Teacher Educators’ Practice and Vision of Good Teaching in Teacher Education Reform Context in Ghana

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 194-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kwame Akyeampong
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Good Teaching ◽  
Teacher Education Reform ◽  
Primary Mathematics ◽  
Learner Centered ◽  
Learner Centered Pedagogy

Teacher education in sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) has been criticized for the lack of attention to learning to teach in real classrooms, which limits the opportunity for pre-service teachers to successfully introduce learner-centered pedagogy in African primary school classrooms. To address this problem, Ghana has implemented a teacher education reform since 2004 to incorporate practicum. However, the critical role of teacher educators has been overlooked by policymakers, and few studies have qualitatively investigated their practice and vision. The study draws on qualitative data from the Ghana component of the Teacher Preparation in Africa (TPA) research project to explore eight teacher educators’ practice and vision of good teaching of primary mathematics. The study found that teacher educators’ practice and vision of good teaching consist of the use of teaching and learning materials (TLMs) and small group activities following specific steps without understanding the principles of learner-centered pedagogy that could be applied in a variety of classroom contexts and mathematics topics. The study also identified the hierarchical relationship between teacher educators and school teachers as a major challenge for effective practicum, limiting the opportunity to transform teacher educators’ vision and practice of primary mathematics teaching. Recommendations for enhancing professional learning opportunities for teacher educators are offered.

scholarly journals Practice Teachers’ Role in Teacher Education – Individual Practices across Educational Curricula

2016 ◽  
Vol 10 (2) ◽  
pp. 179-192
Author(s):  
Kirsten Elisabeth Thorsen
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
New Teacher ◽  
Theoretical Studies ◽  
School Teachers ◽  
Broad Perspective ◽  
Teacher Education Reform ◽  
Depth Interviews

Praksislærere har en sentral rolle i lærerutdanning. Forskning peker imidlertid på at både tilfeldigheter og uklarheter er knyttet til utøvelse av rollen. Forskningsprosjektet “Teachers` Professional Qualifications” (TPQ), undersøker intensjoner med den nye lærerutdannings­reformen i Norge i et bredt perspektiv. Denne artikkelen undersøker hvordan praksislærere oppfatter sin rolle og sine oppgaver på bakgrunn av at reformen har ambisjoner om praksis­lærere som likeverdige samarbeidspartnere i lærerutdanning. Studien har utgangspunkt i en spørreundersøkelse med 45 praksislærere i tillegg til dybdeintervju med åtte andre.Resultatene viser at det som kjennetegner rollen som praksislærer, først og fremst er lang erfaring som lærer. I tillegg viser resultatene at generelle læreroppgaver har mer oppmerk­somhet i praksisperioder enn det som er mål i lærerutdanningsprogrammet. På den måten legitimerer praksislærere sin rolle ut av en lærerutdanningskontekst. Studien bekrefter også det internasjonal forskning viser: behovet for å involvere praksislærere i felles prosesser for å utvikle sammenhenger mellom teoristudier og praksisopplæring i lærerutdanning.Fire år etter implementering av lærerutdanningsreformen i Norge er det grunn til å stille spørsmål ved i hvilken grad intensjonene i reformen har blitt realisert. Diskusjonen er i hovedsak knyttet til profesjonalisering av praksislærerrollen og praksislærere som likeverdige samarbeidspartnere i lærerutdanning.Nøkkelord: lærerutdanning, lærerutdannere, praksislærere, forholdet teori-praksisAbstractPractice teachers have a central role in teacher education. However, research indicates ran­domness and obscurity in performing this role. The research project “Teachers’ Professional Qualifications” (TPQ) examines objectives regarding the new Teacher Education Reform in Norway from 2010 in a broad perspective. As the reform places high demands on practice teachers as equal participants in teacher education, this article examines how they perceive their roles and tasks with respect to the intentions. The study is based on a survey of 45 practice teachers and in-depth interviews with eight others.The main results reveal that the role of practice teachers as mentors is based on signifi­cant experience as school teachers and that general teacher activities are more focused than the claims of the educational programs. Practice teachers seem to legitimate their role out­side of the context of teacher education. The study also seems to confirm what international research strongly indicates: the need to involve and cooperate with practice teachers to increase coherence in theoretical studies and school practice.Four years after the implementation of the reform, there are reasons to question the degree to which the reform intentions have been realized. The discussion is related, in particular, to the professionalization of the role of the practice teachers and their role as cooperating participants in teacher education.   Keywords: teacher education, teacher educators, practice teachers, theory-practice relation­ship

scholarly journals The intersections of selves and policies: A poetic inquiry into the hydra of teacher education

2018 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 29 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephanie Behm Cross ◽  
Alyssa Hadley Dunn ◽  
Erica K. Dotson
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Research Policy ◽  
Teacher Education Reform ◽  
Poetic Inquiry ◽  
Neoliberal Reforms ◽  
Collective Resistance ◽  
Market Driven

This article explores the intersection of selves and policies for teacher educators in an era of teacher education reform. Borne out of a promise to one another to write about our experiences navigating increasingly complex market-driven, neoliberal attacks on our work and world, we collected data across several years that documented our attempt to break our silence (Lorde, 1977) and explore how we, as teacher educators, make sense of neoliberal reforms and policies in teacher preparation. We draw specifically on Dunn’s theory of the Hydra of Teacher Education (2016), alongside literature on reforms and policies in teacher preparation and teacher educators’ forms of resistance to frame our work, and utilize arts-based poetic inquiry methodology (Prendergast, 2009; Rath, 2001) to explore the real, everyday implications of educational policy in our lives and in our careers. The poems we created as a “performative act” (Prendergast, 2009, p. xxiii) revealed that our experiences seemed to follow a cycle from hopelessness, to silence, to acquiescence, to collective resistance. We look carefully at this last portion of the cycle in our work, wondering how, if at all, teacher educators can resist the neoliberalization of teacher preparation. We conclude with implications for research, policy, and the practice of teacher education as we write to understand, write to resist, and write to survive.

scholarly journals Advancing Teacher Education through Faculty Development

2009 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Julian Kitchen
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Faculty Development ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Effective Teacher ◽  
Teacher Education Reform ◽  
The North ◽  
Body Of Knowledge

In light of a growing body of knowledge on effective teacher education practices and programs, more attention needs to be given to faculty development as a means of reforming teacher education. After identifying key themes in the North American teacher education reform literature since the 1980’s, the author identifies some of the challenges to the professionalization of both clinical faculty and professors of education. The paper concludes with the identification of four possible components of a pan-Canadian program of professional development for teacher educators: initial teacher educator preparation; ongoing professional development; practitioner research by teacher educators; and disseminating teacher education research and reforms.

scholarly journals Assessing pre-service teachers’ professional identity construction in a three-phase teacher education program in Iran

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fariba Haghighi Irani ◽  
Azizeh Chalak ◽  
Hossein Heidari Tabrizi
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Identity Construction ◽  
Education Program ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
Critical Role ◽  
Assessment Tools ◽  
Problem Solving Skills

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.

The Policy Context for the Evolution of Teacher Education Reform in New Jersey

2017 ◽  
Vol 119 (14) ◽  
pp. 1-64
Author(s):  
Gary Natriello
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
New Jersey ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Quality Of Education ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Teacher Education Reform ◽  
Policy Context ◽  
Three Stages ◽  
General Concern

This article examines the genesis of the New Jersey Provisional Teacher Program, also known as the New Jersey Alternate Route Program, in three stages. First, the motivation to consider alternative ways of recruiting and preparing teachers for New Jersey schools began with general concern about the quality of education in the state and soon moved to consideration of means of strengthening teachers and teacher education. Second, the interest in improving the preparation of teachers led directly to changes in the regulations governing college-based teacher education programs. Third, the principles that were first applied to the reform of college-based programs were then adopted to structure and regulate an alternative route to teaching and the Provisional Teacher Program.

scholarly journals Teacher Education Reform Within University Special Education Programs

2017 ◽  
Vol 38 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Regina Sapona ◽  
Jerry Etienne ◽  
Anne Bauer ◽  
Ann E. Fordon ◽  
Lawrence J. Johnson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Education Reform ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Teacher Education Reform ◽  
Special Education Programs
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