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Teaching 21st Century Skills: Voices From The Field, Andrew Kitchenham
Teaching 21st Century Skills: Voices From The Field, Andrew Kitchenham
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
This article presents an overview of the 21st century student characteristics based on the professional literature. It then outlines specific pedagogical techniques that can be used to improve literacy in school-aged children. It also includes specific examples of these techniques used in North American classrooms.
Revisiting Teacher Leadership: Perceptions Of Teachers And Principals, Suzanne Harrison, Ginny Birky
Revisiting Teacher Leadership: Perceptions Of Teachers And Principals, Suzanne Harrison, Ginny Birky
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover perceptions of teachers and principals regarding teacher leadership. The researchers investigated how selected Oregon teachers and administrators defined teacher leadership, as well as how they perceived roles, characteristics, and qualities of teacher leaders. Four themes emerged from the results: collaboration, interpersonal relationships, managing the work, and teaching and learning. Results showed that teacher leaders often acted in a collaborative environment and expected colleagues and administrators to be collaborative. Developing and maintaining positive relational skills were of importance, particularly related to caring and serving, as well as the dispositions of honesty, empathy, …
A Co-Inquiry Into What Matters Most In Written Reflections:A Co-Inquiry Into What Matters Most In Written Reflections: Helping Students Integrate Cognition And Affect, Jody Bault, Ray Wolpow, Carmen Werder
A Co-Inquiry Into What Matters Most In Written Reflections:A Co-Inquiry Into What Matters Most In Written Reflections: Helping Students Integrate Cognition And Affect, Jody Bault, Ray Wolpow, Carmen Werder
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
Twenty-first century teacher education places increased emphasis on collaborate evaluation of student work. This study provides the voices of a graduate student in teacher education, the professor teaching a literacy methods course, and a university writing instruction support director as they endeavored to develop a rubric to help pre-service secondary teachers improve their reflective writing. Discussion and short essays, guided by that same rubric, provide conclusions on the part of the co-inquirers about the importance of considering both thoughts and feelings in assessing reflective writing and conducting co-inquiry.
Career Coaching Across The Curriculum: Enhancing The Career Competencies Of The 21st Century Learner, Mark W. Slomp, Kerry B. Bernes
Career Coaching Across The Curriculum: Enhancing The Career Competencies Of The 21st Century Learner, Mark W. Slomp, Kerry B. Bernes
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
This article examines the effectiveness of a pilot project offered by members of the Faculty of Education at the University of Lethbridge entitled, ―Career Coaching Across the Curriculum: Integrating Career Development into Classroom Instruction‖. It explores whether this pilot project effectively prepares pre-service teachers to integrate career education into curriculum. It also explores whether this pilot project contributes to the attainment of important career development competencies for students in the Kindergarten-Grade 12 educational system.
Enhancing Rural Internships: Considering The Post-Intern Voice, Edwin Ralph, Keith D. Walker
Enhancing Rural Internships: Considering The Post-Intern Voice, Edwin Ralph, Keith D. Walker
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
A lingering issue that has faced rural-practicum planners across all the professions relates to enhancing the overall quality of rural internships. In this report, the authors address a key facet of this subject by considering the viewpoint of post-interns regarding their own rural practicum experiences. The authors compare the perspectives of a recent group of Education post-practicum students regarding the quality of rural internships with findings from previous research related to the subject. The post-interns participating in the present study recently completed their 16-week extended practicum in rural schools in one Western Canadian province. They submitted written responses to questions …
Because It’S A Girl Cake!:Because It’S A Girl Cake!: Fostering Dialogue About Gender Identity In Elementary Classrooms, Niko Wacker, Amy E. Ryken
Because It’S A Girl Cake!:Because It’S A Girl Cake!: Fostering Dialogue About Gender Identity In Elementary Classrooms, Niko Wacker, Amy E. Ryken
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
In this documentary account, a kindergarten teacher and teacher educator describe our efforts to explore how young children think and reason about gender expression in and beyond the classroom. We describe our ongoing collaboration to develop a framework for teacher-initiated and student-initiated conversations about gender, which often result from students’ spontaneous remarks and questions about gender norms. We explore the question, How can educators create relevant and engaging learning opportunities to invite young learners to discuss gender norms within the classroom? In this paper we share kindergartners’ conversations about gender and three examples of their writing about this topic. We …
Promoting Cross-Cultural Competence And Awareness In Teacher Education: Toward The Integration Of Western And Non-Western Perspectives, Stephen Woolworth, Vidya Thirumurthy
Promoting Cross-Cultural Competence And Awareness In Teacher Education: Toward The Integration Of Western And Non-Western Perspectives, Stephen Woolworth, Vidya Thirumurthy
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
Calls for culturally competent teachers persist amidst the ongoing diversification of the P-12 student population (Aud et al. 2010), continued racial homogeneity of the teacher workforce (Boser, 2011), chronic academic achievement disparities between majority and minority student groups (Vanneman et al., 2009), and persistent racial disproportionality in school discipline practices (Losen et al, 2012). In an effort to encourage and promote cross-cultural competence and awareness, we describe a graduate seminar we designed and taught around the integration of western and nonwestern perspectives on cognition, development and learning. We share a number of insights gained from the seminar experience and conclude …
Life Changing Events For Students: An Initial Exploratory Study, Michael A. Rousell
Life Changing Events For Students: An Initial Exploratory Study, Michael A. Rousell
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
The purpose of this exploratory study was to discover under what conditions teachers’ comments create transformative moments for students. This study shows that emotional arousal, frequently triggered by surprise, appears to be a catalyst for the spontaneous and profound restructuring of a student’s personal schema or worldview. Our brains evolved to respond to emotionally intense challenges rapidly and reflexively. These challenges are instantly processed by the brain’s innate, stress-driven, conceptual, problem-solving system. Our reflexive brain system is organized to accept the most expedient solution, not necessarily the best one. It’s thus quite vulnerable to making impetuous responses that may generate …
It Hurt Big Time: Understanding The Impact Of Rural Adolescents’ Experiences With Cyberbullying, Robin Bright, Mary Dyck
It Hurt Big Time: Understanding The Impact Of Rural Adolescents’ Experiences With Cyberbullying, Robin Bright, Mary Dyck
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
In the 21st century, the growing use of online technologies has challenged parents and educators to understand the concerns and issues faced by adolescents with cyberbullying both in and outside the school context. The purpose of this study was to examine rural adolescents‘ experiences with cyberbullying in Canada. The participants included 1752 adolescents who attended 16 schools in rural Alberta. The 73-item online questionnaire included the following question: If you have ever known someone to be bullied, been a target of bullying, or ever bullied someone using online communication please describe the situation(s) and what happened as a result. Youth …
The Schools Ain’T What They Used To Be And Never Was – 21st Century Schools, Learners, And Teachers, Colleen Kawalilak, Jim Paul
The Schools Ain’T What They Used To Be And Never Was – 21st Century Schools, Learners, And Teachers, Colleen Kawalilak, Jim Paul
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
This writing presents our views, as university teacher educators and scholars, concerning some issues pertaining to the readiness of contemporary Canadian education to move forward, well, with confidence and competence, into the mid-21st Century. We posit that all which is possible, educationally, lives in the give and take between Canadian education‘s geo-political, economic and linguistic past, the current functioning of contemporary schools as contested learning and teaching sites, and the increasing impacts of globalisation. We draw from guiding adult education principles in support of an enriched and expanded commitment to teacher professional development as a pathway to sustainable education reform.
The Importance Of Using Technology-Enhanced 21st Century Literacy Skills To Support Culture And Diversity In The Classroom, Sonia Isabel Lopez-Lopez, Ibtesam Hussein, Maysoun Ali
The Importance Of Using Technology-Enhanced 21st Century Literacy Skills To Support Culture And Diversity In The Classroom, Sonia Isabel Lopez-Lopez, Ibtesam Hussein, Maysoun Ali
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
Teaching in today‘s classrooms is not the same as it has been in the past; that is what teachers claim. There is a new generation of students, with new expectations and capacities, coming into the classroom. The Internet and technology in general are used everywhere to communicate and interact with others. Today, students are looking for different interactions and ways of learning in the classroom. Therefore, technology should be used not only because students are using new technologies ubiquitously outside of the classroom, but also because the use of technology can enrich students‘ understandings of diversity and culture, which can …
Secondary School Students’ Lack Of Mathematics Understanding, Masomeh Jamshid Nejad
Secondary School Students’ Lack Of Mathematics Understanding, Masomeh Jamshid Nejad
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
A study was conducted to investigate the influence of pupils’ beliefs on their performance in problem solving. Twenty-seven students from Grade 8 participated in this study. The findings showed that there is a positive correlation between participants’ belief, some subscales of belief and participants’ performance in problem solving. Further research was then suggested. A study was conducted to investigate the influence of pupils’ beliefs on their performance in problem solving. Twenty-seven students from Grade 8 participated in this study. The findings showed that there is a positive correlation between participants’ belief, some subscales of belief and participants’ performance in problem …
The Efficacy Of Inquiry-Based Learning In Undergraduate Physiology, James Depaepe, Tracy Campion
The Efficacy Of Inquiry-Based Learning In Undergraduate Physiology, James Depaepe, Tracy Campion
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
Lecture, where learning is passive, remains a prevalent instructional method of teaching content. Contextualized approaches like Inquiry-Based Learning (IBL) where students are more actively engaged remains less common. For 25 years the literature has supported contextualized approaches. Nevertheless, recent papers have claimed IBL to be an unguided approach that has produced content knowledge deficits. Therefore, we tested whether undergraduate physiology content could be learned using IBL. Four groups of undergraduates (mean ages=23, N=60) took a ten-week physiology course using IBL. A content valid pretest and posttest measured content knowledge. A one-way ANOVA indicated no significant differences within or between groups …
What Matters Is Mutual Investment And Evidence-Based Dialogue: Designing Meaningful Contexts For Teacher Learning, Amy E. Ryken, Fred L. Hamel
What Matters Is Mutual Investment And Evidence-Based Dialogue: Designing Meaningful Contexts For Teacher Learning, Amy E. Ryken, Fred L. Hamel
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
How might teachers be supported as professional learners, in activities and conversations that assist, rather than distract from, the complex work they do each day? In this article we describe a public school/university partnership model designed to support practice-oriented communication among educators– where professionals from various roles, institutional affiliations, and experience levels, communicate together about the details of their teaching. We outline the principles behind our approach and describe the specific practices we use to promote communication that engages teachers’ pedagogical thinking. We share how teachers’ own practice can become a centerpiece of professional development, and how authentic questions and …
Teacher As Researcher: An Essential Component Of Teacher Preparation, Kimberly Hill Campbell
Teacher As Researcher: An Essential Component Of Teacher Preparation, Kimberly Hill Campbell
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
This article provides a brief synthesis of research findings from studies of teacher education programs that include attention to teacher research. It then details findings from a study of beginning teachers who learned about and conducted teacher research in their preservice M.A.T. program. Surveys and follow-up interviews show that these beginning teachers (2-6 years in the field) utilize a variety of research strategies, and the data from their classroom inquiry informs and sustains their work. Teacher research is more than just a requirement of their teacher preparation program; it is an essential habit of their classroom practice.
Improving Student Engagement With 21st Century Learning Practices, Thelma M. Gunn, Maurice Hollingsworth
Improving Student Engagement With 21st Century Learning Practices, Thelma M. Gunn, Maurice Hollingsworth
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
There is sufficient evidence to support the importance of adaptive student engagement with respect to improved school behavior, academic achievement, and high school completion rates. Students who are more engaged exhibit high levels of adaptive attention, cognition, and behaviour as well as create social, physical, and intellectual resources (i.e., Appleton, Christenson, & Furlong, 2008; Fredrickson, 2001). A three-year study designed to investigate and track student engagement and academic achievement with Grade 9 and 10 students has demonstrated that 21st century instructional practices have the potential to improve students’ perceptions of community, orientation to school, and in particular, their academic strategies.
The Importance Of Professional Dispositions: A Survey Of Diverse Teacher Educators, Kelly M. Benson, Naomi Jeffery Petersen
The Importance Of Professional Dispositions: A Survey Of Diverse Teacher Educators, Kelly M. Benson, Naomi Jeffery Petersen
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
Dispositions are undisputedly crucial for teaching success and academic achievement, but what are they and which ones are most important for candidates to develop before student teaching? Can we identify, define, influence or assess dispositions for a common language among all stakeholders in teacher education? In order to find out if stakeholders from 30 certification areas share common definitions of essential teacher dispositions, and whether their range of opinions can be reduced to major constructs, we surveyed faculty and staff in 30 NCATE-accredited certification programs housed in three colleges of a large public comprehensive university. This article presents the qualitative …
Points Of Leverage: Navigating Tensions Between Socio-Culturally Relevant Teaching And Accountability Pressures, Kathryn Mcintosh Ciechanowski
Points Of Leverage: Navigating Tensions Between Socio-Culturally Relevant Teaching And Accountability Pressures, Kathryn Mcintosh Ciechanowski
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
This qualitative study explores how an elementary teacher navigated tensions between accountability and bilingual learners‘ needs. Questions included: How did a teacher employ students‘ socio-cultural resources in content areas? How did accountability shape use of resources? What are points of leverage—i.e., promising instructional practices to be further developed and harnessed—to meet student needs? Findings show how Ms. Montclair briefly connected to students‘ resources, focusing on making content comprehensible, transmitting information, staying on pace, and practicing testing. Although familiar with project-based and family/community-oriented learning, accountability measures impacted instruction. Yet promising instruction integrates socio-cultural resources to promote innovation and meaning.
Critical Inquiry And Collaborative Action: Transforming A College Of Education To Recruit And Retain Underrepresented Populations To Teacher Education, Marilyn Chu, David Carroll, Maria Timmons Flores, Kristin French
Critical Inquiry And Collaborative Action: Transforming A College Of Education To Recruit And Retain Underrepresented Populations To Teacher Education, Marilyn Chu, David Carroll, Maria Timmons Flores, Kristin French
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
This documentary account describes how a task force comprised of college of education faculty and university admissions staff from a medium sized comprehensive university engaged in a critical inquiry process to address the issue of recruiting and retaining underrepresented students in teacher education (i.e., men and culturally and linguistically diverse students). The group examined the issues and challenges associated with an education college‘s recruitment, application, selection and retention processes. The paper suggests how critical inquiry groups of higher education faculty and staff may support the transformation of policies, practices and relationships needed to increase the number of teacher candidates from …
A Model For Professional Development In Elementary Science, David Davison, Kenneth Miller, Michael Scarlet
A Model For Professional Development In Elementary Science, David Davison, Kenneth Miller, Michael Scarlet
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
Statements of outcomes for 21st century learners typically include inquiry-based learning as a major goal. In the PRISM Project, 62 elementary teachers in Montana were selected to receive professional development using inquiry science instruction in their classrooms. Participants attended workshops designed to model inquiry lessons, participated in online discussions to help them make their lessons more inquiry-based, and prepared Scoop notebooks containing three lessons demonstrating how they were implementing inquiry in their classrooms. Based on analysis of these data, participants were judged to have met the goal of the project to increase their use of inquiry in the science classroom.
Collaborating To Teach Research Methods In Education, Todd Milford, Catherine Etmanski
Collaborating To Teach Research Methods In Education, Todd Milford, Catherine Etmanski
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
The purpose of this paper is to describe a pedagogical collaboration between two research methods instructors in a Faculty of Education in Canada. Both instructors represent different paradigms in the classic quantitative vs. qualitative dichotomy in that they were trained in vastly different ways and have tended to approach their research along these same lines. However, despite these differences the paper explores how they each viewed this as a potential limitation in their methods teaching and how through crossing over to each other’s classrooms were able to both expand their own understanding as well as offer a more balanced and …
Physical Activity During Full-Day And Half-Day Kindergarten, Lauren Talley, Ryan Cook, Patti-Jean Naylor, Viviene Anne Temple
Physical Activity During Full-Day And Half-Day Kindergarten, Lauren Talley, Ryan Cook, Patti-Jean Naylor, Viviene Anne Temple
Northwest Journal of Teacher Education
The aim of this study was to compare the physical activity levels of children during fullday and half-day kindergarten. Of the 47 children who participated in this study, 22 (girls = 50%) attended full-day kindergarten and 25 (girls = 40%) attended half-days. Actigraph activity monitors were used to assess physical activity and sedentary behavior of the children. We found that children were more active during full-day kindergarten. The rates of light-intensity physical activity were significantly higher during full-day kindergarten. However, levels of moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA) were quite low, and efforts to promote MVPA would be beneficial.