“Promoting Acceptance” or “Preparing Warrior Scholars”: Variance in Teaching for Social Justice Vision and Praxis

A growing body of research explores theoretical models of teaching for social justice in P-12 classrooms and in teacher education. However, many of these models fail to account for the relationship between teachers’ social justice frameworks and their classroom practices. In this article, I use vignettes drawn from a recent study of secondary English Language Arts teachers to illustrate how differences in social location and sociopolitical emphasis affect teachers’ approaches to justice-oriented curriculum, pedagogy, and social action. This article concludes with implications for teaching and teacher education, including strategies for using these findings in preservice classrooms.     

Facilitating social learning in teacher education: a case study

It is increasingly recognised that social learning by teachers can stimulate professional development. In this study, we search for the social behaviour patterns which can act as a catalyst for professional development, with an explicit focus on student teachers’ learning. Based on the ‘Dimensions of Social Learning (DSL) Framework’, including 4 dimensions and 11 indicators of social learning, the present study explores the social configuration of one network of primary teachers (n?=?12), student teachers (n?=?12) and teacher educators (n?=?2). Two research questions guide this exploration: (1) What patterns of social behaviour in teacher networks are likely to lead to professional learning? (2) What network facilitation guidelines can be discerned to assist teachers and teacher educators wishing to optimise student teachers’ professional development? Data collection consisted of video recordings, reflective notes and semi-structured interviews with network members. The findings paint a picture of how social learning in teacher networks is related to the group’s social configuration. Observation criteria and student facilitation guidelines are suggested to support professional development within teacher networks. For each dimension in the DSL Framework, one point of attention is discerned to optimise students’ learning in teacher networks.     

The Chilean instructional pattern for the teaching of language: A video-survey study based on a national program for the assessment of teaching

I investigated the instructional pattern for the teaching of language at the elementary school level in Chile. The data were obtained from analyzing videos filmed for a teaching assessment system implemented by the Chilean Government. The system identified four levels of teacher competence. I treated these levels of competence as an independent factor. The dependents variables of interest were frequency of teacher questions and follow-ups in four categories, social organization of the lesson and time on task. Most of teachers studied are clearly aligned with an adult-run model of education. Evidence for adherence to this pedagogical approach can be found in (a) teacher questioning and teacher reactions to students' contributions, and (b) the place accorded to the teacher in the social organization of the lesson. The teaching pattern uncovered has its roots in the intuitive pedagogies endorsed by Chilean teachers, which in turn rest on Chilean cultural models of pedagogy.     

Toward Teacher Development for the Urban in Urban Teaching

This article examines the potential of critical teacher inquiry groups to promote urban teacher retention, professional support and development. While much has been written in recent years about teacher inquiry, generally, little attention has been paid to professional development programs that highlight a critical analysis of urban schooling. Drawing on analysis of videos of group meetings, Email conversations with participants and informal interviews, this article concerns itself with a group of seven South Central Los Angeles elementary teachers that use critical inquiry to support each other in tackling multiple forms of inequality and oppression manifest in their classrooms, school and community. Brought together by a commitment to social justice, these teachers engage a set of shared readings in social and educational theory as the foundation for bi‐monthly meetings. The article concludes with recommendations for on‐going critical professional development models that support teachers as they confront the challenges of urban schools.     

Selecting Teaching Practice schools across social contexts: conceptual and policy challenges from South Africa

In a country like South Africa, as in many other countries around the world, there is an imperative to prepare student teachers for a wide variety of social contexts, as part of breaking the cycle of disadvantage for poor learners. This article explores the challenge of placing student teachers for their field experience in schools that differ greatly in terms of their social and educational conditions. Drawing on interviews with teacher educators at one university, the article argues that criteria for identifying suitable schools for Teaching Practice do not easily support placements in schools in difficult conditions. Conceptual models of teacher education are explored, with a view to developing a model that supports teacher preparation for diversity. Policy recommendations are offered to support the preparation of excellent teachers for all schooling contexts.     

Towards a Pedagogy for the Application of Empathy in Culturally Diverse Classrooms

Empathy is theorized to improve the teaching effectiveness of teachers in urban and multicultural classroom settings. However, the field has few models useful for training and preparing teachers to cultivate empathy as a professional disposition. This study examines the academic, behavioral, and social/relational interactions of four White female high school teachers with their Black male students. Findings suggest that empathy, as a professional disposition applied by teachers to negotiate interactions with students, requires two phases of implementation. Phase 1 is the acquisition of new knowledge. Phase 2 is the strategic negotiation of that knowledge and interpretation of student feedback to make the necessary pedagogic adjustments in subsequent student–teacher interactions. Implications for teacher education and professional development are discussed.     

Inclusive practice within the lived cultures of school communities: research case studies in teaching,learning and inclusion

This paper provides an account of a teacher's use of theory as a tool to develop inclusive practice through a social studies programme in a new entrant class. The account illustrates the ways in which the teacher drew on research to assist in the facilitation of an inclusive educational environment. Presented are research case studies the teacher encountered in an in-service teacher education programme, and the ‘social constructionist’ and ‘personal tragedy’ models that were used as theoretical tools to assist the teacher's planning and teaching practice. Mounted cameras, broadcast microphones and pre- and post-unit interviews with the teacher and students were used to explore the lived culture of the classroom, and the nature and effectiveness of the strategies the teacher used. An ‘interrupted narrative’ methodology engages the reader in the interplay between research and theory in the research case studies. Four major strategies used by the teacher have been identified and these are presented as theoretical tools for other teachers and teacher educators to use, critique and develop to support inclusive practice in their own contexts.     

Social justice teacher educators: what kind of knowing is needed?

ABSTRACT

What do teacher educators need to know and do in order to move from espousing to enacting social justice in their own teacher educating practice? This article addresses this question by examining scholarship that focuses on the preparation of preservice teachers for social justice. Using five knowledge domains for teaching (personal, contextual, pedagogical, sociological, social) as an analytic lens, the authors examined teacher education literature published between 2010 and 2016 in three international journals from Australia, the U.K. and the U.S. The study reveals that teacher educators in different contexts seem to highlight personal and contextual knowledge in their preparation of equity-minded preservice teachers and provides insight into how they conceptualise educational equity and social justice. The study illuminates what is likely in place in initial teacher education programmes, and what may be needed or missing if teacher educators are to prepare teachers for today’s diverse classrooms.

Abbreviation ITE: Initial Teacher Education ITE     

Cultural Humility in Physical Education Teacher Education: A Missing Piece in Developing a New Generation of Socially Just Physical Education Teachers

ABSTRACT

The increased pluralism in today’s United States society, including our public school student population, has called for physical education teacher education (PETE) programs to train teachers who can respond to the educational needs of students from diverse backgrounds. However, concerns have been raised with educator preparation programs’ ability to prepare teachers to address diversity in our schools. Therefore, the purpose of this article is to discuss the movement toward teaching for social justice in PETE with focus on preparing teachers for cultural diversity; this includes special attention to cultural humility as a missing component in physical education teacher preparation. We discuss the current state of diversity in PETE, leading to a discussion of social justice as a theme in teaching and teacher education in physical education. Next, we detail the underpinnings of social justice pedagogies in physical education and the need for infusing cultural humility in PETE.     

Teachers' knowledge of models and modelling in science

This study investigated the knowledge that experienced science teachers have of models and modelling in science in the context of a school curriculum innovation project in which the role and the nature of models and modelling in science are emphasized. The subjects in this study were teachers of biology, chemistry and physics preparing for the curriculum innovation. Two instruments were used: a questionnaire with seven open items on models and modelling, which was completed by 15 teachers, and a questionnaire consisting of 32 items on a Likert-type scale (n=71). Results indicated that the teachers shared the same general definition of models. However, the teachers' content knowledge of models and modelling proved to be limited and diverse. A group of teachers who displayed more pronounced knowledge appeared to have integrated elements of both a positivist and a social constructivist epistemological orientation in their practical knowledge. Implications for the design of teacher education interventions are discussed.     

城市初中教师工作倦怠状况及其社会支持的关系研究

以400名城市初中教师为被试,采用问卷调查法,考察了城市初中教师工作倦怠状况,详细探讨了工作倦怠各维度与社会支持各来源和类型之间的具体关系。结果发现,城市初中教师的情绪衰竭程度较为严重;男、女教师的工作倦怠程度没有显著差异;教龄为1年的教师工作倦怠程度最轻,其次是教龄为6-10年的教师;普通校教师的情绪衰竭和去人性化程度比示范校教师严重,但个人效能感水平不存在显著差异;社会支持对提高教师个人效能感的作用最大;就降低教师工作倦怠程度来说,来源于校领导的支持最为有效,情感支持比实际支持的作用更大;同事支持反而增加了教师的情绪衰竭程度。     

Teaching for Social Justice: the Promise of Transformative Expectations for Urban Chicanx/Latinx Youth

Drawing on the concept of transformative expectations—that is, the instructional practices that demonstrate teachers’ belief systems for the educational justice and empowerment of Chicanx/Latinx youth—this qualitative study explored the expectancy effects of nine classroom teachers with social justice commitments in a school district in California. Through semi-structured interviews, teacher journaling, and artifacts of classroom practices, this study points to the importance of teacher disposition and socialization in developing classroom expectations, as well as helps to conceptualize the expectancies of academic rigor, social capital, empowering curriculum, and teacher caring from perspectives of justice and their importance in supporting students to meet or exceed instructional goals. Applying figured worlds and transformative expectations as the study’s analytic frameworks, teachers reported these four expectancies as important strategies for bringing social justice into the classroom, thereby prompting discussions of the future directions of teaching for social justice.     

Investigating pre-service teacher motivation across cultures using the Teachers’ Ten Statements Test

Motivations for choosing teaching as a career were investigated in 200 pre-service teachers from Canada and Oman. We used a novel structured qualitative approach and two theoretical models to analyze how pre-service teacher career-choice motivation varied according to cultural context. The results of the study showed that Canadian participants made more self-references, and expressed higher levels of individual-focused motivation and social utility value as career motivators than did Omani participants. Participants from Oman expressed greater endorsement of teaching as a fallback career and higher levels of socio-cultural influences than Canadian participants. Results extend teacher motivation “teacher motivation theory” by investigating socio-cultural influences.     

‘I was kind of teaching myself’: teachers’ conversations about social justice and teaching for change

This article shares teachers’ conversations within teacher inquiry groups and considers how this reflective approach has potential for transforming teachers’ practices. Conversations took place at the early stages of a longer teacher inquiry project and centred on the critical interrogation of social justice-oriented children’s literature. These conversations served as a forum to help teacher professional learning communities and to reconcile understandings about social justice, action and agency within larger political and cultural forums of teaching. The teacher inquiry sessions shared in this paper explore teachers’ beginning struggles with conceptualizations of social justice, and the teacher’s role in imparting values to students. Teacher participants imparted their experience and practice as they negotiated their own understanding and implementation of social justice education in their schools. The teacher inquiry groups provided a needed supportive space where classroom teachers’ struggles were shared alongside their beliefs and pedagogical approaches so that a social justice agenda could be achieved.     

Teachers as agents of peace? Exploring teacher agency in social cohesion in Pakistan

This paper studies an under-researched area – teachers’ role in peacebuilding in conflict-affected contexts – through exploring teacher agency for social cohesion in Pakistan. Insights are sought into teachers’ perspectives on the major drivers of conflict in society and the role of education and teachers in social cohesion and mitigating inequities in education. A 4Rs framework of redistribution, recognition, representation and reconciliation was employed to analyse data gathered from: interviews with and classroom observations of teacher educators; focus-group discussions with and a questionnaire completed by pre- and in-service teachers; and analysis of teacher education and school curriculum texts. While teachers expressed a nuanced understanding of the conflict drivers in society and appreciated the significance of education in peacebuilding, they subscribed to assimilationist approaches to social cohesion, which were aligned with curriculum texts and promoted official nation-building agendas. Additionally, teachers saw issues of social cohesion as peripheral to the core academic curriculum. Teachers’ identity was integrally linked to their religious affiliations.     

Korean early childhood educators' multi-dimensional teacher self-efficacy and ECE center climate and depression severity in teachers as contributing factors

This study investigated profiles of South Korean early childhood educators' teacher self-efficacy and contributing factors to teacher self-efficacy. The contributing factors were examined with a focus on early childhood education (ECE) center climate and depression severity in teachers as well as teacher and classroom characteristics. The results suggested that Korean early childhood educators' teacher self-efficacy was multi-dimensional, and each dimension had unique predictors. ECE center climate emerged as the most significant contributor to all teacher self-efficacy domains. Depression severity in teachers was associated with teacher self-efficacy but the facets of association were different according to the attributes of the efficacy domains. Instructional efficacy, which directly pertains to teaching professions, was not associated with depression in teachers. On the other hand, teacher self-efficacy domains containing affective aspects, such as creating positive social contexts and parental involvement and decision-making, were vulnerable to depression severity.     

Primary school student and teacher perceptions of competency-based learning / Percepción de alumnado y profesorado de Educación Primaria sobre el aprendizaje de los estudiantes basado en competencias

In the search for an educational system that enables students to achieve the best academic results, it is extremely important to explore the perception of the main educational agents: students and teachers. Therefore, the objectives of this paper were: (a) to analyse primary school student and teacher perceptions of students’ competency-based learning; (b) to assess the possible differences between them; and (c) to test hypothetical models for predicting learning according to their perception. The participants were 8,513 students from 58 schools and 1,010 teachers from 110 schools. Overall, both teachers and students reported high scores of perception. However, the perception of the students was higher than that of the teachers, except for the digital competence. While the results showed differences in perception between both prediction models of competency-based learning, both groups perceived the competences of autonomy and personal initiative, digital competence, social competence and citizenship, and lifelong learning as core elements of their perception. In this regard, initial and ongoing teacher training in innovative pedagogical models is needed to enable the development of these competences, which are predictors of perceived learning.     

‘Should I stay or should I go?’: unpacking teacher attrition/retention as an educational issue

The paper starts from the observation that teacher attrition/retention seems to be a wicked issue: it seems to have strong face validity and a commonsense meaning, but the literature doesn’t provide a clear and distinctive definition. In the first section, the author analyzes the different ways in which the issue of teacher attrition and retention is problematized—in general and educationally—as the basis for a definition: as an educational issue, teacher attrition and retention refers to the need to prevent good teachers from leaving the job for the wrong reasons. Arguing that teacher attrition/retention constitutes both a problem and a challenge, he continues in the second part of the article foregrounding several lessons learned from the research on teacher attrition. A first lesson is related to the central role of social relationships and teachers’ need for social recognition as well as sense of belonging. Secondly, the impact of performativity policies on teacher attrition is discussed. A final lesson looks at teacher attrition and retention from the perspective of career and teachers’ work lives. The conclusion section outlines an agenda for teacher education, teacher induction, and school development to positively deal with the challenge to keep the good teachers in teaching.     

Social IEP Objectives, Teacher Talk, and Peer Interaction in Inclusive and Segregated Preschool Settings

The purpose of this study was to examine: (a) the role of teacher talk in promoting peer interaction, (b) the adequacy of social IEP objectives to reflect children’s social functioning and guide provision of teacher talk, and (c) differences in children’s peer interaction and teacher talk in inclusive and segregated settings. Thirty children with disabilities and their teachers participated. Overall, we observed low rates of teacher talk thought to support peer interaction; however, when teachers verbally facilitated peer interaction, children were observed interacting more frequently with peers. Children’s social IEPs accurately reflected their current level of social functioning. However, the social IEPs appeared to fail to influence teacher intervention. Finally, children with disabilities in inclusive settings interacted with peers more than children in segregated settings, even though there was no significant difference in amount of teacher talk in the two settings.     

河北省新建地方本科院校师资队伍建设研究

师资队伍建设是影响新建地方本科院校教学质量提升最为重要的因素。目前河北省各新建地方本科院校在师资队伍建设方面仍存在以下问题:生师配比矛盾,骨干教师缺乏;教师专业化程度较低,教学质量有待提升;教学理念缺乏更新,教学模式局限;教师培养途径单一,课程建设进程缓慢。对此,新建地方本科院校应进一步完善人才引进机制,优化教师队伍结构;加深教师职业认同,提高教师专业素质;改善教学管理体制,拓展教师培养模式。