Power, Knowledge, and the Rationalization of Teaching: A Genealogy of the Movement to Professionalize Teaching

1992 ◽  
Vol 62 (2) ◽  
pp. 123-155 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Labaree

In this article, David Labaree presents a genealogy of the current movement to professionalize teaching, focusing on two key factors that define the lineage of this movement and shape its present character and direction. First, he argues that teacher professionalization is an extension of the effort by teacher educators to raise their own professional status. Second,he examines the closely related effort by this same group to develop a science of teaching. Given these roots, the reforms proposed by the Carnegie Task Force on Teaching as a Profession and The Holmes Group may well do more for teacher educators than for teachers or students. More importantly, they may promote the rationalization of classroom instruction by generating momentum toward an authoritative, research-driven, and standardized vision of teaching practice.

Author(s):  
Rizalina G. Gomez

This study investigated the teachers’ adherence to the use of ICT for classroom instruction and its impact on the students’ learning. One hundred twenty-five (125) student teachers from the College of Education accomplished the questionnaires. Student teachers were found to have strong adherence to the use of ICT in teaching. This analysis elucidated teacher educators’ access to ICT, their intensity of use, their training skills, and their confidence in using ICT. Pedagogical practices included the use of web-enhanced learning activities and a combination of Web 2.0 tools in teaching. Exploratory multiple regression analysis addressed the importance of these different factors at the level of the educator in the use of ICT in teaching practice. Results showed students’ academic performance generally improved with increased teachers’ training skills. The intensive use of ICT as a tool in teaching had posed a significant impact on the students’ learning. It was therefore recommended for teacher educators to sustain the use of ICT as an effective strategy and continue to access the skills-based approach in the integration of ICT in education.   Keywords - Academic Performance, ICT, Web 2.0 tools, Web- Enhanced Learning Activities, Pre-service Teachers, Pedagogical Practices


Author(s):  
Mi Song Kim

AbstractRecent research in technology-enhanced learning environments has indicated the need to redefine the role of teachers as designers. This supports successful learners better able to adapt to twenty-first century education, in particular STEM education. However, such a repositioning of teaching as a design science challenges teachers to reconceptualize educational practice as an act of design, not in the artistic meaning of the word. Our recent research finding also indicated that teacher design knowledge (TDK) processes are often invisible to both the teacher educators and the teachers. To respond to these challenges, this paper will define TDK for STEM teachers by making TDK visible in the form of a TDK competency taxonomy. A systematic literature review was conducted to identify the characteristics of teaching practices in technology-enhanced learning environments. This TDK competency taxonomy consists of four main categories drawing on existing literature on teacher design work and teacher instructional design: data practice, design practice, knowledge creation practice, and professional teaching practice. The implications of these findings were discussed.


2018 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 157-169
Author(s):  
Mónica Lourenço

Purpose The purpose of this study is to understand the impact of a collaborative workshop, aimed to support teacher educators in embedding a “global outlook” in the curriculum on their perceived professional development. Design/methodology/approach The workshop included working sessions, during a period of 13 months, and was structured as participatory action research, according to which volunteer academics designed, developed and evaluated global education projects in their course units. Data were gathered through a focus group session, conducted with the teacher educators at a final stage of the workshop, and analyzed according to the principles of thematic analysis. Findings Results of the analysis suggest that the workshop presented a meaningful opportunity for teacher educators to reconstruct their knowledge and teaching practice to (re)discover the importance of collaborative work and to assume new commitments to themselves and to others. Originality/value The study addresses a gap in the existing literature on academic staff development in internationalization of the curriculum, focusing on the perceptions of teacher educators’, whose voices have been largely silent in research in the field. The study concludes with a set of recommendations for a professional development program in internationalization of the curriculum.


Author(s):  
Darshana Sharma

Teaching Practice is widely recognised as the sine-qua-non of any teacher education programme. It is a component in the teacher preparation programme where prospective teachers are provided with an opportunity to put their theoretical studies into practice, get feedback, reflect on practice and consequently further improve their teaching skills. As teaching practice is an important component of a teacher education programme, considerable attention must be given to make it more effective and fruitful. This paper is based on a research study conducted to know pre-service teachers' experiences of the quality of teaching practice and the common concerns they have during teaching practice. On the basis of focussed group discussion a total of five themes were identified, these are (1) usefulness of teaching practice (2) experiences/concerns with pupils' behaviour (3) experiences/concerns with own behaviour (4) experiences/concerns with supervisors' behaviour (5) experiences/concerns with institutional and personal adjustments. The outcome of the focussed group discussion was used to prepare a structured questionnaire. Among other things, the study recommended rigorous practical training in lesson planning, demonstration lessons by teacher educators, simulated teaching before the commencement of practice teaching, school orientation programmes, a separate internship of two weeks and writing a journal by student teachers during teaching practice.


2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-40
Author(s):  
Britnie Delinger Kane

Background/Context The Core Practice movement continues to gain momentum in teacher education research. Yet critics highlight that equitable teaching cannot be reduced to a set of “core” practices, arguing that such a reduction risks representing teaching as technical work that will be neither culturally responsive nor sustaining. Instead, they argue that preservice teachers need opportunities to develop professional reasoning that takes the specific strengths and needs of students, communities, and subject matter into account. Purpose This analysis takes up the question of how and whether pedagogies of investigation and enactment can support preservice teachers’ development of the professional reasoning that equitable teaching requires. It conceptualizes two types of professional reasoning: interpretive, in which reasoners decide how to frame instructional problems and make subsequent efforts to solve them, and prescriptive, in which reasoners solve an instructional problem as given. Research Design This work is a qualitative, multiple case study, based on design research in which preservice teachers participated in three different cycles of investigation and enactment, which were designed around a teaching practice central to equitable teaching: making student thinking visible. Preservice teachers attended to students’ thinking in the context of the collaborative analysis of students’ writing and also through designed simulations of student-teacher writing conferences. Findings/Results Preservice teachers’ collaborative analysis of students’ writing supported prescriptive professional reasoning about disciplinary ideas in ELA and writing instruction (i.e., How do seventh graders use hyperbole? How is hyperbole related to the Six Traits of Writing?), while the simulation of a writing conference supported preservice teachers to reason interpretively about how to balance the need to support students’ affective commitment to writing with their desire to teach academic concepts about writing. Conclusions/Recommendations This analysis highlights an important heuristic for the design of pedagogies in teacher education: Teacher educators need to attend to preservice teachers’ opportunities for both interpretive and prescriptive reasoning. Both are essential for teachers, but only interpretive reasoning will support teachers to teach in ways that are both intellectually rigorous and equitable. The article further describes how and why a tempting assumption—that opportunities to role-play student-teacher interactions will support preservice teachers to reason interpretively, while non-interactive work will not—is incomplete and avoidable.


2021 ◽  
pp. 147787852110430
Author(s):  
Kimberly Alexander ◽  
Charles H. Gonzalez ◽  
Paul J. Vermette ◽  
Sabrina Di Marco

At the heart of the teaching practice is the art of questioning. Costa and Kallick noted that questions are the means by which insights unlock thinking. Effective questioning is essential to effective teaching. Despite this, a cohesive theory on the method of questioning has yet to be developed. A discussion of questioning is vital to moving the teaching profession forward. In this article, we propose a model of effective questioning that we see as the first step toward identifying a unifying theory of questioning. Our model contains the following three components: (1) a well-structured item (a good question), (2) clear expectations for the response (which we call ‘the five considerations’), and (3) a constructivist conversation. This work succeeds in bridging the gap between practice and theory that may otherwise limit good teachers from utilizing their questions in the most effective manner. Because of this, our model should be of use to teachers, teacher educators, professional developers, educational researchers, and theoreticians. We hope that a continued discussion of questioning ensues in all of these circles, so that our field can move closer toward the development of a theory of questioning.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. p66
Author(s):  
Scott Gibbons

It is important to understand how teachers develop their professional identity because teacher educators and supervisors can take necessary steps to ensure novice teachers are provided necessary opportunities to cultivate their identity. This article examines research on professional identity development and explains how teachers develop their professional identity and why it is important for mentors to aid in the development process. This article draws on previous research to both define professional identity and explore the many aspects that lead to identity development in novice teachers. Findings suggest that although any experience can contribute to professional identity development, key factors have a major impact on how teachers develop their identity and the role identity development plays in pedagogical thinking. Understanding how professional identity develops can help teacher educators, supervisors, and mentors make available opportunities to build agency among novice educators, helping them to grow into reflective teachers.


2017 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 133 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paula Grizzo Gobato ◽  
Aline Maria De Medeiros Rodrigues Reali

O objetivo deste artigo é analisar a base de conhecimentos de professores experientes e participantes do Programa de Formação Online de Mentores da UFSCar-Brasil, bem como responder à seguinte questão: quais dos conhecimentos específicos, pedagógicos e sobre a função de mentor, que o auxiliarão a desempenhar a nova função, podem ser apreendidos nos professores experientes, participantes do Programa de Formação Online de Mentores? O Programa é responsável pela formação de mentores, sua proposta curricular é flexível e foca o desenvolvimento profissional de professores experientes. A investigação qualitativa baseou-se na análise descritivo-interpretativa das narrativas presentes em quatro atividades, realizadas durante o processo formativo, de quatro participantes. Foram analisados conhecimentos pedagógicos gerais, conhecimentos de conteúdo específico, conhecimentos pedagógicos do conteúdo, conhecimentos sobre formação e atuação docente e, por fim, conhecimentos sobre a função de gestor, de mentor e da escola. Como resultado, percebe-se que a base de conhecimentos atribuída ao mentor se assemelha à dos profissionais gestores e formadores de professores, ainda que a prática da mentoria e em sala de aula seja importante para que a base seja continuamente remodelada e aperfeiçoada para melhorar o desempenho do mentor e, possivelmente, dos professores iniciantes por ele acompanhados. Palavras-chave: Programa de Formação Online de Mentores; Identidade docente; Base de conhecimentos para o ensino ABSTRACTThis article aims to analyze the knowledge base of experienced teachers and participants of an Online Mentor Education Program from UFSCar Brazil and to answer the question: what specific, pedagogical and mentoring skills, that will assist the mentor to fulfill a new role, are evidenced by the experienced teachers participating of Online Mentor Education Program? This mentor training program has a flexible curriculum and focuses on the professional development of experienced teachers. The qualitative research was based on the descriptive and interpretative analysis of four narratives from four selected participants from a wider group and written during the training. It analyzed pedagogical knowledge, specific content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge content, knowledge about training and teaching practice and knowledge of the manager role, mentor and school. As results, the data analysis shows that the mentor knowledge base resembles the professional managers’ and teacher educators’. However, teaching and mentoring practice is important so that this knowledge base is continuously remodeled and improved, thus improving the mentors’ performance and, possibly, of beginning teachers accompanied by them.Keywords: Online Mentor Education Program; Teacher identity; Knowledge base for teaching


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