Rethinking Education through Contemporary Art

This article is part of a broader investigation exploring how contemporary art allows us to think about the process that underpins our teaching and learning in order to change it. We are tutors in initial teacher education and we teach, learn and communicate through contemporary art for a pedagogical module. In the following article we will show how teaching, learning and communicating through contemporary art helps future teachers to be aware of their educational models. Art encounters generate new learning and teaching experiences by allowing students and teachers to make various rhizomatic wanderings. The rhizomatic wanderings are diverse with the content and the form depending on the personal experience. The article concludes that the more rhizomatic wanderings future teachers make, the more they will be able to rethink the process of teaching and learning in order to attend to the diverse situations of classrooms of the twenty‐first century.     

“Exploring this whole thing of social justice” narrative as a tool for critical sociocultural knowledge development in teacher education

Many teacher education programs provide teachers with opportunities to read, write, and discuss critical pedagogy, with the hope that such work will allow them to develop more equitable and just teaching practices. Yet, there often remains a gap between the theoretical discussions of teaching and learning in teacher education classrooms and the pedagogical practice in those teachers’ K-12 classrooms. In this study, we examine how one teacher, Gabriela, used narratives to make connections between her third-grade classroom and the critical concepts she was exploring in a teacher education course. Embedded within an ethnographic case study of an inservice teacher education program, we used a discourse analytic approach to examine both the sociocultural knowledge and the identities Gabriela constructed through narrative as she engaged with issues of language, race, and power within the course. We consider some of the affordances of narrative in this space, including how it allowed Gabriela to integrate her understandings of multiple course topics, to position herself in multiple ways as a teacher, and to disrupt her existing understandings of race and racism in the classroom. This analysis suggests that critically oriented teacher education programs might more intentionally make space for narrative to connect critical theory and pedagogical practice.     

Helping Pre-Service and Beginning Teachers Examine and Reframe Assumptions About Themselves as Teachers and Change Agents: “Who is Going to Listen to You Anyway?”

The focus of this article is how to ensure (beginning) teachers’ needs as practitioners are part of the discursive dialogue in physical education teacher education programs. We consider the relationship between ‘structure’ and ‘agency,’ teachers as ‘change agents’ and refer to ‘workplace learning’ as we examine the extent to which the social structure of the school and the teaching profession, and?/?or the capacity of the individual to act independently, ultimately determines a teacher's behaviour in reaction to teaching expectations. We are interested as physical education teacher education faculty in how we (1) strive to help pre-service teachers examine and reframe assumptions about themselves as teachers and change agents, and (2) examine taken-for-granted school practices and processes. We share ways that physical education teacher education programs could encourage pre-service teachers agency and the relationship between initial teacher education and induction.     

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.     

The impact of peer collaboration on teachers’ practical knowledge

Due to changes in Dutch mathematics education, teachers are expected to use new teaching methods such as enquiry-based teaching. In this study, we investigate how teachers design, implement and evaluate new methods for statistics teaching for 7^th-graders during a professional development trajectory based on peer collaboration. We monitored teachers’ development in a network of four mathematics teachers from the same school. By using a mixed-methods approach in which we combined data from interviews, concept maps and classroom observations, we describe changes in teachers’ practical knowledge. We found how the nature of these changes highly depends on teachers’ personal concerns that emerge during the trajectory. Some teachers considered their concerns as challenges stimulating their learning, while other teachers experienced their concerns as a reason to fall back to previous teaching methods. Based on our results, we give some recommendations for organising teacher networks.     

Evaluate to improve: useful approaches to student evaluation

Many teachers in higher education use feedback from students to evaluate their teaching, but only some use these evaluations to improve their teaching. One important factor that makes the difference is the teacher’s approach to their evaluations. In this article, we identify some useful approaches for improving teaching. We conducted focus groups with award-winning university teachers who use student evaluations to improve their teaching, and we identified how they approach their evaluation data. We found that these teachers take a reflective approach, aiming for constant improvement, and see their evaluation data as formative feedback, useful for improving learning outcomes for their students. We summarise this as the improvement approach, and we offer it for other teachers to emulate. We argue that if teachers take this reflective, formative, student-centred approach, they can also use student evaluations to improve their teaching, and this approach should be fostered by institutions to encourage more teachers to use student evaluations to improve their teaching.     

The integration of biodiversity education in the initial education of primary school teachers: four comparative case studies from Europe

In this article, we present results from an international research study on biodiversity education in pre‐service education of primary school teachers. The study was carried out between 2004–2006 in four teacher education institutions in Cyprus, England, Switzerland and Germany. We used document analyses and in‐depth interviews with 27 teacher educators and 22 student teachers to examine the integration of biodiversity into the pre‐service teacher education programmes, and the student teachers’ satisfaction with their respective education. In all teacher education institutions, aspects of biodiversity education were integrated mostly in the natural science modules which provided students at least with some information on the scientific aspects of biodiversity. Few modules included aspects of the controversial nature of biodiversity conservation in relation to economics, ethics, social and political concerns, and methodological approaches on how to deal with this. In the institutions in Cyprus, England and Germany the teaching focus was content‐oriented, whereas in Switzerland a situated method‐oriented approach was used. The student teachers in Switzerland felt more confident to teach about biodiversity in school. All interviewees thought it necessary to prepare primary school student teachers on how to address biodiversity in schools, and strategies on how best to achieve this are critically discussed.     

Early Care and Education Matters: A Conceptual Model for Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Integrating the Key Constructs of Knowledge,Reflection, and Practice

There has been a great deal of discourse in the field of early care and education concerning the experiences, skills, competencies, and education level needed by early childhood teachers to ensure that quality teaching and learning take place in the early years. The purpose of this article is to describe an early childhood teacher preparation program developed by a Child and Family Development Department at a large, urban, state-funded university in the hopes that we can further the discourse on how the field can ensure quality teaching and learning in both ECE and university classrooms. We propose a conceptual model that is built around three key constructs: knowledge, reflection, and practice and describe our approach to preparing early childhood educators. Using qualitative data from student reflections and course syllabi and quantitative data on the experiences and perceptions of graduating seniors, we hope to present promising practices in early childhood teacher education and provide support for our contention that the quality of early childhood teacher education matters.     

课堂教学研究的国际比较与诊断改进框架的构建

研究课堂教学和支持广大教师学会做研究成为世界各国教师教育研究的一个热点关注,在其教育教学研究中也占有十分重要的地位.本文针对国内课堂教学评价研究有余而诊断改进不足的现状,研究建立了一个课堂教学的诊断改进框架,以更好地促进广大教师自觉反思和研究自己的课堂,成为具有一定研究能力的实践者.     

Eminent classroom teachers join the dialogue on teacher education programs

Abstract

This article examines the views on effective teacher education programs held by 10 teachers who were identified by senior administrators within their school districts as exemplary teachers. The findings reveal many consistencies between the beliefs inherent within five models of teacher learning that predominate in literature on teacher education programs and those held by practicing teachers. The one major difference is that teachers in this study emphasize the transmission of a widely accepted body of pedagogical knowledge and skills to a greater degree than do researchers. This set of common belief provides a strong foundation for building collaborative relationships through which both cultures might work together to develop a shared vision. Transformation of teaching and teacher education practice requires a willingness to consider values and perspectives that might differ from those accepted within either culture and an openness to change on the part of both cultures.     

Reflections from Preservice to Novice Teaching: One Perspective on the Role of ePortfolios

Developing ePortfolios as part of preservice coursework and student teaching has become part of many teacher education programs nationwide. This article explores how developing an integrative knowledge ePortfolio (IKE, Peet et al., 2011) as part of one preservice teacher's education and during her early years in the classroom supported the role of reflection in personal pedagogy, offering concrete ways to think through issues specific to student teaching and into the transition to novice teaching. I consider the ways in which sociocultural perspectives on teacher education influence reflection and its development. Although teacher candidates might initially perceive ePortfolio building as a mere showcasing of individual skills and promise to prospective employers, folio reflective processes can quickly be adopted as a critical lens on teachers’ own practice, leading to new understandings and revisions in thinking. Thus, this article argues that, for me, ePortfolios provided a space for reflection as performance, giving me an additional means of inquiring into my classroom and becoming an integral and defining component of a commitment to reflective teaching practices.     

Understanding the Realities of School Life: Recommendations for the Preparation of Physical Education Teachers

While quality physical education teacher education requires recruits to be trained in the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary for effective teaching, research stemming from socialization theory and role theory indicates that this may not be adequate. Pre-service teachers also need to be made aware of organizational challenges they will face when transitioning into their first teaching position. These challenges stem from the ways in which recruits are socialized into physical education, and are related to the complex, sociopolitical structure of schooling. The purpose of this article is to provide a review of the organizational challenges faced by beginning physical education teachers and to present recommendations for how teacher training programs can better prepare pre-service teachers to meet these challenges. The discussion includes both general and specific strategies that can be implemented to provide pre-service teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary to enhance their ability to navigate life in the sociopolitical contexts of schools. Preparing students for the realities of school life should correspond with a decrease in reality shock and the washout effect.     

Mentoring for school based teacher education in Australia

This article is to explore the possibilities of mentoring for school based teacher education in Australia. Traditionally, supervision at the school level during the practicum in Australia has been focused on the classroom teacher whose role was to oversee and watch the direct work of the student teacher. However with the reforms in teacher education within the higher education sector which began in the late 1980s, a new challenge has arisen, which emphasises a shift of focus within the practicum from the role of classroom teacher as supervisor to one of mentor. Therefore, teachers who wish to become mentors will require new skills and competencies which extend beyond those of supervision, which necessitates the need for further training and education of classroom teachers. This article examines the mentoring role and the skills needed by teachers in supporting the development and education of student teachers into the teaching profession. The article also briefly examines the implications that this shift in focus from supervisor to mentor may bring for the participants involved in the education of student teachers.     

实习支教,置换培训：一种双赢的教师教育模式

师范生实习支教,置换教师培训是通过组织高师院校师范生到农村中小学进行教育实习,在一定时期内顶替现职农村学校教师的岗位,被置换出的农村教师参加由高师院校组织的短期脱产培训。这是一种双赢的教学和培训模式,它有效提高了师范生的教学技能,切实解决农村教师队伍素质不高这一制约农村基础教育发展的根本问题。文章从当前教育实习和教师培训中存在的问题入手,讨论＂实习支教,置换培训＂的实践价值并对其有效实施提出了相关的建议。     

Conceptualizing dispositions: intellectual,cultural, and moral domains of teaching

In this conceptual paper, we provide a heuristic that organizes dispositions in a manner that is useful for prospective teachers and teacher educators. The heuristic is organized around three domains of dispositions – intellectual, cultural, and moral. We use a small sample of teacher candidate journal entries to ground the discussion of each disposition domain. Our goal is to explore how teacher candidates are inclined to think through issues of content and pedagogy, the cultural backgrounds of their students, and the values driving their moral reasoning. A significant part of this exploration includes examining teacher candidate assumptions. We offer recommendations for how teacher education programs can provide opportunities for prospective teachers to consider their dispositions and to identify how their dispositions influence teaching decisions.     

Collaboration to teach English language learners: opportunities for shared teacher learning

This study examines collaboration between English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) teachers and content-area elementary school teachers, and makes the case for conceptualising teacher collaboration as an opportunity for shared teacher learning. Using a sociocultural theoretical lens, this study examines how three pairs of elementary teachers and ESOL specialists used and constructed tools for collaboration, which mediated and made visible teachers’ learning processes. Employing interpretive enquiry and cross-case analysis, we examined data from classroom observations, teacher co-planning sessions and interviews with teachers. Findings demonstrated that collaborating teachers used tools to articulate and reconceptualise teaching goals, co-construct knowledge and ultimately transform teaching practices to meet the needs of culturally and linguistically diverse students. This study has implications for teacher education and ongoing professional development, by shedding light on the potential affordances of collaborative tools for teacher learning. Findings suggest that teacher education could harness these opportunities for learning by incorporating collaboration between ESOL specialists and content-area teachers as an integral part of preparing more qualified teachers to work with culturally and linguistically diverse students.     

Promoting Metacognitive Decision-Making in Teacher Education

Effective teachers are characterized by their abilities to make thoughtful, deliberate, and informed adaptations while teaching (Hoffman & Pearson, 2000). These in-the-moment teaching decisions are guided by a complex web of teacher knowledge. Raising teachers' awareness of the decisions they make on a moment-by-moment basis may aid in thoughtful, more deliberate decision-making and more robust instruction. We charge that preservice teachers can acquire this skill, as well. This article highlights practices employed in preservice teacher education courses as a means to promote awareness of, and engagement with, in-the-moment teaching decisions. Using examples from mathematics, social studies, and literacy methods courses, we describe our processes to intentionally cultivate preservice teachers' adaptive teaching skills through metacognitive decision-making.     

Authentic assessment of teaching in context

The demands of teaching more challenging content to more diverse learners suggest a need for teacher education that enables teachers to become more sophisticated in their understanding of the effects of context and learner variability on teaching and learning. Instead of implementing set routines, teachers need to become ever more skillful in their ability to evaluate teaching situations and develop teaching responses that can be effective under different circumstances. This article examines how a growing number of teacher education programs are using authentic assessments of teaching – cases, exhibitions, portfolios, and problem-based inquiries (or action research) – as tools to support teacher learning for these new challenges of practice. Using specific teacher education programs as examples, the article examines how and why these strategies appear to provide support for teacher learning and avenues for more valid assessment of teaching. The authors also discuss circumstances in which these strategies may be less effective and suggest features of the assessments and programmatic contexts that are associated with more and less successful use.