Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Affordances And Constraints: Pre-Service Science Educators Co-Teaching In Support Of Ells, Steven Drouin, Katya Aguilar, Virginia Lehmkuhl-Dakhwe

Faculty Publications

Co-teaching has increasingly been utilized as an alternative model for the student teaching experience in pre-service education. Recent literature highlights potential for co-teachers to develop by engaging in cycles of inquiry in learning communities. The purpose of this study was to explore the experience of a science student teacher who engaged in cycles of inquiry around supporting English language learners (ELLs) in a co-teaching student teaching placement. This qualitative case study involved a science mentor teacher and a science student teacher engaged in a yearlong co-teaching placement. Data sources included surveys, interviews, and written and oral lesson plans and reflections. …

Countering Deficit Thinking About Neurodiversity Among General Education Teacher Candidates: A Case Discussion Approach, Grinell Smith, Colette Rabin

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

We have observed that many of the multiple-subjects teacher credential candidates in our program often reveal deficit views of autistic children. This report provides an example of how we help credential candidates learn to reframe deficit thinking about neurodiversity via the examination, discussion, and dramatization of a collection of dilemma-based case stories designed to help our students unearth preconceptions and engage in shared inquiry. One strength of this approach is that it asks candidates to develop specific and realistic plans of action, to adopt a care ethic requiring them to think and act from the perspective of the child, to …

Teacher Candidates’ Views On Self And Peer Assessment As A Tool For Student Development, Fisun Bozkurt

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This phenomenological research explores the opinions of social studies teacher candidates about self and peer assessment. It is a descriptive study using qualitative data from a sample of 21 teacher candidates. Research data were collected using a semi-structured interview and the researcher's observation notes. The data were analysed using the descriptive content analysis method. The findings showed that self and peer assessment could serve as a powerful learning activity rather than simply an assessment tool. The results also indicated that self and peer assessment support the development of skills, such as self-regulation, critical thinking and decision-making. Teacher candidates reported that …

Teacher Biography: Solo Analysis Of Preservice Teachers’ Reflections Of Their Experiences In Physical Education, John E. Haynes, Frances Quinn, Judith A. Miller

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Teacher biography, as a reflective practice, was implemented in the context of Physical Education in a primary teacher education course at a regional Australian university. Second year students were asked to provide descriptions of a critical incident they experienced at the primary or secondary level in a Physical Education or sporting context (N=214). Their responses comprised the data for this study and the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes (SOLO) Model was used to determine the levels of complexity of the responses to ‘alternatives for action’ associated with these incidents. More responses were multistructural (48%), than relational (24%), and unistructural (23%), …

Being And Belonging: Student-Teachers’ Contextual Engagement In Schools, Enda Donlon, Elaine Mcdonald, Sabrina Fitzsimons, Pj Sexton

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

While School Placement is long established as a central component of Initial Teacher Education programmes, there is an increasing awareness that these placement experiences should go beyond the practical activities most directly associated with teaching. This paper considers how engagement in a school placement period with a focus on non-teaching activities contributes to the professional and personal development of student-teachers, and to their sense of ‘belonging’ while on placement. Drawing primarily on the analysis of data obtained from online logs maintained by student-teachers during this predominantly non-teaching placement, it establishes the activities that they engaged in, and their reflections and …

Facilitating Pedagogies Of Possibility In Teacher Education: Experiences Of Faculty Members In A Self-Study Learning Group, Jason K. Ritter, Rachel Ayieko, Christie Vanorsdale, Sandra Quiñones, Xia Chao, Christopher J. Meidl, Laura Mahalingappa, Carla K. Meyer, Julia A. Williams

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

This collaborative self-study explores how seven members of a Faculty Self-Study Learning Group (FS-SLG) attempt to foster cultures of inquiry with teacher candidates. In so doing, we simultaneously describe a professional learning community of teacher educators engaging in reflective practice via the teaching, learning, and enacting of self-study methodology. Findings from this collaborative self-study highlight how we attempt to translate our own efforts to be more purposeful and reflective into our teacher education practice through modeling, as well as the tensions we felt in promoting a view of teaching as a process of critical inquiry. The discussion focuses on lessons …

The Demise Of Creativity In Tomorrow's Teachers, Elizabeth Alexis Bloom 4345947, Kjersti Vanslyke-Briggs

Journal of Inquiry and Action in Education

In the last several years a good deal of public discourse was devoted to describing the effects that more than two decades of education reforms, the last iteration of which was known as the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), has had on teaching and learning. It is widely argued that coupling teacher evaluations with students' test scores, enforced standardization, and over-reliance on testing for measuring achievement results in a deadened curriculum hyper-focused on math and ELA achievement, divorced from lived experience, the arts, sciences, and history (Ravitch, 2013). The specific focus of this study was to examine the consequences of …

Emerging Teacher-Leaders For English Learners: A Professional Development Model In Rural Florida, Raisa Ankeny, Nidza Marichal, Maria Coady

School Leadership Review

This paper describes an ongoing Professional Development (PD) program that aimed to prepare teacher-leaders for rural English learner (EL) students. We delineate the theoretical underpinnings of the PD design and describe the two-year graduate coursework program with onsite coaching in rural schools in detail. We define rurality and the context of ELs in the rural partner school district and describe the PD coursework, which was adapted to meet the local rural educational needs of the participants. At its outset, participants reflected on the overall PD through online discussions, surveys, and focus group interviews. Data revealed that the participants found the …

The Intersection Of Influential Reading With Writing In Multimodal Contexts, Grace Rusk Kerr

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Numerous studies have touted the importance of teacher self-efficacy on the motivation and achievement of their students (Ashton & Webb, 1986; Bandura, 1994 & 2002; Mojavezi & Tamiz, 2012). When teachers have high levels of self-efficacy (the level at which teachers believe they can affect student outcomes), their students achieve at higher levels and develop increased levels of motivation. By extension, we posit that if teachers have increased self-efficacy regarding their own writing abilities, it will translate into increased motivation and achievement levels for their students in the area of writing. The purpose of this three-article dissertation is to support …

A Deep-Er Practice For Educators: Reflecting, Unpacking And Confronting Racism Through Critical Performative Pedagogy, Natalia Ortiz

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In the current political climate, we have seen time and time again the killings of black and brown youth, witnessed the separation of immigrant families, and the mass murders caused by nativist xenophobic white rage. Teachers in schools across our country need to be better prepared to engage in critical race dialogues and need to understand their location in the larger educational system so to contest, rather than reproduce, racism. This study is based on the premise that teachers are not adequately learning about structural oppression that impact the experience of school children and are not trained in the art …

Knowledge Production And Power In An Online Critical Multicultural Teacher Education Course, Ramon Maile Cutri, Erin Feinauer Whiting, Eric Ruiz Bybee

Faculty Publications

This reflexive inquiry explores a teacher educator’s efforts to design opportunities for students to use their knowledge of social media and the Internet to contribute content to their online critical multicultural education course. Findings identify steps critical multicultural education pedagogues can take to design such opportunities: (a) identify contradictions in their practice, (b) take pedagogical risks, and (c) work with chronic tensions. Designing formal opportunities for students to identify and use content from social media and the Internet as learning resources and curricular content for critical multicultural education shifted the power relations in the course. These results demonstrate the potential …

Exploring Preservice Teacher Agency Influencing Power Relationships With Teacher Educators: A Multiple Case Study, Steve Hayden

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Teacher agency is the temporal and ecological understanding of a teacher’s capacity to make choices, take principled action, and enact positive change. A teacher’s agency relies on context and is measured on a continuum, with agency contingent on the reciprocal relationship between the individual and the structural environment. Structure influences teachers’ professional practice, but teachers must reciprocally influence power relationships within the structural school context to be successful and active contributors to the education process. Teacher agency is an essential dimension of effective professional practice because of its ability to highlight the required skillset of successful teachers. Because preservice teachers …

Implementing Narrative-Pedagogical Approaches In A Teacher Education Classroom, Pauline Swee Choo Goh

The Qualitative Report

Preservice teachers can no longer be prepared using conventional teaching approaches as these are inadequate to equip them with the necessary knowledge and skills they require to perform the tasks of teaching effectively. Teacher educators need to use new pedagogies, and narrative pedagogy is seen as a teaching method which can better prepare preservice teachers for the challenging classrooms of today. My study explored nine preservice teachers’ experiences after the enactment of a narrative pedagogical approach in one of their courses within their teacher education program. I used Ricoeur’s framework of the prefigured and configured arena of education to analyse …

“Now As A Teacher”: Novice Teachers Reflect On English Language Teacher Education In Iran, Leila Tajik, Seyyed-Abdolhamid Mirhosseini, Ameneh Ramezani

The Qualitative Report

This study relied on the reflections of 12 novice English language teachers and 3 supervisors to explore the status quo of teacher training in 3 private language institutes with headquarters in Tehran and about 420 language schools throughout the country. Extensive data collection was done through semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and teacher diaries as well as informal peer interviews and observation of occasional meetings of supervisors and teachers. To analyze data, an inductive analysis procedure was used. Findings revealed that current language teacher training courses in the context of concern may require different types of improvements with regard to …

Developing Digital Literacy Through Community Engagement, Elizabeth Truesdell, Rebecca Birch

Education | Faculty Conference Presentations

This case study describes how one department of education sought to increase knowledge of digital literacy amongst preservice teachers. Framed by the researchers’ Three-Tiered Model of instructional technology use, this project leveraged a community partnership and the implementation of “instructional rounds” to educate students in digital technologies. The mixed-methods study includes pre- and post-surveys results, structured observations, and student reflections. Initial findings indicate students’ enhanced digital literacy skills and a reciprocally beneficial partnership with teachers and administrators at a local high school. Ultimately, students who participated in this project led a community-wide professional development workshop.

Practicing Diploma In Primary Education At Government Primary Schools: Policy And Reality, Rabeya Khatun, Muhammad Salahuddin

Education, Health & Behavior Studies Student Publications

The Diploma in Primary Education (DPEd) is one of the significant advances of TED plan in Bangladesh. For ensuring quality primary education we need quality teachers whereas DPEd helps a lot. The main objective of this study is to explore the policy and practice issues for implementing DPEd at government primary schools. This study has followed qualitative research design as fundamental. Although it has been guided by empirical research method to collect and analyze the data, those data have been collected from both primary and secondary sources to meet the research questions. Using qualitative analysis method, it is found that …

Restoring The Political: Exploring The Complexities Of Agonistic Deliberation In Classrooms, John Ambrosio

Democracy & Education

This article is a response to a theoretical and philosophical examination of agonistic deliberation in classrooms, which requires accepting the legitimacy of perspectives that are outside of prevailing societal norms and the expression of political emotion. The author argues that students must develop certain dispositions to achieve productive ends in negotiations and that the role of teachers in the deliberative process must be clarified. He concludes that modifying instructional practices to include agonistic deliberation can potentially open up public spaces in classrooms for more inclusive and equitable deliberative practices.

Critical Awareness Of Media And Teacher Education: An Experience With Colombian Elt Pre-Service Teachers, Camilo Dominguez

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Media texts are exponentially displayed in physical and virtual public spaces and their impact on humanity is unimaginable. Teachers of all fields face the challenge and the responsibility to educate sensitive humans able to critically consume or produce media messages. English language teachers are no exception. In this paper, the author describes a qualitative research study exploring how a group of Colombian pre-service English teachers developed critical awareness of media as they deconstructed advertisements displayed in the public spaces of their rather rural communities. Findings, conclusions, implications for teacher education, and new questions for further research are presented.

A Program Evaluation Of Professional Learning Communities To Support Professional Development And Student Learning, Tiffany Scott

Dissertations

For this program evaluation, I examined the effectiveness of Professional Learning Communities (PLC) with regard to how it supported professional development for teachers and student learning at Sunshine Elementary School (pseudonym). The literature reviewed argues that PLCs are viable venues to develop teacher competencies as well as improve student-learning outcomes when implemented with fidelity. The methods in this study included surveys and interviews from teachers, coaches and administrators. There was also a review of the student achievement data to examine results against the perceptions of the study participants. The results indicated areas that were working well, and areas that were …

Context Is Critical: K-5th Grade Three-Act Math Tasks, Lindsey Herlehy

Publications & Research

Mathematicians view mathematics within interesting and natural contexts. In this session, participants will engage and explore Three-Act Math Tasks; a story-telling pedagogical strategy that elicits student curiosity, collaboration, and questioning while redefining the term “real-world context” and the role that students play in the learning process. Resources will be provided

Building Capacity In Teacher Preparation With Practitioner Inquiry: A Self-Study Of Teacher Educators’ Clinical Feedback Practices, Sherry Dismuke, Esther A. Enright, Julianne A. Wenner

Journal of Practitioner Research

This collaborative self-study of teacher educators’ feedback practices argues for an intentional process for teacher educators to develop an inquiry stance toward our own teaching. Data sources include formative observation forms, evaluations, observation notes, debriefings, surveys, researcher journals, and layered memos. Findings define influences and shared patterns of practice. Our professional learning from this self-study built our capacity as teacher educators by informing our development of an inquiry feedback cycle rooted in representations, approximations, and decomposition of practice (Grossman et al., 2009) to intentionally model and scaffold the development of an inquiry stance toward practice in our teacher candidates.

Examining Social, Cognitive And Teaching Presences In An Online Teacher Development Course Using Whatsapp And Community Of Inquiry, Glenda A. Gunter, Junia De Carvalho Fidelis Braga F. Braga, Jennifer L. Reeves

FDLA Journal

Over the last decade, advancements in digital technologies have raised the interest of educators in all areas. Mobile learning, specifically, has drawn great attention for its potential to promote opportunities for mediating peer interactions. Drawing on the Community of Inquiry framework Garrison, Anderson and Archer’s (2000), this paper reports a quantitative analysis of the 1,670 interactions among 38 [elementary/high school teachers of Portuguese from around Brazil who participated in a 7-week continuing education course via WhatsApp. The findings show a high level of social presence at moments that the construction of collective knowledge takes place during the course.

Exploring Professional Development: Examining Availability And Access To Professional Development For Educators Of Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Students, Karen Grace Clark

The Graduate Review

No abstract provided.

A Survey Study Of Elementary Teachers' Perceptions Of Student Classroom Behavior, Duane L. Davis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In a midwest, rural, and high-poverty elementary school, teachers expressed concerns about difficult student behaviors in their classrooms. It was important to address the problem because student misbehavior disrupts the learning of all students in the classroom. To provide information to the school that could inform possible interventions, a survey was conducted that measured the perceptions of 24 classroom teachers about concerning student behaviors, their methods of dealing with such behaviors, their needs for further support, and their confidence in dealing with difficult student behaviors. The conceptual frameworks that guided this study were the behaviorist theories of Watson and Skinner. …

Teacher Preparation And English Language Learners: The Negotiation Of Teaching Identities In Communities Of Practice, Eleni Giatsou

Dissertations

This dissertation unveils the identity formation and negotiation processes of teacher candidates, through their practice with English Language Learners (ELLs) in a field-based teacher preparation program. Identity, like learning, is socially constructed and continuously negotiated by someone's engagement in a community (Wenger, 1998). Thus, sociocultural theory and specifically the theoretical construct of communities of practice (Wenger, 1998), guided the exploration of candidates' teaching identities to reveal the processes of becoming a teacher of ELLs. I conducted a qualitative case study to examine candidates' teaching practices with ELLs at a surface level and the (re)construction of their teaching identities at a …

Addressing Teacher Shortage: A Historical Policy Study On Teacher Credentialing In California, Liza Moritz Mastrippolito

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Teacher education enrollment has decreased 74% since 2013. Simultaneously, attrition rates have increased, with 20-50% of new teachers quitting within the first five years. These combined factors have brought California into a new teacher shortage, necessitating fast-track pathways to credentialing. Fast tracks and lowering of requirements often result in teachers not being prepared to teach as they begin their careers, and as data illustrates, children in high-poverty communities of color are those who are predominantly taught by non-credentialed teachers. This dissertation is a historical policy study on how educational policies enacted in California to address shortage have affected the supply …

Romance And The Teacher: A Dissertation Revisited, Amy B. Spiker Ed.D

The Qualitative Report

This article is an auto-ethnographic study of my own deeply held metaphors about teaching and how I carry them into my university classroom work with preservice teachers. It is a continuation of a previously shelved dissertation. Ignited by a simple question during an encounter with a former student and research participant, this article looks at the dissertation work carried out previously through a new lens. The dissertation focused on my participants who were students and student teachers and their metaphors about teaching. Years later I was challenged to revisit this work and identify my own teaching metaphors. By holding a …

The Perceptions Of Efl Teachers About Their Pre-Service Preparation In Iraqi-Kurdistan, Nawzar Haji

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The booming economy in Iraqi-Kurdistan during the last decade attracted hundreds of international companies to the region. The young Kurdish workforce seeks secure jobs that are well paid in such companies. Therefore, they need to be proficient in English. Besides, in general the Kurdish young generation has a positive attitude towards English and consider it the language of science, business, economy, tourism and prestige. Hassan (2014) states that Kurdish-speaking people generally have a positive opinion about learning the English language and believe that having a degree in English means better chances to get a job.

Therefore, the Kurdistan Regional Government’s …

Teaching | Learning Is Emotional: Interpretive And Impressionistic Approaches To Exploring Emotions In Science And Science Teacher Education, Katelin Corbett

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation is a compilation of studies, on emotions in teaching and learning. My experiences as a teacher and student of physics have informed my perspective. These experiences as well as my role as a science teacher educator have contributed to my transformations. My work is interpretative and impressionistic. I attempt to address what is happening and why it is happening through my own interpretation, participant reflections, heuristic responses and dialogue with participants. My research community has also informed this work, as well as the preservice and inservice teachers that have participated in each of the studies. I consider this …

Lost In Translation, Kara M. Kavanagh

Dilemmas in Education: A Casebook for Ethical Reasoning

The majority of teachers in America would expect to and be prepared to teach the svastika symbol in relations to Nazi Germany, Hitler, the Holocaust, and as a symbol of White supremacy groups and hatred towards anyone who is not Blonde Haired and Blue Eyed. What would happen then, if a student doodled the svastika for fun or as an art project not related to the history or social studies curriculum?