Analyzing the Teaching of Professional Practice

2011 ◽  
Vol 113 (12) ◽  
pp. 2878-2896
Author(s):  
Pamela A. Moss
Keyword(s):  
Professional Practice ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Professional Educators ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Intended Learning Outcomes ◽  
Background Context ◽  
Over Time

Background/Context Based on their case studies of preparation for professional practice in the clergy, teaching, and clinical psychology, Grossman and colleagues (2009) identified three key concepts for analyzing and comparing practice in professional education—representations, decomposition, and approximations—to support professional educators in learning from each other's practice. In this special issue, two teams of teacher educators (Kucan & Palincsar, and Boerst, Sleep, Ball, & Bass) put these concepts to work in representing their practice of preparing novice teachers to lead discussions with their students. Purpose/Objective/Research Questions/Focus of Study This analytic essay presents an argument for the importance of (a) adding a fourth key concept to the Grossman et al. framework—conceptions of quality—and (b) using these four concepts to trace novices’ learning opportunities as they unfold over time in order to serve the goal of facilitating instructive comparisons in professional education. Research Design In this analytic essay, I analyze the three articles to examine how conceptions of quality are already entailed in the characterizations of practice. My analysis focuses on the kinds of criteria or “qualities” that are foregrounded; the grain size of practice to which the conception of quality is applied; and the ways in which variations in criteria— what counts as more or less advanced—are represented. I then contrast the sequence of learning opportunities and assessments described in the articles on discussion leading in terms of these four concepts. Conclusions/Recommendations Even instructional practices that appeared quite similar when described through the lenses of approximations, decomposition, and representations looked quite different when conceptions of quality and learning opportunities and assessments were traced over time. Representing these “learning trajectories”—which entail an understanding of the evolving dialectical relationships between learning opportunities and (at least intended) learning outcomes—seems essential to understanding and learning from the teaching practice.

Learning Opportunity and Preparedness for Practice: Perceptions from Dietetics Programs in Canada

2005 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 221-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maureen Rose ◽  
Lynn Mcalpine ◽  
Irene Strychar
Keyword(s):  
Professional Practice ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Learning Opportunity ◽  
Entry Level ◽  
Program Coordinators ◽  
Preparedness For Practice ◽  
Integrated Programs ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Planning Implementation

Purpose: This study determined dietetics trainees’ and program coordinators’ perceptions about trainees’ preparedness to practice, based on Dietitians of Canada’s 145 competency statements. Depth and breadth of learning opportunity were also determined with definitions of these two concepts based on Elliott’s view of professional education and practice. Methods: Research questions were: 1. How prepared were trainees for practice? 2. What were the depth and breadth of learning opportunity in assessment, planning, implementation and evaluation? 3. How many learning opportunities were there in professional practice and communication? 4. Did responses vary between integrated programs and internships or between trainees and program coordinators? Results: Of 313 trainees, 168 (54%) responded and 23 (72%) of 32 coordinators responded. Preparedness was rated as “well prepared” or better for 25 (56%) of the 45 main competencies. For every competency, preparedness ratings were higher in integrated programs than in internships. Learning opportunities were rated as sufficient in depth and breadth or number for 88 (61%) of the 145 competency statements. Low ratings for preparedness were accompanied by low ratings for depth and/or breadth or number of learning opportunities. Conclusions: The notion of depth and breadth is useful as a framework to assess learning opportunities for developing entry-level competence.

scholarly journals TEACHER EDUCATOR PROFESSIONALISM AND STUDENT TEACHER LEARNING IN NIGERIAN UNIVERSITIES

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 143-159
Author(s):  
Saheed Rufai ◽  
Adeola Oyenike Adeosun ◽  
Akinola Saliu Jimoh ◽  
Bello Musa
Keyword(s):  
General Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Teacher Learning ◽  
Student Teacher ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Main Theme ◽  
The Impact

Of the three components constituting teacher education curriculum, namely general education, specialized education and professional education, the professional education component is arguably accorded the highest consideration in the scholarship of teaching. However, there is an emerging concern over the involvement of non-education specialists in the teaching of this component. Yet, there is little evidence of sufficient engagement with this concern in the Nigerian context. As a sequel to a study on pedagogical misconceptions by student teachers, this paper examines the impact of teacher educators' professionalism on student teachers' learning in Nigerian universities. Through the analytic method, the study engaged with data collected through the instrumentality of official records like Faculty brochures, lecture notes developed by teacher educators, systematic observations by the researchers, and semi-structured interviews involving selected participants.  The qualitative study employs a constructivist paradigm that methodically situates data and analysis in the context of the experiences and perceptions of both the participants and researchers, and focusses on the main theme, namely teacher educator's knowledge as a predictor of student-teacher learning, which emerged from the data for the earlier study as collected in three universities where the present lead researcher assessed prospective teachers on teaching practice in their third and fourth years, in his capacity as teaching practice supervisor. In exposing the effect of teacher educator professionalism on prospective teacher learning, the present study revealed instances of miseducation by some of the teacher educators involved in teaching professional education courses, which substantially accounts for the student teachers' pedagogical misconceptions

Teachers’ Opportunities to Learn through Collaboration over Time: A Case Study of Math Teacher Teams in Schools under Pressure to Improve

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (12) ◽  
pp. 1-40
Author(s):  
Hayley Weddle
Keyword(s):  
Deep Learning ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Opportunities To Learn ◽  
Math Instruction ◽  
Collective Work ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Collaborative Cultures ◽  
High Depth ◽  
Over Time

Background/Context While current research provides key insights about successful collaboration in which teachers experience deep learning and practice change, few studies analyze the content of teachers’ collaborative conversations about instruction. Even fewer explore how the content of collaborative conversations evolves over time, making it difficult to understand the impact of shifting policies, priorities, and personnel on teachers’ collective work. Purpose and Research Questions To explore teachers’ opportunities to learn through collaboration, I draw on the following research questions: How does the depth of teachers’ opportunities to learn from collaborative conversations evolve over time? In what ways do contextual factors (e.g., personnel, tools, leadership expectations, coaching) influence these opportunities to learn through collaboration? Participants This study is situated in two urban middle schools under significant pressure to improve student achievement. I selected one grade-level math team from each school, analyzing their conversations taking place during collaboration meetings. Research Design To better understand teachers’ collaborative learning, I rely on qualitative case study methods. Data collected include interviews and observations of two teacher collaboration groups over four years. I use Horn and colleagues’ (2017) taxonomy of teachers’ opportunities to learn in conjunction with cultural historical activity theory (Cole & Engeström, 2007) to examine teachers’ collective learning over time as this process unfolds in context. Findings/Results Across both groups, expectations from leadership to improve school performance shaped teachers’ opportunities to learn, as did the presence of teachers whose beliefs about math instruction foregrounded student thinking and exploration. Findings demonstrated that for one team, fluctuations in depth of learning also depended on the agendas and protocols used to frame collective work. For the second team, depth of learning opportunities was connected to shifts in personnel and group norms over time. For both teams, high-depth conversations represented no more than a third of the meetings observed in each year, reflecting the complexity of developing effective collaborative cultures supporting deep learning. Conclusions/Recommendations While high-depth opportunities to learn (OTLs) were infrequent for both teams, the reasons for this scarcity were shaped by each team's context. Leaders hoping to develop collaborative cultures with richer teacher learning opportunities should consider multiple factors shaping OTLs, including collaborative team norms, teachers’ beliefs about math instruction, protocols guiding discussions, and the role of accountability pressures in shaping expectations for collective work.

Interruptions: Thinking-in-Action in Teacher Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-26
Author(s):  
Cara Furman ◽  
Shannon Larsen
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Classroom Observation ◽  
Teacher Inquiry ◽  
Methods Course ◽  
Reflective Journals ◽  
Ethical Choices ◽  
Narrative Format ◽  
Background Context

Background/Context This paper is a part of the special issue “Reimagining Research and Practice at the Crossroads of Philosophy, Teaching, and Teacher Education.” We center what follows on a practice used in undergraduate methods courses that we have termed Interruptions. Interruptions are a form of inter-class visitation in which faculty plan together, visit one another's classes, and publicly interrupt the teaching of the other with a variety of both pre-planned and spontaneous questions relating to the day's lesson. Research Design We weave together a conceptual analysis and qualitative research, drawing from a larger qualitative study conducted in one early childhood and one elementary undergraduate math methods course in Spring 2016. For the study, we co-planned eight lessons together (four in each course), and observed one another teach each of those lessons, while taking notes and purposely interrupting instruction. We collected survey data from students at the end of each classroom observation and interviewed two students from each class at the end of the term. We also kept reflective journals of our work. In this paper we deploy a narrative format to document teacher inquiry drawing upon our reflective journals and classroom observation to describe the development, enactment, and our response to Interruptions. Outcomes Our use of Interruptions pushed us to examine our own philosophical beliefs and how they were, or were not, enacted in our teaching practice. We highlight that the connections that emerged between philosophy and teacher education provided us with the necessary time to care for our ethical selves both in and out of the classroom. Specifically, we share how this exercise allowed us each to become more deliberately reflective about the work that we do and why and how we do it. Conclusions/Recommendations In addition to giving us time to slow down our teaching in order to think carefully about our choices while in the midst of teaching, we found that we also considered instructional implications long after the Interruptions were complete. Interruptions helped us think more deliberately about the ethical choices we made as educators and in the service of our students. Interruptions proved to have deep and long-lasting effects on our practice as teacher educators. Other practitioners who ground themselves in both philosophy and methods may benefit from similarly systematic approaches for examining their own practice with an eye towards improvements in teaching and understanding of the self.

scholarly journals Teacher Practice Spaces: Examples and Design Considerations

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Justin Reich ◽  
YJ Kim ◽  
Kevin Robinson ◽  
Dan Roy ◽  
Meredith Thompson
Keyword(s):  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Teacher Practice ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Design Considerations ◽  
Teacher Professional ◽  
Pedagogies Of Enactment ◽  
Games And Simulations

Teacher practice spaces are learning environments, inspired by games and simulations, that allow teachers to rehearse for and reflect upon important decisions in teaching. Practice-based teacher educators use a variety of approaches to simulation in methods courses and other professional learning opportunities, and existing simulations often attempt to holistically replicate authentic teaching conditions. We extend this work by developing new kinds of practice spaces that do not attempt to fully simulate teaching, but rather offer playful and creative opportunities for novice teachers to develop skills and dispositions valuable for teachers. We summarize six different practice spaces developed through design research, and then articulate a set of design considerations emerging from this work to expand the genre of pedagogies of enactment in teacher professional development.

Job Offer Negotiations: Helping Students Negotiate Their Job Offers

2020 ◽  
pp. 237929812096048
Author(s):  
Stephen D. Risavy
Keyword(s):  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Job Offers ◽  
Entire Career ◽  
Prospective Employer ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Management Students ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

Students who do not negotiate their job offers often leave value on the table, which will compound over time and perhaps throughout an entire career. The purpose of this article is to present a process that has been successfully used to instruct management students regarding what to communicate during their job offer negotiations. Sample statements are provided so that students can communicate with prospective employers in a way that will allow them to maximize the value of their job offers while maintaining the relationship with the prospective employer. The connections between this teaching practice and the extant research literature as well as research questions that emanate specifically from these connections are also discussed.

scholarly journals How Reducing Discomfort Impacts Peer Assessments of Preservice Teachers

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 6435
Author(s):  
Woong Lim ◽  
Ji-Won Son ◽  
Seung-Hae Kang
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Peer Review ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Feedback Process ◽  
Feedback Model ◽  
Critical Feedback

This study examined the effects of a feedback model called Peer Review of Teaching (PRT) on preservice teachers’ learning. In this model, preservice teachers (n = 81) participated in critical feedback on teaching demonstrations in the absence of presenters. Presented are four themes of the experience of teaching and sharing feedback including how the absence of a peer presenter impacted feedback process. Our findings suggest that teacher educators create intellectually safe and sensitive learning opportunities with critical feedback for preservice teachers to engage in a professional practice of peer assessments.

scholarly journals Developing an ePortfolio for Health Professional Educators

2011 ◽  
pp. 273-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Lawson ◽  
Debbie Kiegaldie ◽  
Brian Jolly
Keyword(s):  
Health Professional ◽  
Process Evaluation ◽  
Professional Education ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
First Year ◽  
Health Professional Education ◽  
Professional Educators ◽  
Approach To Teaching ◽  
Graduate Certificate

This chapter describes the development and implementation of an ePortfolio to support the Graduate Certificate in Health Professional Education (GCHPE) at Monash University, Australia. The GCHPE addresses the skills and knowledge of teachers working in health, and encourages the development of a professional approach to teaching practice. The ePortfolio was developed primarily to enable the preparation and sharing of reflective tasks and assessment items constructed from the workplace of the course participants, and to facilitate written peer and tutor feedback. The first interprofessional cohort completed the course in 2003. In this chapter, the development process, evaluation methods, and results of the first year of implementation will be summarized. Problems experienced in the development and implementation process are identified along with recommendations for further action.

scholarly journals Ecodesign—A Review of Reviews

2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 315
Author(s):  
Malte Schäfer ◽  
Manuel Löwer
Keyword(s):  
Success Factors ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Pollution Prevention ◽  
Past Research ◽  
The Past ◽  
Review Articles ◽  
Complete Life Cycle ◽  
Review Of Reviews ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Over Time

With the intent of summing up the past research on ecodesign and making it more accessible, we gather findings from 106 existing review articles in this field. Five research questions on terminology, evolution, barriers and success factors, methods and tools, and synergies, guide the clustering of the resulting 608 statements extracted from the reference. The quantitative analysis reveals that the number of review articles has been increasing over time. Furthermore, most statements originate from Europe, are published in journals, and address barriers and success factors. For the qualitative analysis, the findings are grouped according to the research question they address. We find that several names for similar concepts exist, with ecodesign being the most popular one. It has evolved from “end-of-pipe” pollution prevention to a more systemic concept, and addresses the complete life cycle. Barriers and success factors extend beyond the product development team to management, customers, policymakers, and educators. The number of ecodesign methods and tools available to address them is large, and more reviewing, testing, validation, and categorization of the existing ones is necessary. Synergies between ecodesign and other research disciplines exist in theory, but require implementation and testing in practice.

scholarly journals Bibliometric Analysis of the Literature on Measuring Techniques for Manipulating Financial Statements

Risks ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (7) ◽  
pp. 123
Author(s):  
Ioana Lavinia Safta ◽  
Andrada-Ioana Sabău (Popa) ◽  
Neli Muntean
Keyword(s):  
Bibliometric Analysis ◽  
Web Of Science ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Financial Statements ◽  
Research Papers ◽  
Creative Accounting ◽  
Measuring Techniques ◽  
Research Questions ◽  
Over Time

Creative accounting has its background since early studies in 1975, until the present time. It continues to be a subject of great interest for the companies and interested parties. Thus, the current paper will aim to answer the following proposed research questions: 1. Which are the most used methods for detecting the manipulation of financial statements in the literature? 2. Which are the terms that are most frequently encountered in the literature associated with “creative accounting? 3. Which are the journals that have the highest frequency of articles written on the topic “creative accounting”? 4. Over time, how did research evolve in the field of creative accounting? 5. Which countries are most preoccupied in publishing regarding this topic? To answer the research question 1, the models published in the literature for measuring manipulation techniques through creative accounting were reviewed and analyzed. For the remaining research questions, a bibliometric analysis for the publications in this area was performed. For collecting the sample, articles on this topic were selected from the international Web of Science database. Following this, a bibliometric analysis of the articles was performed, using the VOSviewer program. A total of 4045 publications on creative accounting were identified. Through the bibliometric analysis we have answered research question 2, by identifying the key words that have the closest proximity to creative accounting. To answer the remaining research questions, we identified the journals with the highest frequency of publication and the countries with the highest interest on the topic. It is especially important to evaluate the quality of this many research papers and to obtain valuable information.

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