Education Commons^™

Three Ways To Help Esl Content Linger Beyond The “El Course” In Teacher Preparation Programs, Melanie Gonzalez

Journal of English Learner Education

Like many other states, our teacher preparation program arrived at this compartmentalized, “single-experience” ESL-focused course model as a result of local, state, and federal policies in the United States that have increasingly placed ELs into mainstream classrooms rather than into language and literacy development courses (de Jong, 2014). TESOL faculty might have questioned: how can everything related to effective ESL teaching be covered in one semester? The fact of the matter is that the onus on this work largely rests upon teacher candidates’ shoulders after they depart the ESL-focused course. What follows are three practices that largely have arisen …

How Do Literacy Teacher Educators Engage As Literacy Leaders?, Laurie A. Sharp, Marla Robertson, Rebekah E. Piper, Teresa Young, Roberta D. Raymond

The Advocate

Literacy teacher educators play a pivotal role in developing future PreK-12 classroom teachers for the task of literacy leadership. However, little is known about literacy teacher educators and how they engage as literacy leaders. In the current study, we retrieved data from 132 literacy teacher educators and analyzed it descriptively using teacher educator identify as a theoretical lens. Findings revealed 15 different literacy leadership practices that represented five distinct groups. Among these groups, respondents demonstrated high and low levels of engagement with literacy leadership practices that pointed to important implications for administrators of teacher education programs.

Critical Intersections Through Poetry In A Tesol & World Language Graduate Education Program, Melisa Cahnmann-Taylor, Sharon M. Nuruddin, Kuo Zhang, Yixuan Wang, Amanda Brady Deaton, Xinyi Meng, Ashley Brown-Lemley, Ming Sun

Intersections: Critical Issues in Education

In this studio submission, Language Education students who took one or more poetry writing courses along with their instructor share one poem draft and critical reflection, noting the political climate of the work co-produced and inquiry regarding the impact of producing creative work as reflexive, critical teacher education scholarship. Together they draw a context and implications for creative and critical teacher education through shared poetry writing.

Pedagogy, Practice, And Mentorship: Core Elements Of Connecting Theory To Practice In Teacher Educator Preparation Programs, Monique Alexander

Journal of Educational Supervision

experiences as the heart of preservice teacher preparation, the research community has attempted to understand more about the pedagogies and personnel that will support learning in these areas. Supervisors are a staple in the clinical field experience, yet the research community has a limited viewpoint of the practices and decision-making that lay underneath their work. Using a multiple case study methodology and a select but diverse group of participants, this study investigated the resources that supervisors draw on to resolve challenges in their practice. The results of this study highlight the significance of coursework for the preparation of teacher educators. …

“If We Don’T Include Literature, Where Do We Teach Our Students From?” An Effort To Introduce Children’S Literature To Indonesian Preservice Teachers, Tati L Durriyah

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

Indonesia’s new literacy initiative called Gerakan Literasi Sekolah (GLS) focuses on developing literacy-rich school environments through a sequence of book engagements. As the locus of control in daily literacy activities (Lehman, 2007), teachers in Indonesia assume much of the responsibility for student literacy learning. Despite this, Indonesian teachers receive minimal preparation in facilitating literacy instruction using literature; for example, courses that introduce student teachers to children’s literature are not commonly offered in Indonesian teacher education. This study aims to fill in the dearth of data regarding the efforts to introduce Indonesian preservice teachers to literature for children and the pedagogy …

Recognition And Positional Identity In An Elementary Professional Learning Community: A Case Study, Christopher G. Wright, Rasheda Likely, Kristen B. Wendell, Patricia P. Paugh, Elizabeth Smith

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

Professional learning communities are typically conceived of as spaces for reducing teacher isolation, supporting informed and committed teachers, and fostering student academic gains. Focusing on a professional learning community that supported the teaching and learning of engineering in elementary schools, we also conceived of this learning environment as a space for negotiating a teacher-of- engineering identity. Calling attention to emergent issues of power and status through a lens of positional identity, this article examines a Black female educator’s sense of self as a teacher-of-engineering and how this perception was informed by participation in the professional learning community. Findings reveal that …

Literacy Curricula, The Common Core, And Defending An Unpopular Profession: The Lived Experiences Of Undergraduate Preservice Literacy Teachers, Susan A. Sturm

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

This study explored the lived experiences of eight pre-service teachers, specifically their understandings of teaching Common Core-aligned English language arts (ELA) and their feelings about becoming teachers of literacy amid the current era of accountability. Phenomenological methods were used to interview participants and analyze data for significant statements made by all eight pre-service teachers involved. Major themes to emerge include that pre-service teachers felt prepared to design ELA lessons but unprepared to develop an ELA curriculum; they felt the Common Core State Standards had changed everything about teaching; and they were anxious about becoming teachers during a time of great …

Being In Tension: Faculty Explorations Of The Meaning Of Social Justice In Teacher Education, Mary Shelley Thomas, Christine D. Clayton, Shin-Ying Huang, Roberto Garcia

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

This study explores faculty perspectives of social justice in teacher education within one New York institution with a social justice focus. Grounded in the institution’s self-study process for accreditation, the researchers were a part of a team that collected data from structured interviews, including a card sort, of 42 full time teacher educators across 16 programs in the institution. Informed by sociocultural theories (Vygotsky, 1978, Wertsch, 1991), a content analysis revealed the language selected by faculty as well as their meaning-making process and describes how individuals contextualized those meanings. Findings demonstrated a range of meanings and lack of a shared …

Relationship-Based Infant Care As A Framework For Authentic Practice: How Eun Mi Rediscovered Her Teaching Soul, Susan L. Recchia, Seung Eun Mcdevitt

Occasional Paper Series

In this paper, we explore the complex nature of preparing diverse professionals for authentic, relationship-based care for infants and toddlers in child care. Looking through the eyes of one student caregiver, we travel with her through a semester-long course introducing her to infant care as an integral part of early childhood teacher preparation. We draw on her descriptions of her weekly experiences in an infant room focusing on a key child, her formal reflections in written assignments, and her responses to a series of interview questions once the course was completed to construct a theory of authentic practice through relationship-based …

Exploring The Experiences Of Male Early Childhood Aspiring Teachers, Tingting Xu

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

This exploratory study investigated the reasons why males chose early childhood

education and their lived experiences in a teacher education program. Qualitative data

were collected through interviews with twelve male early childhood pre-service

teachers. Results demonstrated that: Participates were passionate about teaching

young children. They were mostly supported by their relatives and friends in their

decision to become an early childhood teacher. They were positive about future career

opportunities but still had an underlying fear of losing job or being seen as sexual

predators. Meanwhile, participates indicated some conflicts might exist between the

field experience and program learning experience. They …

White Pre-Service Teachers’ Perceptions And Their Development Of Culturally Relevant Literacy Practices, Lakia M. Scott, Elena Venegas

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Existent literature purports that providing White teacher candidates with increased exposure to urban schools in order to create culturally competent educators has failed. These findings reflect the notion that teacher ideologies and overall perspectives about working with diverse student groups must be harnessed in a genuine ethic of care and intentionality for students of color. However, few studies have taken the approach of examining the development of culturally relevant pedagogy through context-specific field experiences using content-specific courses. This study examines the perspectives of twenty-five White pre-service teachers from a predominately White, private university regarding their initial perceptions and gained conceptual …

Real-Time Support: Using Ecoaching To Increase Preservice Teachers’ Confidence To Teach, Morgan V. Blanton, Aftynne E. Cheek, Elizabeth Bellows

Journal of Media Literacy Education

The role of teacher education preparation programs is to equip preservice teachers (PSTs) with the knowledge and skills to support the development of all students. To do this, university faculty must establish and monitor PST’s progress toward quality standards for teaching. eCoaching is a professional learning tool that provides real-time feedback to PSTs during instruction. In this article, the authors present eCoaching as a professional learning strategy. An overview of eCoaching logistics, perceived impact of eCoaching on PSTs, a description of eCoaching in action, and an explanation of how it meshes with current support practices are provided.

Developing Instructional Skills: Perspectives Of Feedback In Student Teaching, Noelle Won, Kimy Liu, Debra Bukko

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

Feedback is essential for the transformation and development of new teachers. This action research study explored perceptions of feedback givers/receivers in the development of essential teaching skills in a new co-teaching model. Outcomes informed programmatic changes to teacher education trainings and protocols. The research team included teacher education faculty, including the program leader (author 1), faculty (author 2) and K-12 teacher leader (author 3). Student teachers (6), cooperating teachers (7), and university supervisors (3) participated in semi-standard interviews and close-ended surveys. Responses were analyzed for feedback content, frequency, timing, effectiveness, reception and application. Three key components of the feedback process …

Teachers’ Stories About Teaching: Collaborative Dialogues As Open Educational Resources, Ekaterina Arshavskaya

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

This paper examines the nature of teacher learning through a social-constructivist perspective and describes instructional strategies utilized with teachers during an international teaching assistants’ (ITAs’) training workshop offered at the Utah State University (USU). The strategy used involved eliciting and structuring exemplary teachers’ stories about teaching to serve as a basis for class discussions and other assignments. These teachers’ stories, recorded on video, were then shared online through the university website and YouTube. In this way, new teachers gained access to co-constructed and pedagogically appropriate teacher knowledge represented by authentic teachers’ voices.

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 3, Issue 1, Kim Hales

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full Spring 2019 issue (Volume 3, Issue 1) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence, Spring 2019

Tinker, Tailor, Supervisor, Spy: Lessons Learned From Distant Supervision, Elizabeth Currin, Stephanie Schroeder, Elizabeth Bondy, Brittney Castanheira

Journal of Educational Supervision

This study investigates the transition from a local to a distant model of clinical intern supervision at a large, public, research university. Interviews were conducted with supervisors who had participated in local and distant supervision to explore challenges and adaptations throughout the first year of the distant model. Aside from areas of consensus, such as difficulties with communication, observations, coaching, and seminar meetings, the supervisors revealed distinctly different responses to the expectation of carrying out the distant supervision model with fidelity. Positioning theory provided helpful insight into the range of experiences and reactions within the interview data. Our findings suggest …

Investigating The Development Of Possible Selves In Teacher Education: Candidate Perceptions Of Hopes, Fears, And Strategies, Jill E. Gonzalez-Bravo

The Advocate

The theory of possible selves, as proposed by Marcus and Nurius (1986), framed a two-staged instrumental case study designed to give voice to an often-neglected source of insight: teacher candidates. The collection and analysis of hopes, fears, and process strategies gathered from a cross-section of thirteen candidates and alumni from a private Midwestern institution informed teacher educator practice and increased understanding in regards to influences that shaped teacher identity development. The applied theoretical framework allowed for the assessment of participants’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions, aided in the identification of perceived preparation needs, and enabled an appraisal of program effectiveness. Findings …

Alternative Routes To Teacher Certification

Occasional Paper Series

Alternative routes to teacher preparation are clearly here to stay. A growing research literature on non-traditional pathways suggests the complexity of the task ahead. This report offers new teachers the opportunity to tell their own stories in their own words.

High-Needs Schools: Preparing Teachers For Today's World

Occasional Paper Series

In the second decade of the 21st century, some schools are in trouble and some schools are not. The subject of this Occasional Paper is the preparation of teachers for schools that--lacking sufficient resources, effective leadership, or vocal advocates--are failing to educate their students by any reasonable measures. The teachers and teacher educator contributors to this volume offer a more variegated set of responses grounded in a diversity of local experiences. Their approaches to researching and understanding the immediacy of becoming a teacher are based on decades of working in hard-pressed urban schools and the institutions that supply them with …

Media Literacy And American Education: An Exploration With Détournement, Seth D. French, Jacob Campbell

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Many competing voices are speaking about the state of American education and how it should be reformed in the best interest of students. Topics such as teachers unions, charter schools, and standardized tests are at the center of many of these discussions. How do we decipher what to believe amid such conflicting perspectives concerning these topics and others like them? To progress American education in a direction that benefits students and democratic society, today’s educational stakeholders must adopt a critical stance in their evaluation of issues at the center of American education; lessons that encourage the development of critical media …

Constructivists Online: Reimagining Progressive Practice

Occasional Paper Series

No abstract provided.

Problem-Based Learning In Teacher Education, Susan M. Bridges

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

No abstract provided.

Conflicting Perspectives: A Comparison Of Edtpa Intended Outcomes To Actual Experiences Of Teacher Candidates And Educators In New York City Schools, Deborah Greenblatt

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

The edTPA is a performance-based assessment of teacher candidates created by the Stanford Center for Assessment, Learning and Equity (SCALE) and nationally scored by Pearson Education. It is also promoted by American Association of Colleges of Teacher Educators (AACTE) as a “standards-based assessment.” As of the spring of 2018, the edTPA is used as a requirement for program accreditation or teacher candidate certification or program completion in 18 states.

This article analyzes the stated goals, objectives, and benefits made by SCALE and AACTE and compares them to data collected from interviews and open-ended questions with teacher candidates and teacher educators …

Promoting This We Believe And The Amle Standards With Teacher Candidates, Amanda Wall

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

This article describes approaches to integrating This We Believe and the Association for Middle Level Education Standards into a middle grades course.

Supporting Middle Grades Teacher Candidates In Becoming Culturally Competent, Nathan Carnes

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

The author describes practices to support middle grades teacher candidates' becoming culturally competent.

Keynote. Motivation: Theory Into Practice, David Vawter

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

This paper is based on Dr. Vawter's keynote address at the Southeast Professors of Middle Level Education Symposium.

Collaboration In The Middle: Middle Grades To Higher Education Promoting, Advocating, Igniting Support For Middle Schools, Bridget Coleman, Nancy B. Ruppert

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

The authors provide an overview of the Southeast Professors of Middle Level Education Symposium, which was held in Greenville, SC, May 17-18, 2018. This is the introduction to the proceedings from the Symposium.

Multicultural Teacher Education Matters, Reginald Todd, Jacqueline Smith

The Journal of the Research Association of Minority Professors

This article focuses on the impact the demographic change in the student population in current K-12 classrooms has had on teacher education programs as it pertains to the preparation of culturally responsive preservice teachers. There exists an extensive body of literature that posits that the increase of cultural diversity in our current classrooms should be understood as a call for new teaching approaches that promote multicultural awareness among teacher educators to develop preservice teachers who exhibit culturally responsive teaching practices, behaviors, and attitudes. This comprehensive review of literature explored the current research on multicultural teacher education programs, and more specifically …

Bringing High Leverage Practices To The Bluegrass: A Statewide Collaborative Effort, Kera B. Ackerman, Todd Whitney, Amy S. Lingo

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

As a means to improve instruction for all students, Kentucky joined the national network of states engaged with the Collaboration for Effective Educator Development, Accreditation, and Reform (CEEDAR) Center. Part of this initiative was to hold a statewide summit for all Kentucky stakeholders in an attempt to build awareness of high leverage practices in educator preparation programs; strengthen and sustain partnerships; build capacity for continuous improvement; and share strategies for enhancing clinical practice. This article discusses the results of a survey given to those attending the statewide summit. Participants were asked to rate their knowledge and perceived importance of eight …

Emergence Of Professional Identities Of Novice Emirati Teachers, Lilly Tennant, Patricia Stringer, Julie Riddlebarger, Martina Dickson, Keith Kennetz

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article explores the emergence of Emirati novice teachers’ professional identity from a socio-cultural viewpoint where influences on identity are sourced internally through beliefs, attitudes, values and dispositions and externally through factors such as roles and responsibilities. Empirical data collected through individual and group interviews and analysed using content analysis, highlights both challenges and emergence of professional identity from point of graduation through to the end of the first year of teaching. The results show that influences on professional identity relate to challenges of raising learner outcomes in relation to delivery of the curriculum, managing the self in multiple contexts, …