Pre-service teachers' performance from teachers' perspective and vice versa: behaviors,attitudes and other associated variables

In a rapidly changing world, the mission of education deserves some reflection. Mutual understanding and assessment between trainers and trainees offers a way to promote discussion concerning goals, values, and strategies that should be promoted at schools. This study offers the views of 153 pre-service teachers and their respective trainers during their practicum. We aimed to determine if an association exists between the scores of pre-service teachers and teachers regarding behaviors and attitudes shown by the first. We also want to analyze the extent to which pre-service teachers rate the importance of different educational strategies as well as the extent to which teachers use these strategies in their daily work. We also aim to determine to what extent self-rated behaviors and attitudes of pre-service teachers are associated to their ratings on importance and utilization of different educational strategies. Two questionnaires were utilized to gather the data. Results revealed higher scores on self-evaluation than others’ evaluations; utilization of diverse educational strategies was associated to evaluations on pre-service students’ responsibility, ability to detect and meet students’ needs, and final grade in practicum. Association between pre-service teachers’ self-evaluation and evaluation on the importance of different educational strategies revealed large associations between climate for the expression of ideas, teaching methodology, and the importance given to using language appropriate to the level of the students. Average ratings on importance and utilization of different teaching strategies resulted in high scores, with utilization of teaching methodologies obtaining the lowest scores. Gender resulted in significant differences on importance, with women scoring higher than men. Importance scores were significantly higher than utilization scores. High associations were found between self- and others’ evaluations on values related to compliance with rules, as well as on behaviors associated to maintain order and discipline in the classroom. Differences in views of teaching, importance, and utilization of different teaching strategies should be debated in order to advance our understanding of effectiveness of educational practices.     

Black,White, and Rainbow [of Desire]: the colour of race-talk of pre-service world language educators in Boalian theatre workshops

This article examines how Boalian Theatre of the Oppressed exercises helped instructors and pre-service teachers navigate the consequences of ventriloquized, racialized discourses in a pre-service world language teacher education classroom. Applying a critical and performative approach, we analyse the mostly White student–actors’ varying representations of a “White teacher’s” use of the term “hoodlum” for classroom management and the resulting communication breakdown that occurred between the teacher and a “Black parent.” Findings indicate that rehearsing pre-service teachers’ classroom struggles helped to move the group away from monochromatic perceptions of White/Black, Teacher/Parent interactions to a polychromatic view of interlocutors’ multiple histories and investments. This study has implications for revitalizing the place of world language education in K-12 education, extending the acquisition of second language verbs and nouns to incorporate connections between language, culture, history, and power.     

Whiteness and social studies teacher education: tensions in the pedagogical task

Utilizing a critical whiteness studies framework, the authors analyzed the experiences of a cohort of predominantly White pre-service social studies teachers discussing race and Whiteness in relation to education. The pre-service teachers resisted identifying White privilege as a form of structural racism, instead preferring individualized understandings of racism. The participants also utilized their personal biographies to accept or reject aspects of race privilege. The authors highlighted three tensions for teacher educators to consider when engaging pre-service teachers in discussions about race privilege, including recognizing the unfamiliar nature of structural thinking, appreciating the limitations of personal experience, and acknowledging the challenges of structural considerations within individual classrooms. The authors’ findings – and the tensions they highlight– depart from previous literature on White teachers and race by paying specific attention to pedagogical issues related to developing a critical racial consciousness in White teachers and by attending to the ways in which Whiteness, as a structural force, limits the ability of White teachers to engage in conversations about race. The authors attempt to trouble the assumption that the pedagogical practices in teacher education adequately create an environment in which White teachers can thoroughly engage in the problematics of race, racism, and Whiteness.     

Impact of Chinese Culture on Pre-service Science Teachers’ Views of the Nature of Science

This study examines Chinese pre-service teachers’ (N?=?30) views on the nature of science (NOS) and how Chinese culture influences their views. Participants were from two teachers’ universities in eastern China. As an exploratory and interpretive study, a scenario-based interview approach was adopted. The results indicated that the participants held unique views about the five key aspects of NOS. Many participants have alternative and contemporary views of NOS, but few possess classical views. In fact, teachers adopted features of the Confucian Doctrine of the Mean either consciously or unconsciously to account for their views of NOS. This research reflects that the Doctrine of the Mean affected Chinese teachers’ views of NOS, making them rather deficient in their understandings of classical NOS. Based on empirical data, it is argued that science teacher training in China should focus on the content and objectives of classical NOS, rather than just teaching contemporary views of NOS. Taking Chinese culture into consideration, science teacher education in China cannot entirely import the strategies of teaching the classical views of NOS from the developed world, but should develop, design and contextualize local strategies that are suitable for the training of Chinese science teachers. Some issues for further investigation of learners’ views of NOS in non-Western contexts are suggested as implications from this study.     

Pre-service teachers learning mathematics using calculators: a failure to connect current and future practice

This study brings to the forefront pre-service teachers’ contrasting views between their own use of calculators and their views of appropriate use of calculators in the elementary school classroom. Using a Heideggerian perspective, this paper describes a course in which pre-service teachers study mathematics in a reform setting but may fail to connect their use of calculators and their views of how their future students could utilize technology in a similar manner. This study also demonstrates that, in contrast to commonly held beliefs about students’ overuse of calculators, most of the pre-service teachers did not rely exclusively on their calculators.     

Pre-service educators’ dispositions toward inclusive practices for students with emotional and behavioural difficulties

ABSTRACT

In response to challenging behaviour from students with emotional and behavioural difficulties (EBD), teachers around the world often label students as challenging, defining them by their disability. Negative views of students with EBD are a barrier to their inclusion and a major challenge for policy in the United States and elsewhere associated with access to the education system for students with disabilities. Pre-service teacher education has been highlighted as an optimum time to instil in pre-service educators a more equitable disposition toward behaviour management and inclusive practices. Therefore, the purpose of the current mixed-methods study was to assess whether or not an undergraduate course focused on relationship-based approaches to positive behaviour support could impact pre-service educators’ dispositions toward inclusive classroom practices for students with EBD. Survey results from 41 pre-service educators indicated that participants made significant improvements in their knowledge and understanding of compassionate behaviour management, intentional relationship building, and establishment of a welcoming classroom environment. Analysis of participants’ written responses to open-ended questions revealed several themes regarding changes in dispositions toward students with EBD. Implications for pre-service educator preparation and inclusion of students with EBD are discussed.     

Problematizing the Practicum to Integrate Practical Knowledge

This article examines the influence of a practicum teaching experience on two pre-service science teachers. The research is focused on examining a practicum in a secondary science department that actively promotes the teaching and learning of science as inquiry. We investigated the process through which the pre-service science teachers integrated their practical knowledge, and examined this in the context of the quantified reformed instruction they enacted. Using a mixed methods design, we have quantified these pre-service science teachers’ practice using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (Piburn et al. 2000), in concert with a narrative methodology drawn from in-depth interviews. Our analysis of the data indicates two important conclusions. The first is the importance of a consistently reformed image of science education being presented and practiced by both science teacher educators and cooperating teachers. The second is the recognition that a consistently reformed image may not be sufficient, of itself, to challenge pre-service teachers’ views of science education. Pre-service teachers appear to be heavily influenced by their biographies and own science education. Consequently, it appears the extent to which a pre-service teacher identifies problems of teaching and learning, and then works toward possible resolution, influences their progress in shaping reformed views of science education.     

Pre-service teachers’ epistemic perspectives about philosophy in the classroom: it is not a bunch of ‘hippie stuff’

Using epistemic perspectives as a theoretical framework, this study investigated Australian pre-service teachers’ perspectives about knowing, knowledge and children’s learning, as they engaged in a semester-long unit on philosophy in the classroom. During the field experience component of the unit, pre-service teachers were required to teach at least one philosophy lesson. Pre-service teachers completed the Personal Epistemological Beliefs Survey at the beginning and end of the unit. They were also interviewed in focus groups at the end of the semester to investigate their views about children’s learning. Paired sample t-tests were used to explore changes in epistemic beliefs over time. Significant differences were found for only some individual items on the survey. However, when interviewed, pre-service teachers indicated that field experiences helped them consider children as competent ‘thinkers’ who were capable of engaging in philosophy in the classroom. They reported predominantly student-centred perspectives of children’s learning, although a process of adjudication (exploring disagreements and evidence for responses) was lacking in these responses.     

Taking a ‘reality’ check: Expanding pre-service teachers' views on pedagogy and diversity

The outcomes of a two-pronged ‘real-world’ learning project, which aimed to expand the views of pre-service teachers about learning, pedagogy and diversity, will be discussed in this paper. Seventy-two fourth-year and 22 first-year students, enrolled in a Bachelor of Education degree in Queensland, Australia, were engaged in community sites outside of university lectures, and separate from their practicum. Using Butin's conceptual framework for service learning, we show evidence that this approach can enable pre-service teachers to see new realities about the dilemmas and ambiguities of performing as learners and as teachers. We contend that when such ‘real-world’ experiences have different foci at different times in their four-year degree, pre-service teachers have more opportunities to develop sophisticated understandings of pedagogy in diverse contexts for diverse learners.     

Confronting Invisibility: Early Childhood Pre-service Teachers’ Beliefs Toward Homeless Children

Children make up half of the homeless population in the US, and of those, almost 50 percent are under age six. Homeless children face many different challenges in school. These children and their families have been invisible in school due to the indifference and stereotypes about them. This article focuses on early childhood pre-service teachers’ beliefs over the course of one semester at a private university in the United States. The pre-service teachers explored their own perceptions about homeless children through urban community-based field experiences. The pre-service teachers regularly worked with children in homeless shelter learning centers throughout the semester. The data revealed that the pre-service teachers had fears about interacting with the unfamiliar setting, as well as deficit perspectives about homeless children. However, while they were engaged in the community-based experiences, they started to re-examine their deficit views about young homeless children and their families, acquire more accurate information on their complex situations, and positively developed their professional perspectives on these children. This study suggests that raising awareness about homeless children and their families should be a part of both professional development in schools and early childhood teacher education programs     

Certified But Not Qualified? EFL Pre-service Teachers in Liminality

Research on novice ESL/EFL teachers’ identity development often characterizes the teaching practicum/internship as a boundary-crossing period in which pre-service teachers move out of the sheltered environment of education to become in-service teachers in real classrooms. Nevertheless, many prospective teachers experience a prolonged pre-service period in which an examination-based selection mechanism is used to gatekeep teacherdom. Through the lens of liminality, the study explores the experiences of two Taiwanese pre-service secondary EFL teachers during a period filled with high-stakes recruitment examinations. By examining how the two participants negotiate their identities and learn about the profession amid the disheartening challenges and learning opportunities they face during liminality, the study gives voice to pre-service teachers caught in between institutional structures and allows them to articulate their struggles as well as their sense of agency in pursuing a teaching career. The findings yield practical implications for EFL teacher education and the examination-based selection mechanism.     

Integrated Science Students’ Assessment of their Teachers for Characteristics of Effective Science Teaching

This study explored views held by pre-service and in-service science teachers regarding the nature of science and technology particularly: (a) the characteristics of science and technology; (b) the aim of science and scientific research; (c) the characteristics of scientific knowledge and scientific theories; and (d) the relationship between science and technology. The views held by science teachers at pre-service and in-service levels were assessed using a questionnaire. The findings revealed that generally science teachers at both pre-service and in-service levels showed similar views in relation to the nature of science and technology. While the participants displayed mix views regarding science as content oriented or process oriented, technology was viewed as an application of science. Implications of these views for classroom teaching and learning are presented.     

A story of culture and teaching: the complexity of teacher identity formation

Research in teacher education repeatedly suggests that the background and underlying beliefs held by pre-service teachers about teaching and assessment act to shape their interpretations of ideas, powerfully influencing their praxis and their developing teacher identity. This paper explores how a young New Zealand secondary science teacher, raised and educated in Māori-medium and then English-medium New Zealand schools, develops his identity as a teacher as he navigates a range of educational contexts and experiences. His views on assessment provide a focus. The paper presents a case study drawn from a two-year longitudinal study, comprising a series of interviews with the teacher, as he transitioned from a university graduate to a qualified science teacher working in his first school. The complexity of teacher identity development is highlighted, particularly for teachers for whom cultural identity and indigenous world view is important. It suggests that beginning teachers need more time in their pre-service teacher education to reflect on the influence their formative educational experiences have on who they are becoming as a teacher.     

A Comparative Study of Pre-Service Teachers’ Views on Ethical Issues in Classroom Assessment in China and the United States

The purpose of this study was to compare pre-service teachers’ views of ethical issues in assessment practices in the US and China. Focus group interviews were conducted among 16 pre-service teachers from the US and 15 pre-service teachers from China. Results indicated that the inclusion of effort in grading is a key issue for the pre-service teachers in both the US and China. American pre-service teachers have more consistent views with experts regarding using multiple assessment methods and communications about grading. Pre-service teachers in both countries appeared to have consistent views with experts regarding the confidentiality and standardized test preparation. The findings of this study can help build guidelines regarding ethical issues in classroom assessment.     

A Longitudinal Study of Physics Students’ Conceptions of Force in Pre-service Training for High School Teachers

Do physics students in pre-service training to be high-school teachers hold the accepted scientific views that will eventually allow them to plan and implement instructional strategies, which, in turn, will lead their future students to achieve a scientific concept of feree? The results of a longitudinal study dealing with this issue will be discussed in this paper. The most important findings of this study can be summarised as follows. Physics students in pre-service training for high school teachers: (1) mostly do not succeed in abandoning their Aristotelian ‘impetus’ misconception; (2) have difficulties in recognising reaction as a force; (3) are rather ambivalent when referring to the necessity of the forces to be balanced in static situations; (4) hold, to a great extent, the concept that an initial force exerted on an object keeps it going and gradually lessens--the ‘fading-away’ concept; (5) hold, to a great extent, the concept that a force (inertia), resisting a push, acts on moving objects; (6) tend to return in 4th year in college to intuitive views of force, rather than holding the accepted scientific concept.     

From PCK to TPACK: Developing a Transformative Model for Pre-Service Science Teachers

New science teachers should be equipped with the ability to integrate and design the curriculum and technology for innovative teaching. How to integrate technology into pre-service science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge is the important issue. This study examined the impact on a transformative model of integrating technology and peer coaching for developing technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) of pre-service science teachers. A transformative model and an online system were designed to restructure science teacher education courses. Participants of this study included an instructor and 12 pre-service teachers. The main sources of data included written assignments, online data, reflective journals, videotapes and interviews. This study expanded four views, namely, the comprehensive, imitative, transformative and integrative views to explore the impact of TPACK. The model could help pre-service teachers develop technological pedagogical methods and strategies of integrating subject-matter knowledge into science lessons, and further enhanced their TPACK.     

Closing the Gap Between Attitudes and Perceptions About ICT-Enhanced Learning Among Pre-service STEM Teachers

The goal of this study was to examine pre-service STEM teachers’ attitudes and perceptions about the effectiveness of various learning methods and, in specific, the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) as means for enhancing progressive education. The study was conducted among two cohorts of pre-service STEM teachers (N = 103) in the years 2006 and 2012. The mixed method approach was used to compile data from two research tools: an attitudes questionnaire and reflective drawings. The findings of the first cohort indicated a conflict between the participants’ declared attitudes and their perceptions, suggesting a gap between their inclination to coincide with educational trends, and their actual views about the use of ICTs in the classrooms. The first cohort’s drawings illustrated ICTs as distractive technologies, ineffective tools for teaching and learning, impairing teachers’ authority, and distancing teachers and students from each other. Findings of the second cohort indicated that the gap between attitudes and perceptions was narrowed in such a way that preservice STEM teachers did not see ICTs as threatening, but they perceived them as instrumental for leveraging progressive education.     

Primary pre-service teachers' pedagogical reasoning skills

This paper discusses a preliminary investigation into primary pre-service teachers' pedagogical reasoning skills. Results from this investigation led to the development of a problem-based learning model which focused on improving primary pre-service teachers' pedagogical reasoning skills. The problem-based learning model uses pedagogical reasoning as the basis for creating problem situations for the pre-service teachers to investigate. The paper reports on pre-service teachers' views on the use of the approach to improve their pedagogical reasoning skills. Specializations: science teacher education, learning in science, chemistry education. Specializations: student learning, conceptual change, technology education, curriculum evaluation.     

Pre-service teachers' views on their information technology education

Abstract

The concern that teachers are being inadequately prepared by their pre-service education to be confident and competent users of information technology remains, despite over a decade of computer availability in education systems. This paper examines the views of 234 pre-service teachers who experienced an information technology component in their teacher education course. It finds that many students have low computer self-efficacy and express negative feelings about information technology. These perceptions are gender and age related. It concludes that the need for information technology competency training remains important, but such programmes need to be specifically tailored to account for the wide range of experiences and attitudes of pre-service teachers.