“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.     

University Science Teachers as Researchers: Blurring the Scholarship Boundaries

In this paper I examine the phenomenon of university teachers as researchers in their own classrooms. I use examples of three research teams in which we studied: (1) student response to a science and society course; (2) teacher and student perceptions of inquiry in a physics course; and (3) teaching and learning about the nature of science in an elementary science pedagogy course. In addition to describing each study, I compare their purposes, researcher roles, and actions taken. I use these comparisons to address the ideological clashes and dilemmas of ownership, action, and quality that arise in this kind of research. Finally, I comment upon the significance of university teachers as researchers for themselves, their institutions, and the research community.     

Justice,practice and the ‘Real World’: pre-service teachers’ critically conscious visions for teaching amid the complexities and challenges of learning to teach

Stemming from a problem of practice in the author’s justice-oriented social foundations course, this article investigates the relationship between pre-service teachers learning critical conceptual tools about justice and equity, and the ‘problem of enactment’ of leveraging that learning in their practice. Drawing on a theoretical framework linking Social Justice Teacher Education (SJTE) and Practice-based teacher education (PBTE), this study employed practitioner research methodologies and critical qualitative research methods to explore how pre-service teachers themselves negotiated the intersection of justice and practice. Three inductive findings emerged: they conceptualized professional visions oriented toward the ‘bigger picture’; the complexities of teaching complicated living these visions in practice; and their status as novice practitioners mediated their readiness to integrate justice and practice. The article concludes with a discussion of lessons learned for connecting justice and practice in social foundations specifically, and possibilities for convergence between SJTE and PBTE more broadly.     

Navigating the Personal Challenges and Sociopolitics of Doctoral Supervision

ABSTRACT

Faculty members are important agents in the socialization of doctoral students into academia, but little training is available in preparation for the role of doctoral supervisor. In this self-study, we consider the personal and sociopolitical challenges that Kevin faced as an early career teacher education faculty member who had just begun supervising doctoral students. Data sources included Kevin’s reflective journal and regular debriefing discussions between Kevin and his critical friend, Tim. Data were analyzed with a focus on identifying turning points in Kevin’s understanding of his practice. This resulted in the construction of three themes related to (a) subjective theories drive doctoral education, (b) working through insecurities and the imposter syndrome, and (c) the sociopolitics of higher education. Results are discussed with reference to the self-study literature and socialization into higher education faculty roles. Recommendations are provided for the preparation of faculty member to fill roles as doctoral supervisors.     

行动研究及其对教师自学、科研和教学的促进作用

文章通过介绍行动研究的概念、特点、实施步骤和相关的注意问题,强调通过行动研宛的实施促进教师自学、科研和教学共同发展。但应注意行动研宛也有一定局限性,应掌握其实质,才能发挥其应有的作用。     

Characteristics of the research supervision of postgraduate teachers’ action research

Today, many institutions of higher education support students in conducting practice-oriented research. This research refers to a broad array of approaches geared toward practitioners’ practice. The supervision of such research is of crucial importance, but little is known about its nature and characteristics. This study examined what research supervisors and postgraduate, in-service teacher students perceive are key elements of successful action research supervision. Four action research supervisors and eight postgraduate students were interviewed. Data were analysed by using theory and empirical data. Findings reveal 24 key elements of action research supervision, which refer to supervisors’ (1) skills in supporting knowledge development through and about action research and creating a supportive environment for developing knowledge, (2) knowledge and expertise in supervising action research, (3) attitude in the supervision of action research and (4) the motives driving supervisors’ actions in the student-supervisor relationship.     

我国教师教育的发展趋势与教育专业自学考试的改革对策

我国教师教育已经呈现出终身化、多元化、高层化、专业化、综合化、信息化等发展趋势，教育专业自学考试必须拓展考试功能，提升考试层次，调整专业设置和学科比例，变更培养目标，优化课程体系，变革考核方式。只有这样，教育专业自学考试才能更加适应时代、社会发展的需要，保持可持续发展。     

自我学习:美国教学方法论新概念

“自我学习”是近年来美国教育界热议的一个新概念,文章主要从教师的成长的视角探讨了自我学习的涵义,指出其具有探究性、过程性、知识性、多元性和内部矛盾性等五大特征,最后阐述了自我学习对我国教育的参考价值.     

Action research remodelled in a competitive,profit-oriented sector: teachers’ and managers’ perspectives

ABSTRACT

Action research has enjoyed phenomenal growth in the field of education as a catalyst for teacher professional learning with a view to school improvement, but it is commonly remodelled across various local settings. Adopting a Schatzkian perspective, this study investigates the experiences of a range of teachers engaging in an action research program in a competitive, profit-oriented setting – the English Language Intensive Courses for Overseas Students (ELICOS) sector in Australia – to explore how action research has been prefigured and remodelled in this unique context. A qualitative case study approach was adopted and a series of semi-structured interviews conducted with teachers and managers of ELICOS centres. Results of this study indicate that the way action research is understood and practised by teachers and managers in the ELICOS sector has been shaped by the competitive, profit-oriented context in which they function, with an emphasis on ‘winning’ and gaining status through action research.     

Student-teachers doing action research in their practicum: why and how?

Teaching in today’s changing society requires teachers’ independent judgement and development. One way of fostering professional development is action research; described, however, as a challenging and time-consuming process. This qualitative study asks whether action research is worthwhile already in pre-service teacher education, or whether the challenges outweigh the gains. Furthermore, it asks how a teacher educator, here the author of the article, could guide student-teachers’ action research projects. The main data source is student-teachers’ research reports, which are analysed and reflected upon in light of professional development. The study revealed that action research under certain conditions offers a potential for professional development for student-teachers.