Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

United States Experience With Music The Arts Curriculum And Implications For Teacher Education, Lois N. Harrison

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

For many years, when music was integrated into the curriculum it was done by the primary classroom teacher weaving music throughout the school experiences of the children. With careful planning, social studies, spelling, maths, art, physical education, and other curricular components were enhanced by having music contribute to broader understanding of them, and by helping to make experiences within those curricular components more interesting. The children would have opportunities to sing songs of the countries being studied in social studies, to learn spelling words and number combinations through chants or songs, to develop works of art while listening to music, …

The Personal Construction Of Teaching And Mathematics Teacher Education, J. W. Mcqualter, W. G. Warren

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

With the expansion of schooling in the 1950s and 1960s there was a consequent flurry of curriculum activity. More pupils stayed longer at school and schools had to cater for a wider range of abilities and interests. New curricula were developed, old curricula revised to provide educational programmes for the changing clientele, and many curriculum projects initiated, covering all aspects of schooling. By the 1970s these curriculum projects had been evaluated and the evaluations provided new insights into the whole curriculum process. One insight of particular interest concerned the role of the teacher. What the teacher did in the classroom …

Computers In Undergraduate Teacher Education Programs, Neil Hall

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Clearly, there are many issues that need consideration when one seeks to analyse the role of computers in education. For example, how might computers best support the teaching/learning process given what we know about learning and teaching; what effects will computer technology have on school curriculum; how will presently employed teachers come to grips with this technological change; is all this talk about computer technology and the impact on education relevant anyway - is it more than a fad? In this paper I want to discusss the curriculum implications of computer technology for the infants and primary school. In particular …

The Collegial Alternative, Doug Ogilvie

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Professionals and managers promote authoritarian ideologies which justify their claims to privileges of authority The egalitarian, collegial ideology provides a genuine alternative that is particularly relevant to educators.

Less Idealism And More Realism : The Programme For Teacher Education, David Mcnamara

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

First, on a positive note, I wish to nominate three issues which are implicit in Fielding's paper which busy teacher trainers and educational researchers often set aside, possibly because of the disturbing consequences of thinking seriously about them. The first is that he is prepared to recognise the limitations, indeed failings, of contemporary teacher training* programmes, in so far as available evidence indicates that training effects are rapidly 'washed out' when beginning teachers enter the classroom and that, setting aside periods of school-based practice, students are disenchanted with teacher training courses (for example, see Desforges & McNamara 1977; Shaw, 1981; …

Some Implications Of A Non-Deterministic Model Of Teacher Development, Barry A. Sheehan, Ramon Lewis

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Since the 1950s, pre-service teachers and teacher educators have been caught in a quagmire of confusion as teacher education came to be held in increasingly poor repute. More recently, in Britain and Australia particularly, colleges and faculties of education took the major brunt of cuts in spending on education. Most of the old certainties - the certainty of a job at the end of one's training; the certainty of the absorption model of teacher training characterised by the 'give 'em a bit of everything and turn 'em loose' philosophy; the certainty of tenure in a college lecturing position - vanished …

Do Early Field Experiences Make A Difference In Perceived Professional Development And Commitment To Teaching Of University Students Preparing To Become Elementary School Teachers?, F. W. Sesow

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Although the concept of early field experiences in teacher/preparation programs is not unique, the attempts to measure the effectiveness of directed experiences in elementary schools for freshmen and sophomores is limited. These experiences have been included in preparation programs as a response to students and faculty feeling a need for direct concrete experiences during the early phases of the preparation program. This need is based on the theory that students should have concrete professional field experiences prior to enrolment in professional courses which should allow for greater understanding of the abstract theories and concepts of teaching and learning presented by …

Use Of Student Perceptions In Facilitating Improvement In Classroom Environment, Barry J. Fraser, Teresa Seddon, Jeffrey Eagleson

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Probably the best known and most widely used technique for studying teaching in order to improve it is classroom interaction analysis (Dunkin & Biddle, 1974; Peterson & Walberg, 1979). The coding ot classroom communication (usually verbal) according to category schemes has been used extensively and successfully in preservice and inservice education as a way of making teachers aware of and subsequently improving their own teaching. Used for this purpose, interaction analysis has provided teachers with a method of obtaining specific feedback on their classroom practice and a firm basis for reflection, discussion, and improvement related to their teaching.

As an …

A Research Base For Art Curricula In Teacher Education, Rob Fielding

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In order to determine the general achievements and attitudes of incoming student teachers into the Institute of Advanced Education at James Cook University, the author designed a series of tests which were used to indicate the chievements of students in terms of their knowledge and skills in the visual arts and the attitudes which they held towards this field. The information obtained in the author's opinion, is most helpful in the development of courses which most appropriately prepare student teachers for the role of teach ing art in the schools.

The Merging Of Institutions: Contextual Decisions And Teacher Training, D. M. Cavanagh

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

With the Fraser's razors in operation and the impending collapse of numerous College's of Advanced Education as independent autonomous institutions and the unitary vision of the Correy Committee on a teacher training style for New South Wales, certain cautionary warnings should be uttered concerning the direction that teacher training could take if such stupidity is allowed to go unchallenged. The necessity for such warnings is fairly obvious: (1) there may exist in the shuffle for compliance a built in bias towards rigidity in teacher training; (2) political expediency or economy may become confused as good common sense; (3) educational principles …

Student Variables: Adjust For Pre-Service Teacher Needs, David W. Van Cleaf

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Older students are returning to colleges and universities in ever increasing numbers. A recent article in "The Chronicle of Higher Education (Margarrell, 1981) reported that one third of the college and university population is now twenty-five or older.

College and university courses that were once populated by a relatively honogeneous group of younger students may need modifications. The older students are likely to be more mature learners and bring with them a wider experiential background. Therefore, assignments, instruction and experiences that were included to educate a younger population may need to be re-defined in order to address the educational needs …

An Ethnographic Approach To The Initial Professional Education Of Teachers, K. J. Stevens

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Educational ethnography has become part of the research tradition of both sociology and anthropology, that is, "research on and in educational institutions based on participant observation and/or permanent recordings of everyday life in naturally-occurring settings" (Delamont & Atkinson, 1980). While most graduate students of education will today be familiar with ethnographic research, this paper outlines a way in which first year students can also make creative use of some aspects of this approach.

During their professional education, pre-service teachers are expected to make the transition from the status of student to that of teacher. For some this is an abrupt …

Teacher Education - Today And Tomorrow, Geraldine C. Gilliss

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Teacher education today presents a formidable challenge to both policy makers and curriculum designers. In its broadest aspect, teacher education faces the same problems as the schools it serves - i.e., how to choose from the whole array of the world's knowledge the selection of information and skills which will most benefit its clients. In addition, teacher education works within much more stringent time constraints. While the predominant preparation pattern in Canada is the four-year Bachelor of Education, which may contain up to two years of professional content, the largest province and largest producer of teachers, Ontario, still adheres to …

Classroom Management: Managerial Functions In Teaching, Richard Coatney

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Classroom management has long been a concern of educators. Traditionally, the term has referred to the use of discipline by the teacher to minimize student disruptions in the classroom. Recently, conceptions of classroom management have emerged that are broader than the traditional one. For example, Berliner speaks of the teacher as an executive (1982).

Today's teacher is best conceived of as an executive. The modern teacher does not just dispense information, he or she really manages access to information. The modern teacher doesn't just give love, he or she provides environments that provide students security and rewards so they can …

The Early Childhood Multicultural Classroom: Implications For Teacher Education, Rita Kino

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article records findings and impressions gained from a selfbrlef·ing study of multicultural early childhood settings in British schools~ It begins by providing background information which motivated interest in the work. It presents the issues relevant to early childhood multi· cultural programmes around which questions were asked of ~nd administrators in a wide range of British early childhood settings. Conclusions are then presented, founded on replies to these These conclusions are useful for interpreting attitudes to the issues which are prevalent in Britain and may have a bearing in the Australi!ln early childhood setting.

Changes In Beginning Teachers' Attitudes Towards Individualised Teaching Approaches During The First Year Of Teaching, A. J. Rentoul, Barry J. Fraser

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

It is generally acknowledged that the beginning months of teaching can be a formidable and even painful ordeal for many teachers. For this reason, the beginning teacher has been the focus in a number of key studies conducted recently in various countries. The recent Auchmuty Report has recommended that teacher education research should include "Iongitudinal studies of the socialisation of teachers, covering ... the early years of teaching, with particular reference to the acquisition of professional attitudes and values." The present research is consistent with this recommendation because it represents one of the few existing studies of specific pedagogical attitudes …

Implentation Of A School-Based Science Programme : A Case Study, Adrianne Kinnear

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper tells the story of the first two years of a science programme which was planned and implemented by the staff of a local primary school. The programme formed the core of a submission for government funding as a school-based innovation. The study describes the degree to which the submission's aims were achieved and attempts to analyse the factors contributing to the project's outcomes.

Alternative Teacher Education Programmes, Leonard H. King

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In trying to determine how and why alternative teacher programmes evolved, a number of critical questions come to mind. For instance what is meant by the concept of alternative? What are some reasons for the existence of alternative programmes? For the purposes of this paper, an alternative teacher education programme will be viewed as the provision of a programme option to the regular programme, that is, another complete programme in a teacher education institution which is fundamentally different.

Beginning Teachers : A Review Of Research, David Battersby

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

During the 1940's and early 1950's a small number of studies of beginning teachers were completed. However, in the late 1950's, particularly in Britain and the United States, the joint problem of teacher shortages and the high drop-out rate of young teachers gave rise to a new wave of studies on beginning teachers. In the last two decades, the recognition of this need has resulted in reports of over 250 studies and a plethora of literature about the beginning teacher. In categorising this material, a broad distinction has emerged between the theory-based research and literature and that which is orientated …

New Wine, New Bottles : Some Recent Developments In History Teaching And Assessment In Victoria And England, David Stockley

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article examines recent developments in the structure and assessment of Year 12 Australian History in Victoria and discusses the assumptions underlying those developments. Comparisons are drawn with the Schools Council "History 13-16" Project in England. A number of implications stemming from these changes are then discussed in the context of teacher education. We shall see that a new wine of history content and method is now being put in a new bottle of assessment forms.

A Delphi Study Of Lecturer Role Performance, David Battersby

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The use of student rating questionnaires to assess the teaching performance of lecturing staff in institutions of higher education has been widely debated. In the light of arguments for and against student ratings, it seems realistic to suggest that the evidence gained from their use probably falls far short of a complete assessment of a lecturer's teaching contribution. However, if teaching performance is to be evaluated, then systematic measures of student attitudes, opinions and observations can hardly be ignored. It was on the basis of both these views that a study was undertaken in New Zealand which focused on the …

A Typology Of Teaching For Use In Teacher Education, Lewis Wilson

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Often when educators 'talk about teaching', they mention 'the nature of the child' and the expectations the child brings to the learning situation. Student teachers also bring expectations to learning situations in College. Though teacher educators inculcate respect in their students for pupil expectancies in school they can ignore the anticipations and concerns of their student teachers. A particular expectancy of many student teachers is that, while at College, they will be taught 'how to teach'. One can justifiably ignore this expectancy to a degree because ultimately each student teacher should develop his or her own style of teaching. To …

Teaching As A Career: The Facts, B. Lawrence

Research outputs pre 2011

The Claremont Teachers College commenced in 1902 with a course tn teacher education for thirty-seven (37) students and in the first two decades of the 20th century, courses were of either one or two. years duration. It wasn't until 1927 that the University of Western Australia established a professorial chair in education. It is interesting to note that the principal of the Claremont Teachers College was also the professor of education. In the 1930 1s, after the Depression, it was fairly common for teachers to undergo only very short courses in teacher education, these· often lasting only six or twelve …

The Teachers Of The English Teachers : The Influence Of The School, The Community And The Training Institution, D. M. Murison

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

At the moment, teacher educators are being forced to contemplate their contribution to the making of a good teacher more seriously than before. Those who feel most vulnerable are the method teachers, since the failures of students in their first year of teaching are most often attributed to the method teacher. I will take English teachers as my example partly because that is my area of immediate concern, partly because so many teachers trained in other areas find themselves teaching English at some stage, and partly because in most states English is a compulsory study up to the end of …

A Communicating Styles Survey Of Primary School Teachers In North Queensland, Brian Noad, Ken Stafford

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study has focused on identifying inservice primary school teachers' communicating styles. An underlying assumption is that no one style can be considered good or bad; and, no style is preferred as more right than another. However, if clusters of primary school teachers' communicating styles can be identified it could provide empirical data on the ways teachers transmit and receive information. Such data might be useful to teacher educators for designing and implementing inservice programs based on the ways teachers transmit and receive information. Hence, the effectiveness of inservice education efforts might be improved because they could be related to …

Work Experience And Trainee Teachers, Roger B. King, Bruce T, Haynes

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

An educational policy problem currently receiving some scrutiny is the advisabi lity of school teachers being persons with experience of work and life situations outside of educational institutions (See Williams, 1979, Vol. 1, p.99 and The Schools Commission, 1979). Proposals on this matter include enrolment of more mature age students in teacher training; requiring teacher trainee students to have significant work experience prior to or during their period of training; providing teachers with seminars and other interactive opportunities for improving their knowledge of industry, the world of work and the wider society; and providing opportunities for secondment of teachers to …

Training Teachers To Plan, Philip Deschamp, David Tripp

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

As part of an attempt to understand why teachers use particular approaches to planning, this study addressed the question of how primary teachers are taught to plan by training institutions in Western Australia. The main reason for conducting this survey was the assumption that, although teachers' planning is influenced by other factors (such as the particular requirements ofthe schools in which they teach, what they believe to be their role as teachers, and the characteristics of the particular students) a major influence, especially if they are new to teaching, is how they were taught to plan during their initial training.

Mature Aged Students In Teacher Education, Roger B. King, Bruce T. Haynes

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Mature age students in Teacher Education (21 and over on first enrollment) differ notably in what they look for in their course from the younger students. Analysis of a survey of third year Diploma of Teaching students’ ratings of the relevance of units for teaching showed that students over 25 years of age rated the Education and Educational Psychology units significantly more relevant to teaching than did the younger students. The older students also rated Language Arts units and a Remedial and Special Education Unit as significantly more relevant and Art Education units , Physical Education units and Science Education …

Application For A Change Agent Strategy In Dissemination Of An Australian Innovation, Barry J. Fraser, David L. Smith

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Several excellent reviews of the general education change and innovation literature exist and this literature indicates that a widely adopted strategy for planned development and dissemination of curriculum innovations has been the Research, Development and Diffusion (RD&D) model. This empirical-rational strategy involves the initial development of teacher-proof curriculum packages followed by mass dissemination which assumes that teachers' adaptation and translation problems have been largely anticipated and accommodated. The RD&D strategy, however, has recently provoked increasing skepticism because teachers and schools often have failed to adopt new curriculum materials, to implement them in ways envisaged by the developers, or to continue …

Attitudes Towards Migrants And Needs In Teacher Training : Some Research Findings, R. W. Sealey

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The area of immigrant education has become a major source of interest, concern, comment, and research in recent years. This interest has its origins in the concern felt and views expressed at various conferences that many pupils in our schools are in need of an educational approach which will take cognisance of their linguistic and cultural differences.