Education Commons^™

Early Childhood Coursework In The Preparation Of Teacher Candidates For Linguistically And Culturally Diverse Students, Jesus Castellon

Theses and Dissertations

The continual growth of linguistically and culturally diverse students in schools proposes a challenge for teachers to address their academic and linguistic needs. Therefore, it is important to note the preparation of new teachers to address these needs. The purpose of this study is to explore what teacher candidates understand about teaching in linguistically diverse settings. This study reviewed the coursework understanding of three teacher candidates as they progressed through a teacher education program. Coursework was analyzed and coded using the framework of knowledge, skills, and dispositions (KSD’s) to investigate what teacher candidates understood. Commonalties and differences between teacher candidates’ …

Critical Democratic Education: A Case Study On Controversy Deliberation And Its Effects Among Pre-Service Elementary Teachers, Shouqing Si

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The state of democracy facing expanding political division and pervasive racial and social inequalities. Discussing and deliberating controversial social and political issues functions help foster students' civic contribution. I conducted a qualitative case study and recruited 14 participants, with whom I conducted interviews, self-reflection, observation, and autoethnography. I targeted the primary research question: How do pre-service elementary teachers experience and get influenced by discussing social and public issues? I broke it down to six operational questions:

1. What issues are considered controversial by pre-service teachers in their future social studies classrooms?
2. What challenges do pre-service teachers perceive in controversial issues teaching? …

Elementary Preservice Mathematics Teachers Fraction Knowledge: An Integrative Review Of Research, Cody J. Perry

Educational Considerations

Elementary preservice teachers struggle with fractions and explaining them despite taking numerous mathematics courses. Therefore, they may have issues when they teach fractions and related concepts. Since fractions underlie many concepts like algebra, improving teachers’ fraction knowledge is imperative. This integrative review of research synthesized findings about teachers’ fractions knowledge to provide potential strategies educator preparation programs (EPPs) can use to improve fraction mastery. The literature shows teachers lacked conceptual knowledge, used incorrect strategies and too few representations, and misunderstood magnitude and manipulatives. However, number lines and teaching conceptually helped improve mastery of fractions. Resolving issues with fraction mastery may …

The Best Way To Learn A Pedagogy Is Practice: A Project-Based Learning Journey, Kelly C. Margot, Katherine Worden

Michigan Reading Journal

Project based learning (PBL) is an instructional practice that gives students an opportunity to learn while focused on sustained inquiry. The teacher becomes a facilitator of learning by guiding students through an inquiry-process that includes authentic learning leading to a student-created product that will be shown to an authentic audience. Preservice teachers often lack exposure to this type of inquiry-based learning from their own school experiences and may be intimidated by this type of pedagogy. This manuscript tells the story of one English preservice teacher’s experience learning to be more comfortable with PBL and the role teacher education played by …

Defining Intercultural Competence: How Four Pre-Service Teachers Developed A More Complex Understanding Of Icc, Elizabeth C. Barrow

Journal of Global Education and Research

This manuscript is one part of a larger exploratory collective case study of pre-service teachers who participated in a student teaching abroad program for one-month in Germany. The objective was to ascertain if and how pre-service teachers with no prior training in intercultural competence (ICC) developed both their understanding and conceptualization of ICC. Data was collected before, during, and after the experience via focus groups, individual interviews, journal entries, and program evaluations. Data was analyzed using a priori codes compiled from Bennett’s (2008) characteristics of affective, cognitive, and behavioral competencies of ICC. Findings from this study indicated that a short-term …

Creative Learning With Music And Mathematics: Reflections On Interdisciplinary Collaborations, Graham Johnson, Alesia M. Moldavan

The STEAM Journal

Culturally responsive content, accessible and inclusive tools, and meaningful interdisciplinary tasks can aid in developing equitable and creative learning environments. Music and mathematics are ideal disciplines for interdisciplinary creative learning. In this article, we reflect on our experiences engaging in interdisciplinary music and mathematics tasks with preservice teachers. In particular, we highlight specific efforts taken to design and implement a creative music and mathematics workshop for use in a mathematics methods course. Guided by these experiences, we offer examples of tools and practices that have helped preservice teachers collaborate, engage in inquiry, improvise, develop empathy, and take intellectual and social …

Lessons We Learned From Avatars: Cultivating Meaningful Preservice Teacher Online Experiences During Covid-19 And Beyond, Kristin M. Murphy, Janna Jackson Kellinger

Pedagogy and the Human Sciences

Like flight simulators used to train airline pilots prior to flying an actual airplane, mixed reality simulations provide an opportunity to interact with avatars in order to practice newly learned behaviors in an online environment. As teacher educators, we have used mixed reality simulations as a part of our coursework for the past five years. In this article, we discuss implications and lessons learned for teacher education practice and research in the online environment during COVID-19 and beyond based on our experiences using mixed reality.

Implicit Gender Bias In The Classroom: Memories From K-12 Education, Melissa J. Marks, Michelle L. Amodei

Journal of Research Initiatives

Implicit biases affect everyone in society, including within the K-12 education system. This study investigated what memories of implicit gender bias preservice teachers (PSTs) recalled from their K-12 education. These memories may be connected to the PSTs’ embedded implicit biases and indicate the long-term impact of teachers’ biases on students. A total of 141 undergraduate PSTs from two universities were surveyed regarding gender expectations and recognition of LGBTQ+ people. Results indicated an inconsistency between espoused beliefs and practices within the classrooms. Because schools often reflect society’s norms and perpetuate them through implicit bias, understanding what biases are currently accepted and …

Infographic: Teachers’ Requirements For Ongoing Professional Development, Zoe Kaskamanidis

Teacher infographics

The newly-released Education at a Glance 2022: OECD Indicators reports on the state of education in OECD and partner countries. In this infographic, we take a look at professional development requirements for pre-primary, primary, upper-secondary and lower secondary teachers.

Ungifted: Teacher Candidates’ Understanding Of Giftedness Through Literature Circles, Sharryn Larsen Walker, Wendie Lappin Castillo

Literacy Practice and Research

The purpose of this qualitative study was to analyze the reflective comments made by teacher candidates (TCs) after they participated in weekly discussions about the tween novel Ungifted by Korman (2012). The TCs attended at a regional Pacific Northwest university, majoring or minoring in various educational fields. After reading and discussing the topic of giftedness as it related to their engagement with the novel, the TCs wrote a reflective essay about their new understandings of teaching the gifted. Using the constant-comparative method, the essays from three sections of the course over a three-year period were read and reread for identifiable …

Thinking About Teaching: A Rural Social Studies Teacher's Path To Strive For Excellence, Dana F. Serure

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

Thinking About Teaching: A rural social studies teacher's path to strive for excellence by Casey Jakubowski (2020) offers insights about the macros and micros of teaching. The book is geared toward educators and teacher candidates who seek to know more about the teaching profession. The book comprises four parts, including: 1) an introduction of practice which details twenty brief chapters of hot education topics, 2) curriculum and instruction, 3) rural education, and 4) a conclusion that pinpoints recommendations about teaching based on his experience that spans twenty years in the education field. Throughout the book Jakubowski expresses his professional journey …

Committing To Anti-Bias Anti-Racist Teaching: From Activity To Habits Of Mind, Tierney B. Hinman, Elizabeth Y. Stevens, Tess M. Dussling, Nance S. Wilson, Amy Tondreau, Wendy Gardiner, Kristen White, Sophie Degener

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

With the need to prepare teacher candidates to work with an increasingly diverse student body in U.S. schools, a multi-institutional collaborative self-study group was formed to examine ways in which teacher educators could expand beyond practice-based literacy preparation to support candidates’ understanding and implementation of critical pedagogies. The self-study served as a catalyst for interrogating the identities the teacher educators brought to their practice and began a journey that transformed a focus on critical literacies into a commitment to action for change through anti-bias anti-racist work. This paper draws from group dialogue and reflective journals to examine specific practices implemented …

Incorporating Social Justice Education Into Teacher Education: A Book Review Of Communicating Social Justice In Teacher Education: Insights From A Critical Classroom Ethnography, Angga Hidayat

The Qualitative Report

Aubrey Huber's book is of great value to aspiring and current educators alike, providing a comprehensive analysis of how qualitative critical classroom ethnography can be applied to support social justice in the field of education. Through this text, readers will gain an understanding of the unique opportunity that classroom ethnography provides in terms of utilizing it as an actionable mechanism to respond to social injustices while balancing intertwined multiple perspectives. Teacher educators who use this text will obtain a deeper appreciation for the instrumental role qualitative research such as classroom ethnography plays in improving and reforming education. All in all, …

Learning To Lead Group Discussions: Teacher Education At The Intersection Of Content, Pedagogy, And Equity, Catherine M. Kelly, Elizabeth A. Fogarty, Suzanne Kabach, Kristi G. Tamte, Amy F. Smith

The Reading Professor

In this paper, five teacher educators explore the integration of practice-based teacher education pedagogies to support preservice teacher learning and enactment of large group discussion in fieldwork settings. We discuss our own insights into the shifts in our instruction as we focus more acutely on teaching high leverage practices through practice-based teacher education pedagogies. We share the units we taught with specific focus on the intersecting and overlapping knowledge related to content, pedagogy, and equity necessary for effective teaching through large group discussions. We discuss tensions that arose in our own practice and offer implications for teacher educators interested in …

Professional Teaching Standards And Inclusion In Teacher Education: Insights From A Hearing-Impaired Health And Physical Education Pre-Service Teacher’S Professional Experience, Donna Barwood, John O'Rourke, Dawn Penney, Andrew Jones, Jordan Thomas

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Initial Teacher Education (ITE) is a critical arena for advancing inclusion in Health and Physical Education (HPE). This paper reports research that is engaging with the diversity of the HPE profession and practitioners. It centres on a unique case study that critically explored the school-based professional experience of an Australian secondary HPE Pre-service Teacher (PsT) who has a hearing impairment. Specifically, to enable PST success in HPE professional experiences as defined by the professional standards for teachers in Australia and to which, PSTs’ must evidence to graduate and attain teacher registration. Drawing on documentary and interview data the paper focuses …

Strengthening Middle Grades Education: Editorial Remarks, James F. Nagle, Penny A. Bishop

Middle Grades Review

No abstract provided.

Internship Experiences Of Pre-Service Teachers: A Case Study Of Efl Korean Students In The Philippines, Gina B. Ugalingan, Aileen Bautista, Rochelle Irene Lucas

Journal of English and Applied Linguistics

Various studies on the different experiences of pre-service teachers who are non-native speakers of English emerged to strengthen the teaching curriculum and empower them to be equipped as they take the role of classroom teachers. Some foreign students even study abroad to strengthen their proficiency in the English language; more so, other teacher education programs offer internships abroad. Studies support that teaching internship experiences impact shaping novice teachers’ identity (Borg, 2003; Kim & Cho, 2014; Ulla, 2016). This case study describes the teaching experiences of eight Korean pre-service teachers during their internship. The participants were students under the program of …

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., …

Work Beyond The Work: Amplifying How Black Women Educators Experience Teacher Preparation Programs, Chéleah Victoria Googe

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The representation of Black teachers in the field of K-12 education has declined significantly in the last forty years (Ingersoll, 2011; Milner & Howard, 2004). Once considered a pathway to the middle class for Black Americans, teaching was a sought-after profession for Black folks for job stability (Collier, 2002). While there is extensive research on the experiences of teachers of color, and what might lead to their attrition in the teaching profession, Black women experience a specific intersection of race, class, and gender that affects their sustainability in the teaching profession that deserves exploration.

This qualitative research study examined the …

Of Course, My Own Teacher Education Impacts Others: The Quest Toward Erasing "Erasure", Thomas S. Poetter

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

The author uses an autobiographical approach in this article to discuss and reflect on his own past, that is of course filled with acts of erasure (by sitting still, living in ignorance, and remaining “neutral,” all acts of erasure that we routinely commit), by revealing a set of turning points in his life and life’s work. One particular recent experience has helped the author to recognize past mistakes, and to continue a significant amount of personal and professional movement that has been ongoing for several decades and has challenged many of his past assumptions about teacher education, public education, and …

Preservice Teachers And Curricular Matters: A Reflection On Field Sites As Transformative Spaces, Annmarie Dull, Elizabeth Chase

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Field experiences are essential to teacher preparation and education, and they are enriched by strong community partnerships where preservice teachers build knowledge from mentor teachers, families, students, and other stakeholders. The influence that the neoliberal agenda has on education forces preservice teachers and the preparation programs they attend to make difficult decisions about creating and sustaining these field experiences. In this paper, we call attention to the difficulties preservice teachers—and the preparation programs they attend—face when seeking to challenge social injustice and curriculum epistemicide. In so doing, we end with ideas for future consideration and scholarly inquiry.

Challenging Epistemologies Of Objectivity Through Collaborative Pedagogy: Centering Identity, Power, Emotions, And Place In Teacher Education, Camille Ungco, Rachel S. Snyder Bhansari, Manka Varghese

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

In this essay, we discuss how we have attempted to counter the ongoing dominance and (re)inscription of White supremacist, ableist, and settler colonial ways of knowing and being within an elementary teacher education program (TEP) through a consideration of identity and power, emotions and place-based pedagogy. Our approaches indicate means for regenerating and expanding upon marginalized epistemologies in TEPs, challenging curricular epistemicide, while our stories also indicate that these approaches and related ways of knowing are intertwined with our own identities, histories and felt experiences as well as challenges to our enactment of this work.

Teacher Professional Development For Disability Inclusion In Low- And Middle-Income Asia-Pacific Countries: An Evidence And Gap Map, Syeda Kashfee Ahmed, David Jeffries, Anannya Chakraborty, Toby Carslake, Petra Lietz, Budiarti Rahayu, David Armstrong, Amit Kaushik, Kris Sundarsagar

Assessment and Reporting

In the Asia‐Pacific region, around one‐third of the children who are out‐of‐school have a disability and given that teacher readiness and capability are key contributors for inclusive education, it is high time for a mapping of disability inclusive teacher professional development (TPD) interventions in this region. The key objective of this evidence and gap map (EGM) is to locate evidence on interventions for in‐service TPD focussing on education for the inclusion of students with a disability in low‐ and middle‐income countries (LMICs) in the Asia‐Pacific region. A broad range of bibliographic databases and repositories were searched electronically to identify the …

Infographic: Duration Of Initial Teacher Education In Years, Zoe Kaskamanidis

Teacher infographics

The newly-released Education at a Glance 2022: OECD Indicators reports on the state of education in OECD and partner countries. In this infographic, we take a look at the duration (in years) of initial teacher education for teachers in public institutions around the world.

Individualized Clinical Coaching With Bug-In-Ear: Enhancing Fidelity Of Implementation Of Behavior Specific Praise Among Novice Teachers Of Students With Developmental Disabilities In Rural Classrooms, Dennis P. Garland Ph. D.

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

Five novice special education teachers in rural classrooms received individualized clinical coaching (ICC) via the Internet to increase their use of behavior specific praise (BSP) with their students who had developmental disabilities (DD) during clinical supervision. Web cameras provided opportunities for the teachers to be observed during their regularly scheduled classroom teaching. The participants received brief coaching prompts through a wireless earpiece that they wore while teaching. A single subject multiple baseline across participants design was used to determine if a functional relation existed between the ICC and the rate of BSP use per minute for each of the participants. …

Early Childhood Supervision: Tensions In The Advancement Of Developmentally Appropriate And Social-Justice Oriented Practice, Sarah Jean Baker, Sascha C. Mowrey, Denise Cunningham

Journal of Educational Supervision

This case examines the complex interactions among university faculty, teacher candidates, and school-based mentor teachers during supervision. In early childhood, among other skills and dispositions, the use of developmentally appropriate practice and an equity focus are important to the overall advancement of teacher candidates’ practice. However, supervisors do not have oversight of the classrooms in which early childhood candidates are placed for field experiences. In some cases, teacher candidates may be expected to conform to or demonstrate practices themselves which are not developmentally appropriate, or which are inequitable. What is the role of the supervising faculty member in these cases, …

Persisting In The Age Of Covid-19: School-University Partnership To Promote Equity-Oriented Teaching And Learning, Susan Y. Leonard, Gayle Andrews, Allie Loder, Taera Oconnor, Brooke Wilson

Middle Grades Review

The authors describe collaborative efforts between novice teachers and their former university teacher educators who partnered to design and enact equity-oriented teaching and learning experiences for teacher candidates and young adolescents despite limitations, barriers, and disruptions generated by COVID-19. Observations and feedback from students, teachers, and leaders speak to mutual benefits that the partnership generated. Authors will describe their collaborative processes, feature artifacts from the activities, and discuss implications for future practice.

What Counts As Rigor When Rigor Counts?: Increasing Intentionality In Teacher Education, Derek Riddle, Chyllis E. Scott, Leann G. Putney

Taboo: The Journal of Culture and Education

Debates regarding the effectiveness of teacher preparation programs continue to persist. The level of rigor in teacher preparation programs and the ability of teacher educators to prepare candidates for the challenges persist in the educational climate. In higher education, rigor has been well-defined, but the understanding is limited, specifically rigor in preparing new teachers. This study undertook a telling case approach to explore student and faculty perceptions of rigor in a teacher preparation course. This research “leans in” to the criticism of rigor by exploring how teacher preparation programs can match the rigor and demands of the profession and to …

Contemporary Children’S Literature In Education Courses: Diverse, Complex, And Critical, Jennifer Graff, Lauren Aimonette Liang, Miriam G. Martinez, Amy Mcclure, Deanna Day, Mary-Kate Sableski, Jackie M. Arnold

Literacy Practice and Research

Contemporary Children’s Literature in Education Courses:

Diverse, Complex, and Critical

While research has established the importance of children’s literature in classrooms, the inclusion of children’s literature courses in teacher preparation programs increasingly faces resistance. A team of children’s literature and literacy education scholars conducted a national survey of children’s literature courses in P-8 teacher certification programs to better understand the role these courses currently serve. Survey questions centered on course types, formats, descriptions, goals/objectives, readings, and assignments. Initial analysis focused on a comparison of undergraduate and dual-degree programs, and further analysis of a subset of undergraduate courses involved cross-data comparison …

Disciplinary Literacy In Practice: Examining How English Teachers Read Literary Texts, Matt Cantrell

Literacy Practice and Research

This study investigates the viability of disciplinary literacy by (1) examining whether English teachers can use disciplinary methods to read a disciplinary text and (2) identifying possible relationships between teacher training and the use of disciplinary approaches. In total, 21 English instructors thought-aloud as they read an unfamiliar poem, and two independent raters evaluated each transcribed response as either “Disciplinary” or “General” depending on the types of reading strategies demonstrated using a rubric generated from previous expert-novice studies in literary reading. This study found that ten (10) of the 21 participants used at least one disciplinary method to make sense …