Transformational practice: critical teacher research in pre-service teacher education

This article traces the experiences of three pre-service teachers as they engaged in teacher research as part of their teacher education program and considers how teacher research might disrupt dominant paradigms that aim to de-contextualize teaching and offer one-size-fits-all solutions to address inequities. In particular, the article examines: the role of the teacher’s personal and academic history in the design of their teacher research projects; how their research worked to disrupt and complicate classroom cultures and practices; and the ways in which the pre-service teachers interpreted their research in light of new contexts during their first year of teaching. This work has critical implications in an era when teacher education programs are under attack, including: the value of drawing on pre-service teachers' lived experiences as an entry point into inquiry; creating highly localized inquiries; and positioning novice teachers as knowledgeable practitioners who are able to share research with colleagues.     

Cultivating imaginative thinking: teacher strategies used in high-performing arts education classrooms

This article reports on recent case-study research that examined teacher- and student-level processes in nine Australian arts classrooms. The selected classrooms, based on the results of a connected longitudinal study, demonstrated strong positive links between arts participation and academic motivation, engagement and achievement. The focus here is on how teachers supported their students to conceive, shape and present imaginative work. Although different approaches were apparent in the dance, drama, film, music and visual arts classrooms, patterns were detected in the processes used to transform imaginative ideas into a creative work. The research indicated that important skills were being developed as the students encountered the ambiguity of the creative process. Furthermore, insights were gained into how work drawing on the imagination can be initiated and sustained through the highs and lows of development to become both a work of art and a learning experience that will augment future creative work.     

Promoting experiential learning in pre-service teacher education

This report introduces the experiential learning initiative at a major university in Hong Kong that prepares pre-service teachers with experience of engaging with social and cultural issues in teaching. It calls on teacher educators in different contexts to work together on similar initiatives that help pre-service teachers grow professionally through designing, developing, managing and promoting their experiential learning projects to enhance human development and improve human conditions.     

Spaces of possibility in pre-service teacher education

Pre-service teacher education is a spatialised enterprise. It operates across a number of spaces that may or may not be linked ideologically and/or physically. These spaces can include daily practices, locations, infrastructure, relationships and representations of power and ideology. The interrelationships between and within these (sometimes competing) spaces for pre-service teachers will influence their identities as teachers and learners across time and space. Pre-service teachers are expected to make the connections between these often-contradictory spaces with little or no guidance on how to negotiate such complex relationships. These are difficult spaces, yet the slippages and gaps between these spaces offer generative possibilities. This paper explores these spaces of possibility for pre-service teacher education, and uses the spatial theories of Lefebvre and Foucault to argue that critical reflective practice can be used to create Soja’s ‘thirdspace’ for reconstructing future practice.     

Teaching in rural Turkey: pre-service teacher perspectives

Despite preliminary findings that preparing teachers for rural positions is of great importance in Turkey’s conditions, little has been reported regarding the measures that need to be addressed in order to effectively prepare teachers for remote areas. In response to this gap, the present study aimed to provide some preliminary views about the expectations of pre-service teachers in relation to rural teaching from a qualitative research paradigm. Data were collected through an open-ended questionnaire from 115 senior pre-service teachers in a large Turkish university. Thematic analysis of the data revealed that participants had polarised views about the issue. While some of them viewed the experience positively, others highlighted the potential challenges. Pre-service teachers’ vague and dichotomous images concerning rural teaching suggested that they had some preconceptions formed through media representations or word of mouth. Implications for teacher education and professional development, along with directions for future research were included.     

Negotiating spaces: the in-betweeness of becoming a teacher

Pre-service teachers move through multiple learning communities during teacher education programs, arguably emerging as authentic insiders in teaching culture. In this case study, a critical perspective is offered by Ann, a First Nations learner who described her experience of teacher education, and how she came to question different aspects of her university program and practicum assignment which challenged her understandings of self. The experiences of pre-service teachers like Ann are often hidden from view, and what they perceive as shortcomings in programming are often unseen within institutional contexts. Ann articulated numerous gaps that still reside within teacher culture despite structures that are in place to address such gaps. The situated knowledge of pre-service teachers can offer alternative perspectives to guide the future of teacher education by drawing attention to shifts underway among students that will change the nature of professional practice.     

Inclusive education in pre-schools: predictors of pre-service teacher attitudes in Australia

Teachers’ attitudes have been identified as being vital to the success of inclusive education (IE). With pre-school student populations becoming increasingly diverse, and many children experiencing this as their first involvement in formal education, the attitudes towards IE of pre-school teachers are more important than ever. This study investigated pre-service pre-school teachers in an attempt to identify the factors that contribute to the formation of positive attitudes towards IE in this population. Participants were 139 undergraduate and postgraduate early education students studying at a metropolitan university in Australia. Results indicated that participants generally held positive attitudes towards IE, despite having concerns regarding their ability to implement the construct. Attitudes did not significantly vary through years of study of the undergraduate degree; however, postgraduate participants reported significantly lower attitudes. While those who completed a tertiary-level unit on IE were significantly more likely to display positive attitudes, neither personal experience with persons with special needs nor practical classroom experience significantly influenced attitudes. Experience, however, was found to significantly increase perceptions of self-efficacy. Findings imply the presence of unique factors associated with the attitudes of pre-service pre-school teachers. Implications for the structure of pre-service pre-school education programmes and directions for future research are discussed.     

Mothers who are student teachers: navigating their dual roles in pre-service teacher education

Many students in New Zealand are now of mature age, female, and mothers of dependent children (Allister et al. 2006). These students typically experience the challenge of sharing themselves between their children, partners, extended families and their fellow students, lecturers and studying. This research explored how a group of student-teachers who were also mothers experienced these dual roles and sought to document their beliefs, motivations, attitudes to these roles from the time they had entered teacher education. The following key themes emerged from the in-depth interviews with the women: strong motivation for wanting to become primary school teachers; the impact this decision had on the lives of their children, partners and extended families; the particular issues they faced as they tried to navigate the roles of mother and student-teacher; and the suggestions they had for continuing education and tertiary institutions to improve opportunities for other mothers wanting to study. This last theme is perhaps the most pertinent, as it offers implications for continuing education institutions wanting to attract and retain these students, who, as a group, represent a growing demographic trend in the student population.     

A review of ICT related courses in pre-service teacher education programs

This study investigated teacher educators’, prospective teachers’, and K-12 teachers’ opinions about the effectiveness of ICT related courses and the ways to improve the courses in Turkey’s pre-service teacher education programs. The researchers used both quantitative and qualitative research approaches within the data collection and analysis processes. The data were collected from 111 teacher educators, 1,330 prospective teachers, and 1,429 K-12 teachers through questionnaires; and from 6 teacher educators, 6 prospective teachers, and 6 K-12 teachers through interviews. Even though a majority of the participants felt that ICT related courses are effective, most participants recommended that these courses need to be redesigned to be more beneficial in practice.     

Service learning using English language teaching in pre-service teacher education in Singapore

In line with the Ministry of Education's vision of the delivery of twenty-first century competencies amongst all students in Singapore, the National Institute of Education in Singapore employs service learning as a pedagogical tool to develop community outreach and engagement. This paper begins with a review of related literature on service learning as a means of enhancing the quality of pre-service teacher education programmes internationally. It then looks at how the teaching of the English language may be used as a principal means by which students can make an impact on a local community of their choice in the Singaporean context. It draws attention to the nexus of theory and practice via highlighting three service-learning projects where the vital relationship between the pedagogical methods area of study known as Curriculum Studies on English Language Teaching and the opportunity to practise English language teaching outside the traditional clinic field experience offered through practicum posting are presented. The paper concludes with the proposition that service learning promotes active citizenry and moral education of youth and allows student teachers an opportunity to build deep partnerships with the community even before they step into the teaching profession as full-fledged teachers.     

Everyday life and everyday learning: the ways in which pre-service teacher education curriculum can encourage personal dimensions of teacher identity

This article presents and discusses the findings of a research project, the main objective of which is to identify curriculum components that promote personal development as a nuclear part of teacher professional identity formation through pre-service teacher education. Curriculum is viewed as an ecological scenario with different subsystems and both as formal and informal. Identity formation is conceived as an ever-provisional result of a double transaction: the biographical one and the relational one. The curricula of four different historical periods of pre-service teacher education in Portugal and the professional identity of teachers trained within them were characterised through collection and analysis of documents and biographical narratives. Crossing results from the four periods, the quality of school climate emerges as an important variable to the quality of the teachers’ identity. The lifelong learning ethos seems to emerge when the training curriculum connects everyday learning with everyday life, namely by urging the students’ involvement in school life, peer learning activities and peer and teacher educators’ informal learning activities.     

Learning with and from: positioning school students as advisors in pre-service teacher education

This article reports on an innovative pedagogical approach within the Learning Partnerships program in which school students help to ‘teach the teachers’ within pre-service teacher education. Classes of school students join with classes of pre-service teachers to provide input on how teachers can enhance school students’ engagement and wellbeing. The article draws on data collected from 125 students (aged 13–16) and 120 pre-service teachers in these workshops. Findings generated from a mixed methods study combining pre-workshop focus groups (n = Students: 38, Teachers: 33) and post-workshop focus groups (n = Students: 69, Teachers: 15) and post-workshop surveys (n = Students: 96; Teachers: 101) demonstrated that the workshops were mutually beneficial for both students and pre-service teachers. Participants found that workshopping together enhanced their belief in the possibility of positive student–teacher relationships. The pre-service teachers reported greater confidence in communicating with young people about the issues that affect student engagement and wellbeing. The school students reported that they were more willing to use teachers as a source of help. Implications include the need for increased attention to a ‘third space’ for learning in teacher development which provides opportunity for learning with and from young people about how to foster their engagement and wellbeing.     

Disruptive design in pre-service teacher education: uptake,participation, and resistance

This paper begins the exploration of disruption as an analytical construct that allows for the investigation of how individual learning and changes in local practice mutually influence the other within a purposefully designed learning context. We seek to describe the types of learning experiences that emerged using disruptive pedagogies and tools within a series of methods courses in an undergraduate elementary teacher education program. The intent of the designed context was to disrupt the traditional practices of teacher education courses by creating a participatory environment where students participated in the creation of course content through their engagement with social media and each other. We define disruption as an innovation that requires students to challenge or change their epistemologies and participation in their learning. This paper addresses a designed disruption that was created in the context of an elementary methods course. The results demonstrated diverse consequences for participants, their activity, and our understanding of their learning. These findings provide a starting point for examining the implications of disruptive practices within pre-service teacher education programs.     

Integrating theory and practice in the pre-service teacher education practicum

This article reports on a study into student teachers’ perceptions about their professional development during practicum. Framed within a symbolic interactionist perspective, the study examined to what extent, and how effectively, one group of student teachers was able to integrate theory and practice during a three-week practicum in the first year of their degree. The context for this mixed methods study was a Master of Teaching, graduate-level entry programme in the Faculty of Education at an urban Australian university. Although there is a strong field of literature around the practicum in pre-service teacher education, there has been a limited focus on how student teachers themselves perceive their development during this learning period. Further, despite widespread and longstanding acknowledgement of the ‘gap’ between theory and practice in teacher education, there is still more to learn about how well the practicum enables an integration of these two dimensions of teacher preparation. In presenting three major findings of the study, this paper goes some way in addressing these shortcomings in the literature. First, participants in this study largely valued both the theoretical and practical components of their programme, which stands in contrast to the commonly identified tendency of the student teacher to privilege practice over theory. Second, opportunities to integrate theory and practice were varied, with many participants reporting the detrimental impact of an apparent lack of clarity around stakeholders’ roles and responsibilities. Third, participants overwhelmingly supported the notion of linking university coursework assessment to the practicum as a means of bridging the gap between, on the one hand, the university and the school and, on the other hand, theory and practice.     

Reconceptualised family resemblance approach to nature of science in pre-service science teacher education

A recent framework on nature of science (NOS) is the Family Resemblance Approach (FRA). FRA presents NOS as a cognitive-epistemic and social-institutional system with a set of categories: aims and values, scientific methods, scientific practices, scientific knowledge and social-institutional aspects of science. Although FRA has been problematised philosophically and its implications for science education have been considered by science educators, its empirical adaptations in science education are limited. In order to illustrate the educational adaptations of FRA, we refer to Reconceptualised Family Resemblance Approach to Nature of Science or RFN. We present a study based on a funded pre-service science teacher education project whose aim was to design, implement and evaluate the impact of RFN strategies. Fifteen pre-service teachers participated in a 14-week teacher education intervention that infused RFN. A 70-item questionnaire was designed to investigate the outcomes of the teacher education intervention. Individual interviews with pre-service teachers were also conducted. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis suggest that the teacher education intervention had an overall significant impact on pre-service teachers’ views of NOS. The paper contributes to the understanding of how NOS can be incorporated in science teacher education using a new orientation to NOS based on FRA.     

From assistant teacher to teacher: challenges and pathways in situated pre-service teacher education

Vocational pathways to Higher Education have a key role in opening teacher education to under-represented groups but bring with them particular challenges. Teacher educators need to address the challenges faced by these learners, of not only connecting their learning but also challenging their knowledge, and doing so in an invested work environment. This paper shares my experiences as a teacher educator working with two groups of Indigenous and non-Indigenous para-professional pre-service teachers in remote and urban Central Australia. I identify four key role-shifting challenges individuals face in developing their professional practice and locate them in two interdependent areas: social sphere challenges arising out of the situated learning setting of professional experience, and those occurring in the personal sphere of professional identity. I suggest that the new ways of mentoring and the development of student’s reflexive capacity needed to address these challenges can best be mobilised by re-positioning the role of professional identity at the centre of both professional experience and academic learning.     

职前英语教师教育实习期身份建构叙事探究

本文采用叙事探究方法,以一名职前英语教师为研究对象,探索其实习期身份建构及其影响因素。研究表明,该教师在实习期建构了批改工具、良师益友、学习者、多面手及教师预备兵等多重身份。影响其身份发展的个人因素主要包括个人过往学习经历、反思能力和情感,社会因素主要为重要他者和学校文化。本研究对推动职前教师积极身份建构和职前教师教育具有重要意义。     

A Bourdieuian analysis of teachers' changing dispositions towards social justice: the limitations of practicum placements in pre-service teacher education

As populations in contemporary Western societies grow increasingly diverse, preparing predominantly White middle-class pre-service teachers to better understand and work with difference productively has become increasingly critical. Historically, however, teacher education programs have aimed to address diversity with add-on or piecemeal approaches, with little success. This article illustrates and theorises change in two Australian teachers' dispositions towards social justice over time from a Bourdieuian perspective. It attempts to inform our understanding of current pre-service teacher education program inadequacies with a view to providing implications in relation to the constraints of the limited and limiting nature of practicum placements. Fundamentally, its goal is to improve the preparedness of pre-service teachers to cater for diversity in socially just ways.     

Critical service-learning: promoting values orientation and enterprise skills in pre-service teacher programmes

Experiential learning pathways within education programmes such as Service-learning are a means to enrich the learning of pre-service teachers. As a pathway, Service-learning provides value-oriented learning focused on inclusion, diversity, and difference. This paper adopts critical social theory to examine how, along with these values, critical Service-learning promotes a deeper comprehension of values such as empathy, civic responsibility, social justice, and equity. Our paper also studies how, along with values, enterprise skills develop when pre-service teachers adopt a self-responsible, decision-making approach to implementing inclusion, social justice, and equity. Fifty-one data sets from interviews, questionnaires, and reflection logs with two groups of students over two semesters were examined to comprehend the unique experiences of students as they navigated through values and enterprise skills. The study concludes by reiterating the value of incorporating nontraditional ways of learning that align with the traditional pedagogical offerings for pre-service teachers.     

Reciprocal learning in teacher education between Canada and China

ABSTRACT

The Preservice Teacher Education Reciprocal Learning Programme has been developed on a vision of bridging the East and West dichotomy by harmonising Eastern learning with Western knowledge. This programme is one of the two foundations for Xu and Connelly’s 7-year Canada-China Reciprocal Learning Partnership in teacher education and school education in 2013-2020. The Programme, ‘provide[s] an exceptional cross-cultural experience with international engagement … to broaden teacher candidates’ horizons for a society of increasing diversity in today’s globalized world’. This article’s purposes are to discuss how reciprocal learning is both a concept and an approach for international and cross-cultural teacher education and school education and to present the learning outcomes and educational significance of the East-West reciprocal learning programme in teacher education. The Programme has created opportunities for both pre-service and in-service teachers to understand and appreciate a culture and educational system different from their own, thereby reciprocally contributing to educational opportunities for those they teach. The research theory and method utilised in this work are found in a companion paper in this special series and are briefly discussed below in the project overview and later in a discussion of student outcomes. This work has implications for other school settings where increasing immigrant student population and cultural diversity have become the norm.