What are the problems with teacher supply?

This paper is based on our studies of teacher recruitment and retention. Using official statistics from a variety of secondary sources, it builds on our previous work on the changing demand for teachers by exploring issues of teacher supply in the UK. Our findings suggest there is no overall shortage of applicants to initial teacher education and training (ITET), and the number of applicants and places are now higher than at any time since 1982. There were, however, almost as many unsuccessful as successful applicants to ITET courses, despite some recruitment targets not being met. Furthermore, it was not clear how these targets were set and whether they included an estimate of trainee attrition and/or the number of successful trainees expected to enter the teaching profession. There were imbalances in the supply of teachers, with many more female than male trainees. The majority of trainees were in their twenties, with the chances of being offered a training place decreasing with age, despite the uneven age profile of the contemporary teaching profession. There are important structural limitations to teacher supply, particularly in relation to the number of graduates in maths and science subjects. Improving teacher recruitment in these areas is, thus, dependent on increasing the number of students continuing to study these subjects in post-sixteen and higher education.     

英国职前教师教育课程现状述评——以爱丁堡大学莫雷教育学院和伦敦大学教育学院为例

本文以2006年度爱丁堡大学莫雷教育学院BED课程计划和伦敦大学教育学院PGCE课程计划为例,透析英国当前的职前教师教育课程,对其现状、特点及负面效果进行阐述分析。作为他山之石,英国的职前教师教育课程可以对我国的教师教育改革有所启示。     

在重点专业中打造精品课程——《学前教育原理》课程建设设计与实施

《学前教育原理》是中央财政支持重点建设的学前教育专业的核心课程,对其它课程的学习起到了概括、统摄和凝炼的作用,在教师教育课程改革中始终起着基础关键性的作用。近几年来,课程组组成强大的教学团队,在课程目标的设定、内容的选择、网络资源建设、课程使用的绩效等方面做了很多工作,成为学前教育专业课程建设的示范。     

加强实践教育培养学生的综合创新设计能力

根据新世纪人才培养的目标,加强实践教育,以培养学生的综合创新设计能力。转变教育理念,课程设计与创新设计相结合,实现课内外结合、基础理论与动手制作结合、相关课程结合;实验教育与工程实际相结合,提高综合运用知识的能力;师生互动和团队学习相结合,体现以学生为主体,以教师为主导的教育思想;知识教育和素质教育相结合,培养开放性人才、复合型人才、创新型人才。     

The Use of the Internet in Science Teaching: A longitudinal study of developments in use by student‐teachers in England

This paper reports on a longitudinal study of developments in use of the Internet by science student‐teachers on Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) courses in five higher education institution–school partnerships in England. These are 1‐year, full‐time, teacher training courses for graduate scientists. The aim of the research was to examine changes in attitudes to, and use of, the Internet to support science teaching and the perceived challenges and barriers to practice in schools, against a background of high national expectations reflected in the qualification standards of the teacher education courses. The research has involved nearly 600 student‐teachers, representing between 7% and 8% of those training on PGCE science courses in England, and has employed mixed methods, with questionnaires serving as the main basis for analysing trends, and focus groups and case studies used to gain deeper insight to the particular issues identified. The process has been an iterative one, with the outcomes of each year’s research being used to inform further research and course developments in the institutions involved. The findings indicate that attitudes and confidence in use of the Internet have improved over the period, with evidence of increased application directly in the classroom. However, in addition to some of the generic technological issues that may hinder developments in the use of Information and Communication Technology in schools, there are continuing concerns relating to limited pedagogical guidance and availability of good role models. The implications of this for developments in science teacher education programmes are discussed.     

Subject Matter Knowledge in a Master of Arts in Teaching Program: Ensuring candidates’ content knowledge through an arts and sciences/education collaboration

All teacher education programs face the challenge of ensuring that their graduates know their subject matter and can teach it effectively. For graduate level teacher education programs, whose candidates may complete their education in the content area at various institutions, this challenge is even greater. The following article describes one institution’s system of assessing candidates’ content knowledge and efforts to incorporate additional content coursework into a Master of Arts in Teaching program. Also provided is information on a set of courses that the arts and sciences and education faculty team teach, with the course for prospective English teachers described in detail.     

高师院校教师教育类课程教学团队建设探析

教师教育类课程教学团队建设是提高高师院校此类课程教学质量的重要保障。该文从论证高师教师教育类课程教学团队建设的必要性出发,并在分析了教师教育类课程的特点及教学团队性质的基础上提出团队建设的相关措施。     

Persistence and withdrawal by students in a preservice science and mathematics teacher education course

At a time when recruitment into preservice teacher education courses in mathematics and science is difficult, one strategy to increase the number of graduates is to minimise the number of students who fail to complete their university courses. This study sought to determine factors which distinguish withdrawers from persisters in the first semester of a B.Ed course. Discriminant analysis was employed; a discriminant function employing seven factors resulted in correct classification in 81% of cases. Further analysis distinguishing between dropouts and transferees resulted in two discriminant functions with some common variables. Specializations: Science Education, Pedagogy. Specializations: Science Education, Inservice Teacher Education, Metacognition     

Disposition assessment in teacher education: A framework and instrument for assessing technology disposition

Abstract

This study proposes and verifies the concept of a technology disposition in teacher education, which is comprised of predisposition and competence. It examines the reliability and validity of a measure of the technology disposition of teacher education students, the Technology Disposition Scale for Teacher Education Students (TDS‐T). The TDS‐T is comprised of two subscales: technology predisposition and technology competence. In this study, the TDS‐T was completed by 656 teacher education students. Results showed the proposed disposition model of predisposition and competence had significant relationships with gender and class year. Male students had significantly higher overall technology disposition scores than did female students, but these differences were due to the male students' strong self‐concept, especially self‐confidence. Students technology competence level was significantly higher for seniors than for sophomores, and the overall technology disposition scores significantly increased from students' junior to senior years. The TDS‐T demonstrated content validity through factor analysis and convergent and discriminate validity through item analysis. The value for Cronbach's alpha was .93, indicating highly satisfactory reliability.     

两所高校通识选修课相关政策对比研究——以华中师范大学、湖北第二师范学院为例

通过对华中师范大学与湖北第二师范学院两所大学通识选修课相关政策的对比分析,发现两所学校通识选修课在开设目的、开课模块与考核方式等方面相同,在管理机构、开课条件、学分要求与设置、政策支持等方面不同。指出湖北二师为提高人才培养质量,真正实现通识教育的目标应从加强对通识选修课理念的理解,设置通识选修课程实体性机构,优化课程结构、课程内容、上课时间,加强通识选修课程师资力量建设等方面着手改进。     

Teaching Philosophy of Education: The Value of Questions

The teaching of foundations courses, and in particular philosophy of education, is frequently under siege in teacher education programs across Canada, as these programs struggle to meet other demands on student teachers. This article results from a panel discussion addressing the context of a variety of undergraduate philosophy of education courses across the country, and the principles and practices instructors take in teaching their discipline. The result of the discussion is a strong argument in favour of teaching philosophy of education as an important means of achieving many of the other aims Faculties of Education and teacher education programs have for their teacher education students, in an atmosphere of reflective thought about the profession and its challenges.     

Comparative education in primary teacher education in Ireland and South Africa

Comparative Education as a subject or course on teacher education curricula mainly continues to be taught in Ireland, some African and East European countries and a few colleges in Ireland, the UK and several universities in the USA, Canada, Western Europe, Latin America and Australia. This research compares Irish and South African students' experiences of their Comparative Education courses. The article commences with a survey of literature on the position of Comparative Education in teacher education, a portrayal of the contextual background of South Africa and of Ireland, and a brief synopsis of the pre-course survey of students' expectations, upon which this study builds. Subsequently the research method is explained and the results presented. Three findings emerged from this study. The first is the valuable role of Comparative Education in teacher education. The second is the role of contextual factors in determining the significance of Comparative Education in teacher education. Thirdly, the centrality of clients (i.e. students) is critical to the future of Comparative Education in teacher education.     

ENTERPRISE AWARENESS IN TEACHER EDUCATION: AN EVALUATION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN INSTITUTIONAL POLICY MAKING AND IMPLEMENTATION

Investigations into EATE's particular style of development, and its effectiveness of approach in introducing and sustaining innovations, were thought to be important aspects in the identification of noteworthy strategies for bringing about change in issues relating to enterprise, economic and industrial awareness in institutions of initial teacher education. This article describes the composite thinking and support underpinning the eclectic evaluations of EATE‐funded initiatives. It discusses two essential, and sequential, steps — initial thinking about issues which need to be clarified before embarking on an evaluation, and the strategies for action, i.e. the practical activities which can then be carried out. The article is written with reference to the EATE initiative but ideas and considerations could, with ease, be applied to other innovationsThe processes of formulating a policy statement on enterprise education, undertaking a course audit and introducing enterprise education and economic awareness into college courses are discussed. In particular developments within Professional Studies in the BEd Primary Education course are examined. The respective contributions of college staff and business representatives are assessed. The interaction between Institutional policy‐making and implementation in enterprise education is seen as opportunistic and organic as much as rational and systematic.     

Using Poetic Representation to Support the Development of Teachers' Knowledge

This article reports the influence of school-integrated teacher education (SITE) courses on student teachers' initial experiences of learning how to teach. We analyse data from five student teachers who reflect back on their experiences of learning to teach through the integrated teaching and learning experiences of SITE courses. The article presents their collective voices in poetic form to capture how they articulated their growth as teachers and their subsequent confidence in the role of teacher. We report insights into how the poem influenced 28 beginning student teachers upon entering SITE courses in their teacher education program. We analyze how this poetic representation of research findings enabled a self-study process to develop for the participants and how the poem passed on a theory of teacher development that reassures and prepares the student teachers who follow.     

“小学数学教学论”课程的建设与实践

小学数学教学论是高等师范院校小学教育专业的一门专业基础课.随着社会发展以及教师教育开放性的需要,高师“小数教”课程改革势在必行,这是适应基础教育课程改革、培养新型小学数学教师的需要.就“小数教”课程如何确定更加科学合理的课程体系与教学内容进行论述,通过构建课程体系、优化教学内容,加强教学实践,提高从教能力,进一步突出”小数教”课程的教学实效.     

Tomorrow’s teachers—selecting the best: An exploration of the quality rationale behind academic and experiential selection criteria for initial teacher education programmes

Using Ireland as an example, this paper explores the rationale behind various selection criteria currently used to select suitable candidates for initial teacher education courses. It investigates and discusses patterns of association between second-level student teachers’ background characteristics on entry to their teacher education programme Professional Diploma in Education (PDE) and their achievement in terms of their final academic and teaching practice grades. It draws on a longitudinal analysis of application and examination data collected from eight student teacher cohorts (2000–2007, N?=?1,023) who completed their second-level initial teacher education at one Irish university. Special attention will be paid to the predictive value of entrants’ prior academic performance and teaching experience for their success in the academic as well as practical components of their teacher education course. The quality rationale behind academic selection criteria is contested on the basis of findings from this study. The positive impact of prior teaching experience on teaching practice performance and the differences in achievement observed between students from different academic fields are discussed.     

Using Student Video Cases to Assess Pre-service Elementary Teachers’ Engineering Teaching Responsiveness

Our study addresses the need for new approaches to prepare novice elementary teachers to teach both science and engineering, and for new tools to measure how well those approaches are working. This in particular would inform the teacher educators of the extent to which novice teachers are developing expertise in facilitating their students’ engineering design work. One important dimension to measure is novice teachers’ abilities to notice the substance of student thinking and to respond in productive ways. This teacher noticing is particularly important in science and engineering education, where students’ initial, idiosyncratic ideas and practices influence the likelihood that particular instructional strategies will help them learn. This paper describes evidence of validity and reliability for the Video Case Diagnosis (VCD) task, a new instrument for measuring pre-service elementary teachers’ engineering teaching responsiveness. To complete the VCD, participants view a 6-min video episode of children solving an engineering design problem, describe in writing what they notice about the students’ science ideas and engineering practices, and propose how a teacher could productively respond to the students. The rubric for scoring VCD responses allowed two independent scorers to achieve inter-rater reliability. Content analysis of the video episode, systematic review of literature on science and engineering practices, and solicitation of external expert educator responses establish content validity for VCD. Field test results with three different participant groups who have different levels of engineering education experience offer evidence of construct validity.     

论当前高等函授教育存在的问题与对策

高等函授教育是具有中国特色的成人继续教育的重要形式。由于我国高等函授教育起步较晚，在专业设置、课程设置、教材建设、师资队伍建设、教学方法等方面还存在一些问题，并在一定程度上影响和制约着高等函授教育的发展。高等函授教育只有紧跟时代步伐，加大改革力度，采取切实可行的有效措施，才能在培养社会主义现代化建设人才中发挥更大作用。     

Course Design in Teacher Education: an English institutional view

This paper describes some of the features of the courses provided at Westminster College, Oxford, a small English institution specialising in teacher education. Within an account of experience gained in the initial design and subsequent revisions of BEd and PGCE courses, a number of issues are identified and related to the national situation.

After a brief discussion of whether a small specialised college is an appropriate environment for teacher education, there follows a more detailed elaboration of the reasons for the institution's decision to adopt a consecutive structure for its Bachelor of Education degree. This leads into an examination of some key aspects of the issues and difficulties which the College has had to tackle in operating and developing its BEd and one‐year Postgraduate Certificate in Education which prepare teachers for the Junior (7‐11), Middle (8‐13) and Secondary (11‐18) age‐ranges. Since these are seen as inherent in all courses of this kind, the discussion places them in the context of wider national debate and other developments in course design and operation that are currently taking place. Questions considered include the balance of studies within courses, the relationship between theory and practice, and the nature and role of school experience.