Adult numeracy teacher training programmes in England: a suggested typology

Nationally approved adult numeracy teacher training programmes were started in September 2002 following the introduction of subject specifications by the Department for Education and Skills and the Further National Training Organisation in England. These programmes delivered by higher education institutions and further education colleges were found to consist of a wide variation of course structure and delivery style. This article offers a conceptual typological framework to classify the diversity of these programmes. It uses examples of adult numeracy courses drawn from a research project which investigates the diverse curriculum approaches to teaching the subject specifications, the issues around implementation, and the way that subject knowledge was translated into classroom skills. The typology uses Bernstein’s theories on curriculum knowledge, transmission and recontextualization of pedagogic processes as a framework to classify and enhance our understanding of the raison d’etre of this subject area of teacher training courses, that is, to teach trainees how to be teachers of adult numeracy. The article also offers an ‘ideal’ teacher training course where some of its elements are drawn from best practices identified in the project. Finally, this article might act as a platform for practitioners to critically assess how adult numeracy teacher training courses might be structured and classified.     

Theories of Bernstein and Shulman: their relevance to teacher training courses in England using adult numeracy courses as an example

Since 2002, adult numeracy specifications have been introduced for the first time in England. This article investigates the relevance of Bernstein and Shulman's theoretical frameworks to teacher training using the new Level 4 adult numeracy teacher training programmes as an example. The article discusses Bernstein's theories relating to pedagogic methods of acquisition and transmission. It investigates the recontextualization process in which subject content and teaching standards may be translated into teaching approaches, which can be used by trainee teachers. It also investigates Shulman's model of pedagogical reasoning and action in relation to teacher training. The article bases its evidence on a research project, which evaluates teacher training courses in adult numeracy and literacy, and English for speakers of other languages in England. The article suggests that the two educationists' theories have significant relevance to the design and implementation of teacher training courses. It also suggests that they can be used alongside each other with each educationist's theories having their particular strengths. Bernstein's theories emphasize a rigorous approach to course structuring; Shulman's theories offer an insightful approach to how a trainee transforms subject and teaching standards knowledge and skills into possible teaching methods to help her learners understand the subject.     

Using Poetic Representation to Support the Development of Teachers' Knowledge

This article reports the influence of school-integrated teacher education (SITE) courses on student teachers' initial experiences of learning how to teach. We analyse data from five student teachers who reflect back on their experiences of learning to teach through the integrated teaching and learning experiences of SITE courses. The article presents their collective voices in poetic form to capture how they articulated their growth as teachers and their subsequent confidence in the role of teacher. We report insights into how the poem influenced 28 beginning student teachers upon entering SITE courses in their teacher education program. We analyze how this poetic representation of research findings enabled a self-study process to develop for the participants and how the poem passed on a theory of teacher development that reassures and prepares the student teachers who follow.     

Dispositions in the field: viewing mathematics teacher education through the lens of Bourdieu’s social field theory

Mathematics teacher educators are confronted with numerous challenges and complexities as they work to inspire prospective teachers to embrace inquiry-based pedagogies. The research study described in this paper asks what a teacher educator and faculty advisor can learn from prospective secondary mathematics teachers as they construct (and are constructed by) official pedagogical discourses embedded in mathematics classrooms. Drawing on the theoretical constructs of Bourdieu, I present several pervasive discourses, or dispositions, as storied by prospective mathematics teachers. These discourses highlight prospective teachers’ negotiations of conflicting habitus-field fits during their teacher education field experience. The reflections put forth in this paper offer insights into the roles of mathematics teacher educators and teacher education programs in general.     

Subject Matter Knowledge in a Master of Arts in Teaching Program: Ensuring candidates’ content knowledge through an arts and sciences/education collaboration

All teacher education programs face the challenge of ensuring that their graduates know their subject matter and can teach it effectively. For graduate level teacher education programs, whose candidates may complete their education in the content area at various institutions, this challenge is even greater. The following article describes one institution’s system of assessing candidates’ content knowledge and efforts to incorporate additional content coursework into a Master of Arts in Teaching program. Also provided is information on a set of courses that the arts and sciences and education faculty team teach, with the course for prospective English teachers described in detail.     

A review of ICT related courses in pre-service teacher education programs

This study investigated teacher educators’, prospective teachers’, and K-12 teachers’ opinions about the effectiveness of ICT related courses and the ways to improve the courses in Turkey’s pre-service teacher education programs. The researchers used both quantitative and qualitative research approaches within the data collection and analysis processes. The data were collected from 111 teacher educators, 1,330 prospective teachers, and 1,429 K-12 teachers through questionnaires; and from 6 teacher educators, 6 prospective teachers, and 6 K-12 teachers through interviews. Even though a majority of the participants felt that ICT related courses are effective, most participants recommended that these courses need to be redesigned to be more beneficial in practice.     

Theoretical and Practical Integration of Literacy and Numeracy in a University Academic Programme

Abstract

This paper reports on research into the enhancement of generic skills in academic numeracy in the context of an Australian university teacher education programme. The project addressed issues of what constitutes academic numeracy, the design and implementation of appropriate numeracy strategies, and how best to integrate tertiary literacy and numeracy in university courses. This paper presents an overview of the key stages of the project, and the development of its outcomes. The major outcome is a framework for academic numeracy, which is a means for identifying and describing the numeracy demands of academic texts and tasks.     

Constructions of caring professionalism: a case study of teacher educators

This article investigates the professionalism of a group of women teacher educators working on initial teacher education (ITE) courses for intending primary school teachers in England. The article draws on data from an empirical study in the education departments of two universities. At the time of the research, these universities had just undergone major changes to the ways in which their ITE courses were organized and taught. The data show how the women teacher educators challenged these changes to their established ways of working and the implied threats to their constructions of caring professionalism. The article analyses how and why the changes affected the women’s senses of professionalism, drawing on Davies’ concept of gendered inclusion in professional life. It also discusses how and why these women’s form of professionalism developed within these institutional settings by identifying a cumulative convergence of discourses within the field of primary ITE.     

Why is Finnish teacher education successful? Some goals Finnish teacher educators have for their teaching

In recent years, Finnish research‐based teaching, according to international surveys, has been shown to lead to excellent results. Previous research has demonstrated that teacher education has often had difficulties in incorporating theory into practice, and that the effects of teacher education on the prior beliefs and views on teaching and learning of student teachers have been weak. The aim of the present qualitative study was to find out how the Finnish teacher education system deals with these problems by investigating the current goals Finnish teacher educators have for their own teaching in theoretical courses. A total of 18 teacher educators were interviewed in five focus groups on different teacher education programmes in Finland. The interview results showed that Finnish teacher educators transmit theoretical and pedagogical aspects by using them in their own teaching, which is research‐based. They also aim to educate reflective and exploring teachers by using a variety of methods in their own pedagogy. The exemplary role the Finnish teacher educators have can be helpful in influencing prospective teachers' behaviour and thinking.     

Teacher education programmes delivered at a distance: An examination of distance student perceptions

Recent technological developments have greatly influenced the ways American universities deliver educational course offerings to students at a distance. The perception of pre-service teachers in distance education programmes is germane to the planning and delivery of distance education courses in teacher education departments in the future. The results of this American study revealed a differing perception between male and female students in the area of course structure, student/teacher interaction, overall course satisfaction and peer interaction. As a result of this study, recommendations are provided for teacher preparation programmes to improve distance education course offerings for prospective teachers in the USA and implications for educators involved in teacher preparation internationally.     

Choices in the Design of Inclusive Education Courses for Pre-service Teachers: The Case of a South African University

It is expected that that pre-service teachers are adequately equipped to meet the needs of diverse students. This article discusses the choices that teacher educators must make in designing inclusive education courses. The first choice is whether inclusive education will be infused into the curriculum or presented as a stand-alone course. If the latter, the second decision is what determines the content of courses – teacher need, policy directives or the authority of the field where knowledge is produced. If teacher educators look to the field of knowledge production, they might choose among inclusive education as an issue of student diversity; teaching competence; and schools and societies. We animate these choices as we describe an inclusive education course taught in a South African university. Our conclusion suggests that pre-service teacher education for inclusive education would be strengthened by more critical appraisal of the assumptions and orientations informing the design of courses.     

The use of digital storytelling in elementary Math teachers’ education

Technological devices are widely used in various forms and for various purposes with educational systems. Teachers are required to not only use technology with the utmost efficiency, but to also act as role models for students in terms of appropriate use of technology. However, many teacher candidates are not aware of the educational use of technology classroom; hence, technology must be especially integrated into undergraduate teacher training programs through courses and field experience. Various methods, techniques, tools, and equipment are utilized in order to improve the efficiency of teaching and learning processes in the classroom, of which digital storytelling is one of them. The use of digital stories in education is beneficial both for teachers and students. For this reason, this research investigates the use of digital stories in mathematics education as well as the opinions and experiences of mathematics teacher candidates about creating, using, and evaluating digital stories. Data of the study were collected via semistructured interviews, transcribed, and content analyzed. The results of the study showed that prospective math teachers preferred GoAnimate program to create digital stories due to its ease of use, design, and the characters and visuals it suggests. Furthermore, the prospective teachers were found to aspire to use digital stories in their future careers.     

Blended learning at pre-service teacher education in Turkey: A systematic review

The literature shows an increase in blended learning implementations (N?=?74) at faculties of education in Turkey whereas pre-service and in-service teachers’ ICT competencies have been identified as one of the areas where they are in need of professional development. This systematic review was conducted to find out the impact of blended learning on academic achievement and attitudes at teacher education programs in Turkey. 21 articles and 10 theses complying with all pre-determined criteria (i.e., studies having quantitative research design or at least a quantitative aspect conducted at pre-service teacher education programs) included within the scope of this review. With regard to academic achievement, it was synthesized that majority of the studies confirmed its positive impact on attaining course outcomes. Likewise, blended learning environment was revealed to contribute pre-service teachers to develop positive attitudes towards the courses. It was also concluded that face-to-face aspect of the courses was favoured considerably as it enhanced social interaction between peers and teachers. Other benefits of blended learning were listed as providing various materials, receiving prompt feedback, and tracking progress. Slow internet access, connection failure and anxiety in some pre-service teachers on using ICT were reported as obstacles. Regarding the positive results of blended learning and the significance of ICT integration, pre-service teacher education curricula are suggested to be reconstructed by infusing ICT into entire program through blended learning rather than delivering isolated ICT courses which may thus serve for prospective teachers as catalysts to integrate the use of ICT in their own teaching.     

How Sustainable Are In‐service Teacher‐training Courses?

The present research addressed the issue of ‘life after a course’. The study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of four in‐service teacher‐training courses at the Hong Kong Institute of Education in terms of their usefulness and relevance to the teachers’ needs on return to school. An end‐of‐course evaluation questionnaire and a follow‐up questionnaire were sent six months after the courses to see if there were any significant differences in the participants’ views on the effectiveness of a course at two different time points. Qualitative data collected from interviews between the tutors and participants six months after the courses were also analysed to find out which aspects of the courses were considered to be most useful to the teachers on their return to school, and why they were useful. The findings from the research give valuable insights into the design of teacher‐education courses.     

Preparing student teachers to use computers in mathematics classrooms through a long-term pre-service course in Turkey

Recent studies have found short in-service teacher education programs are not providing adequate technology experiences to prepare their participants for teaching mathematics with computers. As an alternative to the short-term courses the author has been teaching a two-term mandatory undergraduate course within a mathematics teacher education program since 1995 to train student teachers and to investigate their perceptions on their preparation to use computers in their own teaching. This article describes issues that emerged from the analysis of this undergraduate course. Data were gathered through questionnaires and students' writings about the course activities. Findings indicated that computer literacy appeared to be an important key factor in utilising the course activities successfully. Students who felt prepared made the link between computer-based mathematical activities and school mathematics, and had more experience of using instructional software during the course than others. Findings of this nature can also assist teacher educators as they incorporate information technology into existing pre-service programs. The implications of these results for the designing and implementing of computer-based undergraduate courses and for further research in this field are discussed.     

Creating expansive learning opportunities in schools: the role of school leaders in initial teacher education partnerships

This article analyses the learning opportunities afforded pre-service teachers when participating in a primary school placement in London, England as part of their university teacher education course. Cultural historical activity theory is used as a theoretical framework to address how pre-service teacher learning opportunities are constructed. Building on a previous year-long ethnographic study which explored how and why pre-service teacher learning opportunities differed in school settings, this paper introduces a small scale pilot study. The study integrates developmental work research into an initial teacher education school/university partnership, and considers the role of the school leader in this. Possibilities for pre-service teachers, teachers and teacher educators to work together in a research process that is integral to an initial teacher education partnership are forwarded, with the aim of ensuring that critical enquiry and learning are kept at the forefront of the activity.     

Pair microteaching:an unrealistic pedagogy in pre-service methodology courses?

Despite its inherent nature of artificiality, microteaching has been widely used as a routine procedure in pre-service teacher education courses to apply theoretical knowledge and develop practical teaching competence. Its importance in the practice element of teacher education programmes has given rise to a considerable amount of attention to its potential in research. However, there has been little or no research on pair microteaching, which is exploited as a circumstantial compromise and innovation. This article reports on a small-scale study of the effect of pair microteaching on EFL (English as a foreign language) student teachers’ professional learning. Triangulated sources of data were collected qualitatively to investigate a group of 30 student teachers’ perspectives about their eight-week-long microteaching experience on an English language teaching methodology course. The results show a high level of endorsement of the experience despite the drawbacks of limited practice opportunity and artificiality of the experience. The article concludes that pair microteaching can be a feasible pedagogy in methodology courses that can be supplemented by other forms of direct and indirect school experiences.     

Gender differences in adult numeracy skills: what is the role of education?

Previous research suggests that as societies empower women educationally, gender differences in numeracy skills will decline. Using direct measures of 56,142 adults’ numeracy skills from the Programme for International Assessment for Adult Competencies (PIAAC), this article studies whether this claim is evidenced across 20 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Results show that in many countries, as education has equalised over generations, gender differences in adult numeracy skills have indeed declined. However, women’s advances in education have not always been matched by a reduction in the gender difference in adult numeracy. Contrary to expectations, gender differences in fields of study in further and higher education cannot systematically explain gender differences in adult numeracy. This suggests that to achieve gender equality in numeracy skills, societies must do more than empower women educationally. More research is needed on the educational policies, contextual, and life course factors contributing to gender differences in adult numeracy in post-industrial societies.     

高师音乐学专业课程体系现状简析

进入21世纪,我国教师教育面临严峻的挑战。培养新型的中小学音乐教师是高师音乐院(系)的首要任务,能否完成这一任务首先要看课程体系是否符合当前人才培养的要求。高师现有课程体系在结构上、办学理念上存在差异;必修课程和重复性课程较多,而为基础教育服务的课程少;缺少探讨与研究性课程;地方与校本课程缺少;实践课程不够丰富等是高师现有课程体系的不足。