“Becoming” a mentor between reflective and evaluative discourses: A case study of identity development

This case study interpreted the experiences of a teacher as she grew her coaching and mentoring practices by working with preservice teachers and participating in professional development focused on reflective coaching, mentorship, and literacy teaching. We drew on the notion of “becoming” from critical and sociocultural theories in analyzing how she constructed a teaching identity through mentoring, and how her identity enabled her to enact reflective coaching practices. Our findings outline her agentic moves to provide the preservice teacher with reflective support, rather than evaluative critique, in opposition to the surveillance and regulation that characterize many existing teacher evaluation models.     

Tracing one teacher candidate's discursive identity work

Drawing on the work of one teacher candidate, I demonstrate what can be learnt about the process of discursively constructing a teacher identity through the close study of written plans and portfolios. This teacher candidate positioned herself differently over time in relation to discourses from her teacher education programme about the importance of using detailed knowledge of students to guide planning and instruction. In the end, she downplayed specific information about students, arguing students' interests were “worthless.” The findings have implications for the ways teacher educators work with teacher candidates around artefacts of practice.     

Linking technology,learning, and stories: Implications from research on hypermedia video-cases

Teacher educators have been turning to video-based hypermedia cases as a strategy to confront the challenges of preparing teachers. Even though technology has been shown to have a transformative effect on teaching and learning, innovated uses in classrooms have been the exception rather than the norm. This paper describes how a teacher candidate responded to video and hypermedia cases in ways that assisted her in transforming knowledge and beliefs about literacy instruction. The author describes this transformative process, explores the relationship between narrative ways of knowing and learning from technology, and discusses implications for teacher preparation.     

Teachers' perspectives of changes in their practice during a technology in mathematics education research project

Teachers' perception of changes to their teaching practice, with respect to digital technology use in secondary school mathematics, during their participation in a research project are reported. Two case studies are presented of teacher perspectives illustrative of the range of perceived changes teachers made to their practice and positions along the ‘path of change’ during their participation in the project. Participating in a project supportive of teacher change and resulting in perception of substantial change was necessary, but not sufficient, to meet the goal of transformative use of digital technologies to increase the level of cognitive demand experienced by students.     

Mathematical biography and key rhetoric

The intention of this article is to consider the use of narrative and rhetorical inquiry as research methods. I construct a mathematical biography of one elementary teacher trainee, Sirpa, who had performed well in her advanced mathematics course in upper secondary school. I describe her development as a mathematics teacher during teacher education from her second-year methods course and teaching practice to fourth-year teaching practice. Narrative inquiry is more than a case study: Sirpa’s mathematical biography is a story that describes how she constructs her mathematical identity. I also analysed the key rhetoric that Sirpa used in her talk, key rhetoric here referring to the strategy by which she constructed continuity and coherence.     

The Interconnected Model of Professional Growth as a means to assess the development of a mathematics teacher

In this qualitative study we used a case study approach to observe and analyse a mathematics teacher who was challenged to redesign her lessons during network meetings with colleagues. Changes in practical knowledge are described by means of concept maps and semi-structured interviews. We applied cycles of change from the Interconnected Model of Professional Growth to describe the teacher’s professional development. We show that the teacher’s practical knowledge changes in the domain of practical content knowledge, and that controlled experimentation and reflection are necessary conditions to learn a new teaching strategy and to develop a series of lessons for pupils.     

指向学生差异的教师教学决策框架

指向学生差异的教师教学决策框架是教师对差异教学问题的主观解释和思考结构,它的主要特征体现在框架的雏度、标尺和焦点三方面。教师差异性教学决策的框架也会有框架盲点、框架固化、框架错位的缺陷。建构促进学生差异发展的教学决策框架,要求教师以差异教学理念为主导,在个体反思和集体互促中自觉构建开放与更新的教学决策框架。     

From PCK to TPACK: Developing a Transformative Model for Pre-Service Science Teachers

New science teachers should be equipped with the ability to integrate and design the curriculum and technology for innovative teaching. How to integrate technology into pre-service science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge is the important issue. This study examined the impact on a transformative model of integrating technology and peer coaching for developing technological pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) of pre-service science teachers. A transformative model and an online system were designed to restructure science teacher education courses. Participants of this study included an instructor and 12 pre-service teachers. The main sources of data included written assignments, online data, reflective journals, videotapes and interviews. This study expanded four views, namely, the comprehensive, imitative, transformative and integrative views to explore the impact of TPACK. The model could help pre-service teachers develop technological pedagogical methods and strategies of integrating subject-matter knowledge into science lessons, and further enhanced their TPACK.     

Constructing a new professional identity: Career change into teaching

The presence of career change students in teacher education programs is neither new nor unusual. Despite this, there is a lack of research into the experiences of such people as student teachers. In this paper, the experiences of one career change student teacher, Michelle, and the ways in which she constructed her new professional identity as a student teacher, are examined. Using the theoretical framework of learning and identity within communities of practice developed by Lave and Wenger (1991) and the notion of career change student teachers as expert novices, Michelle's experiences are examined in detail to gain a greater understanding of how, as a career changer, she ‘became’ a student teacher. The research on which this paper is based found that as a career change student, Michelle needed to reconcile her various identities in order to construct her new professional identity in the context of teacher education. Findings were analysed and discussed with reference to Lave and Wenger’s (1991) framework of legitimate peripheral participation and Wenger’s (1998) communities of practice, and with recourse to the relevant literature.     

Integrating Multicultural Children's Math Books Into Kindergarten Through Sixth-Grade Classrooms: Preservice Teachers' Reflections

This case study of mathematics instruction using children's literature reports on the experiences 47 elementary preservice teachers had in their mathematics methods course while completing a microteaching assignment. As part of the microteaching assignment, preservice teachers were required to plan and teach mathematics lessons based on children's books that included both mathematics concepts and multicultural aspects. The preservice teachers audio-recorded their lessons, transcribed the audio, and wrote reflective essays to articulate their experiences. At the end of the assignment, the professor and two additional researchers interviewed the preservice teachers about their experiences. Themes that emerged were (a) teaching experiences, (b) teaching performance, and (c) learning purposes and tools for integrating multicultural children's math books. The Learning Purposes and Teaching Strategies for Integrating Multicultural Mathematics Picturebooks Framework was developed to demonstrate the intricate balance needed to ensure mathematics learning happens during instruction with multicultural mathematics picturebooks.     

Teacher educators' professionalism in practice: Positioning theory and personal interpretative framework

This study connects to the international call for research on teacher educator professionalism. Combining positioning theory with the personal interpretative framework, we examined the relationship between teacher educators' positioning and their teacher education practices. The interpretative analysis of qualitative data from twelve experienced Flemish teacher educators revealed three teacher educator positionings: a teacher educator of ‘pedagogues’, a teacher educator of reflective teachers, and a teacher educator of subject teachers. Each positioning constitutes a coherent pattern of normative beliefs about good teaching and teacher education, the preferred relationships with student teachers, and valuable methods and strategies to enact these beliefs.     

Conceptual change research and science education practice: a response from educators

We discuss the eight papers in this issue of Cultural Studies of Science Education focusing on the debate over conceptual change in science education and explore the issues that have emerged for us as we consider how conceptual change research relates to our practice as science educators. In presenting our interpretations of this research, we consider the role of participants in the research process and contextual factors in conducting research on science conceptions, and draw implications for the teaching of science.

Agnosticism and Faith: Reflections on Meaning and Method in Teaching

In this reflective essay, the author describes her continuing search for a pedagogical path. She explains how she came to reject authoritative answers and packaged educational ideologies, and describes the questions that have unfolded for her about her own teaching. In closing, she writes about her search for a faith—a set of principles to guide her in the face of uncertainty in teaching.     

Teachers learning from analysis of other teachers' reading lessons

This study explores teachers' responses to a video-based multimedia program designed to reflect current views of effective professional development for practicing teachers. The Case Studies of Reading Lessons program engages teachers in analysis of others' reading instruction. Findings showed teachers' enthusiasm for studying authentic reading instruction but suggest mixed views of the benefits of questions used to guide analysis of instruction. Teachers reported making connections to their own reading instruction and provided evidence that analysis of reading lessons may contribute to reflective practice. Future studies might investigate long-term effects of systematic analysis of case studies to develop adaptive expertise.     

Differential Use of Elementary Science Kits

The use of kits in elementary science classes is a growing trend in some countries. Kits provide materials and inquiry lessons in a ready-to-teach format for teachers to use in their science instruction. This study examined elementary teachers' instructional strategies, classroom practices, and assessment types in relation to the frequency of science kit use. A total of 503 elementary teachers from an urban school district received professional development, implemented kits in their classrooms for a year, and then completed a survey about science kit use and teaching practices. Despite similarities in demographic characteristics (gender, ethnicity, certification/educational level), there were significant differences in teachers' use of inquiry-based teaching and assessment practices by kit use. Teachers who reported using kits the most often were significantly more likely to report that their students designed and implemented laboratory investigations as well recorded, represented, and analyzed data. In addition, the high kit users indicated that they were more likely to use student groups, require students to use evidence to support claims, and use alternative assessments of student work including portfolios, notebooks, and long-term projects than those teachers who used kits less frequently. Those teachers who reported using kits the least often were significantly more likely to report having students practice for standardized tests. The role of kits in promoting reform-based teaching practices is discussed.     

Teaching the teacher: exploring STEM graduate students’ nature of science conceptions in a teaching methods course

ABSTRACT

Graduate students regularly teach undergraduate STEM courses and can positively impact students’ understanding of science. Yet little research examines graduate students’ knowledge about nature of science (NOS) or instructional strategies for teaching graduate students about NOS. This exploratory study sought to understand how a 1-credit Teaching in Higher Education course that utilised an explicit, reflective, and mixed-context approach to NOS instruction impacted STEM graduate students’ NOS conceptions and teaching intentions. Participants included 13 graduate students. Data sources included the Views of Nature of Science (VNOS-Form C) questionnaire administered pre- and post-instruction, semi-structured interviews with a subset of participants, and a NOS-related course project. Prior to instruction participants held many alternative NOS conceptions. Post-instruction, participants’ NOS conceptions improved substantially, particularly in their understandings of theories and laws and the tentative nature of scientific knowledge. All 12 participants planning to teach NOS intended to use explicit instructional approaches. A majority of participants also integrated novel ideas to their intended NOS instruction. These results suggest that a teaching methods course for graduate students with embedded NOS instruction can address alternative NOS conceptions and facilitate intended use of effective NOS instruction. Future research understanding graduate students' NOS understandings and actual NOS instruction is warranted.     

Beyond the ‘good teacher’: guiding pre-service teacher reflections on culturally diverse students

This article explores how reflective practice may be facilitated among pre-service teachers preparing to teach in culturally diverse classrooms. The significance of the mentor teacher’s ability to reveal her/himself as a reflective practitioner in order to promote student reflection is well documented. The article specifically addresses one teacher educator’s approach to offering mentor support with a focus on reflective practices related to cultural diversity. She explores how her ethnographic doctoral study on the classroom participation of adult South Sudanese students in different Australian learning environments has informed her own practice as a teacher, and ways in which her teaching philosophy and values were influenced by the sustained reflection needed to complete the study. By making explicit an aspect of her reflective practice, she aims to add to the growing body of literature on how to engage pre-service teachers meaningfully in reflection on their own classroom practice, especially in relation to teaching to diversity.     

浅议中职学校的数学教学

文章从职业学校数学教学的特殊性出发，分析了职业学校学生的学习特点，及目前数学教材的现状。提出了关于加强职业学校数学教学的个人看法和做法。     

Learning to Teach Generatively: Mentor-Supported Professional Development and Research in Technology-and-Science

In a year-long, school-based teacher education project, primary school teachers were given workshop- and classroom-based support, including sustained mentoring, as they appropriated a generative heuristic for teaching technology-and-science in their classrooms. The mentor participated in their lessons and recorded her frequent conversations with teachers. Extracts from 3 conversations (of many, spanning 5 months) between 1 teacher and the mentor illustrate this teacher's changing ideas and the mentor's role. The teacher realized that although she preferred to learn generatively, she had been using instructionist approaches in her technology-and-science teaching. These dialogues show how the mentor supported this teacher as she gradually aligned her technology-and-science teaching with the generative style of learning she already valued.