Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®
Articles 1 - 3 of 3
Full-Text Articles in Education
Teacher Education Program Redesign: Maintaining A Focus On Social Justice In An Increasingly Challenging Context, Grinell Smith, Colette Rabin
Teacher Education Program Redesign: Maintaining A Focus On Social Justice In An Increasingly Challenging Context, Grinell Smith, Colette Rabin
Faculty Publications
This qualitative case study describes the outcomes of a major reorganization of a well-established five semester post-baccalaureate combined credential/MA program into a three semester program. The original program focused squarely on social justice and multicultural awareness; reorganization was driven entirely by external forces, many of which the department faculty viewed as anathema to our larger purposes as educators that are based on deficit-models of diversity, ignore relational aspects of teaching, and are at the heart of efforts to privatize teacher education. Reorganization involved heavy reliance on “touchstone texts,” immersive field experiences, and student action-inquiry centered on making theory to practice …
Collaborative Online Instruction: A Care Ethics Perspective, Colette Rabin, Grinell Smith
Collaborative Online Instruction: A Care Ethics Perspective, Colette Rabin, Grinell Smith
Faculty Publications
Isolation is often a problem in online courses. In this qualitative study, we used care ethics perspectives to design the social organization of an online course to foster the development of robust collaborative professional relationships. Redesign focused on two areas. First, we centered all assignments on complex real-world problems. Second, we used dialogic instructor-assisted self-assessment. We found that students built professional relationships through dialogue, and simultaneously produced high-quality work. The significance of this work lies in its potential to help other instructors address the challenge of helping teachers adopt collaboration as a professional disposition.
“Without Hermeneutics I’M Stuck In My Own Thinking”: Preservice Teachers Adopt A Hermeneutical Stance Toward Action Research, Colette Rabin, Grinell Smith
“Without Hermeneutics I’M Stuck In My Own Thinking”: Preservice Teachers Adopt A Hermeneutical Stance Toward Action Research, Colette Rabin, Grinell Smith
Faculty Publications
Pre-service teachers need to question their taken-for-granted beliefs and biases about their students. Hermeneutics is a philosophical perspective that uncovers the subjectivity of our perceptions and can help students understand the necessity of questioning biases. This study explored what happened when pre-service teachers undertook an action research project with their students and analyzed qualitative data with a hermeneutical stance. Data consisted of audio-recorded class dialogues about readings on hermeneutics, interviews, student papers, and pre and post surveys. The data revealed that hermeneutics helped pre-service teachers: become aware of their biases; question their initial interpretations; and assume a self-reflective stance toward …