Neighborhood Science Stories: Bridging science standards and urban students’ lives

Shelter, distribution of resources, adaptation and food sources are all key topics in teaching fifth grade students ecosystems. These terms and ideas are often presented in value neutral terms in the standard science curriculum. These terms have radically different connotations in different communities. In this paper students’ fictional narrative about the community and ecosystem provide insight into how experiences in an urban community change perceptions and understandings of science content. By analysing the students’ stories, the teacher is provided with a critical lens through which to rethink the content being taught, the examples and discussions about the content and how that content is being presented in the classroom. In this example, students’ own understanding of how resources are allocated justly in society stand in contrast to the value neutral presentation of resource distribution in the standard curriculum.     

Learning About Other People’s Families

While the call for teacher education students to learn about their students’ family and community lives remains urgent and compelling, educating teachers about the Other is tricky business. In this article I discuss the use of two performed ethnographies, Harriet’s House and Ana’s Shadow, to provide opportunities for teachers to learn about Other people’s families in ways that work against presenting a singular, dominant narrative of the Other’s experiences and positioning Other students as experts. Although the outcomes from educating teachers about Other people’s families are unpredictable and do not always disrupt the prior, potentially harmful, knowledges teachers bring with them to teaching, I argue, along with Kevin Kumashiro, that ongoing labour to stop the repetition of harmful knowledges is important anti-oppressive educational work.     

Inhabiting the ‘tragic gap’: pre-service teachers practicing racial literacy

Set in the context of a teacher education program, this study examined how three White pre-service teachers participate in book club discussions of children’s literature. We asked: When White pre-service teachers are in a context that enables talk about race, racism and anti-racism, what do they talk about? What conceptual and discursive tools do they use? We were guided by these questions, along with theoretical perspectives of racial literacy, multicultural discourses and a form of critical discourse analysis referred to as ‘positive discourse analysis’ or ‘reconstructive discourse analysis’. Our analysis illustrates that the participants held two questions, what constitutes racism and what makes a person a White ally, without firm resolution in the form and function of their talk. Their discourses illustrate that racial literacy involves what teachers say and also a willingness to stand in the space of indeterminacy, which may create space for new social positions. We argue for a continued theorization of critical discourse analysis alongside of racial literacy and multicultural discourses.     

Teacher beliefs in ‘testing’ times: a lesson from Singapore

International benchmarking and national testing of students at all levels of schooling have provoked teachers to critically reflect on their place in this endeavour. Many of the curriculum and pedagogical approaches associated with this type of assessment and accountability conflict with long-held beliefs about the role of teachers and the work of schooling. Singapore is recognised for significant achievement in the international schooling arena and also has a long history of national testing. This study draws specifically on positioning theory to investigate teacher beliefs and positioning in these times. A large qualitative research project located in Singapore sought the ways experienced teachers positioned themselves and their work as they negotiated multiple and sometimes conflicting discourses of teaching. A rigorous process was used to elicit teacher beliefs and resultant teacher positions.     

Coming out,rolling over,and playing model: possibilities beyond the trope of queer students “at-risk”

In this article, I explore one lesbian teacher’s ethical dilemmas and resulting disappointment related to the lack of participation by queer students in the Gay Straight Alliance she helped to create. Her dilemmas hinge on the paradoxical subject position of queer teacher in tension with the “coming out imperative” and intersecting with discursive articulations of teacher-as-role model and queer students as a population “at-risk.” Grounded in scholarship that describes the discursive production of queer teacher and queer students, I explore the ways in which one group of queer students resist notions of “at-riskness” and the resulting impact on their teacher.     

Pre- and in-service teachers’ beliefs about ELLs in content area classes: a case for inclusion,responsibility, and instructional support

This study documents differences between pre- and in-service content area teachers’ beliefs about: whether English language learners (ELLs) should be included in content area classes, the kind of instructional support (IS) they should receive, and responsibility for ELLs’ language and academic achievement. Questionnaire data were collected from 94 in-service and 101 pre-service content area teachers. Although several significant differences were found in pre- and in-service and female and male teachers’ beliefs about responsibility for ELLs’ language and academic development, both service and gender groups appeared to hold similar beliefs about ELLs’ inclusion in mainstream classes. Results also revealed that some beliefs held by female teachers about IS for ELLs significantly differed from those of males’; however, the effects of service and gender on certain beliefs may be contingent upon a number of background factors. The article concludes with pedagogical implications for teacher education for classrooms with linguistically and culturally diverse learners.     

“Feeling is First” in ECE Science and Mathematics

This paper explores the concept of continuing professional development (CPD) for teachers in Scotland in an education system undergoing change. It considers the curricular and political changes which affect the nature of CPD considered appropriate and relevant for teachers. This article reports on one small‐scale qualitative study into award‐bearing CPD at masters level in a unique scheme known as Chartered Teacher Studies. This is a new, alternative route for Scottish teachers to gain professional recognition and financial reward for continuing to practise, rather than seeking promotion through a management route. This small‐scale, preliminary exploration of the views of teachers who have completed the programme to masters level found that teachers perceived that their studies had a positive impact on their learning, increased their understanding, their commitment to linking theory with practice through research and raised their confidence in developing pedagogy. It is recognised that the outcomes cannot be widely generalised, as it considers only one cohort of students in one institution. However, since it is widely recognised that CPD for the teaching profession is an essential facet in improving education practice, the issues explored in this paper may be of interest to an international audience.     

Predictors of US teachers’ intervention in anti-lesbian,gay, bisexual,and transgender bullying and harassment

This study examines how United States (US) teachers’ experiences and beliefs may be predictive of their intervention in anti-lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) bullying and harassment using a US national sample of teachers (N?=?726) who completed an online survey. Results from regression analysis indicated that knowing LGBT people, awareness of general bullying and harassment, awareness of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment, and self-efficacy related to intervention in homophobic remarks were significant predictors of teachers’ frequency of intervention in homophobic remarks. Teachers’ sense of obligation to ensure safe schools for LGBT youth was not predictive of intervention. Implications for teacher education include: providing opportunities for exposure to LGBT people; raising awareness of anti-LGBT bullying and harassment; and building teachers’ skills to intervene in anti-LGBT behaviors.