scholarly journals Harnessing the potential of recently retired physics teachers to mentor new physics teachers

2021 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 015020
Author(s):  
Daniel Cottle
Keyword(s):  
New Physics ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
First Year ◽  
Teacher Mentors ◽  
Physics Teachers ◽  
Informal Mentoring ◽  
Pedagogical Content ◽  
Substantive Content ◽  
Support Teacher

Abstract Three new physics teachers graduating from a university provider of initial teacher education in England were paired with a recently retired physics subject specialist teacher in order to provide informal mentoring during their first year of teaching. The aim of this was to explore if a mentoring intervention of this kind could support teacher knowledge growth of the new physics teachers and influence their retention in the teaching profession. Qualitative data from the study suggests that substantive content of the mentoring discussions that took place addressed issues of general pedagogy and pedagogical content knowledge. The retired teacher mentors were enthusiastic and able to act as mentors. Suggestions emerge for ways of facilitating the mentoring.

scholarly journals Using metaphors to know the conceptions about the teaching profession in initial teacher education

2017 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoe Martí­nez-de-la-Hidalga ◽  
Lourdes Villardón-Gallego
Keyword(s):  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Bachelor's Degree ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Inductive Method ◽  
First Year ◽  
Main Character ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Professional Performance

Conceptions about teaching are important because they affect professional performance. Metaphors are a tool to identify them. In this qualitative study metaphors are used to gain insight into conceptions held by pre-service teachers, and their development during Initial Teacher Training in the Bachelor’s Degree in Primary Education.A total of 247 students participated in this cross-sectional study; 145 were first-year students, and 102 were fourth-year students. Participants were requested to submit a metaphor following the open-ended formula: “the teacher is like…. because…” In order to categorize their answers, we used an inductive method. Afterwards, we calculated frequencies and percentages.Metaphors are grouped according to the following categories: a) Main Character; b) Support; c) Family; d) Teaching; e) Importance. The most frequent category is Support, followed by Teaching and Family. First-year pre-service teachers refer to Family, Teaching and the Main Character role of teachers more often than students in their fourth year, whereas the latter allude more often than the former to the teachers’ role as providers of Support and as Social Agents.There is evidence of a development from a transmissive educational perspective to a constructivist and transformative perspective of education, but there is no indication of any evolution towards a socioconstructivist outlook.

LESSON STUDY AS A PROCESS FOR DEVELOPING THE PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE OF PRE-SERVICE PHYSICS AND CHEMISTRY TEACHERS

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teresa Conceição ◽  
◽  
Mónica Baptista ◽  
, João Pedro da Ponte ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Pedagogical Content Knowledge ◽  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Lesson Study ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
Study Data ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Pedagogical Content ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
8Th Grade ◽  
Teachers Professional Development

This research aimed to understand what physics and chemistry pre-service teachers learn within pedagogical content knowledge in a lesson study with the topic speed of sound, 8th grade. Participants were three pre-service teachers. This was a qualitative and interpretative study. Data were collected from participant observation, individual interviews and individual written reflections. Results showed that the participants developed their pedagogical content knowledge, when they identified the students’ prior knowledge and when they discussed strategies to help students overcome their difficulties. Keywords: initial teacher education, lesson study, pre-service teachers, professional development, science education.

Listening and Learning through ICT with Digital Kids

2016 ◽  
pp. 1016-1037
Author(s):  
Dianne Forbes
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Case Reports ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Listening Skills ◽  
Theoretical Perspectives ◽  
Information And Communication

The following case reports on the involvement of children in online discussion with student teachers within initial teacher education in New Zealand. The focus is on listening to children, with wider implications for listening as a professional capability extending beyond the teaching profession. In this case, student teachers and pupils communicated online, exchanging ideas, debating, and engaging in co-construction of understandings around the place of Information and Communication Technologies in teaching and learning. The case explores the interaction and social dynamics observed and mutual learning experienced, with links to theoretical perspectives including constructivist and democratic pedagogies. Implications for improved practice are considered. It is argued that there is a need to explicitly teach listening skills and to encourage professionals in training to listen to clients. It is argued that the online environment is an excellent training ground for developing effective listening skills as it lends itself to reflective practice and to meta-listening awareness.

Happy, Stressed, and Angry: A National Study of Teachers’ Emotions and Their Management

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 223-244 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roger Patulny ◽  
Alberto Bellocchi ◽  
Kathy A. Mills ◽  
Jordan McKenzie ◽  
Rebecca E. Olson
Keyword(s):  
Customer Service ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Emotion Management ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
National Study ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Surface Acting ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Professional Pride ◽  
The Cost

Abstract The teaching profession offers meaningful, stimulating work that accords with teachers’ sense of professional pride and identity, but is also synonymous with high levels of stress, conflict (and associated emotions such as anger and shame) and ultimately, attrition. The degree to which teachers within a national population ‘up-manage’ the former or ‘down-manage’ the latter emotions is unknown. This study utilises new data from the Australian Survey of Emotions and Emotion Management (SEEM) to examine emotions and emotion management among teachers, and workers in comparable service roles, such as health care and customer service, in contemporary Australian society. It finds that teachers exhibit great natural happiness, but also experience and hide (through surface-acting) high levels of stress. Teachers also experience high levels of anger compared to other professions, though they usually manage this successfully through deep acting strategies. These findings imply that teachers are generally happy and professionally committed to (and proud of) their work, but at the cost of managing significant levels of stress and conflict. We discuss the implications for teacher professional development, initial teacher education and policy, and the need to investigate anger/shame dynamics and management in future research into pedagogy.

Mentor–mentee relationships as anchors for pre service teachers’ coping on professional placement

2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 71-86
Author(s):  
Anat Wilson ◽  
Minh Huynh
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Coping Strategies ◽  
Coping Styles ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Mentoring Relationship ◽  
Key Factor ◽  
Coping Scale ◽  
Negative Coping

Purpose Mentor–mentee relationships are important for individual wellbeing, mental health, professional agency and confidence. In the context of an initial teacher education (ITE) programme, these relationships become a key factor. Pre-service teachers’ capacity to cope on a professional placement is closely linked to the quality of the mentoring relationship. The purpose of this paper is to identify the negative coping strategies used by pre-service teachers who struggle to cope in a school placement in Melbourne, Australia, highlighting the importance of providing quality mentorship. Design/methodology/approach A mixed-methods approach was used for the analysis of pre-service teachers’ coping on a teaching practicum and to identify common related beliefs. A total of 177 pre-service teachers, who have completed at least one supervised practicum participated in this study. The Coping Scale for Adults second edition (CSA-2) was administered alongside an open-ended questionnaire to identify frequently used coping styles and associated thoughts and beliefs. Findings The results show that pre-service teachers who favour non-productive coping strategies were more likely to express feelings of loneliness, pointed at poor communication with their mentor and described thoughts about leaving the teaching profession. Originality/value Using the Coping Scale for Adults in the context of practicum provides an insight into individual experiences. The implications of mentor–mentee relationships for individuals’ coping are highlighted. initial teacher education programs and schools have significant roles in supporting mentor–mentee relationships and practical supportive interventions are offered.

scholarly journals Fresh perspectives on TPACK: pre-service teachers’ own appraisal of their challenging and confident TPACK areas

2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (4) ◽  
pp. 2823-2842 ◽  
Author(s):  
Teemu Valtonen ◽  
Ulla Leppänen ◽  
Mareena Hyypiä ◽  
Erkko Sointu ◽  
Anneke Smits ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Lesson Plan ◽  
Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge ◽  
Pedagogical Knowledge ◽  
First Year ◽  
Ict In Education ◽  
Pedagogical Content ◽  
Integrated Technology ◽  
Important Position ◽  
Specific Section

AbstractThe present study is an extension of studies that measure pre-service teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) confidence. It provides new perspectives on pre-service teachers’ TPACK by shifting the focus to concrete concerns and strengths indicated by pre-service teachers. The target group consists of a cohort of first-year pre-service teachers (N = 86) from a Finnish university. The data used in this study were 86 lesson plans with integrated technology written by first-year pre-service teachers, with a specific section where students outlined their confident and challenging areas in the lesson plan. These sections were analysed quantitatively through the theoretical lens of TPACK. Four TPACK areas were found confident, challenging or both confident and challenging for students. For these first-year pre-service teachers, pedagogical knowledge played the most important role, and the outcomes concretize specific aspects of pedagogical knowledge that can be addressed to develop TPACK in teacher education. The results provide important perspectives on pre-service-teachers’ development of TPACK, revealing the important position of pedagogical knowledge and detailed perspectives on how pre-service teachers view their readiness to use ICT in education.

scholarly journals Beliefs on the teacher professionalism and teaching models in initial teacher education

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rocío Serrano Rodríguez ◽  
Alfonso Pontes Pedrajas ◽  
Elisa Pérez Gracia
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Education ◽  
Teacher Training ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Professionalism ◽  
Training Curriculum ◽  
Teaching Models ◽  
Teachers Beliefs

ABSTRACT The aim of this paper is to know student teachers’ beliefs on the teaching profession as well as its relation with diverse teaching methods. A Likert scale questionnaire collected the opinions of 361 students enrolled in the master’s degree in secondary education teacher training. A descriptive methodology was applied through a questionnaire in order to collect the data. The most extended beliefs concerning the teaching profession are identified, emphasising future teachers’ interests in more practical teaching and student-centred approach. This investigation highlights the importance of including within the curriculum of pre-service secondary education teachers, activities that enable students reflect about their own beliefs regarding the teaching profession for the reasons that they are decisive to introduce changes in the teacher training curriculum.

scholarly journals Gaining insight into teaching profession by using film: a preservice teachers’ experience

2019 ◽  
Vol 290 ◽  
pp. 13003
Author(s):  
Daniela-Maria Creţu
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Instructional Tools ◽  
Analysis Technique ◽  
Second Year ◽  
Insight Into

Films can be used as instructional tools in higher education in different disciplines. In the context of teacher education, films with and about teachers and pupils are valuable resources for learning about the teaching profession. The purpose of this study is to examine the pre-service teachers’ reflections on a film with an educational content and message - The Triumph (The Ron Clark Story, 2006). One research question guided the investigation: What are the students’ cognitive and emotional gains for the teaching profession as a result of watching this film? The participants consisted of eighty-two second year students, enrolled in an initial teacher education program at a Romanian university. At the end of a one-semester course, named Pedagogy (Instruction and Students’ Assessment) pre-service teachers were invited to watch a film and then to reflect about it, by completing an open-ended questionnaire. The responses were analyzed through the content analysis technique. Examples of comments made by preservice teachers are presented and analyzed. The results show a range of understandings gained by future teachers through the use of the film.

Sources of Conflict During the School Experience of Pre-Service Physical Education Teachers

1997 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 116-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colin Hardy
Keyword(s):  
Physical Education ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Physical Education Teachers ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Beliefs And Values ◽  
School Partnership ◽  
One Year ◽  
The One ◽  
The University

The context for the present study is the one-year initial teacher education course for postgraduates specialising in physical education at the secondary level. The research focus is on the conflicts which pre service teachers experience during the school practice element of a University- School Partnership Scheme based on the new government criteria and procedures introduced in the DFE Circular No. 9/92 for England and Wales. Fifty-three postgraduate students completed report forms about their teaching concerns at the end of each week of a six-week and an eleven-week block practice, and, of the 1510 concerns reported, 257 (17.02%) were classed as conflicts. A content analysis of the 'conflict' concerns revealed four general categories of conflict, and these were related to school staff and peers, the school and university working procedures, the demands from the school and the university, and beliefs and values about the teaching profession. The paper argues that such conflicts are viewed with much apprehension by pre-service teachers because of the additional responsibilities and powers placed on school subject mentors and the more limited time available in the university to prepare for the practical activities. Therefore, it is suggested that University-School Partnership Schemes should build in arrangements that give pre service teachers the opportunity to resolve deep-seated problems by being able to approach neutral staff from either the university or the school.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document