Understanding Candidates’ Learning Relationships with their Cooperating Teachers: A call to Reframe my Pedagogy

Abstract

This self-study frames the influences of cooperating (or mentor) teachers on teacher candidates in my teacher education classroom as an action-at-a-distance on my pedagogy of teacher education; that is, a tacit set of influences and expectations that teacher candidates develop about my course before it even begins. Interviews with teacher candidates enabled me to develop two conceptual metaphors to think about the relationships candidates develop with cooperating teachers on practicum. The first, freedom with foundation, reflects the fact that teacher candidates hope to have considerable autonomy in their practicum placements while simultaneously having the support from their cooperating teacher to receive meaningful, regular, feedback. The second, power and performance, names the tensions teacher candidates feel in experiencing the practicum as a site of performance rather than as a site of learning. I offer some specific pedagogical ways in which I have responded to these issues before making a turn to self. I examined journal entries from my own experiences as a teacher candidate 20 years ago with a view to understanding the ways in which the two metaphors may have played a role in my own development as a teacher. This research compels me to attend explicitly to action-at-at-distance forces in my teacher education classroom, such as candidates’ relationship with cooperating teachers and my relationships with my former cooperating teachers.     

Straddling Teacher Candidates’ Two Worlds to Link Practice and Theory: A Self-Study of Successful and Unsuccessful Efforts

Abstract

This self-study examines a teacher educator’s quest to provide an integrated practice-and-theory approach to learning to teach that places the experiences of the teacher candidates at the centre of the curriculum by focussing on their developing questions, challenges and issues through socio-constructivist discussions of their emerging practices. Constraints of university structures with regards to offering such an approach are discussed, including the impact that offering seminars on the university campus rather than in schools has on teacher candidates’ ability to integrate theories and practices of learning to teach. The research questions guiding this study include: How can I understand what process candidates actually undergo during practicum in the development of their ability as teachers vis-à-vis my course?, and How can I re-structure and re-organize my course to enhance the development of candidates’ practice as teachers? Data include interviews with volunteer student participants before and after observations made during classroom visits as well as discussions with groups of students. Analysis is based on reading and rereading the data as well as discussing it with the larger research team. The findings include the realization of how little of my course is integrated into my teacher candidates’ teaching, how much greater the influence of their mentor teacher is, and the extent to which teacher candidates need explicit help and guidance to transform or reframe their teaching. The article concludes with specific suggestions for adjusting a seminar associated with the practicum to enhance the development of a practice-and-theory approach to teaching.     

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.     

Fostering Childish Tendencies in Teacher Education and Young Adult Literature: The Problem of Teaching Ideas You Love

In teaching young adult literature in a teacher education programme at the undergraduate level, I pose the question of how I can best introduce my personal theoretical stances into the formal curriculum and syllabi, without unintentionally conveying such theories to my students as necessary postures. I first outline the theoretical underpinnings that inform my own work: which include psychoanalytic theory, ideas of fantasy and loss in reading experience, the concept of adolescence as a psychic and cultural relation, and the dynamics of forgetting in teacher education. In theorizing part of the process of learning to teach as the productive activation of a person’s internal archive, I then describe the methodological choices I made while constructing my course in young adult literature, where, in reference to Lynda Barry’s One Hundred Demons, my students consider the ways to best approach their own adolescent ‘demons’.     

Appropriating Assessment: Possibilities for an Alliance Perspective through Teaching Social Foundations in Unusual Places

In this article, I explore teaching with a social foundations perspective in the unusual place of an Introduction to Assessment course for second-year, undergraduate, teacher candidates. By bringing the work of three candidates together with the four concerns of the proposed third edition of the Standards for Academic and Professional Instruction in Foundations of Education, Educational Studies, and Educational Policy Studies—P-12 students; professional educators; democratic educational practices; and research, policy, and advocacy—I argue for the possibility of alliance among educators through engagement of the interpretive, normative, and critical perspectives. Alliance did not emerge in the work of the three candidates—instead the Standards, as embodied in my teaching, furthered the dominance of the modern myths of progress and individualism. I propose however, that the addition of an alliance perspective to the three existing social foundations perspectives upon which the Standards rely might better allow for work within and across the concerns delineated in the Standards.     

Initial teacher education and trauma and violence informed care in the classroom: Preliminary results from an online teacher education course

A trauma-and-violence-informed-care (TVIC) system within an educational setting provides a framework of practice that enables schools to become safe and inclusive places for some of the most vulnerable students. Initial teacher education may provide the opportunity to prepare teachers to create classrooms and learning experiences that are safe, equitable, and meet students' needs. A mandatory mental health literacy course for second year teacher candidates in a Bachelor of Education program (n = 287) at a large Canadian university introduced TVIC concepts. A case study approach was used to illustrate both the challenges that students exposed to trauma and/or violence can experience, as well as strategies and knowledge that teachers can use to support these students. This program evaluation used a repeated measures design to survey both attitudes toward trauma informed care for teachers and self-efficacy for teaching using inclusive practices before and after the course. A significant effect of time on both measures revealed an increase in both participants' attitudes toward TVIC and their self-efficacy in using inclusive teaching practices. These findings provide support for the inclusion of these important topics for all teacher candidates. Implications for practice and policy are discussed.     

Teacher Candidate Dispositions: Perspectives of Professional Expectations

This study describes a programmatic effort to examine dispositions perceptions of teacher candidates entering the profession. Study participants included 114 master's level teaching candidates in their first semester of a nontraditional teacher education program. Teacher candidates scored themselves on a department disposition rubric designed to evaluate their professional behaviors and wrote reflective rationales to support their scoring. Results indicated that candidates positioned themselves as no fault, accepts fault, and assigns fault in writing their rationales. These positions were used as lenses to analyze candidates' positioning in relation to the program and faculty expectations. Candidates' disposition performance rationales relied on their novice status, the demands of work and family, and an admitted minimalist approach to some course demands. Insights gained from the study may allow teacher education faculty to better understand and support candidates' dispositional growth and development.     

The efficacy of embedding special education instruction in teacher preparation programs in the United States

This study examined the effects of embedding special education instruction into preservice general education assessment courses. Participants were teacher candidates in the United States enrolled in a required evaluation and measurement course (n=208). A self-report survey was developed assessing knowledge of and attitudes toward teaching students with learning disabilities. Results indicated that embedded instruction significantly increased teacher candidate's knowledge of inclusion terminology and assessment adaptations (p<.01), and improved confidence levels in meeting the needs of students with learning disabilities improved by 60% over the control group. These results suggest the need to provide faculty in the content area adequate professional development opportunities to ensure that current special education best practices are embedded across the curriculum of teacher candidates.     

Does Praxis Make Perfect? A Personal Journey through the Praxis II: World Language Test

For initial certification in French, German, and Spanish, teacher candidates in most states are required to pass one of the Praxis II subject matter tests. As of October 2010, a new test was added to the Praxis Series. This Praxis II: World Language Test represents a significant change from previous versions and relies heavily upon the Program Standards developed by the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL) and the National Council of Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Given the novelty of the World Language Test, and based on my experience with previous versions of this subject matter test, I registered for and took this test. Suggestions for test-takers and those responsible for preparing foreign language teacher candidates are provided.     

Effects of a Food and Nutrition Course on the Self-Reported Knowledge and Behavior of Preschool Teacher Candidates

This study examined effects of food and nutrition knowledge on the self-reported behaviors of preschool teacher candidates who completed a 10-week course. Self-reported information was gathered at entry, after completion of the course, and follow up 4 months after completion of the course. A paired t-test compared responses at pre, post and follow up. Preschool teacher candidates improved significantly between entry and at the end of the course for 9 of the 18 practices. Statistically significant improvements were also recorded for 13 of the 18 practices between entry and follow up. Overall, the nutrition course increased the nutrition knowledge of preschool teacher candidates. Further analyses are needed to evaluate immediate and longer effects of nutrition course, with larger samples, using more powerful research designs.     

Modeling Collaboration for Middle-Level Teacher Candidates Through Co-Teaching

The purpose of this analysis was to determine if the implementation of co-teaching was an effective instructional practice for graduate-level teacher candidates (hence forth referred to as candidates) in a Middle Childhood Education cohort. The goals were to determine (1) if co-teaching promoted candidate learning and (2) if co-teaching provided effective modeling for the candidates so they would be able to utilize it in their own future classrooms. Both quantitative and qualitative data were analyzed from course evaluations and pre- and post-surveys. Results indicated that candidates' educational experiences were enhanced as a result of the co-teaching experience, particularly with the use of team teaching, parallel teaching, and station teaching strategies. Additionally, evidence suggests that the use of co-teaching provided effective modeling for the candidates.     

Latina Professor Revitalizing Historical Memory: Resistance Politics and Transformation within Teacher Education

This study focuses on how a Chicana/Latina professor contributed to the development of social consciousness with Spanish bilingual credential candidates in a Teacher Education Multiple Subject Credential Program, in California, USA. As a teacher educator, my goals were to look deeply at my teaching approach and to evaluate what the students and I were learning from the structure and contents of this course that emphasized issues on Latinos in the USA. The aims for evaluating my teaching both on theoretical and practice levels were to provide insights into the potential tensions in teaching a highly political course within Teacher Education, to explore implications for faculty in Teacher Education, and to investigate how bilingual Teacher Education programs can prepare future teachers to question and challenge inequities in school settings.     

Developing a Vision of Teacher Education: How my classroom teacher understandings evolved in the university environment

Drawing on my experiences as a former classroom teacher making the transition to teacher education, this study examines how my vision of teacher education developed over the course of my first three years as a graduate teaching assistant in a social studies education program in the United States. A qualitative self-study methodology was used to identify and describe sources of tension and growth that contributed to the evolution of my classroom teacher understandings as I forged a distinct vision for teacher education. My vision of teacher education was informed by completing graduate coursework, engaging in the work of teacher education, interacting and collaborating with peers, and studying my practice as it developed and unfolded. Throughout the article, I discuss the potential of self-study methodology to encourage new teacher educators to examine both the features and motivations behind their practice, as well as the effects of this examination on the development of a vision of teacher education.     

On the Affective Challenges of Developing a Pedagogy of Teacher Education

This article reports on the affective challenges I experienced while attempting to develop a pedagogy of teacher education during my first three years in teacher preparation. Data were collected systematically over the course of the study in the form of written interpretive accounts of my experiences. Analysis of these accounts revealed how certain ongoing, and at times paradoxical, tensions influenced my thinking about my initial practices as a teacher educator. Even as I came to understand the content and pedagogy of my instruction in more sophisticated ways, I simultaneously exhibited fear of regression, displayed apathy or exhaustion, exhibited frustration and restlessness, and struggled to navigate interpersonal relationships with my students. The implications of these affective challenges for developing a pedagogy of teacher education are discussed and avenues for further research are considered.     

“Welcome to the Real World”: Navigating the Gap Between Best Teaching Practices and Current Reality

Preservice teachers sometimes experience a gap between best practices that they learn in teacher preparation programs and actual practices that they encounter in classrooms as student teachers. In this self-study, I investigate the gap between best and actual practices, as experienced by a university teacher educator who spent a year as a student teacher in a middle and high school English language arts program. Occupying the identities of a student, a student teacher, a teacher educator, and a researcher, I explored the gap from these multiple perspectives, with the intent of learning how to better support student teachers' development. My findings fall into three distinct phases: (1) In “Mind the gap,” I explain the dilemma I encountered as a student teacher. (2) In “Mine the gap,” I describe the process of exploring the nature and extent of this dilemma. (3) In “The gap is mine,” I analyze a shift in my understanding of where the gap is located. I then illustrate, in a series of short vignettes, the significant impact of that shift on my practice, both as a teacher and as a supervisor of student teachers, and how a core reflection approach to teacher education has supported me in that work. Finally, I discuss some broader practical implications for teacher education programs.     

Enquiry-based learning workshop for deep learning in Middle Eastern classrooms – an action research approach

The senior year design students and I were dismayed when my linear teaching and their habitual rote learning failed in a Middle Eastern University. The gulf between the curricular objectives and our teaching-learning methods intrigued me. I turned this into an action research project that sought to answer the questions, ‘What paradigm shift might we need to migrate from traditional rote learning to deep learning? What attitudinal change and philosophical beliefs would that call for in an instructor?’ The search for a solution metamorphosed me from a disengaged instructor into an empathizing reflecting practitioner. It led my students to active engagement in an enquiry-based learning workshop, which significantly improved their performance. This paper celebrates the journey of our collective deep learning. It explicates how I built my personal theory of teaching praxis through critical consciousness and meta reflection. This knowledge-creation process is empowering and may draw many teacher researchers towards meta-reflexive engagement with the social systems around. These change drivers can initiate institutional overhaul to effect systemic reforms.     

Embodying Care: Igniting a Critical Turn in a Teacher Educator’s Relational Practice

When a cultural disconnect became antagonistic between me and my students of color, I found myself at a crossroads as a White teacher educator: use coercion and force students to follow my directions, or care and base my responses on students’ needs. I chose the latter. Findings suggest that this choice benefitted the class and changed how I see myself as a teacher educator. The construct of embodied care helps describe the turn in my relational teacher educator practice from caring intentions that were dyadic in nature to caring that uses relational means for social justice ends. Data points include field notes, analytic journal entries, email communication, course materials, student interviews, and course evaluations. This self-study research contributes to the literature on caring teaching by suggesting that, in racially and culturally diverse classrooms, caring habits can help teacher educators from dominant groups gain critical self-awareness.     

Looking Inward: The impact of race,ethnicity, gender,and social class background on teaching sociocultural theory in education

In this paper I examine how and to what extent various elements of my biography—race, ethnicity, gender, age, social class background, and prior personal and professional experiences—influenced my relationships with students in a graduate course examining the impact of race, gender, and social class on education. My lived experiences as an immigrant woman of color in United States society and my prior professional experiences as an urban teacher are shown to have strengthened my expertise and confidence in teaching this course. Nevertheless, experience confirmed my initial concerns that my race, gender, and social class background negatively influenced some students' perceptions of my teaching competence and position of authority in the classroom. The paper concludes with recommendations for teacher education, including encouraging teachers to continuously engage the question of how their biographies shape their pedagogies and relationships with students, an important undertaking as our schooling populations become more racially, ethnically, and linguistically diverse. I also recommend that universities continue to recruit faculty who are not only from racial minority backgrounds but also from varied ethnic and social class backgrounds.     

A Self-Study of a Thai Teacher Educator Developing a Better Understanding of PCK for Teaching about Teaching Science

In this study, I, the first author as a Thai teacher educator employed self-study as a research methodology to investigate my own understandings, questions, and curiosities about pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching science student teachers and the ways I engaged student teachers in a field-based science methods course designed to help them to develop their PCK. Qualitative data gathered included: the syllabi, handouts, work submitted by student teachers, student teachers’ journal entries, my journal entries, and video recordings of my classroom teaching. Data were analysed using an inductive process to identify ways in which I attempted to enhance student teachers’ PCK. The contributions of this study are insights generated to help teacher educators think about how to support and develop student teachers’ PCK. Some of these contributions are enhancing teacher educators’ PCK for teaching science teachers, developing PCK for teaching science, and designing a science methods course in science teacher preparation programmes.     

What I ‘Know’: Literary Studies and the Teaching of English

This essay unfolds through a series of juxtapositions, involving storytelling and writing of a more analytical nature. In thinking about what I ‘know’ as an English teacher, my aim has been to present my ideas in a form that might do justice to the contradictions and complexities of my professional life, including my continuing efforts to negotiate a pathway between the rich particularities of the educational settings in which I have worked and my knowledge and values as an English teacher. My primary focus is on how my literary education has shaped and been shaped by my work as an English teacher vis-à-vis a devaluing of teachers’ disciplinary knowledge that has occurred through standards-based reforms. I attempt to make the standpoint from which I am writing an object of scrutiny, thus producing an account of what I ‘know’ that arises out of my work as an English teacher and returns to it as a necessary dimension of a politically committed praxis.