Bringing Personal Identity Into Our Learning Spaces, Sobha Kavanakudiyil

The Vermont Connection

Abstract

This paper will integrate a personal narrative with published work to examine the journey and thoughts of a South Asian female theatre educator working in theatre education. The paper will discuss stories of identity, the impact it has had, and the intentionality of what should be done with this information. It will illuminate the need for further research to engage more South Asian female voices in theatre education.

Keywords: ethnic identity, teacher preparation, South Asian, theatre teacher, autoethnography, female voice

Modeling And Encouraging Self-Care In Online Teacher Preparation: Lessons Learned During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Kathleen A. Boothe, Marla J. Lohmann

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

The COVID-19 pandemic had significant impacts for both teachers and students at all levels. Instructional delivery had to be modified to respond to the need for social distancing. Even courses that were already fully online required adaptations to accommodate the needs of university students during COVID. One of the biggest changes that the authors made to their teaching and to their students’ learning was that of modeling and encouraging self-care. This article summarizes what two university faculty changed in their instruction to help promote self-care, as well as what they are doing now to continue utilizing what they learned.

Seasons Of Learning: Rural Indigenous Teacher Preparation, Dani O'Brien, Josh Montgomery, Bezhigogaabawiikwe Hunter, Niizhoobinesiikwe Howes, Waasegiizhigookwe Rosie Gonzalez, Manidoo Makwe Ikwe, Kevin Zak

The Rural Educator

We, four teachers in Ojibwe or majority-Ojibwe schools and three teachers in teacher preparation at a small ecologically focused liberal arts college, tell stories to reorient ourselves, centering place in ways accessible to our emerging practice. In these narratives, anchored in the seasons, we describe our challenges and successes in adapting education programs to better evoke the lifeways that predominate in our shared part of rural northern Wisconsin immersed in the lands of the Ojibwe. We relied on experiences, both ours and of Ojibwe learners, to illuminate the rhythms of our place and the seasons of learning defined by boreal …

A Roadmap For Trauma-Informed Practice Integration In Teacher Preparation Content, Kathryn S. Young, Ofelia Castro Schepers

Journal of Educational Research and Innovation

With the continued interest in trauma-informed practice (TIP) knowledge at the P-12 level, it has become imperative to consider the role of teacher preparation programs in providing this crucial knowledge to preservice educators. The TIP program at Mountain U (pseudonym) School of Education (SOE) is working to increase the current TIP knowledge of preservice teachers so that they are ready to implement TIP from the beginning of their careers. This paper adds to the trauma-informed literature in teacher preparation by describing the TIP initiative at Mountain U. It provides a roadmap for schools and departments that want to undertake this …

Pre-Service Training On Media Education For Teachers At Czech Universities, Karolína Mackenzie

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The study shows the content of future teachers’ education and their needs to teach media education in their future practice. The preparation of future teachers within the faculties of education varies considerably across Europe, as does the level of teaching in primary and secondary schools. In the Czech Republic, media education is a cross-cutting topic in primary and some types of secondary schools and is rather rarely found in the university training of future teachers. The research shows the areas in which future teachers were prepared in their teacher training, their sense of readiness to teach and their needs in …

Toward A Renewal Of Supervisory Scholarship And Practice In Teacher Education: A Collaborative Self-Study, Brandon M. Butler, Rebecca West Burns, Craig Willey

Journal of Educational Supervision

University supervision of teacher candidates is a well-recognized component of teacher preparation. However, teacher education has long devalued supervision, largely relying upon retired teachers, administrators, and graduate students to serve as supervisors, often with little training or support. Although clinical practice has received increased focus among accrediting bodies, supervision as a field of scholarship and practice continues to receive little support within institutions or attention in teacher education. As supervision practitioners and scholars, the three authors engaged in collaborative self-study, sharing and interrogating professional autobiographies and narratives related to supervision, to make sense of institutional and professional contexts and to …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 7, Issue 2, Fall 2023

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full-length Fall 2023 issue (Volume 7, Issue 2) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version (with downloadable EPUB format) here.

The Fall 2023 issue presents research and guidance on topics related to educational adaptation. The first article by C. Farrell describes an adaptation of the interteaching method to the hybrid delivery method. The second article by C. C. Loose and R. Jagielo-Manion describes a study of modules on personalized learning to preservice teachers and its impact on their comfort level and preparation to implement personalized learning in their classrooms. The third article by B. …

“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 …

The Big Sky Five: A Statewide Effort To Increase Teacher Preparedness For Inclusive Classrooms, Trent Atkins, Estee Aiken, Jayne Downey

Journal of Educational Research and Innovation

The purpose of this paper is to describe a state-wide process used to determine which Teaching Works High Leverage Practices (Ball, 2016) pre-service teachers could be expected to implement at a proficient level by the completion of their preparation program (Initial HLPs), followed by two sets of high leverage practices novice teachers could master during their induction years (Induction and Expert HLPs) (Ball & Forzani, 2011; McLeskey & Brownell, 2015). Data were collected from a wide variety of stakeholders, including K-12 teachers, administrators, and educator preparation program faculty from across the state (N=203). Findings identified five High Leverage Practices that …

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 …

“There's An Unspoken Set Of Rules”: Rural Education In The Northern Plains, Louise M. Yoho, Jarrett D. Moore

The Rural Educator

Teacher preparation programs that operate in rural areas need to consider the lived experiences of rural students when making instructional decisions. However, exploration of rural schools and educators is seriously limited. This study aims to gain an understanding of students enrolled in teacher preparation programs in rural areas of the Northern Plains and the unique experiences they bring to, and need from, preservice teacher training programs. Seventeen interviews were conducted with rural participants who were enrolled in teacher preparation programs. Based on the data collected, we do not recommend changing the traditional canon of teacher preparation but do recommend contextualizing …

Developing Horizontal Expertise With Professional Learning Communities In Social Studies Teacher Preparation, Charles Tocci, Ann Marie Ryan

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

As teacher education programs become increasingly organized around accreditation and licensure standards, finding opportunities to be responsive to teacher candidates' needs and interests has become more difficult. This paper traces the evolution of a professional learning community for secondary social studies teacher candidates as a key feature of one teacher education program and analyzes the collaborative projects designed for the purpose of developing horizontal expertise. We find that professional learning communities can serve as dynamic spaces to co-construct learning experiences with candidates in ways that prepare them for future professional learning as practicing social studies teachers.

Creativity In The Virtual Classroom: Engaging Online Special Education Teacher Candidates In Their Own Learning, Rob Shauger, Kathleen A. Boothe, Marla J. Lohmann

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (2022), the number of college students enrolled in at least one online course was approximately 11 million during the 2021-2022 school year. Knowing that institutes of higher education (IHEs) are responsible for teaching students who are primarily online learners, special education teacher preparation programs at IHEs need to change their focus on how to meet these online learners' needs. There is plentiful research on what faculty should include in their online classes, but finding specific strategies and activities that engage students in their own learning can be challenging. This article provides teacher …

Ready Or Not, Here We Go! Preparing For The Education Specialist Teaching Performance Assessment, Rosalinda J. Larios, Calli Lewis Chiu, Rohanna Ylagan-Nicanor

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

In the state of California, the Education Specialist Teaching Performance Assessment (EdSp TPAs) is the latest accountability measure to be required of aspiring education specialists. Existing literature has been overwhelmingly critical of the TPAs (Dover, 2022; Valdez et al., 2020). And now, in the dawn of the EdSp TPAs, there must be a candid conversation about preparing candidates sufficiently for the TPAs in order to avoid exacerbating the field that is struggling to recruit teachers. This article discusses three significant obstacles in preparing candidates for the assessment: challenges associated with identifying focus students, insufficient preparation among mentor teachers, and program …

Instruction, Identity, And Inclusivity: What Can Teacher Preparation Programs Learn From Gay Male Teachers In The South, Joseph R. Jones

Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education

Abstract: In this article, the author discusses a qualitative research study that examined southern gay male teachers’ beliefs about the intersectionality of sexuality, gender identity, and pedagogy in secondary classrooms. For this discussion, three important themes emerged from the data analysis: instruction, identity, and inclusivity. The study utilized individual unstructured interviews, unstructured focus group interviews, classroom observations with field notes, and a research journal. The findings offer suggestions for teacher preparation programs to consider when preparing teacher candidates for the profession.

What Does Written Reflection Reveal About Novice Teachers’ Knowledge, Beliefs, And Skills Related To Literacy Assessment?, Erin K. Washburn, Abby Pierce, Chyllis E. Scott, Carly Waters

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Assessment of literacy learning has been a long-standing focus for future teachers in elementary education. Teacher educators use ongoing written reflection to promote learning before, during, and after coursework and field experiences. In this study, the researchers examined the effects of ongoing written reflection on two groups of novice teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, and skills about literacy assessment in a semester-long graduate-level literacy assessment course with embedded fieldwork. First, the researchers conducted qualitative and descriptive analyses to examine what novice teachers reflected about in their ongoing written reflections. Second, they conducted comparative analyses to examine the extent to which the two …

Using Multimodal Virtual Instruction To Build Preservice Teachers' Knowledge Of Dyslexia, Susan J. Chambre, Molly K. Ness

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Increasing awareness about screening and instructional interventions for students with dyslexia is a necessary component of P-12 teacher preparation. Disparities in reading achievement for students with disabilities, including those with dyslexia, is evidenced in lower literacy testing scores as well as lower high school graduation rates for those with documented disabilities when compared to typical developing peers. Preservice teachers, however, continue to struggle with understanding, identifying, and providing targeted literacy instruction to remediate reading challenges for students with dyslexia. Emerging data on the impact of the COVID-19 school closures on lags in student’s reading attainment, further solidifies the need for …

Role Play: Actualizing The Iep Meeting For Pre-Service Teachers, Courtney A. Toledo

The Qualitative Report

Teacher preparation programs provide numerous teaching and learning opportunities for pre-service teachers; however, participating in an Individualized Education Program (IEP) meeting is not an experience that can be guaranteed. Leading and participating in IEP meetings are a responsibility that all special education teachers will be held accountable for, but many pre-service teachers will never be able to observe a real IEP meeting before entering the field. In this qualitative case study, the researcher utilizes a simulated IEP meeting to provide pre-service teachers with experience in participating in an IEP meeting prior to entering the profession. The case study method is …

Functional Analysis In Simulated Environments, Claire Donehower Paul, Jennifer Walker, Cathy Thomas, Matthew S. Taylor, Jamie Best, Morgan Diaz, Chad A. Rose, Eleazar Vasquez

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

The need for highly effective and qualified special educators continues to be a national concern. One of the primary reasons why teachers leave the profession is a lack of effective behavior management skills. Learning how to assess challenging behavior and its causes through functional analysis is one method to enhance teacher skillset in this critical area. The purpose of this study was to investigate the use of a simulation environment to train pre-service and in-service general and special education teachers to conduct functional analysis procedures with fidelity and compare those results to traditional didactic instruction. The results of the study …

Characteristics Of Special Education Field Placements: An Exploratory Study, Karin M. Fisher, Angela Norris

The Journal of Special Education Apprenticeship

Research and policy in the field of teacher education recommend that special education (SPED) programs include opportunities for candidates to practice in supervised field experiences. Such field experiences (a) engage candidates in professional practice, (b) reduce their anxiety, (c) gain confidence, and (d) allow them to view themselves as educators. However, there is a lack of research on the characteristics of field placements in SPED. As a result of the dearth in the literature, the researchers discussed the results of an exploratory single survey study of 42 faculty members from institutes of higher education (IHE) from across the United States …

Preservice Teachers And Curricular Matters: A Reflection On Field Sites As Transformative Spaces, Annmarie Dull, Elizabeth Chase

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Field experiences are essential to teacher preparation and education, and they are enriched by strong community partnerships where preservice teachers build knowledge from mentor teachers, families, students, and other stakeholders. The influence that the neoliberal agenda has on education forces preservice teachers and the preparation programs they attend to make difficult decisions about creating and sustaining these field experiences. In this paper, we call attention to the difficulties preservice teachers—and the preparation programs they attend—face when seeking to challenge social injustice and curriculum epistemicide. In so doing, we end with ideas for future consideration and scholarly inquiry.

“What Does Learning Sound Like?”: Reverberations, Curriculum Studies, And Teacher Preparation, Boni Wozolek

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Using a project given to undergraduate students in a foundations of education course, this paper thinks through the assignment title, “What does learning sound like?” to explore the nexus of sound studies in education and curriculum studies. The central argument of this paper is that thinking through sound can be but one way for students to think through the forms of curriculum while examining their own bias in terms of Western privileging of the ocular.

Exploring The Purdue Teacher Education Program: Focus On Diversity, Equity, And Social Justice, Julia Pirrello

The Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research

During this time of heightened awareness of social injustices via Black Lives Matter protests, the #MeToo movement, and the COVID-19 pandemic, it is important to ensure that teacher preparation curriculum includes attention to knowledge and skills related to social justice issues in education. Th e purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which social justice, diversity, and equity are addressed in the foundational courses of the Purdue Teacher Education Program (PTEP). McDonald (2005) proposed a framework in which social justice is integrated across all experiences (e.g., courses, activities, clinical placements) in a teacher education program. In an …

What Counts As Rigor When Rigor Counts?: Increasing Intentionality In Teacher Education, Derek Riddle, Chyllis E. Scott, Leann G. Putney

Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education

Debates regarding the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs continue to persist. The level of rigor in teacher preparation programs and the ability of teacher educators to prepare candidates for the challenges persist in the educational climate. In higher education, rigor has been well-defined, but the understanding is limited, specifically rigor in preparing new teachers. This study undertook a telling case approach to explore student and faculty perceptions of rigor in a teacher preparation course. This research “leans in” to the criticism of rigor by exploring how teacher preparation programs can match the rigor and demands of the profession and to …

Headaches And Humility: Introducing Preservice Teachers To Undergraduate Research, J. Scott Baker

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

For some teacher educators, the singular goal of teacher preparation is to license new teachers, not develop critical thinkers. This lack of thinking beyond lesson plans, course standards, and classroom management to explore high impact practices – such as undergraduate research – leads to the deterioration of the education field and limits preservice teachers’ understandings of their own curricular and pedagogical practices. This article is a poetic reflection – through headaches and humility – on how 157 preservice teachers (PTs) made connections between curricular research and practice. The article also addresses steps taken by a teacher educator to ensure their …

Shaping Educator Sensemaking In Complex Systems? Policy-Directed Teacher Evaluation Models As Boundary Objects, Kelley M. King, Noelle A. Paufler, Rachel L. Biritz, Ryan M. Smits

Journal of Educational Supervision

This study examined a state-wide, policy-directed teacher evaluation model implemented across public schools and educator preparation programs. Such models are grounded in a theory of action that situates teacher learning within social relationships, yet does not account for the complexity of systems. Results challenge policy’s implicit theory that an evaluation model can function as a boundary object to create a common understanding of good teaching and positively impact teacher professional practice. We found contradictory evidence that the model served as a boundary object that facilitated shared sensemaking as mediated understandings of good teaching collided with expectations in classroom contexts.

The Effects Of Team-Based Learning On Preservice Elementary Teachers' Sense Of Efficacy For Literacy Instruction, Lauren R. Brannan

The Reading Professor

Teaching efficacy is an important variable related to teaching behaviors, student achievement, and teachers' psychological behaviors; therefore, strategies to build teaching efficacy during preservice teacher preparation should be implemented. Team-based learning (TBL) has been used across a variety of disciplines in higher education, but it hasn't been explored in the preparation of elementary literacy teachers or in relation to teaching efficacy. In this study, TBL was implemented in an undergraduate reading methods course for one semester. A comparison group was used from the same course during a different semester using a traditional lecture approach. Participants' sense of efficacy for literacy …

Bridging Teacher Candidates, School Communities, And The World During A Pandemic, Sarah Jean Baker, Jennice Mccafferty-Wright, A. Minor Baker, Stefanie D. Livers

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

The Covid-19 pandemic caused distance that separated the teacher from the learner as schools and higher education moved to virtual and flexible learning communities. Likewise, at the same time racial tensions were growing further increasing the distance and divide across the country. This positions teacher educators with the responsibility to bridge this distance.

The challenges of preparing educators for activism in a post-Covid educational context that considers cultural literacy, ethical leadership, and community engagement is explored with three narratives. These narratives provide the opportunity to think with and through our commitments in early childhood and elementary teacher education. Collectively, these …

Preparing Middle Grades Candidates For Edtpa In Uncertain Times, Holly H. Pinter, David C. Virtue

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

Teacher candidates in North Carolina must earn a passing score on the edTPA assessment to get certified. The middle grades education program at Western Carolina University integrates aspects of the edTPA assessment throughout pre-student teaching coursework and field experiences to prepare candidates for this high-stakes assessment. Some of the edTPA practice assignments serve as key assessments that help the middle grades program faculty evaluate the program and make decisions about curriculum. The pivot to remote and blended learning formats on campus and in partner middle level schools affected the implementation of the edTPA-related assignments. The authors share some of the …

Engaging Pre-Service Teachers In Interactive Social Justice-Themed Read-Alouds, Kayln Hoppe

Educational Considerations

This qualitative case study explored how pre-service teachers responded to social justice-themed picture book read-alouds in an undergraduate literacy course. Data were collected from personal observations, semi-structured focus group interviews, and student work, and were analyzed using inductive analysis. Findings indicate how reading multicultural literature aloud plays an important role in post-secondary students’ content understanding and preparation for a career in teaching. This case study may inspire teacher educators to incorporate multicultural read-alouds into higher education coursework.