher educational research despite being yet overlooked. Teacher educational research creates a better juncture through which a gap between teacher education and teacher professional learning is bridged and the two present well with one another.

Methodology: The analysis used 45 articles related to the three aspects, published in ten …

A Look At Diversity Through The Lens Of Universal Design For Learning And Differentiated Instruction To Better Educate Learners, Mokysha Benford

The Journal of the Research Association of Minority Professors

In addition to the COrona VIrus Disease (COVID) gap, the teacher shortage, and increasing accountability, schools and classrooms continue to grow more and more diverse. This diversity presents its own set of challenges as teachers are expected to meet the needs of all learners. In addition to linguistic, religious, gender, sexual preference, race, socioeconomic status, and family structure diversity, students bring their varied culture and prior experiences to the classroom, and this impacts learning. This article presents a critical review of literature that examines Universal Design for Learning and Differentiated Instruction to address the instructional challenges diversity can create. It …

Time To Transform: Challenges And Opportunities For Teaching Practice During Covid-19 And Beyond, Muhammad Abid Malik Mam, Hina Amin Ha, Saleha Ali Sa

The Qualitative Report

Teaching practice is one of the most significant components of a teacher education program that prepares prospective teachers for a fast-changing and technology-infused world. However, in many developing countries like Pakistan, it has remained stuck in the traditional methods (face-to-face, without proper utilization of technology) which made it vulnerable during COVID-19. This study explores teaching practice methods and strategies used by Pakistani universities before and during COVID-19. It further identifies the causes behind its deficiencies to prepare prospective teachers for the challenges of the current era. Using semi-structured interviews, data was gathered from nine teaching practice supervisors from nine different …

Transformational Leadership Qualities Of Teacher Candidates In Classrooms: A Study From Uae, Laila Mohebi, Areej Elsayary

All Works

Universities have an objective of enhancing leadership skills in its students’ personalities. This study explores these skills in College of Education teacher candidates’ character, personality and performance during teaching in classrooms. The current research is structured around Northouse (2016) transformational leadership model. He states that transformational leaders possess four components; idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration. In the current study, the four components were identified during teaching and interaction with students in classrooms. Thirty-two teacher candidates were observed during teaching in the classroom and several traits were exhibited most while another set were observed least. The study …