Toward Nonbinary Theories of Practice in Teacher Education Research

2021 ◽  
pp. 0013189X2110520
Author(s):  
Sarah Schneider Kavanagh

This essay argues that contemporary debates about the role of practice in teacher education run the risk of reproducing mind/body, thought/action dualisms. Absent these binaries, practice is understood as always theoretical, principled, and contextualized and knowledge and identity are understood as always embodied and enacted. The author discusses nonbinary theories of practice and their application in teacher education scholarship within both historical and political contexts. The essay argues that the practice turn in teacher education might be leveraged to enhance the field’s intersectional imagination and to eschew the polarities and linearities the field has inherited from Western enlightenment philosophy.

1976 ◽  
Vol 42 (5) ◽  
pp. 244-252 ◽  

Thirty special educators, some of whom have worked in the field for over 50 years, were interviewed by telephone. Each was asked to identify milestone events and pioneers in special education and to describe the development and role of teacher education, research, and The Council for Exceptional Children over the years. Crucial issues and needs in the field today were identified by the group and their responses were synthesized into the first of a series of articles celebrating the Bicentennial.


2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (10) ◽  
pp. 5459
Author(s):  
Diana Soares ◽  
Betina Lopes ◽  
Isabel Abrantes ◽  
Mike Watts

This study presents a systematic literature review (SLR) on the initial training of science teachers in Africa based on selected research articles, in the period 2000–2020, that emphasize the importance of surveying knowledge that goes beyond those that historically have a longer path in the building of scientific knowledge, such as that of European or North American countries. The analysis included a total of 31 articles from the Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus databases. The findings indicate a lack of knowledge, or at least visibility, considering the initial training of African teachers, particularly in developing countries. South Africa leads the number of publications. Within the five African countries implied in the SLR the following outputs were identified: (i) a division between teacher education research that is ‘place-based’ and one that uses (only) ‘universal theories’ (such as Vygotsky and Bandura); (ii) a tension between the application of student-centered learning and teaching models and more traditional classroom practices. Finally, the majority of articles highlight the importance of investing in further research around teacher education. Based on these outputs the importance of international cooperation in teacher education research articulating theory and practice to ensure a global and local perspective towards sustainable development is reinforced.


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