An Evolution of Mathematical Beliefs: A Case Study of Three Pre-K Teachers

This case study involved examination of the evolution of mathematical beliefs of three prekindergarten teachers. The researcher followed three teachers at one school in west Alabama over the course of 6 months as they implemented a new mathematics curriculum in their pre-K classrooms. Interviews were conducted prior to implementation and at the end of the school year. Classroom observations were done throughout the implementation process. Three themes emerged from the data (a) math resources for the pre-K classroom, (b) pushing beyond—thinking mathematically, and (c) instructional strategies used the pre-K classroom. These themes revealed how all of the teachers' perceptions of early childhood mathematics curriculum and instruction evolved during the course of the study. These findings have implications for early childhood teacher education programs and professional development.     

A typological approach to investigate the teaching career decision: Motivations and beliefs about teaching of prospective teacher candidates

This study utilized cluster analysis to identify typologies of prospective teachers enrolled in a teacher education program in the U.S. based upon their self-report motivations for teaching. A three-cluster solution generated three distinctive typologies of prospective teachers (N’s of 93, 70 and 52), and further differences among typologies were investigated with respect to participants’ beliefs about teaching.Follow-up semi-structured interviews confirmed meaningful differences found between the clusters with regard to unique combination of motivations and beliefs about teaching relevant to each typology. Implications for teacher education and teacher development are further discussed in relationship with study findings.     

‘Our family business was education’: professional socialization among intergenerational African‐American teaching families

Teacher socialization is primarily examined as an institutional‐based phenomenon, with particular focus on individuals’ PK–12 schooling experiences, teacher education programs, or workplace‐based socialization. This study situates professional socialization experiences of African‐American teachers within teaching families, examining how culturally situated socialization practices inform and shape professional entry and conceptualizations. Nine Black women teachers, all members of three intergenerational teaching families, participated in the study. Data sources included individual life‐history interviews, group conversations and participant‐generated writings. Findings indicate intergenerational socialization into the tradition of Black women teachers, with an emphasis on individual and collective social responsibility. Participants were socialized into the family business of teaching for reasons of stability, complicated by the ironies of social, educational and economic progress for Black women.     

“Doing the Best We Could”: African American Teachers’ Counterstory on School Desegregation

National narratives on the movement to desegregate Southern schools, as construed by dominant cultural forces, focus on school desegregation from the vantage point of dominant culture; portraying school desegregation as a singular and inevitable event emanating from jurisprudence and principles of democracy, with little attention to the complexities of those most impacted. This article argues the importance of including counterstory to such narratives, specifically highlighting the narratives of African American teachers. Using qualitative methods, the study this article demonstrates how African American teachers’ personal narratives of school desegregation provide a window into the complexities of school desegregation illuminating the ways in which race, social class standing, gender, and personal relationships compounded individual support, views, resistance, and participation in the movement to desegregate Southern schools.Jeannine E. Dingus in an Assistant Professor of Margaret Warner School of Education and Human Development in University of Rochester.     

Promoting Self-Awareness: An Undergraduate In-Class Activity and Its Value

Self-awareness is important in social work education because it promotes knowledge, skill, and value development. However, little is written about the ways in which educators facilitate this process. A project was undertaken to design a new self-awareness assignment (SAA) and examine its value. The SAA’s development, which relies on role-plays, is described. Results from an exploratory qualitative study that examined the value of the SAA on 80 undergraduate social work students’ knowledge and skills is presented. The results suggest the SAA is a positive teaching strategy for promoting students’ knowledge and skills development. Implications for social work education are discussed.     

Parental estimates of children's receptive vocabulary

Samples of 13 mothers and fathers of normal preschool children and 11 mothers of high-risk preschool children estimated their children's vocabulary ability by predicting their child's responses to individual PPVT-R items and by making a global rating of their child's vocabulary ability. Prior to the parental estimations, the children had been administered the PPVT-R. Accuracy of parental estimates, as measured by d', was low, although the mothers' average estimates were significantly higher than zero and higher than fathers' estimates. Accuracy of estimation was similar for mothers of normal preschoolers and for mothers of high-risk preschoolers. Time spent reading to the child, mothers' employment, and children's ability level were not related to parental accuracy. Although correlations between the children's scores and parental estimates all were significant, parents tended to overestimate their children's abilities by approximately 9 to 10 points on the average. Overall, parental estimates of their children's vocabulary ability, using a global rating scale, provide a somewhat useful measure for placing their children in a broad classification range.