scholarly journals Choosing how we choose: A review of teacher education admissions literature

2017 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael Holden ◽  
Julian Kitchen

Regulation 283/13 and the Ontario Ministry of Education’s decision to reduce teacher education admission rates by 50% provide a clear opportunity to reflect on the alignment between admissions practices and the programs that they serve. This article presents an overview of teacher education admissions literature, identifying the many purposes that admissions processes serve, the ways teacher educators may connect purpose to practice, as well as the equity issues inherent to program admissions. The strengths and limitations of seven common assessment tools are also presented. This information will be of interest to stakeholders involved in teacher education, and is intended to support teacher educators in making informed selection and admission decisions for their particular programs.

Author(s):  
Fariba Haghighi Irani ◽  
Azizeh Chalak ◽  
Hossein Heidari Tabrizi

Abstract The critical role of teachers suggests that assessing teacher identity construction helps teacher educators understand the changes in teachers and design materials in harmony with their needs in teacher education programs. However, only a few studies have focused on assessing pre-service teachers’ identity in the long term in Iran. To address this gap, the contribution of a pre-service teacher education program consisting of three phases, namely engage, study, and activate to the professional identity construction of eight pre-service teachers in an institute in Tehran was assessed. Pre-course and post-course interviews, two reflective essays, ten observation notes, and two teaching performances were gathered over a year and analyzed as guided by grounded theory and discourse analysis. Findings revealed two significant changes in the participants’ identities when they transitioned from engage to study and from study to activate phases that yielded study phase as the peak of the changes. Overall, three major shifts were identified in the participants’ identities: from a commitment to evaluation towards a commitment to modality, from one-dimensional to multi-dimensional perceptions, and from problem analysis to problem-solving skills. Current findings may facilitate teacher identity construction by designing local programs matching the needs of pre-service teachers. It may also assist teacher educators by assessing the quality of teachers’ performance and developing teacher assessment tools.


2018 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 72-84
Author(s):  
Joshua Palkki ◽  
William Sauerland

Gender is one of the many social constructs that can influence teaching and learning. As trans(gender) people “come out” at earlier ages, an increasing number of teachers will have openly identifying trans and gender nonconforming students in their classes. Music educators and music teacher educators are often supporters of LGBTQA (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, asexual/agender/ally) students; thus, these constituencies should expand their notions of gender away from a simplistic binary category toward a gender-complex approach in which all students—cisgender, trans, genderqueer, and questioning—can thrive. To that end, we provide an overview of vocabulary and teaching pedagogies pertinent to gender issues in music teacher education. In addition, we offer sample lessons and projects that could be incorporated into preservice music teacher preparation.


2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kelly Moser ◽  
Nicole C Miller ◽  
Krista Chambless

Recently in the field of teacher education, there has been a call for a more practice-based approach to teacher education. Best practices for developing any skill set is live practice and coaching. However, due to the many ethical considerations and the obstacles presented to the learning-to-teach process, it is neither practical nor best practice, to have teacher candidates conduct live practice lessons in real classrooms with constant interruptions by expert teachers. In contrast, virtual worlds such as Second Life (SL) can potentially assist teacher educators in overcoming these obstacles. This article presents the findings of a research study using SL in an inter-university Foreign Language (FL) methods course to provide teacher candidates with opportunities to teach (practice skills) while receiving continuous live feedback (coaching) from their methods instructors. The virtual experience and immediate feedback impacted candidate confidence as well as pedagogical practice and forced candidates to engage in reflective practice regarding content and pedagogical knowledge. The complexity of teaching, the role of feedback, and simulation within SL in FL teacher candidate learning are also discussed.


Author(s):  
Lydia E. Carol-Ann Burke

AbstractThis paper contributes to a small but significant body of research addressing issues of prejudice in science education. It is written in the form of a critical incident analysis that uses the framework of intersectionality to examine deficit ideologies and biases inherent in science as a body of knowledge as well as science teacher education. If left unchecked, these prejudices can filter through into school science education, reinforcing the stereotypes of who can contribute to the field of science. The paper makes a call for science teacher educators to support teacher candidates as they move past an academic understanding of diversity in science education to examine their personal dispositions. Suggestions are made for approaches that can be adopted to facilitate the forms of deconstruction necessary for progress to be made in this area.


Author(s):  
Patrick Farren

This paper examines an original construct, ‘‘transformative pedagogy’’, in the context of post-primary teacher education in Ireland. The construct is examined from philosophical and psychological perspectives, and key distinctions are drawn between it and other pedagogies. Links are made, where appropriate, to research findings from a recent study carried out by the author in cooperation with teacher-educators and student-teachers in the context of pre-service teacher education at the National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland. In addition, the paper refers to examples that illustrate some of the benefits that can be derived from school-society links. ‘‘Transformative pedagogy’’ creates conditions that support teacher and pupils (participants) in developing their identity as whole persons who have a relationship based on interdependence. In essence, ‘‘transformative pedagogy’’ is about creating conditions that support participants in developing capacity as ‘‘beings-in-relation’’ as well as ‘‘beings-in-becoming’’. Key perspectives are used to frame the discussion: 1) identity, 2) beliefs and attitudes, 3) knowledge, 4) moral-ethical values, 5) socio-affective factors, 6) social interaction and collaboration, 7) critical reflection, 8) school and wider society. ‘‘Transformative pedagogy’’ is underpinned by moral-ethical values that support participants as ‘‘beings-in-relation’’ who are also ‘‘beings-in-becoming’’. Participants develop consciousness that is a prerequisite for constructing their own meanings as part of critiquing and shaping the world. The process implies committed action, informed by moral-ethical values, that is geared towards personal as well as social transformations. The construct suggests a need for a more integrated and trans-curricular approach to teaching and learning than has traditionally been the case in Ireland, and an approach that brings school life and wider community life into a more dynamic and fruitful alliance.   Key Words‘‘transformative pedagogy’’; ‘‘beings-in-relation'’; beings-in-becoming’’; whole person;  interdependence; metacognitive capacity; consciousness; advocates; moral-ethical values.


Author(s):  
Svitlana Sysoieva ◽  
Iryna Sokolova

Knowledge about the EU policy regarding teacher educators is of significant interest to both scholars and stakeholders of higher education. The authors of this paper have identified four key areas where the analysis of current trends and the formulation of relevant questions for discussion seem to be particularly important for those involved in teacher education and training. These are the development of our knowledge basis about the EU initiatives on teacher education in Europe, the EU policy regarding teacher educators, the challenges and new trends characterising the role of teacher educators in the initial education and the professional development. This study also concentrates on teacher educators’ status, their profile of core values and areas of competence that underpin teacher educators’ diverse and multifaceted roles. The paper uses literature review as a basis in identifying critical parameters for the EU policy analysis and its implementation to higher education sector. The European expert study made some very specific proposals for the definition of a teacher educators’ competence profile, making a distinction between first-order and second-order knowledge, skills and attitudes and defining key competence areas. Two key actions to support teacher educators in Member States are characterized: to develop an explicit profile of the competences required by teacher educators; to reinforce collaboration between all the key actors in all phases of teacher education.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn Mary Kroeper ◽  
Mary Murphy

Expressions of racial bias in middle grades math classrooms pose a threat to the full inclusion and equitable treatment of students of color. To combat these biased expressions, mathematics education scholars have recommended that math teachers undergo special training to employ culturally relevant practices as part of their teacher education. According to teacher-educators, however, motivating and helping their teacher-pupils implement culturally relevant classroom strategies has proven somewhat challenging. This is in part due to reluctance among teachers to adopt culturally relevant practices in their own teaching and a lack of fidelity when attempting to enact culturally relevant strategies. To overcome the challenges of reluctance and fidelity and to support teacher-educators as they train their teacher-pupils to adopt culturally relevant strategies in math classrooms, we propose that teacher-educators employ a proactive confrontation approach. We view proactive confrontation as a practical and useful tool for math teacher-educators to challenge racial bias expression and to create more equitable and inclusive math learning environments that inspire and motivate learning and performance among all students. By using proactive confrontations, teacher-educators can raise their teacher-pupils’ self-awareness that engaging in biased expression is common (but not inevitable) in math classrooms and raise their concern that bias expression is harmful to students of color and, therefore, deserves proactive attention and action. Lastly, teacher- educators can provide examples of culturally relevant classroom activities to their teacher-pupils and help them to develop and implement such practices on their own. In the present synthesis, we provide examples of how the proactive confrontation approach can be integrated with math teacher-education programs and discuss some of the persisting challenges facing math teacher-educators who choose to proactively confront racial bias.


Author(s):  
Colleen Conway ◽  
Shannan Hibbard

This chapter situates the study of music teacher education within the larger body of music education and teacher education research. It problematizes the terms teacher training, teacher education, and best practice and introduces the concept of teaching as an “impossible profession.” Goals of teacher education, including reflective practice and adaptive expertise, are discussed. The chapter outlines the challenges that music teacher educators face as they try to prepare preservice teachers for the realities of P-12 school-based music education while instilling in these new colleagues a disposition toward change. It concludes with narratives that examine teachers’ descriptions of classroom relationships throughout the lens of presence in teaching as a way to remind teacher educators of the importance of their work to push the boundaries of music teacher education in order to serve the profession at large.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 51-64
Author(s):  
Mara E. Culp ◽  
Karen Salvador

Music educators must meet the needs of students with diverse characteristics, including but not limited to cultural backgrounds, musical abilities and interests, and physical, behavioral, social, and cognitive functioning. Music education programs may not systematically prepare preservice teachers or potential music teacher educators for this reality. The purpose of this study was to examine how music teacher education programs prepare undergraduate and graduate students to structure inclusive and responsive experiences for diverse learners. We replicated and expanded Salvador’s study by including graduate student preparation, incorporating additional facets of human diversity, and contacting all institutions accredited by National Association of Schools of Music to prepare music educators. According to our respondents, integrated instruction focused on diverse learners was more commonly part of undergraduate coursework than graduate coursework. We used quantitative and qualitative analysis to describe course offerings and content integration.


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