Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Beginnings: 3 Examples (And Why They Work), Julie Patterson

Articles

Our writer-in-residence helps us look closely at the beginnings of three short stories.

Kelly Campbell Tssa Winter 2014, Kelly Campbell

Teaching Skills Study Awards (TSSA) Reports

Enhances faculty's teaching by attending a conference devoted to university teaching, a high-impact practice, evidence-based practice or a newly developing teaching practice.

“The False Promise Of Group Harmony”: The Centrality Of Challenging Practices In Teachers’ Professional Development, Miriam Raider-Roth, Vicki Stieha, Mark Kohan, Carrie Turpin

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

This article discusses an action research study of a week-long Summer Teachers Institute which immersed teachers in the study of Jewish historical and cultural texts. We investigate how this kind of cultural immersion created opportunities for transformative learning – the kind of learning that would not merely be the application of “new lessons,” but that would also help teachers reconceptualize their teaching practices regarding Jewish religion and culture. Our findings suggest that text study practices of challenging – in tandem with practices of supporting and voicing – were central in constructing a “relational learning community.” Such a community was a …

The Invisible Composition Classroom: The Reciprocity Of Face, Identity, And Politeness, Pennie L. Gray

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the role of face and identity as they arise in a first year composition classroom. Using the illuminating theoretical framework of linguistic politeness theory, new understandings of the social interactions in the composition classroom are unveiled. Specifically, through an analysis of the politeness strategies that students use during the peer review process, it becomes clear that students prefer to temper their critique of others' work rather than openly criticize that work. Additionally, students offer far more positive feedback than their peers' work perhaps merits, minimize the revision work they suggest, and downplay their own authority over each …

Examining The Historical Representation Of Native Americans Within Children’S Literature, Lauren Hunt

2014 Awards for Excellence in Student Research and Creative Activity Documents

In this research, I evaluated the historical representation of Native Americans in children’s literature. The portrayal of Native Americans in children’s literature is important because Native Americans are commonly included within elementary school social studies curriculum. For this reason, teachers should know how the literature they select historically represents Native Americans. This historical representation includes—but is not limited to—their interactions with European explorers, colonists, and eventually Americans. Teachers must be aware that publishers of children’s books are businesses; their job is to sell books. As a result, these companies do not always ensure that the books they sell are historically …

Spring 2014 E-Certi Newsletter, Center For Educational Research And Teaching Innovation

CAFE Faculty Newsletters

Hello S&T Instructors -- Welcome back to campus, to cold and to construction – as well as to what is optimistically referred to as the Spring Semester! This issue includes interviews with a couple of seasoned professors who are changing their teaching when they could be coasting, as well as two new Curators’ Teaching Professors, and information about upcoming faculty events.

Defining Professional Self: Teacher Educator Perspectives Of The Pre-Ecr Journey., Abbey Macdonald, Vaughan Cruickshank, Robyn Mccarthy, Fiona Reilly

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper examines the situations of four teacher educators working within academic contexts, but who do not as yet qualify as early career researchers (ECRs) by definition. Within this paper, we define this group as ‘pre-ECRs’; those working and teaching within contexts of academia whilst undertaking a PhD or similar higher education qualification. Critical comparative analysis is used to examine the nexus between what is currently known about becoming an ECR and narrative accounts of the authors’ experiences of negotiating Faculty expectations for research output, teaching and postgraduate study. This approach provides rich insight into what happens prior to and …

Human Rights And History Education: An Australian Study, Nina Burridge, John Buchanan, Andrew Chodkiewicz

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The place of education for and about human rights within the school curriculum remains contested and this paper reports on the first national cross-sectoral investigation of its place in Australian curricula and more specifically in national and state History curriculum documents. Opportunities for the inclusion of human rights based studies were examined across school learning stages, taking into account explicit and implicit, compulsory or elective, as well as curricular and extra-curricular dimensions. Given the continued importance of History as a learning area there is a need to strengthen the available explicit and mandatory opportunities for students to learn about human …

The Role Of Different Types Of Feedback In The Reciprocal Interaction Of Teaching Performance And Self-Efficacy Belief, Nalan Akkuzu

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The purpose of this study was to explore the role of feedback based on self-efficacy belief sources in the reciprocal interaction of teaching performance and self-efficacy beliefs. A single case study design was employed to address and began to bridge the gap in our understanding of the relationship between feedback, self-efficacy belief and teaching performance. The data for this study were collected in the form of semi-structured interviews from 6 volunteer 5^th-grade chemistry student teachers. The data were analyzed based on an inductive analytical approach. The results indicated that different types of feedback based on self-efficacy belief …

Discourses Of Experience: The Disciplining Of Identities And Practices In Student Teaching, Anita Sanyal Tudela

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The aim of this paper is to understand how ideas about teaching and learning to teach are structured and regulated in the student teaching component in university teacher education, and how these ideas are linked to the constructed identities of the student- and the collaborating teacher. I use critical discourse analysis to unpack the everyday language of collaborating teachers. I argue that, through the continued citation of assumptions about experience, the student teacher and collaborating teacher are constructed within prefigured and recognizable categories. This process sanctions and forecloses particular practices. I argue that this mechanism makes way for the reproduction …

Curriculum To The Classroom: Investigating The Spatial Practices Of Curriculum Implementation In Queensland Schools And Its Implications For Teacher Education, Georgina M. Barton, Susanne Garvis, Mary E. Ryan

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Change is something that both pre-service and practising teachers face regularly throughout their professional lives. Curriculum change and consequential implementation is a case in point. This paper investigates the perspectives of a number of school-based stakeholders in regard to the implementation of the C2C materials in Queensland schools and how this has potential consequences for teacher education programs. It shows that often contradictory spaces emerge in regard to curriculum enactment and argues that a ‘one size fits all’ approach is not the most effective way to implement new curriculum. A transformative third space is offered whereby teachers are accorded with …

Drawing Their Way Into Writing: Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Students Finding Voice Through Mini-Novelas, Stephanie Wessels, Socorro G. Herrera,

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Writing can be a difficult task for many students in today’s classrooms; however, for students who are culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD), writing can be especially difficult. These students often are in the process of developing their facility with the English language, and they possess cultural backgrounds that differ from those of many of their peers and teachers. In addition to these challenges, they face the typical difficulties of selecting ideas to write about for their stories. One way to tap into the cultural backgrounds of Spanish-speaking CLD students is through the use of a strategy called the mini-novela. A …

Secondary Social Studies Teachers' Experiences Implementing Common Core State Literacy Standards, Krista Webb

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to examine the experiences of secondary social studies teachers who implemented Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts & Literacy in history/social studies, science and technical subjects in social studies courses requiring End of Course Tests at secondary schools in one suburban district in Georgia. Ten teachers of United States history and economics courses participated in this study. Data was collected through questionnaires, reflective online journaling, documents, individual interviews, and focus groups. Analysis was conducted using transcription, thematic coding, textural and structural descriptions, and a composite description of the essence of the …

Editorial: Understanding Backwards, Looking Forwards, Jeff Sommers

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Art Play: Stories Of Engaging Families, Inspiring Learning, And Exploring Emotions, M. Susan Mcwilliams, Ashley Brailsford Vaughns, Anne O'Hara, Loretta S. Novotny, Theodora Jo Kyle

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Collage is the ultimate playful technique . . . . When you put it all together, you create something new. It is really about trial and error . . . about trying things and making mistakes. It’s about forgiving yourself when you make mistakes, and playfulness lets you do that. —Hanoch Piven, “Living in a Playful Collage” Hanoch Piven, an internationally known collage-caricature artist, visited Omaha, Nebraska, to conduct arts-based workshops for families, teachers, and children. The workshops were organized by the Omaha Family Literacy Partnership (OFLP). The partnership promotes literacy learning among children and their families through community activities …

The Effects Of Teacher Experience On The Workplace Readiness Of High School Students, Katherine Thomas

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Over the last decade attention has been placed on the emergent gap between education and the workplace. In response, school systems have provided instructional opportunities such as career pathways to better prepare students with the necessary knowledge and skills needed to be workplace ready. This dissertation sought to review two factors considered essential to this endeavor--teacher experience in business and industry and career and technical education (CTE). In doing so, this causal-comparative study examined 594 high school students in a northwest Georgia school district to see if there was a difference in the ACT WorkKeys® scores of students completing a …

Educators' Perceptions Regarding Common Core State Standards And Professional Development, Christine Hipsher

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore the impact of the implementation of the Common Core State Standards in Georgia K-12 on the professional development needs of educators. Across the United States the enactment of a Common Core State Standards went into effect. The primary goal of the Common Core State Standards movement was to clarify standards. Accordingly, this study reviewed Social Learning Theory and Constructivism. The research questions in this study examined the types of support educators requested. The research conducted in this multiple case study analyzed teachers' perceptions about the implementation of the CCSS and …

The Relationship Between Principal Leadership And Teacher Morale In The Elementary Schools In A Northwest Georgia School District, Daniel Webb

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This study examined the difference between 2012 CRCT math sores based on principal leadership styles and teacher morale, as well as the relationship between teacher morale and 2012 CRCT math scores at each of the 12 elementary schools within a Northwest Georgia county school district. There is a gap in current research regarding the importance of teacher morale and principal leadership at the elementary level, and another gap exists in research that compares teacher morale and student success. Teacher morale was quantified through the use of the Purdue Teacher Opinionaire (PTO), principal leadership practices were quantified through the use of …

A Phenomenological Study Of Inclusive Environments From The Perspective Of Rural Middle School General Education Teachers Of Students With Emotional And Behavioral Disorders, James Barr

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This phenomenological study explored the shared experience of rural middle school general education teachers of students diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) in inclusive classrooms. The study began by examining related issues associated with inclusive environments. Data analysis was structured around phenomenological organizational methods: that there exists within the phenomenon a descriptive experience, and within that experience there are voids of possible explanation and interpretation. The research incorporated observations, interviews, and documents as forms of data collection. This inquiry sought to uncover the ways in which general education teachers who serve students diagnosed with emotional and behavioral disabilities find …

The Action – Reflection – Modelling (Arm) Pedagogical Approach For Teacher Education: A Malaysia-Uk Project, Joy Jarvis, Claire Dickerson, Kit Thomas, Sally Graham

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article presents the Action – Reflection – Modelling (ARM) pedagogical approach for teacher education developed during a Malaysia-UK collaborative project to construct a Bachelor of Education (Honours) degree programme in Primary Mathematics, with English and Health and Physical Education as minor subjects. The degree programme was written collaboratively by teacher educators in two Institutes of Teacher Education in Malaysia and in the University of Hertfordshire, UK, to meet the requirements for training Malaysian school teachers to teach in Malaysian schools. A cohort of 120 students studied the programme full-time over four years, graduating in 2010.

The three principles of …