Using Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development to propose and test an explanatory model for conceptualising coteaching in pre-service science teacher education

Coteaching offers a model for the school-placement element of pre-service science teacher education, based on its demonstrated positive impacts on lessening classroom anxiety, supporting inquiry-based science teaching, improving students’ attitudes, and addressing diversity effectively in science classrooms. Coteaching between pre-service and in-service teachers is used to lessen the gap between theory and practice, to develop reflective practice and to develop pedagogical content knowledge. Explanatory frameworks have been proposed for coteaching, and we suggest that Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development helps to propose a more nuanced developmental and learning explanatory framework which provides pedagogical structures for implementation and highlights the importance of the social environment for learning. In providing structure and tools for effective implementation of coteaching, our model addresses three core elements of coteaching: coplanning, copractice, and coevaluation. The model was piloted in relation to pre-service teachers’ development in reflective practice and reducing the gap between theory and classroom practice.     

Integration of addiction recovery and professional identities for counselor trainees

Counselor trainees in recovery from substance use often have a foundational recovery identity; they also develop a professional counselor identity through their training. This study utilized narrative inquiry to explore the integration of professional identity and recovery identity. Resonant threads and narrative tensions emerged from the storied experiences of participants.     

Counselor educator workload and burnout in the era of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic brought disruption to teaching and other aspects of workload in higher education. The current study sampled 126 counselor educators about workload, compassion satisfaction, burnout, and job satisfaction. Results indicated that faculty workload and administrative responsibilities increased for counselor educators during the pandemic without adequate compensation or support.     

‘I just want to watch the match’: a practitioner’s reflective account of men’s health themed match day events at an English Premier League football club

This study reflects on the effectiveness and delivery of a series of health themed match day events at an English Premier League Football Club which aimed to create awareness and motivate men to adopt recommended health behaviours. A range of marketing techniques and activities were adopted within a targeted space and time to increase men’s exposure to health information. The first author adopted a practitioner-cum-researcher role and was immersed in the planning and delivery of the events utilising the principles of ethnography. Data were predominately collated through observations and personal reflections logged via autobiographical field notes. Data were analysed through abductive reasoning. In general, men were reluctant to engage in health-related behaviours on match days. However, subtle, non-invasive approaches were deemed successful. Positive outcomes and case studies from the latter techniques are presented and suggestions for effective strategies that will better engage men in health information and behaviours are made.     

Student & tutor consensus: a partnership in assessment for learning

The mistakes made when attempting tasks often prove to be some of the most invaluable learning experiences. Despite this, outcome and results driven assessment formats largely penalise student performance errors or reward students who succeed by chance. The consequences of this paradigm are visible effects on student relationships with assessment. The student–tutor consensus approach to assessment was introduced to capture student learning achieved ‘from’ assessment to complement the measurement of performance outcomes. This approach parallels student and tutor judgement in a grade negotiation, affording the student an opportunity to share with their assessor what they have learned from the assessment activity. This student self-awareness was then considered alongside the conventional outcome-based score awarded by the tutor to generate a final grade for the assessed activity. Our study evaluated the perceptions of 90 undergraduate students enrolled in the bachelor of paramedic studies, who participated in this novel assessment approach as part of a final-year capstone topic. The results comprehensively indicated value for all aspects of the assessment approach, as well as a recognition that the skills will be useful in their future professional roles.     

How pre-service teachers navigate trade-offs of food systems across time scales: a lens for exploring understandings of sustainability

In response to the increasing recognition of the need for sustainable food systems, research on students’ and educators’ knowledge of food systems and sustainability more broadly has grown but has generally focused on what people ‘fail’ to understand. Moving away from this deficit approach, the present study used semi-structured interviews to explore how 12 pre-service teachers (PSTs) in the US consider sustainability in terms of the trade-offs – or concurrent costs and benefits – associated with using different agricultural resources over short, medium, and long terms. Drawing upon the constructs of framing, metacognition, and complex causality, the study found that the majority of PSTs referred to indirect experiences of seeing or hearing about agricultural resources to demonstrate stable knowledge of short-term trade-offs and construct tentative knowledge about medium-term trade-offs. Few described long-term trade-offs. Most participants also acknowledged some gaps in their knowledge in discussing trade-offs across the different time scales. Findings suggest the importance of leveraging and building upon educators’ (and ultimately students’) prior experiences to build their understanding of complex trade-offs that underlie food systems. The study also illustrates the value of using the concept of trade-offs across time scales to explore people’s conceptions and understandings of sustainability.     

Global competition in a ‘flat’ world: a Foucauldian analysis of the neoliberal mentalities of 2 Million Minutes

Through an application of Foucauldian theories of power and neoliberalism, this article employs an ascending analysis to identify an embedded neoliberal agenda within the documentary 2 Million Minutes. The author argues that this neoliberal agenda serves to support and maintain notions of international white supremacy as it assumes relationships between whiteness and success, American identity and privilege, and through its definition of the global economy as one in which all students can equally take part. By articulating how the film engages in techniques of biopower through a comparative portrayal of high school students from India, China, and the United States, the author argues that representations of education ‘realities’ should be examined and questioned in order to locate powerful and hidden hegemonies.