Beliefs systems and classroom practices: Identified typologies of elementary school teachers from the United States

In a mixed-methods study, the authors investigate teacher typologies of elementary teachers (N = 132) in the United States based on their reformed science teaching beliefs. Additionally, the identified teacher typologies were compared with respect to their science content knowledge, self-efficacy and epistemic beliefs. Results revealed three clusters of teachers with different combinations of teaching beliefs and practices. Comparative analysis indicated significant differences among teacher typologies with respect to their epistemic beliefs and teaching efficacy beliefs. Additionally, interview results enhanced the depth of understanding of participants' views for reformed science teaching and further highlighted differences in the typologies. Study implications are considered with regard to improving teacher quality and preservice teacher training.     

The role of a children's mathematical thinking experience in the preparation of prospective elementary school teachers

Historically, content preparation and pedagogical preparation of teachers in California have been separated. Recently, in integrating these areas, many mathematics methodology instructors have incorporated children's thinking into their courses, which are generally offered late in students’ undergraduate studies. We have implemented and studied a model for integrating mathematical content and children's mathematical thinking earlier, so that prospective elementary school teachers (PSTs) engage with children's mathematical thinking while enrolled in their first mathematics course. PSTs’ work with children in the Children's Mathematical Thinking Experience (CMTE) may enhance their mathematical learning. Preliminary study results indicate that the sophistication of CMTE students’ beliefs about mathematics, teaching, and learning increased more than the sophistication of beliefs held by students enrolled in a reform-oriented early field experience and that experiences considering children's mathematical thinking provided PSTs with increased motivation for learning mathematics.     

Gender-related beliefs of teachers in elementary school mathematics

In this quantitative study, questionnaire data of fifty-two third- and fourth-grade teachers were analyzed using MANOVA tools. Teachers were asked to consider boys' and girls' achievement in mathematics, giving their views on the reasons for the students' successes and failures and describing their learning characteristics. Teachers thought that their average achieving girls were less logical than equally achieving boys. The girls were thought to profit less than boys from additional effort and to exert relatively more effort to achieve the level of actual performance in mathematics. Teachers rated mathematics as more difficult for average achieving girls than for equally achieving boys. With regard to girls, teachers attributed unexpected failure more to low ability and less to lack of effort than with boys. The results increase our understanding of stereotypical teacher beliefs that might help explain gender differences in achievement and in subsequent occupational choices.This revised version was published online in September 2005 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Job satisfaction of Jamaican elementary school teachers

This study investigated correlates of job satisfaction among public (N=190) and private (N=100) Jamaican elementary school teachers. Emphasis was on the identification of factors that could be affected through administrative intervention. Results indicated that the quality of school working conditions and respondents' relationships with other teachers were significantly related to satisfaction for both public and private school teachers. School prestige and parental encouragement were also significant predictors for public school teachers; leadership style, organizational structure, and teacher-parent relationships predicted job satisfaction for private school teachers. Implications of these findings for Jamaican education are discussed.

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Zusammenfassung Diese Studie untersuchte Gründe für Zufriedenheit im Beruf unter Lehrern an öffentlichen (N=190) und privaten (N=100) Schulen in Jamaica. Besonderer Wert wurde auf die Herausarbeitung von Faktoren gelegt, die durch das Einwirken des Verwaltungsapparates beeinflußt werden könnten. Die Ergebnisse wiesen darauf hin, daß die Qualität der Arbeitsbedingungen in der Schule und die Beziehungen zu anderen Lehrern sowohl bei den Lehrern an öffentlichen als auch bei den Lehrkräften an privaten Schulen in besonderem Maße auf die Zufriedenheit im Beruf einwirkten. Für Lehrer im öffentlichen Bereich waren zudem Prestige der Schule und elterliche Anerkennung von großer Wichtigkeit; bei Lehrern im Privatschulbereich lassen Führungsstil, organisatorische Struktur und Lehrer-Eltern Beziehung Zufriedenheit im Beruf erwarten. Die Auswirkungen dieser Ergebnisse auf das Erziehungswesen in Jamaika werden betrachtet.

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Résumé Cette étude présente une comparaison de la satisfaction professionnelle des enseignants des écoles élémentaires publiques (N=190) et privées (N=100) à la Jamaque. L'accent a été mis sur la détermination des facteurs qui peuvent être touchés par une intervention administrative. Les résultats obtenus ont indiqué que la qualité des conditions de travail à l'école et les rapports des personnes interrogées avec les autres enseignants dépendaient en grande partie de la satisfaction des enseignants des écoles publiques et privées. Le prestige de l'école et le soutien des parents étaient également jugés comme des indices importants pour les enseignants des écoles publiques; le mode de direction, la structure organisationnelle, les relations entre enseignants et parents accusaient la satisfaction professionnelle des enseignants du privé. On examine ensuite les implications de ces résultats pour l'enseignement jamaïcain.

     

中小学教师教育科研课题选择问题探析

选择教育科研课题是整个教育科研活动的起点和难点，决定了教育科研活动的方向、价值和可行性，直接关系到教育科研工作的成败。许多中小学教师在选择教育科研课题时存在不知道选择什么、不知道从何选择、不知道怎样选择、不知道为什么要选择等问题。要正确选题，中小学教师应当理解教育科研课题的内涵、把握教育科研课题的来源、掌握选择教育科研课题的标准以及明确选择教育科研课题的目的。     

构建本科层次新型小学教师教育体系--基础教育新师资专业化培养的新举措

教育全球化是当今世界发展进程中无法阻挡的历史潮流.根据全球化时代教师教育的特征和我国基础教育改革与发展过程中新师资供求关系的结构性变化,教师教育尤其是本科层次小学教师教育面临着新的困境.创新和构建既具有中国西部边疆少数民族地区特色又能与国际教育接轨的新型小学教师教育体系,是云南省楚雄师范学院初等教育系多年来探索实践的主要课题.这个具有西部民族地区特色和职前职后一体化专业特色的教师培养体系,对高师院校本科层次小学教师教育具有极大的借鉴意义和社会应用价值.     

教师的专业化与专业化小学教师的培养

教师专业化是现代教育发展必然趋势,不断提高我国教师专业化水平也是实现中华民族伟大复兴事业的现实需要。若想实现教师的专业化,关键是在教师教育专业化建设问题。因此,我们必须转变教育观念,屏弃"以学科为中心,对事物进行分割教育"的教育思想的影响,实现我们提出的"以人为本,整体教育;一个宗旨,两个重点;两个平台一线贯穿"的24字培养模式。培养出具有专业化水平的小学教师,以提高基础教育的质量。     

Language arts in the elementary school: A challenge to teachers

According to Dr. Cooper, the students of some teachers are still spending most of their time filling in blanks, labeling parts of speech, and even diagramming sentences. The result is that most students dislike language and develop a meager facility in oral and written communication.     

小学教师教育模式改革的设想

当前小学教师教育面临基础课程改革和教师教育发展的挑战,高等师范教育和教育管理部门面临重组教育资源、课程设置、教材建设等方面的诸多问题。因此,要通过全面深入地改革创新小学教师培养模式,转变教育观念,优化小学教育专业课程设置,强调教学实践环节,加强教材建设,努力培养适应基础教育改革与教师教育发展需要的优质的小学教师。     

Cross-cultural immersion in China: Preparing pre-service elementary teachers to work with diverse student populations in the United States

Cross-cultural immersion experiences have been considered to be an effective way to prepare American pre-service teachers for culturally responsive pedagogical practices. The literature review shows few studies have investigated pre-service teachers' cross-cultural experiences in non-English speaking countries, specifically Asian countries. This qualitative study examined ten American elementary pre-service teachers' teaching and learning experiences in China. Five themes emerged from the data analysis: understanding and respecting Chinese culture; developing empathetic dispositions towards non-English speaking students; exchanging teaching strategies and resources; reflecting on professional and personal growth; and initiating a proactive stance as culturally responsive change agents. Additionally, the study revealed that having two separate Chinese field placements may have differing pre-service teachers' teaching and learning experiences. Varying types of opportunities to study abroad are on the rise. Recommendations are provided for the type of cultural immersion experience that encourages neophyte educators to not only learn about others, but also learn from and with others.     

Utility of school psychologists' recommendations: Perception of elementary teachers

This study was designed to investigate perceptions by elementary school teachers of the usefulness and ease of implementation of traditional recommendations that attribute the cause of referral problems to the individual student's characteristics or environmental conditions, as compared to recommendations that address a student's problem with varying degrees of specificity. Teachers rated recommendations that contained specifics for implementation as being more useful than those that attributed the cause of the problem to individual characteristics or environmental conditions. In spite of their high ratings on usefulness, the most specific recommendations, written in contract form, were rated as being difficult to implement, as were the recommendations that mentioned individual characteristics or nonspecific environmental condition as causes of the problem.     

The development of mathematical competence in Flemish preservice elementary school teachers

A large-scale longitudinal study was conducted in which the elementary mathematical knowledge and skills of a large group of Flemish preservice elementary school teachers from 15 different institutes was assessed by means of a paper-and-pencil test that was administered both at the beginning and at the end of their 3-year training. The 30-items test covered the new standards for mathematics in the elementary school curriculum in Flanders. The test was divided in six subsets differing in terms of the curricular subdomain and of the cognitive operations being addressed by the item. The results confirmed the frequently heard concern that at the beginning of their training preservice elementary school teachers have rather weak mathematical competencies. At the end of their 3-year training, the overall test performance had become substantially better, although there were still reasons to be seriously concerned about the readiness of some student teachers to teach mathematics to elementary school children. A number of more specific comparisons helped to identify the relative role of two different factors—selection and instruction—in student teachers’ gain from pretest to posttest. Besides documenting the development of elementary mathematical competence in preservice elementary school teachers, the study also resulted in an instrument for (self-) assessment of elementary school mathematical competence. This instrument is now being used in many institutes for elementary school teacher training in Flanders.     

Mathematical preparation of elementary teachers in China: changes and issues

It is generally perceived that Chinese elementary teachers have a profound understanding of the school mathematics they teach. This perception has led to further interest in understanding teacher education practices in China. As some dramatic changes in elementary teacher preparation have taken place in China over the past decade, this article aims to outline these changes with a focus on curriculum provided in the new 4-year bachelor preparation programs. Sample mathematics teacher educators in China were also surveyed to gather insiders’ views about teacher preparation practices and to identify relevant issues. We believe that elementary teacher preparation and its changes in China can provide an important case for mathematics teacher educators around the world to reflect on teacher education practices in their own systems.

Student achievement and elementary teachers’ perceptions of school climate

Teachers’ perceptions of school climate in 59 elementary schools were assessed using a modified version of the School-Level Environment Questionnaire (SLEQ). Using structural equation modelling, a statistically significant, positive relationship was found between school mean teachers’ perceptions of school climate and school mean student achievement. A second model showed that school and community context variables mediated that relationship. In schools in high socioeconomic status (SES) communities, the influence of school climate on student achievement was stronger than it was for schools in lower SES communities. Recommendations for further examination of the relationships are also made.