Using modelling to make culturally responsive pedagogy explicit in preservice teacher education in Finland

Despite multiculturalism being discussed in teacher education, teachers still often feel insecure in the classroom around developing meaningful practices. This might be due to several issues about how preservice teachers are taught. In this article, modelling culturally responsive pedagogy is demonstrated as a promising strategy in shaping preservice teachers’ learning experiences and facilitating the finding of pedagogical responses in their future work. The article examines preservice teachers’ awareness of modelling as a teaching strategy in a multicultural education course in Finland, and the ways in which they connected the modelled strategy to their own learning and intentions for future teaching. A total of 246 reflective learning journals were analysed qualitatively, using a constant comparison approach. The results indicate that preservice teachers recognised and reflected on modelling culturally responsive pedagogy. They highlighted several aspects of the culturally responsive activities, environment and teacher educator behaviours modelled for them. For some preservice teachers, this recognition stayed at the level of personal awareness of own learning on the course, but for others these revelations were springboards to start forming ideas about future teaching practice. Preservice teachers articulated their intentions about the kind of teachers they would like to become, their principles in teaching, as well as specific teaching/learning activities. We present how the modelling of culturally responsive pedagogy strategies allowed preservice teachers to self-reflect, critique and connect their own learning experiences to future practice. Therefore, modelling culturally responsive pedagogy is argued to be a fruitful strategy in teacher education.     

Developing a material-dialogic approach to pedagogy to guide science teacher education

Abstract

Dialogic pedagogy is being promoted in science teacher education but the literature on dialogic pedagogy tends to focus on explicit voices, and so runs the risk of overlooking the important role that material objects often play in science education. In this paper we use the findings of a teacher survey and classroom case study to argue that there is a gap in the way that science teachers think about the role of materials and that this could be addressed by changes in the theory base of teacher training, augmenting the current constructivist and dialogic theory with the addition of new materialism in the form of Barad’s ‘Agential Realism’. Our findings suggests that science teachers do not regularly explicitly consider the relationship between the material resources they deploy and the dialogic learning taking place. We argue that science teacher training and professional development should pay more attention to the material-dialogic relationships in the learning that emerges in science classrooms.     

Science Students' Perceptions of Engaging Pedagogy

During their years of schooling, students develop perceptions about learning and teaching, including the ways in which teachers impact on their learning experiences. This paper presents student perceptions of teacher pedagogy as interpreted from a study focusing on students' experience of Year 7 science. A single science class of 11 to 12 year old students and their teacher were monitored for the whole school year, employing participant observation, and interviews with focus groups of students, their teacher and other key members of the school. Analysis focused on how students perceived the role of the teacher's pedagogy in constructing a learning environment that they considered conducive to engagement with science learning. Two areas of the teacher's pedagogy are explored from the student perspective of how these affect their learning: instructional pedagogy and relational pedagogy. Instructional pedagogy captures the way the instructional dialogue developed by the teacher drew the students into the learning process and enabled them to “understand” science. How the teacher developed a relationship with the students is captured as relational pedagogy, where students said that they learned better when teachers were passionate in their approach to teaching, provided a supportive learning environment and made them feel comfortable. The ways in which the findings support the direction for the middle years and science education are considered.     

我国高校本科层次特教师资培养模式问题与启示

特殊教育与特殊教育学之间模糊关系、随班就读师资的培养及特殊教育师资专业化等对高等特殊教育本科师资培养提出新的要求。从特殊教育与特殊教育学之间关系、特殊教育专业划分、高等特殊教育师资培养模式的培养目标、课程问题以及培养模式类型角度,探讨高等特殊教育师资培养模式。得到本科层次特教师资培养的启示：应拓宽特教师资培养模式类型;既要培养言语治疗师、物理治疗师等专业师资,又要培养特教学科教师或随班就读的复合型师资。     

The Culturally Responsive Teacher Educator

Recent research on teacher diversity has highlighted the challenges new teachers of color face when they enter diverse school settings. In this study the pedagogy of three sociopolitically conscious teacher educators is investigated to understand how they tailor preparation for teachers of color. Findings revealed that teacher educators' pedagogy for teacher candidates of color was characterized by three mutually binding mindsets and practices: (a) teacher educators made an intentional choice to work as a change agent for communities of color; (b) teacher educators challenged sociocultural barriers to the academic and professional achievement of teachers of color; and (c) teacher educators implemented constructivist approaches as an instructional bridge to prepare teacher candidates of color to work with culturally and linguistically diverse students. Based on findings, the conceptual framework of culturally responsive pedagogy is reconstructed to generate suppositions about the culturally responsive teacher educator as a theoretical construct.     

A discipline apart: the challenges of ‘Fostering a Community of Learners’ in a mathematics classroom

This is the fifth in a series that examines the challenges that teachers in different domains face as they attempt to implement the pedagogical reform ‘Fostering a Community of Learners’ (FCL). Here we focus on the relationship between FCL and the teaching of mathematics. We argue that it is possible to teach mathematics through the FCL pedagogy, but that doing so requires some rethinking of both mathematics instruction and FCL. In particular, we describe three shifts that aided a teacher's implementation of FCL pedagogy with mathematics: the teacher developed a new perspective on mathematics that emphasized the importance of having students learn both mathematical concepts and processes; the teacher developed a new understanding of the role of the teacher in mathematics‐education reform; and the teacher modified his understanding of FCL, coming to believe that a discourse community could be the basis for FCL pedagogy in a mathematics classroom.     

呼唤现代教师教育学的学科建设

教师教育学是以对基础教育包括中小学和幼儿园教师职前职后一体化的教育为对象,以荟萃其认识成果、揭示其发展规律、指导其实践活动为目标,进而融科研、教学、育人于一体的专门化、应用性知识体系。应在教育学一级学科门下增设教师教育学二级学科,促进教师教育的理论研究,加强对教师教育实践的科学指导。应注重教师教育学科的组织、队伍、专业、课程与教材建设,运用历史和逻辑相结合的研究思维及形而上和形而下、思辨和经验、实证和实地等多种研究方法,对教师教育由低到高、由独立封闭到开放多元的运演轨迹及其主体与客体、目的与手段等要素进行全景式的考察,以建设科学与教学相统一的现代教师教育学科。     

Cloud Pedagogy: Utilizing Web-Based Technologies for the Promotion of Social Constructivist Learning in Science Teacher Preparation Courses

The new guidelines for science education emphasize the need to introduce computers and digital technologies as a means of enabling visualization and data collection and analysis. This requires science teachers to bring advanced technologies into the classroom and use them wisely. Hence, the goal of this study was twofold: to examine the application of web-based technologies in science teacher preparation courses and to examine pre-service teachers’ perceptions of “cloud pedagogy”—an instructional framework that applies technologies for the promotion of social constructivist learning. The study included university teachers (N = 48) and pre-service science teachers (N = 73). Data were collected from an online survey, written reflections, and interviews. The findings indicated that university teachers use technologies mainly for information management and the distribution of learning materials and less for applying social constructivist pedagogy. University teachers expect their students (i.e., pre-service science teachers) to use digital tools in their future classroom to a greater extent than they themselves do. The findings also indicated that the “cloud pedagogy” was perceived as an appropriate instructional framework for contemporary science education. The application of the cloud pedagogy fosters four attributes: the ability to adapt to frequent changes and uncertain situations, the ability to collaborate and communicate in decentralized environments, the ability to generate data and manage it, and the ability to explore new venous.     

Trauma narratives and nomos in teacher education

The present article draws on data from a three-year study of pedagogy in teacher education that attempts to disrupt normative structures of reading and being in the teacher education classroom. The author uses Bourdieu’s work to emphasize the ways in which academic fields become ruled by unspoken rules and practices – “nomos” – and demonstrates a use of trauma narratives in teacher education that can disrupt such unspoken rules and practices. The article challenges taken-for-granted assumptions in teacher education that students must be positioned as future teachers; that reading educational research and texts should be a priority; that writing assignments should be privileged; and that a cognitive approach to learning in teacher education should be privileged.     

Care,thoughtfulness, and tact: a conceptual framework for university supervisors

The pedagogical work of university supervisors has received little attention in teacher education literature. Based on this concern, this paper provides a conceptual framework for university supervisors, recasting their role as teacher pedagogues focused on responding to the particular contextual needs of student teachers as they learn to teach. Using care, thoughtfulness, and tact as a conceptual framework, the author argues for an interactive and responsive pedagogy of field‐based teacher education grounded in the university supervisor’s concern for the development of the student teacher.     

Developing and Enacting Culturally Relevant Pedagogy: Voices of New Teachers of Color

ABSTRACT

A group of preservice and first year teachers share their experiences as new teachers of Color entering the profession in urban public schools. Specifically, these novice teachers discuss the transition from an urban education teacher preparation program into the classroom and their successes and challenges enacting culturally relevant pedagogy. Findings showcase understanding self, community, and collaboration among critical pedagogues and navigating theory and practice as emergent themes. These new teachers speak to the journey of becoming the teachers they want to become and the challenges they encounter in public K-12 schools. Implications are presented to highlight the power and passion of these new teachers and how we, as critical scholars, must learn from them and work with them as we seek to disrupt the dominant, middle class, white discourse in teacher education programs and educational research.     

Teacher competencies as a basis for teacher education – Views of Serbian teachers and teacher educators

Around the world reforms in teacher education have been oriented towards making the preparation of teachers more functional for development of competencies they need in practice. At the same time, much criticism has been voiced about such reforms jeopardising the fundamental humanist traditions in teaching, based on beliefs about non-instrumental values of education. In this study we examine teachers' perceptions of importance of competencies and explore their implications for teacher education. The study has been designed to ensure that voices of teachers and teacher educators are heard in identification of areas of expertise that make up a competent teacher. We conducted a principal component analysis of the response of 370 teachers and teacher educators in Serbia to a questionnaire about the importance of a number of aspects of teacher competence. We identified four components underling teachers' perceptions of competencies relating to 1) values and child-rearing; 2) understanding of the education system and contribution to its development; 3) subject knowledge, pedagogy and curriculum; and 4) self-evaluation and professional development. Teachers perceived all but the second area of competence as very important, with the fourth scale perceived as of the highest importance. Implications of each area of competence for teacher education are discussed and conclusions are drawn for the development of teacher education curricula.     

高师公共教育学教师的角色探析

高师公共教育学由于其学科性质和教学目标的特殊性,导致其教师角色定位的特殊性。本文认为高师公共教育学教师的角色定位应当是:学生未来角色意识的激发者;教育理论的学术探究者;公共教育学课程的建构者;学生实践能力的开发者。     

The rise and fall of comparative education in teacher training; should it rise again as comparative pedagogy?

It is argued in this paper that comparative pedagogy has a useful and relevant role to play in initial teacher training in England. The paper illustrates the national decline in the provision of a comparative dimension in both the study of education and in teacher training with a historical review of curricula in institutes in the Bristol area. Reasons for the decline are explored. Arguments are put forward to support the inclusion of comparative pedagogy in initial teacher training. It is held that comparative pedagogy is relevant to teachers whose careers may take them into pluricultural classrooms or across national boundaries, as well as teachers whose careers may be limited to monocultural classrooms. An empirical study is included, which explores the positive impact of comparative pedagogy on a small group of postgraduate primary English teacher trainees with a specialism in French. Their experience suggests that comparative pedagogy can give all trainee teachers a deeper understanding of pedagogy in general.     

Beyond the limits of theoretical discourse in teacher education: Towards a critical pedagogy

This paper argues for the development of a critical pedagogy through teacher education. Current theoretical discourse in teacher education, represented by radical, rationalist, and traditionalist perspectives, has failed to provide an adequate rationale for teacher education, given the multi-dimensionality of the teacher's task in contemporary schooling. Teacher education has failed to provide teachers with the critical capacities needed to guard mass schooling against political interference and its use as an agency of control rather than emancipation. The problem in part lies in the limitations of the ideological basis of each perspective, but more significantly in a common failure to account for a number of fundamental structures that constrain and contain teacher education. These structures are identified and discussed with a view to providing the context for an adequate rationale for teacher education. The paper concludes with a discussion of a number of key issues, such as the nature of knowledge in teacher education programmes and the ‘problem’ of theory and practice, in an attempt to lay the ground for the development of a critical pedagogy through teacher education.     

Challenges in Enacting Core Practices in Language Teacher Education: A Self-Study

In this study, I explore my practices as a teacher educator in one course both before and after returning to the K–12 classroom to teach secondary language learners for one academic year. By examining the intersection of self-study and practice-based teacher education, I illustrate how I used self-study as a mechanism for innovation and change and focus on the challenges I encountered in implementing the use of practice-based education in my work as a teacher educator. Qualitative data analysis revealed that in redesigning my approach to my course, I stopped short of my goals to make the course more practice-centered. Although I provided students with many opportunities to practice planning, I did not provide enough focused opportunities to practice implementation and to participate in giving and receiving feedback. I learned that engaging teachers in practice-based teaching requires teacher educators to be both specific and deliberate in setting their own purposes for establishing the centrality of practice in their courses and to explain these clearly to teacher candidates. Further work in which teacher educators study their use of practice-based pedagogy would benefit from using a self-study lens. Other researchers are urged to add to the limited body of research about the use of practice-based pedagogy with teachers of language learners, particularly English language learners.     

Preschool’s new suit: care in terms of learning and knowledge

This article focuses on aspects of the notion of care in relation to the work of quality documentation in the Swedish preschool. Questions deal with how teachers enact pedagogy in relation to the documentation work; how they handle the demands of visibility; and which aspects of the teacher profession are exposed and which are silenced. Data consist of observations from staff meetings at a preschool and interviews with preschool teachers and their managers while discussing the work of documenting quality in the preschool. Our analytical tools are based on theories of teacher professionalism, combined with education policy. Our results show that the preschool staff rarely talk about care and that difficulty in describing and documenting the meaning of care leads them to use various professional strategies whereby they escape the challenges and transform care into children’s learning and knowledge.     

The nature and development of preservice science teachers' conceptions of subject matter and pedagogy

The purpose of this study was to assess the development and changes in preservice science teachers' subject matter and pedagogy knowledge structures as they proceeded through a professional teacher education program. Twelve secondary preservice science teachers were asked to create representations of their subject matter and pedagogy knowledge structures periodically (four times spanning the entirety of their subject-specific teacher education program) and participate in a videotaped interview concerning the eight knowledge structure representations immediately following student teaching. Qualitative analyses of knowledge structure representations and transcribed interviews within and between subjects were performed by one of the researchers and “blindly” corroborated by the other two researchers. Initial knowledge structure representations were typically linear and lacked coherence. Both types of knowledge structure representations were highly susceptible to change as a consequence of the act of teaching. Although there was some overlap between subject matter and pedagogy knowledge structures, they were reported to exert separate influences on classroom practice, with the pedagogy knowledge structure having primary influence on instructional decisions. Furthermore, the complexity of one's subject matter structure appeared to be a critical factor in determining whether the structure directly influences classroom practice.     

Reforming Pedagogy: Inservice Teacher Education and Instructional Reform

To what extent can a large-scale national teacher-enhancement project help science teachers employ new pedagogical methods in the science classroom? In this study, data from 13 high school physics teachers who taught 23 classes with 401 students were examined to determine the extent to which a teacher-enhancement project can alter teachers’ pedagogy. Three groups of teachers were examined: experienced users of the new pedagogy, beginning users of the new pedagogy, and a group of comparison teachers who used traditional instructional methods. Results suggest the reform effort can increase the extent to which teachers engage students in experiments and use alternative assessment methods; however, helping teachers use constructivist discussion methods and discuss the nature of scientific inquiry appears to be more difficult. The implications for inservice teacher education are discussed.