Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons^™

Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Teaching Science In A New Zealand Intermediate School, Yvonne Ualesi, Gillian Ward

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Concern has been raised globally that a lack of interest by teachers towards teaching science has a negative impact on the children they teach. While attention has been paid to the teacher as a contributing factor to students’ attitudes, less has been written about the attitudes of teachers. To bridge this gap, the current study examines six Year 8 teachers’ attitudes towards teaching science in a New Zealand intermediate school. Biographical data was gathered and individual semi-structured interviews were conducted that explored the teachers’ attitudes. van Aalderen-Smeets et al.’s (2012) framework, which takes a multidimensional view of attitudes, is used …

Teachers’ Phonological Awareness Assessment Practices, Self-Reported Knowledge And Actual Knowledge: The Challenge Of Assessing What You May Know Less About, Karyn Carson, Anne Bayetto

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study investigates the relationship between early childhood (EC) and early years’ primary school (EYPS) teachers’ phonological awareness (PA) assessment practices, self-reported PA knowledge and actual PA knowledge. Method: A survey design was employed whereby 102 registered Australian EC and EYPS teachers responded to questions regarding PA assessment practices, self-reported PA knowledge and actual PA knowledge. Results: The results showed: a) more than 80% of teachers use PA assessments, with EYPS teachers conducting frequent assessments and EC teachers conducting rare-to-occasional assessments; b) over-estimation of self-reported PA knowledge; c) low levels of actual PA knowledge; and d) high usage of observations …

Primary Pre-Service Teachers' Attitudes Towards Inclusion Across The Training Years, Corrina Goddard, David Evans

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Teachers are responsible for meeting the needs of increasingly diverse learners. Given their position as catalysts for educational change, teachers’ positive attitudes towards inclusive education must be considered prerequisite to its success in Australian classrooms. This study investigated the extent to which pre-service training affects pre-service primary teachers’ attitudes towards inclusive education. A survey was designed to examine such attitudes among primary pre-service teachers at all year levels of their Bachelor of Education (Primary). To reflect the increasingly broad definition of inclusion established in the literature, participants’ attitudes towards gifted and talented students, those learning English as a second language …

Trainee Teachers’ Learning About Collective Worship In Primary Schools, Imran Mogra

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article gives an account of a qualitative research project which investigated acts of collective worship (hereafter CW) in primary schools through non-participant observations undertaken by second year trainee teachers during one of their placements. The data were gathered from a range of schools across the West Midlands. The findings illustrate structural elements which show a lack of uniformity in terms of the venue and time. Religious leaders, classroom assistants and staff at all levels of responsibility deliver assemblies and CW. The focus of the content is diverse and includes religious and ‘secular’ material and events. Trainees learnt about the …

Australian Teacher Education Policy In Action: The Case Of Pre-Service Internships., Susan Ledger, Lesley Vidovich

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Studies on internships within initial teacher education have existed in literature since the early 1900s, they have espoused the benefits of experiential learning or critiqued the variance available in terms of structure, length of time and purpose. However, little research on teacher internships has been reported within a policy context. This study employs a modified ‘policy trajectory’ framework to capture the impact of teacher internship models emerging from policy reform in Australia driven by the National Partnership Agreement on Improving Teacher Quality Program (NPTQ). It highlights how policy contexts and practices are inextricably interconnected and influenced by key policy ‘threads’ …

Student Teachers’ Task Perceptions Of Democracy In Their Future Profession – A Critical Discourse Analysis Of Students’ Course Texts, Silvia Edling, Johan Liljestrand

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The education system is still important for establishing and maintaining democracy in society. In relation to this, it is reasonable to suggest that teachers’ different interpretations of their mission to teach for democracy will influence their teaching practices. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on student teachers’ task perceptions as a dimension of their professional role to teach for democracy in school. An analysis of Swedish student teachers’ course texts written as an assignment during a course focusing on democracy is conducted using critical discourse analysis as an analytical tool. The task perceptions are described according to …

Teachers Taking Up Explicit Instruction: The Impact Of A Professional Development And Directive Instructional Coaching Model, Lorraine Hammond, Wendy M. Moore

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In this study we measured the impact of a professional development model that included directive coaching on the instructional practices of Western Australian primary school teachers taking up explicit instruction. We developed and validated protocols that enabled us to measure teachers’ fidelity to the salient elements of explicit instruction and interviewed participants about the impact of the coaching program on student learning, their feelings of self-efficacy and attitudes to being coached. Numerical scores to indicate teachers’ demonstration of explicit instruction lesson design and delivery components changed positively over the five observed lessons and directive coaching had a positive impact on …

Classroom Ready? Pre-Service Teachers’ Self-Efficacy For Their First Professional Experience Placement, Kang Ma, Michael S. Cavanagh

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This study investigates the level of teacher self-efficacy (TSE) among 90 secondary preservice teachers (PSTs) before their first teaching practice and the factors which influenced their ratings. The Scale for Teacher Self-Efficacy (STSE) (Pfitzner-Eden, Thiel, & Horsley, 2014) was adapted by adding some open-ended questions. Data were analysed via SPSS and NVivo separately. Results show a relatively lower level of TSE compared with previous research and classroom management was of greatest concern. PSTs reported factors such as lacking teaching experience, previous informal teaching and other relevant experience, teacher education program, personal qualities and characteristics, and teacher-student relationship. Implications, limitations, and …

Effects Of The Instruction With Mathematical Modeling On Pre-Service Mathematics Teachers’ Mathematical Modeling Performance, Gulzade Karaci Yasa, Ilhan Karatas

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of the instruction with mathematical modeling on pre-service mathematics teachers’ mathematical modeling performance. The participants were 24 pre-service elementary mathematics teachers. A mixed method approach was used to conduct the research. Each week, the participants were given two mathematical modeling problems and solved them as a group. After that, each group shared their solutions with the class so that there was an opportunity to focus on different solution methods. The data was collected via a pre and a post mathematical modeling test. SPSS package program was utilized in order to …

Language-As-Resource: Language Strategies Used By New Zealand Teachers Working In An International Multilingual Setting, Nicola Daly, Sashi Sharma

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Research indicates that teachers can face challenges in knowing how to support language learners because they often have minimal training in teaching language learners in mainstream contexts (Martin, 2004; Sharma et al., 2011) and may consider language learners using their home language as detrimental to their learning (Franken & McComish, 2003; Mady & Garbarti, 2014; Planas & Setati-Phakeng, 2014; Winsor, 2007). In this article seven volunteer New Zealand teacher participants in a programme to support teachers with no formal teacher education in India are interviewed concerning the strategies used and observed with Indian colleagues when delivering a teacher support programme. …

Poems Found Among The Resolution Scrapbooks: A Teacher Narrative Inquiry, Cynthia M. Morawski

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Six pre-service teachers participated in a component of narrative inquiry that took place the week before their teacher education program began. The component offered the teachers a variety of multimodal activities, such as body biographies, teaching museums, and paper tearing representations, all making use of repurposed materials, to critically consider their recurring narratives in relation to their recurring pedagogical beliefs and practices. Handmade journals and resolution scrapbooks acted as places to reflect and record their responses (Author). For this paper, I turned to narrative inquiry supported by found poetry and focus on the part of the component that contains the …

‘Aboriginal Learning Style’ And Culturally Responsive Schooling: Entangled, Entangling, And The Possibilities Of Getting Disentangled, Greg Vass

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Arising from the author’s experiences as a high school teacher, and now teacher educator and education researcher, this article is motivated by concerns to do with ‘good’ schooling practices in connection with Indigenous education in Australia. More specifically, the paper critically considers the enduring and worrying influences of ‘Aboriginal learning style theory’, alongside considering the possibilities of culturally responsive approaches. While interest in culturally responsive schooling is growing, the argument put forward here is that concomitant with these efforts, more attention needs to be invested into teasing out how and why this approach differs from learning styles in significant ways, …

Learning The Words: Supervising Teachers And The Language Of Impact In An Initial Teacher Education Programme, Peter D. Brett, Noleine Fitzallen, Sue Kilpatrick, Chad Morrison, Bronwyn Reynolds, John Kertesz, Megan Quentin-Baxter, Casey Mainsbridge

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The language of “impact” has been foregrounded in the recent lexicon of Australian initial teacher education (ITE). How teacher education programmes and supervising teachers identify and assess the impact of pre-service teachers’ work with learners across a professional placement is a pressing issue for ITE providers. This paper reports on qualitative analysis of the language of supervising teachers’ summative assessments of pre-service teachers’ final-year professional experience placements in relation to impact. Analysis of written comments that addressed the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers Graduate Standards revealed that the language of impact is still emerging within the discourse of supervising teachers. …

Implementing An Interactive Reflection Model In Eap: Optimizing Student And Teacher Learning Through Action Research, Hale Kizilcik, Aysegul Daloglu

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In this article, the authors, a teacher-researcher and an English Language Teaching (ELT) professor, report on a colloborative action research study which investigated how integrating systematic reflection into academic English courses at the tertiary level fostered both teacher and student learning. Using constructivist theory as a framework, they developed an interactive reflection model in which the students and teacher engage in a two-way process of reflection to improve their performance. Through reflective dialogue and reflective writing tasks, students explored their strengths and weaknesses in relation to the tasks they performed. Reflecting with students and on students’ reflections became a journey …

Narratives Of Place And Land: Teaching Indigenous Histories In Australian And New Zealand Teacher Education, Richard Manning, Neil Harrison

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This article offers a trans-Tasman critique of approaches to the teaching of history in New Zealand and Australia. Taking knowledge out of place and time and presenting it in textbooks is a conflicted task for schooling in both countries. The disembodiment of knowledge in history books has led students to the proclamation that the teaching of history in schools is ‘boring’ and irrelevant to their lives. The authors seek a way out of this dilemma in proposing that the teaching of Indigenous history in schools must recognise that Indigenous historical narratives are intimately tied to the ecologies of places – …

An Application Of The Solo Taxonomy To Classify Strategies Used By Pre-Service Teachers To Solve “One Question Problems”, Joanne C. Caniglia, Michelle Meadows

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

: The purpose of this article is to report on the strategies of secondary mathematics pre-service teachers (PSTs) as they solved conceptually rich problems. Using the Structure of Observed Learning Outcomes by Biggs and C (1982) (SOLO) Taxonomy, 15 PSTs’ solutions (in groups of 3 or 4) were analyzed by a panel of three mathematics educators. In addition, the authors studied questions posed by PSTs during their student teaching experiences through video analysis. Questions were then categorized using Crespo’s criteria of problem posing. Results showed a significant majority of the problems posed were procedural while PSTs own problem solutions showed …

Is It Worth The Effort? Evaluating A Third Generation Research Method For A Third Generation Approach To The First Year Experience In Higher Education, Trevor S. Black, Romina Jamieson-Proctor

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

: The first year experience of students studying at higher education institutions has been intensively studied over the past forty years (Nelson & Clarke, 2014). Much has been learnt, but institutions are continuing to face unacceptable levels of student withdrawal. Concerns have been raised that the constructs on which previous studies have been based may be restricting researchers’ efforts to develop a deeper understanding of the first year phenomena (Kahu, 2013). There is strong support for new and creative ways to investigate the lived experience of first year students across their full first year of study. This paper details and …

Teachers Teaching Mindfulness With Children: Being A Mindful Role Model, Nicole J. Albrecht

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Mindfulness is taking a preeminent role in today’s education system. In the current study the author explored how experienced MindBody Wellness instructors make sense of teaching children mindfulness. The methodology of Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis combined with autoethnography was used to interview eight teachers from the United States and Australia teaching children mindfulness. In this article, the author discusses findings related to the theme of Being a Mindful Role Model. Participants, on the whole, felt that someone looking to teach children mindfulness needs first to connect deeply with the practices. They felt this connection was an elemental foundation in becoming a …

'Nobody Is Watching But Everything I Do Is Measured': Teacher Accountability, Learner Agency And The Crisis Of Control., Joanne Dargusch, Jennifer Charteris

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

It is widely acknowledged that there is systemic pressure on teachers to enact assessment practices that raise student achievement. In this article assessment related discourses that influence teacher and student classroom practices are examined in relation to initial teacher education. In Australia, preservice teachers (PSTs) are required to demonstrate assessment capability, promote student agency and monitor their practice impact on student learning whilst working in schooling ecologies that are marked by high stakes accountability measures. Processes that bridge university and in-school PST teacher preparation are an important consideration in developing assessment capability. It is argued that there are tensions in …

Professional Knowledge Landscapes In Online Pre-Service Teacher Education: An Exploration Through Metaphor, Frances Quinn, Jennifer Charteris, Peter Fletcher, Mitchell Parkes, Vicente Reyes

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper explores metaphors as a process of professional learning, and as a research method to interrogate professional knowledge landscapes (PKLs) within the flexible space and time of online pre-service teacher education. The methodology comprised five pre-service teacher educators with different disciplinary areas of responsibility engaging in metaphorical analysis of our teaching work. We found that the metaphors that frame our e-pedagogy are multiple, reflecting a range of theoretical positions and objects of our teaching work, sometimes internally contradictory notions of education and e-learning, and the complexities of our individual and collective PKLs. We argue that it is crucial in …

Lines Of School-University Partnership: Perception, Sensation And Meshwork Reshaping Of Pre-Service Teachers’ Experiences, Narelle Lemon, Anat Wilson, Catherine Oxworth, Agli Zavros-Orr, Bryan Wood

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

School-university partnerships are complex, entangled and layered. As renewal of initial teacher education is at the forefront, understanding how we approach partnerships is imperative. This paper draws on reflective narratives of a school leader and initial teacher education staff involved in setting up a school-university partnership program. We identify the use of ‘meshworks’, that is complex and layered weaving of ideas or lines (Ingold, 2011; 2015; 2017) – specifically the lines of ‘partnership’, ‘partnership understanding’, ‘involvement’, ‘supporting pre-service teachers’, ‘noticing of pre-service teachers’, and ‘impact’. The analysis of the findings illuminate benefits from co-design and vision, while demonstrating how a …

Inside The Mentors’ Experience: Using Poetic Representation To Examine The Tensions Of Mentoring Pre-Service Teachers., Sharon L. Mcdonough

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

The supervision and mentoring of pre-service teachers during professional experience is complex work that requires a range of skills and capacities. Professional development for this work has traditionally been limited, however, and mentor teachers report experiencing tensions in their work stemming from their roles as both supporter and assessor of pre-service teachers. Despite the central role that mentors play in professional experience, their voices are underrepresented in the literature. In this paper, I draw on interview data to examine teachers’ experiences as mentors and the tensions they experience. I use poetic representation to illuminate the tensions and emotions of …

Investigating The Potential Effect Of Race And Culture On Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions Of Corporal Punishment And Its Subsequent Effect On Mandated Reporting, John Kesner, Vera Stenhouse

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In the United States, not only are parents permitted to utilize corporal punishment in disciplining their children, but 19 states still permit the use of corporal punishment in schools. Teachers are legally bound to report suspected maltreatment, yet their school may engage in a discipline practice which they may consider abuse. This potential conflict depends on the teacher’s definition of “acceptable” physical discipline and abuse. Thus, teachers’ attitudes teachers towards corporal punishment and child maltreatment are critical.

Preservice teachers were surveyed about their attitudes towards corporal punishment, knowledge of child maltreatment and mandated reporting, personal experiences with corporal punishment and …

Rethinking Teacher Education For Classroom Behaviour Management: Investigation Of An Alternative Model Using An Online Professional Experience In An Australian University., Angela Page, Marguerite Jones

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper responds to the theory-practice divide regarding classroom behaviour management in teacher education. Qualitative interviews and surveys were used to investigate whether an alternative model using an online professional experience could improve perceptions of teacher education students’ beliefs, knowledge, perceived skills and confidence in classroom management. Teacher education students participated in an innovative Master of Teaching course designed to integrate ecological classroom management theory, video observation, and critical reflection in an online professional experience (practicum). Results indicated that participants, upon completion of the course, reported improvements in their beliefs, knowledge, perceived skills and confidence in classroom management. Additionally, in …

Challenges And Opportunities In The Introduction Of A Tertiary Education Program In Regional South Australia: A Case Study, Hannah Harvey, Sandra Walsh

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper explores the implementation of a Bachelor of Education program in regional South Australia. Using a case study approach, this paper describes the site of implementation, with attention paid to the challenges regional locations experience in attracting and retaining suitably qualified staff. It will explore the program model and consider the challenges and opportunities associated with the implementation and sustainability. At the individual level, it has provided students with an additional study option that negates the costs and stresses of relocation. At an organisational and community level, there is benefit for local schools as the provision of students and …

"Professional Learning On Steroids”: Implications For Teacher Learning Through Spatialised Practice In New Generation Learning Environments., Jennifer Charteris, Dianne Smardon

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

There is growing interest in innovative educational space design and the relationality of spatialised teaching practices. This paper addresses the characteristics of spatialised professional learning in newly redesigned or purpose built new generation learning environments (NGLE). The case study is situated within Aotearoa/New Zealand context, a country where there has been considerable policy focus and investment in NGLE. Data from principals who have established NGLE in their schooling settings is analysed, with consideration given to the preparation of teachers to take up spatialised practices. The study highlights key characteristics of spatialised PLD practice – fostering spatial literacy; professional cross-pollination; co-teaching …

Written Teacher Feedback: Reflections Of Year Seven Music Students, Kimberley Goh, Rebecca Walker

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Providing effective feedback to students is a significant issue for Australian educators. The ability to provide effective feedback comprises one of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and is seen as being a key element of quality teaching. Much research has been conducted into what constitutes effective feedback. Yet in spite of this existing knowledge, evidence suggests that feedback continues to be poorly received by students. The overall purpose of this research was to explore how ten Year Seven students (aged 12-13) reflected on and responded to written teacher feedback on a music history/appreciation project. Data from this pilot study …

Early Career Teachers’ Knowledge And Practice In Spelling Instruction: Insights For Teacher Educators, Grace Oakley

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Children who cannot spell fluently are likely to encounter difficulty in writing texts across the curriculum. Furthermore, spelling is often a component in high stakes tests, the results of which have significant implications for students and schools. In the context of debates on teacher quality, it is pertinent to examine the views of early career teachers on their preparedness to teach spelling. This article reports on a small scale study on the views, knowledge and practices of early career teachers in relation to the teaching of spelling, and their views on their pre-service teacher preparation. Participants were early career teachers …

Teacher Twitter Chats: Gender Differences In Participants’ Contributions, Stacey L. Kerr, Mardi J. Schmeichel

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Gender differences in participation were examined across four Twitter chats for social studies teachers. Analyses drawing on mixed methods revealed that while there was parity across most kinds of tweets, participants identified as men were more likely to use the examined Twitter chats to share resources, give advice, boast, promote their own blog/resource/website, and offer critique to another participants’ tweet. Participants identified as women were more likely to write tweets that included positive affirmations for other chat participants. These findings suggest that there are differences in the way that women and men tend to participate in teacher Twitter chat spaces.

Content Analysis Of Licensure Examination For Teachers: Traditional Vs Non-Traditional Teacher Assessment, Anne Marie Fordelon Bagadion, Tereso S. Tullao Jr

Angelo King Institute for Economic and Business Studies (AKI)

With the recently released report of World Economic Forum on Global Human Capital Report (September 2017) with the subtitle “Preparing People for the Future of Work,” the need for human capital development cannot be overemphasized. The report has identified four elements of human capital. First, CAPACITY – Level of formal education of younger and older generations as a result of past education investment. Second is DEVELOPMENT – Formal education of the next generation workforce and continued upskilling and reskilling of the current workforce. Third is DEPLOYMENT – Skills application and accumulation among the adult population. Fourth is KNOW-HO W –Breadth …