From mainstream school to pupil referral unit: a change in teachers’ self-understanding

As teachers are at the heart of education, a substantial number of studies have researched the perception that mainstream school teachers have of themselves in relation to their work. This investigation extends this field of inquiry by examining how teachers’ self-understanding is altered when they transfer from mainstream to special school education. This study adopts the methodology of interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) to examine in detail how three female teachers in inner London experienced the transition from mainstream secondary schools to teaching in alternative provision for excluded students referred to as a pupil referral unit (PRU). Central to IPA is how an individual experiences a substantial change in life and the influence this may have on his or her world views. The research approach adopted is, therefore, idiographic and reliant on the experiences of a small number of participants. The findings from this investigation indicate that the participants chose to leave mainstream school education when they came to the self-realisation that they wanted to engage in more creative and personally engaging professional practice with a stronger moral purpose. When they started to teach at a PRU, the more persistent and personal relationships with their students brought about a substantial change in self-understanding.     

Inquiring About Practice: Using web‐based materials to develop teacher inquiry

This paper explores a new pedagogical approach to teaching teachers to assume a learning or inquiry stance in their practice. It is based on an assumption that professional learning is a core capability of good teaching that is responsive to the changing needs of children, schools, and communities. One source of teacher learning is practice—one's own practice and the practice of others. Whereas there is much written about teachers learning from their own practice, there is scant attention in the field currently about learning from the practice of others. What do we mean by learning from the practice of others? Beyond visiting their classrooms, how might teachers access the practice of others so that they can learn from it? How does learning work proceed? This paper grapples with these questions as a frame for discussing one teacher education attempt at preparing teachers to learn from the practice of others. It begins by making a case for learning as a centerpiece of good teaching, and then proceeds to describe one example of how the inquiry practice of experienced teachers was used to teach teacher inquiry to a group of novice teachers in California.     

Positive and Negative Facets of Formal Group Mentoring: Preservice Teacher Perspectives

The use of mentoring within teacher education has become more common in recent years, however, there still seems to be a lack of research about formal group mentorship models as a pedagogical process. In my study, I presented knowledge about how a formal group mentorship model used during a teacher education program at a Swedish university has affected the student teachers’ professional development. The findings suggest that nearly all the student teachers describe the mentoring group conversations as beneficial as they have contributed to a strengthened socialization, identity and/or teacher role, a possibility to share experiences, hear others perspectives, and get support in the process of linking theoretical educational content and teaching activities. A few students expressed that the mentoring program has not contributed at all to their professional development.     

Bodies as objects of pedagogic power relations

This paper is based on a study titled ‘Enacting Feminisms in Academia’, which engaged five feminist lecturers teaching English at five different multilingual universities in Southern Africa. The study explored: (1) the complexity of sociolinguistic and feminist identity construction in multilingual seascapes, and by extension (2) how feminist educators' interpretation and enactment of their personal world-view informs their language teaching in terms of what they teach, how they teach, and why they teach what they do. The participants who hail from a diverse range of ideological landscapes were identified either by themselves or others as feminist teachers. Through a suite of data sources which comprised autobiographical essays, interviews and lecture observations, this paper explores how the female teacher's educative and pedagogic expertise and interactions are framed in relation to her race, gender, and age. Accepting the fluidity and complexity of identity positionalities, the paper explores the identity constructions of the feminist teachers in their communities of practice.     

Transforming critical and participative teacher research into communicative action: a possible direction for teacher professional learning

ABSTRACT

This paper is an account of how a group of Japanese English language teachers, who questioned current teacher professional education and English language education reforms, learnt to challenge the dominant discourse and find ways of conducting more democratic teacher professional education. It describes how those teachers, including the author, generated a collective theory on communicative competence through the process of their inquiry. It explains how they came to appreciate the action research methodology used for this study, grounded in reflective practice, which in turn helped to develop the author’s understanding of second person action research. It also tells how the teachers learnt to take the initiative in communicating the thinking which informed their practices to others and began to engage in ‘communicative action’ As a result of these outcomes, the paper suggests a potential new form of teacher professional learning aimed towards more democratic relationships between participants. It is hoped that the implications of the research findings could contribute to broader discussions about policy pertaining to teacher professional development.     

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.     

‘Support our networking and help us belong!’: listening to beginning secondary school science teachers

This study, drawing on the voice of beginning teachers, seeks to illuminate their experiences of building professional relationships as they become part of the teaching profession. A networking perspective was taken to expose and explore the use of others during the first three years of a teacher’s workplace experience. Three case studies, set within a wider sample of 11 secondary school science teachers leaving one UK university’s PostGraduate Certificate in Education, were studied. The project set out to determine the nature of the networks used by teachers in terms of both how they were being used for their own professional development and perceptions of how they were being used by others in school. Affordances and barriers to networking were explored using notions of identity formation through social participation. The focus of the paper is on how the teachers used others to help shape their sense of belonging to this, their new workplace. The paper develops ideas from network theories to argue that membership of the communities are a subset of the professional inter‐relationships teachers utilise for their professional development. During their first year of teaching, eight teachers were interviewed, completing 13 semi‐structured interviews. This was supplemented in Year 2 by a questionnaire survey of their experiences. In the third year of the programme, 11 teachers (including the original sample of eight) were surveyed using a network mapping tool in which they represented their communications with people, groups and resources. Finally, three of the teachers (common to both samples) were then interviewed specifically about their networking practices and experiences using the generation of their network map as a stimulated recall focus. The implications of the analysis of these accounts are that these beginning teachers did not perceive of themselves wholly as novices and that their personal aspirations to increase participation in practical science, develop a career or work for pupils holistically did not always sit comfortably with the school communities into which they were being accommodated. While highlighting the importance of trust and respect in establishing relationships, these teachers’ accounts highlight the importance of finding ‘peers’ from whom they can find support and with whom they can reflect and potentially collaborate towards developing practice. They also raise questions about who these ‘peers’ might be and where they might be found.     

Teacher–child relationships and early childhood practice

This phenomenological study explored how two experienced teachers interacted with children in classes of three‐ and five‐year‐olds. The aim was to further understand the nature of practice that promotes communicative teacher–child relationships. The study took place in a private preschool programme in the United States. Through once‐a‐week participant observations from September to December 2009 and interviews with the teachers, the study illustrated how their practice was based around valuing children’s ideas, effort, space and work, and around maintaining enthusiasm towards children’s and their own learning. In these processes, the study showed the importance of (1) teachers’ firm understanding of the context of children’s development, and their awareness of the role which they play in creating this, and (2) an environment that promotes ‘flow’ of their practice. As the study builds on developmental systems theory, the findings highlight the ways in which contexts that support teachers’ professional autonomy may influence their interactions and relationships with children.     

Gratitude for teachers as a psychological resource for early adolescents: A mixed-methods study

In this mixed-methods study, we examine students’ gratitude for their teachers and the implications of that gratitude for their psychological adaptation. We report findings that gratitude for teachers (GT) is, in fact, a resource for students facing difficult circumstances outside school. More specifically, our hierarchical multiple regression models demonstrate that this form of gratitude decreases the negative association between adverse life events and students’ life satisfaction. GT also decreases the positive association between negative life events and students’ perceived stress. Then, we use coded material from student interviews to illustrate how they understand the ways that their GT helps them manage challenges in their personal lives. We conclude that students’ GT buffers the negative impact of adverse life events, because it helps students attend to the positive interactions and mentorship they have with their teachers and maintain focus on their future-oriented goals.     

The Effect of a Collaborative Mentoring Program on Beginning Science Teachers' Inquiry-based Teaching Practice

This study investigated how a collaborative mentoring program influenced beginning science teachers' inquiry-based teaching and their reflection on practice. The one-year program consisted of five one-on-one mentoring meetings, weekly science education seminars, weekly mentoring group discussions, and self-evaluation activities. The participants were three beginning science teachers and three mentors at the middle school level (7–9th grades) in an urban area of South Korea. For each beginning teacher, five lessons were evaluated in terms of lesson design/implementation, procedural knowledge, and classroom culture by using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol. Five aspects of the beginning teachers' reflections were identified. This study showed that a collaborative mentoring program focusing on inquiry-based science teaching encouraged the beginning teachers to reflect on their own perceptions and teaching practice in terms of inquiry-based science teaching, which led to changes in their teaching practice. This study also highlighted the importance of collaborative interactions between the mentors and the beginning teachers during the mentoring process.     

When tensions between ideology and practice become personal: Unpacking mentorship in early childhood teacher education

University-based teacher education programs are criticized for being too theoretical, disconnected from the everyday realities of schools. To bridge this gap, teacher education programs give students year-long field experiences under the joint tutelage of mentor teachers and university faculty. However, this assumes that mentor teachers will not only be exemplary teachers, but skilled mentors as well. This article explores the tensions between the theoretical and practical work of teaching within mentoring relationships, specifically in spaces where teacher agency is limited by political, social, and cultural factors. The sociocultural, language approaches in many teacher education programs are seen as idealistic when pushed up against skills-based language approaches, advocated in classrooms. Using qualitative methods, this project follows three mentor/mentee pairs as they negotiate their relationships in an urban area in the Southwest United States. While all three pre-service teachers strongly believed that learning was a social practice, constructed through child inquiry and play, they struggled to maintain their ideologies and beliefs during their field experience. Pre-service teachers held firmly to their beliefs about teaching and learning, but holding onto these beliefs were wrought with personal and philosophical tensions. Pre-service teachers found limited agency in their practice and little support in implementing their own practices. Most importantly, unequal power dynamics and communication issues were obstacles towards mutually beneficial mentorship. Thus, preservice programs must address the importance of developing and cultivating the mentor/mentee relationship—a relationship that is pivotal in the construction of preservice teachers’ identities and practices.     

A Model for Mentorship in Nurse Teacher Preparation

Abstract

This article focuses on a model for mentorship developed from the experiences of two nurse teachers as they took on the roles of mentor and student during a Post‐Graduate Certificate of Education course, in preparation for teaching student nurses within a college of nursing and midwifery. The dynamic nature of the relationship and the teachers’ experiences resulted In the development of a ‘model for mentorship’, which can be identified as a cyclic process, to be utilised in any student‐mentor relationship. The discussion revolves around the course structure, theories of mentorship, the development of the model itself, and finally, how the model was applied in practice. The course itself revolved around the achievement of competencies and the article explores how these were utilised as a primary learning tool. The value and appreciation of such a competency‐based course is highlighted and reflected upon In the final review.     

Creating case studies of practice through Appreciative Inquiry

Taking a positive view is a fruitful way to prompt educators to reflect on and to develop their practice. Teachers, teacher educators and children bring a wide range of ideas that provide a powerful basis for developing understanding of the complexities of classroom practice. Using appreciate inquiry the authors show how they developed their understanding of professional development as they worked with groups of teachers who investigated their science teaching practice with young children and produced case studies of practice. The authors also show how the roles and ideas of themselves as university tutors were challenged and emerged to suit the range of contexts involved. Their view of Continuing Professional Development was influenced by the lived experiences of the teachers and themselves. They worked to systematise learning through identifying commonalities of experience and reflection along four dimensions: creating spaces for growth; working with emergent purposes; action research as rhizomatic growth; and collaborative and collective action. The rich variety of outcomes shows the value of creating space for growth for children and for adults. The energy and enthusiasm liberated motivated the participants to explore their worlds in ways that were difficult to predict at the start of the project.     

Knowledge management support for teachers

Business organizations worldwide are implementing techniques and technologies to better manage their knowledge. Their objective is to improve the quality of the contributions people make to their organizations by helping them to make sense of the context within which the organization exists; to take responsibility, cooperate, and share what they know and learn; and to effectively challenge, negotiate, and learn from others. We consider how the concepts, tools, and techniques of organizational knowledge management can be applied to the professional practices and development of teachers. We describe a framework for knowledge management support for teachers where the sharing of concrete knowledge scaffolds the attainment of more abstract levels of knowledge sharing. We describe the development of a knowledge management support system emphasizing long-term participatory design relationships between technologists and teachers, regional cooperation among teachers in adjacent school divisions, the integration of communication and practice, synchronous and asynchronous interactions, and multiple metaphors for organizing knowledge resources and activities. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation, REC-0106552.     

Addressing contradictions in teachers’ practice through professional learning: an activity theory perspective

ABSTRACT

This case study focuses on the professional learning of 38 K-9 teachers who engaged in a professional development (PD) programme in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) through collaborative action research (CAR). Through the lens of CHAT or Cultural-Historical Activity Theory, the author examined what teachers were learning, the contextual factors that influenced their learning and classroom practice, and the outcomes of this PD initiative. The changing activity system of the teachers is described, as well as how they addressed contradictions in their practice. Addressing these contradictions resulted in an expansion of their object and professional growth. The study contributes to a growing body of research in teacher education which applies CHAT as a conceptual framework to understand teacher professional learning and how interactions among activity system components influence teachers’ development and practice.     

A closer look at the role of mentor teachers in shaping preservice teachers' professional identity

This paper focuses on the extent to which mentoring relationships played a role in creating changes in the professional identity of seven preservice teachers. Semi-structured interviews, observations and reflective journals were used to document the changes experienced by participants as they went through their two placements during their one-year teacher education course. The data indicated that when the mentoring relationships were positive and expectations were met, preservice teachers felt more confident as a teacher. However, for some participants, who experienced a partially negative mentoring relationship, their confidence declined and they felt they did not improve. Implications for practice are discussed.     

Graduate feedback on a teacher education program and school district support: An argument for a continuum of professional learning

This phenomenological study aimed to explore how early career teachers were supported in their transition from teacher education to professional practice. It involved interviewing seven recent graduates from a post-degree teacher education program on their perceptions of both the program and their local school district in supporting them as early career teachers. Results involve numerous recommendations for supporting these teachers during their induction into the profession leading to the articulation of a continuum of lifelong professional learning that includes teacher education, induction and mentorship, and professional development. Key responsibilities for school districts, principals, and teacher education faculty are included.     

Inclusion in practice: a matter of school culture

The main aim of this study was to find out how reading and writing education can work successfully in practice without being exclusive. The teachers preferred heterogenous groups and emphasised the importance of various teaching methods and approaches so as to be able to deal with student diversity. They had a good theoretical foundation and the ability to link-up their theoretical knowledge with what they learned from experience to create action-oriented knowledge. The importance of each student being challenged in the next development zone was stressed. The teachers’ positive belief in their students’ ability and their commitment to the pedagogical process were other central factors. The successful results of the teachers’ work showed the importance of mentorship, co-operation with colleagues and continuous pedagogical discussions, led by a researching teacher, so as to promote the teachers’ own reflective ability. This created an inclusive school culture in which all the students felt they were competent, valued and never excluded.     

Extending the apprenticeship of observation: how mentee experiences shape mentors

Although the importance of mentor teachers in clinical teacher preparation is well established, few researchers explore the social identity development of these individuals. Through our study we contribute to the body of research by exploring mentor teachers’ social identity development through the concept of Apprenticeship of Observation – specifically, how they felt their own mentoring experiences influenced their approaches to mentoring. The multi-case study includes findings about mentoring beliefs and practices during the laboratory school component of an Alternate Route to Licensure program. Incorporating semi-structured interviews and video analysis, the findings demonstrate how four mentor teachers’ prior experiences as mentees – including Alternate Route to Licensure, traditional teacher preparation programs, and inservice teaching – influenced their interactions with teacher candidates as mentors. Recommendations for practice and implications for future research are provided.     

Motivation,Empowerment, and Innovation: Teachers' Beliefs About How Participating in the Edmodo Math Subject Community Shapes Teaching and Learning

Educators around the world participate in virtual communities, social media sites, and online networks in order to gain support and ideas for improving their practice. Many researchers have explored how and why teachers participate in these online spaces; however, there is limited research on how participation might impact teaching and learning. This study was designed to examine how K–12 teachers' participation in the Edmodo math subject community, an informal online space for educators, shaped their learning and practice. Data were collected through an online survey of 150 participants and in-depth, follow-up interviews with 10 participants. Three themes emerged from the participants' responses: motivation, empowerment, and innovation. The participants were motivated to spend time learning how to improve their practice, they felt empowered to make changes to their practice, and they believed they were able to adopt innovative, student-centered practices. Implications and ideas for further research are discussed.