“It isn’t necessarily sunshine and daisies every time”: coplanning opportunities and challenges when student teaching

As a model for learning to teach, coteaching places two or more student teachers and cooperating teachers in a classroom. Effective coteaching requires coplanning, and this case study examines how six coteachers planned instruction for three environmental science classes. Using sociocultural theory, the study provides insight into the complexity and challenges in coplanning such as using collective knowledge to produce lesson plans, identification of teaching resources, the importance of communication between coteachers during planning and the enactment of lessons, and teachers’ time as a limited resource. Coplanning provided learning experiences for student and cooperating teachers through reflective discussions that proposed ideal forms of practice and the alignment of teaching to achieve that goal.     

Changing conceptions of teaching: a four-year learning journey for student teachers

Understanding student teachers’ development of conceptions of teaching and learning is critical for teacher educators. Drawing from the findings of a four-year longitudinal study in Hong Kong, this paper examines the trajectories of the student teachers’ changing conceptions of teaching and learning approaches throughout their undergraduate programme. Three types of trajectories: guided touring, experiential detouring and self-guided touring, as the changes in both conceptions of teaching and learning approaches, are presented. The results suggest that three factors: faculty, learners’ attitudes towards learning and ability to integrate different learning resources, influenced the development of the student teachers’ trajectories. This study adds to the international body of knowledge on the interconnected development of conceptions of teaching and learning approaches. The paper concludes with the implications for teacher education.     

Dimensions of teacher self‐efficacy among Chinese secondary school teachers in Hong Kong

This article reports the development of a teacher self‐efficacy scale that aims to accommodate the complexity of teacher functioning in secondary schools in times of education reforms in Hong Kong. The scale was designed to assess six domains of teacher self‐efficacy: teaching highly able learners, classroom management, guidance and counselling, student engagement, teaching to accommodate diversity, and teaching for enriched learning. The total scale and the six subscales were evaluated based on the responses of 159 Hong Kong Chinese prospective and in‐service teachers for internal consistency and construct validity, and for convergent and discriminant validation with external measures.     

Student teachers’ development of a positive attitude towards research and research knowledge and skills

The aim of this study is to investigate the experiences of student teachers participating in an introductory course, designed to stimulate the development of a positive attitude towards research and to stimulate the development of research knowledge and skills by second-year student teachers of an institute of primary teacher education. A questionnaire (N = 81) was used to measure the students’ attitude and perceptions of the development of their attitude towards research, their perceived development of research knowledge and skills and what parts of the introductory course they perceived to be responsible for these developments. According to the students’ perceptions, the introductory course contributed to the development of both a positive attitude towards research and research knowledge and skills. The students indicated that examples from practice, authentic learning tasks and working in pairs or groups contributed most to the development of their attitude, knowledge and skills.     

基于经验学习圈的不同教师群体教学行为改进特征

教师的教学行为对教学效果会产生直接影响,教学行为改进是一个动态的过程并且具有群体性特征。本研究基于经验学习圈理论,对71名教师在2年持续教学行为改进过程中的350节视频课例,采用内容分析法,探究新手教师、胜任教师和成熟教师三类群体的教学行为改进特征。研究发现:基于经验学习圈2年的持续教学行为改进过程取得了显著的改进效果,三类教师均能够较好地改进问题的开放性;讨论后汇报和鼓励学生提出问题是三类教师在教学行为改进中共同的难点;经验学习中的反思性观察和抽象概括两个阶段对教师教学行为的正向改进作用比较小;三类教师群体的教学行为改进着力点明显不同,成熟教师最难改进的教学行为和最难改进的研修阶段与新手教师和胜任教师不同,新手教师与胜任教师存在不同的教学行为改进难点和相同的最难改进阶段。根据上述不同教师群体的教学行为改进特征,可以进一步优化与完善教师教学行为的改进方法与策略,形成更加精准地教学行为改进支持服务与改进依据,丰富教学行为改进的有关研究。     

Student teachers’ participation in learning activities and effective teaching behaviours

Teacher learning is essential to the teaching profession, because it has been strongly linked to improved teaching practices and teacher quality. The source for teacher learning is initial teacher education, a crucial phase in the learning-to-teach continuum. To gain insight into this influential period for student teachers’ long-term professional lives, this exploratory study investigates student teachers’ participation in learning activities and explores whether it is connected to their own effective teaching behaviours in a school-based teacher education setting for secondary education in the Netherlands. The results indicate that student teachers vary in their self-reported learning and that this learning relates positively to observations of their effective teaching behaviour. These findings have several implications for teacher education programmes that aim to enhance the likelihood that their student teachers will become career-long learning professionals.     

Workplace learning within teacher education: the role of job characteristics and goal orientation

Within teacher education, it is widely recognised that internships play a major role in preparing prospective teachers. The current research examines if the learning activities students’ undertake in the workplace can be explained by students’ goal orientation and their perceptions of the workplace. In addition, it will be investigated whether this model is predictive for students’ academic achievement. Participants in this study were 464 bachelor students enrolled in teacher education. The results from the structural equation modelling show that students’ learning goal orientation is an important predictor for students’ learning activities and academic achievement. Students with a higher learning goal orientation demonstrate a more active approach towards their learning. Regarding the context, some positive relations between work-related variables such as job demands and job control on the one hand and students’ learning activities on the other hand were identified, but their relationship was more limited than expected.     

促进专业发展的教师绩效评价研究

教师绩效是教师在教育教学过程中表现出来的与教育教学目标相一致的行为.教师绩效评价的主要内容包括师德、学科素养、课堂教学、学生学习和班主任工作五个维度.进行教育教学改善、专业思考和协商参与的教师绩效评价,增进教师对教育教学的理解并改善实践,有效促进教师的专业发展.     

荷兰现实主义教师教育实习模式探究

教师的教育实习,作为联系教师教育中的理论学习与未来教学实践的重要纽带,是教师教育课程中的必要组成部分,也是教师的专业社会化与专业发展的关键阶段。荷兰乌特勒支大学的"现实主义"教师教育实习模式,以傅乐的教师关注理论为基础,重视教育实习与理论学习的紧密融合,大学与中小学指导教师的合作督导,以及实习教师的反思能力的培养等,这些对我国的教师教育实习都会有所启示与借鉴。     

Consequences of personal teaching metaphors for teacher identity and practice

Past research has clearly indicated that teachers’ metaphors can serve as a framework that moves our understanding of teaching forward by making more explicit the intuitive knowledge teachers hold about themselves, their classrooms, and their practice. Making explicit how metaphors uncover the understandings that guide the practices of in-service teachers, individually and collectively, can provide insight into the assumptions they hold about teaching and teaching practice. The purpose of this study was to explore how in-service teachers’ self-constructed metaphors revealed their perceptions of their roles, obligations, and assumptions about teaching and learning, and consider the implications of such exploration for teacher education and development. The four experienced teachers who participated in this study constructed personal teaching metaphors for which they provided an explanation. Analysis of the metaphors using positioning theory provided evidence that teaching metaphors capture the individual identity and specify the plotlines of teaching and the obligations, duties, and responsibilities of the teacher as well as the role of the teacher and others in the teacher’s practice. We found that each metaphor brought elements of identity and teaching practice together in unique and divergent ways. A subsequent cross-case analysis revealed common discourses of teaching: responsibility, nurturing, and caring, and teacher and student learning. Both the individual and cross-case analysis suggest the potential value of metaphor work for informing teacher education and professional development to advise teachers, teacher educators, school leaders, and policy makers.     

The Impact of Personality,Goal Orientation and Self-Efficacy on Participation of High School Teachers in Learning Activities in the Workplace

This study examines the influence of personality traits, goal orientation and self-efficacy on high school teachers’ participation in learning activities in the workplace (i.e. experimentation, informal interaction with colleagues, self-regulation and avoidance behaviour). A convenience sample of 95 teachers from six high schools in Flanders (Belgium) participated in this exploratory study. They completed a questionnaire consisting of different instruments to map their personality (NEO-FFI), goal orientation (adaptation of Achievement Goal Questionnaire), self-efficacy (Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale) and participation in learning activities (adaptations from different scales). Results of multivariate regression analyses indicate that conscientiousness, extraversion and openness have a positive effect on teachers’ participation in learning activities in the workplace. However, learning orientation and self-efficacy are found to be better predictors for participation in experimentation, informal interaction and selfregulation. Analysis using structural equation modeling reveals an indirect relationship between extraversion and self-regulation, mediated by self-efficacy. Learning orientation mediates the impact of conscientiousness on informal interaction. As teachers’ goal orientation and self-efficacy can be influenced, school policy makers should reflect upon ways on how teachers’ goal orientation and self-efficacy can further be enhanced.     

实习生对理论性知识的认识及其对职前教师教育的启示

本研究通过对14名实习生的访谈,了解了他们经历实习后对大学所学理论性知识作用的实际认识。研究将理论性知识分为三类:学科内容知识、教育方法类知识、教育原理类知识。访谈发现:实习生普遍认同学科内容知识的价值;关注教育方法类知识但大多不能从大学的学习中受益;本科生对教育原理类知识的价值认可度低,硕士生的认可度相对较高。可见,教育原理类知识和方法类知识更易和实践脱节,但这种脱节并非不可避免。大学和中小学在教师培养过程的沟通与合作、实习生本人的反思意识与能力以及对不同理论性知识的合理定位,对沟通教育理论和实践具有重要作用。     

形成性评价中的教师角色与策略研究

形成性评价对学习的促进作用在我国各学段的教育教学中受到重视。在实际教学中,该评价方法引起教师角色的变化和具体的评价实施策略是实现形成性评价促学价值的关键。教师需要改变传统教学中知识传授者的角色,转变为教学与评价活动的设计者和组织者,学生表现的观察者和诊断者,以及提高学生学习的推动者。通过师生共设与分享学习目标和评价标准,全面收集和准确解读学生信息,做出学生乐于接受并据此调整学习的有效反馈等策略,提升学生学习效果和促进其终身学习能力的发展。     

Integrating on-line technology into teaching activities to enhance student and teacher learning in a New Zealand primary school

Continuing emphasis given to computer technology resourcing in schools presents potential for web-based initiatives which focus on quality arts teaching and learning, as ways to improve arts outcomes for all students. An arts e-learning collaborative research project between specialist on-line teacher/researchers and generalist primary teachers was designed to investigate student learning, quality teaching, and implementation factors. Constructionist-based teaching activities using on-line technology were designed to engage students in a learner-centred e-learning environment where students and teachers collaborated to produce a media and learning artefact. A case study highlights the outcomes for four students who transferred learnt drama skills to other classroom contexts. This model has potential to provide drama learning for students and professional development for primary generalist teachers, contingent on the availability of rigorously planned and well-resourced programmes.     

Beginning student teachers’ teacher identities based on their practical theories

In this article, we investigate first-year student teachers’ teacher identities through their practical theories and ask what these practical theories reveal about their emerging teacher identities? This study approaches teacher identity from a dialogical viewpoint where identity is constructed through various positions. The empirical part of this study analysed the practical theories of 71 first-year student teachers in order to determine what kinds of positions are involved in their teacher identity at the beginning of their teacher education and what positions are emphasised. The results showed that when student teachers begin their teacher education, the majority of positions concern didactical issues, that is, how to promote pupils’ studying and learning processes. In addition, student teachers’ teacher identities as teachers strongly emphasise the moral nature of teaching. Contextual issues about school and society and matters related to content, such as the curriculum, had little representation in first-year student teacher identities. On the basis of the results, the role of teacher education is considered in the process of promoting development of student teachers’ teacher identity during their studies.     

Key experiences in student teachers’ development

This study focuses on the question of why student teachers stay in teaching even after a profound ‘practice shock,’ i.e., a shock that in itself seems to characterize the complex and emotionally challenging first year of student teaching. Using a line drawing technique, the study investigates student teachers’ views of their first year of teaching by examining how they picture their development, their key experiences during that development, and the ways in which they coped with these experiences. The results suggest that most student teachers perceive their own development not as a steadily ascending line as is often suggested by research on the development of teachers’ professional identity. Instead, we now surmise that most student teachers view their development as a path with highs and lows that include transformative moments or periods. This relates to the idea of transformative learning and to theories on identity development that suggest people need a crisis for identity development to occur. During such a crisis, we saw that student teachers explicitly reconsidered their connections to teaching and that this reconsideration led to a regained motivation for teaching. It appeared that supervisors or mentor teachers played a significant role in first‐year (student) teachers’ regaining motivation for teaching.     

Reflecting Socially on Social Issues in a Social Studies Methods Course

The purpose of this study was to investigate how student teaching experiences impact the sense of teaching efficacy and feelings of preparedness of pre-service teachers in a nearly and elementary teacher education program (EC-6). The study used an action research, mixed-methods design. Seventy-one pre-service teachers at a large public university in the southwest completed surveys about their preparedness to teach and teaching efficacy pre and post the student teaching semester. Findings indicate that pre-service teachers’ perceptions of preparedness and sense of teaching efficacy both increased significantly (p < .5) from pre-student teaching to post-student teaching. In addition, three themes emerged from the answers to open-ended questions on learning components of student teaching experiences: opportunity for hands-on teaching, the opportunity to observe experienced teachers, and the relationship with their cooperating teacher.     

Learning from interpersonal interactions during the practicum: a case study of non-native ESL student teachers

Although research reveals that pre-service student teachers often regard their relationships with their significant others as an important element of their initial teaching practice experience, much remains unknown about the influence of significant others on non-native English as a Second Language (ESL) student teachers’ professional learning process during field experiences. This paper presents the findings of a qualitative study of the professional learning experiences of 17 pre-service non-native ESL student teachers during an eight-week-long practicum. Grounded in a sociocultural view of teacher learning, the study explores how the ESL student teachers developed their understanding of professional learning in the light of their experiences of engaging with their supporting teachers, supervisors, other school staff members as well as peer student teachers during the practicum. Analysis of the data reveals that these people assumed the role of coach either directly or indirectly, having a positive influence on the student teachers’ role as a teacher. Analysis of the data also reveals negative interactions between student teachers and their significant others, which sociocultural theories have so far not taken sufficiently into account. While, findings of this study challenge past assumptions about where knowledge for teaching comes from and how it can be learned; this study also suggests an urgent need to consolidate university–school partnership to foster student teachers’ adaptation to the context of teaching practice and maximise their professional learning opportunities.     

What do we know and where do we go? Formative assessment in developing student teachers’ professional learning of teaching science

In the context of teacher education, it could well be suggested that assessment activities that build on formative interactions between student teachers and teacher educators might offer new windows into better understanding teaching and learning. This paper presents findings from a study into a primary science teacher education initiative that seeks to build the foundations on which 24 primary science student teachers, through the use of formative assessment of their science teaching and learning, can begin developing their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). In the project, formative assessment consists of activities used by teacher educators to stimulate interactions, self- and peer-assessment in order to provide insights into how student teachers develop their PCK during a semester. Content Representations (CoRes), were used as a tool to unpack the student teachers’ approach to teaching a science topic and the reasons for that approach. The results indicate that the use of CoRes, together with subsequent self-assessment and formative interactions with teacher educators and peers, do have the potential for PCK development for student teachers. The results further highlight the need for developing reliable and valid tools for capturing and assessing student teachers’ PCK in pre-service teacher education.     

跨界课例研究中的教师学习

目前我国中小学教师的学习大都停留在被专家灌输知识或同行低水平交流的状态,如何创设跨界学习情境,引发教师对自己思维和行为习惯的深度反思,形成新的对教育教学的理解和行动,是教师学习的一大难题。鉴于此,有必要从跨界学习的视角,探索教师在跨界课例研究中其学习是如何发生的。基于一个小组合作学习案例,分析了教师如何通过与外来学者合作,根据具体情境对理论进行再工具化,改进教案设计和教学实施,在提高学生学习素养的同时生成了自己新的实践性知识。研究发现,教师跨界学习的意义协商、视角再造、实践重构三个机制,对教师专业学习具有重要的指导意义。