scholarly journals Student Engagement in Distance Learning in Teacher Education Programs During the Spring 2020

Author(s):  
Franziska Zellweger ◽  
Mirjam Kocher

How did students experience distance learning in different teacher education programs and how engaged did they learn in this exceptional time? Based on a survey in two Swiss Universities of Teacher Education, we focus on the influence of the heterogeneous student characteristics on the experience of distance learning as well as on the behavioural, cognitive and emotional student engagement. Surprisingly, structural aspects such as age, gender, employment and children can hardly explain the heterogeneous experience. In contrast, the communication of faculty, active learning as well as feedback and assessment are clearly related to student engagement. A deeper understanding of the emotional dimension seems particularly relevant. Self-efficacy, learning-related emotions, well-being and the sense of belonging are starting points for a deeper understanding of the heterogeneous experience of this extraordinary study period.

Author(s):  
Kristen M. Lindahl ◽  
Zuzana Tomas ◽  
Raichle Farrelly ◽  
Anna Krulatz

Service-learning (SL) constitutes a particularly effective vehicle for engaging pre-service teachers with ELs during their university-level coursework, mostly due to the nature of SL that addresses the potential cultural and linguistic mismatch between teachers and learners in today's school systems by encouraging future educators to engage with the communities of their students long before they enter the teaching profession. This chapter describes four cases that demonstrate how second language (L2) teacher education programs utilize service-learning (SL) to engage pre-service teachers in diverse cultural and linguistic contexts through the lens of pedagogy of particularity. Each case presents four consistent key principles of service-learning: course content, community collaboration, integrated assignments that guide student engagement, and reflective practices that culminate the SL experience.


AERA Open ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. 233285842090149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Bjorklund ◽  
Alan J. Daly ◽  
Rebecca Ambrose ◽  
Elizabeth A. van Es

Learning to teach is rife with challenges. Preservice teachers’ self-efficacy can potentially mitigate the stress of these challenges, and teacher education programs are fundamental in helping them build this important resource. As such, understanding the foundations of self-efficacy is important for researchers and teacher educators alike. Grounding our study in social network theory, we explored the relationship between sense of belonging to a teacher education program, network centrality, and self-efficacy. Our sample included 245 preservice teachers in three university teacher education programs. We found that sense of belonging to the program and network centrality (in-degree and out-degree) were significantly and positively related to preservice teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs. This study builds on a growing literature that explores the relationships between preservice teachers’ social networks and their beliefs and practices.


Author(s):  
Danielle Tessaro ◽  
Laura Landertinger ◽  
Jean-Paul Restoule

This article seeks to contribute to the knowledge base regarding efforts to increase the supply of employed Indigenous teachers. In addition to supporting the learning and well-being of Indigenous students, increasing Indigenous teachers is critical for remote Indigenous communities with chronically understaffed schools. This study was conducted as a scoping review of 50 Teacher Education Programs (TEPs) across Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and the United States that have enacted efforts to increase Indigenous teachers. The study found a range of effective strategies, and this article will depict three strategies that can be enacted by TEPs to support Indigenous teacher graduates as they transition to employment. The strategies are: (1) creating employment opportunities, (2) identifying community needs and collaborating over practicum placements, and (3) providing ongoing support. The article concludes with a call for collaboration, funding, and data collection for the continued evaluation and improvement of strategies to increase Indigenous teachers. Keywords: teacher retention, teacher support, teacher employment, Indigenous teacher education, job transition, Indigenous teachers, Indigenous education, teacher education programs


2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (12) ◽  
pp. 1-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kate Napolitan ◽  
John Traynor ◽  
Deborah Tully ◽  
Joanne Carney ◽  
Susan Donnelly ◽  
...  

Background/Context The literature review (Phelps, this issue) outlines tensions that can come about in partnerships and collaborations between P–12 schools and teacher education. With these challenges as part of the context, the authors of this article describe the particular moves that school-based and community partners working with four teacher education programs made to prepare preservice teachers who are better oriented toward students, their families, and communities as part of a legislative initiative. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study This article presents three cases of how four teacher education programs, in collaboration with partners, moved toward a more democratic model of teacher education as part of a legislative initiative in Washington state. Aspects of community teaching were central in each of the collaborations. Teacher education programs included in this article saw the moves they were making as working toward what Zeichner refers to as Teacher Preparation 3.0. Research Design This article employed qualitative methods. Conclusions/Recommendations In summary, all three cases included in this article imply that the development of community teachers actively engaged in community schools is as important to teacher preparation as it is to the success and well-being of the students, teachers, and families they serve. Therefore, the authors believe that further quantitative and qualitative exploration of the intersection between these two concepts, community schools and community teachers, is critical to the field of preservice teacher education. If universities wish to establish an equity-pedagogy characteristic of Teacher Preparation 3.0, they need to authentically partner with schools and communities to engage in contextually meaningful practices. By making long-term commitments to working respectfully, responsively, and in mutually beneficial ways with communities, families, schools, and districts, university teacher preparation programs can help make high-quality community schools available for all children.


2020 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 368-384
Author(s):  
Lucinda Grace Heimer

Race is a marker hiding more complex narratives. Children identify the social cues that continue to segregate based on race, yet too often teachers fail to provide support for making sense of these worlds. Current critical scholarship highlights the importance of addressing issues of race, culture, and social justice with future teachers. The timing of this work is urgent as health, social and civil unrest due to systemic racism in the U.S. raise critiques and also open possibilities to reimagine early childhood education. Classroom teachers feel pressure to standardize pedagogy and outcomes yet meet myriad student needs and talents in complex settings. This study builds on the current literature as it uses one case study to explore institutional messages and student perceptions in a future teacher education program that centers race, culture, identity, and social justice. Teaching as a caring profession is explored to illuminate the impact authentic, aesthetic, and rhetorical care may have in classrooms. Using key tenets of Critical Race Theory as an analytical tool enhanced the case study process by focusing the inquiry on identity within a racist society. Four themes are highlighted related to institutional values, rigorous coursework, white privilege, and connecting individual racial and cultural understanding with classroom practice. With consideration of ethical relationality, teacher education programs begin to address the impact of racist histories. This work calls for individualized critical inquiry regarding future teacher understanding of “self” in new contexts as well as an investigation of how teacher education programs fit into larger institutional philosophies.


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