Learning to teach: Effects of classroom observation,assignment of appropriate lesson preparation templates and stage focused feedback

This article focuses on improving the instructional quality of student teachers in elementary education. We developed a coaching approach involving classroom observation and appropriate lesson preparation and feedback templates. Using an untreated control group design with pre-test and posttest (n = 198), we answered the question ‘whether student teachers who learned to teach with the new coaching approach achieved a higher level of pedagogical and didactical teaching skills compared to student teachers who did not receive this approach’. The effect variable used was the observation instrument ICALT. We compared the average scores of the control group and the experimental group on the posttest (ANCOVA). The differences found on the posttest, after controlling for the confounding variables, were significant on all ICALT scales. These effect sizes are medium on the scales; ‘Safe climate’, and ‘Clear instruction’, and large on the scales; ‘Classroom management’, ‘Activating pupils’, ‘Adaptive teaching’, and ‘Teaching learning strategies’.     

On Teaching Adaptively

New theory on adaptive teaching reflects the social dynamics of classrooms to explain what practicing teachers do to address student differences related to learning. In teaching adaptively, teachers respond to learners as they work. Teachers read student signals to diagnose needs on the fly and tap previous experience with similar learners to respond productively. Adaptive teachers use their experience to form flexible groups for learning. Teaching adaptively is intellectual as well as technical, requiring quick response to learner variation. Adaptive teachers create a symbolic area at the center of the teaching ground, a space for easiest teaching. Adaptive teachers aim to keep the most number of students within that center to capitalize on skills across the class, challenge students to share experiences, and develop aptitude. Future work should capture the adaptive strategies of practitioners that illustrate the general principles described to create constituent elements of microadaptive teaching practice.     

More than just a group: teacher collaboration and learning in the workplace

Teaching is often characterized as an isolated activity, yet opportunities for teachers to work and learn together in schools are increasing. Underlying this shift is the view that as teachers work on new practices and teaching challenges together, they will express varied perspectives, reveal different teaching styles and experiences, and stimulate reflection and professional growth. Despite strong research interest in teacher learning groups, few studies have looked at the relationship between teachers' conversations and collaboration outside the classroom and their actual classroom teaching. Drawing on data from a larger study of literacy instruction with middle‐school teachers, this article describes how three teachers participated in an ongoing literacy program with a research group. Two were seventh‐ and eighth‐grade language‐arts teachers, the third was a special‐education teacher who taught a substantially separate class of cognitively delayed and learning‐disabled students. Case studies of each teacher draw on meeting observations, classroom observations and interviews to describe how each participated in after‐school meetings, how they used the work of the group in the classroom, and how they brought teaching successes and challenges back to the group. Although each of the teachers participated actively in the teacher learning group and changed their practice, the teachers with the most advanced teaching of literacy practices did not bring that expertise into the teacher group as fully as they might have. The analysis raises questions about how teachers participate and learn and how to structure teacher groups to maximize teacher learning.     

The Supporting Effective Teaching (SET) project: The relationship of inclusive teaching practices to teachers' beliefs about disability and ability,and about their roles as teachers

The Supporting Effective Teaching (SET) project consists of studies that examine the relationship between elementary general education teachers' beliefs about disability and ability and their roles in inclusive classrooms, and how these are related to teaching practices. Teaching effectiveness is operationally defined as multiple dimensions of teaching practices observed in inclusive classrooms. This paper examines previously reported and newly completed studies that investigate the characteristics of teachers in inclusive classroom settings, what they believe about their roles and responsibilities and about their students' learning, and how their beliefs relate to their teaching effectiveness with students both with and without disabilities.     

The challenge of balancing content and language: Perceptions of Dutch bilingual education history teachers

The role of subject teachers in content and language integrated learning (CLIL) has received little attention, since most research focuses on language learning results of students. This exploratory study aims to gain insight into the perceptions of Dutch bilingual education history teachers by comparing teaching CLIL with regular history teaching. We used questionnaires and interviews to collect data. Results show that bilingual education history teachers perceived their dual task as language and subject teachers to be challenging. Teaching in English also enriched their teaching skills and eventually had a positive influence on their level of job satisfaction.     

教师课堂教学情绪调节策略初探

教学不光涉及到知识的传递，而且关系到教学态度、教学情感等因素。其中，教师的教学情绪会对课堂教学产生重要的影响。教师在进行课堂教学时，必须随时对自己的情绪进行合理的必要调节，以良好的情绪状态和和谐的课堂氛围促进教学顺利进行。     

Transformations in learning and teaching through Initial Teacher Education

In England, little research has been carried out into how pre‐service secondary English teachers transform what they know as they learn to teach. They are seldom asked to reflect explicitly on the connections between the pedagogy of their undergraduate studies and their pedagogical experiences as student teachers. The initial teacher education committee of the National Association for the Teaching of English decided to explore these connections by asking student teachers on English Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses in five different university departments of education to respond to a series of questions at the start and end of the academic year 2004–2005. The questions fall into four broad areas: student teachers' experiences as learners at undergraduate level and developing ideas about teaching; the nature of the subject English; tensions encountered during the PGCE course; new learning about teaching. The purpose of this article is to discuss some patterns emerging from the research. The most prominent of these is student teachers' realisation that good teaching comes from teachers seeing themselves as learners. We argue that ‘reflexivity’ ( Moore, 2004 ) is a valuable way to help student teachers begin to understand this transformation from learner into learning teacher.     

国际汉语教师教育者的概念意涵及角色任务——基于教师教育者国际比较研究的启示

"国际汉语教师教育者"作为培养国际汉语教师的教师,是汉语国际教育和汉语国际传播的重要起点之一。其概念范围、层级划分和身份特征等可以从宏观、中观、微观三个层面分别进行界定。宏观概念的国际汉语教师教育者包括与国际汉语教师培养、培训相关的所有教职人员;中观概念既包括教师职前培养阶段的培养者,也包括入职、在职阶段的指导者和培训者;微观概念的国际汉语教师教育者特指汉教硕士的任课教师。国际汉语教师教育者的工作性质属于"二阶教学";教学目的是培养能适应国外中小学汉语教学需要的高水平教师;教学对象具有国际化特点。针对这些特性,国际汉语教师教育者在教学中应承担好"引领者""示范者""促进者""研究者"和"跨文化合作者"等角色职能。     

The Effect of a Collaborative Mentoring Program on Beginning Science Teachers' Inquiry-based Teaching Practice

This study investigated how a collaborative mentoring program influenced beginning science teachers' inquiry-based teaching and their reflection on practice. The one-year program consisted of five one-on-one mentoring meetings, weekly science education seminars, weekly mentoring group discussions, and self-evaluation activities. The participants were three beginning science teachers and three mentors at the middle school level (7–9th grades) in an urban area of South Korea. For each beginning teacher, five lessons were evaluated in terms of lesson design/implementation, procedural knowledge, and classroom culture by using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol. Five aspects of the beginning teachers' reflections were identified. This study showed that a collaborative mentoring program focusing on inquiry-based science teaching encouraged the beginning teachers to reflect on their own perceptions and teaching practice in terms of inquiry-based science teaching, which led to changes in their teaching practice. This study also highlighted the importance of collaborative interactions between the mentors and the beginning teachers during the mentoring process.     

Measuring and exploring the structure of teachers’ educational beliefs

This study explores the structure of French teachers’ educational beliefs. First, instruments to measure these beliefs are adapted and developed. Data is collected through focus group discussions and an online survey (n = 302). Factor analyses reveal a three-factor structure to measure teachers’ general beliefs about teaching and learning: ‘beliefs about student regulation of learning processes and knowledge construction’, ‘beliefs about teacher regulation of learning processes’, and ‘beliefs about knowledge reproduction’. Furthermore, a two-factor structure to measure teachers’ subject-specific beliefs about French language teaching is found: ‘traditional beliefs about French language teaching’ and ‘constructivist beliefs about French language teaching’. Second, this study explores the relationships between and within teachers’ general beliefs about teaching and learning and their subject-specific beliefs about French language teaching. Results show two distinct and independent belief structures: a traditional and a constructivist belief structure. Via cluster analyses, two clusters of teachers are found whose beliefs are consistent with these belief structures.     

Teaching efficacy beliefs of national board certified physical educators

The National Board of Professional Teaching Standards offers a voluntary advanced certification for K-12 teachers. The majority of teachers who pursue this professional development program live in the USA, although there are National Board Certified teachers across the globe. This study examined National Board Certified Physical Education Teachers’ (NBCPETs) teaching efficacy beliefs. In total, 334 NBCPET participants completed a demographic questionnaire and survey that included the Teacher Efficacy Scale. From that group, 65 were randomly selected and interviewed. Participants described perceptions of their abilities to influence learning and perceptions of how their teaching effectiveness compared to non-board certified physical educators. Teacher Efficacy Scale scores of respondents revealed strong Personal Teaching Efficacy (PTE), and their PTE scores were higher than their General Teaching Efficacy scores. Most NBCPETs expressed confidence in their abilities to influence student learning. Emerging themes related to their perceptions about their own teaching success were as follows: differentiated instruction, persistence, connection with and care for students, and work in a content area conducive to influencing students. While comparing their own teaching effectiveness with non-NBCPETs, most participants articulated a propensity to reflect on practice, a deeper understanding of and commitment to teaching effectiveness, and greater motivation to excel.     

The role of professional obligations in working to change one's teaching practices

Teaching practices do not change easily. In this article, we explore this phenomenon by viewing teaching as a cultural activity in which teachers' decisions are influenced by professional obligations. We present the cases of two secondary mathematics teachers and share data regarding their expressed goals, their perceived obligations, and their instructional practice. Our findings suggest that perceived obligations hindered the teachers' efforts to change their practice. We argue that efforts to help teachers realize their goals need to acknowledge, and perhaps position as resources, the obligations that teachers perceive as inherent in their professional role.     

The role of reflection on preservice teachers’ development in the context of a professional development school

As a faculty member teaching in an innovative, two-year Master's of Teaching program, I found myself reexamining my beliefs and assumptions about the role of reflection in preparing preservice teachers to become reflective practitioners. In the first semester of a four semester program, I introduced a three-part reflective framework (Loughran, 1995, Windows into the thinking of an experienced teacher. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, April.) designed to guide the preservice teachers in systematically reflecting on their lessons before, during and after teaching. The preservice teachers, mentors and I practiced and used the reflective framework for three semesters. In the fourth semester, during which preservice teachers taught in a paid internship position, I conducted individual interviews with the preservice teachers (interns) to explore their understanding and use of reflection. The results of the study suggest that use of the framework helps develop preservice teachers who actively think about their practice to improve their teaching and their students’ learning. Implications for using the reflective process in teacher education programs, particularly in professional development school contexts, are discussed.     

关于提高课堂教学驾驭能力的研究

教学质量能否提高,教学任务能否顺利完成,很大程度上取决于课堂教学。教师的教和学生的学,绝大部分都是通过课堂教学来完成的,因此,课堂教学是教师表演的平台,是教师驾驭教学的主要载体,提高课堂教学的驾驭能力,至关重要。本文拟从课堂教学的主体、课堂教学的内容、课堂教学的方法等方面进行论述,意在指导教师提高课堂教学的质量。     

“教学存在感”及实现路径辨析

"教学存在感"阐释了教学环境下建立良好学习体验的核心要义,其理论视角对于网络教学、面授教学以及混合教学中改进教学质量、提升学习体验具有指导价值,可作为建立有效教学的抓手。"教学存在感"是"社会存在感"在教育领域的投影,是指学生感知到的教师对其学习的指导和关注,该描述性定义揭示了有效教学过程的本质,适用于在各种情形下确定有效教学的特征。对"教学存在感"定义及其内涵的辨析,有助于理解其存在现实差异的原因,进而揭示影响其强弱的因素:一是教师对专业知识的精通程度,二是教师对教学方法的了解程度,三是教师建立学习共同体的能力。因此,教师可以从扩展专业知识的渊博程度、与学生沟通教学用意、提高教学的针对性等方面提升"教学存在感"。与此同时,为避免因过于强调"教学存在感"而带来的教师工作量激增,可采取如下策略控制实现"教学存在感"的工作量:一是采取有规划更新教学内容的策略以降低更新工作量,二是采取预防为主的策略降低答疑工作量,三是采取学生互助的策略降低回帖工作量,四是采取覆盖抽样的策略降低一对一交流工作量。     

美国洛杉矶教师发展和评价框架（TDEF）简介

2012年,洛杉矶教师联盟（UTLA）出台了新的教师发展和评价框架（TDEF）.该框架旨在“以一种综合、连贯的方式改进每一间教室中的教与学”.其基本框架包括两个部分：定期的多种测量的总结性评价和基于总结性评价做出的形成性的专业发展支持.后者又包括对熟手教师提供的专业发展活动和对非熟手教师提供的干预和指导活动.这些评价的依据都是加州教学专业标准.该框架的特点体现在四个方面：基于标准的评价定位、促进导向的评价信念、多种证据的评价依据、综合连贯的评价体系.     

When Teaching Makes a Difference: Developing science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge through learning study

It is a common view that developing teachers’ competence to restructure or reframe their knowledge and beliefs is inevitably a complex challenge. This paper reports on a research project with the aim to develop science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) through their participation in a learning study. A learning study is a collegial process in which teachers work together with a researcher to explore their own teaching activities in order to identify what is critical for their students’ learning. During one semester, three secondary science teachers worked in a learning study together with a researcher in a cyclical process in order to create prerequisites and further identify conditions for students’ learning. During the learning study, data were collected from video-recorded lessons and stimulated recall sessions in which the teachers and the researcher reflected on the lessons to analyze their development of PCK, their students’ learning and the impact of that knowledge on their own teaching. The results provide an insight into how the teachers developed their self-understanding in which they questioned their own epistemological beliefs, aims and objectives of teaching and taken-for-granted assumptions about science teaching and learning. As such, the study provides an understanding of teacher professional learning through a careful investigation of how teachers’ PCK is enhanced through their participation in the learning study, and further, how students’ learning might be developed as a consequence.     

“掌握——合作学习”教学模式在排球普修课教学中的实验研究

在充分研究＂掌握学习＂、＂合作学习＂两种教学模式的基础上,对两者进行优势整合,对两种教学模式进行整理和优化,并在排球普修课的技术教学中进行了教学实验。实验结果分析表明＂＂掌握——合作学习＂教学模式中＂反馈——矫正＂措施及评价手段为学生学习的掌握以及教师的再教学提供了强有力的保障,有利于学生对运动技术的学习与掌握。其异质分组、组内合作策略有利于学生的社交行为能力和学业成就动机的提高。反过来又对排球技术学习与掌握起到了积极促进作用。     

教师行为与学生行为的关系解析

教学行为同时涵盖教师教的行为与学生学的行为。教师的教是改进课堂教学质量的关键,是学校教学改革的着力点,是促进学生学的最重要因素,也是影响学生身心发展的关键。教学行为具有外显性、动态性、个体性、目的性、情境性等特性;根据不同维度,教学行为有多种分类。教师与学生能结成稳定的、持续的、牢不可破的关系就在于二者的活动与行为趋向具有相关性,有不可或缺且无法割裂的内在必然联系;但教的行为与学的行为是不同的行为,具有各自特有的性质与特点,故应以学定教、以教促学。