Education Commons^™

What Do You Do When You Don't Know How To Respond? Supporting Pre-Service Teachers To Use Picture Books To Facilitate Difficult Conversations, Kathryn Struthers Ahmed, Nida Ali

Occasional Paper Series

In this paper, the authors – a preservice teacher (PST) and a teacher educator – consider how teacher education might better prepare PSTs to use picture books to facilitate difficult conversations in elementary classrooms. They share missed opportunities from their own experiences in a fourth-grade fieldwork classroom and in a graduate-level elementary literacy methods course where they felt unprepared to respond to students’ comments about “controversial” topics. They reimagine how these experiences might have been transformed to be more educative for PSTs, first by considering how they could have responded more thoughtfully in the moment and then by thinking about …

Trust And Feedback In A Student Teaching Support System, Kristin M. Rich

International Christian Community of Teacher Educators Journal

In a preservice teacher’s brief time as a student teacher, feedback between the student and his or her cooperating teacher and university supervisor is intended to be formative and allow for adjustments in pedagogy and continued development of a teaching identity. However, trust or lack of trust within this triad can influence any of the member’s response to feedback. Without trust, giving or receiving feedback may break down and hinder the preservice teacher’s progress. By considering three examples of student teaching experiences where the interplay of trust and feedback adversely affected a student teacher’s progress, this essay argues for more …

(De)Valuing Multimodality: Exploring One Teacher-Writer’S Uneven Development In A Multimodal Composition Course, Mike P. Cook, Brandon Sams

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This paper examines the learning experiences and identity development of one ELA pre-service teacher (Elise) in a multimodal composition course. The authors rely on single-case study methods to understand Elise’s multimodal compositions and reflections across the semester. This inquiry asks: a) In what ways does a multimodal literacy course influence PSTs' views of and positions on multimodal literacy instruction? b) What influence does a course focused on multimodal literacy/composing have on the identity development of ELA/writing teachers? c) What prior experiences and understandings facilitate or prevent PSTs uptake of multimodal concepts? Findings detail 1) how Elise at once valued and …

Preservice English Teachers’ Evolving Conceptions Of 21st-Century Writing, Amber Jensen

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This study used stimulated-recall interviews throughout four secondary English preservice teachers’ (PSTs) semester-long student teaching internships to examine how critical teaching moments shaped their evolving conceptions of 21st-century writing. The article first describes the participants’ collective definitions of features and experiences of 21st-century writing in the ELA classroom, focusing specifically on how they understood digital and multimodal composition. It then examines two case studies that demonstrate how PSTs’ teaching experiences destabilized, challenged, and contradicted their emerging definitions. Findings suggest that English educators may engage PSTs in conceptualizing nuanced and flexible 21st-century writing pedagogies as they construct field experiences as reflective …

“If You’Re Not Disrupting It, Then Who Is?”: Understanding The Effects Of Participating In Anti-Sexism Workshops On Preservice Teachers’ Beliefs And Practices, Kimberly J. Pfeifer

Doctoral Dissertations

This phenomenological-inspired study seeks to understand both how preservice teachers make sense of their roles as anti-sexist educators and what effects participating in anti-sexism professional development (PD) may have on preservice teachers’ beliefs and practices, specifically as they connect to gender. Through four video-recorded workshops centered on an anti-sexist curriculum, questionnaire data, and subsequent individual semi-structured interviews, this study found four distinct yet interconnected themes. The first two themes: (1) Hesitancies and (2) There, Not Here, elucidate the precariousness of the teacher candidate role. While the following themes: (3) Shifts and (4) More, demonstrate the effects of participating in this …

Valuing Voices: Construction Of Meaning Through Discursive Interactions During A Critical Service-Learning Partnership, Jane Helen Noble

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

As teacher educators strive to prepare preservice teachers for careers as literacy instructors and advocates of social justice in education, critical service-learning pedagogy has been considered as an approach for teacher education programs. Tenets of academic study, reflective practice, social change, and the development of authentic relationships between universities and communities outline the structure for critical-based field experiences. What are preservice teachers learning in these spaces? How do they grow as part of critical service- learning courses? How do community organizations and members interpret experiences in the partnership, and how do they describe their roles?

This study highlights the voices …

Video Analysis In Educator Preparation And Its Impact On Teacher Performance Assessment, Kirsten Koetje

Education Dissertations

The researcher analyzed data from two online cohorts of preservice teachers at a small, liberal arts university in Washington State. The researcher conducted a correlational analysis to determine if standardized writing scores and the quantity of video analysis conducted during the educator preparation program (EPP) predicted performance on the national Educative Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA). Contrary to the researcher’s hypothesis, academic writing ability did not have a predictive positive relationship with edTPA performance, r = -.004, p = .98. The total quantity of video analysis, both of self and of other, resulted in a statistically significant positive correlation with …

Concepts To Remember For Preservice Teachers When Working With English Learners Students During Caltpa Cycle 1, Jacqueline Romano

Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy

The Community of Practice Q2S Enhancing Pedagogy where I participated focused on “Supporting and Mentoring Teacher Candidates during Teaching Performance Assessment”. This CP discussed and shared information on best pedagogical practices for teaching, supporting, and mentoring preservice teachers as they engage in identifying students with specific academic needs before planning, delivering, assessing and reflecting on tasks required by the state-mandated assessment (CalTPA). This test is required for certification. My contributions to this CP resulted in this reflection/handout. The most salient topics were Implementing Effective Instruction, which means being able to know and apply Standards-based Instruction, SDAIE methods, Lesson Planning, …

Leadership Preparation Of Preservice Teachers, Kelly Lenarz

Ed.D. Dissertations

Educator preparation providers are passionate about developing the best teachers. It is important for teacher preparation programs to explore how teacher leadership can help attract and retain a diverse and quality educator workforce, however research on teacher leadership at the preservice level is limited. This quantitative study examined the preparation of preservice teachers for leadership. One hundred student teachers completed an online survey using Survey Monkey® to determine the relationship between teacher licensure area (elementary, secondary, K-12, and special education) and leadership behaviors, opportunities, and aspirations. Data analysis was completed using measures of central tendency and variance. No statistically significant …

Final Year Preservice Teachers' Views Of Professional Experience In Partnership Schools, Dianne M. Toe, Christine Ure, Damian Blake

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study investigated the perspectives of preservice teachers’ (PSTs) on their final year placements in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programs offered at Deakin University, Victoria, Australia. It compared the views of PSTs in two placement models; the Alliance school (partnership)and non-Alliance school (or conventional) models. The Alliance model draws on Activity Theory (Engeström, 2015) to strengthen the links between theory and practice in ITE, providing additional support during school placements through an ‘in situ’ boundary crosser. These boundary crossers use an Assessment Circle process that supports professional conversations about teaching and learning. A mixed method approach has been used to …

Preservice Teachers’ Sense Of Belonging During Practicum Placements, Yvonne Dewhurst, Michelle Ronksley-Pavia, Donna Pendergast

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Practicum placements in schools are keystone features of preservice teacher education, yet inconsistencies in their nature and quality are pervasive. This phenomenon was explored in two cultural contexts, with a focus on ‘belonging’, which the literature reveals may impact practicums and commitment to the profession. Interviews were conducted with six primary school preservice teachers in Australia and Scotland, about their lived experience of belonging/non-belonging during practicum. Hermeneutic phenomenological analysis revealed four themes in both cultural contexts: 1. Being welcomed; 2. Settings and procedures; 3. Interpersonal interactions; and, 4. Strategic behaviours. This study indicates belonging as crucial to preservice teachers’ cognition, …

The Perspectives Of Early Childhood College Faculty On The Role Of Play, Susan Paula Mckoy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

AbstractEarly Childhood and Care Education (ECCE) educators are expected to understand the role of play and implement play in their classrooms, but specific classes on the role of play at the college level are not offered. The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to examine the perspectives of full-time ECCE faculty at a Southeastern state technical college teaching preservice teachers to determine their students’ understanding of the role of play, the inclusion of play in their lesson plans, and how play is being implemented in their classrooms. The conceptual framework guiding the study was Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development. …