Curriculum and Instruction Commons^™

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 8, Issue 2, Fall 2024

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full-length Spring 2024 issue (Volume 8, Issue 1) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version (with downloadable EPUB format) here.

The Fall 2024 issue presents practical ideas and prompts for those who teach at colleges and universities in a variety of disciplines. Articles ways to use popular culture (in this case, reality TV) to teach higher-level concepts; strategies for adapting Lesson Study techniques for preservice teachers; and a review of McNair et al.'s 2022 book on creating student ready colleges.

Supporting Preservice Teachers Of Color In Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Kimberly M. Korpita

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While learning how to become culturally and critically conscious educators and advocates for their PK-12 students, racially minoritized preservice teachers often feel isolated. More research is needed to learn how teacher preparation programs could consistently empower rather than isolate preservice teachers of color as they engage in coursework involving culturally relevant pedagogy.

This study focused on the experiences of preservice teachers of color engaging in culturally relevant pedagogy coursework in a K-12 teacher preparation program at a predominately White institution. In partnership with this teacher preparation program, one current preservice teachers of color, five former alumni of color, and three …

The Legacy Of Oscarville: Using Critical Participatory Action Research And Learning Teaching As An Interpretive Process To Sustain A Placeless Place, Leah Panther, Kristie Smith, Mary Mitchelson, Robert Bonner Jr.

Teaching Social Studies in the Peach State

The history of Oscarville, Georgia, nestled within the Lake Lanier region of North Georgia, remains both known and unknown, existing as a significant yet elusive part of local lore and historical retellings. This article delves into the innovative approach of a place-based critical participatory action research program, "Historicizing Oscarville," which engaged teacher candidates and educators in exploring the obscured history of Oscarville. The narrative uncovers the complex layers of settler colonialism, slavery, racial cleansing, and subsequent erasure that characterize Oscarville's past. By employing the framework of Learning Teaching as an Interpretive Process (LTIP) within a place-based education model, the project …

Course Correction: Examining 2020’S Middle Level Teacher Education Through A Critical, Antiracist Lens-A Collaborative Self-Study Of Teacher Education Practices, Kristie W. Smith, Kristina N. Falbe

Current Issues in Middle Level Education

The work of teacher education in a 2020’s context is challenging and filled with opportunity. With a diversifying P-12 student body (Love, 2020; Pitts, 2019) and the confluence of social, political, and educational factors (Nieto & Bode, 2018), the complexities of teacher education are vast and fluid. In a historical moment that has included teaching in a time of pandemic, national reckonings over race and injustice, and explicit legislation to guide teaching about social history (Kelly et al, 2023), effective middle level teacher education is multifaceted. It calls for the development of teacher candidates skilled in creating school environments that …

Play In The Undercommons: The Transformative Power Of Fugitive Practice In A Multiracial, International Teacher Inquiry Collective, Kushya Sugarman

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Though scholars have begun to position youth’s fugitivity, refusal, and disengagement as logical responses to hostile environments, and as part of a larger legacy of Black speculative planning and action, most teachers do not. Elementary teachers, especially in urban contexts, notoriously struggle with “classroom management” and teachers across contexts cite behavior challenges, such as “disruptive” behavior, as the number one challenge facing our schools. In fact, up to 50% of novice teachers leave the profession in the first five years due to students’ behaviors. This dissertation interrogates the common trope of the wayward student who must be controlled. I consider …

Facing Publishing Paralysis In Teacher Education: Book Critique Of Writing Your Journal Article In Twelve Weeks (2nd Ed.), Donna Zerr, Carissa Gober, David Wolff

Essays in Education

Our lived experiences as Teacher Education faculty in the realm of scholarly writing was filled with anxiety and trepidation. In the attempt to develop as writers, we participated in a professional learning community book discussion on Wendy Laura Belcher’s workbook, Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks: A Guide to Academic Publishing Success (2nd ed.). The text’s exercises helped motivate our steps through the writing process and developed productive writing habits for publication. This article is a critique of the book which helped us face and overcome our fears of writing with the intention to publish academic scholarship. The workbook …

The Role Of Language Ideologies In Curriculum Design: Possibilities In Computational And Digital Literacies Integration In Teacher Education, Jessica Velez Tello

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Literacy and language are linked in its usage, perception, and practice. As new forms of engaging with literacy are explored, digital practices and tools are being employed as useful supports for students and their language practices (García et al., 2017). As emerging technologies are further introduced in educational spaces, education programs have a role in shaping how computational and digital literacies (CDLs) are integrated and how teacher candidates and teachers learn about them, especially those who are being trained to become bilingual teachers or will inevitably work with emergent bilinguals and linguistically diverse learners^[1], as the intersections between …

Exploring The Occupational Socialization Of Ethnically Diverse Physical Education Teachers, Martin Vasquez

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

The first manuscript incorporates the theoretical frameworks of Critical Race Theory and Occupational Socialization Theory to offer Critical Race Socialization Theory as a conceptual framework to expand the importance of how we make meaning of race throughout teacher socialization. This framework emphasizes three critical race tenets - counter-storytelling, intersectionality, and challenging color blindness – that are applied across the stages of acculturation, professional socialization, and organizational socialization. This application highlights the unique challenges faced by diverse educators within different educational spaces. The second manuscript is a collective case study that explores the acculturation and professional socialization experiences of two ethnically …

The Impact Of Reflective Writing On Instructional Strategies Development: A Mixed Method Study On Prospective English Language Teachers, Fatema Naser Alshehhi

Thesis/ Dissertation Defenses

Reflective writing is a process in which individuals critically examine their experiences, thoughts, and actions to gain understanding and improve their performance. This thesis investigates the impact of reflective writing on the development of instructional strategies among prospective English language teachers in the United Arab Emirates. The study also explores their perceptions of using reflective writing as a tool for teacher development. The study employed a mixed-methods approach and was conducted in two phases. The first phase involved collecting qualitative data, including document analysis of reflective writings and semi-structured interviews with three prospective teachers. In the second phase, a questionnaire …

The Impact Of Reflective Writing On Instructional Strategies Development: A Mixed Method Study On Prospective English Language Teachers, Fatema Naser Alshehhi

Theses

Reflective writing is a process in which individuals critically examine their experiences, thoughts, and actions to gain understanding and improve their performance. This thesis investigates the impact of reflective writing on the development of instructional strategies among prospective English language teachers in the United Arab Emirates. The study also explores their perceptions of using reflective writing as a tool for teacher development. The study employed a mixed-methods approach and was conducted in two phases. The first phase involved collecting qualitative data, including document analysis of reflective writings and semi-structured interviews with three prospective teachers. In the second phase, a questionnaire …

Room For Breathing: Mindfulness, Currere, And Contemplative Practices In Teacher Education, Hongyu Wang, Jo Flory

Journal of Contemplative and Holistic Education

This paper explores the intersections of using autobiographical (currere) writing and mindful meditations as two forms of contemplative practices in teacher education, from the perspectives of both a secondary classroom teacher and a teacher educator. An experientially-based conceptual inquiry, it is contextualized through first-person autobiographical narrations reconstructed from the authors’ currere writings and mindfulness practices, in order to draw connections between both through the theme of making room for breathing. The pedagogical contexts surrounding how students practice mindfulness and currere in teacher education are discussed, and the body, emotions, temporality, space, and relationality are analyzed as intersecting and complementary …

Exploring Etymology Assignment Description, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

The English language is a borrowed language, a blend of words from many languages from around the world. We see this in the various ways sounds are represented by letters and letter combinations. In transparent or shallow orthographies, there is high predictability and consistent letter-sound correspondence whereas in opaque or deep orthographies, there are many ways to spell the same sound as well as there are many sounds for the same spellings (Burkins & Yates, 2021; Moats, 2020). This assignment description is a guided inquiry for preservice teachers to explore the concept of etymology by watching and reflecting on six …

Home Of The Brave Book Study Assignment Description, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

Individuals lead storied lives, and everyone has a story to tell. Our stories can be shared orally and documented in print. Often, learners are exposed to stories through novels and other trade books. Teacher educators may benefit from using the stories in novels and trade books as case studies in preservice teacher preparation course. This assignment description outlines how to use the novel, Home of the Brave by Katherine Applegate, as a case study to contextualize and understand the lived story of an individual learning a second language and living in a new country. Through the novel, preservice teachers experience …

Fish In A Tree Book Study Assignment Description, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

Individuals lead storied lives, and everyone has a story to tell. Our stories can be shared orally and documented in print. Often, learners are exposed to stories through novels and other trade books. Teacher educators may benefit from using the stories in novels and trade books as case studies in preservice teacher preparation course. This assignment description outlines how to use the novel, Fish in a Tree by Lynda Mullaly Hunt, as a case study to contextualize and understand the lived story of an individual living and learning with dyslexia. Through the novel, preservice teachers experience the dilemmas faced and …

Language Learning Simulation Using Duolingo Assignment Description, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

It is likely that preservice teachers will work with students learning English as their second (third, fourth, etc.) language. For preservice teachers to better understand the language learning process, Duolingo was used to simulate the learning experience. The assignment description outlines how preservice teachers can reflection pre-simulation and post-simulation about what they learned about language learning.

Looking Back In Order To Move Forward: Lessons From Covid-19 For Teacher Education, Kiersten Greene, Lizabeth Cain, Elizabeth Brennan, Brianna Vaughan

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

This article provides critical perspectives on education technology integration in a teacher education context in a post-pandemic world. The authors—two early career teachers, one in a pre-school and one in an elementary school, and two elementary teacher education faculty members at a mid-sized public university—use the U.S. Department of Education’s 2016 guiding principles for educational technology in teacher education for analysis. The commentary evolves directly from and reflects the authors’ collective experience across the P-20 spectrum in education technology, with close attention paid to what was learned during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent pivot to remote learning …

“I Changed My Mind”: Exploring Why College Students Change Majors To Become Teachers, Ross Bussell

Excelsior: Leadership in Teaching and Learning

While teacher education programs have long studied what draws students to choose a career in teaching, a less studied aspect of teacher candidates relates to students who change majors to become teachers. As a phenomenon that is common in teacher preparation, I am interested in better understanding why this happens. This article centers around six participants who began college choosing a science major, changing their course of study after at least one full year. Through questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, a discussion of what led the participants to change majors, what they were looking for when deciding to become teachers, and …

A Look At Diversity Through The Lens Of Universal Design For Learning And Differentiated Instruction To Better Educate Learners, Mokysha Benford

The Journal of the Research Association of Minority Professors

In addition to the COrona VIrus Disease (COVID) gap, the teacher shortage, and increasing accountability, schools and classrooms continue to grow more and more diverse. This diversity presents its own set of challenges as teachers are expected to meet the needs of all learners. In addition to linguistic, religious, gender, sexual preference, race, socioeconomic status, and family structure diversity, students bring their varied culture and prior experiences to the classroom, and this impacts learning. This article presents a critical review of literature that examines Universal Design for Learning and Differentiated Instruction to address the instructional challenges diversity can create. It …

Developing Horizontal Expertise With Professional Learning Communities In Social Studies Teacher Preparation, Charles Tocci, Ann Marie Ryan

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

As teacher education programs become increasingly organized around accreditation and licensure standards, finding opportunities to be responsive to teacher candidates' needs and interests has become more difficult. This paper traces the evolution of a professional learning community for secondary social studies teacher candidates as a key feature of one teacher education program and analyzes the collaborative projects designed for the purpose of developing horizontal expertise. We find that professional learning communities can serve as dynamic spaces to co-construct learning experiences with candidates in ways that prepare them for future professional learning as practicing social studies teachers.

Feeling Otherwise: Affective Enactments Of Teaching And Learning Among Youth Researchers And Early-Career Teachers In A Cross-Course University Collaboration, Karen Zaino

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study examines a cross-collaboration between early-career teachers enrolled in a graduate action research class and youth researchers taking part in a dual-enrollment youth participatory action research (YPAR) class at the same university. Grounded in critical youth studies, anti-colonial theories of the human, and queer-feminist studies in its approach to relationality, and drawing from transcripts of the combined class sessions and individual follow-up interviews, this critical narrative analysis seeks to understand how participants enact and experience the collaboration, with particular attention to how they understand and engage with one another. This study especially attends to the affective-discursive practices that participants …

On Becoming Online Educators: Developing Hybrid Learning-Centered Pedagogy, Rachel Toncelli Edd, Leila Rosa Phd

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this article here.

Recent global events pushed in-person learning to online formats. As K-12 teachers struggled with shifting from in-person to online teaching while adapting and adjusting instruction, and higher education prepared to do the same, two faculty members in a TESOL teacher preparation program joined forces to question assumptions about online teaching, reflect on praxis, and revisit pedagogy and practices through a critical autoethnographic study. Building from adult constructivist learning theory and collegial inquiry, the researchers utilized the pandemic as a stage for innovation and an opportunity to study their own ability, as …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 7, Issue 1, Spring 2023

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full-length Spring 2023 issue (Volume 7, Issue 1) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version (with downloadable EPUB format) here.

The Spring 2023 issue presents research and guidance on topics related to student self-reflection, participatory learning, and returning to the in-person learning following the COVID-19 pandemic. The first article takes a critical approach to understanding pedagogy with adult learners by involving students in the creation of course syllabi as a way to challenge ideologies related the roles of instructor and students. The second article blends research and narrative to explore how the experiences of …

K-12 Teachers’ Retention Of Arts Integrated Professional Development, Roxane Mcwilliams

Dissertations

Arts integration is an interdisciplinary teaching model in which the arts become a conduit for the contextualization and understanding of non-arts content. Research has shown this approach increases academic engagement and content retention (Rinne et al., 2011). The use of arts integration also provides gains for teachers. Teachers perceive their practice more innovative and better able to reach the needs of diverse learners (Bellisario & Donovan, 2012). For the benefits of arts integrated learning to be achieved, teachers must acquire the knowledge and techniques of this teaching model. This requires knowledge in both arts content as well as the pedagogical …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Six Modes Of Giving Pedagogy For Engagement And Wellbeing – For Teachers And Students, Thomas W. Nielsen, Jennifer S. Ma

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The present study took place across two outdoor education trips to the Great Barrier Reef with two groups of college students (N = 36; 16-19 years), five staff, and one of the authors (TWN). The aim was to explore how an explicit understanding and implementation of the wellbeing research around cultivating generous behaviour for meaningful happiness could be ‘experienced’ by staff and students and articulated as an educational framework, or ‘pedagogy’. Hermeneutic phenomenology was used to record and interpret pedagogical transactions of giving. Six repeated themes were identified: (1) exploration, (2) modelling, (3) explicit instruction, (4) incidental learning, (5) crisis …

Four Esol Graduate Students’ Hybrid Learning Through A Reflective Project: A Qualitative Case Study, Ho-Ryong Park

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This is a qualitative case study to investigate English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) graduate students’ learning experiences when completing a reflective project. Four graduate students in the United States participated in this study and completed the project to share their linguistic and cultural stories in a traditional paper-based essay format and in a multimedia format. The data consisted of a reflection paper, digital storytelling (DST), a project report, an oral presentation, and an interview, which were analysed through content analysis. The findings included participants’ learning of (a) language and culture, (b) language teaching, (c) language teachers’ responsibilities, and …