College Science, Mathematics, and Methods Teaching Faculty Talk About Science and Mathematics: An Examination of Faculty Discourse in a Reform-Based Teacher Preparation Program

In this study discourse and conversation analyses were performed on talk by science and mathematics teaching faculty participating in reforming content courses for teacher candidates participating in a mathematics and science teacher preparation project (upper elementary and middle level). The context of the study was the Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation (MCTP), a National Science Foundation funded project in the USA. The study's goal was to explore the use of discourse and conversation analyses as ways to understand faculty beliefs concerning mathematics and science, two disciplines the MCTP project aimed to connect. Discussion focused on two areas: (1) the comparison of the discourse on science and mathematics by the science, mathematics, and pedagogy content specialists, and (2) the impact of collaboration on the science and mathematics teaching faculty's conversation on science and mathematics. An implication of this study is to promote the analysis of talk as way to inform and direct faculty transformation in science and mathematics teacher education programs. Future research is recommended.     

Voices of Teacher Candidates: Positive Changes in Multicultural Attitudes and Knowledge

Abstract

The author explored changes in teacher candidates' multicultural attitudes and knowledge as well as the factors that contributed positively to those changes. Teacher candidates were followed during their teacher preparation program. Data were collected from 2 questionnaires and 9 interviews. The author used repeated measures analysis and percentages to explore changes in multicultural attitudes and knowledge. She also used percentages to identify factors that the participants believed influenced those changes. Findings suggest that teacher candidates' multicultural attitudes and knowledge changed in a positive direction while the candidates attended a teacher preparation program. Changes seemed to be influenced by fieldwork experiences in culturally/ethnically diverse settings, courses in multicultural and bilingual education, and classmates.     

教师专业化与教育学科课程改革

教师专业化客观上要求教师教育专业化,而教师教育课程改革又是决定教师教育专业化的核心因素。在教师教育课程结构中,教育学科课程应定性于专业课程,这样就使教育学科课程有了新的身份并赋予其新的内涵。围绕教育学科课程性质的变化及其教师专业化的客观要求,教育学科课程设置的目标及其课程体系必须进行相应的改革,为推动这些改革,提供必要的制度保障又是必不可少的前提条件。     

The Teacher Training Program for Doctoral Candidates in History at the University of Wisconsin

Abstract

One question of interdisciplinary education is how to encourage students to draw connections between disciplines and to engage in critical thinking. The authors developed a team-taught interdisciplinary course examining the history and literature of modern revolutions. The first time the course was given, students had difficulty making interdisciplinary connections and did not critically re-examine their assumptions. The authors restructured the course, re-thinking its emphasis, procedures, texts, and assignments, with substantial positive results. They also learned that teachers need to reassess their own ideology and teaching strategies to make interdisciplinary education effective.     

Some Recent Developments in Teacher Education in Mathematics and Science: A Review and Commentary

Teacher preparation in science and mathematics will be best served, says the author of this roundup, by improvements both in the pedagogy and content of the undergraduate science and mathematics courses required of future teachers and in the reform of required science and mathematics methods courses. In a review of the history and politics of teacher education, the author underscores the twin goals of achieving program coherence and higher standards. She compares the place of mathematics education in mathematics departments with that of science education in science departments and recommends the replacement of bare bones methods courses with those combining pedagogy and content. Included is a selective bibliography.     

科学课教师培养的问题与对策建议

科学课是第八次基础教育课程改革新增设一门广域综合课程。科学课教师的培养作为一种新的探索,存在着专业设置的无序性、目标定位的宽泛性、课程设计的杂乱性以及组织运行的低效性等问题。解决上述问题需要政府、学团和高校多方联合,通过法律规制、专家引领和管理创新等措施协同进行。     

Teacher Educator Identity in a Culture of Iterative Teacher Education Program Design: A Collaborative Self-Study

Faculty in the School of Education have collaborated to re-envision teacher education at our university. A complex, dynamic, time-consuming and sometimes painstaking process, redesigning a teacher education program from a traditional approach (i.e. where courses focus primarily on theoretical principles of practice through textbooks and university-based classroom discussions) to a model of teacher education that embraces teaching, learning and leading with schools and in communities is challenging, yet exciting work. Little is known about teacher educators’ experiences as they either design or deliver collaborative field-based models of teacher education. In this article, we examine our experiences in the second implementation year of our redesigned teacher education program, Teaching, Learning, and Leading with Schools and Communities (TLLSC) and how these unique experiences inform our teacher educator identities. Through a collaborative self-study, we sought to make meaning of our transformation from a faculty delivering a traditional model to educators collectively implementing a field-based model, by analyzing the diverse perspectives of faculty at different entry points in the TLLSC development and implementation process. We found that our participation in an intensive field-based teacher preparation model challenged our notions of teacher educator identity. In a culture of iterative program design, this study documents the personal and professional shifts in identity required to accomplish this collaborative and dynamic change in approach to teacher education.     

科学课中教师提问模式的发展述评

科学课中教师提问的发展经历了从传统的教师控制提问到以促进学生创造性思考和帮助学生建构科学知识为目的的提问模式的发展过程。当前的教师提问模式研究逐渐深入到教师提问的类型、方式和教师提问有效性的探讨。     

School Innovation in Science: A Model for Supporting School and Teacher Development

‘School Innovation in Science’ represents a model, developed through working with more than 200 Victorian schools, to improve science teaching and learning. SIS works at the level of the science team and the teacher, providing resources to challenge and support the change process. Its emphasis is on strategic planning supported by a framework for describing effective teaching, materials for auditing practice and planning initiatives, and a networked support structure. Experience and results from the project, concerning the nature and extent of change, will be used to provide insight into the multidimensional nature of the change process and to suggest a number of principles concerning support for change. Arising out of this, the major elements of a School Innovation Model are identified, that supports a transformative agenda for schools more generally.     

The (Mis) Preparation of Teachers in the Proposition 227 Era: Humanizing Teacher Roles and Their Practice

Basic to the struggle for educational equity and academic achievement is the role of the teacher. Central to how a teacher's role is enacted is the preparation a teacher receives, largely defined by teacher certification standards and impacted by legislation such as Proposition 227. In California, where one of four students enrolling in school is an English language learner, and 90% of the teachers are monolingual English speakers, the preparation prospective teachers receive becomes glaringly critical. This article examines how the anti-immigrant legislation affects teacher (mis)preparation by forcing teachers to regress to passive roles emphasizing standards-driven, technical, one-size-fits-all approaches in addressing the complex educational needs of English language learners. A bilingual teacher educator shares her attempts to humanize the teacher's role by engaging her students in critical examinations of schooling and their role as teachers.     

Creating a Climate of Self-Awareness in Early Childhood Teacher Preparation Programs

This article discusses the importance of helping preservice teachers develop a sense of self-awareness. This involves, in part, helping preservice teachers develop an ability to examine and identify the personal characteristics, beliefs and attitudes that make them who they are and influence the way they think about teaching and learning. The authors offer several suggestions for creating a climate in teacher education programs that will promote a developing sense of self-awareness in preservice teachers.     

教师候选人选拔:问题与对策——兼评师范生免费教育制度

教师候选人选拔工作,关乎学生、教师、教育、国家的发展大计。师范生免费教育制度的重新启动,让人们燃起了选拔优秀教师候选人的希望。但仅有免费教育政策是远远不够的。我们应该把握历史脉络,厘请关键问题,痛下大决心,体现大智慧,提高教师地位,构建教师职业价值,实施多轮选拔,凸显人文关怀,迎来良性局面。     

Sources of Self-efficacy in a Science Methods Course for Primary Teacher Education Students

Self-efficacy has been shown to be an issue of concern for primary teacher education students – many of them have low self-efficacy and this can negatively affect their future teaching of science. Previous research has identified four factors that may contribute towards self-efficacy: enactive mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, verbal persuasion and physiological/affective states. It could also be argued that there are additional sources of self-efficacy that apply to primary teacher education students, namely cognitive content mastery, cognitive pedagogical mastery and simulated modelling. The main purpose of the present paper was to investigate the relative importance of the various sources of self-efficacy in a primary science methods course. Data on changes in self-efficacy and sources of self-efficacy were collected throughout the course using formal and informal surveys. It was found that the main source of self-efficacy was cognitive pedagogical mastery.     

论师范大学的发展与教师教育的改革——以北京师范大学的改革探索为例

发展教师教育是提高教育质量、促进教育公平、建设创新型国家和人力资源强国的重要基础,也是当前社会广泛关注的热点问题之一。近年来,北京师范大学顺应我国教师教育的发展潮流和走向,积极应对高等师范院校面临的挑战,进行了一系列改革探索,取得了显著成效,这进一步证明,在我国师范大学发展和教师教育改革的过程中,教育观念的转变是先导,体制机制的创新是关键,人才培养模式的改革是核心。为了继续推动师范大学发展及教师教育改革,应该尊重高校办学自主权,积极探索多元化教师培养模式;应该通过政策法规和相关制度建设,进一步推动开放灵活的教师教育体系的构建;应该建立相应的保障体系和监测机制,制定标准,保证教师教育的质量;应该继续加大经费投入,创建创新基地,启动创新平台建设项目;应该把教师纳入公务员系列的问题提上议事日程,尽快出台免费师范生工作的政策细则;应该正确引导公众舆论,为高师院校营造公平竞争和自主发展的宽松环境。     

Preparing Teacher Candidates to be “Effective” in the Classroom: Lessons Learned from National Teachers of the Year

Defining what it means to be an “effective teacher” is a difficult, but necessary, undertaking, as research reveals a correlation between teacher qualities and student success (Buchel and Edwards 2005 Buchel, T., and F. Edwards. 2005. Characteristics of effective clinical teachers. Resid Educ. 37 (1):30–5. [Google Scholar]; Darling-Hammond 2000 Darling-Hammond, L. 2000. Teacher quality and student achievement: A review of state policy evidence. Center for the Study of Teaching and Policy. Seattle: University of Washington Press. doi: 10.1086/ahr/106.2.595-a.[Crossref] , [Google Scholar]; Lupascu, Pânisoa, and Pânisoar 2014; Stronge 2007 Stronge, J. H. 2007. Qualities of effective teachers. 2nd ed. Alexandria, VA: Association of Supervision and Curriculum Development. [Google Scholar]). The literature on this topic clearly demonstrates that there is no consensus on exactly what traits and characteristics truly define an effective teacher. Given this lack of agreement, the question for teacher educators becomes how do we prepare teacher candidates to be effective in the classroom when researchers, policymakers, and administrators can’t agree on the traits that encompass what the system has come to deem an “effective” teacher?

Throughout this article, we share our findings from an exploratory case study of National Teachers of the Year. Through an analysis of personal teacher of the year narratives and nomination letters, we learned that even in the ever-changing world of education, specific characteristics and philosophies which support and exemplify outstanding teaching have remained constant over the years. Award winning educators agree that teacher effectiveness is realized only through the intersection of curriculum, relationships, collaboration, engagement, and a commitment to further one’s learning. In this article, we offer insight into each of these ideological constants and discuss the implications they have for today’s teacher education programs.     

师范教育改革中人文精神与科学精神教育的缺失及对策

师范教育改革十余年来,师范教育中的科学人文素质教育仍然式微,人文精神与科学精神教育缺失。根深蒂固的专业知识技能培养的本体师范教育观、把科学人文素质教育等同于科学人文知识教育、片面强调教育教学技能提升训练是其主要原因。师范教育改革应树立以人文精神与科学精神培养为目标,知识能力、人文精神与科学精神三维一体的师范教育发展观;在课程定位与内容设计上,体现人文精神与科学精神培育的维度;在培育的途径上,构建起课程教学、团学活动、文化活动、社会实践活动一体的师范生人文精神与科学精神培育的平台;在课程教学方法上,要选择知识传授与情感激发、启发、引导一体的教学方法。     

Undergraduate Mathematics Experience: Its Significance in Secondary Mathematics Teacher Preparation

This paper reports views of studentteachers on a one year secondary teacherpreparation course about their undergraduateexperiences of learning mathematics. Writtenresponse data were collected from 173 studentteachers (trainees) from several differentinstitutions and their views were collated andthematised. The principal issues that arise arethose of discontinuity of experience fromschool to university, the lack of preparednessfor ``struggle' in the face of challengingmathematics at university and an unresponsivestyle of teaching and assessing. Thesignificance of these views to the students asprospective teachers and the ways in which theycould be used by teacher educators on trainingcourses is discussed.     

美国四年制与五年制教师培养方案比较研究

四年制和五年制教师培养方案是美国教师职前培养的两种主要方式。文章从学制和学位、录取条件、课程设置和培养效果等方面对两种教师教育方案进行了比较分析。中国可以借鉴关国的经验,设置多样化、多层次的教师培养方案,要注意师范教育课程中学术性和专业性课程的均衡以及加强教师培养中对实地经验的重视。     

论理工科大学社科科研管理的改革

STS所倡导的是一种跨学科、跨专业领域的意识和精神,可指导高校社科科研管理工作的改革。根据当前高校社科科研管理面临的新形势,理工科优势大学社科科研以STS理论和方法为指导,引证举例,提出了理工科大学社科科研体制改革的方法及途径。     

Predicting Scientific Understanding of Prospective Elementary Teachers: Role of Gender,Education Level,Courses in Science,and Attitudes Toward Science and Mathematics

A multiple regression analysis of the relationship between prospective teachers' scientific understanding and Gender, Education Level (High School, College), Courses in Science (Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Earth Science, Astronomy, and Agriculture), Attitude Towards Science, and Attitude Towards Mathematics is reported. Undergraduate elementary science students (N = 176) in an urban doctoral-level university in the United States participated in this study. The results of this study showed Gender, completion of courses in High School Chemistry and Physics, College Chemistry and Physics, and Attitudes Toward Mathematics and Science significantly correlated with scientific understanding. Based on a regression model, Gender, and College Chemistry and Physics experiences added significant predictive accuracy to scientific understanding among prospective elementary teachers compared to the other variables.