THE COMPLEXITIES OF A LESSON STUDY IN A DUTCH SITUATION: MATHEMATICS TEACHER LEARNING

This study combines the Japanese lesson study approach and mathematics teachers’ professional development. The first year of a 4-year project in which 3 Dutch secondary school teachers worked cooperatively on introducing making sense of the calculus is reported. The analysis focusses on instrumental and relational student understanding of mathematical concepts and the transition between the conceptual embodiment and the operational symbolism of the calculus. This paper reports on 2 cycles of lesson studies that took place in the first project year, the first cycle focussing on the notion of the derivative (introduced for polynomials) and the second on trigonometry (as the concepts shift from ratios in a right-angled triangle to functions in the calculus). The lesson study cycles resulted in changes in the teachers’ educational goals and instructional strategies in relation to student understanding. However, the teachers’ desire to be good teachers, their perceived need to prepare students for standard examinations and their reluctance to use computers impeded their progress in developing a lesson study approach. The introduction of a Japanese lesson study approach into a Dutch context merits further reflection in the later years of the project.     

ONE TEACHER, TWO LESSONS: THE LESSON STUDY PROCESS

In this paper, we analyze 2 lessons by 1 teacher that took place during a lesson study (LS) cycle for a team of elementary mathematics teachers. We analyze the data on 2 levels: macro-level analysis, dealing with lesson structure and setting; and micro-level analysis, zooming in on mathematical tasks and the quality of whole-class discussion. We analyze teacher participation in LS to identify the main mechanisms leading to changes in teaching observed between the 2 lessons. We argue that collaborative noticing, collaborative awareness, and brainstorming are the core mechanisms of teacher change in the course of LS.     

STUDY COURSE PROVISION IN HIGHER EDUCATION: A CASE STUDY

This paper describes the origins, development and characteristics of a study course for teacher‐education and industrial‐design undergraduates. Starting from identification by a handful of staff of a range of student needs, the course developed an informal, gaming approach that encouraged pooling of and reflection on a wide range of participants' study practices. This approach was found to require, and indeed to prove inseparable from, a broader reflection on the roles and rules, processes, products and assessment of undergraduate study. Staff — staff and staff — student negotiations, stimulated by the processes of planning, delivering and reflecting upon this course, come to be seen as constituting a promising kind of staff and curriculum development.     

VOICES IN EDUCATION: ACCOUNTABILITY IN TEACHER EDUCATION AND THE NATIONAL COUNCIL ON TEACHER QUALITY

Abstract

This article explains several reasons why multicultural preservice teacher education is important and suggests some ways it can be better accomplished. The authors make a strong case for teacher education programs to be more deliberate about preparing European Americans to teach ethnically diverse students of color. They argue that this explicit professional preparation is needed because of the increasing racial, cultural, and linguistic divide between teachers (predominately European American) and K–12 students (increasingly from ethnic groups of color). Two other factors underscore the need for more multicultural teacher education: the fear of diversity and the resistance to dealing with race and racism frequently expressed by students enrolled in teacher education programs. To overcome these problems and better prepare preservice teachers to work effectively with ethnically diverse students the authors suggest a two‐part program of professional development.     

IMPLEMENTING COLLEGE AND CAREER STANDARDS IN MATH METHODS COURSE FOR EARLY CHILDHOOD AND ELEMENTARY EDUCATION TEACHER CANDIDATES

This study is purposed to measure the efficacy of implementing College and Career Readiness Standards (CCRS) math standards into math methods courses for early childhood and elementary education teacher candidates at an urban university located in the Dallas and Fort Worth metroplex area. A total of 161 college seniors (teacher candidates) enrolled in the mathematics methods courses for early childhood and elementary education participated in this study. The results showed that incorporating CCRS into the math methods courses was successful as shown by the significant findings between pre- and post-assessments in both skills- and knowledge-associated items. Although only two items were found to be significant between pre- and post-assessments on disposition, teacher candidates showed higher scores in pre-assessments on disposition compared to skills- and knowledge-associated items.     

在普通物理实验教学中突出物理实验方法教育

本文针对长期以来学生在普通物理实验中只注重实验步骤和实验结果的现象,提出在普通物理实验教学中突出物理实验方法教育的观点。     

TAKING ACCOUNT OF STUDENTS’ EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE IN A COURSE OF INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION

This study focuses on an industrial, commercial and community experience programme within a full time, one year postgraduate teacher training course. Acknowledging the heterogeneous experiences brought to this course by the students, an attempt was made to detect links between the students’ prior experience and their experience of the industrial, commercial and community programme. The students completed questionnaires before and after a placement and the findings are described. These findings contribute to an evaluation of the programme and suggest a number of important questions for those responsible for designing teacher education courses.     

LEARNING TO WALK THE WALK AND TALK THE TALK: PEER COACHING IN EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHER EDUCATION

Early childhood teacher education programs have drastically increased the number of field experiences in the past two decades. As a result, problems have emerged often resulting in negative benefits to pre‐service teachers. Among these problems are: inadequate supervision, ample and model placements and the linkage of theory to practice. This paper describes how one program has implemented peer coaching throughout its entire early childhood teacher education program in an attempt to help alleviate some of the known problems. Student satisfaction and enthusiasm, cooperating teacher support and the benefits of the university have further encouraged and strengthened the use of this strategy. Preliminary research findings also indicate preservice teachers develop a more thorough understanding of the teaching and learning process.     

QUALITY IN TEACHER EDUCATION: RELFECTIONS ON A DECADE

This article reflects on the changing definitions of quality as they have been applied to teacher education in the 1980s and looks forward to the decade ahead.     

TEACHER EDUCATION: SUCKING OUT THE JUICE

This article sets out a proposal for raisins quality in teacher education and so for quality in our schools. The current system of teacher education is heavily regulated by CATE — the Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education — which has been established by the DES to ensure quality. Paradoxically, these regulations may actually limit quality rather than enhancing it because they are principally concerned with quantity and balance rather than with process. So the paper argues that a better way must be found in which the processes involved in becoming a teacher, and the structures which shape the system, may assist each other. The components needed for raising quality are already within the system, but need nonetheless a radical re‐adjustment if quality is to be raised. The proposals made here concern the potential within CATE to become a national professional council for the teaching service as well as for teacher education; for making it a requirement on teachers to read for the Masters degree as part of their professional qualification; and for the consequent integration of pre‐service and in‐service teacher education.     

体育科研中数学方法应用与数学语言教育

分析了体育科研中应用数学方法存在若干问题的原因，提出了加强数学语言教育的几点建议。     

谈基础教育课程改革的新理念

以人发展为本的教育观念是新一轮基础教育课程改革的核心理念。该理念强调面向全体学生 ,承认学生是学习的主体 ,尊重学生的个性差异 ,重视培养学生的完整人格 ,开发个体潜能。只有建构起新的课程观念 ,才能对新课程有深入的理解与认同     

大连市职业高中(中专)教师继续教育思考

从大连市职业高中 (中专 )机电类专业教师队伍现状出发 ,对继续教育培训内容、模式等进行探讨。