Practicing Justice, Justifying Practice: Toward Critical Practice Teacher Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 57 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarah Schneider Kavanagh ◽  
Katie A. Danielson
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Mirror Image ◽  
Instructional Decisions ◽  
Image Finding ◽  
Theories Of Justice ◽  
Teacher Credentialing ◽  
Education Coursework

Arguments for social justice teacher education and arguments for practice-based teacher education are often seen as incongruous. Drawing on sociocultural theory and theories of justice, our study interrogates this underresearched assumption. We conducted video analyses of teacher education coursework and novice teachers’ K–6 classroom instruction, together with novices’ written reflections on videos. Data were collected during a university-based, accelerated teacher credentialing program. Analyses of videos of teacher education coursework revealed that while teacher educators frequently represented, decomposed, and approximated teaching practice, they rarely did so when discussing social justice issues. In a mirror-image finding, analyses of videos of (and reflections on) novices’ subsequent K–6 teaching revealed that novices rarely identified instructional decisions during which they attended to social justice issues.

Listening to the Experiences and Concerns of Pre-Service Teachers During Teaching Practice Programme

2021 ◽  
pp. 14-27
Author(s):  
Darshana Sharma
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Prospective Teachers ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Group Discussion ◽  
Education Programme ◽  
Practical Training ◽  
Teacher Education Programme ◽  
Practice Teaching

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.

Equitable Teaching and the Core Practice Movement: Preservice Teachers’ Professional Reasoning

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-40
Author(s):  
Britnie Delinger Kane
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Student Teacher ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Student Thinking ◽  
The Core ◽  
Collaborative Analysis ◽  
Core Practice

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.

Incorporating Social Justice Into Science Teacher Education Courses

2020 ◽  
pp. 208-224
Author(s):  
Seema Rivera ◽  
Amal Ibourk
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Science Teacher ◽  
Instructional Strategies ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Science Teacher Education ◽  
Teaching For Social Justice ◽  
Education Courses

In this chapter, the authors cover the importance and challenges of incorporating teaching for social justice in science teacher education courses. The chapter starts by providing an overview of the literature on social justice, specifically in science education, and define the terms social justice, equity, and diversity. Then, the authors, who are teacher educators from under-represented groups, share their own experiences about what led them to do social justice work. In addition, the authors present examples from their courses with their preservice teachers and instructional strategies they used. The chapter concludes with recommendations of ways in which we might consider implementing social justice practices in teacher preparation courses.

Service Learning and Teacher Education

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nadine Petersen ◽  
Sarah Gravett ◽  
Sarita Ramsaroop
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Service Learning ◽  
Experiential Learning ◽  
Multicultural Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Social Transformation ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Justice And Care

Although teacher education actively promotes the ideals of social justice and care, finding ways of enculturating student teachers into what these values mean in education remains a challenge. Additionally, the literature abounds with the struggles of teacher educators to prepare student teachers with the knowledge and competencies required for the complex task of teaching. A way to address this is through the inclusion of service learning (SL) in initial teacher education programs. SL, as a form of experiential learning, with reflection at its core, serves as a means of deepening student learning about the practice of social justice and care and as a way of both drawing on, and informing, student teachers’ practical and situational learning of teaching. SL also holds potential for preparing teachers with the competencies required for the 21st century. The research on SL in teacher education draws on theoretical perspectives of experiential learning, democracy education, social transformation, multicultural education, critical reflection, and education for civic responsibility. A limitation is that the literature within developing contexts is underrepresented, limiting access to useful lessons from the research in these contexts and preventing wider theorization in the field.

Investigating Differences in Teacher Practices Through a Complexity Theory Lens: The Influence of Teacher Education

2017 ◽  
Vol 69 (1) ◽  
pp. 22-39 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susan D. Martin ◽  
Sherry Dismuke
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Elementary Teachers ◽  
Complexity Theory ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Practices ◽  
Learning Opportunities ◽  
Mixed Methods Study ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Education Coursework

How to prepare teachers to be effective in our nations’ classrooms seems to get increasingly complex, yet the links between teacher education and teachers’ eventual practices are little understood. Using complexity theory as a theoretical framework, this mixed-methods study investigated writing teacher practices of 23 elementary teachers. Twelve teachers had participated in a comprehensive course focused on writing, either at inservice or preservice levels. The other teachers had not taken any course focused on writing and had little to no writing professional development. Despite the small number of participants in our study, quantitative analysis demonstrated significant differences on multiple, effective practice indicators. These findings were borne out in qualitative analyses as well. Clear connections of teachers’ practices and understandings and the course were noted. These findings contribute to understandings of the ways in which teacher education coursework makes a difference in optimizing candidate learning and reducing the variability across teacher practices and subsequent student learning opportunities. Findings suggest implications for policy makers, teacher education programs, as well as for teacher educators and researchers.

scholarly journals English as a Second Language and English as a Foreign Language Preservice Teacher Cognitions: Research Insights from around the World (2005-2021)

2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mustapha Chmarkh
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Second Language ◽  
Foreign Language ◽  
Preservice Teacher ◽  
Language Learners ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Field Placements ◽  
Efl Teacher ◽  
Education Coursework

This review examined English as a Second Language (ESL) and English as a Foreign Language (EFL) preservice teacher cognition studies spanning a 17-year period (2005 to 2021). The main objective was to explore the nature and development of preservice ESL and EFL teacher cognitions as they relate to their teacher-education coursework and teaching practice. Findings indicate that preservice ESL/EFL teacher cognitions are complex, multifaceted, recursive, and frequently related to their experiences as language learners. Although studies included in this review were conducted in different international contexts, the findings were consistent: there is a need for supportive and comprehensive preservice-teacher preparation that accounts for three factors. (1) Valuing preservice teachers’ beliefs as language learners, (2) facilitating preservice teachers’ negotiation of newer beliefs resulting from teacher education coursework, and (3) preparing them to negotiate tensions in their interactions with their mentors in field placements. This paper concludes by discussing pedagogical implications for teacher education programs.

scholarly journals Preparing Practice-Based Researchers for Diverse Classrooms: A Pathway for Teacher Education

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Lammert
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Action Research ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Design Development ◽  
Education Policies ◽  
Diverse Classrooms ◽  
Practice Based Research ◽  
Conducting Research

Twenty-first century educators are faced with new dilemmas, as well as new opportunities. In response to the increasing racial, cultural, and linguistic diversity of students, some school districts and states have implemented policies mandating particular curriculum. However, evidence increasingly shows that teachers who are effective in diverse classrooms are adaptive and responsive rather than strictly adhering to scripted curriculum. One proposed solution is preparation to conduct practice-based research as part of teaching. Practice-based research is a method of studying ones’ own teaching that draws on action research, design-development research, and transformative research. As a method through which teachers define questions, explore solutions, and share successes in professional communities, practice-based research holds tremendous potential to support teachers in diverse classrooms as they work to teach in culturally sustaining ways despite external pressures. This chapter begins with the history of action research and the tradition of teachers conducting research on their practice. Then, examples of practice-based research in literacy teacher education settings from a review of the research literature are provided to demonstrate the challenges, opportunities, and design features for this work. The chapter concludes with recommendations for teacher education policies, for teacher educators, and for practice.

scholarly journals DEVELOPMENT OF ATTITUDE TOWARDS REFLECTIVE TEACHING PRACTICE (RTP) SCALE

2020 ◽  
pp. 337-348
Author(s):  
Karuna K Simha ◽  
Umme Kulsum
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Education System ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Fundamental Principle ◽  
Attitude Scale ◽  
Reflective Teaching ◽  
Reflective Practitioners ◽  
The Government

The NCF-2005, NCFTE-2009 and the New Education Policy-2020 recommend teachers to be reflective practitioners. The realization of the concept of reflective teaching practice helps us to openly accept the new changes that are brought about by the education system and enables us to progress towards the betterment of the education system. The fundamental principle of teacher education is to be on reflective teaching model. As the reflective practice has been introduced more recently, there has been a shift in the approaches of teaching from teacher centeredness to learner centeredness. Adapting to the novel changes requires a mind-set to acknowledge the changes and evolve according to the need. It also involves likes and dislikes which can be rightly called attitudes. It is helpful to know the level of attitude of teachers, so as to provide them with required training, motivation and support. This helps the teachers also to change their attitudes towards reflective teaching. The measurement of attitude towards reflective teaching practices enables the teacher-educators, the educationists and the government to design programmes to help teachers develop a positive attitude to the new recommendations. It also helps the teacher education institutions to inculcate the positive attitudes towards the reflective teaching so as to prepare the entrant teachers to become reflective practitioners. Hence the attitude scale was constructed. The main purpose of the attitude scale is to measure and quantify the attitude towards reflective teaching practices. The reflective teaching practice scale was developed based on Likert scale construction procedures. The theoretical framework was adopted from the Pollard’s Reflective Teaching.

scholarly journals Being in Tension: Faculty Explorations of the Meaning of Social Justice in Teacher Education

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Shelley Thomas ◽  
Christine Clayton ◽  
Shin-ying Huang ◽  
Roberto Garcia
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Content Analysis ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Meaning Making ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Critical Position ◽  
Diverse Perspective

This study explores faculty perspectives of social justice in teacher education within one New York institution with a social justice focus. Grounded in the institution’s self-study process for accreditation, the researchers were a part of a team that collected data from structured interviews, including a card sort, of 42 full time teacher educators across 16 programs in the institution. Informed by sociocultural theories (Vygotsky, 1978; Wertsch, 1991), a content analysis revealed the language selected by faculty as well as their meaning-making process and describes how individuals contextualized those meanings. Findings demonstrated a range of meanings and lack of a shared understanding about social justice. Even where apparent consensus existed around particular terminology, the content analysis revealed that individual meanings were deeply contextualized within disciplines and, thereby, were quite distinct. We raise questions regarding how to use dialogue as a meaning making process, the possibilities for a range of meanings, and the significance of contextualizing social justice. The study suggests that significant tensions remain but that “being in tension” is a critical position and potentially informative to faculty who might consider using a framework that invites more diverse perspective rather than embrace a unitary meaning of the term.

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