Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Teacher Mentoring Programme: A Vehicle To Support Professional Development For Improving The Quality Of Education In Districts Of Sindh And Balochistan Of Pakistan, Rakhshinda Meher, Asghari Ummulbanin, Ghazala Mursaleen

Book Chapters / Conference Papers

In general practices it is noticed that there is greater improvement in teacher’s performance if they refresh themselves by attending different professional development programmes. They start rethinking about their role as effective teacher and how to support novice teachers. In order to support the novice teachers and develop them professionally there is a need of quality teacher education programme. Literature reveals that “Teacher mentoring programs have dramatically increased since the early 1980s as a vehicle to support and retain novice teachers. The vast majority of what has been written about mentoring focused on what mentors should believe and do in …

Enhancing And Sustaining Teacher Professionalism In Pakistan, Meher Rizvi, Bob Elliott

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper presents a conceptual framework for fostering teacher professionalism in Government primary schools in Karachi, Pakistan. The framework identifies various stages for enhancing and sustaining teacher professionalism. These stages have been derived from in-depth multiple case studies of four Government primary schools in Karachi where reforms have been occurring. In order to enhance and sustain professionalism among the teachers they need to be provided with opportunities to expand their capabilities and, consequently, the reform managers will need to encourage them through various stages of development. Amongst the various stages are those of involvement, initiation and engagement and developing collaborative …

Reconsidering Teacher Professional Development Through Constructivist Principles, Kathryn Kinnucan-Welsch

Teacher Education Faculty Publications

Constructivism has been discussed from multiple perspectives, including philosophical, psychological, social, and educational. These perspectives, of course, overlap when we shape what we do in the day-to-day realities of teaching and learning. The perspective that I bring to this chapter describing the professional development of teachers is that constructivism is a theory of learning that suggests that individuals make meaning of the world through an ongoing interaction between what they already know and believe and what they experience. In other words, learners actively construct knowledge through interactions in the environment as individuals and as members of groups.

It is from …

Increasing Pre-Service Teacher Science Test Success With A Tutorial Cd, William Robertson, Brian Giza, Stephanie Kuehne

Selected Works Temporary Series

Pre-service teachers often perform poorly on high-stakes state certification exams. Noting that there were a few particular items and concepts that seemed to be the most problematical, the authors developed a n HTML and flash-based tutorial CD that contained supplementary video and reference materials designed to assist the prospective teacher in preparing for the exam. Research subjects were studied for their preparation for self-regulated learning, as well as language environment, content background, and other factors. Data from scores on the teacher certification exam was correlated with CD use and demographics to identify the effectiveness of the CD tool as an …

El Uso De Preguntas Y Descubrimiento En El Contexto De Química, William Robertson

Selected Works Temporary Series

This article, written in Spanish, describes the impacts of an effort to increase the teaching abilities of a group of Chemistry Peer Leaders working with undergraduates in fundamental Chemistry classes. The provided abstracts, in Spanish and English, describe the overall approach and the results obtained from the study done in the fall of 2005. A partnership between the College of Education and the College of Science at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) which was developed in order to strengthen the pedagogical methods within the context of chemistry content for student Peer Leaders. The goal was to enhance …

Field-Based Science Education With A Community Service Learning Focus, William Robertson

Selected Works Temporary Series

Field-based program of studies for future teachers provides opportunities for powerful learning through a dialectical union of reflection and action. Methods courses in academic disciplines are linked with seminars and coursework on community partnerships, critical pedagogy and culturally responsive education. This article illustrates the processes of planning, implementation and evaluation of this approach, highlighting the impacts of community service learning on parents, families, students, and schools with a focus on validating native language literacy, increasing parental involvement and providing conceptually correct science education. The project indicates that two-way dual language programs with a strong parent engagement component can help improve …

Increasing Pre-Service Teacher Science Test Success With A Tutorial Cd, William Robertson, Brian Giza, Stephanie Kuehne

Departmental Papers (TE)

Pre-service teachers often perform poorly on high-stakes state certification exams. Noting that there were a few particular items and concepts that seemed to be the most problematical, the authors developed a n HTML and flash-based tutorial CD that contained supplementary video and reference materials designed to assist the prospective teacher in preparing for the exam. Research subjects were studied for their preparation for self-regulated learning, as well as language environment, content background, and other factors. Data from scores on the teacher certification exam was correlated with CD use and demographics to identify the effectiveness of the CD tool as an …

Making Latin Concrete: Strategies For Teaching Latin Through Material Culture, Patrick Beasom, Lynne. Kvapil

Scholarship and Professional Work - LAS

We decided to address the issue of incorporating archaeology and material culture into classes devoted to Latin literature last spring, while Patrick was teaching Latin and Lynne was teaching Roman Civilization. Both of us were confronted with the danger of losing the interest of students who once had a burning desire to learn about the ancient world. Our aim is to offer up some suggestions for ways that, through collaboration between specialists in philology, history, and archaeology, we can keep the Classical world dynamic and relevant.

Field-Based Science Education With A Community Service Learning Focus, William Robertson

Departmental Papers (TE)

Field-based program of studies for future teachers provides opportunities for powerful learning through a dialectical union of reflection and action. Methods courses in academic disciplines are linked with seminars and coursework on community partnerships, critical pedagogy and culturally responsive education. This article illustrates the processes of planning, implementation and evaluation of this approach, highlighting the impacts of community service learning on parents, families, students, and schools with a focus on validating native language literacy, increasing parental involvement and providing conceptually correct science education. The project indicates that two-way dual language programs with a strong parent engagement component can help improve …

El Uso De Preguntas Y Descubrimiento En El Contexto De Química, William Robertson

Departmental Papers (TE)

This article, written in Spanish, describes the impacts of an effort to increase the teaching abilities of a group of Chemistry Peer Leaders working with undergraduates in fundamental Chemistry classes. The provided abstracts, in Spanish and English, describe the overall approach and the results obtained from the study done in the fall of 2005. A partnership between the College of Education and the College of Science at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) which was developed in order to strengthen the pedagogical methods within the context of chemistry content for student Peer Leaders. The goal was to enhance …

Role Of Reflection In Facilitating Teachers For Gender Sensitive Political Literacy Instruction, Sadaf Furqan

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper is written around the study that was initiated to analyze the challenges that students especially girls face in being developed as leaders in the political sphere. It was carried out to understand how a teacher educator could facilitate gender sensitive political literacy instruction in schools through action research. Reflection is embedded at every stage in Action Research. Reflection helps teachers in shifting the focus from what they teach to what students learn. The research process involved exploring, understanding and reflecting on teachers’ current perceptions and practices of gender sensitive political literacy instruction. Later, teachers were facilitated to teach …

From The Co-Editors

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

No abstract provided.

Quality In Education: Teaching And Leadership In Challenging Times. Vol. 2, Sajid Ali, Meher Rizvi

Books

No abstract provided.

Quality In Education: Teaching And Leadership In Challenging Times. Vol. 1, Sajid Ali, Meher Rizvi

Books

No abstract provided.

Research Summary: Characteristics Of Exemplary Schools For Young Adolescents, P. Gayle Andrews, Micki M. Caskey, Vincent A. Anfara Jr.

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

Two dangers are associated with any list purporting to include the characteristics of exemplary schools for young adolescents. One danger is a perception that the list is exhaustive—that it includes everything that needs to be considered. In reality, a list cannot capture the subtleties and complexities of schooling. A second danger is that each component will be seen as somehow self-contained, something that can be addressed in isolation. Instead, research demonstrates that the characteristics listed above are “an interacting and interdependent group of practices that form a unified whole… [that] must be dealt with holistically, systemically, to ensure success” (Jackson …

New Jersey Public Middle School Grades 7-8 Non-Tenured Teacher Perceptions Of Instructional Strategies That Impact Student Engagement, Jeanette M. Baubles

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Lights Up! On Teaching Hints For Novice Theatre Educators, Chelsea Cunningham

Honors Program Theses

With Playhouse interns coming from a variety of learning and teaching backgrounds, it occurred to me that there was a need for training that introduces all of these new, young teachers to working with all groups of students, grades K-12, in the theatre. Thus, I have created Lights Up!, a resource stripped of educational psychology jargon that is meant to help theatre students teach and to help education majors acquire the skill of using theatre as a tool.

Reflection In Action: Constructive Narratives Of Experience, Nilofar Vazir

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper examines narratives of experience from teachers’ lives. It locates teachers as academic constructors of knowledge and uses the cases of reflective practice and inquiry in the development of self‐knowledge. I explore teachers knowledge in light of my own understanding from literature, research findings on beginning teachers, reflections on my personal experiences; my development as a teacher overseas and in my country Pakistan. Most importantly as self‐reflection I offer Pakistan’s move to construct professional knowledge and my own attempt as a teacher educator to aspire towards that goal.

A Pakistani Teacher Educator’S Self-Study Of Teaching Self-Study Research, Ayesha Bashiruddin

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper describes a teacher educator’s self-study of work with her M.Ed. students at a private international university in Pakistan. This systematic inquiry highlights changes and improvements in teaching drawn from experiences of practice based on autobiographies. Analysis shows that improvement in teaching came from the author’s learning through self-study. Analysis also reveals implications for teacher educators and teacher education in general.

Why Learn Spanish? [7th Grade], Leigh Sheppard

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

No abstract provided.

Holocaust [8th Grade], Allison Grant

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

In this unit students will read Night by Elie Wiesel as a means for discovering the atrocities of the Holocaust. Our study will provide them with the opportunity to uncover the following understandings: prejudice generates powerful feelings which can lead to violent consequences and human suffering, suffering produces significant change in humans, and effective communication of the change in an individual can promote the growth of human society. As students read the nonfiction book and conduct research on the historical events surrounding the Holocaust they will answer the questions why does different matter? and can hope and despair coexist? Through …

U. S. Constitution [8th Grade], Ben Altman

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

In this unit, students will explore the U.S. Constitution. They will begin by analyzing the issues and debates of the colonial era that brought about the need for a more structured centralized government. They will then study the processes of creation and ratification, and examine how these processes have contributed to the documents longevity and success. They will further that examination by evaluating the actual words of the document. The culminating performance assessment will require students to create their own constitutional plan for the governance of their history classroom. They will present their plans to the class and examine the …

Cultural Justice [7th Grade], Kathleen Fenske

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

This unit focuses on cultural justice and how the type of justice implemented depends on the culture. The unit focuses on the 3 essential questions: What is justice? Is there truly justice for all? And is one culture's system of justice better than another? Along with these three questions, the unit also focuses on the 4 types of justice: revenge, retribution, rehabilitation, and restoration. This unit begins with reading Touching Spirit Bear by Ben Mikaelson, a story about a boy, Cole, who is sent to live alone on an island instead of being sent to jail for committing a crime. …

Obstacles: The Study Of Life's Hurdles Through Reading And Writing Personal Narratives [7th Grade], Nilima Patel

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

The study of writing and reading is all too often carried out separately. Students learn how to read and write in isolation; such learning proves to be limited. This unit aims to integrate these two studies into one. Students will study authors and the strategies they employ when writing. These strategies will then be applied in their own writing. Such strategies include developing characters and ideas, organizing ideas using the plot components, and cultivating writing through tone and mood.

Conflicts In Literature [8th Grade], Erin Phillips

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

In this unit, students will gain a greater understanding of conflict and its implications on life. The reading of short stories, biographies, and newspaper articles will guide the students in exploring the understandings that conflict brings about change, conflict is a catalyst of fiction, and that conflicts in literature can be applicable to our own lives. Performance task #1 invites students to delve into a newspaper article identifying the essential component of every story, (Does every story have a conflict?) conflict. The purpose is to locate the conflict and arrive at the conclusion that conflict is the determining factor of …

Family [7th Grade], Amy Nichols

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

In this unit, students will explore the different forms and meaning family can take. Throughout, there will be an emphasis put on a fluid definition of family. From the traditional mother-father-children to friends who are like brothers to a woman caring for her aging boss, this unit will use age-appropriate literature to guide an exploration of what family can look like. In turn, there will also be opportunities for exploration of how families choose to represent and define themselves. Additionally, there will be study of the importance of point of view. A story and a situation--can change dramatically depending on …

What Is Measurement? [8th Grade], Catherine Risinger

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

In this 8th grade unit, students will bridge their understanding of measurement from 7th grade Math to a new level which is required for the further development of Mathematical Skills. Students will gain a better understanding on the needed skills when solving for both direct and indirect measurement. Through the performance assessment students will design in small groups a 4,000 square foot home. Not only will students complete a scale drawing of their design they will also be building their design as well. This allows students to appreciate the amount of details that are required in the buildings that we …

Who Am I? [7th Grade], Lisa Shay, Judy Shaw

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

In this three week unit students will gain a better understanding of themselves and how their life experiences and environment have shaped them. Students will also understand that by gaining self-knowledge they are better able to set goals for their future. In order to better understand themselves, students will first examine others lives and obstacles that these individuals have overcome to achieve some level of success. Through this examination students will be able to discover that the past doesn t have to decide their future. They will gain an insight into how certain individuals have triumphed despite difficulties and have …

Matter [6th Grade], Anne Cowell

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

In this unit students will identify matter by its chemical and physical properties and begin learning how to write sections of a lab report. Students will also practice using scientific equipment especially graduated cylinders, beakers, and triple beam balances.

Historical Sources [7th Grade], Beth Mcphail

Understanding by Design: Complete Collection

This unit introduces the concepts and skills associated with historical research and interpretation. Students will learn how to identify primary and secondary sources and how to interpret sources in a variety of formats. They will learn how to identify bias and some of the reasons it exists. Students will apply these skills of analysis and interpretation in a performance assessment that asks them to interpret a variety of sources about a historical event. Students will create a presentation for their peers in which they explain this event, based on their source analysis. The purpose of this unit is to prepare …