scholarly journals Portraits of primary school pre-service teachers at a South African university: Implications for nuanced student support

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarita Ramsaroop ◽  
Nadine Petersen
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
South African ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
School Teacher ◽  
Student Support ◽  
Primary School Teacher ◽  
First Year ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Primary School Teacher Education

In this article, we report on a study of two South African primary school teacher education cohorts undertaken to investigate and understand their readiness to succeed in higher education and to plan support accordingly. Using the methodology of portraiture, we generated data from a combination of student questionnaires and examination results. Qualitative content analysis enabled the construction of six personas and three main themes. The portraits helped with an understanding of the complexity of the themes, in particular with how an identification of both the malleable and non-malleable elements affecting students' lives could inform and shape interventions for successful transition into university. More specifically, the dominance of particular characteristics in the personas provided information about which student groups required the most psychosocial and academic support and where it was required. The portraits also helped us to gauge the value of existing first-year initiatives, such as the educational excursion, for promoting student enculturation and in overcoming their initial anxieties and preconceptions. We argue for more nuanced information about students to inform a multi-pronged approach to student support that may extend much longer than teacher educators anticipate.

scholarly journals What is history? Views from a primary school teacher education programme

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Godsell
Keyword(s):  
Primary School ◽  
School Teacher ◽  
Education Programme ◽  
The United States ◽  
Primary School Teacher ◽  
First Year ◽  
School Students ◽  
Moral Value ◽  
Learning History ◽  
Primary School Teacher Education

This article focuses on how history as a concept is understood by first-year BA Education students. Students were asked to respond to the following questions: ‘what is history?’, ‘what is history to you?’ and ‘who writes history?’ Verbal and written consent was obtained from the students to participate in the study. Their answers demonstrated a concept of history that is imbued with a spatial and temporal as well as ideological and moral position. This article argues that, through the data, it seems that for these students the concept of history emerges as an object that is given a moral value, rather than history being seen as having value as a knowledge or skill set. I draw parallels between my findings and Donovan and Bransford’s work on how history is learnt by primary school students in the United States. There are clear similarities between the primary school understandings recorded in Donovan and Bransford, and first-year university understandings that emerged in the data of this study. This article argues that if history is understood as moral, as ‘good’ or ‘bad’, critical thinking and analytic skills which learning history can imbue are vastly diminished. Furthermore, this article uses Lauren Berlant’s concept of ‘cruel optimism’ to consider the implications of how the participating students understand what history is.

scholarly journals STUDENTS' EXPECTATIONS AND REFLECTIONS ABOUT PIANO COURSES IN FINNISH PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER EDUCATION

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 ◽  
pp. 501 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anu Sepp ◽  
Lenita Hietanen ◽  
Jukka Enbuska ◽  
Vesa Tuisku ◽  
Inkeri Ruokonen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Music Education ◽  
Primary School ◽  
Core Curriculum ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
School Teacher ◽  
Primary School Teacher ◽  
Literacy Knowledge ◽  
Primary School Teacher Education ◽  
Piano Playing

In Finland, music subject is part of National Core Curriculum and in the primary school stage (grades 1-6) usually taught by primary school teachers. To assure instruction of music education on a highly professional level, pre-service teachers are taught piano course as part of music didactics.This article reports findings of the pilot study carried out as part of ArcTop research project between University of Lapland and University of Helsinki to develop and improve primary school teacher education in both institutions. Students' expectations and reflections are  examined through the lens of self-efficacy theory by Bandura (1977, 1986, 1997).The data were collected using an open-ended questionnaire to find out students experiences in piano playing and music reading as well as their self-reflections about the learning process. The answers (n = 97) were processed statistically and analysed using qualitative content analysis. The results revealed that  most of the participants (n = 64) were inexperienced in piano playing. At the same time they were highly motivated and eager to learn and practice. The students also mentioned the lack of  elementary music literacy knowledge and the insufficient number of contact lessons which give grounds for making further arrangements in the curriculum. 

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