Competence-based teacher education: Illusion or reality? An assessment of the implementation status in Flanders from teachers’ and students’ points of view

Since 1998, the Flanders’ educational government in Belgium has been urging teacher education institutions by decree to implement competences in teacher training programs. Since then, years have gone by, and institutions have acted in order to achieve the competence-based goals. However, have they succeeded in implementing them? This is the research question that is central to the current study. An online survey inquiry was set up in eight elementary teacher education institutions using two questionnaires; one for final year elementary institution pre-service teachers, who were about to graduate at the time of completing the questionnaire (N = 218), the other for teacher trainers throughout the elementary teacher training program (N = 51). Ten years after the decree was issued, results show that competence-based education has become a reality in terms of its implementation. However, the process has not yet come to an end. Whereas some competences are clearly present in the institutions’ policies and practices (e.g. teacher as guide to learning and development, teacher as subject expert), others are poorly represented (e.g. teacher as partner of parents, external parties and as a member of the educational community). Moreover, teacher trainers tend to take four different approaches to the implementation of competences (1) during internship, (2) through the institution’s policy and program planning, (3) by means of their integration in both theoretical and practical components of the curriculum and finally, (4) a lack of implementation because the competences are considered insufficiently applicable by the teacher trainers. In particular, more experienced and subject expert teacher trainers tend to adopt the final approach more often than do younger colleagues and pedagogues. Student teachers’ results, on the other hand, suggest important differences between institutions concerning their understanding of competences and the integration of these competences in the curriculum; suggesting different paces of adaptation between teacher education institutions. Moreover, even within schools, the trajectory towards implementation is not always clear for all members of the teaching team, nor for the students of most teacher education institutions. Consequently, there is still important work to be done in order for successful competence-based change to occur.     

特殊教育师资专业化培养的问题与对策

在教师专业化思潮的推动下,特殊教育教师专业化问题不容回避。本文在综合教师专业化一般概念和特殊教育特点的基础上,提出特殊教育教师专业化内涵:包括掌握科学系统的知识,有效解决实际问题,有充分的专业自主权、恪守职业道德四个方面。从专业化的角度审视当今我国特教师资培养的目标、模式和课程设置存在的问题,并提出相应的对策:完善培养目标,实行课程分层和分流,增强课程实用性,力求课程综合化,加强行动研究能力的培养等。     

高师学生教师职业行为训练中应处理好的几个关系

对高师生进行教师职业行为训练是高等师范教育培养学生职业能力的重要途径。但是，要使真正发挥作用，必须要融入到整个培养体系之中。同时，在实际训练中，还要处理好行为训练与人格培养、相关课程之间的关系，处理好集体训练与人别矫正的关系。     

教师培养模式改革若干问题的思考

近10年来,若干所高校为适应基础教育发展对教师的新的需要,自发地开展了教师培养模式的改革探索,形成了多种教师培养新模式,在很大程度上改变了沿袭多年的单一的教师培养模式,形成了立体的、多样化的教师培养模式的新格局。从对其中“4+2”模式的分析可以看出,它适应了教育发展特别是基础教育发展的需要。但我国在教师培养模式方面的改革还刚刚起步,还面临诸多的困难和挑战。因此,应当确立教师培养模式改革在教师教育改革中的战略地位,加强对教师培养模式的理论研究,促进教师培养模式改革的多元化和整体化,将教师培养模式改革与教师教育改革有机结合,以适应基础教育发展对教师素质不断变化的需要。     

Teachers’ literacy-related knowledge and self-perceptions in relation to preparation and experience

After rating their own literacy-related knowledge in three areas (knowledge about reading/reading development, phonemic awareness/phonics, and morpheme awareness/structural analysis), graduate teacher-education students completed five tasks intended to measure their actual disciplinary knowledge in these areas. Teachers with high levels of prior background (i.e., course preparation and experience) rated themselves as significantly more knowledgeable than did low-background teachers in all areas; high-background participants also significantly outperformed low-background participants on all tasks. However, even high-background teachers scored well below ceiling on the tasks. Regression analyses indicated that teachers’ self-perceptions and knowledge were positively influenced by both level of preparation and teaching experience, although the influences on teachers’ knowledge differed by task. Teachers had some accurate perceptions of their own knowledge, especially in the area of phonics. Results suggest that differentiating levels of preparation may be useful in studying teacher knowledge, and also support the notion of a substantial gap between research on reading and teacher preparation in reading.     

教师入职训练的国际经验与发展趋势

世界各国高度重视教师的入职训练,把入职训练视为教师教育的重要环节,形成了一些共同的经验,即强调以人职需求为导向的课程目标,以适应能力为中心的课程内容,以学校为本位的训练模式,教师人职训练课程也呈现出及时性、实用性和个体性的发展趋势。     

对高等师范特殊教育师资培养问题的探讨

本通过对我国特教师资培养的历史回顾及对国外特教师资培养的分析,探讨了我国高等师范特殊教育师资培养在新形势下所面临的问题及国外可借鉴的经验,在此基础上,结合我国的实际情况提出改革高等师范特殊教育师资培养的几点建议,以期引起广大同行的共鸣。     

专业化视野下的特殊教师教育——关于特殊教师教育培养目标和培养模式的研究

本文从教师专业化理论的视角,结合三年制专科特殊教师教育实践,主要对特殊教师教育专业化发展的必要性、特殊教师教育培养目标和培养模式做一探索。     

全纳教育视野下的幼儿教师培养

实施学前全纳教育是实现学前特殊儿童受教育权利的有力保障。学前全纳教育对幼儿教师提出了新的挑战,为了应对这个挑战,需要培养全纳型幼儿教师。结合我国幼儿教师教育现状,对全纳型幼儿教师的培养提出以下建议:改革职前教育体制,培养合格的全纳型幼儿教师;加强在职培训,促进全纳型幼儿教师的专业发展。     

关于英语教师教育与发展的认识与思考

教师教育专业化是当代世界教师教育重要的发展趋势之一,反过来说,教师教育的发展也需要专业化的研究。教师教育专业化主要包括教学专业化、教师培养和培训专业化两个方面的内容。在教师教育专业化运动过程中,英语教师教育改革势在必行,英语教师培训也亟待加强。     

“But I Don't Want to Tell Them the Answer”: Preservice Teachers' (mis)understandings about literacy instruction

The purpose of this study was to notice and name the beliefs 33 preservice teachers had about literacy teaching/learning. The beliefs were noted by using evidence from their ‘language-in-use’ during supported, literacy planning sessions with a teacher educator. Critical discourse analysis revealed that the preservice teachers believed (1) assessment is instruction, (2) literacy teaching/learning is inauthentic, and (3) children are not intellectually motivated. The findings are discussed through the lenses of figured worlds and the apprenticeship of observation. Implications for teacher educators are offered.