Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Emerging Critical Literacy In Teachers As Novice Researchers, Jennifer Mitton Kukner

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper explores the experiences of three teachers as novice researchers as they taught full-time in a university English language school in Turkey. Viewing the participants’ experiences as researchers through a narrative understanding of teacher knowledge and a critical literacy lens enhanced their critical cognisance of their positioning as women instructors in a higher education setting. Their research experiences were shaped not only by their classroom concerns but also by expectations and larger social narratives that lived beyond their classroom doors. This study focuses specifically upon English language teachers and acknowledges the intersection of gender roles and contextual constraints as …

Self- Efficacy And Participation In Choosing The Teaching Profession As Predictors Of Academic Motivation Among Arab Student's Girls, Qutaiba Ali Agbaria

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The purpose of this study is to examine the link between learning motivation among teaching trainees and self- efficacy and the rate of participation in choosing the profession of teaching. The main assumptions: There will be a clear positive link between the rate of self-efficacy of students and academic motivation, with its various elements. There will be a clear positive link between the rate of participation in choosing the profession (teaching) and academic motivation.

The sample included 181 female students. The sample was random relative to students of each academic year and specialization.

The findings of the study corroborated most …

Learning About The Effects Of Context On Teaching And Learning In Pre-Service Teacher Education, Lisl Fenwick, Maxine Cooper

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Preparing teachers to work effectively within increasingly diverse contexts is a key goal of teacher education programs. This study analyses the extent to which a semester unit within a teacher education course provided pre-service teachers with the understanding and practices required to teach in low socio-economic status (SES) contexts. The results suggest that a unit, which emphasises links between theory, historical perspectives and practice, can effectively provide pre-service teachers with the key understandings and skills associated with improving equity outcomes in education. However, when the ideas being presented conflict with pre-existing, strongly held ideas about the role of schooling, practices …

Teacher Retention And Attrition: Views Of Early Career Teachers, John Buchanan, Anne Prescott, Sandra Schuck, Peter Aubusson, Paul Burke, Jordan Louviere

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The provision and maintenance of quality teachers is a matter of priority for the profession. Moreover, teacher attrition is costly to the profession, to the community and to those teachers who leave feeling disillusioned. There is a need to investigate the experiences of early career teachers to consider how these issues contribute to decisions about staying in or leaving the profession. This paper reports on an aspect of a larger study on teacher retention. It describes and analyses the experiences of teachers participating in the study and highlights implications for teacher retention. The study proposes the notion of ‘resilient stayers’, …

Novice Teachers Learning From Others: Mentoring In Shanghai Schools, Hairon Salleh, Charlene Tan

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper explores critically the practice of teacher mentoring in Shanghai schools. It begins with a review of the literature on teacher mentoring, which is followed by an introduction to education and teacher mentoring in the schools. The next section critiques teacher mentoring in Shanghai and we highlight three key characteristics and strengths of the practice of teacher mentoring that ensure the effectiveness and smooth implementation of mentoring in Shanghai schools. In terms of the weaknesses, we argue that the success of teacher mentoring in Shanghai is inhibited by a performative culture that emphasises examination scores and an instrumental view …

Debunking Myths: Reading Development In Children With Down Syndrome, Kathy Cologon

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

There is a considerable and growing body of research investigating reading development in children with Down syndrome. However, there appears to be a common gap between the research evidence and instructional practices. It has been argued that teachers have insufficient information to enable them to implement effective literacy instruction with children with Down syndrome. This has important implications for teacher education. The current paper draws on past and current research evidence to consider five common misunderstandings or ‘myths’ that exist in regards to reading development in children with Down syndrome regarding (1) receptive and expressive language, (2) phonological awareness and …

An English Major’S Revelation: Dominican’S Big History Summer Institute, Jaime Castner

Office of Academic Affairs

Perhaps English majors are predisposed to appreciate Big History. After all, the epic of our universe is just that: an epic. The longest story ever told. My introduction to Big History came in my last year as an undergraduate at Dominican University of California, when I was given the unique opportunity to provide staff support for the world’s first general education program with Big History as its content.

A Reflective Journal Please Would You Like An Eportfolio With That? , Betty Walsh, Susan Main, Graeme Lock

eCULTURE

Reflection and ePortfolios are current ‘buzz words’ in learning and teaching circles in pre-service teacher education. Given their increasingly prominent role in teacher preparation members of the Primary Program in the Faculty of Education and Arts sought to determine how best to incorporate these activities into learning and teaching at ECU. A program-wide implementation was considered to be most effective in promoting reflective practice and that a reflective portfolio would enhance the engagement of pre-service teachers with their learning experience and encouraging them to take responsibility for their developmental learning. This resulted in the development of the Professional Learning Journal …

Questions And Answers: Determining What Our Students Really Need, Lori Desautels

Scholarship and Professional Work – Education

This morning I sat in two inner city middle school classrooms in Indianapolis as I do most weeks. But something struck me deeply in the center of my chest as I was observing the boredom and apathy in the detached, sleepy and seemingly sad faces of many of these seventh grade students. The teachers were cheerfully present, the standards were posted, the paperwork was almost completed, there were no overt disruptions, and compliance was at hand.

The procedures, rules and transitions were hard-wired into the brains of these middle school students and adults, but an "inner" inspiration and deep subconscious …

Education Revitalization Is The New Reform: Five National Classroom Trends For Idaho, Diane Boothe

Curriculum, Instruction, and Foundational Studies Faculty Publications and Presentations

Critics have long assailed American education for failing to train a globally competitive workforce. All too often, we are faced with a shortage of highly qualified graduates in fields that are essential to our economic growth as a state and nation. An emphasis on education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) is crucial for our children’s future.

How To Read A Poem, Julie Patterson

Articles

Our writer-in-residence offers some insight into how to read a poem.

Professional Certification: Promoting And Recognising Successful Teaching Practices, Lawrence C. Ingvarson

Teaching standards and teacher evaluation

This paper focuses on the challenge of developing a system forrecognising and rewarding accomplished teachers operated by the teaching profession – a standards-based professional learning and certification system. While the focus is on recent Australian experience, it draws on the experience of several countries that have sought to reform teacher career structures and pay systems so that there is a closer alignment between career progression and increasing expertise. Over the past twenty years or so, teacher associations in several countries have demonstrated that the profession has the ability to reach a consensus on teaching standards without imposing uniformity of teaching …

Integration Of Interactive Instructional Technology In The Teaching Credential Program: A Case Study, Elizabeth Truesdell, Rebecca Birch

Collected Faculty Scholarship

Teacher Education faculty present initial findings of a case study implementing interactive instructional technology in credential candidates’ course and fieldwork.

Call For Papers

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

No abstract provided.

Collaboration: Talk. Trust. Write., Mark Letcher, Kristen Turner, Meredith Donovan, Leah Zuidema, Jim Fredricksen, Cathy Fleischer, Nicole Sieben, Laraine Wallowitz, Sarah Andrew-Vaughn

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This essay describes the professional collaborative writing process and activities of several pairs of prominent authors in English education.

All Hands On Deck: Bringing Together High School Teachers And Adjunct Instructors For Professional Development In The Teaching Of Writing, Jennifer S. Cook, Becky L. Caouette

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

in June of 2012, two Writing Program Administrators (WPAs) at Rhode Island College collaborated on a one-day professional development opportunity for adjunct instructors of First Year Writing. One of the WPAs was Director of the Rhode Island Writing Project; the other was the Director of Writing. Each saw an opportunity to further the reach of their program and better the quality of instruction in the K-16 landscape of Rhode Island. And, each program was facing real challenges institutionally, politically, and financially. In this article, the two authors outline the exegesis that led to their collaboration and the outcome of that …

What Are Preservice Teachers Taught About The Teaching Of Writing?: A Survey Of Ohio’S Undergraduate Writing Methods Courses, Christine E. Tulley

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Undergraduate “writing methods” courses, or courses training secondary teachers how to teach writing, have increased 42% over the past decade within college English departments. Whether in response to increasing accreditation standards or a reaction against alarmist rhetoric about the poor training of today’s secondary English teachers, the writing methods course is often categorized as a potential antidote to a lack of writing teacher training.

Though much has been written on the its graduate counterpart, the composition practicum, no similar in-depth studies have been conducted exploring the content of the undergraduate writing methods course, the credentials of those teaching the course, …

Positioning Preservice Teachers As Writers And Researchers, Jason H. Wirtz

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

This essay illustrates three theoretical concepts for the pre-service writing classroom learned from Wendy Bishop and Diane Holt-Reynolds: teachers of writing should be writers themselves; testimonials from writers should shape pre-service writing curricula; and content knowledge and the ability to teach content knowledge are discreet skill sets. Three practical assignments are presented to articulate these theoretical concepts in the pre-service writing classroom: Digital Poetry, Qualitative Interview Study, and Embedded Research.

Content-Area Teachers As Teachers Of Writing, Angela Kohnen

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Drawing on work with high school science teachers as part of an NSF-funded grant, this article presents lessons learned for effectively incorporating writing across the curriculum. With many states preparing to implement the Common Core State Standards, teachers in all subject areas will be asked to require more writing in their classes. This article argues that most of these teachers are ill-prepared to assign writing beyond the most formulaic and superficial, yet with professional development training (including training that requires teachers to write themselves) and support tools, teachers can begin effectively using discipline-specific writing to achieve discipline-specific goals.

Becoming Peer Tutors Of Writing: Identity Development As A Mode Of Preparation, Alison Bright

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Primary and secondary teachers of English are typically the subjects of research centered on writing teacher education. However, at the college level writing teacher education also includes individuals who instruct and support undergraduate writing instruction, and who do not always identify as writing teachers, such as graduate teaching assistants and peer writing tutors writing. Writing program administrators responsible for preparing TAs and tutors can benefit from the results of relevant research from the K-12 discourse community to improve their preparation programs. For example, research in primary and secondary teacher education programs indicates that when preparatory sessions highlight the concept of …