scholarly journals Walking the Walk: Democratizing Change in Teacher Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Beasy ◽  
Mary Ann Hunter ◽  
David Hicks ◽  
Darren Pullen ◽  
Peter Brett ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
Agents Of Change ◽  
Trauma Informed ◽  
Social Environmental ◽  
Trauma Informed Practice ◽  
Cultural Justice ◽  
Education Transformation ◽  
Education Courses

In this essay, as a group of teacher educators, we discuss our experience of “walking the walk” of teacher education transformation at a time of urgent change. We reflect upon our process of integrating three key priorities in our preservice teacher education courses: education for sustainability; trauma-informed practice; and Indigenizing curriculum. Specifically, we reflect on how these processes were adapted according to the needs of individual courses and units, while at the same time making space for our strengths and our “unlearnings” as academics, and for the ethical considerations that troubled us. In this essay, we explore walking the walk of change and integrating social, environmental, and cultural justice principles in our work together toward equipping and enabling new teachers to be themselves agents of change.

Incorporating Social Justice Into Science Teacher Education Courses

2020 ◽  
pp. 208-224
Author(s):  
Seema Rivera ◽  
Amal Ibourk
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Science Teacher ◽  
Instructional Strategies ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Science Teacher Education ◽  
Teaching For Social Justice ◽  
Education Courses

In this chapter, the authors cover the importance and challenges of incorporating teaching for social justice in science teacher education courses. The chapter starts by providing an overview of the literature on social justice, specifically in science education, and define the terms social justice, equity, and diversity. Then, the authors, who are teacher educators from under-represented groups, share their own experiences about what led them to do social justice work. In addition, the authors present examples from their courses with their preservice teachers and instructional strategies they used. The chapter concludes with recommendations of ways in which we might consider implementing social justice practices in teacher preparation courses.

scholarly journals Integrating Education for Sustainability in Preservice Teacher Education: A Case Study From a Regional Australian University

2013 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 152-164 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reece Mills ◽  
Louisa Tomas
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teacher ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Preservice Teacher Education ◽  
School Level ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Enabling Factors ◽  
Bachelor Of Education

AbstractEducation for Sustainability (EfS) has been prioritised in the School of Education at James Cook University (JCU), Townsville, Australia. This article presents a case study that explores the ways in which teacher educators integrate EfS in their teaching in the Bachelor of Education (BEd) (Primary) at JCU, and their perceptions of enablers and constraints. Two key findings arose from the analysis of semi-structured interviews conducted with four subject coordinators, and their subject outlines: (1) teacher educators at JCU integrate EfS in different ways through their choice of assessment, content and/or pedagogy; and (2) constraints operating at the school level, namely teacher educators’ perceptions and understanding of EfS, were perceived to be salient challenges to the integration of EfS in the program. Vision, leadership and funding at the university level were also identified as enabling factors that warrant further investigation. Findings contribute to existing literature regarding the integration of EfS in preservice teacher education, and serve to inform practice at JCU and universities more broadly.

scholarly journals Developing Knowledge and Leadership in Pre-Service Teacher Education Systems

2015 ◽  
Vol 31 (2) ◽  
pp. 194-207 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo-Anne Ferreira ◽  
Lisa Ryan ◽  
Julie Davis
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Education For Sustainability ◽  
Change Strategies ◽  
Education Systems ◽  
Pre Service Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Education Institutions ◽  
Pre Service Teacher ◽  
Academic Area ◽  
Change Efforts

AbstractPre-service teacher education institutions are large and complex organisations that are notoriously difficult to change. One factor is that many change efforts focus largely on individual pre-service teacher educators altering their practice. We report here on our experience using a model for effecting change, which views pre-service teacher education institutions and educators as a part of a much broader system. We identified numerous possibilities for, and constraints on, embedding change, but focus only on two in this article: participants’ knowledge of change strategies and their leadership capacities. As a result of our study findings and researcher reflections, we argue that being a leader in an academic area within pre-service teacher education does not equate to leadership knowledge or skills to initiate and enact systems-wide change. Furthermore, such leadership capacities must be explicitly developed if education for sustainability is to become embedded in pre-service teacher education.

Theory and practice in language teacher education

2019 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
pp. 450-459 ◽  
Author(s):  
Penny Ur
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
The Other ◽  
Professional Expertise ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Optimal Learning ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
Education Courses

We often hear language teachers say ‘Don't confuse me with theories, just give me practical ideas I can take into the classroom’. Many teacher educators and researchers, on the other hand, believe that (research-based) theory is more important, and should be used and implemented by practitioners. This paper will propose an approach to the use of theory and practice in teacher education that may help to resolve this dissonance. After some preliminary definitions and clarification of some common confusions, it is suggested that theory and practice in the context of language teaching are not polar opposites, but points on a continuum: any statement or guideline about teaching can be, more or less, practical or theoretical. The rest of the paper will focus on the questions how the various types of published theories or teacher theorizing can contribute to professional expertise, what is the place of practical tips or recipes, and how all these can be used or combined in teacher education courses to bring about optimal learning by novice teachers, or increased expertise on the part of the more experienced ones.

scholarly journals Inclusive practices and policies in language teacher education courses

2019 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Betânia Passos Medrado ◽  
Dilma Mello ◽  
Juliana Reichert Assunção Tonelli
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Educational Needs ◽  
State University ◽  
Inclusive Practices ◽  
Language Teacher Education ◽  
Language Teacher ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Education Courses

ABSTRACT The current legislation regulating basic education in Brazil (Brasil, 2013) and the inclusion of students with specific educational needs in regular schools (Brasil, 2015) warrant some reflections on the discourses and actions in the field of language teacher education. We have observed that the implementation of inclusive practices in Brazilian schools has been a time-consuming process as it implies not only changes in public policies, but also - and maybe primarily - several kinds of transformation in educational contexts. Considering the broad spectrum of students’ specific educational needs, given the innumerable types of pathologies and their nuances, as well as keeping in mind the assumption that teachers can only create some space for inclusive practices in the classroom if their education is based on critical, autonomous, and informed thinking (Celani, 2010), we consider it to be essential to explore the language teacher education landscape. It seems important to highlight that our understanding of inclusive practices is related to the process of identifying and reflecting on what social-affective, ethical, and pedagogical changes are needed, not only providing accessibility and architectural changes as is usually done. However, this perspective still requires some debate on the language teacher education courses in our country. In this paper, we discuss the inclusive practices, programs, and studies carried out at three Brazilian universities: Federal University of Paraíba, State University of Londrina, and Federal University of Uberlândia. Our aim is to analyze the way inclusive matters have been or can be incorporated into the pedagogical project, the teacher practicum, and/or the individual projects of teacher educators in the institutions mentioned in this paper.

scholarly journals O trabalho docente do professor formador no contexto atual das reformas e das mudanças no mundo contemporâneo

2019 ◽  
Vol 91 (227) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marli André ◽  
Patrícia Almeida ◽  
Marcia Hobold ◽  
Neusa Ambrosetti ◽  
Laurizete Passos ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Institutional Environment ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Research Data ◽  
Social Changes ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Current Context ◽  
Education Courses

Resumo O texto discute dados de uma pesquisa que focaliza o trabalho do professor formador. Optou-se por discutir, neste artigo, os principais desafios apontados pelos professores bem como as estratégias por eles utilizadas no enfrentamento das novas demandas ao seu trabalho. Foram realizados quatro estudos de caso em universidades de diferentes regiões do país, públicas e privadas. Foram entrevistados 53 professores formadores e analisados projetos pedagógicos. Os resultados das análises revelaram muitas mudanças no alunado que busca os cursos de formação, o que leva os professores formadores a reconstruir seus saberes e práticas. Essas mudanças não são incorporadas pelos projetos institucionais, deixando à iniciativa individual dos formadores a tarefa de enfrentá-las. Palavras-chave: trabalho docente, professor formador, contexto institucional, mudanças sociais Abstract The teacher educator teaching work in face of educational reforms and in the current context of a changing world This paper discusses research data that focuses on the work of the teacher educator. We chose to discuss in this article, the main challenges the teacher educators must face and the strategies they use in coping with the new demands on their work. We conducted four case studies in universities located in different regions of the country, public and private. We interviewed 53 teacher educators and reviewed documents. The results of the analysis revealed many changes in students who enter teacher education courses, which lead the teacher educators to reconstruct their knowledge and practices. These changes are not incorporated by institutional projects, leaving to individual teachers the burden of addressing them. Keywords: teaching work, teacher educator, institutional environment, social changes

scholarly journals Exploring culturally sustaining practice for indigenous learners in initial teacher education in Aotearoa New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Averill ◽  
Hiria McRae
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Education ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Teacher Understanding ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Education Courses ◽  
Indigenous Learners

Culturally sustaining practices are advocated for enhancing learning experiences of Indigenous learners. Developing the use of culturally sustaining practice is challenging, in part as many educators do not have Indigenous heritage and have not themselves experienced such teaching. Here we discuss an investigation into how we develop student teacher understanding of practice culturally sustaining for Indigenous Māori learners in our initial mathematics teacher education courses. We show how a four-dimension framework (accommodation, reformation, transformation, and representation) can expose strengths and opportunities for improvement in course content and approaches towards developing culturally sustaining practices. Factors considered include education policy, resources, course development and content. Affordances (e.g., ease of use) and challenges (e.g., contextal factors) of using the framework are discussed. We demonstrate that the framework can be a useful tool for teacher educators working to strengthen their focus on developing culturally sustaining teacher practice to enhance educational opportunities of Indigenous learners.

scholarly journals Exploring culturally sustaining practice for indigenous learners in initial teacher education in Aotearoa New Zealand

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. e202014
Author(s):  
Robin Averill ◽  
Hiria McRae
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Education ◽  
Ease Of Use ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Course Content ◽  
Teacher Understanding ◽  
Aotearoa New Zealand ◽  
Education Courses ◽  
Indigenous Learners

Culturally sustaining practices are advocated for enhancing learning experiences of Indigenous learners. Developing the use of culturally sustaining practice is challenging, in part as many educators do not have Indigenous heritage and have not themselves experienced such teaching. Here we discuss an investigation into how we develop student teacher understanding of practice culturally sustaining for Indigenous Māori learners in our initial mathematics teacher education courses. We show how a four-dimension framework (accommodation, reformation, transformation, and representation) can expose strengths and opportunities for improvement in course content and approaches towards developing culturally sustaining practices. Factors considered include education policy, resources, course development and content. Affordances (e.g., ease of use) and challenges (e.g., contextal factors) of using the framework are discussed. We demonstrate that the framework can be a useful tool for teacher educators working to strengthen their focus on developing culturally sustaining teacher practice to enhance educational opportunities of Indigenous learners.

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