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.     

Collaboration of Teacher Education and Child Disability Health Care: Transdisciplinary Approach to Inclusive Practice for Early Childhood Pre-Service Teachers

The purpose of this paper is to describe the collaborative efforts between an Early Childhood Teacher Education Program and a Child Disability Health Care Program to incorporate a transdisciplinary model in the preparation of early childhood teachers in inclusive practice. Recent studies suggest essential components of teacher preparation in early childhood inclusion include: helping students construct a positive image of inclusive practice, incorporating a family-centered approach, and collaborating and relationship building across disciplines (Campbell et al. 2003; Pretti-Frontczak et al. 2002 and Able-Boone et al. 2002). In this paper, we describe the collaboration between the University of Michigan-Dearborn Early Childhood Teacher Education Program and Oakwood Health Care Center for Exceptional Families to co-teach and mentor early childhood pre-service teachers as they create a family-centered event for children with disabilities and their typically developing peers in a natural environment. Researchers analyze student reflection papers about the family-centered event for evidence of new learning about child disability and inclusive practice. The reflections demonstrate the power of the students’ active role in creating and implementing family-centered activities in a collaborative context. Other key reflective components include rewards and challenges in creating inclusive contexts, integral role of families in supporting child relationships in natural settings, and collaboration and teaming.     

From Our Readers: Preparing Preservice Teacher Candidates for Leadership in Equity

How unusual to share topics “unspoken” in most circles with a group of people I hardly know—with students, professors, men, women, Chicanas, Cubanos, African Americans, European Americans, and others from varied backgrounds. It takes courage. It takes honesty. It takes risks. If not now, when? If not us, who?     

Preparation for Future Collaboration: Cognitively Preparing for Learning From Collaboration

In a study investigating different ways to engage students in an individual preparation activity, we assessed learning from collaboration with a peer. Learning was measured at pretest, individual preparation, collaboration, and posttest. Two conditions were compared: generative preparation and nongenerative preparation. With no differences in knowledge at pretest, we found that students who prepared by engaging in the generative compared to the nongenerative preparation task performed worse to a statistically significant degree in both the preparation and collaboration phases. However, in a postactivity transfer task, the students performed to a similar degree as the comparison group evidencing productive failure. In addition, students in the generative condition showed greater learning gains from the preparation to the collaboration phase. We introduce the notion that generative preparation may better invoke learning mechanisms that help students to learn from subsequent collaboration.     

教育实习信息化网络化管理研究

本文以崭新的教育管理理念来探索新形势下的教育实习管理方式,即通过信息化网络化管理,实现教育实习共同体成员间(实习生、大学指导教师、中学指导教师、中学生和教育实习管理层)的信息共享、思想共享和生命历程共享,实现教育实习的非线性的评价体系.     

Beyond Native and Nonnative: Translingual Dispositions for More Inclusive Teacher Identity in Language and Literacy Education

ABSTRACT

This article proposes translingual dispositions as a way to move beyond the NES/NNES dichotomy in understanding language teacher identity. Recent scholarship in TESOL and Applied Linguistics has problematized the NES/NNES binary from a poststructuralist perspective, highlighting how NES/NNES subjectivities are discursively and performatively (co-)constructed and negotiated. Despite the efforts to empower NNESs, the very binary reifies monolingual ideologies. This article argues that translingual dispositions can help move beyond the binary and complicate theorization of teachers’ identities and practice. To illustrate, we report an ethnographic case study of a “NES” teacher, Daphne, and examine how Daphne’s translingual dispositions shape her teaching and facilitate her students’ creative negotiation of monolingual norms in a writing course. We conclude by discussing future research directions and the implications for language teacher education in fostering translingual dispositions.     

Carrying the Message of Counter-Hegemonic Practice: Teacher Candidates as Agents of Change

In an effort to support future teachers in their work toward enacting (and not just espousing) counter-hegemonic, social justice concepts, this research describes a course assignment that required teacher candidates (N = 134) to identify an issue related to power and/or privilege with which they personally grapple, and to then construct a professional workshop intended to work toward deepening their own understandings and the understandings of the participants in the workshop. With an emphasis on risk-taking and decentering their own authority, the teacher candidates in this study created critical workshops intended to reduce oppression (at the personal or institutional level), addressing topics across a broad spectrum of inequities. The findings from this research suggest that, given a supportive and collaborative forum, teacher candidates may be equipped to challenge hegemonic ideas and emerge as leaders in a new era of social justice.     

教师合作:教师发展的一个重要路径

20世纪80年代以来,教师合作作为教师发展的一种方式获得广泛的关注,成为国际教师教育研究领域中一大热点问题。本文认为,所谓教师合作,就是教师们为了改善学校教育实践,以自愿、平等的方式就共同感兴趣的问题,共同探讨解决的办法,从而形成的一种批判性互动关系;教师合作有助于激发与强化教师发展意愿、提高教师个体反思能力、促进学校组织学习。     

Preparing Teacher Candidates to be “Effective” in the Classroom: Lessons Learned from National Teachers of the Year

Defining what it means to be an “effective teacher” is a difficult, but necessary, undertaking, as research reveals a correlation between teacher qualities and student success (Buchel and Edwards 2005 Buchel, T., and F. Edwards. 2005. Characteristics of effective clinical teachers. Resid Educ. 37 (1):30–5. [Google Scholar]; Darling-Hammond 2000 Darling-Hammond, L. 2000. Teacher quality and student achievement: A review of state policy evidence. Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy. Seattle: University of Washington Press. doi: 10.1086/ahr/106.2.595-a.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Lupascu, Pânisoa, and Pânisoar 2014; Stronge 2007 Stronge, J. H. 2007. Qualities of effective teachers. 2nd ed. Alexandria, VA: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. [Google Scholar]). The literature on this topic clearly demonstrates that there is no consensus on exactly what traits and characteristics truly define an effective teacher. Given this lack of agreement, the question for teacher educators becomes how do we prepare teacher candidates to be effective in the classroom when researchers, policymakers, and administrators can’t agree on the traits that encompass what the system has come to deem an “effective” teacher?

Throughout this article, we share our findings from an exploratory case study of National Teachers of the Year. Through an analysis of personal teacher of the year narratives and nomination letters, we learned that even in the ever-changing world of education, specific characteristics and philosophies which support and exemplify outstanding teaching have remained constant over the years. Award winning educators agree that teacher effectiveness is realized only through the intersection of curriculum, relationships, collaboration, engagement, and a commitment to further one’s learning. In this article, we offer insight into each of these ideological constants and discuss the implications they have for today’s teacher education programs.     

Electronic Portfolio Adoption for Teacher Education Candidates

Programs of professional development for preservice teachers of young children in the United States attempt to align their program goals and candidate performances to The National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC), Association of Childhood Education International (ACEI), and their particular state standards. In addition they attempt to teach candidates to be knowledgeable and reflective practitioners who use the best practices in their field. This article will address one university’s attempt to adopt this process and utilize electronic portfolios. The article will include examples of course objectives, standards, rubrics, and candidate performances interwoven through program matrices in order to insure the proper delivery of instruction while maintaining flexibility and creativity. It is hoped that the article will foster discussion about the strengths and challenges of accountability and academic freedom in preparing candidates in early childhood education.     

The Elusive Search for Teacher Collaboration

Collaboration is a well-used term in the field of education, identified as promising practice for student learning and teaching learning alike. However, collaboration comes in different shapes and sizes, leading to radically different ends. The authors examine teachers’ own understandings and practices of collaboration with teacher colleagues within their school contexts and within a professional development model designed to allow for collaborative conversation between teachers. Implications for teacher education are then considered.     

Towards Inclusive Teacher Education: Sensitising individuals to how they learn

Higher education has struggled to acknowledge and translate into better teaching and learning practices that sizeable literature base suggesting a link between cognitive style, learning preferences, and performance. Research is reported in which 80 undergraduate students on a primary education degree were studied to examine the relationship between their cognitive style, their learning preferences, and perceived impact on their teaching practices. All students completed the CSA measure of cognitive style, the ASSIST, two further questionnaires exploring learning preferences and perception of good teaching during the course, and an evaluation at the end of the teaching unit. Significant differences were found between the three cognitive styles investigated: wholist, intermediate, and analytic. In terms of learning preferences, using ANOVA statistically significant differences were found between the three styles with wholists being most concerned about speed of delivery and least liking computer‐assisted learning. In addition, wholists preferred less structure than analytics in their teaching and claimed to use more images while analytics claimed to use more speech in their teaching. Intermediates demonstrated a greater preference for tangential approaches to teaching and were least happy with the nature of the teaching they had received while at university. Many of the differences reported in the literature between the different cognitive styles were not evident in this study. However, the interpersonal and intrapersonal characteristics of wholists and analytics, respectively, were evident and perceived to impact on planning and delivery in the classroom. While further school‐based research involving greater numbers is required, interest in learning styles remains especially relevant if one intends to offer a truly inclusive education for all learners.     

Preparing Preservice Teachers to Become Teacher Leaders

Since PreK–12 student achievement is the primary focus of schools, all teachers are called to serve as teachers leaders and improve learning on their campuses. Rather than waiting until they have gained experience, teachers can begin acquiring the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of teacher leaders during their preservice programs. Drawing upon published literature, this synthesis paper recommends reflection, service learning, and involvement in university-level student professional organizations as ways to prepare preservice teachers to become teacher leaders.     

Academy for Teacher Excellence: Maximizing Synergy Among Partners for Promoting College Access for Latino Teacher Candidates

This case study discusses how educational entities collaborate in meaningful ways to address teaching force representation and shortages in critical fields for diverse populations in urban education settings. The authors examined how the role of a federally funded program, Academy for Teacher Excellence (ATE), at a Hispanic Serving Institution in Texas is creating preschool through university level (P-20) collaborative partnerships with various community stakeholders to enhance college access for minorities, specifically Latino students pursuing the teaching profession. Constant comparison analysis of the data uncovered the following themes: (a) Building Relationships and Dialoguing across Partners, (b) Communicating Information and Outreach, and (c) Networking and Leveraging Resources. Together, these foster a collaborative partnership among entities with the intention of maximizing synergy and supporting the access, recruitment, and education of Latino teacher candidates who will become culturally efficacious teachers of all students, but specifically for the growing number of Latino students in urban areas.     

教师候选人选拔:问题与对策——兼评师范生免费教育制度

教师候选人选拔工作,关乎学生、教师、教育、国家的发展大计。师范生免费教育制度的重新启动,让人们燃起了选拔优秀教师候选人的希望。但仅有免费教育政策是远远不够的。我们应该把握历史脉络,厘请关键问题,痛下大决心,体现大智慧,提高教师地位,构建教师职业价值,实施多轮选拔,凸显人文关怀,迎来良性局面。     

DESCRIBE IT: A Strategy for Teacher Candidates Implementing Behavior Interventions

Teachers with years of experience in the classroom rely on that experience to help them develop behavior intervention plans for students with behavioral challenges. New teachers, however, may struggle with the complex steps needed to develop successful plans as they address other aspects of their professional work for the first time. DESCRIBE IT is a strategy that novice teachers can use to help generalize the process of behavior intervention planning they learned in university courses to their practice in the field. The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how DESCRIBE IT guided one special education teacher through the process for behavior intervention planning and implementation. Use of DESCRIBE IT may help new teachers plan and monitor behavior interventions as they start their careers.