Education Commons^™

A Digital Qualitative Ethnographic Study Of Preservice Teachers’ Perspectives And Experiences Of Teaching From To-Be Teachers, Mohamed Abdullahi Ali

Journal of Research Initiatives

This digital ethnographic study aimed to understand how and why college students decide to be teachers while many trained teachers leave the profession every year in the United States. A purposive sampling technique enabled 30 prospective teachers in a college of education to participate in this study. The research questions that guided the study were: 1) How and why did preservice teachers choose teaching as a career? 2) How did preservice teachers' perception of the drawbacks of teaching and the opportunities to support them in becoming teachers influence their decisions? The conceptual framework to understand the phenomena came from educational …

For The Love Of Teaching: Pre-Service Teachers’ Experience Of Moral Education, Anne Marie Foley Ruiz

Doctoral Dissertations

Moral aspects of teaching arise each and every day, yet we lack information about how prepared teachers feel about this critical aspect of teaching. This multi-case study explores perceptions of five pre-service teachers in an elementary teacher education program in Western Massachusetts. A series of interviews explore their histories prior to the program and their experiences in the program as related to the pre-service teachers’ orientations to the moral work of teaching. Research questions address the awareness and self-efficacy of student teachers in implementing the moral aspects of teaching. Using Thematic Analysis (Braun & Clark, 2006), this study explores beliefs …

Identity, Access, And Equity: An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Study Of Mathematics Identity And Socialization In Pre-Service Teachers, Ashley Renaire Davis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Teaching practices in early childhood through post-secondary learning settings continue to reproduce inequities in mathematics education despite recognition of math’s utility and its necessity for competitiveness in the global economy. For reform efforts to be successful, teachers must change the way mathematics is presented in classrooms where students often experience differences in exposure to mathematics content and time spent covering particular mathematics topics. Therefore, teachers represent a critical component in the cycle of reproduction of unequal access to mathematics. This mixed-methods study examined the processes of mathematics identity formation and mathematics socialization in a diverse sample of pre-service elementary and …

The Impact Of Polarization On The Political Engagement Of Generation Z Elementary Preservice Teachers And Their Teaching, Patrick Keegan, Kelly P. Vaughan

Democracy and Education

This instrumental case study of Generation Z preservice teachers enrolled in elementary teaching methods courses in social studies and literacy explores the impact of polarization on their political engagement and teaching. Using the 2020 presidential election as a teachable moment, participants developed and taught literacy-infused civics units in order to bring to light their understandings of their role in preparing elementary students as political actors. This study has important implications for how teacher educators can better facilitate elementary preservice teachers’ own political engagement, thereby ensuring equitable democratic learning opportunities for students.

Screencasting Information Literacy. Insights In Pre-Service Teachers’ Conception Of Online Searching, Luca Botturi, Chiara Beretta

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Information Literacy (IL) has been named a key competence for the twenty-first century and is being progressively introduced in many compulsory school curricula. Nonetheless, the actual implementation of effective IL education cannot be carried out without the sound preparation of teachers. This study explores the naïve, pre-instruction conceptions of online information searching of pre-service pre-primary and primary teachers through the structured qualitative analysis of participant-produced screencasts. The results indicate that teachers have a mainly technical view of IL, leading them to focus on basic computer literacy skills (e.g., how to use a search engine) and to overlook mental processes (e.g., …

The Path To Self-Authorship: The Pre-Service Teacher-Writer, Shari L. Daniels Dr., Pamela Beck

Literacy Practice and Research

This literature review examined the relationship between the development of a teacher who writes (teacher-writer) and the phases of self-authorship, “the internal capacity to define one's beliefs, identity and social relations” (Baxter Magolda, 2001, p. 269). The narratives of three teacher-writer-authors show a correlation to Magolda’s self-authorship phases. The purpose of this examination was to explore the question: How might a writing support teachers in personally and professionally? Research suggests new teachers are unprepared for today’s classrooms. Could this unpreparedness may be related to a lack of self-authorship? Might a consistent writing practice propel teachers through the phases of self-authorship …

Developing Preservice Teachers’ Critical Literacy Praxis In A Rural Teacher Education Program, Vera Sotirovska, Margaret Vaughn

Reading Horizons: A Journal of Literacy and Language Arts

This research examined preservice teachers’ beliefs about critical literacy praxis in a rural teacher education program. Using qualitative methods, preservice teachers participated in interviews, reflective engagements, and picture book analysis. Thematic analysis was used to understand preservice teacher reflections on critical literacy, structured around discussions about multicultural literature, and preservice teacher experiences with critical literacy practices in their coursework. This article presents preservice teachers’ beliefs on critical literacy praxis.

Draw A Picture Of Yourself Learning Math: What Pre-Service Teachers’ Self-Portraits Illustrate About Their Complex Relationships With Mathematics, Samantha Sommers, Michelle Unigarro, Danielle Vantassel, Claudia M. Bertolone-Smith, Alison Puliatte

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

The purpose of this study was to examine factors that may influence pre-service teachers’ relationships with mathematics. Elementary pre-service teachers who were enrolled in a mathematics methods course (n = 52) wrote a letter to math and drew a picture of themselves learning math. The self-portraits were analyzed by a team of undergraduate student researchers and teacher educators to identify themes related to the types of emotions, experiences, and situations displayed. The results of the self-portrait analysis indicated a higher percentage of negative emotions as compared to positive and neutral …

Eating Pizza With Chopsticks: Discovering Flavorful Truths About Writing, Jennifer K. Allen

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

The teaching of writing often brings about feelings of tension and trepidation. In the age of accountability, teachers feel pressured to succumb to test-based writing practices that stifle student creativity and cause both teachers and students to disconnect from the joy of writing. In addition, teachers sometimes shy away from teaching writing because they are not confident as writers themselves and they question their ability to effectively teach writing. Using a tangible analogy that emerged from a writing partnership between elementary writers and pre-service teachers, this article explores specific truths about writing that can transform a classroom of students into …

Generating Reflections Through Professional Collaborative Storytelling, Anne Keary, Narelle Wood, Karina Barley, Kelly Carabott

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

For teachers, storytelling is a way of making sense of everyday pedagogical practices and connecting with colleagues. In this paper, we explore how storytelling contributed to a collaborative culture indicative of our professional journey as four teacher educators. We examine six online weekly Zoom conversations we participated in as a teaching group to share our pedagogical ideas for enhancing an English education unit of work. During this storytelling, we discussed how we engaged with the teaching of, teaching about and teaching through the teaching and learning curriculum cycle to a first-year cohort of preservice teachers (PSTs). Importantly, we deliberated on …

Mathematics Methods For Early Childhood, Janet Stramel

Open Educational Resources

This book is for the early childhood pre-service teachers, which includes the period from infancy until eight years of age. Mathematics skills must be taught in early childhood and children should be provided a foundation to succeed in elementary school and beyond.

Mathematics Methods for Early Childhood was designed to help early childhood teacher candidates develop an understanding of why lessons in early childhood should focus on mathematics in order to help children be successful. Young children are naturally curious, and the best time to begin mathematics is at a time while the young child's brain is rapidly developing. Mathematics …

Learning To Teach In Place: Transforming Pre-Service Teacher Perceptions Of Science Teaching Through Place Pedagogies, Hongming Ma, Monica M. Green

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Although teaching science outdoors is well established in global circles, its pedagogical value in Australia is less understood. This paper addresses this gap through its investigation of outdoor science teaching in a science method course in a teacher education program at an Australian regional university. As part of their coursework, pre-service teachers designed and delivered science lessons to primary school-aged children in small teaching groups in a wetland setting and wrote reflective essays about the experience. Data collection methods included document analysis of the essays as well as follow-up semi-structured interviews with pre-service teachers. Findings suggest that the outdoor science …

“Maths Outside Of Maths”: Pre-Service Teachers’ Awareness Of Mathematical And Statistical Thinking Across Teachers’ Professional Work, Judy Bailey, Bronwen Cowie, Beverley Cooper

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Mathematical and statistical thinking is involved across the breadth of people’s home and work life and leisure activities. This paper reports on an aspect of a project that aimed to develop pre-service teacher awareness of the mathematical and statistical thinking required across the breadth of primary teachers’ professional role. This thinking is conceptualised as the mathematics and statistics embedded in each of the curriculum learning areas, in data literacy, and administration and management tasks. Mentor meetings indicated pre-service teachers who were completing a one-year graduate diploma initially had a limited awareness of the extent of this thinking. Through focus group …

Facilitating Collaboration Through A Co-Teaching Field Experience, Mark S. Montgomery, Adam Akerson

Networks: An Online Journal for Teacher Research

This article describes an action research project in which two teacher educators implemented a co-teaching field experience with pre-service teacher candidates acting as co-teachers to facilitate collaboration among peers. The goal of the action research was to better meet the needs of pre-service teacher candidates and continually develop their ability to grow as reflective and collaborative future teaching educators. To increase collaboration, co-teaching models were implemented in an early field experience. Teaching activities and assignments provided opportunities for collaboration as co-teachers and as members of a teaching community. Data collection and observations indicate peer-to-peer co-teaching helped create a collaborative atmosphere …

Pre-Service Teachers’ Participation In Elt Content-Based Classes: A Study Of Positioning, Paula Natalia Castillo Rivera, Valentina Jiménez Malpica, Frank Camilo Ortíz Sánchez, Nicoll Carolaine Mejia Santiago

Licenciatura en Español y Lenguas Extranjeras

El presente trabajo de investigación busca explorar las razones y maneras en las cuales los profesores en formación participan en clases de contenido en inglés del programa de pregrado en la enseñanza del idioma inglés de la Universidad de La Salle. Este estudio determina el modo en el cual las formas de participación de los profesores en formación configuran el desarrollo de estas clases de contenido, y las razones que hacen que los estudiantes participen. El trabajo sigue los principios de la teoría de posicionamiento en un grupo de 21 estudiantes en la clase de contenido “Intercultural Communication”. Observaciones participantes, …

A Storied Tale: Melding Digital Storytelling, Service-Learning, And Digital And Information Literacy Skills For Pre-Service Teachers, Heather K. Beirne

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Today’s teachers, a diverse body of individuals with a variety of technological backgrounds and skill sets, often find themselves working from a “digital immigrant” perspective. Even pre-service teachers, who may be classified as digital natives, report “strong positive beliefs in technology, yet moderate confidence and reserved attitude in using technology” (Lei, 2009); Lei reports that, though they are often viewed as “innovative users of available technology and eager adopters of new technology,” pre-service teachers are also not utilizing digital technology to its fullest advantage, self-report that they do not feel comfortable with or proficient at the use of higher level …

Technology Integration And Use In Elementary Mathematics Methods Courses For Pre-Service Teachers, Elzbieta Manos

Doctoral Dissertations

According to the National Educational Technology Plan 2010, technology should be incorporated into teaching methods courses and field experiences and not just in stand-alone technology courses. The teacher preparation programs would provide technology-based learning experiences to prepare pre-service teachers to effectively use technology to improve learning, assessment, and instructional practices. However, the problem is that graduate pre-service teacher preparation programs do not adequately prepare pre-service teachers to incorporate technology into their teaching. Furthermore, the teacher preparation programs lacked opportunities for the pre-service teachers to experience technology as learners beyond the stand-alone course in technology. Research shows the need for pre-service …

Initial Teacher Preparation For Teaching Students With Exceptionalities: Pre-Service Teachers' Knowledge And Perceived Competence, Michelle L. Bannister-Tyrrell, Sofia Mavropoulou, Marguerite Jones, Jeffrey Bailey, Anne O'Donnell-Ostini, Rinchen Dorji

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This research study surveyed 100 undergraduate teacher education students in a regional university in Australia, explored self-reported perceptions of their knowledge about students with exceptional needs, and their competence to be effective educators of these students in an inclusive classroom. Additionally, we included a measure of general attitude toward teaching in an inclusive classroom. What made this exploratory study atypical was broadening the concept of ‘exceptionality’ to the inclusion of items related to students with physical and cognitive challenges, superior academic gifts and those deemed to be twice exceptional. The results were unexpected in that teachers’ age, parental status and …

Opening Eyes By Opening Classroom Doors: Multicultural Musings Of Study Abroad In Italy, Deb L. Marciano Ph. D.

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Abstract

Opening Eyes by Opening Classroom Doors:

Multicultural Musings of Study Abroad in Italy

This narrative inquiry examines multicultural site-based experiences of five pre-service teachers (early childhood and special education) during a four-week university sponsored study abroad program. Experiential learning (Kolb, 1984) opportunities were created for observations and teaching mini-lessons in Italian classrooms and immersion into Italian culture. The researcher’s study emanates from the pre-service teachers’ daily journal entries, informal conversations, and personal observations of reflections of their developing multicultural understandings, scaffolding upon their rural American backgrounds. To facilitate processing their lived experiences, it was necessary to work from an …

Technology Integration In Elementary Classrooms: Teaching Practices Of Student Teachers, Ping Liu

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study examines how and why student teachers integrated technology to enhance instruction in elementary classrooms. The participants were 31 student teachers who completed an assignment of eight weeks. Multiple data sets including observation notes of 347 lessons were obtained from three key groups for data triangulation. Results reveal that the primary technological means used to enhance teaching was to provide visuals for attention, engagement and interaction. All participants chose to integrate technology but varied substantially in their teaching practices. They applied technology for a number of reasons: student engagement, time management, motivation and meeting individual students’ needs. Variables such …

Facilitating A Transdisciplinary Approach In Teacher Education Through Multimodal Literacy And Cognitive Neuroscience, Margaret Billings Krause

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a compilation of research and theoretical papers based on the affordances of multimodal literacies for marginalized learners and for pre-service teachers’ developing conceptualizations of literacy. Through a transdisciplinary lens, the author considers complex issues presented in traditional, print-based learning environments that potentially marginalize learners in their developing abilities to become successful participants in the multiple literacies in the real world.

Three studies focus on pre-service teachers and their developing understanding of effective literacy-related classroom practices. Chapter Three explores potential affordances of a multimodal learning environment for pre-service teachers with self-identified reading difficulties. The phenomenological study highlights differing …

Learning To Teach: What Do Pre-Service Teachers Report., Dawn A. Naylor, Glenda Campbell-Evans, Carmel Maloney

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Abstract: Taking a sociocultural approach to understanding the phenomenon of learning to teach, this study examined the extent to which seven pre-service teachers, in their final year of a Bachelor of Education course in a regional Australian university campus, identified personal, professional and contextual aspects as significant influences on learning to teach. By listening to the voices of the pre-service teachers, this study found three orientations towards learning to teach. While these orientations were specific to the pre-service teachers enrolled in one regional teacher education program, they do offer teacher educators some insight and advice into the phenomenon of learning …

Preservice Teachers’ Constructivist Teaching Scores Based On Their Learning Styles, Zeynel Kablan, Sibel Kaya

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study examined the relationship between pre-service teachers’ constructivist teaching and their learning styles based on Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory. The Learning Styles Inventory-3 was administered at the beginning of the semester to determine preferred learning style. The Constructivist Teaching Evaluation Form was filled out by pre-service teachers following the microteaching session. Bivariate correlation and ANOVA anayses were conducted to evaluate the learning style-teaching relationship. Results showed that students’ teaching evaluation scores were positively correlated with their active experimentation (AE) and negatively correlated with their reflective observation (RO) scores. ANOVA results showed that accommodating students had significantly higher self-evaluation scores …

The Importance Of Positive Arts Experiences And Self-Efficacy In Pre-Service Primary Teacher Education, Geoffrey W. Lummis, Julia Morris

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

With the impending introduction of the Australian Curriculum in the arts, there is cause to reflect on primary pre-service teacher education courses, and how effectively they prepare graduates to facilitate the curriculum. Reflecting on pre-service teachers’ experiences in the arts, at both entry and graduation of their degree, may afford insight into improving arts instruction in Bachelor of Education. A two-year mixed methods study (2013-2014) was conducted with first and fourth-year Bachelor of Education primary students at a Western Australian university, to determine students’ arts experiences and their self-efficacy to teach the arts at graduation. This paper reports specifically on …

Are Teacher Education Programs Failing The Nation’S Urban Schools? A Closer Look At Pre-Service Teachers’ Beliefs About Working With Inner-City Students, Servet Celik

Servet Celik

To address the issue of pre-service teachers being under-prepared for work in multicultural and impoverished environments in America’s urban schools, teacher education programs have taken steps to improve diversity-oriented curricula and provide relevant fieldwork experience. However, research indicates that a large proportion of teacher candidates still do not have the necessary skills to deal with students from divergent upbringings. This interpretive study investigated the beliefs of pre-service teachers about urban students and how well their teacher education programs are addressing the issues of working in inner-city schools. The results revealed that, although some progress has been made, a significant gap …

“There’S No Big Book On How To Care”: Primary Pre-Service Teachers’ Experiences Of Caring, Hellen Kemp, Andrea Reupert

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study investigated primary, pre-service teachers' experiences regarding their caring role, and the barriers they face when caring for students. Thirteen Australian primary pre-service teachers were individually interviewed. Within a qualitative framework, transcripts were thematically analysed, alongside member checks. While results indicated highly individualised notions of care, common themes included difficulties in navigating the caring teacher role, the caring student-teacher relationship and gaps in training around notions of care. A continuum of care was identified, mediated by student and teacher factors as well as school location. This continuum provides a framework within which pre-service teachers might explore boundary issues.