Other Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Pre-Service Teachers’ Reflective Writing And Learning In Early Field Experiences, Deborah Romero, Mandi Leigh, Weihsuan Lo

Journal of Educational Research and Innovation

As cultural and linguistic diversity (CLD) in schools increases so does the demand for more qualified teachers. Enrollment declines in teacher preparation programs and national teacher shortages, particularly teachers prepared to work with CLD students, further exacerbate the situation. As teacher preparation programs seek to meet the demands for teachers, this study addresses a gap in research and practice that examines pre-service teacher (PST) reflections conducted as part of a non-credit very early field experience (EFE). The study addresses two questions:1) How does participation in EFE shape PST learning and professional identities as expressed in written reflections? 2) In what …

Trauma-Informed Performance Art Education, Yvonne Houy, Kymberly Mellen, Alethea Inns, Morgan Iommi

Creative Collaborations

Trauma is the emotional response to a disturbing event or series of events, and can cause symptoms such as unpredictable emotions, flashbacks, headaches, and nausea, according to the American Psychological Association (2022). Learning activities in the performing arts - such as adjusting the body through touch, or the emotional content of scenes - can retraumatize students unintentionally. In contrast, creating the conditions for emotional states that enhance learning is a science, and an art, that can support conditions for optimal performance including Flow states

Performing arts educators can proactively support students and performances by becoming trauma-informed and actively using intimacy …

Disappearing Acts: The Declining Numbers Of African American Teachers In Public School Settings, Catherine F. Lewis-Brownfield

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

African American teachers are slowly leaving the classroom, causing an imbalance in the student/teacher ratio (NCES, 2019). According to the National Center for Education Statistics, African American teachers make up 3% in California and 7% nationally. This study sought to understand the reasons for the decline in the number of African American teachers in public school settings. Due to the decline in their numbers, African American students have suffered high dropout rates, low standardized test scores, and low college attendance (Gershenson, Hart, Hyman, Lindsey, & Papageorge, 2017). This qualitative study examined the obstacles current African American teachers face and the …

Physical Educators’ Socialization And Self-Efficacy Toward The Behavior Management Of Students With Disabilities, Amelia Chloe Simpson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Intro: Although studies have evaluated how physical educators learn behavior management, little effort has been made to identify the socializing experiences and sources of self-efficacy that influence how physical educators approach the behavior management of students with disabilities (SWD).

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to understand how physical educators develop self-efficacy toward the behavior management of SWD throughout the phases of occupational socialization theory.

Method: Data for the mixed-method study included 85 U.S. public (K-12) physical educators who completed a survey that collected demographic information and responses to the Teaching Students with Disabilities Efficacy Scale (Solomon & Scott, …

Intrinsic Motivation Is Not Enough: Exploring The Decision To Pursue Promotion To Full Professor, Margaret Roberts

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The academic career path for tenure track faculty in most four-year universities in the United States allows those who earn tenure to make an individual choice about whether to pursue promotion to the rank of full professor. Limited research exists on the intrinsic motivators that individuals possess and draw upon to push past obstacles or challenges they encounter along their academic career journey. This study explored the role of intrinsic motivation in the decision of tenured associate professors to pursue promotion to full professor. Using a basic qualitative research design, this inquiry involved two in-depth interviews each with seven participants. …

University English Teachers’ Professional Development Through Academic Visits: Using Identity As A Theoretical Lens, Feng Ding, Rui Eric Yuan, Fiona Curtis

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Academic visitor programs aim to enhance university teachers’ teaching and research capacity and intercultural competence. Its impact, however, has remained under-researched. Using the data collected from two rounds of in-depth interviews with 13 Chinese university English teachers over a year and a half, this study explored their experiences as academic visitors in the UK through the lens of professional identity. Findings revealed that the participants came with various expectations and negotiated and constructed different identities during their academic visits. The participants’ developing identities in turn affected their investment in their professional development in their situated contexts. The study provides important …

Teachers’ Perceptions And Experiences During An Annual Performance And Development Cycle, Kerry Elliott, John Hattie, Lorraine Graham

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In this study, the perceptions and experiences of eighteen teachers across three primary schools in Victoria, Australia, were examined as they participated in an annual performance and development cycle, guided by the Australian Teacher Performance and Development Framework. The study sought to investigate teachers’ experiences and perceptions of the cycle to understand the aspects perceived as valuable to these teachers. Semi-structured interviews and focus groups were held with teachers at the beginning and end of each school’s annual performance and development cycle, and responses were thematically analysed. Findings suggest that school leaders perform a critical role in the …

Changing Needs Of Special Education Preservice Teachers In The Practicum, Stella Gidalevich, Maayan Shalev

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Self-determination theory (SDT) suggests that people strive to fulfill three basic needs of competence, autonomy, and relatedness. In teacher education research, fulfilling those needs is connected to positive skill development and increased wellbeing of preservice teachers and their students. Teacher education programs for special education preservice teachers (SEPT) include a professional experience in various school settings with neurodiverse students. This professional experience gives rise to specific needs for these SEPT. In-depth interviews were conducted with 12 SEPT, studying at various stages of two teacher education programs. The findings were analyzed qualitatively. Results revealed developing and changing needs throughout the educational …

Academic Freedom In Teacher Education; Between Certainty And Uncertainty, Marita Cronqvist

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In this study, academic freedom in teacher education is related to preservice teachers’ possibilities to develop critical and autonomous thinking in teaching practice. Self-awareness and self-confidence provide certainty to deal with the uncertain situation in teaching where creativity and judgment must be given priority over an instrumental teaching based on authorities, effective methods or ready-made solutions. Teacher educators thus need to promote academic freedom as both certainty and uncertainty. The aim of this paper is to provide enhanced understanding of the meanings and implications for teacher education of academic freedom, in the tension between certainty and uncertainty, based on a …

What Is Discussed In Mentoring Dialogues? An Analysis Of How Relations Of Control Influence The Content In Mentoring, Monika Merket

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Both international actors, like the OECD, and Norwegian policies for teacher education aim to increase students’ academic competence and the collaboration between university and practice. Mentoring dialogues between students and mentors in practice are in the intersection between university and the profession. Thus, this gives the mentors the responsibility to realize these policy intentions. This actualizes what is discussed in mentoring and how the negotiation of control between mentors and students has impact on what policy intentions are recontextualized in mentoring. Therefore, this paper aims to investigate which intentions are realized in mentoring through the use of criteria and the …

Australian Professional Standards For Teachers: Perspectives Of Western Australian Primary School Teachers, Thomas Bertram Quinlivan, Grace Oakley, Jennifer K. Shand

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This qualitative study investigated the perspectives of Western Australian teachers at the Proficient career stage on the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers (APST), or ‘the Standards’. Fifteen teachers from five independent schools participated in semi-structured interviews and five themes were identified, under the broad categories of Strengths and Challenges of the Standards. Strengths identified were that the Standards support professional practice and career development and are user-friendly. Challenges identified were that the Standards can present challenges to professional practice and are problematic in the way that they are presented. Importantly, participants felt that the Standards ignored important social and relational …

A Case Study Exploring How The Zero Barriers In Stem Education Professional Development Program Affects Attitudes And Confidence Toward Teaching Stem Content To Students With Disabilities, Alison Dossick

Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to assess how the Zero Barriers in STEM Education professional development (PD) course affected teacher attitudes and confidence in teaching science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) content to students with disabilities. A convergent mixed-methods case study analysis was used. The research questions were devised by examining answers on a pre-survey and post-survey. Documentation included a full analysis of two pre- and post-surveys, teacher implementation logs, team action plans, program evaluations, and semi-structured interviews. Barriers included time to plan and implement the outlined strategies and administrative and colleague support. This research uncovered some of the difficulties of …

Arts Integration Experiences Of Elementary Educators, Amy E. Jefferson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how elementary teachers applied their professional learning to integrate arts in the classroom. The research questions guiding the study included: (1) What content, skills, and understandings do teachers transfer from professional learning to practice? and (2) How do teachers navigate the implementation of arts integration? Knowles' (1978) Adult Learning Theory was used to examine how meeting the needs of teachers as adult learners during professional learning influenced the implementation experience.

A case study design employing qualitative data collection methods such as focus groups, individual interviews, and the sharing of artifacts from practice …

Building Interest And Knowledge In Geosciences Through Place- & Field-Based Teacher Professional Learning Programs: A Comparative Multi-Case Study, Emily Gochis

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The focus of this study was to develop and evaluate a geoscience professional development model that would improve K-12 teachers’ capacity to effectively build geoscience literacy and interests in students from a variety of settings and cultural groups. The research compared the application of a geoscience professional development model realized through multiple case studies of varying settings and scales. The study investigated the capacity of each approach in improving teachers’ geoscience background knowledge, awareness of local geologically and culturally significant examples, and ability to integrate place-based, field investigations into standards-based curricula. By using both qualitative and quantitative methodologies, the study …

Conceptions Of Adult Education Teachers-In-Training Regarding The Media Literacy Education Of Older People. A Phenomenographic Study To Inform A Course Design, Hanna Vuojärvi, Sirpa Purtilo-Nieminen, Päivi Rasi, Susanna Rivinen

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This phenomenographic study represents part of an ongoing design-based research initiative to inform the design of a new course on older people’s media literacy in the adult-education teacher-education context. The aim was to describe the conceptions of teachers-in-training regarding media literacy education for older people. The data consist of students’ written assignments in which they defined the concept of older people, their societal roles, and of the media literacy education targeting them. The participants included teachers-in-training (N = 22) from a Finnish university’s teacher education program. The data were analyzed qualitatively with the aim of exploring how these students …

Cultivating An Online Network For Mentoring Preservice And In-Service Teachers, Lisa Amick, Joni Meade, Margaret J. Mohr-Schroeder

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

This report details the work of two initial teacher certification programs at a major university in Kentucky that are implementing two innovative strategies for preservice teachers to network, build community, and grow in their practice. The utilization of Slack, a free online communication platform, has proven successful in getting preservice teachers to share ideas, pose and respond to professional questions, and program information dissemination. The use of a NIC (Networked Improvement Community) is a grant funded endeavor that brought together preservice teachers, their cooperating teachers, and university faculty members to create a professional learning community where a problem of practice …

Co-Teaching Strategies: Improving Student Engagement By Increasing Opportunities To Respond, Janet E. Nutt

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

Research indicates that effective co-teaching using high leverage practices can maximize outcomes across content areas and positively affect student engagement. This paper discusses practical ways to increase student engagement by increasing opportunities to respond in a co-teaching setting. Specific examples are included for a secondary mathematics co-taught classroom, but the principles can be applied in any subject or setting. A proposed model of professional development and coaching to support effective questioning techniques and increase opportunities to respond is also discussed for the purposes of teacher training and professional development.

Strategies To Overcome Special Education Teacher Burnout, Amber Eastwood

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

Special education teacher burnout has been a topic of concern dating back to the 1970s when it was first identified and conceptualized and has since been a growing trend in the field of education (Embse, 2019). With the everchanging world of education, the demands of a special education teacher have grown and are causing new triggers that are contributing to their burnout. Research is showing that 40% of new teachers are leaving the profession within the first five years of teaching with stress and burnout at the top of the list contributing to their departure (Herman, 2020). Since researching about …

Cultivating Culturally Responsive Elementary Teachers In A Suburban Title I School, Angela L. Mack

Doctor of Education in Teacher Leadership Dissertations

Research suggests increased enrollment of students with diverse cultural, racial, linguistic, and social backgrounds will continue in schools across the United States over the coming years; thereby, imposing a challenge for some teachers with differing backgrounds to instruct culturally and linguistically diverse students. Without adequate professional development focused on culturally responsive teaching, it has been purported teachers will continue to adopt deficit perceptions and subpar practices that negatively impact students of culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. Thus, this study aimed to explore how a series of in-service professional development focused on culture, race, and pedagogy may influence teacher perceptions and …

The Great Water Design Challenge: A Collaboration With Noaa Planet Stewards, Elizabeth Martinez

Publications & Research

Session Goals

• Define design challenge
• Generate ideas for classroom design challenge
• Outline design challenge for your classroom

NOAA Planet Stewards NESTA Article