In-service and prospective teachers’ conceptions of creativity

Teachers play a crucial role in the development of primary school students’ creative potential in either a positive or a negative way. This paper aims to draw attention to in-service and prospective teachers’ conceptions of creativity and answer three main research questions: “What are the teachers’ conceptions and implicit theories of creativity in general?”, “What are the teachers’ conceptions and implicit theories of creativity in the context of primary education?”, and “How well-trained and equipped do teachers feel to play their key role in the development of students’ creative potential?” A self-report questionnaire was used as an instrument to gather qualitative and quantitative data from 132 Greek in-service and prospective teachers. According to the selected quantitative data we present in this study, the majority of the participants reported that the facilitation of students’ creativity is included in the teachers’ role, but they (teachers themselves) do not feel well-trained and confident enough to realise this particular expectation. The authors conclude that further research is needed in order to: (i) reveal more on teachers’ conceptions on creativity and (ii) understand and classify teachers’ particular needs to facilitate the creative potential of primary school students.     

Critical aspects of student teachers’ conceptions of learning

The aim of this phenomenographic study was to discover the educationally critical aspects of learning conceptions among health education student teachers (N = 20). The qualitative data consisted of written essays and semi-structured interviews. Six qualitatively distinctive conceptions of learning could be discerned, namely learning as 1) the reproduction of acquired health knowledge, 2) the application of health knowledge, 3) developing personal meanings on health matters, 4) the transformation of individual thinking, 5) personal growth, and 6) collective meaning-making. These qualitatively distinct categories were reflected through three themes, which embodied critical aspects: the nature of the knowledge involved, the nature of the reflection involved, and the role of the social environment. In bringing new insights into the existing literature, this study confirms a need for research on learning conceptions across different cultural and educational contexts.     

Does creativity have a place in classroom discussions? Prospective teachers’ response preferences

The purpose of this study was to examine prospective middle and secondary teachers’ preferences for unique versus relevant student responses during classroom discussions. Results indicate that, on average, prospective teachers (N = 70) preferred relevance to uniqueness in student responses. In addition, results of regression analysis indicate that prospective teachers’ preference for unique responses varied as a function of grade level and academic subject area. Finally, analysis of written explanations revealed nuanced reasons for prospective teachers’ preferences ranging from viewing unique responses as potentially distracting to viewing any response as acceptable because of a desire to encourage student participation. Implications for future research and teacher education are discussed.     

Student teachers in the classroom: their perceptions of teaching practice

This paper examines student teachers’ perceptions of the course of school experience in a teacher education programme in Turkey. Data were obtained through interviewing student teachers in Canakkale Onsekiz Mart University, Turkey. In order to analyse the data, Strauss and Corbin’s grounded theory methodology was adapted. The analysis revealed that although the current teacher education programme put emphasis on effective practical training, in some circumstances student teachers feel that their chances of gaining real teaching experiences are minimal. The study suggests that there is a need for further strengthening the existing school–university partnership in teacher education.     

Primary and secondary teachers’ conceptions of assessment: A qualitative study

A particular framework of teachers’ conceptions about assessment in school is presented. Fifty teachers of primary and secondary school were interviewed. Results of a qualitative analysis allowed building a model of conceptions of assessment. This model comprises four dimensions about the effects of assessment on: teaching, learning, accountability of teachers and schools to different audiences and stakeholders, and the certification of achievement. These conceptions, unequally distributed, show some tendencies that might be linked to the intrinsic tension between the by-default co-occurrence of both pedagogic and societal functions of assessment in school, and to difficulties of implementing assessment for learning practices.     

浅谈音乐课堂中的德育实施

音乐是人类的第二语言，是积聚灵感、催发情感、激活想象、培养美丽心灵的艺术。音乐教学中，音乐只是手段，教育人才是关键．教师要在音乐课堂中渗透德育，让音乐与生活沟通起来，以自身在课堂上的表现促进孩子情感的发展。     

Novice teachers’ conceptions of fairness in inclusion classrooms

The issue of “fairness” troubles some general education teachers, who may be reluctant to teach students with disabilities. Journals written by 47 general education preservice and novice teachers were data sources for examining teachers’ concerns about fairness. Five areas of concern emerged: general responses, definitions of fairness, dealing with students, classroom applications (e.g., grading), and negative views. These themes are illustrated and discussed within the theoretical framework of principles of distribution of benefits. Suggestions are offered for helping teacher education students move toward acceptance of needs-based principles of fairness.     

Disclosing biology teachers’ beliefs about biotechnology and biotechnology education

Teachers have been shown to frequently avoid addressing biotechnology topics. Aiming to understand the extent to which teachers’ scarce engagement in biotechnology teaching is influenced by their beliefs and/or by extrinsic constraints, such as practical limitations, this study evaluates biology teachers’ beliefs about biotechnology and biotechnology teaching. The findings of a survey administered to 93 secondary school teachers reveal that, in spite of holding positive beliefs about biotechnology, teachers overestimate the obstacles presented at biotechnology teaching, particularly concerning material and resource limitations. Implications of these findings for teacher training program design are discussed.     

Pre-service teachers’ episodic memories of classroom management

This study focused on past excellent teachers’ classroom management strategies from the perspective of 148 pre-service teachers. The purpose of the study was to examine how pre-service teachers’ memories reflect classroom management models that are typically taught in teacher education coursework prior to their study of those models, as well as to explore memories that did not fit a particular model. Results indicated that pre-service teachers related episodes that clustered on establishing rules, but were less likely to relate experiences based on other strategies such as withitness, smooth transitions, or formal classroom meetings. Implications for teacher education are explored.     

Primary and secondary teachers’ conceptions about heritage and heritage education: A comparative analysis

This study describes and analyses the conceptions of primary teachers and secondary teachers of Physics–Chemistry, Biology–Geology and Geography–History with respect to the concept of heritage and its teaching and learning, taking the model of teacher-researcher as the theoretical referent. The data collection instrument used was a questionnaire, designed on the basis of categories that in turn were used for the analysis of the resulting data. The results show a high degree of homogeneity in pedagogic content knowledge, in contrast to the heterogeneity of the conceptions with respect to purely content knowledge.     

The distracting effects of music on the cognitive test performance of creative and non-creative individuals

This study examined the effect of background music upon performance of creative and non-creative individuals on a reading comprehension task. In the presence of musical distraction and silence, 54 individuals (27 creative) carried out reading comprehension tasks in a repeated measures design. An interaction was predicted, such that musical distraction would have a greater negative effect on the performance of non-creative individuals compared to creative individuals. Further, it was predicted that creative individuals would be more inclined to study with music playing, and less distracted by it. No significant interactions were found although trends indicated that creative individuals performed better than did non-creative individuals in the music distraction condition. Correlations indicate that creative individuals tend to listen to more music while studying and they reported lower distraction levels. No main effect was found on performance for the mood of the participant and the perceived mood of the music. Methodological problems are discussed along with further suggestions for future research.     

让音乐课堂充满活力

笔者根据自己的教学实践对音乐课堂教学的改革谈一些认识：0改变教师的角色定位；②营造民主和谐的学习情境；⑦进行一张一弛的扩散启发；④体现思潮和情感的涌动；⑤激发“悟性”培养创新能力。     

Student teachers' ways of experiencing the objective of health education as a school subject: A phenomenographic study

The aim of this phenomenographic study was to identify student teachers' (N = 20) ways of experiencing health education as a school subject, using semi-structured interviews and essays. The findings indicated that the target phenomenon was discussed through the general objective of the subject in five ways: health education as 1) a context for delivering theoretical knowledge, 2) a channel for providing pupils with practical knowledge and skills to contribute to health-related choices, 3) a means to promote pupils' self-regulative knowledge and independent thinking, 4) a context for personal growth, and 5) a means for developing responsible behavior in society. The hierarchically-ordered categories arrived at varied along six themes of expanding awareness. The findings can be used as a basis for planning educational settings, with a view to deepening student teachers' understanding.     

Teaching styles and conceptions of effective teachers: Tibetan and Han Chinese academics compared

The principal objective of this research is to ascertain if the “research–teaching dichotomy” as revealed in the relationship between conceptions of effective teachers and teaching styles among Han Chinese academics can be found among Tibetan academics. As a preliminary objective, this research examines the appropriateness of the Effective Teacher Inventory (Zhang, 2003) for evaluating Tibetan academics' conceptions of effective teachers and compares the conceptions of effective teachers between Tibetan and Han Chinese academics. The Thinking Styles in Teaching Inventory (Grigorenko & Sternberg, 1993) and the Effective Teacher Inventory (Zhang, 2003) were administered to 162 Tibetan academics. For the purpose of comparison, data from 93 Han Chinese academics in Zhang's (2009) study were integrated into the present research.The results warranted two conclusions. First, the Effective Teacher Inventory was appropriate for assessing Tibetan academics' conceptions of effective teachers; and there was no substantial difference in the conceptions of effective teachers between the two samples. Second, as it was among Han Chinese academics, the apparent “research–teaching dichotomy” was identified among Tibetan academics. Limitations and significance of this research are discussed and directions for future research are proposed.     

Relations between student teachers’ learning patterns and their concrete learning activities

This study aims to unravel the relationships between student teachers’ learning patterns and how they actually learn in practice as measured during multiple concrete learning experiences. In previous research aptitude and event measures often pointed in different directions. 90 student teachers’ learning patterns were measured with an aptitude instrument, designed for the specific context of learning to teach. Multiple concrete learning activities were measured with a structured digital log. Results showed meaningful relations between students’ learning patterns and their learning activities, taking multiple learning experiences into account. Survival oriented student teachers show more inactiveness in their learning, reproduction oriented student teachers learn by doing to improve their teaching behavior, dependent meaning oriented student teachers are more influenced by previous negative experiences and independent meaning oriented student teachers show the most deep and most active way of learning. But interestingly, the results also show that some relations as described in literature did not show up. The choice for a particular processing strategy and also the intentionality of the learning experiences was not related to student teachers’ learning patterns. This study demonstrates the added value of combining both types of instruments in research and practice.     

U.S. teachers' conceptions of the purposes of assessment

Teachers' conceptions about assessment influence their classroom assessment practices. In this investigation, we examined 179 K-12 teachers' conceptions of the purposes of assessment from a person-centered perspective. An exploratory factor analysis of teachers' responses to the Conceptions of Assessment Instrument yielded a three-factor model: assessment as valid for accountability, improves teaching and learning, and as irrelevant. Next, we used cluster analysis to identify belief profiles of teacher groups: Cluster-1: Moderate, Cluster-2: Irrelevant, Cluster-3: Teaching and Learning. Within and across cluster comparisons revealed significant differences indicating that these are distinct profiles: teachers can, and do, hold multiple beliefs about assessment simultaneously.     

Differences in teachers’ comments on classroom events as indicators of their professional development

This study aims at identifying indicators of schoolteachers’ professional development by learning teachers’ perceptual and thinking capabilities of classroom events as reflected in their comments. The analysis of comments produced by novice and expert teachers on videotaped lesson activities, based mainly on the grounded theory strategy, revealed that expert teachers are more sensitive towards certain instructional events and to general teaching strategy used by the model teacher than novice teachers. The findings of this study might be useful for promoting student teachers’ professional sensitivity towards relevant features of classroom instruction and atmosphere in pre-service teacher education programs.     

Creative teaching of creativity teachers: Polish perspective

The article presents basic information on the strand of psycho-pedagogy of creativity—a unique perspective on creativity teachers’ education in Europe and the world. Psycho-pedagogy of creativity is a major in pedagogy studies, run in Poland, at the Warsaw Academy of Special Education. Our aim is to educate specialists who are open, sensitive and well prepared content-wise in identifying and developing children's and youth's creative potential. We also aim at introducing the studies that function in a wider social context, and presenting the situation of Poland after systemic transformation. It seems that information of this type may prove interesting to researchers and practitioners that deal with education of creativity.     

The development and alignment of pedagogical conceptions of health education

This study examined the development and alignment of conceptions of health education as a subject, and of its teaching and learning, among Finnish health education student teachers (n = 20). Longitudinal phenomenographic data (essays, interviews) were collected at two time points during health education studies, and at one time point after the participants had gained 1–3 years of work experience. The proportion of participants expressing the most sophisticated pedagogical conceptions decreased during teacher training, but increased after the gaining of work experience. Moreover, fewer than half of the participants expressed pedagogical conceptions that advanced in broad alignment with regard to the subject, the teaching, and the learning. Some methodological considerations and suggestions for teacher training are presented.