Are they ready to teach? Student teachers’ readiness for the job with reference to teacher competence frameworks

This is the first report in a series of studies concerning student teachers’ readiness-for-the-job, defined by a framework of 11 international teacher competences (ITCs). Attaining readiness-for-the-job is connected to four characteristics of teacher education, namely; (1) employing the ITCs in day-to-day teaching in initial teacher education, (2) integrating the ITCs in the curricula of teaching programmes, (3) exercising the ITCs through practicum at schools and (4) by teacher educators modelling the ITCs. In the present study, a student sample from four teacher education colleges (n = 226) was surveyed to explore the extent to which students felt ready-for-the-job. The study outlines the degree to which the characteristics of teacher education are associated with student teachers’ readiness-for-the-job. The results identify the critical areas to be developed in these prospective teachers before they can actually become ready-for-the-job, and especially the central role of their teacher educators in shaping their professional competence.     

Are preservice teachers prepared to teach struggling readers?

Reading disabilities such as dyslexia, a specific learning disability that affects an individual’s ability to process written language, are estimated to affect 15–20% of the general population. Consequently, elementary school teachers encounter students who struggle with inaccurate or slow reading, poor spelling, poor writing, and other language processing difficulties. However, recent evidence may suggest that teacher preparation programs are not providing preservice teachers with information about basic language constructs and other components related to scientifically based reading instruction. As a consequence preservice teachers have not exhibited explicit knowledge of such concepts in previous studies. Few studies have sought to assess preservice teachers’ knowledge about dyslexia in conjunction with knowledge of basic language concepts. The purpose of the present study was to examine elementary school preservice teachers’ knowledge of basic language constructs and their perceptions and knowledge about dyslexia. Findings from the present study suggest that preservice teachers, on average, are able to display implicit skills related to certain basic language constructs (i.e., syllable counting), but fail to demonstrate explicit knowledge of others (i.e., phonics principles). Also, preservice teachers seem to hold the common misconception that dyslexia is a visual perception deficit rather than a problem with phonological processing. Implications for future research as well as teacher preparation are discussed.     

Who says you need to teach reading to 11–13-year-olds?

Research indicates that as students move through the school system, many begin to experience difficulties with reading. With this mind, this study explored current practices and perceptions about reading programmes for 11–13-year-old students in New Zealand schools. The study employed an online survey designed to investigate current reading literacy practices in a sample of New Zealand primary in years 7 and 8. Observations of practice and interviews with literacy leaders, teachers, principals and students were also carried out at five case study schools. The survey indicated that teachers may underestimate the importance of learner engagement and direct teaching strategies. The case studies exemplify the need for good professional development, supportive leadership, effective class management strategies, a positive and engaging learning environment, teachers with a passion for literacy and exemplary and sustained guided reading.     

Who should teach? A Chinese teacher candidate’s understandings of a good teacher and racialised experiences

Being a good teacher depends on many cultural and linguistic assumptions. Dominant definitions of a good teacher are often based on these implicit assumptions. Probing notions of a good teacher, we examine the endeavors of a Chinese international pre-service teacher, Ling, to become a “good teacher” through her encounters with micro-aggression in the context of her coursework and fieldwork at a U.S. university. The data presented here were collected through semi-structured interviews and field notes from 2014 to 2015 as part of a larger ethnographic case study. We find that the process of becoming a good teacher depends on many cultural and linguistic assumptions that are linked to micro-aggression. We conclude by reflecting on Ling’s understanding of a good teacher in light of dominant views on the matter and her ambivalence to speak up, and make recommendations for further research to allow for alternative views of good teachers to coexist.     

Why I want to teach and how I feel about teaching—formation of teacher identity from pre-service to the beginning teacher phase

The aim of this study is to investigate the formation of student teachers’ teacher identity from pre-service to the end of the initial year in teaching. We explored why student teachers in Singapore have chosen to enter teaching and tracked changes in their attitudes and beliefs towards teaching at three time points: entry and exit of the initial teacher preparation programme and after 1 year of teaching. The findings showed that, in agreement with previous research, those who are attracted to the teaching profession were mainly motivated by altruistic or intrinsic factors. They also entered the initial training programme with a positive perception of the profession. However, at the point of exit, perceptions towards teaching showed a significant dip. After the first year of teaching, attitudes remained the same as they were at the point of exit. These factors influence the emerging sense of teaching identity.     

Who is the expert? Construct and criteria validity of student and teacher ratings of instruction

In this article, we examine the construct and criteria validity of student and teacher ratings as indicators of instructional features. As parsimonious measures, student and teacher reports are frequently used to assess aspects of the learning environment. From a methodological perspective, however, both approaches have been questioned. Whereas student ratings are occasionally criticised as being undifferentiated and easily influenced by personal preferences, teacher reports are sometimes considered to be biased by self-serving strategies or teaching ideals. Instead of pitting one method against the other, our study aimed at establishing the specific value of each approach. The analyses draw on data from a German extension to the 2003 PISA assessment, in which 288 mathematics teachers and their students completed questionnaires using identical items to tap various aspects of instruction. Mean student ratings were computed for each class. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses revealed specific conceptual structures for student and teacher ratings, with teachers elaborating on the use of tasks and methods, and students focusing on their teacher’s support in personal and learning matters. Three shared dimensions were also established: occurrence of classroom management problems, degree of cognitive autonomy during lessons, and tempo of interaction. Teacher/student agreement on these dimensions varied across constructs, with considerable agreement on classroom management, low agreement on cognitive autonomy, and no significant agreement on whether or not the interaction tempo was appropriate. Accordingly, correlations with external criteria (student motivation, teacher motivation, mathematical achievement scores, and characteristics of the tasks set in class) also varied across constructs. We conclude that student and teacher ratings are best suited to tapping different aspects of the learning environment, and recommend that care be taken in choosing a data source appropriate for the construct to be measured.

Return of the ghost – to discipline or/and to teach?

This paper is a situated biographical reflection on the author's Hong Kong teaching experience written using a narrative inquiry approach, describing attempts to generate innovative pedagogical practices. The journey explores how autocratic, traditional Chinese cultural expectations in Hong Kong education have nurtured a commonsense belief in “discipline first and then teach”. This teacher/researcher adopted alternative approaches to authority through the use of developmental drama which made teacher image and teacher–student power relationships an object of talk and study. The aim of this paper is to bring together theories and pedagogical models based on the sociology of education, social psychology and drama pedagogy in an effort to change how we teach marginalized students in one distinctive Chinese cultural context.     

Cultural sensitivity: American and British teacher trainees compared ‐ a response to Thomas Deering

How effectively are teacher trainees prepared for teaching ethnic minority pupils? What part does practical teaching experience play in developing the cultural sensitivity of trainees? Do American and British trainees differ in their levels of cultural sensitivity and, if so, what are the causal factors involved? This article is a critical response to Deering, who has identified these as his research questions. While welcoming the attention given to an important subject, we question the appropriateness of Deering's research procedure and challenge his interpretation and discussion of the findings.     

Are educational preschool apps designed to teach? An analysis of the app market

Over half of educational apps on mobile-app markets are for preschoolers, but little research has examined whether the designs of preschool apps are truly educational. Preschoolers process information differently from older learners (i.e., shorter attention spans), so app designs should be guided by developmental science. This content analysis of popular Apple and Android math and literacy preschool apps uses a developmental framework to code and analyze apps’ educational features. Findings show a wide variety of features apps used. However, few provided developmentally appropriate guidance, like scaffolded feedback. This study offers insights for improving apps to meaningfully teach preschoolers.     

A missing link? Contemporary insights into principal preparation and training in Russia

Over the last decade, the Russian education system has undergone significant transformation that has radically changed the expectations placed upon the school principals. This current reform process has placed far greater responsibilities and accountabilities upon principals to secure school effectiveness and improved student learning outcomes. This article offers some insights into the way in which principals in Russia are currently prepared and trained. It outlines initial quantitative findings from Russian principals, as part of a contemporary, large-scale empirical study of principal leadership preparation and training. The emerging empirical evidence highlights that the new principal standards and training requirements in Russia reinforce “managerial approaches” that are not necessarily meeting the needs of principals.     

Are you still who you were? A tale of construction lecturers,changing technologies and conflicting perspectives

This paper illuminates a period of change in the lives of a group of 20 vocational lecturers as they find themselves challenged by both their own and others’ categorisation of what and who they are. Such conflicting perspectives are made even starker by their management's introduction of technological innovation into the lecturers’ traditional teaching methods. Even as they seek to identify their place within their social, occupational and professional contexts, they continue to be ‘simultaneously positioned by other people and forces external to them’ (as described by M. Forsey in 2007). This study also highlights the negative impact of imposing change upon practitioners without acknowledging the significance of a whole-life perspective for understanding professional lives and work practices.     

Are Inferential Reading Items More Susceptible to Cultural Bias Than Literal Reading Items?

The purpose of this article is to illustrate a seven-step process for determining whether inferential reading items were more susceptible to cultural bias than literal reading items. The seven-step process was demonstrated using multiple-choice data from the reading portion of a reading/language arts test for fifth and seventh grade Hispanic, Black, and White examinees. The process began at the broadest level of analyzing bundles of items for differential bundle functioning and finished at the narrowest level of analyzing individual items for differential distractor functioning. Some evidence was found to indicate that inferential items are more susceptible to cultural bias than literal items. Implications of the results are discussed, and suggestions for item writers and test developers are given.     

So you want to be a teacher educator? The job advertisement as a construction of teacher education in Canada

This article contributes a Canadian perspective to a growing body of international research investigating teacher education, specifically as a category of academic work exemplified in employment advertisements. By investigating how Canadian employment advertisements in teacher education are constructed as mediating artefacts in the relationship between potential candidates and their goal of gaining an academic position, we attempt to identify contradictions inherent to systems of human activity, and surface institutional priorities regarding faculty hiring policies and the staffing practices within Canadian teacher education programs. Our study surfaces both similarities and differences with concurrent WoTE (Work of Teacher Education) investigations in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand regarding the teacher education as a form of academic labour, echoing their characterisation of the increasingly “precarious space” occupied by teacher education in post-secondary institutions.     

Can you teach me not to be angry? Relations between temperament and the emotion regulation strategy distraction in 2-year-olds

Little is known about toddlers’ acquisition of specific emotion regulation (ER) strategies, and how early ER is shaped by temperament. This study investigated if 24-month-old German toddlers, predominantly from families with high levels of parental education (N = 96, n = 49 male), learned the ER strategy distraction through observational learning, and its interaction with temperament. Increased use of distraction correlated with reduced negative affect. Use of distraction increased through observational learning. Highly active toddlers tended to use active playing activities to distract themselves in a frustrating situation, whereas toddlers with a less active temperament used calmer activities. Toddlers’ learning to apply distraction through observational learning was independent of a match between their own temperament and the model's actions.