Reconstructing educational theory from the authority of personal experience: how can I best help people learn to teach?

This paper reports data from a three‐year self‐study of teaching two types of students: science method students in theBEd program at Queen's University (Canada), and grade 12 physics students in a secondary school. By returning to the secondary school classroom after many years, I had the opportunity to revisit personally some of the challenges and dilemmas awaiting those beginning their careers as physics teachers. By listening closely to my students, I studied their experiences of learning as I experienced my own ‘re‐learning. One goal of my return to the secondary classroom was to explore ways in which I could model in my own teaching the processes of learning from experience that I wanted to convey to those learning to teach.

From this self‐study has emerged the construct of'authority of experience’ (Munby and Russell, 1994) as a term that can inform reflective practice by suggesting to teachers that they give attention to their own voices and to those of their students, and generally consider the ways in which experience has authority in relation to other sources of authority about teaching and learning to teach. The paper provides data to illustrate this construct and its potential value to those learning to teach. It also considers ways in which this stance toward teacher education represents a reconstruction of educational theory.     

‘The teacher said I'm thick!’ Experiences of children with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder within a school setting

Children and young people who have been diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) can often experience difficulties within an education setting. ADHD can impact upon their educational achievements and subsequent future employment. This paper draws upon data gathered from a small scale study and has sought to elicit the ‘voice’ of young people who have ADHD and their experience within a school setting. Findings of this study indicate that there is a need for teachers to be more informed about the impact that ADHD can have on a pupil and teachers need to develop positive strategies to support these individuals within the classroom. Ideally, adequate training around ADHD should begin within initial teacher training prior to entering the teaching profession.     

Some possible effects of behaviour management training on teacher confidence and competence: evidence from a study of primary school teachers in Hong Kong

This study aims to explore the relationships between the extent and perceived quality of teachers’ experience of training in behaviour management (BM), and their awareness of the nature and extent of behavioural problems among school students, and their confidence in their own competence to deal with such problems. Teachers (n = 183) from Hong Kong primary schools were surveyed. The results showed that gender, age and whether teachers have received training had no significant influence on teachers’ awareness, conception and confidence regarding BM. A negative correlation was found between teachers’ levels of satisfaction in relation to their training experiences and their perceptions of the level of problematic behaviours among students, and the impact of students’ problematic behaviour on their teaching. A positive correlation was found between teachers’ levels of satisfaction in relation to their training experiences and their confidence in their own competence to deal with students’ problematic behaviour.     

Who is the ideal teacher? Am I? Similarity and difference in perception of students of education regarding the qualities of a good teacher and of their own qualities as teachers

This research examines two images of teachers as seen by students of education: the ideal teacher and their own self‐image as teachers. The research compares the students’ perceptions of these two images using two sub‐groups of students of education: students at an academic teachers’ college who will be referred to as student teachers and beginning teachers, who, while teaching, are completing their academic degrees at teachers’ colleges or regional academic colleges. Data were collected from 89 students at the two colleges by means of a questionnaire that included open‐ended questions which were analyzed qualitatively. The findings of the research indicate that there are two major categories that comprise perceptions of the ideal teacher: first, personal qualities; and second, knowledge of the subject taught as well as didactic knowledge. Both groups of students similarly attributed great importance to the personal qualities of the ideal teacher, but there is a difference in their perception of the importance of knowledge: the beginning teachers attributed great importance to knowledge and perceived it as a quality similar in importance to personal characteristics, while the student teachers, who had not begun their teaching careers, attributed less importance to knowledge as a characteristic of the ideal teacher. A quality which was less prominent when profiling the ideal teacher is general education and wide perspectives. The teacher as a socializing agent, a person who promotes social goals, was not mentioned at all. Students maintained that, during their studies, they had improved their qualities as ‘empathetic and attentive’ teachers, ‘knowledgeable in teaching methods’, and in ‘leadership’. But they had hardly improved their knowledge of the subject they taught or their level of general knowledge. The discussion of knowledge and the desirable personal qualities of a teacher is relevant to the current debate regarding the relative merits of disciplinary education in contrast to pedagogical education in preparation for teaching as a profession. The clear preference for disciplinary education by policy makers in Israel and elsewhere in the field of teacher education is contradictory to the emphasis placed on the personal development of future teachers and their pedagogical education by the students of education who participated in this research.     

Which variables predict teachers diagnostic competence when diagnosing students’ learning behavior at different stages of a teacher’s career?

Diagnosing is one of teachers’ key competences. Lately, a new model of teachers’ diagnostic competence and therewith a new measurement method focusing on diagnosing students’ learning behavior in an interdisciplinary approach have been developed. They can build a basis for promoting teachers’ diagnostic competence. However, some questions relevant to promoting teachers’ diagnostic competence concerning students’ learning behavior still remain unanswered: Which values do teachers-on-the-job in contrast to preservice teachers with or without teaching experience gain through experience and which are the relevant variables that lead to a high level of diagnostic competence focused on learning behavior? Thus, this study aims at enlightening these issues. In a sample of 293 participants (93 German grammar school teachers, 107 German teacher students in their second phase of teacher education, and 93 German preservice students in their first phase of teacher education), teachers’ diagnostic competence concerning learning behavior as well as teachers’ motivation, attitude, self-efficacy, knowledge, and reflection on experience concerning diagnosing was measured. Motivation, attitude, and knowledge were found to be substantial positive predictors of diagnostic competence concerning learning behavior, with differentiated predictions for teachers’ experience. Reflection on experience and self-efficacy unexpectedly was not found to be relevant. Teachers-on-the-job were generally better at diagnosing their students’ learning behavior than were preservice teachers without teaching experience. However, the diagnostic work of preservice teachers with teaching experience was as credible as that of the in-service teachers.     

新时期人民教师师德的内涵和特质

师德,作为一种职业道德,既有一般职业道德的共性,如爱岗敬业、忠于职守等,又有其特殊性,如爱教爱校爱生,勤学勤教勤研,教书育人、管理育人、服务育人,甘为人梯等。在当前,明确新时期师德的内涵和特质,对于广大教师坚定职业理想,加强师德修养,树立甘为人梯、乐于奉献的道德情操,静心教书,潜心育人,为人民教育事业做出更大贡献具有重要意义。     

The split‐off narrator: coming to symptoms in stories of learning to teach

In this conceptual paper I draw on narratives from several contexts in my own educational history – a student‐teaching experience, a graduate course in educational theory, and my work as a preservice teacher educator – to consider, first, the Winnicottian notion of the split‐off intellect, in which individual subjectivity is skewed toward thinking and away from affect, and second, an inversion of that notion, in which affect splits off to form the central domain of experience, relationship, and defense against difficulty. Theorizing some of the ways in which thinking and affect can at times seem to get in each other’s way, and reflecting on what individuals might use that ‘getting in the way’ to do, I explore some ways in which educators in general, and teacher educators in particular, might facilitate the working‐through of intellect/affect splits with the aim of helping students integrate thinking and feeling as they begin or continue their work in the classroom.     

Research-based and hands-on practical teacher education: an attempt to combine the two

This article, based on the analysis of responses given by 27 students in initial teacher education, gives an account of how education theory can be conceived by students as relevant to their teaching practice. Research on teacher education in many countries has revealed that students regard theory and practice to be inconsistent or to belong to different worlds in initial teacher education. This may have a potentially negative effect on the teachers’ opportunities for future professional development, as such development should be based on the ability to view one’s own teaching practice from a critical, theory- and research-based perspective. In the research and development project reported in this article, the PIL-project, the students’ teaching practice was chosen as the pivotal point for all the other activities involved in the teacher education programme. Results indicate that when questions emerge from the students’ own experience, theory is often found useful in discussing and understanding their practical experiences. The results further show that the students’ choice of theory when discussing their teaching practice is eclectic. Students tend to choose theory with direct relevance to their daily tasks in the classrooms. The implication for initial teacher education is that the educational theory taught should more often address the immediate challenges faced by the students doing their teaching practice.     

Special education trainee teachers’ perceptions of their professional world: motives,roles, and expectations from teacher training

To open a window into perceptions entailed in the professional world view of special education teacher trainees, three research questions were developed: (a) What are their motives for joining the profession? (b) How do they perceive the role of the special education teacher? and (c) What are their expectations from teacher training? The research was carried out using a qualitative approach. Ninety-three students about to begin their professional training in special education in an Israeli teacher-training college completed a questionnaire consisting of five open questions. The data were analyzed according to the grounded theory approach. The research findings showed that the trainees chose special education because they wanted to belong to a group of teachers perceived as the most ethical; one that considers its mission to help ‘vulnerable’ individuals, mold their characters, and ‘have an impact on society.’ The role of special education teachers was perceived mainly as caring for students and their parents; the trainees expected that during their training, they would become completely familiar with the range of disabilities and how to deal with them, as well as learn about themselves and strengthen their teaching skills. The world of special education was perceived as ‘mysterious,’ having a high moral standing; as a closed profession, in that relations are limited to teacher, child, and parents; but with a spiritual aspect. The professional world of special education as perceived by the teacher trainees was different than that actually waiting for them, and for which teacher training institutes must prepare them.     

Beginning teachers’ conceptions of competency: implications to educational policy and teacher education in Malaysia

When any innovations or measurement procedures are introduced into the education system to improve or judge the quality of its teaching force, beginning teachers often have to adapt to these new concepts of what constitute a high quality teaching. This article contends that these new concepts neither necessarily match beginning teachers’ own conceptions about their own competency nor has it given beginning teachers a chance to be heard. This study provides an opportunity for beginning teachers’ ‘voices’ to be heard through phenomenography which is an interpretive research approach to discover what beginning teachers in Malaysia conceive and understand as competence in relation to what they do every day as teachers. The main finding of this study is the key role played by beginning teachers’ conceptions of competency which has provided strong implications for educational policies and teacher education. The findings suggest that teachers need to be represented in any quality improvement measures. Careful attention should also be paid to the school systems and to teacher training programmes to support and encourage teachers in their professional growth as competent teachers.     

教育实习对学前教育本科生职业选择的影响

本研究采用质性研究方法,通过目的性抽样,聚焦11位学前教育本科生的教育实习经历。研究发现:教育实习使学前教育本科生对幼师职业产生了坚守或逃离的两种选择。从认知层面看,学前教育本科生在教育实习前后对幼师职业的理解和对幼师职业自我胜任感的认识产生了变化;从情感层面看,教育实习中的“重要他人”帮助学前教育本科实习生加深了对幼师的职业情感。整体上来说,一方面实习生在教育实习中遭遇了“上课”和“带班”的双重挑战,另一方面实习生又在“指导教师”的专业指导下及“儿童群体”的情感感召下,增强了对幼师职业的认同和热爱,进而促进了对幼师的职业承诺。     

Philosophy across the Curriculum and the Question of Teacher Capacity; Or,What Is Philosophy and Who Can Teach It?

Pre‐college philosophy has proliferated greatly over the last few decades, including in the form of ‘philosophy across the curriculum’. However, there has been very little sustained examination of the nature of philosophy as a subject relative to other standard pre‐college subjects and the kinds of expertise an effective philosophy teacher at this level should possess. At face value, the minimal academic preparation expected for competence in secondary philosophy instruction, compared to the high standards for teaching other subjects, raises questions and concerns. In this paper I make some provisional observations about the subject of philosophy and how it is taught from p4c through to the post‐secondary level. I begin by examining the concept of ‘philosophy across the curriculum’ and offer a working analysis of the main features of philosophy's form and content that enable us to determine its relevance to, and difference from, other subjects. Next, I examine and critique what I term the ‘populist’ conception of philosophy, which correlates to lower expectations of teacher training, and use my own experience of teaching philosophy across the curriculum to shed doubt on the viability of this approach. In the third section I consider what I term the ‘autonomous’ conception of philosophy, which correlates to more stringent expectations of teacher capacity, and explain why it is preferable to the populist conception with some qualifications. I conclude by reflecting on how philosophy compares to other subjects that are advanced cross‐curricularly and argue for more training of high school philosophy teachers.     

A Window into the Rural Classroom: interactive television and problem‐based activity in Australian pre‐service teacher education

ABSTRACT

This project incorporated live broadcasts of teaching from small, multi‐graded, rural schools into university lecture halls where pre‐service teacher education students in the last semester of their programmes were able to observe ‘best practice’ in a learning context that they would eventually be responsible for during their final practicum session. Interactive observation sessions were immediately followed with opportunities for students to discuss various aspects of planning, classroom organisation and teaching strategies appropriate to multi‐graded contexts with the remote classroom teacher. These ‘reverse distance education’ sessions followed an intensive lecture and tutorial series centring upon topics relevant to teaching in small rural communities. Tutorial activities placed student teachers in small rural school scenarios containing everyday ‘problems’ requiring diagnosis and the generation and analysis of solutions. At the conclusion of scenario discussions, students had networked, collaborated with colleagues and applied current research findings in generating viable solutions and considered school community reactions to these proposed solutions.

The incorporation of interactive video technology with these problem situations consolidated the concept and skill development of student teachers and increased both their real time involvement in their chosen professions, and their access to best practice. This dual focus upon a problem solving approach to teaching immersed the student teacher in situations derived from real school environments, and so encouraged a collegial and open approach to teaching. Extensive evaluations revealed that pre‐service teachers were more thoroughly prepared for rural teaching experiences, displayed competence in effective multigrade teaching skills, and exhibited control during involvement     

学生——交际语言教学法中最重要角色(英文)

教师和学生是在交际语言教学法中的两个重要角色。在传统教育理念中,学生的角色没有引起老师足够重视。该文再次强调交际语言教学法中的教师和学生角色,让教师们能更清楚理解学生在交际教学法中充当更主要角色。为了培养学生的英语交际能力,教师应该重新思考学生角色并鼓励学生在课堂发挥更积极的作用。     

偏远地区中学英语教师培养中的交际法应用研究

新课程标准的实施、英语教学大纲的修订以及教材的变化,都必然导致初中英语教学方法的改变。新版初中英语教材突出了交际能力的培养。而在偏远地区初中英语教学中,传统教法依然垄断课堂,改变这种教学模式,要从职前教师培养方法入手。本文主要探讨交际法在我国偏远地区初中英语教师职前培养中的应用。通过交际法在所有专业课程教学中的应用,使学生对其产生深刻的认识和体验。继而使未来初中英语教师在自己的教学中,结合实际,灵活、恰当地运用交际教学法。     

Teacher education variables as correlates of primary science ratings in thirteen TIMSS systems

This paper presents a comparative overview of teacher education variables associated with primary science in 13 TIMSS educational systems. While using TIMSS mean cohort performances at the Year 4 level to rank the sample systems, the study went beyond TIMSS in that it was at the whole-system level and took into account developments since those tests. The study reinforced the view that primary teacher training ideally occurs in a university, and involves a 4-year degree programme that preferably adheres to common standards across institutions. Teachers’ attainment at high school emerged as a principal correlate with TIMSS rankings. Better rankings were also associated with the existence of mandatory science ‘content’ studies as part of teacher training. These observations are consistent with the axiom that teachers’ competence in primary science arises largely from their own mastery of scientific concepts. The authors propose that candidates for primary teacher training programmes should have been awarded passes in science, including physical science, at minimally the middle secondary level, and urge primary teacher training institutions to include compulsory science ‘content’ as well as science pedagogy courses in their programmes.     

论基于《标准》的职前教师专业能力形成机理

职前教师的专业能力培养是高等师范教育的基本任务。教师专业能力具有职业的特殊性,以解决教育教学实际问题为目标导向。《中学教师专业标准（试行）》把教师专业能力划分为六大领域,各领域之间具有相互支撑、相互促进的关系。作为职前教师的师范生需要发挥自身主体性,积极参与学习、实践和反思,指导教师需要为师范生提供支持,为其创设有利于各领域能力成长的学习环境。师范生六大领域专业能力的形成机理各有特点,需要师范生和教师的协同配合。     

What characterises the competent RE teacher? Finnish student teachers’ perceptions at the beginning of their pedagogical training

This study is part of a research project concerning perceptions of competence among RE student teachers at different stages of their pedagogical studies. This article focuses on the perceptions of RE teachers’ competence at the beginning of their training. According to the qualitative data the RE student teachers discerned various areas of competence. Both task competencies (content knowledge and good practice) and person competencies (experience, professional awareness, motivation and pro-social orientation) were identified. In addition, the student teachers placed more emphasis on theories of teaching than theories of learning. They also seemed to view RE teaching as a general educational profession.     

Training higher education teachers’ critical thinking and attitudes towards teaching it

Teachers play a crucial role in attaining a major objective of higher education: fostering students’ critical thinking (CT). Yet, little is known about how to foster teachers’ own CT-skills and attitudes towards teaching CT. In a quasi-experimental study (N = 54), we investigated whether a three-session teacher training on (teaching) CT (n = 32) positively affected higher education teachers’ CT-skills and their attitudes towards teaching CT compared to a control condition (n = 22). The training consisted of explicit instruction on common reasoning biases combined with assignments focused on the teaching practice. Results showed that the training improved teachers’ performance on trained but not on novel CT-tasks. Also teachers’ ability to detect biases in a written student product improved; however, despite a small improvement, they still had difficulties in correctly explaining those biases. Possibly due to ceiling effects the training did not affect perceived relevance of teaching CT. Finally, perceived competence in teaching CT decreased temporarily after the first training session but this negative effect disappeared after the final third session. Future research should investigate ways to promote teachers’ ability to transfer trained skills to other CT-tasks, their ability provide feedback on students’ reasoning (i.e., bias explanation), and their attitudes towards teaching CT.