Nonbinary Beginning Teachers: Gender, Power, and Professionalism in Teacher Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 123 (9) ◽  
pp. 199-222
Author(s):  
Lee Iskander
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Coming Out ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Gender Expectations ◽  
Gender Based ◽  
K 12

Background/Context: In recent years, Canadian and U.S. schools have increased efforts to recognize gender diversity and reduce gender-based harassment, in large part because a growing number of young people are coming out as transgender or nonbinary in adolescence. However, little research explores nonbinary teachers’ experiences or investigates barriers to their entry into the profession. Purpose: This article begins to fill this gap by showing how six nonbinary beginning teachers navigated gender expectations, worked to appear professional, and negotiated racial and gendered power dynamics in their initial teacher education and preservice teaching. Participants: Participants include six nonbinary preservice teachers of diverse gender expression and racial and class backgrounds who were enrolled or had recently completed teacher education in North America when the study was conducted in 2018. Research Design: This qualitative study employed in-depth, phenomenological interviews. This article uses Sara Ahmed’s concept of the “willful subject” to consider how participants negotiated the relationship between their gender identities as nonbinary people and their nascent professional identities as teachers. Conclusion: These beginning teachers expressed concern about succeeding in their teacher education programs and worried about how others perceived them because of the expectation of normative gender implicit in teaching’s professional norms. This expectation was enforced by the profession’s gatekeepers more than by K–12 students and their families, who participants generally described as hospitable or indifferent to having a nonbinary teacher. If the profession is to genuinely welcome gender diversity, it must recognize and work to deconstruct its own gender normativity.

scholarly journals Preservice teacher mobile investigation and interpretation of everyday mathematics across settings

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jeremiah (Remi) Kalir
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Preservice Teacher ◽  
Mobile Learning ◽  
Mathematics Teacher ◽  
Mathematics Learning ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Education ◽  
Everyday Mathematics ◽  
Daily Lives ◽  
K 12

This study reports upon design-based research that enacted mobile mathematics learning for preservice teachers across classroom, community, and online settings. The integration of mobile learning within mathematics teacher education is understudied, and it is necessary to better understand mobile technology affordances when locating disciplinary inquiry across settings. A curriculum module was designed to support preservice teachers’ participation in two mathematics education and mobile learning repertoires: a) mobile investigation of disciplinary concepts situated in community locations and circumstances, and b) mobile interpretation of connections between school and everyday mathematics. This exploratory case study analyzes three module iterations and identifies the qualities of preservice teachers’ cross-setting disciplinary connections. Reported mobile learning outcomes include connections preservice teachers produced among mathematics concepts, mathematical actions, and material objects, and also connections produced between school mathematics and everyday circumstances. Findings indicate preservice teachers established disciplinary connections when participating in commercial and civic activities relevant to their daily lives. Yet other mathematics concepts and practices were either seldom investigated, only vaguely described, or not representative of K-12 students’ interests and cultures. Design recommendations and implications are suggested for subsequent attempts at situating preservice teacher learning outside of the mathematics teacher education classroom and across multiple settings through mobile learning.

scholarly journals Developing Communities of Praxis: Bridging the theory practice divide in teacher education

2013 ◽  
Vol 47 (3) ◽  
pp. 359-377 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael James Anderson ◽  
Kelly Freebody
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teach For America ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Practical Significance ◽  
Education Policies ◽  
The University ◽  
New Education

Teacher education in universities is under pressure. In many new education policies there is a renewed focus on teacher quality, and therefore quality initial teacher education. In some countries this renewed focus has led to a resurgence of “alternative approaches” to teacher education such as Teach for America / Australia. One of the most persistent complaints about pre-service teacher education is that educational theory presented in these programs does not relate sufficiently to the real work of teachers. In an attempt to overcome these real or perceived divides, tertiary drama educators at the University of Sydney constructed a professional experience program based on both the community of practice model (Lave and Wenger, 1991) and Frierean notions of praxis (1972). The community of praxis approach emphasises the importance of integrating theory and practice to support the development of beginning teachers. This article outlines the development, implementation, and evaluation of this approach, including the reasoning behind its foundation and the theoretical and practical significance of such an approach for teacher-educators.

Informing Teaching Through Community Engagement

2018 ◽  
pp. 278-298
Author(s):  
Trish Lewis ◽  
Letitia Hochstrasser Fickel ◽  
Glynne Mackey ◽  
Des Breeze
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Community Engagement ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Diverse Range ◽  
White Middle Class ◽  
Lower Socioeconomic

Preservice teacher education programs prepare teachers for a variety of educational settings that serve a diverse range of children. Research suggests that many graduates lack confidence and the capability to teach those from backgrounds different from their own, including children from different cultural and linguistic backgrounds, those from lower socioeconomic backgrounds, and children with additional learning needs. In the bicultural, and increasingly multicultural, New Zealand context, preservice teachers are overwhelmingly from White, middle-class, monolingual backgrounds. This chapter offers a case study of the development of a community engagement course within an initial teacher education degree program. Based on Kolb's model of experiential learning and Moll's notions of funds of knowledge and identity, the course aims to enhance preservice teachers' knowledge of the lives of children they teach, and their dispositions and cultural competence for teaching, through personal and professional interaction with the community.

How ePortfolios Support Development in Early Teacher Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 2130-2137
Author(s):  
Victor McNair ◽  
Kevin Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Technology Policy ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Qualified Teachers ◽  
One Year ◽  
Graduate Certificate

This chapter reports on a pilot study which examined how student teachers of a one-year Post Graduate Certificate in Education course in Northern Ireland developed reflective ePortfolios and then used them to embed ICT in their first (Induction) year as qualified teachers. Two central themes emerged. First, the process of constructing the ePortfolio developed confidence among the beginning teachers which supported them when faced with the challenges of starting teaching. Second, the ePortfolio was used to ease the transition from Initial Teacher Education to Induction, but where there is a lack of critical reflection, barriers to professional development can emerge. These issues are discussed within the context of technology policy, teacher training, and emerging technology in Northern Ireland.

How ePortfolios Support Development in Early Teacher Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 474-485 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor McNair ◽  
Kevin Marshall
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Northern Ireland ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
Technology Policy ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Qualified Teachers ◽  
One Year ◽  
Graduate Certificate

This chapter reports on a pilot study which examined how student teachers of a one-year Post Graduate Certificate in Education course in Northern Ireland developed reflective ePortfolios and then used them to embed ICT in their first (Induction) year as qualified teachers. Two central themes emerged. First, the process of constructing the ePortfolio developed confidence among the beginning teachers which supported them when faced with the challenges of starting teaching. Second, the ePortfolio was used to ease the transition from Initial Teacher Education to Induction, but where there is a lack of critical reflection, barriers to professional development can emerge. These issues are discussed within the context of technology policy, teacher training, and emerging technology in Northern Ireland.

Teaching About Homelessness Through Multicultural Picture Books and Virtual Reality in Preservice Teacher Education

2020 ◽  
pp. 004723952095869
Author(s):  
Taraneh Matloob Haghanikar ◽  
Lisa M. Hooper
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Virtual Reality ◽  
Preservice Teacher ◽  
Instructional Strategy ◽  
Preservice Teacher Education ◽  
Emerging Technology ◽  
Cultural Knowledge ◽  
Multicultural Children's Literature ◽  
K 12

Using multicultural children’s literature is one way to help preservice teachers build cultural knowledge and awareness about diversity. Another possible practice, not commonly used, is the addition of emerging technology in conjunction with conventional instructional approaches. In this article, we reviewed incorporating a lesson about homelessness in preservice teachers’ ( N = 46) respective curricula. We provided an illustrative example of the class and assignment process employed to facilitate preservice teachers’ knowledge, skills, and awareness that can be used with K-12 students who are experiencing homelessness. The goal of these assignments was to initiate or continue the conversation about building knowledge related to effective teaching practices about diversity in general and homelessness in particular. In this article, we shared an innovative instructional strategy that might lead to a shift in educators’ approaches, a move toward more diverse curriculum.

scholarly journals Scoping the meaning of ‘critical’ in mathematical thinking for Initial Teacher Education

2017 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 713-728 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Furness ◽  
Bronwen Cowie ◽  
Beverley Cooper
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
New Zealand ◽  
Adult Learners ◽  
Mathematical Thinking ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Adult Participation ◽  
Achievement Data ◽  
Key Policy ◽  
Administrative Tasks

Current strong emphasis on literacy and numeracy in New Zealand educational policy, as elsewhere, reverberates in different ways in institutions charged with children’s and adults’ learning. A common response is to locate literacy and numeracy centrally in programmes aimed at preparing children for and enhancing adult participation in 21st century life and work. These agendas overlap in preservice teacher education. Preservice teachers enter Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes as adult learners engaged in building literacy and numeracy capability for teaching across the curriculum, working with student achievement data and administrative tasks, aspects of which may also be useful in their wider lives. These activities involve making judgements that require critical thinking, another key policy focus in New Zealand and internationally for children’s and adults’ learning. This article explores meanings of ‘critical’ in the context of mathematical thinking in ITE programmes. Given that mathematically based arguments can have both helpful and harmful consequences for humanity, we propose that development in preservice teachers’ capacity for critical mathematical thinking is crucial. In these times of significant global change we advocate for development of the kind of critical mathematical thinking that facilitates teachers working actively in pursuit of a socially just and sustainable world.

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.

scholarly journals "I can't believe I just said that" : discursive filters and beginning mathematics teachers' enactment of ambitious practice

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Cara Haines
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Mathematics Teachers ◽  
Teaching Methods ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
Institutional Settings ◽  
Multiple Case ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Pedagogical Discourses

After being introduced to "ambitious" teaching methods during teacher education, only some beginning teachers attempt to enact those methods, as others gravitate toward the conventional practices that overwhelm K-12 settings. To learn more about why, I conducted a multiple-case study of four beginning secondary mathematics teachers who graduated from three cohorts of one teacher education program and went on to teach in two different schools. Through longitudinal interviews and classroom observations, I examined the teachers' enactment of ambitious practice through the lenses of their discursive teaching identities (critical pedagogical discourses) and perceptions of messages about teaching circulating within their institutional settings (contextual discourses). Findings revealed that the extent to which teachers' critical pedagogical discourses acted as resources for filtering out contextual pressures to teach in conventional ways helped to explain their enactment of ambitious practice. Among other implications, these results suggest that teachers' discourse development should be a more explicit focus of teacher education.

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