Preservice Teachers' Beliefs About Family Involvement: Implications for Teacher Education

Teacher educators have long recognized the importance of adequately preparing preservice teachers for their work with families. Preservice teachers express many concerns that they believe may impact the development of comfortable and collaborative relationships with members of children's families. In a previous study, the authors found that preservice teachers expressed concerns about the quality of the teacher–family relationship, meeting children's basic needs in school, and the role of parents in education. These concerns, along with some recommendations for incorporating family involvement across the teacher education curriculum, are the focus of this article.     

Comparing Beginning and Experienced Teachers' Perceptions of Classroom Management Beliefs and Practices in Elementary Schools in Turkey

The primary objective of this study was to investigate whether a difference in teachers' classroom management styles exists based on years of teaching experience. Data were collected from 282 elementary school teachers employed by 11 elementary schools in Turkey. The Attitudes and Beliefs on Classroom Control Inventory was used to collect the data. Research findings were analyzed to help undergraduate programs and educators revise their program or practicum experiences to enhance preservice teachers' conceptual understanding of classroom management for successful teaching.     

Chinese and US Middle-School Science Teachers' Autonomy,Motivation, and Instructional Practices

This study examined Chinese and US middle-school science teachers' perceptions of autonomy support. Previous research has documented the link between teachers' perceptions of autonomy and the use of student-oriented teaching practices for US teachers. But is not clear how the perception of autonomy may differ for teachers from different cultures or more specifically how motivation factors differ across cultures. The survey measured teachers' motivation, perceptions of constraints at work, perceptions of students' motivation, and level of autonomy support for students. Exploratory factor analysis of responses for the combined teacher sample (n?=?201) was carried out for each of the survey assessments. Significance testing for Chinese (n?=?107) and US (n?=?94) teachers revealed significant differences in teachers' motivation and perceptions of constraints at work and no significant differences for perceptions of students' motivation or their level of autonomy support for students. Chinese teachers' perceptions of constraints at work, work motivation, and perceptions of student motivation were found to significantly predict teachers' autonomy support. For the US teachers, teacher motivation was the only significant predictor of teachers' autonomy support. A sub-sample of teachers (n?=?19) was interviewed and results showed that teachers in both countries reported that autonomy was important to their motivation and the quality of science instruction they provided to students. The primary constraints on teaching reported by the US teachers related to materials and laboratory space while the Chinese teachers reported constraints related to the science curriculum and standards.     

Discovering Plate Boundaries in Data-integrated Environments: Preservice Teachers' Conceptualization and Implementation of Scientific Practices

Drawn from the norms and rules of their fields, scientists use variety of practices, such as asking questions and arguing based on evidence, to engage in research that will contribute to our understanding of Earth and beyond. In this study, we explore how preservice teachers' learn to teach scientific practices while teaching plate tectonic theory. In particular, our aim is to observe which scientific practices preservice teachers use while teaching an earth science unit, how do they integrate these practices into their lessons, and what challenges do they face during their first time teaching of an earth science content area integrated with scientific practices. The study is designed as a qualitative, exploratory case study of seven preservice teachers while they were learning to teach plate tectonic theory to a group of middle school students. The data were driven from the video records and artifacts of the preservice teachers' learning and teaching processes as well as written reflections on the teaching. Intertextual discourse analysis was used to understand what scientific practices preservice teachers choose to integrate into their teaching experience. Our results showed that preservice teachers chose to focus on four aspects of scientific practices: (1) employing historical understanding of how the theory emerged, (2) encouraging the use of evidence to build up a theory, (3) observation and interpretation of data maps, and (4) collaborative practices in making up the theory. For each of these practices, we also looked at the common challenges faced by preservice teachers by using constant comparative analysis. We observed the practices that preservice teachers decided to use and the challenges they faced, which were determined by what might have come as in their personal history as learners. Therefore, in order to strengthen preservice teachers' background, college courses should be arranged to teach important scientific ideas through scientific practices. In addition, such practices should also reflect the authentic practices of earth scientists such as use of historical record and differentiating observation versus interpretation.     

Promoting Mathematical Communication in the Classroom: Two Preservice Teachers' Conceptions and Practices

Recent reforms in mathematics education have encouraged teachers to engage their students in various forms of communication. Scholars have begun to consider questions such as: In what ways do teachers facilitate and guide classroom discourse? How does the quality of students' reflections impact the development of rich mathematical understanding? In order to address these and similar questions, the authors provide a framework of four constructs that can be used to analyze various forms of classroom communication: uni-directional communication, contributive communication, reflective communication, and instructive communication. Throughout the article,the authors both develop and use these constructs as they consider two preservice teachers concepts of communication and their corresponding classroom practices.     

美国教学技术与我国教学论之比较

本文从建立我国教育技术学科和试图阐明美国教学技术的学科性质的目的出发 ,对美国的教学技术与我国的教学论进行比较分析。文章从有关学科演化发展的背景、学科的性质、研究对象和范围、研究的视角等几个方面对两个学科进行了比较。在比较分析的基础上 ,对建构我国的教育技术学的思路以及与教学论的关系做了初步的探讨。     

大学英语教师的教学信念与教学方法个案研究

通过访谈和课堂实录等手段,对大学英语教师所持有的教学信念及其在课堂中采用的教学方法进行了个案分析。研究发现,大学英语教师持有的教学信念与他们所采用的教学方法密切相关．且教师的教学信念是一个复杂而变化的体系,主要受教师本人的学习经历、教育教学经历以及学生行为等内部和外部因素的影响和制约。文章对于教师更新教学理念,改进教学方法,促进教师职业发展等具有指导意义。     

现代农村教师的责任和追求

农村教师应该重审自身的公共性质与文化责任,追求培养现代公民的教育目标与整合性文化价值取向,关照个体生命潜能与生活技能的教育内容,创新"知识-环境-反思"的教学方法,从而促进农民与农村经济社会和谐发展,最终从根本上体现农村教师之于农村的现代化意义与文化价值。     

Increasing Preservice Teachers' Diversity Beliefs and Commitment

Research on teacher expectations and student success suggests that teachers' beliefs about students lead to differential expectations and treatment of students. Few qualitative studies aimed at understanding teacher beliefs about diversity and multicultural commitment have been done. This study utilized combined quantitative and qualitative methods to explore the attitudes, beliefs, and commitments of a predominantly Anglo-American population of preservice teachers enrolled in a diversity course. The results describe beginning attitudes, beliefs, and commitments to diversity; changes (or lack of change) in attitudes, beliefs, and commitments after participation in a diversity course; some theoretical underpinnings for understanding changes (or lack of change); and a framework for facilitating positive multicultural experiences.     

幼儿教师儿童学习观的质性分析

教师的儿童学习观是教师教育观念系统中的核心内容,本研究运用质性分析的方法,发现教师的儿童学习观主要表现为三个方面:对儿童学习的基本认识、儿童知识的形成以及儿童学习的过程。教师的儿童学习观表现为两种类型,具有朴素性、层次性和内隐性特征。     

Using Argumentation to Investigate Science Teachers' Teaching Practices: The Perspective of Instructional Decisions and Justifications

Adopting the concept that “decisions can be seen as argument-driven actions,” the purpose of this study was to apply the argumentation structure raised by Stephen Toulmin (1958) to capture two science teachers' instructional decision-making mechanisms in their teaching practices. The two case teachers were chosen because of their close estimations of their students' achievement outcomes and both were in their transition stages from competent teachers to proficient ones. A science teaching observation coding schedule (STOCS) was designed to be used in classroom observations, and all these quantitative data were collected to be converted into four issues for the two teachers to justify their ways of teaching. A semi-structure interview was conducted to analyze why and how these two case teachers made their instructional decisions. The results indicate that although they knew that their students could not fully understand what they taught in the class, their teaching strategies were still teacher-dominated modes. What really influenced their instructional decisions included external context factors (e.g., examination pressure, subject contents, limited time and classroom management) and internal experiential factors (e.g., personal educated experiences, beliefs and understandings of constructivism and inquiry). Finally, the authors suggest that science teachers' instructional decision making mechanisms can be appropriately represented by case teachers' argumentations structure.     

师范生教师身份认同危机及其原因探析

师范生教师身份认同危机的本质是一个以价值认同为核心的循环向上的发展过程。这种危机主要表现在归属感的消解、方向感的模糊和无力感的侵袭。究其原因,它主要是由于教师角色的不确定性、师范生与教学实践的疏离、功利主义评价、师范生个体消极被动的学习态度等造成的。基于上述分析,本文提出了加强师范生职业伦理教育,强化课程的实践性、改进评价方式和促进师范生自我反思四方面的建议。     

教师网络教学素养的构成及培养

在以计算机网络为代表的信息技术飞速发展的信息时代,教师不但需要具有利用网络充实自我、提升自我的网络学习能力,更需要具备利用网络辅助或实施教学的能力。本文讨论教师网络教学素养的基本构成与培养。     

Teacher professional identity as multidimensional: mapping its components and examining their associations with general pedagogical beliefs

Research on teachers’ professional identity integrates many constructs that are treated independently in most cases. This study described the associations between components of teacher professional identity and their association with teachers’ general pedagogical beliefs. Secondary teachers (n = 236) completed a survey about several components of their identity (self-efficacy beliefs, motivation to become a teacher, affective commitment and perceived type of expertise) and general pedagogical beliefs (constructivist and direct transmission). Multidimensional scaling revealed that the components could be mapped on two dimensions: form of motivation and degree of subject specificity. The resulting map revealed four meaningful groups of components. Furthermore, whereas direct transmission general pedagogical beliefs were found to be strongly tied to an identity grounded in the subject taught, constructivist beliefs were independent of identity components. This study provides new insight into the structure of teacher professional identity and its relevance for teaching.     

Dispositions Toward Families and Family Involvement: Supporting Preservice Teacher Development

This article highlights the importance of nurturing preservice teachers as they develop the dispositions essential to establish empowering relationships with children’s families. The authors identify and describe several key dispositions necessary for working with families and offer suggestions for ways that these elements might be integrated into early childhood teacher preparation programs.     

Making the Personal Professional: Pre-service teacher education and personal histories

Pre-service teachers tend to use their personal experiences as critical filters in accepting and integrating course content that is intended to develop professional decision-making frameworks. This may restrict their abilities to deal with pedagogical issues associated with the acceptance of diversity and individuality, and encourage an unthinking acceptance of the status quo in classrooms, schools and society. To address this problem and nurture the growth of 'reflective practitioners', we structured the content and experiences of one unit of the Graduate Diploma of Education (secondary) to allow for the integration of personal life histories with other views and perspectives. This paper reports on the use of this life-history approach, its potential and its limitations.     

教师应用教学理论的误区与出路

不少教师在应用教学理论时存在着直接模仿、套用和演绎教学原理、模式等误区,其根源在于认识上落入了理性主义的陷阱。教师避免误区的正确路径应该是:与教学理论展开深入的对话,在对话中获得启发,从而提升自己的教学实践性知识;与此同时,通过熟悉化应用、综合化应用和解释性应用等途径,正确而有效地应用教学理论。     

Relationship Between Teacher Efficacy and Self-Reported Instructional Practices: An Examination of Five Asian Countries/Regions Using TIMSS 2011 Data

Teacher efficacy in a particular content area is seen as an important factor shaping teaching practice and student learning in the Western literature. However, inadequate efforts have been made to examine this assumption empirically. Drawing on the Trends of International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) 2011 mathematics teachers’ data at the eighth grade level, this study examines the relationship between teacher efficacy in teaching mathematics and teachers’ mathematical instructional practices in five Asian countries/regions. Guided with Bandura’s social cognitive theory, this study finds that overall teachers in the five countries/regions reported much lower teacher efficacy in teaching mathematics and lower levels of instructional practices than the international norms. The relationship between teacher efficacy and instructional practices varied within these countries/regions. Teacher efficacies in teaching mathematics are not always statistically and positively related to their instructional practices in engaging students. Together, these findings challenge the theoretical assumption about the positive relationship between teacher efficacy and instructional practices. Possible reasons of these findings and future directions are discussed.     

高等院校青年教师提高自身综合素质的重要性

青年教师是高等院校教育事业发展的希望和未来,青年教师要不断地提高自身综合素质,不断促进师德修养、业务能力和科研水平的提高,才能适应社会不断发展和教育事业发展的需要。     

Development of an Instrument to Measure Preservice Teachers' Technology Skills,Technology Beliefs,and Technology Barriers

The purpose of this study was to develop and field-test the Technology Skills, Beliefs, and Barriers scale and to determine its validity and reliability for use with preservice teachers. Data were collected from 176 preservice teachers enrolled in a field-based teacher education program located at a major Southwestern university in the United States. Results demonstrated that the scale is a valid and reliable measure of teachers' technology skills, beliefs, and barriers and has implications for preservice teacher technology preparation.