Pre-Elementary, Early Childhood, Kindergarten Teacher Education Commons^™

“I Want My Students To Be Knowledgeable About Civics”: Supporting Pre-Service Teachers Through A Civics-Focused Plc, Helena M. Sands, Daniela Kruel Digiacomo, Laura Darolia, Carly Muetterties, Stephanie Mobley

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

This study describes a semester-long, civics-focused Professional Learning Community (PLC) with five elementary pre-service teachers (PSTs). Using inductive qualitative analysis of meeting transcripts, reflections, and field notes, three themes emerged: the PLC increased PSTs' confidence in integrating civics across the curriculum, built community through shared practicum experiences, and provided resources that broadened their understanding of civic learning. Findings suggest PLCs offer a promising structure for preparing elementary PSTs to prioritize civic education in their future classrooms.

“Do We Belong?”: Supporting Culturally And Linguistically Diverse Students Through Teacher Education, Morohunkeji Orija

All Dissertations

The population of students from diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds in K-12 education continues to increase, yet the teacher workforce remains largely homogeneous, predominantly White. This imbalance creates a cultural mismatch in educational settings. In teacher education, predominantly White teacher educators prepare predominantly White preservice teachers, further increasing this mismatch. In early childhood education (ECE), which spans birth to 8 years, racial mismatch can lead to misunderstandings and misconceptions, contributing to bias and manifesting as Racial Microaggressions (RMAs). RMAs are mostly unintentional, and research is needed to examine how preservice teachers can identify and address them, given their impact on …

Whose Histories Will A Genai Tool Generate? Prompting Chatgpt-4 For Diverse History Lesson Plans For The Cold War Space Race, Robert W. Maloy, Sai Gattupalli, Torrey Trust

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

This paper explores strategies for teachers to use in prompting ChatGPT-4 to develop diverse history lesson plans for the Cold War Space Race. Prior research showed that when given a single, broadly phrased “design a lesson plan” prompt, chatbots are less likely to generate material about experiences of African Americans, women, and other historically marginalized groups. We tried two alternative prompting strategies: a) Change the wording of the prompt to incorporate James Banks’ Levels of Multicultural Content Model, and b) Change the source of the content for the prompt by using teacher-curated materials from an open online wikispace, resourcesforhistoryteachers that …

Language And Literacy In Early Childhood Education: Hybrid Syllabus, Michele De Goeas-Malone

Open Educational Resources

Language and Literacy in Early Childhood Education is a capstone course, which means it is a core course in the education degree that offers students nearing graduation the opportunity to integrate their learning to help them address issues in education related to the development of language and literacy from birth to 8 years of age. This course is also a writing intensive course. That means that you will be engaged in several high and low stakes writing activities throughout the semester.

This course is designed to promote your understanding of the importance of issues concerning language and literacy in early …

Social Science In Early Childhood Education Open Syllabus, Denise Farrelly

Open Educational Resources

This syllabus provides a week-by-week outline of resources for teaching early childhood social studies for preservice teachers at the associate's level.

The Shifting The Balance Duology: A Book Critique From A Teacher Education Perspective, David Wolff

Essays in Education

Reading instruction has become a critical focus in many states in the country. Both in-service and pre-service teachers are adopting innovative approaches in reading instruction embedded in the Science of Reading. However, the transition to these new methods require a shift in practice that should be differentiated for both groups. In-service teachers have a wealth of knowledge and experience to draw upon, while pre-service teachers because of the lack of prior knowledge of past practices in literacy that include the Balanced Literacy approach. This book critique examines the Shifted the Balance duology, offering insights to its implications to Teacher Education.

Exploring Etymology Assignment Description, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

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

Home Of The Brave Book Study Assignment Description, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

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

Fish In A Tree Book Study Assignment Description, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

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

Language Learning Simulation Using Duolingo Assignment Description, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

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

Social Justice Integration In Stem Content With Early Childhood Education Pre-Service Teachers, Elyse D. Ledford

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Following the social justice education ideal of building from local sources of knowledge the purpose of this multi-case study was to develop describe and explain the ways pre-service teachers examined how pre-service teachers make use of social justice pedagogies in teaching STEM. The study was guided by the following research questions: In what ways do pre-service teachers make us of social justice pedagogies while planning STEM lessons for young children? In what was do pre-service teachers enact social justice pedagogies in STEM instruction for young children? This study explores the experience of three Early Childhood Education pre-service teachers who were …

Identity, Access, And Equity: An Exploratory Mixed-Methods Study Of Mathematics Identity And Socialization In Pre-Service Teachers, Ashley Renaire Davis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Teaching practices in early childhood through post-secondary learning settings continue to reproduce inequities in mathematics education despite recognition of math’s utility and its necessity for competitiveness in the global economy. For reform efforts to be successful, teachers must change the way mathematics is presented in classrooms where students often experience differences in exposure to mathematics content and time spent covering particular mathematics topics. Therefore, teachers represent a critical component in the cycle of reproduction of unequal access to mathematics. This mixed-methods study examined the processes of mathematics identity formation and mathematics socialization in a diverse sample of pre-service elementary and …

Student With Twice-Exceptionalities Iep Meeting Assignment Description, David Wolff

Open Educational Resources - Teaching and Learning

General education teachers should remember that all students are general education students, first. We need to be prepared to work with students of all abilities in our classrooms. As general education teachers, we have an active role on a child’s IEP team and an active role during the IEP meeting. This assignment asked preservice teachers to develop a script of what they would say at an IEP meeting of one character from four different novels that would be considered a child with twice-exceptionalities.

'Half Of It's Out The Window': Exploring Tensions, Hierarchies And Positionalities Amidst The Changing Knowledge Base Of Early Childhood Teacher Education Discourses, Lauren Armstrong

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Early childhood education is foregrounded in change. In Australia, this has encompassed the introduction, review and updates of national quality and curriculum frameworks from 2009, and changes to qualification requirements. Within the state of Victoria, further impacts have occurred due to the simultaneous introduction of a parallel curriculum framework. This paper draws on a qualitative study to examine how diverse teacher education discourses available to Victorian long day care educators have shaped their subject positions, discursive practices and reform engagement. Utilising Foucault’s concepts of discourse, knowledge and power, and Foucauldian Discourse Analysis [FDA], findings offer insight into how diverse teacher …

Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions And Knowledge Of Response To Intervention/Multitiered Systems Of Support, Alexandra J. Taylor, Tommy Wells, Amy E. Lein

Kentucky Teacher Education Journal: The Journal of the Teacher Education Division of the Kentucky Council for Exceptional Children

There has been considerable research that establishes the need to improve teachers’ knowledge of and ability to effectively implement response to intervention (RtI)/multi-tiered systems of support (MTSS), and there is a scarcity of research examining interventions addressing these concerns. In a mixed methods study, we examined the perceptions and knowledge of the RtI/MTSS frameworks of undergraduate preservice teaching candidates enrolled in a dual certification program at a small, private Catholic university in Kentucky, before and after participating in a semester-long, experiential learning project. The project involved monitoring both the reading and mathematics progress of struggling elementary or middle school-aged students …

Early Childhood Education Teachers’ Perspectives Of Their Self-Efficacy And Knowledge In Biliteracy Instruction, Magda Levin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The number of English language learners (ELLs) in early childhood education (ECE) continues to increase, particularly with students whose first language (L1) is Spanish. Recent studies have shown the connection between teachers’ self-efficacy and student achievement, but very few specifically address early childhood education teachers’ self-efficacy and knowledge of biliteracy instruction. Grounded in Bandura’s self-efficacy theory and Krashen’s second language acquisition theory, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore kindergarten (K) through third-grade teachers’ perspectives of their self-efficacy and knowledge of biliteracy instruction. Nine K through third-grade teachers responded to an online flyer, completed a demographics questionnaire, …

Positioning Dispositions In Initial Teacher Education: An Action Research Approach, Qilong Zhang, Joanne Hayes, Rawhia Tehau-Grant, Roberta Skeoch, Lois France, Ke Jiang, Ruth Barnes

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In spite of debate, ambiguity, and tension around teacher dispositions, in the past over two decades, the place of dispositions in initial teacher education (ITE) has been widely supported among policy makers and researchers. Specifically, debate on whether dispositions are teachable has largely given way to action to foster dispositions. Adopting a two-cycle participatory action research design, this study explored ways to teach the first-year teacher candidates’ dispositions in an early childhood ITE programme in New Zealand. The intervention included eight focus dispositions and corresponding strategies to teach each focus disposition. Data collection methods included student self-assessment surveys, individual and …

Emotional Dimensions Of Teaching In Elementary Education Preparation, Kathleen M. Crawford, Juliann Sergi Mcbrayer, Katherine Fallon

The Qualitative Report

Student teaching is a pivotal event in teacher education preparation programs, and there is a need to investigate emotions in teaching. This study examined how one elementary program navigated the emotional dimensions of teaching. Findings revealed that the emotional dimensions of student teachers were influenced by individualized factors unique to the teacher; certain emotions were perceived as more acceptable to express; and supervisors needed to support student teachers to manage and respond to the emotional dimensions of teaching. The recommendation is to go beyond the technical and academic aspects of teaching and address the emotional dimensions to best prepare the …

Aboriginal Community-Led Preservice Teacher Education: Learning From Country In The City, Katrina Thorpe, Cathie Burgess, Suzanne Egan

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

In Australia it is well documented that teachers continue to struggle with implementing Aboriginal content, pedagogies and engaging with Aboriginal communities. This paper describes a research project analysing place-based learning for preservice teachers at an urban university led by Aboriginal community members. We argue that place-based learning is critical in developing preservice teacher’s knowledge and confidence in Aboriginal education. Surveys, individual and group yarns provided in-depth data from 64 participants completing elective courses including place-based ‘Learning from Country’ (LFC) experiences. Three key findings emerge from the data. Firstly, the utility of an experiential ‘learning by doing’ approach, secondly, the profound …

The Exclusive White World Of Preservice Teachers’ Book Selection For The Classroom: Influences And Implications For Practice, Helen Adam, Anne-Maree Hays, Yvonne Urquhart

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

This paper reports on a study of the children’s book preferences of 82 Preservice teachers (PSTs) at one Western Australian University. The study found PSTs preferred older books published during their own childhood or earlier. Further, representation of people of colour was limited to only 8 of 177 titles listed by PSTs. Key influences on their preferences were their personal favourite books and those used by mentor teachers during practicum experience. The outcomes of this study have implications for curriculum development and implementation of Initial Teacher Education courses, and in turn, for equitable outcomes of the future students of PSTs.

Angry Like Me, Catherine-Laura Dunnington, Shoshana Magnet

Occasional Paper Series

In this article we take on a challenging picture book, The Heart and the Bottle written and illustrated by Oliver Jeffers, and how one preschool boy’s response changed us. As part of a three-center initiative to discuss hard feelings and grief with preschool learners, we teamed with six preschool teachers to read and work through this text. We explore how both the preschoolers’ and the teachers’ responses challenged us to look at how the disjoint between pedagogy (literature that says we should teach these types of texts) and practice (how this classroom experience actually unfolds) leaves much room for continued …

Misunderstanding Child-Centeredness: The Case Of “Child 2.0” And Media Education, Pekka Mertala

Journal of Media Literacy Education

This qualitative study demonstrates the kinds of pedagogical pitfalls that are included in simplistic understandings of child-centeredness in the context of media education, an emerging field of early childhood teacher education with only a little empirical research done so far. Course diaries from 15 preservice teachers were analyzed to find answers to the question: How do preservice teachers approach child-centered education in the context of media education? The main findings can be summarized as follows. First, preservice teachers approached child-centeredness as an all-encompassing principle that guides early childhood education. Second, media education-related issues - beliefs about children and media, ambiguity …

Early Childhood Teacher Perspectives Regarding Preparedness To Teach Children Experiencing Trauma, Christina Lombardi-Davis

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, approximately 26% of children will witness or experience a traumatic event before they turn 4 years old. Therefore, teachers must be prepared to meet the individual needs of children who exhibit symptoms of trauma. However, there is a gap in research regarding teachers' perspectives about how teacher preparation experiences influence teaching strategies and the creation of supportive environments for preschool children who have experienced trauma. Using Bandura's theory of self-efficacy, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore how teachers' perspectives about teacher preparation experiences influenced their teaching strategies and the creation of supportive …

Exploring The Experiences Of Male Early Childhood Aspiring Teachers, Tingting Xu

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

This exploratory study investigated the reasons why males chose early childhood

education and their lived experiences in a teacher education program. Qualitative data

were collected through interviews with twelve male early childhood pre-service

teachers. Results demonstrated that: Participates were passionate about teaching

young children. They were mostly supported by their relatives and friends in their

decision to become an early childhood teacher. They were positive about future career

opportunities but still had an underlying fear of losing job or being seen as sexual

predators. Meanwhile, participates indicated some conflicts might exist between the

field experience and program learning experience. They …

Building Teachers’ Emotional Competence: A Transactional Training Model, Caroline Fulton

Dissertations, 2014-2019

Classrooms are complex entities, where the emotions of students and teachers interact to influence learning, relationships, and students’ social emotional development. Teachers’ understanding of emotional processes within the classroom is critical to effective teaching, promotion of healthy child development, and attaining desired learning outcomes. Further, emotions have powerful consequences for teachers themselves. They affect teachers’ well-being, self-efficacy, and ultimately whether teachers remain in the profession or not. Therefore, teachers need skills to recognize and respond to emotional experiences in the classroom. In the present research project a set of emotional competences relevant to educational practices were developed. These competencies include …

Learning To Teach: Observing And Reflecting, Nancy Nager

All Faculty and Staff Papers and Presentations

This video series, “Learning to Teach,” provides a platform for professional development in early childhood education. It introduces viewers to compelling early childhood classroom footage accompanied by facilitated discussions about observations and teaching practices. You will get a hands-on look at how beginning teachers learn to closely observe children and engage in reflective conversations about children, materials, the classroom environment and themselves.

Facing Diversity In Early Childhood Education: Teachers’ Perceptions, Beliefs, And Teaching Practices Of Anti-Bias Education In Korea, Yerim Hong

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The changing composition of early childhood classrooms challenges teachers to be more responsive to the diverse needs of all children. This study explores the challenges and successes early childhood teachers experience with facing diversity in their classrooms. The purpose of this qualitative interview study was to investigate kindergarten teachers’ perceptions, beliefs, and teaching practices concerning anti-bias education in Seoul, South Korea. There were two groups of in-service kindergarten teachers, four teachers in each group, who participated in one-on-one interviews with structured and open-ended questions. The teachers in one group had more experience with teaching in diverse classroom settings than the …

Perceived Social-Ecological Barriers Of Generalist Pre-Service Teachers Towards Teaching Physical Education: Findings From The Get-Pe Study, Brendon P. Hyndman

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Identifying and understanding the perceptions of pre-service teachers (PSTs) is vital to informing teaching practices. The purpose of the ‘Generalist Entry into Teaching Physical Education’ (GET-PE) study was to investigate Australian generalist PSTs' perceptions of the barriers to teaching physical education (PE) classes. A social-ecological model framework (SEM) was uniquely applied as the conceptual framework for the GET-PE study to analyse, explore and understand the multiple levels of barriers perceived by the generalist PSTs. A myriad of SEM level barriers were perceived by the generalist PSTs (n=71) at the intrapersonal level (knowledge gaps, physical abilities, reduced confidence), interpersonal level (community …

The Complexity Of Practicum Assessment In Teacher Education: An Examination Of Four New Zealand Case Studies., Karyn M. Aspden

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Practicum is a key element of initial teacher education (ITE) programmes, designed to support the professional growth of student teachers. Practicum is also a key point of assessment, leading to a determination of the student’s professional growth and their readiness to teach and enter the teaching profession. This study sought to understand the way in which the assessment of practicum was enacted and experienced within New Zealand early childhood ITE programmes. Case study methodology was used to explore the experiences of practicum triads from four participating institutions. Data included recordings of triadic assessment meetings, post-assessment interviews with the student teachers, …

Spreading Out Its Roots: Bank Street Advisement And The Education Of A Teacher, William Ayers

Thought and Practice: (1987-1991) the Journal of the Graduate School of Bank Street College of Education

Describes the intricate and life shaping lessons learned by the author during his tenure as a graduate student at Bank Street College.