Toward praxically-just transformations: interrupting racism in teacher education

ABSTRACT

Recognising the importance of learning from experience, this mixed methods study critically problematises how teacher educators position student teaching as pivotal in teacher education programmes’ inability to focus on racial equity. Through learnings from a survey of US university-based teacher educators who constructed student teaching placements in schools serving students of colour as problems, this article unveils how the concept of quality cloaks the re-production of racism in and through teacher education. Seeking to address how teacher education is implicated in the re-production of racial inequities, a teacher educator partnered with teachers in the most segregated system of state schools in the US to transform student teaching. In describing a situated representation of an innovation at once practice-focused and theoretical, this article illustrates the power and potential for praxically-just critical transformations in teacher education. Findings shed light on the power of Freirean culture circles for transforming teacher education. Implications point toward the need to recognise, problematise, and interrupt ways in which the White-centric rhetoric and practice of teacher education continue to foster racism and re-produce injustice.     

Cultural Humility in Physical Education Teacher Education: A Missing Piece in Developing a New Generation of Socially Just Physical Education Teachers

ABSTRACT

The increased pluralism in today’s United States society, including our public school student population, has called for physical education teacher education (PETE) programs to train teachers who can respond to the educational needs of students from diverse backgrounds. However, concerns have been raised with educator preparation programs’ ability to prepare teachers to address diversity in our schools. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to discuss the movement toward teaching for social justice in PETE with focus on preparing teachers for cultural diversity; this includes special attention to cultural humility as a missing component in physical education teacher preparation. We discuss the current state of diversity in PETE, leading to a discussion of social justice as a theme in teaching and teacher education in physical education. Next, we detail the underpinnings of social justice pedagogies in physical education and the need for infusing cultural humility in PETE.     

Applied Theater and Mixed-Status Families: A Collaborative Self-Study with Teacher Education Candidates

ABSTRACT

In this article, we narrate a self-study that emerged through a collaborative, arts-based inquiry around Latinx diversity, especially those arising from citizenship status at the individual and family level. Coming from distinct professional educational landscapes (theatre/drama education, middle/secondary education, and elementary education), we worked inter-disciplinarily to orchestrate a series of workshops for a cohort of elementary teacher education candidates. Our specific focus was rooted in the meanings that applied theatre teaching strategies suggested for us as teacher educators and for the teacher candidates we prepare to teach in schools. We also sought implications that might cultivate broader critical discourses within and across teacher education about diversity. Our blending of self-study with arts-based pedagogies was a purposeful effort to expand our students’ and our own professional subjectivities by disrupting xenophobic and racialized public discourse about national borders using play-based strategies to foster risk and generativity.     

Reform of teacher education in China: a survey of policies for systemic change

ABSTRACT

This paper adopts an inductive analytical approach to reviewing the major state policies to reform teacher education in China. Based on the perceived impact on teachers and teacher education, 21 policy documents have been selected for this review. Five themes emerge in the analysis, which include: Expansion of teacher education by institutional diversification; structural changes through upgrading, merging and eliminating institutions and school; innovations on modes of teacher preparation, curricula and teaching practicum; certification and examinations; and strengthening teacher supply for the rural schools. The paper also analyses the contextual and systemic factors that affect the formulation and implementation of reform policies in teacher education and critically reflect the effect of these policies on Chinese teacher education.     

Away with all teachers: The cultural politics of home schooling

In the United States and a number of nations, one of the most powerful dynamics of educational 'reform' involves the movement toward home schooling. The national media have spoken glowingly about it and the number of children being schooled at home is growing rapidly. In large part, this is stimulated by the circulation of anti-statist discourses and by the continuation and expansion of claims about school failure. In these accounts, the sources of educational problems are multiple: teacher education institutions produce teachers who are unprepared academically and unskilled in teaching the 'basics'; state funded (public, in the US sense of the word) schools have been taken over by 'progressive' models of teaching that are unworkable; these same schools do not teach 'traditional' cultural and religious knowledge, beliefs, and values; and public schools do not listen to conservative parents and are much too bureaucratic. Supporters of home schooling are usually religious fundamentalists who have increasing power in the USA and elsewhere. They have formed a national coalition and have joined in a tense rightist hegemonic alliance with neo-liberals and neo-conservatives, an alliance that seeks to reconstruct our common-sense about education and about all things social. The article shows how the movement toward home schooling has become more extensive and more dangerous than has usually been thought. In the process, home schooling is situated within the larger conservative and authoritarian populist ideological, religious, and social movements that provide much of its impetus. Connections are suggested with other protectionist impulses and connections are made to the history of and concerns about the growth of activist government. Finally, the article points to how it may actually hurt many other students who are not home schooled.     

Accountability and control in American schools*

Abstract

One of the most controversial and significant of contemporary education reforms has been the teacher accountability movement. From this perspective, low-quality teachers and teaching are a major factor behind inadequate school performance, and a lack of accountability and control in schools is a major factor behind the problem of low-quality teachers and teaching. In turn, to advocates of this reform movement, the solution is to centralize control of schools and hold teachers more accountable. Utilizing a sociology of organizations, occupations and work perspective, the objective of this article was to offer a critique of the teacher accountability perspective and movement. This article draws from, and summarizes, the results of a series of empirical research projects on the levels, distribution and effects of accountability and control in American schools. The argument of the article is that the teacher accountability perspective overlooks some of the most important sources and forms of organizational accountability and control that exist in schools and overlooks the ways schools themselves, and in particular the ways they are managed and organized, contribute to the teacher quality problem. As a result, teacher accountability reforms often do not succeed and can have a negative impact on teacher quality and school performance.     

Charter School Attitudes and Practices in States with Diverse Public Sector Bargaining Laws

ABSTRACT

Virtually all state charter school legislation addresses teacher rights and working environment. Relationships with teacher unions are either specified in the law, or approval of the charter requires suitable provisions for employee hiring, firing, grievances, etc. Charter school evaluation almost without exception includes some references to these issues. This study uses an online survey to gather information gauging the effect of the ambient union environment on charter school practices and attitudes related to teacher rights and teacher participation in school administration and governance. In the first phase of a projected national study, three states were selected whose public sector collective bargaining environments are very different. Analysis of attitudes, practices, and demographics showed significant differences in views about teacher involvement in school governance, but little difference in views or practices concerning teacher unions in charter schools. Limited survey response resulted in collection methods which will be corrected in an anticipated national study. The online survey method of data collection is discussed. Implications for public policy and future charter school legislation are explored. Further studies should address variations in the impact of union involvement between public, private, and charter schools.     

Japanese Elementary Teachers’ Learning Experiences of Physical Education Professional Development

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate Japanese elementary teachers’ professional development experiences in physical education in Japan. Participants were nine teachers from four public elementary schools. Data sources included semi-structured face-to-face interviews and annual physical education professional development portfolios. Three themes emerged from the data analyses: (a) the importance of mentoring for teachers’ growth, (b) annual in-house physical education portfolios as a professional development tool, and (c) the dilemma of being an independent learner in collective culture. The findings suggest that having access to past portfolios developed by previous teachers helped the Japanese elementary teachers to conceptualize the contents of professional learning that facilitated their transitions when they changed their teaching settings. To continuously grow as a teacher, they need to become independent learners who can make decisions about their instruction, identify the weaknesses of their instruction, and understand the impact of their pedagogy on their students’ learning.     

Oregon Teacher Pathway: Responding to National Trends

ABSTRACT

National population trends demonstrate a shift in the U.S. ethnic population, similar to changes in the ethnic landscape of U.S. public schools. However, the teaching landscape has not adjusted to align with student demographics. Research highlights the academic and social/emotional benefit for students of color who experience having a teacher of color during their education. Therefore, it is valuable to consider frameworks for increasing the number of teachers of color in the educational landscape. Although there are initiatives for supporting these efforts in urban communities, rural communities often are not seen as having much need in this area. The authors of this article present literature and findings on the impact and needs for diversifying teacher education, and then outline a self-study of the Oregon Teacher Pathway (OTP) as a framework that takes into consideration promising practices for recruiting and supporting preservice teachers of color in rural eastern Oregon and other rural and urban communities.     

Continuity and change in the visions of childhood in head start: Implications for early childhood teacher educators

ABSTRACT

Drawing on an autoethnographic approach, the purpose of this article is to support: 1) teacher educators in thinking about how to mentor sexual minority students as they consider the decision to disclose (or not) their sexual identities in their school placements; and 2) sexual minority students in navigating the decision to disclose (or not) their sexual identities in the context of practicum or student teaching. Early childhood teacher education faculty must be prepared to support sexual minority students in confronting decisions about disclosing their sexual orientation in the context of practicum and student teaching. Though sexual minority educators may choose to seek employment in schools or districts with explicit values about nondiscrimination, preservice teachers may not enjoy similar agency or protection, given that student placements are often dictated by geographic proximity to the university and partnerships with teacher preparation programs.     

Policies,Agendas, and Practices Influencing Doctoral Education in Physical Education Teacher Education

ABSTRACT

If teaching physical education is a moral activity, it follows that there is a moral component to the preparation of teachers of physical education and thus a moral component to the preparation of teacher educators. In this article, I examine the major policies, agendas, and practices that influence doctoral preparation in physical education teacher education. I argue from both a utilitarian and realist perspective that we can best serve children and youth in schools by being knowledgeable of the contexts and effects of these policies, agendas, and practices in educating future professors of physical education teacher education.     

Predicting Position on Teaching Creationism (Instead of Evolution) in Public Schools

ABSTRACT

The federal government has repeatedly denied the introduction of creationism into public schools as it is a direct violation of the separation of church and state. Little is known about those who would opt to eliminate evolution in scientific curriculum altogether. The authors examined this more extreme anti-evolution perspective in a nationally representative sample of U.S. adults ( N = 2,000). A binary logistic regression model involving 11 relevant predictors revealed that the most important predictor of support for the teaching of creationism-only education in public schools was low educational attainment, which yielded a stronger magnitude of effect than did belief in God or importance of religion. Results are interpreted and discussed in the context of implications for educational policy and science curriculum in public schools.     

The Structural Causes of Teacher Burnout in Hong Kong

Abstract

 Since the mid 1990s, teacher burnout has become a crucial phenomenon in the Hong Kong education system, as increasing numbers of Hong Kong teachers have been reported as stressed, exhausted, and depersonalized in their teaching. In the Hong Kong community, including the academic circle, many people have applied the psychological theory of burnout to study the psychological causes of teacher burnout. However, this article argues that teacher burnout has become a social issue and is not a purely psychological phenomenon. Thus, it is important for us to identify the structural causes rather than the psychological causes of teacher burnout, to obtain a more comprehensive understanding of teacher burnout, and to develop better solutions. This article therefore theoretically analyzes how teacher burnout can be caused by certain structural forces, including structural education reforms, the administrative structure of schools, and the occupational and career structure of teaching, from the perspective of the sociological theory of work alienation. The article also gives recommendations for further studies based on the theoretical analysis.     

The pain and lessons of constructing and becoming the “other”

Abstract

The United States and its public schools are becoming increasingly diverse, yet teachers, prospective teachers, and teacher educators remain predominantly European American. This situation raises a number of questions for teacher educators and teacher education students committed to multicultural education. One challenge to avoid when discussing issues of diversity within largely monocultural learning environments is the unintentional construction of the “Other.” This article describes the painful experiences and interactive reflections of a student of color and a White teacher educator when the student became the “Other” in a preservice teacher education course. The student, her peers, and the instructor describe how the unfortunate incident was turned into a teachable moment and a transformative learning experience that gave deeper, personal meaning to the theories they discussed in the course.     

Teaching,learning, and evaluating: handwriting in Uruguayan public elementary schools in the 1830s

Abstract

This article examines the Uruguayan state approach to the teaching of writing in public elementary education during the 1830s, and is an attempt to explain why state officials advanced new pedagogical methods aimed at increasing rationalisation and standardisation. While many different handwriting styles existed in the past, the school system simplified and standardised public education under a single cursive style, the English round-hand. Notwithstanding the state’s standardising directives, Uruguayan teachers combined the pedagogical innovations of Lancaster’s monitorial system with the calligraphic traditions of the old writing masters. According to personal preference and necessity, teachers devised a hybrid system, which implemented new dictation exercises and the use of the writing slate, but preserved the writing masters’ imitation of muestras, and the use of quill, ink, and paper. The government arranged an inventive procedure to accurately measure students’ handwriting performance. The planas, or samples of students’ handwriting, were useful tools in the standardisation and evaluation of public education. Elementary schools from all over the country forwarded handwriting samples to the central state, or exhibited them in public examination ceremonies, as teachers publicised pedagogical success, and state officials confirmed the general advancement of public education. This study is also an attempt to show that the teaching of writing was part of a greater pedagogical mission and nation-building project: the intentional departure from colonial corporate identities, and the construction of a national community conceived as the sum of its individual citizens.     

Foucault’s ethical self-formation and David’s articulation of a creative self

Abstract

Much has been written about creativity in education policy and about how the concept is mediated in institutions like schools and universities. Although constructs like ‘creative teachers’ and ‘teachers that foster creativity’ are highly prevalent in the literature, there are few situated and contextualised accounts of what such constructs mean to the protagonist. The extent to which teachers co-opt or align themselves with discourses of creativity can be recast as a question of identity: What beliefs on creativity and associated practices are constitutive of one’s ‘teacher identity?’ This article draws on previous work that translates Foucault’s writings on ethical self-formation into an ‘identity grid’, and foregrounds the experiences of one teaching deputy-principal, to offer an account of how one teacher pursues particular practices congruent with his visions of a creative teacher. To identify rationales for actions undertaken, and to engage with situational factors of this teacher’s work, performativity and its problematic steering influences also informs this analysis. The article highlights the productive capacity of engagement with ethical self-formation, through identifying the potential it offers to access an individual-centric perspective in understanding how central concepts like creativity are negotiated and incorporated into accounts of the ‘teaching self’.     

Markets,Ideologies and Primary Initial Teacher Education

ABSTRACT

The British government's proposals for the reform of primary initial teacher education (ITE), including the transfer of major responsibility to schools, are examined in the context of their plans for more centralised control over the curriculum and the imposition of traditional methods of teaching. A model of appropriate objectives for school‐based primary ITE is outlined and an alternative concept of partnership based on co‐operation between higher education institutions and schools put forward. Implications of the reforms for primary schools are considered. In an attempt to make sense of the government's proposals, the apparent contradiction between its commitment to an educational market and the actual concentration of power in its own hands is explored. The reforms are shown to be part of a sustained attack on education professionals, and to illustrate how market relations may be used to promote the dominance of the central state by fragmenting opposition.     

Accountability,control and freedom in teacher education in England: Towards a panoptican

This article presents a socio-historical analysis of teacher education in Britain, tracing the changing agents and nature of control of, and consequent levels of freedom in, the enterprise from its inception to the present day. It illustrates the evolution from church, through university to state control and the limited role of the teaching and teacher education professions in each. In doing so it identifies teacher education as a disputed territory of conflicting tendencies, which currently faces unprecedented and draconian central government control and identifies the major factors related to change. It further traces how in the period since the second world war the main source of control has shifted from institution to state, and the main object of control from the student, to teacher educators, to the content and nature of teacher preparation, to the present where all these are centrally controlled, in a fashion not only foreign to British education history but also its culture.     

Educational Psychology in Teacher Education

Over the years, educational psychology has been a part of teacher preparation, moving from a centerpiece in many programs, through periods when it was deemed irrelevant by some, to current concerns about its role in the reforming of teacher education and teaching. Today, psychological knowledge is used to ground reforms in teaching and schooling, particularly the call for teaching for understanding. Current standards for teacher certifications and licensure and suggestions for reform in teacher education assume that teachers will have a deep and generative understanding of learning, development, motivation, and individual differences. This article explores several themes that recur in the writing on reforms and teacher standards: the need to place learning at the center of teaching, the call for integrated studies, and the value of collaboration with the public schools. These themes have both positive and negative implications for the role of educational psychology in teacher education.