Enhancing student self‐worth in the primary school learning environment: teachers' views and students' views

This paper reports the findings from a study of teachers and students' views regarding self‐worth in the primary school learning environment. The revised New Zealand curriculum recognises the importance of self‐worth in students' motivation and ability to learn. While the need to enhance self‐worth in the classroom has been well established in the literature, similarities and differences between teachers and students' understanding of the impact of various classroom interactions on self‐worth has not received the same attention. The purpose of the research reported on in this paper was to provide further insight for teachers, thereby enabling them to strengthen classroom relationships and their students' learning experiences in ways commensurate with enhancing students' feelings of self‐worth.     

Taking a ‘reality’ check: Expanding pre-service teachers' views on pedagogy and diversity

The outcomes of a two-pronged ‘real-world’ learning project, which aimed to expand the views of pre-service teachers about learning, pedagogy and diversity, will be discussed in this paper. Seventy-two fourth-year and 22 first-year students, enrolled in a Bachelor of Education degree in Queensland, Australia, were engaged in community sites outside of university lectures, and separate from their practicum. Using Butin's conceptual framework for service learning, we show evidence that this approach can enable pre-service teachers to see new realities about the dilemmas and ambiguities of performing as learners and as teachers. We contend that when such ‘real-world’ experiences have different foci at different times in their four-year degree, pre-service teachers have more opportunities to develop sophisticated understandings of pedagogy in diverse contexts for diverse learners.     

The effect of school‐based practice on student teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education in Northern Ireland

This study seeks to discover the attitudes to inclusion of those about to embark on initial teacher education in Northern Ireland and the extent to which an extended teaching practice in a non‐selective placement school can influence attitude change. A cohort of 125 student teachers responded to a survey that explored their attitudes towards a range of issues relating to inclusive education in the context of Northern Ireland. The findings indicate that student teachers in Northern Ireland show positive attitudes towards the principles of inclusion, with teaching practice experience in a non‐selective school appearing to confirm and increase these positive attitudes. However, despite displaying increasingly positive attitudes towards inclusion post‐teaching practice, there are indications that student teachers continue to show strong attachment to current organisational practices strongly related to academic selection.     

Student‐teachers' perspectives on positive and negative social processes in school

In recent years, the Standards for Qualified Teacher Status in England have placed new emphasis on student‐teachers' ability to become integrated into the ‘corporate life of the school’ and to work with other professionals. Little research, however, has been carried out into how student‐teachers perceive the social processes and interactions that are central to such integration during their initial teacher education school placements. This study aims to shed light on these perceptions. The data, gathered from 23 student‐teachers through interviews and reflective writing, illustrate the extent to which the participants perceived such social processes as supporting or obstructing their development as teachers. Signals of inclusion, the degree of match or mismatch in students' and school colleagues' role expectations, and the social awareness of both school and student‐teacher emerged as crucial factors in this respect. The student‐teachers' accounts show their social interactions with school staff to be meaningful in developing their ‘teacher self’ and to be profoundly emotionally charged. The implications for mentor and student‐teacher role preparation are discussed in this article.     

Studying student teachers' concerns,combining image‐based and more traditional research techniques

In a study of student teachers' concerns, a combination of image‐based and more traditional research techniques was used. The first year student teachers appeared to be most concerned about matters that, in their view, form the core task of teaching, such as ‘selecting and teaching content well’, ‘motivating pupils to learn’ and ‘adapting myself to the needs of different pupils’. They are less concerned about matters that are not central to the immediate task of teaching or that they, as student teachers, cannot influence. In line with other research, their concerns remained reasonably stable during their first year of teaching. Drawings appeared to be a reasonably reliable and valid means of assessing concerns and seemed to elicit a specific type of information when compared with more widely used research techniques such as the card sorting technique and interviews used in this research.

Dans une étude concernant les préoccupations d'étudiants futurs enseignants, plusieurs techniques de recherche diverses ont été utilisées: des techniques basées sur l'image et d'autres plus traditionnelles. Les étudiants de première année se révèlent plus sensibles à des choses qui, à leur sens, constituent l'essence même du travail de l'enseignant comme ‘bien choisir et enseigner un contenu’, ‘motiver les élèves à apprendre’ et ‘s’adapter aux divers besoins des élèves'. Ils s'avèrent en revanche moins concernés par des sujets ne jouant pas immédiatement un rôle central ou direct dans la mission d'enseigner ou sur lesquels, en tant que futur enseignant encore en cours de formation, ils n'ont pas d'influence. Comme l'étayent d'autres recherches, ces préoccupations restent plutôt stables au cours de leur première année d'expérience pratique dans l'enseignement. Les dessins se sont avérés être des moyens assez fiables et valables pour l'évaluation des préoccupations et permettant d'extraire un type d'information spécifique par rapport à d'autres techniques de recherche auxquelles il est plus fréquemment fait appel comme le tri de cartes ou l'interview, également utilisées lors de cette étude.

En un estudio sobre las preocupaciones de los estudiantes de profesorado, se usó una combinación de técnicas de investigación basadas en imágenes y otras técnicas más tradicionales. Parece ser que durante el primer año, a los estudiantes de profesorado les preocupan sobre todo los temas que en su visión constituye la tarea central de la enseñanza, como por ejemplo ‘seleccionar y enseñar bien el contenido’, ‘motivar a los alumnos a aprender’ y ‘adaptarme a las necesidades de diferentes alumnos’. Les preocupan menos los asuntos no tan directamente relacionados con la enseñanza, o en los que ellos, como estudiantes de profesorado, no pueden influir. En línea con los resultados de otros estudios, sus preocupaciones permanecieron estables durante el primer año de enseñanza. El método de los dibujos demostró ser fiable y válido para evaluar las preocupaciones, y parecía generar un determinado tipo de información en comparación con técnicas más ampliamente usadas, como la técnica de clasificación de cartas y las entrevistas, que también se aplicaron en este estudio.

In einer Studie über die Interessen von Lehrern im ersten Studienjahr wurde eine Kombination aus visuellen und traditionelleren Forschungstechniken gewählt. Die Studenten des ersten Jahres scheinen am meisten an Dingen interessiert zu sein, die ihrer Ansicht nach zu den Kernaufgaben des Lernens gehören, wie zum Beispiel ‘richtige Auswahl und Vermittlung des Wissens, ‘motivierung von Schülern zu lernen’ und ‘meine Anpassung an die Bedürfnisse der jeweiligen Schüler’. Sie sind weniger interessiert an Dingen, die nicht zu der unmittelbaren Lehrtätigkeit gehören oder die sie als Student nicht beeinflussen können. Im Rahmen anderer Forschungstechniken waren ihre Interessen im ersten Studienjahr ziemlich konstant. Zeichnungen erwiesen sich als angemessenes und gültiges Mittel zur Bewertung der Interessen und führten zu einer bestimmten Art von Informationen, wenn man Vergleiche mit den weiterverbreiteten Forschungstechniken wie Card‐Sorting‐Technik und Interviews anstellt, die in dieser Forschung angewandt werden.     

Biography and social structure in the socialization of student teachers: a re‐examination of the pupil control ideologies of student teachers

This study examined the effects of the student teaching experience on the pupil control ideologies of student teachers and attempted to assess the relative contributions of biography and social structure in determining student teacher attitudes toward pupil control. The subjects were forty elementary student teachers from one midwestern university. The results indicated that student teachers did not become more custodial in their views toward pupil control by the end of the experience. Furthermore, cooperating teachers exerted little influence on student teacher pupil control ideologies once the effects of biography were removed. It was concluded that biography does play an important part in the socialization of student teachers and that future research on student teaching should consider the effects of biography and social structure together within an interactive model of socialization. Finally, the limitations of focusing exclusively on student teacher ideologies are discussed and the concept of perspectives is offered as a potentially heuristic tool for overcoming these limitations.     

A small‐scale study on student teachers' perceptions of classroom management and methods for dealing with misbehaviour

The purpose of this study is to identify student teachers' perceptions of classroom management and methods for dealing with misbehaviour. In‐depth interviews with nine student teachers at Çukurova University (ÇÜ) in Turkey have been conducted twice, prior to and at the end of their teaching practice. Instructional management, behaviour management, communication, and physical organization of classrooms are the main components of classroom management for student teachers. Student teachers usually tend to use preventive, positive and less intrusive methods, such as non‐verbal messages, warnings, and positive reinforcement involving students' instructional activities, to manage student behaviour. The results of the study reveal that although student teachers feel confident about starting a teaching career, they need improvement in understanding child psychology, in experiencing different teaching situations, and in becoming competent in contemporary teaching methods. Nonetheless, student teachers reported that their sense of efficacy increased from the beginning to the end of the course.     

Stopping to thinks school‐based and higher education‐based primary student teachers' reflections on their learning

This paper examines trainees' perceptions of the impact, on secondary mathematics trainees, of collaborative school‐based work involving small groups of trainees, a university tutor and a class teacher. The findings suggest that trainees' become better able to plan and deliver a coherent yet diverse sequence of lessons, that their awareness of children's learning styles and misconceptions was raised and that preconceived notions about teaching and learning were challenged and mediated. A few trainees found the experience unhelpful and threatening. The role of the tutor was found to influence trainees' responses to the program and, to an extent, moderate the effects of variations in teacher involvement. Some implications are discussed.     

Working‐class parents' views of secondary education

Parents of upper‐secondary students in public schools in New South Wales, Australia, gave accounts of their experience of education and their wider thinking about educational issues. Working‐class families are bearers of educational histories which are often difficult or truncated, leaving parents with little familiarity with upper‐secondary or post‐school pathways. General views of education are strongly positive, sometimes diffuse and sometimes articulated, and are by no means narrowly instrumental. A mixture of criticism and praise for teachers responds to current family experiences with schools, parents' views often following the outlines of teachers' own perceptions. A fund of working‐class support for public education has thus survived recent educational upheavals; at the same time, working‐class families very much depend on the service and guidance provided by the schools.     

Does emotional intelligence predict student teachers' performance?

There are good theoretical grounds for seeing emotional intelligence (EI) as important in the teachers' skill set. Yet there is a lack of data on whether student teachers' levels of EI are associated with their teaching performance. This question was addressed, with gender and prior academic attainment also being explored as possible contributors to teaching performance. No association between the three independent variables and teaching performance was found. This raises serious questions for our understanding of emotions and teaching.     

Emergence and maintenance of student teachers' ‘interest’ within the context of two‐hour lectures: an actual genetic perspective

The study investigates the actual genetic development of student teachers' interest in lectures given in a postgraduate language teacher education programme. Students recorded the nature and level of interest at various points of the lecture. The results show that students go through diverse patterns of interest trajectories and that, for the majority, interest development fluctuates between gain and loss. Four types of factors are proposed: triggering, holding, preventing and losing factors. The prospective and retrospective effects of these factors are also examined. For interest to be maintained over a longer period within a two‐hour lecture, students must experience a combination of factors. In case of regression, if students demonstrate awareness of the source or solution to the problem, the loss is temporary, tending to recover at the next interval. Some factors, such as use of tasks and interesting specific topics, also help regenerate interest after a loss of interest has occurred.     

‘Let's go outside’: Icelandic teachers' views of using the outdoors

This article discusses the views of 25 Icelandic preschool and compulsory school teachers who were interviewed on the role of the outdoor environment in children's learning. The teachers reported not being afraid to take children outside. These teachers valued the learning potentials of the outdoors more than they feared the possible risks. They believed that the outdoors could provide opportunities for (a) enhancing children's play and learning (b) promoting children's health, well-being, and courage, and (c) affecting children's views, knowledge, and actions towards sustainability.     

Learning to teach in a context of education reform: liberal studies student teachers' decision‐making in lesson planning

Liberal studies is a new subject in the new senior secondary curriculum in Hong Kong. This study attempted to identify factors that shape liberal studies student teachers' decisions in lesson planning. Based on interview data and lesson plans developed by the student teachers, this article maintains that four factors interacted with the subject features of liberal studies to shape the student teachers' planning decisions, namely, teacher knowledge, curriculum requirements, materials and resources, and interaction with equal and more capable partners. This paper further looks into how teacher knowledge expresses itself at different stages of lesson planning. The findings suggest that to facilitate enquiry learning in students, liberal studies teachers need to adopt an enquiry stance in lesson planning. This paper argues that the limitations of liberal studies student teachers' content knowledge need to be addressed in teacher preparation programmes and suggests teacher networking as one way to strengthen novice liberal studies teachers' content preparation. The implications for teacher education are discussed.     

Student‐teachers' concerns about teaching practice

The essence of helping student‐teachers lies in an exploration of their concerns about teaching. Based on this assumption, the current study aimed to explore student‐teachers' concerns and potential topics of reflection, following their teaching experiences. The analysis of fifty‐nine journals revealed the complex pattern of past and future‐oriented concerns relevant to students' personal and professional identity, the mission and fading of the teaching profession, and the emotional dimensions of teaching. This paper contributes to the ongoing discussion about developing growth‐producing experiences for student‐teachers through their teaching practice.

Die Erforschung der Interessen und Sorgen von Lehrerstudierenden bezüglich des Lehrens stellt eine wesentliche Hilfe für sie dar. Auf der Grundlage dieser Einschätzung bestand das Ziel dieser Studie darin, zu explorieren, auf welche Thematiken und Interessen sich die Reflexionen der Lehrerstudierenden, im Zusammenhang ihrer Lehrerfahrung, beziehen. Die Analyse von 59 Zeitschriften brachte diesbezüglich folgende Sachverhalte zu Tage: es existiert ein komplexes Muster von Vergangenheits‐ und Zukunftsorientierten Interessen, die relevant für die personale und die professionelle Identität der Studierenden sind; das Auf und Ab der Lehrerprofession; die emotionalen Dimensionen des Lehrens. Dieser Aufsatz will zu den laufenden Diskussionen über die über ihre Lehrpraxis vermittelt Schaffung von entwicklungsermöglichenden Erfahrungen für Lehrerstudierende beitragen.     

Qualitatively different ways of experiencing student self‐assessment

In the literature, student self‐assessment as a practice and as a goal in higher education is generally emphasized for academics. This paper reports a study that investigates what academics emphasize in their experiences of student self‐assessment. The investigation focused on the different ways academics described their understanding and practise of self‐assessment. A phenomenographic approach was used to research and identify a set of progressive variations of academics’ ways of experiencing student self‐assessment. Altogether, 16 academics from a variety of disciplines and programs of study in three Australian universities participated in the investigation. The consequent research findings describe five qualitatively different conceptions that depict how academics understand and use student self‐assessment. These findings are subsequently discussed in terms of the potential for academics to understand and use student self‐assessment to enhance students’ self‐assessment ability, to further students’ lifelong learning and to empower, rather than discipline, students.