Examining the Practices of Generating an Aim Statement in a Teacher Preparation Networked Improvement Community

2021 ◽  
Vol 123 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-32
Author(s):  
Carlos Sandoval ◽  
Elizabeth A. Van Es
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Language Acquisition ◽  
Continuous Improvement ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
Improvement Science ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Multilingual Students ◽  
Video Recordings ◽  
Audio Video

Background and Context Continuous improvement and networked improvement science have emerged as prominent approaches to improving schools. Although continuous improvement approaches have generated promising results in education, how these efforts come to be enacted remains a crucial question that can generate insight into how these approaches can be improved. Purpose and Objective Our study is focused on understanding how improvement is performed by focusing on the process of generating a shared aim statement in a teacher-preparation improvement network. We seek to understand how practitioners within a network a) engage a central tension (between language acquisition and multilingualism), b) negotiate this tension, and c) reach a settlement that results in a shared aim. Setting This study takes place in a teacher-preparation improvement network as part of the California Teacher Education Research and Improvement Network (CTERIN). The focus of the network centered on improving the preparation of candidates to build on multilingual students’ strengths. Participants The improvement network that is the focus of our research consists of 49 teacher educators across eight teacher preparation programs as well as three facilitators who were part of CTERIN, including the two authors of this study. Research Design Our analysis examines the interactions among teacher educators and improvement facilitators to unveil the practices that they engaged in to produce a shared aim. Data for this study include audio and video recordings of three 90-minute videoconference meetings, audio–video of a two-day in-person convening, and improvement artifacts such as fishbone and driver diagrams. Findings Our study highlights the range of practices that practitioners engaged in and how those evolved as they negotiated and settled a tension between language acquisition and multilingualism. As the process of generating an aim unfolded, teacher educators engaged in the practices of aspirationalizing, dualizing, recentering, rerouting, clarifying, tuning, and converting. Conclusions and Recommendations We argue that these practices make visible that the process of generating an aim statement is a complex and complicated process that requires negotiation and a recognition that some perspectives are foregrounded and others are backgrounded. Understanding this process has implications for how improvement facilitators engage practitioners in the process of doing improvement and generates theory of improvement implementation by highlighting how disparate teams, individuals, and organizations reaching sharedness requires negotiating, foregrounding, and backgrounding.

Developing Critical Dispositions in Teacher Education Programs

2019 ◽  
pp. 106-124
Author(s):  
Jarrett D. Moore
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
American Education ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
Purpose Of Education

This chapter advocates for the (re)framing of critical thinking from a skill to a disposition and proposes a framework whereby teacher education programs can create space for pre-service teachers to develop a critical disposition. By studying the context of American education and schooling and their corporate interest, pre-service teachers along with teacher educators can start to unravel the discourse and power inherent in American education. Understanding how these concepts lead to hegemony can begin the process of creating a counterhegemonic movement among American educators that includes the reclaiming of the purpose of education, raising pertinent epistemological question, and practicing critical self-reflection. The final part of the new framework for developing critical dispositions is a reintroduction of broader theoretical concerns into teacher preparation programs.

Multimodal Composition for Teacher Candidates

2016 ◽  
pp. 1252-1272
Author(s):  
Dana L. Grisham ◽  
Linda Smetana
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Graduate Students ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Literacy Instruction ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
Multimodal Composition ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
K 12

This chapter reports on a study conducted by two teacher educators in literacy instruction and provides examples of the ways teacher educators can “distribute” technology-rich writing instruction across their coursework. Using the TPACK model, 21 graduate students in a preservice course on curriculum planned, taught, and reflected on generative technology lessons with real students in real classrooms. Data collected included the lessons and reflections, ePoster presentations, and other writings by students on the topic. Findings indicate that graduate students chose a diverse array of technology tools, and planned carefully, matching tools with desired learning outcomes. Although graduate students initially felt “pushed” by the assignment, post lesson reflections showed positive changes in attitude and appreciation for the motivation and engagement of their K-12 students with the technology lessons. Graduate students also derived a more realistic picture of planning for instruction. Implications involve the necessity of supporting 21st century literacies in teacher preparation programs. Examples of lessons and tools used are included.

scholarly journals Systematic Identification, Implementation, and Evaluation of High-Leverage Practices in Teacher Preparation

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 4-15
Author(s):  
Andrew Markelz ◽  
Benjamin Riden ◽  
Lawrence Maheady
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Student Outcomes ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Content Area ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
Exceptional Children ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Is Research ◽  
Systematic Identification

An emphasis on practice-based teacher education has led the Council for Exceptional Children to develop 22 high-leverage practices (HLPs). Each HLP is research based, used frequently in classrooms, and applicable across age, grade, and content area. In this article, we discuss the importance of a systematic process for teacher preparation programs to consider when identifying, implementing, and evaluating HLPs. The extent and quality that HLPs are integrated within preparation programs will affect graduating teacher’s professional readiness and their ability to immediately affect student outcomes. It is our intent that this article supports teacher educators and scholars to continue the conversation around HLPs in teacher preparation. In addition, we encourage preparation programs to consider data-based decision making when identifying, implementing, and evaluating HLPs within program curricula.   

Embedding Elementary Teacher Education Coursework in Local Classrooms

2017 ◽  
pp. 262-292 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barbara Ann Swartz ◽  
Jeremy M. Lynch ◽  
Sararose D. Lynch
Keyword(s):  
Elementary School ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Elementary Students ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Classroom Teacher ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Field Placements ◽  
Student Reflections

Accrediting bodies and research have noted the divide between coursework and experiences pre-service teachers (PSTs) have during field placements. To address this issue, three teacher educators have integrated McDonald et al.'s (2013) cycle of learning to embed their teacher preparation coursework in the areas of mathematics and special education into local elementary school classrooms. These instructional activities consisted of PSTs experiencing or learning about the activity in the college/university classroom, co-planning and rehearsing the activity at the college/university with the teacher educator, enacting the activity individually or in pairs with whole class or small groups of elementary students at the elementary school, and then debriefing as a group with the teacher educator and classroom teacher after working with the elementary students. The three courses summarized in this chapter, and the subsequent student reflections, validate the effectiveness of this practice and signal a need for broader adoption in other content areas across teacher preparation programs.

Today's Demands on Education

2019 ◽  
pp. 42-68
Author(s):  
Linda M. Brown
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Effective Schools ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
Learning Needs ◽  
Quality Teachers ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Instruction And Learning

The concerns are growing when it comes to today's demands on education. This chapter will explain how demands on teachers are critical to student success. It is imperative that teacher preparation programs are preparing quality teachers who will contribute to effective schools and student learning. The scholarship of teaching and learning needs to accompany teacher education so that teacher educators can understand and communicate the complexity of instruction and learning. Teachers as professionals need to be able to make informed and accountable deliberations about how they will engage in their practice to increase student learning. Reflective practice needs to begin early in teacher preparation programs and continue throughout the preserves teachers' programs.

Embedding Diverse Children's Literature Throughout a Teacher Preparation Program

2021 ◽  
pp. 501-524
Author(s):  
Amy Tondreau ◽  
Zachary T. Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Children's Literature ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Book Club ◽  
Children’S Literature ◽  
Teacher Preparation Program ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
Preparation Program ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Administrative Team

This chapter explores the incorporation of diverse children's literature into a teacher preparation program, both in and beyond a required Literature for Children course. With the aim of cultivating positive reading identities for pre-service teachers, the authors focus on the process for implementing changes to build a culture of reading, so that pre-service teachers identify as life-long readers, and specifically readers who understand the importance of diverse texts. Changes to curriculum in writing, social studies, and special education methods courses are described, as is the creation of a college-wide book club. The goal of embedding children's literature in and across teacher preparation programs is for pre-service teachers to feel prepared to bring these texts into their own classrooms and to facilitate discussions on the topics that these texts raise with their students, administrative team, and parents. In order to do this, teacher educators need to provide ample opportunities for students to practice selecting, analyzing, and discussing diverse children's literature.

Beyond Damage-Centered Teacher Education: Humanizing Pedagogy for Teacher Educators and Preservice Teachers

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Dorinda J. Carter Andrews ◽  
Tashal Brown ◽  
Bernadette M. Castillo ◽  
Davena Jackson ◽  
Vivek Vellanki
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Critical Consciousness ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Humanizing Pedagogy

Background/Context In our best efforts to increase preservice teachers’ critical consciousness regarding the historical and contemporary inequities in the P–12 educational system and equip them to embody pedagogies and practices that counter those inequities, teacher educators often provide curricular and field experiences that reinforce the deficit mindsets that students bring to the teacher education classroom. For many social justice-oriented teacher educators, our best intentions to create humanizing experiences for future teachers can have harmful results that negatively impact preservice teachers’ ability to successfully teach culturally diverse students in a multitude of learning contexts. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study In this article, we propose a humanizing pedagogy for teacher education that is informed by our experiences as K–12 teachers and teacher educators in a university-based teacher preparation program. We focus on the general questions, How can university-based teacher preparation programs embody and enact a humanizing pedagogy? and What role can curriculum play in advancing a humanizing pedagogy in university-based teacher preparation programs? Research Design In this conceptual article, we theorize a humanizing pedagogy for teacher education and propose a process of becoming asset-, equity-, and social justice-oriented teachers. This humanizing pedagogy represents a strengths-based approach to teaching and learning in the teacher preparation classroom. Conclusions/Recommendations We propose core tenets of a humanizing pedagogy for teacher education that represent an individual and collective effort toward critical consciousness for preservice teachers and also for teacher educators. If university-based teacher education programs are committed to cultivating the development of asset-, equity-, and social justice-oriented preservice teachers, the commitments to critical self-reflection, resisting binaries, and enacting ontological and epistemological plurality need to be foundational to program structure, curricula alignment, and instructional practice.

scholarly journals Teacher Educators as Disruptors Redesigning Courses in Teacher Preparation Programs to Prepare white Preservice Teachers

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 72-88
Author(s):  
Shamaine Kyann Bertrand ◽  
Kisha Porcher
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Personal Narratives ◽  
Junior Faculty ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
White Institutions ◽  
Inclusive Approach

Many institutions of higher education, and their teacher preparation programs, have mission or core value statements that include terms such as diversity, equity, or social justice. The terms are meant to suggest an inclusive approach but it’s often difficult to see how those terms are operationalized. As two Black pre-tenure faculty members working in predominantly white institutions (PWIs), we have pushed our teacher preparation programs to go beyond putting keywords in mission statements and provide ways to follow through so future teachers can enact the concepts in their classrooms. We use Self-Study in Teacher Education Practices (S-STEP) and Critical Race Theory (CRT) to make meaning of our own narratives, the systems that negatively impact people of color, and signaling words within our teacher preparation programs. We use the data from our personal narratives to discuss ways junior faculty can act as disruptors to ensure white preservice teachers are better prepared for the field.  

scholarly journals Preservice Teachers’ Comfort Levels with Technology in an Online Standalone Educational Technology Course

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 70-86
Author(s):  
Kevin J. Graziano
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Educational Technology ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Personal Communication ◽  
Teacher Preparation Program ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Comfort Levels ◽  
Technology Course

While some researchers and teacher educators recommend the integration of technology throughout a teacher preparation program, it may not be realistic for all teacher preparation programs to comply with this recommendation. A lack of training, a lack of interest from faculty, limited faculty or facilities, and/or a lack of vision from educational leaders may prevent some teacher preparation programs from successfully integrating technology throughout the curriculum. For various reasons, colleges and schools of education may rely on standalone educational technology courses. The purpose of this study was to examine technology comfort levels of preservice teachers who completed an online standalone educational technology course with pedagogy and content integrated into the course curriculum. Findings reveal there were no statistically significant mean differences between students’ comfort levels using technology for personal communication and to teach academic content. The findings have implications for teacher preparation programs and teacher educators.

scholarly journals Voices from the Field

2012 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 49-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nancy Bacharach ◽  
Teresa Washut Heck
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Student Teaching ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
Teaching Model ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
School Partnerships ◽  
Traditional Student ◽  
University School Partnerships

Teacher preparation programs face continued scrutiny and to address these concerns it is imperative that teacher educators examine all aspects of their current preparation programs. The student teaching experience is a critical component in teacher preparation, and must undergo careful review. The SCSU co-teaching model provides a proven alternative to the traditional student teaching experience. This model not only strengthens university/school partnerships, but also has the ability to provide benefits for all stakeholders.

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