Longitudinal study of stages of beginning teacher development in a field‐based teacher education program

Abstract

Field‐based teacher education programs are part of a growing trend in education to provide long‐term classroom teaching experience and acculturation to the school environment as part of the certification process. This article reports on a study of stages of teacher development across ½ years of full‐time teaching as teacher candidates work to complete coursework in fulfillment of a masters of education program. Beginning teachers completed a Teachers Concerns Checklist at six points in the program. Factor analysis and ANOVA were utilized to develop a chronology of stages across these years to inform programmatic development. Findings suggest reduced concerns for classroom management as full‐time teaching begins and increased concerns for delivery of instruction as teachers are immersed in full‐time teaching. Strong concerns for professional development emerge only after a full year of teaching. Implications for the academic program, supervision, and future research are discussed     

Why do learning goals (not) work: a reexamination of the hypothesized effectiveness of learning goals based on students’ behaviour and cognitive processes

Explicitly informing students about learning goals has been argued to foster intentional learning. This study tested three theoretical hypotheses regarding the facilitating effects of learning goals by investigating 72 students’ actual reading behaviour and cognitive processes (i.e., the use of learning goals). Participants studied a text presented on 15 separate computer screens with/without learning goals. In line with the three hypotheses, the analyses focused on three aspects: students’ interpretations of the learning goals, information selection processes and monitoring behaviour. Results indicated variability among students in their perceptions of the learning goals in terms of goal consistency and specificity. Students in the learning goal condition recorded more goal-relevant information in their notes. However, only few students deliberately used learning goals to monitor their goal-directed activities while studying the text. Analysis of students’ reading behaviour and cognitive processes suggests that the absence of significant performance differences between the conditions can be explained by referring to students’ actual use of learning goals.     

Perceptions of Preparation for Teaching Competence by PGCE Students: a comparison of cohorts over time and changes due to legislated demands on a school‐based primary course

Peer observation has become a feature of university practice over the last decade, the primary impetus for its introduction being the political drive to raise teaching quality via the development and sharing of ‘good practice’. Peer observation within higher education (HE) involves observing colleagues in the classroom and has the further aim of supporting continuing professional development (CPD) through peer learning. This article is based upon a research study of a typical observation scheme as introduced within a new university prior to a quality review. It is underpinned by the deconstruction of the university's observation documentation and focuses upon the experience of a teaching observation trio taking part in this formal peer observation process over a 2‐year period, before and after a Quality Assurance Agency (QAA) subject review. The deconstruction of the university's documentation, combined with the actual experience of the observation trio studied, reveals issues of politics, power and pragmatics. A managerial discourse emerges with emphasis on compliance by lecturing staff and with an economic underpinning not actually supported by resources. Pre‐QAA, the observation trio complied with the management's requirements for record keeping but the process of peer observation opened up learning and development opportunities for them as individuals. Post‐QAA the trio members became focused primarily on their own objectives. Although management had sought control, the individuals involved developed and pursued their own, shared agenda of professional development.     

Target localization based on joint measurement of amplitude and frequency in a LOFAR field简

To estimate the motion parameters of a moving target before its passing by the closest point of approach （CPA） point in a low frequency analyzing and recording （LOFAR） field, an error-free theoretical method based on the joint measurement of target radiated noise＇s amplitude and frequency was presented. First, the error-free theoretical equations for target characteristic frequency, absolute velocity, the CPA, and amplitude of the radiation noise were derived by three equal interval measured values of the target amplitude and frequency. Then, the method to improve the calculation accuracy was given. Finally, the simulation and experiments were conducted in the air and showed the correctness of this method. By using one single piece of LOFAR, this method can calculate four target parameters and the relative error of each estimated parameter is less than 10%.     

A laboratory for education reform or a battlefield of donor intervention? : Local debates on primary education and the New Study Programmes in Benin

This article deals with the politics of aid partnerships in the education sector of Benin following an anthropological policy research approach based on empirical data. I present local debates on primary education and the New Study Programmes, the latest education reform introduced nationwide in 1999. The different perceptions of the reform content, its implementation process and its outcomes, articulated by education experts, policy makers, donors, intellectual critics, teachers and parents, illustrate the complexity of educational policy making and, implicitly, of state-building in transnationalised arenas.     

How to access the conceptions and theories that underlie teaching practices? A theoretical-methodological reflection based on dialogic discourse analysis / ¿Cómo acceder a las concepciones y teorías que subyacen a las prácticas docentes? Una reflexión teórico-metodológica desde el Análisis dialógico de los discursos

Abstract

This article discusses the methodologies used to access the implicit theories and conceptions that underlie teachers’ teaching practices, as well as the theoretical-methodological assumptions behind these approaches. The study was planned stressing the importance of inquiring into both subjectivity as a polyphonic construct and the practices inherent to different discursive genres, bearing in mind the theoretical and methodological potential of dialogic discourse analysis.     

From Dodge City to Emerald City: The Importance of Joseph E. Zins' Work in Teacher Education Programs: A Commentary on “The Scientific Base Linking Social and Emotional Learning to School Success,” a chapter by Joseph E. Zins,Michelle R. Bloodworth,Roger P. Weissberg,and Herbert J. Walberg

This commentary argues that Joseph Zins' work can contribute and enhance university-based teacher preparation programs. Focusing on secondary English Education, it examines how SEL competencies can improve the curricula and field experiences to support pre-service teachers.     

Cultivating Fertile Grounds: Enhancing and Extending the Scientific Base of Social and Emotional Learning: A Commentary on “The Scientific Base Linking Social and Emotional Learning to School Success,” a chapter by Joseph E. Zins,Michelle R. Bloodworth,Roger P. Weissberg,and Herbert J. Walberg

Joseph Zins was a forerunner in empirically demonstrating the interrelationship of SEL interventions and school success. This commentary highlights his perspectives on the accumulating body of evidence for the academic gains that have been associated with various SEL interventions and aims to show how new research methodologies can further extend the scientific support as well as enhance the cultural responsiveness of SEL interventions. A partnership approach to research is advocated for addressing three important research directions: defining and measuring social and emotional competencies, co-constructing intervention programs, and achieving system-level program integration.