scholarly journals The Impact of External Contextual Factors on Teaching Candidates

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 55-74
Author(s):  
Alexander S. Butler
Keyword(s):  
Student Teaching ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Portfolio Assessment ◽  
Teaching Context ◽  
Stimulated Recall ◽  
The Face ◽  
Beliefs About Teaching ◽  
The Impact

The formation of a teacher’s identity is considered a dynamic process influenced by internal and external contextual factors. This article explores the impact that external contextual factors have on teacher candidates’ identities by presenting the findings of an empirical qualitative study that investigated the relationship between teacher candidates’ beliefs and their demonstrations and representations of teaching and learning on a nationally standardised portfolio assessment. Metaphor analysis and stimulated recall were used to explore this relationship. The study found that teacher candidates’ teaching demonstrations while student teaching and representations of teaching found in a nationally standardised portfolio assessment were severely constrained by cooperating teachers and scripted curriculums. However, the study also found that candidates could articulate the differences between their beliefs about teaching and learning and their demonstrations and representations of teaching and learning. Candidates routinely made suggestions in the portfolio assessment to align their future teaching more closely to their metaphors for teaching. The study concluded that candidates did not change their beliefs but took up temporary teaching identities based on these findings. They found ways to navigate the assessment and their (teaching) context while remaining committed to their teaching identity and beliefs about good teaching. This article suggests how education system contexts impact the formation of teacher candidates’ identities and what teacher education programmes need to do to strengthen candidates’ identities in the face of negative external influences.

Creating a Studying Abroad Experience for Elementary Teacher Candidates

2017 ◽  
pp. 111-132 ◽  
Author(s):  
Audra Parker ◽  
Kelley E. Webb ◽  
Eleanor Vernon Wilson
Keyword(s):  
Student Teaching ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Experiences ◽  
Design And Implementation ◽  
Studying Abroad ◽  
Key Features ◽  
Elementary Teacher Candidates ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Diverse Cultures

Study abroad experiences provide teacher candidates with opportunities to explore teaching and learning while immersed in diverse international and intercultural settings. International pre-service teaching experiences range from short trips to expose teacher candidates to diverse cultures to extensive internships in which teacher candidates complete their student teaching. In this chapter, the authors created a 4-week intensive field experience for teacher candidates and studied the key features of program design and implementation as well as the impact of participation on teacher candidates' professional development.

Reflecting on Portfolio Development

2013 ◽  
pp. 197-211
Author(s):  
Hea-Jin Lee ◽  
Leah Herner-Patnode
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Professional Growth ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Portfolio Assessment ◽  
Thinking Skills ◽  
Critical Thinking Skills ◽  
Assessment Procedure ◽  
Self Assessment ◽  
Web Based

This study adopted portfolio assessment as a means of deepening pre-service teachers’ understanding of teaching and learning. The ultimate goal of using the portfolio was to bring the program in line with the mission of the institute, the criteria of the NCATE and INTASC, and the standards of the Ohio State License. This study discusses the challenge of implementing a year-long portfolio assessment procedure, as well as investigating how the exit portfolio assessment plays a role in facilitating pre-service teachers’ professional growth in terms of knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Results indicate that preservice teachers considered the capstone portfolio as a tool for reflection, which helped them improve critical thinking skills, self-assessment, and advancement. Also, the portfolio process helped teacher candidates develop a professional identity and promote teaching. Overall, there was growth and improvement in knowledge, skills, and dispositions toward teaching, the role of a teacher and learner, and using the web-based portfolio process.

Liminal States of Disorienting Dilemmas: Two Case Studies of English Teacher Candidates

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-250
Author(s):  
Matthew L. McConn ◽  
Donna Geetter
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Student Teaching ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
English Teacher ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Beliefs About Teaching

Research has shown that progressive methods taught in teacher education programs have little impact on traditional approaches teacher candidates encounter during their internship semester. To understand how to better address this disconnect with regard to preparing teacher candidates, the study reported here used instrumental case studies to examine two secondary English teacher candidates’ beliefs about teaching literature before, during, and after their student teaching semester. Through theoretical frameworks on learning processes, the researchers discovered discrepancies within the student teachers’ stated beliefs, lesson plans, videos of teaching, and their responses to interview questions. These discrepancies reveal both unexamined assumptions and a state of liminality, reflecting the process of transformation in their learning. The researchers suggest that education programs look at potential implications that are inherent in a state of liminality with regard to pedagogical content knowledge to better prepare teacher candidates for their experience in teacher education programs.

scholarly journals Pre-service Teachers and Self-Efficacy: A Study in Contrast

2017 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 66-76 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tori Colson ◽  
Kelly Sparks ◽  
Gina Berridge ◽  
Renee Frimming ◽  
Clarissa Willis
Keyword(s):  
Student Engagement ◽  
Classroom Management ◽  
Student Teaching ◽  
Effective Teachers ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Classroom Behavior ◽  
Diverse Classroom ◽  
Highly Effective Teachers ◽  
Sense Of Efficacy ◽  
The Impact

AbstractWith increased emphasis on student achievement in schools, teacher education programs are challenged to meet the demand for highly effective teachers. Ensuring that pre-service teachers feel confident in their ability to teach, prompted one Midwestern University to implement an extended student teaching placement. The idea behind this endeavor was two fold; first to provide future teachers a more robust and diverse classroom experience; and secondly to provide more opportunities for students to get experience in high-risk school settings. There is very limited research on the impact of year-long student teaching on a teacher’s sense of efficacy. The purpose of this study was to compare the efficacy of teacher candidates placed in a year-long student teaching placement to teacher candidates placed in a traditional one semester (16 week) placement. All teacher candidates completed a 24 questionTeachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scaleas well as nine demographic questions. The survey developed at Ohio State University by Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (2001), measures teacher attitudes towards working with students, student engagement, instructional practices, and classroom management. Specifically, the questions represent essential tasks in teaching such as assessment, differentiating lessons for individual students, dealing with students with learning challenges, repairing student understanding, and encouraging student engagement and interest. The results of the study indicated that pre-service teacher candidates in a year-long student teaching placement were more satisfied with their ability to engage students and manage classroom behavior than their counterparts in a traditional one semester placement.

scholarly journals “New Normal” in Learning and Teaching

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
pp. 63-65
Author(s):  
Binar Kurnia Prahani ◽  
Tsung-Hui Cheng
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Epidemiological Studies ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
New Normal ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
United Nations Agency ◽  
The Face ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

Social distancing and physical distancing policies have been implemented in many countries for some time in the face of a COVID-19 pandemic. The new policy that has been adopted by many countries is "New Normal". New Normal is a scenario to accelerate the handling of COVID-19 in health and socio-economic aspects. One of them is the Government of Indonesia has announced plans to implement new normal scenarios by considering epidemiological studies and regional readiness. With the implementation of New Normal, education will be run again according to the health protocol. New Normal policies in education must also be in line with instructions issued by The United Nations Agency for Child Welfare (UNICEF). UNICEF has issued guidelines for countries that want to reopen teaching and learning activities in schools. The guide consists of three stages, namely before opening, entering the opening process, and when opening has been carried out. Research on the planning, preparation, implementation, and evaluation of New Normal in the field of learning and teaching needs the attention of all parties, including academics. The results of research and publications on the impact of New Normal in the field of learning and teaching are believed to be beneficial in the field of education.

scholarly journals Will the benefit equal the effort? An investigation into the personal significance of the changes signalled in a mandated curriculum to New Zealand secondary school teachers

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Brenda Mary Service
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Secondary School ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Secondary School Teachers ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Educational Criticism ◽  
Personal Significance ◽  
New Curriculum ◽  
Beliefs About Teaching ◽  
The Impact

<p>A new school curriculum was implemented in all New Zealand schools during 2008 and 2009 and was mandated at the beginning of 2010. The changes signalled in the new curriculum required teachers to incorporate key competencies into their teaching and to move to student-centred practice which involves students in the decisions about their learning. It was possible that this social constructivist approach represented a change in teachers’ beliefs about teaching and learning and to their practice.  Much of the literature on educational change appears to overlook the transformational nature of the learning needed to bring about changes in beliefs and practice and teachers’ personal motivation to engage with it. Unless change is of personal significance to individuals they are unlikely to be motivated to engage with it. Using Eisner’s (1998) method of educational criticism, this case study is an investigation into the personal significance of the new curriculum to the teachers’ reality. In the spirit of educational criticism, the lens of an educational connoisseur was used to first develop an understanding of the teachers’ reality followed by that of an educational critic to evaluate what occurred.  Over a two-year period the study involved semi-structured interviews with twelve secondary school teachers in three schools, observations of the classroom practice, and analysis of school documentation and societal messages. While all the participating teachers’ espoused beliefs that were congruent with the philosophy of the new curriculum, constructivist practices were observed in the practice of only two teachers. What prevented the other teachers’ wholehearted engagement in the implementation of the new curriculum was not their beliefs about teaching and learning but rather, the extent to which external pressures determined their priorities. These pressures included the misalignment of the school goals and cultural norms, the impact of NCEA assessment regime, time constraints, leadership issues, lack of conceptual understanding and the absence of professional learning to support transformative learning.</p>

Who is Watching? What Do They Want? A Foucauldian Analysis of Teacher Candidates’ Experiences with the edTPA

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (12) ◽  
pp. 1-36
Author(s):  
Meghan A. Kessler ◽  
Alexis Jones ◽  
Marilyn Johnston-Parsons
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teaching ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Portfolio Assessment ◽  
High Stakes ◽  
Total N ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Negative Effect ◽  
Foucauldian Analysis

Background/Context This article is a policy discussion of the edTPA preservice portfolio assessment; it uses Foucault's work and our data to suggest a more critical and activist approach to the assessment. Currently 764 teacher education programs in 40 states have included the edTPA as part of their requirements. In Illinois, it is a newly required high-stakes portfolio assessment required for teacher licensure. Purpose/Objective We studied our teacher candidates’ experiences with edTPA portfolio. We wanted to know how they experienced this new assessment and how that might inform our program. As instructors, we had heard many complaints from our candidates, and we wanted to examine their experiences from their perspectives. Participants In this study, we collected narrative accounts from two different cohorts of teacher candidates in Year 1 (2015–16) and Year 3 (2017–18) to better understand their perspectives (total N = 37). The participants were interviewed at the end of their student teaching semester after they had completed their portfolio. Research Design We collected narrative accounts from two different cohorts of teacher candidates in Year 1 (2015–16) and Year 3 (2017–18) to better understand their experiences with the edTPA (total N = 37). We gave participants a choice of whether to do individual or focus group narratives. Participants were interviewed at the end of their student teaching semester after they had completed their portfolio. Findings As teacher educators, we aimed to support our candidates’ development into critically engaged educators. However, we found that the regulatory powers in the policies and procedures of the edTPA had a negative effect on our candidates’ experiences with it. We also did not give them the tools they needed to sufficiently analyze this particular assessment, despite having discussed testing policies in the schools and their negative implications for teachers and students. Further, we found a normalization of the edTPA between Year 1 and Year 3 of implementing this assessment that suggested a trend toward normalization over time—from energetic critique in Year 1 to acceptance and a just-get-it-done attitude in Year 3. Conclusions We conclude with implications for teacher educators, including a call for more critical engagement with this and other disciplinary technologies that our candidates may be subject to. As teacher educators, we advocate for a more explicit critical analysis with candidates to help them more deeply understand the history, context, and implications of corporatized, standardized assessments in teacher education, in particular the edTPA, and testing in the schools.

Effectiveness of ‘Pocket Mandarin’ for Online Learning among Mandarin as a Foreign Language Basic Learners

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 122-137
Author(s):  
Hie Ling Ting ◽  
◽  
Kum Yoke Soo ◽  
Lay Choo Siang ◽  
Sing Ee Ooi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Online Learning ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Online Teaching ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Learning System ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Teaching Online ◽  
Mandarin Language ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Impact

In the face of difficulties of teaching and learning due to the impact of Covid-19, online lessons have become vital. This has also affected the teaching of Mandarin as a foreign language at universities. Since Mandarin is considered as a difficult language to learn especially to non-native learners, teaching online has posted an even greater challenge to Mandarin language instructors. This study thus examines the use of a combination of platforms and applications online, customised to create an online learning system called ‘Pocket Mandarin’ to facilitate online Mandarin learning at the beginner level. The purpose is primarily to enable learning to take place in a fun and interactive manner by means of online flashcards, pronunciation, games and quizzes placed in an LMS platform called Padlet. To better understand how ‘Pocket Mandarin’ can effectively facilitate online teaching and learning among EFL basic learners at the tertiary level, a survey method was applied and it consisted of 5 parts which are students’ motivation, students’ attitude, cognitive development, design and interface as well as expectations. The results show that ‘Pocket Mandarin’ was positively accepted by the students who found the lessons motivating, upbuilding, cognitively applicable, with exceptional design and interface and was better than their initial expectations. Thus, there is great potential for the ‘Pocket Mandarin’ to be widely used at a greater scale.

Changes in teaching beliefs of early-career chemistry faculty: a longitudinal investigation

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maia Popova ◽  
Annika Kraft ◽  
Jordan Harshman ◽  
Marilyne Stains
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Contextual Factors ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Secondary Level ◽  
Early Career ◽  
Teaching Beliefs ◽  
Student Centered ◽  
Faculty Beliefs ◽  
Beliefs About Teaching ◽  
Over Time

Literature at the secondary level has demonstrated a tight interconnectedness between one's beliefs about teaching and learning and one's instructional practices. Moreover, this research indicates that personal and contextual factors influence beliefs and that growth and changes in beliefs are most notable during the early years of one's teaching experience. Despite the substantial influence of teaching beliefs on educational decisions, very little research has been conducted at the post-secondary level in both characterizing and monitoring changes in beliefs over time of early-career faculty members. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating (1) the changes over two and half years in the beliefs of early-career chemistry professors in the United States, and (2) patterns between changes in beliefs and personal and contextual factors as defined in the Teacher-Centered Systemic Reform Model. Nine faculty were interviewed using the modified Luft and Roehrig's Teaching Beliefs Interview protocol in Fall 2016/Spring 2017 and then again in Spring 2019. Combination of constant-comparative analysis and cluster analysis were utilized to characterize faculty beliefs after each data collection cycle. Faculty also completed four surveys over the course of this longitudinal study. These surveys were analyzed to identify personal and contextual factors that could relate to changes in faculty beliefs over time. Overall, the participants expressed more unique beliefs about teaching and learning during the second interview. Despite this increase, the substance and the message of the beliefs remained fairly similar to the beliefs expressed during the first interview, which suggests that beliefs do not change as an artifact of teaching experience. Four of the faculty demonstrated a desirable shift to student-centered thinking, while three did not change and two shifted toward teacher-centered. Analysis of the survey data revealed that access and use of chemical education research journal and researchers, repeated opportunities to teach the same course, and instructor's continued learning efforts with respect to teaching were more pronounced among faculty who shifted toward student-centered thinking.

scholarly journals الحاسوب الآلي في تعليم اللغة العربية

2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 77-102
Author(s):  
AY Linda Eka Santi
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Essential Element ◽  
Arabic Language ◽  
Educational Process ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
The Face ◽  
Effective Role ◽  
Development And Management ◽  
The Impact

That educational aids help the teacher in the face of large numbers of students and the density of classrooms after the education became mandatory in some stages and increased awareness and education has a great place in the hearts of people. It also draws students to the lesson and draws attention to it and make the impact of what they learn to stay and continue and help them to quickly remember the information related to a tangible sensory basis. And educational technology methodology in thinking focuses on the theoretical and practical aspects of the teaching and learning procedures and resources design, implementation, development and management, to upgrade the educational process, and access to perfection. It is an integrated composite process that includes human resources, material resources, ideas and actions that lead to solutions to educational problems that hinder the progress and development of human learning. The computer may still dazzle us every moment with its multiple abilities to penetrate our lives, and in most countries of the world and through the educational institutions in which the reliance on the computer in education is an essential element of the educational process. The study reached several results, most notably that the field of teaching and learning the Arabic language benefited greatly from the potential of the computer. And that the creativity of the teacher has an effective role in the benefit of the use of the computer, as the use of education in several ways, it is several methods of teaching group in one, and the study resulted in several problems are human and financial resources, Between language teachers, programmers, the lack of technological awareness, the negative attitudes of some teachers, and the lack of widespread self-learning.

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