Exploring the Developmental View of the Perceived Concerns of Pre‐service Teachers

The role of teacher educators is to provide schools with prospective teachers who recognise and are concerned for student needs. As pre‐service teachers progress through their training and develop skill and knowledge to assist in their chosen career, they must contend with concerns which relate to all the dimensions of teaching. The purpose of this study was to expand on the available knowledge about the changes in the patterns of concerns of teachers during the practicum experience. The Teacher Concerns Questionnaire (TCQ) was administered to 75 Bachelor of Education (Physical and Health Education) students before and after a 4 week practicum experience. Changes in the level of concern for self, task and impact were assessed by subjecting the scale scores collected to quantitative analysis including t‐tests and analyses of variance. The impact of the practicum, mastery of the teaching situation gained through progression from second to fourth year, together with gender differences, were analysed to detect group changes in patterns and absolute level of responses. Results of the study indicate a lowering of concerns in all scales. Variables of stage and gender had little impact on concerns, and recommendations for both the practicum and pre‐service training programmes are made to assist in addressing the concerns of pre‐service teachers.     

Beginning teachers’ expectations of teaching

This study explores the expectations of teaching as a career held by beginning teachers who undertook a postgraduate certificate in education (PGCE) teacher training course for secondary schools at three institutions in the North of England. Over 300 student teachers completed a questionnaire at the beginning and at the end of their PGCE course. A sample of 28 students were then tracked through their first 2 years in post by e-mail communication. During this 3-year period, the most frequently cited positive factor was the pleasure generated by pupil success and the most frequently cited negative factor was workload.     

Collaborative approaches in initial teacher education: lessons from approaches to developing student teachers’ use of the Internet in science teaching

In many countries, governments are keen to persuade teachers at all levels to seek to enhance the learning of their students by incorporating information and communication technologies within their classrooms. This paper reports on the development of collaborative approaches to supporting use of the Internet by Post Graduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) science students on initial teacher education (ITE) courses in England, drawing on data from five higher education institution (HEI)–school partnerships across four years. A mixed-method approach was used, involving questionnaires, structured interviews, lesson observations and case studies. The outcomes of the first three years identified barriers to practice and suggested the need to develop more collaborative approaches to development. The focus of this paper is on examining ways in which university faculty tutors and mentors or cooperating teachers can work together with students on PGCE courses in developing practice. The lessons from this focus on the Internet, no longer a new technology, have enabled us to identify implications for HEI partnerships in ITE and suggest a need for further collaborative structures in order to support and develop practices, including those involving the innovative use of new technologies in the post-industrial society.     

新课程实施中数学教师关注阶段研究

教师是课程改革方案的最终实施者和使用者,教师的支持是课程改革成功的一个关键因素。通过对现有理论的分析,我们以“关注为本采用模式”(CBAM)为基础,对欧美较为成熟的关注阶段问卷进行了一定的修改,调查了新课程实施中西南地区238名小学数学教师的关注阶段。研究结果表明:小学数学教师主要处于CBAM的任务关注阶段;不同教龄组的教师在关注阶段上有显著差异,而农村和城市地区的教师在关注阶段上并未呈现显著差异。     

Work-integrated learning skills: A comparison of teachers’ perceptions about the PGCE with those of student teachers in the Nelson Mandela Metropole

Abstract

The purpose of the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) is to accredit a generalist educator's qualification that caps an undergraduate qualification. As an access requirement, student teachers are required to have appropriate prior learning which leads to general foundational and reflexive competencies. The PGCE qualification focuses mainly on developing practical competencies reflexively grounded in educational theory. Hence, the objective of this study was to investigate the perceptions of student teachers with those of their school mentors about the PGCE as a qualification to develop the students’ work-integrated learning (WIL) skills. The quantitative research method was used in this study. The target population comprised of student teachers who qualified with the PGCE at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) and their school-based mentors in the Nelson Mandela Metropole (NMM). Data was obtained by means of two structured questionnaires: one for the student teachers and the other for the mentors. The research design compared the perceptions of student teachers and their mentors regarding the classroom practice and performance of these students. The findings of this study based on these perceptions support the hypothesis that the PGCE at the NMMU contributes to the development of the WIL skills of student teachers in the NMM.     

How science teachers' concerns about school‐based assessment of practical work vary with time: the Hong Kong experience

School‐based assessment of science students' practical skills has two important roles—as a complement to written papers in public examinations and as a catalyst for enriching the science curriculum in schools. This article describes a quantitative study of the concerns chemistry and biology teachers experience as they engage in the process of implementation of a school‐based assessment scheme for practical work. A 23‐item questionnaire was developed to measure five categories of teacher concern: evaluation, information, management, consequence and refocusing. The nature of each category of teacher concern is discussed in relation to innovation adoption and implementation. Data were collected from 400 chemistry and 412 biology teachers in Hong Kong. Teachers' information and management concerns lessened in intensity when they became experienced users of a school‐based assessment scheme. However, teaching experience alone could not motivate teachers to think more about the impact of school‐based assessment on student learning, their professional development in student assessment and the possible refinements in their school‐based assessment scheme. Concerns‐based interventions are suggested to help teachers grow professionally.     

A successful recipe? Aspects of the initial training of secondary teachers of foreign languages

An earlier study (Pearson, 2005) raised concerns about the adequacy of the current Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) courses in relation to inclusive education and suggested some relevant questions for training providers (and students). In this article, Sue Pearson and Gary Chambers report on a small‐scale study involving a group of prospective teachers of foreign languages in secondary schools that sought to address two of those questions. Is there a coherent theme related to SEN/disability throughout the PGCE year involving all parties? If so, what is the balance between procedural/technical knowledge and attitudes and values? The research was intended both to inform practice at Leeds University and to contribute to the wider debate about developing inclusive education within teacher training.     

Teachers’ stages of concern for media literacy education and the integration of MLE in Chinese primary schools

Media literacy is an essential skill for living in the twenty-first century. School-based instruction is a critical part of media literacy education (MLE), while research on teachers’ concerns and integration of MLE is not sufficient. The objective of this study is to investigate teachers’ stages of concern (SoC), perceived need, school context, and teacher practices of the integration of MLE in primary schools. For this purpose, a survey was setup and 392 primary school teachers participated in this study. The results show that teachers’ concerns of integration of MLE were generally oriented at the level of self-concerns. In the meanwhile, the integration of MLE was significantly related to teachers’ concerns and perceived need for MLE. Based on the results of regression analysis, teachers’ integration of MLE was significantly influenced by their SoC for MLE, school professional development support, and leadership support.     

Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) and student motivation

This article analyses the results from a study conducted among the total population of full‐time Postgraduate Certificate in Education course (PGCE) students in Norwegian universities (N = 283) in the autumn of 2006. The students responded to a questionnaire examining their motivation to take the PGCE course and their motivation to become teachers. The findings show a relatively high motivation among the students, but they also reveal much uncertainty about their future job as teachers. Twenty‐five percent of the students do not know if they are going to enter the teaching profession. They take a PGCE course primarily because they want more options in the job market. The general view among the students is that they need the PGCE course to be confident in the teaching role and they think it will be a demanding course. The main motivation to become teachers is that the students want to continue working with their academic subject, which they in turn want to teach to others.     

Social competence as an educational goal: The role of the ethnic composition and the urban environment of the school

This article concerns the relationship between social–educational goals and the school context. We used a questionnaire to map the educational goals of teachers in pre-vocational education in the field of social competence, and investigated whether these goals were related to the percentage of students from ethnic-minority groups and to the urban environment of the school. The results show that all teachers, regardless of the school context, value promoting the social development of their students as an educational goal. We did not find a relationship between the context the teachers work in and the social-competence goals they aspire to in their subject. However, teachers working in a more complex school environment, in terms of both the ethnic heterogeneity of the student population and the urban environment of the school, did consider a number of social-competence goals to be less attainable for their students. The results are discussed in the light of research on the competences young people need to participate in a multi-cultural society and the implications for teachers and teaching.     

Routes into English teaching: beginning teachers' reflections on college‐based and school‐based Initial Teacher Education programmes

This article compares student and trainee teachers' experiences of three different routes into secondary English teaching: the standard one‐year PGCE; the newer ‘flexible’ PGCE; and the employment‐based Graduate Teacher Programme. As part of a two‐year study involving over 80 beginning teachers the authors invite students and trainees to reflect on the perceived advantages and disadvantages of their chosen route. This article focuses on a small number of interviews with individuals from the sample as they near completion of their training. It sets the findings of the study in the wider political context of New Labour's agenda for school reform and the future development of Initial Teacher Education.     

学生选修课“选而不修”问题探析

大学生对选修课＂选而不修＂的原因,来自学校、教师、社会和学生自己等多个方面,它涉及到课程建设、教学内容、教学条件、教学管理、教师素养、学生思想行为等因素。学校、教师、学生,在选修科目上应相互协调、反馈、共同改进,以期改善学生选修课＂选而不修＂的现象,使学生得到最大程度的发展。     

Client Opinion on the Radical Reform of Initial Teacher Training for Primary Schools: a survey of students and teachers

Criticism of the traditional institution‐based system of teacher training for primary schools is reviewed and recent responses to GATE requirements summarised. It is argued that such criticisms, and any radical reforms involving the transfer of training responsibility to the schools, should take account of client opinion of its likely effects. Clients here are taken to refer to students in training and school teachers including headteachers. For this study an open‐ended questionnaire on the advantages and disadvantages of traditional institution‐based and radical school‐based systems was administered to all students at the end of a PGCE course, and to a part‐opportunity and part‐random sample of teachers and headteachers in local schools. Their responses are tabulated and discussed. The vast majority of these clients foresaw considerable problems with a radically reformed system and, balancing the gains and losses that such a reform might bring, they demonstrated a clear preference for the existing system.     

Behaviours of Concern to Teachers in the Early Years of School

Teachers of students aged from five to eight years at 21 primary schools in western Sydney were surveyed about child behaviour that concerned them and their needs for support in dealing with such behaviour. Although most teachers were confident of their ability to manage classroom behaviour, teachers reported a need for support in dealing with distractibility and concern about aggressive behaviours. Less confident teachers expressed higher levels of concern about aggression, distractibility, and disobedience and wanted more support for dealing with distractibility and disobedience. No relationships were found between teacher concerns or support needs and teacher experience, class level or size, Local Government Area income grouping, and whether or not the school received additional funding for disadvantaged schools.     

教育机器人的需求分析与功能设计

文章以需求为起点,采用问卷调研和文献调研的方法,从用户视角和研究视角分析了教育机器人的需求:用户视角方面,主要归纳了学生(包括小学生、中学生和大学生)、教师(包括幼儿教师、小学教师、中学教师)和家长三类用户所需教育机器人扮演的角色;研究视角方面,从STEAM教育、身心障碍治疗、第二语言学习、社会化教育、学科教育等五个方面分析了教育机器人应用需求的特点。在此基础上,文章提出了教育机器人功能设计应关注的要点,以期推动教育机器人的功能完善和创新应用,促使教育机器人更好地服务于教育教学。     

Students’ perceptions of career conversations with their teachers

Internationally, schools acknowledge their responsibility in guiding students not only in their academic growth, but also in their lifelong career development. In relation to this development, vocational schools in the Netherlands are implementing integral career guidance in which teachers receive a new task in guiding students in developing their own learning and career paths. A questionnaire was developed to investigate students’ perceptions of career guidance by teachers during career conversations, and data involving 28 teachers were collected from 579 students. The study identified four different teacher guidance profiles. Remarkable is that teachers spoke very little about career issues, and school issues were mostly on the agenda. The results indicate that teachers struggle with the transition towards becoming a career guide of students, and aspects influencing the transition into this new role need to be considered.     

Making the School Environment Safe: Red Rose's Formula

The purpose of this study was to assess the school environment of an urban school to illuminate what teachers felt to be important factors in developing a safer school environment. Responses to the School Level Environmental Questionnaire (SLEQ) suggested that teachers wanted more student support, more resources and less work pressure. To decrease work pressure, teachers adopted the work conservation strategies of working without reserves of time and energy, processing curriculum, and working in isolation in order to survive. Yet, when work conservation strategies were used, especially safeguarding time, student aggression surfaced. A School Improvement Committee developed a three-step plan to decrease work pressure. Teachers were concerned with lack of resources and used personal income to buy supplies and shared materials with students, using three styles of sharing. While some teachers were reluctant to share, others shared freely and still other teachers developed responsible sharing systems. Those who shared reluctantly had more behavior problems. Teachers' gravest concerns were students' aggressive behaviors. Teachers thought that student aggression was coming from home and the community. Observations showed that students often came to school angry. Yet, interviews verified that students at Rose more frequently became angry once they were at school. Red Rose's school environment was in the midst of change, but no attention was given to how change affects teachers. Many teachers were not prepared for the amount of change that they were experiencing and they had mixed feelings and opinions and became resistant.     

Mentoring in Action on a Primary PGCE Course

Abstract

School‐based mentors are taking increased responsibility for the initial training of student teachers as a result of government policy to lengthen the proportion of time students spend in school during their training. The role of the mentor is critical in the development of a partnership model of initial teacher education (ITE), involving close collaboration between higher education institutions (HEIs) and schools. This article draws on our research into the practice of mentoring on the one‐year Primary Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) at the Chichester Institute. Through observations of mentoring sessions at school we analyse the process of mentoring in action. Drawing on mentor observations and interviews with mentors, students and college (link) tutors we examine the diverse nature of mentoring and identify some of the common qualities of good mentoring practice.     

论体育教学中师生关系及对学校体育教学的影响

本文采用文献法、问卷调查法、数理统计法等,针对体育教学中师生关系及对学校体育教学的影响,对泉州市3所大学、3所中学和3所小学的300名学生和60名体育教师进行了调查研究。结果表明：体育教学中师生关系总体评价较好;在影响师生关系因素和体育教师的职业认知上体育教师和学生存在差异。建立良好的师生关系是学校体育教学顺利进行的前提。