scholarly journals A Study on Possible Selves of Turkish Pre-Service EFL Teachers

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
M. Pınar Babanoğlu

There is no doubt that teaching profession requires passing through a long and challenging path where student teachers/teacher candidates undergo a variety of processes, phases and transformations. Beauchamp and Thomas (2009) point out that examining new teacher identity can be considered as an important step to develop more effective teacher training programmes and identity development of a teacher is related to understanding the notion of ‘self’. This study investigates the possible selves of pre-service EFL teachers in relation to the concept of developing new teacher identity. Aim of the study is to measure possible selves of new teachers that they expect to become and/or fear becoming in the near feature. In order to achieve this goal, ‘New Teacher Possible Selves Questionnaire’ (Hamman, Wang & Burley, 2013; Dalioğlu & Adıgüzel, 2015) was used to measure EFL teacher candidates’ expected and feared teacher possible-selves. A six-point Likert type scale of questionnaire on possible selves was applied to 149 pre-service EFL teachers from two universities. Results indicate that EFL teacher candidates have positive expectations and no certain fears for their first year of teaching, especially female teacher candidates who have higher scores than males in terms of expected possible-selves.

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 468
Author(s):  
Pınar Babanoğlu ◽  
Reyhan Ağçam

There is a little doubt that becoming a teacher is a long and challenging journey where student teachers/teacher candidates undergo a variety of processes, phases and transformations. Beauchamp and Thomas (2009) points out that examining new teacher identity can be considered as an important step to develop more effective teacher training programmes and identity development of a teacher is related to understanding the notion of ‘self’. In relation to the idea of being lifelong ever-growing and ongoing, teacher identity is defined as a process in which teachers constantly re-interpret their experiences (Beijaard, Verloop ve Vermunt, 2004). This study investigates the possible-selves of pre-service EFL teachers in relation to the concept of new teacher identity. Aim of the study is to measure possible selves new teachers expect to become and fear becoming in the near feature. In order to achieve this goal, ‘New Teacher Possible Selves Questionnaire’ (Hanmann, Wang and Burley, 2013; Dalioğlu and Adıgüzel, 2015) is used to measure EFL teacher candidates’ expected teacher possible-selves and feared teacher possible-selves. A six point Likert type scale of questionnaire consisting two parts ( expected and feared teacher possible selves) is applied to pre-service EFL teachers from different universities who are involved to the data collection procedure. Statistical analysis is employed to measure the results of the questionnaire gathered from participants. The interpretation of the outcomes of the data analysis will be discussed; pedagogical implications and suggestions for future research will be shared during the presentation.


2021 ◽  
pp. e20200014
Author(s):  
Elise St. John ◽  
Dan Goldhaber ◽  
John Krieg ◽  
Roddy Theobald

Emerging research finds connections between teacher candidates’ student teaching placements and their future career paths and effectiveness. Yet relatively little is known about the factors that influence these placements and how teacher education programs (TEPs) and K-12 school systems match teacher candidates to mentor teachers. In our study of this process in Washington state, we find that TEPs and K-12 systems share overarching goals related to successful student teacher placements and developing a highly effective teacher workforce. However, distinct accountabilities and day-to-day demands also sometimes lead them to prioritize other objectives. In addition, we identified informational asymmetries, which left TEPs questioning how mentor teachers were selected, and districts and schools with limited information with which to make intentional matches between teacher candidates and mentor teachers. The findings from this study inform both practice and research in teacher education and human resources. First, they illuminate practices that appear to contribute to informational gaps and institutional disadvantages in the placement of student teachers. Additionally, they raise questions about what constitutes an effective mentor teacher and provide researchers and policymakers with better insight into the professional realities of teacher educators and K-12 educators, as well as those of district human resource (HR) coordinators, which is important given their differing accountabilities and distinctive positionings in the education of teacher candidates.


2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 64
Author(s):  
Kamil Uygun ◽  
Muhammet Avaroğulları

This study was conducted to determine to what extent the attitudes of pre-service teachers of social studies and history towards the teaching profession may predict possible teacher selves. Participants of the research are senior social studies teacher candidates studying at a public university in the spring semester of 2018-2019 academic year and history teacher candidates registered in the pedagogical formation program. Relational survey model, one of the survey models, was used in the research. The data was collected through Teacher Candidates Possible Selves Questionnaire and Attitude Scale towards Teaching Profession. The data obtained from the study were analyzed by Independent samples t test and simple linear regression analysis techniques. According to the results obtained from the research, there was no difference between the attitudes of social studies teacher candidates and history teacher candidates who received pedagogical formation education towards the teaching profession. While the department of teacher candidates was not effective on the expected teacher selves, it was determined that it was effective on the feared teacher selves. It has been understood that the attitude towards teaching profession is effective in predicting expected possible selves, but it is ineffective in predicting feared possible selves that are feared. Suggestions were made in line with the results obtained from the research.


2020 ◽  
Vol 101 (6) ◽  
pp. 24-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisa Borden-King ◽  
Warren Gamas ◽  
Kathy Hintz ◽  
Chelsie Hultz

Accreditation agencies and organizations calling for higher academic standards in the teaching profession have called for increasing minimum grade point averages and scores on standardized tests. However, it’s not clear that these requirements actually improve teaching. Lisa Borden-King, Warren Gamas, Kathy Hintz, and Chelsie Hultz researched whether teacher candidates’ scores on the Core Academic Skills Tests for Educators or their grade point averages correlated with scores on final student-teaching evaluations. They found no correlation between test scores and GPAs and how well teacher candidates performed as student teachers. They propose that, instead of focusing on standardized tests as admission criteria, teacher education programs should incorporate more clinical practice time, with opportunities for feedback that candidates can use to improve their teaching or decide not to enter the profession.


2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Semanur KADAKAL ◽  

It is stated that one of the most important stages in the training of a teacher is that teacher candidates gain practical teaching experience in schools (Ünlüönen & Boylu, 2007). Together with the lecturers in the faculty, the people who will contribute to the training of the teacher candidate and guide the teacher candidate in the school dimension of the process, namely the application part, are the practice teachers. MoNE defines the practice teacher as "the teacher who has a teaching formation in the practice school, selected from among the experienced teachers, guides and counsels the teacher candidate in gaining the behaviors required by the teaching profession". Practice teachers should be open to collaboration, willing to introduce teaching-learning processes, and sharing (Coşkun & Yalın Uçar, 2012). Since the application students gained their first professional experience under the guidance of the practice within the scope of the Teaching Practice course, the practice teacher should understand the importance of this process and know his responsibility. Teacher candidates find the opportunity to apply the knowledge they have acquired at the end of their 4-year undergraduate education in a real environment for the first time. Based on these points, the aim of this study is to evaluate the opinions of preschool student teachers studying at the same university and practice teachers about their practices in preschool education institutions within the scope of the "Teaching Practice I-II" course. This research was carried out to determine the opinions of 10 pre-school teachers working in 5 state kindergartens randomly selected from Küçükçekmece, Bakırköy and Ataköy districts of Istanbul province and 10 preschool stundent teachers studying at a foundation university in Istanbul on Teaching Practice I-II courses. Within the scope of the research, two data collection tools, "Teacher Interview Form" and "Student Interview Form", were used. The teachers and student teachers were determined by using the "snowball sampling" method. In the research, semi-structured interviews were conducted with a total of 20 people, including 10 preschool student teachers and 10 practice teachers. While the student teachers found the education they received at the university as theoretical and they could not implement activities that might interest children in the classroom, the practice teachers stated that the presence of teacher candidates in their classrooms provided an advantage especially in terms of supporting them in art activities, but they did not find their classroom management dominance sufficient. While the student teachers found their communication with them good, they stated that the student teachers should improve themselves in the activity implementation processes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Anamai Damnet

EFL teacher training for pre-service teachers plays a vital role in second language teacher education (SLTE). In Thailand, pre-service EFL teacher training benefits in helping student-teachers gain confidence before going to their practicum. This study investigates the effects of the pre-service EFL teacher training in a university in Thailand. The pre-service teachers’ perceptions towards the EFL training were also examined. Participants were 30 pre-service teachers currently studying in English Learning Management Program in the university at the research site. Research method applied training program evaluation (Owen & Rogers, 1999), and a 24-hour EFL training program was implemented. An experienced trainer in EFL was invited to provide the EFL training during the whole training course. Data collection gained was from: 1) an evaluation form, 2) a questionnaire, and 3) a student reflection sheet. Data analysis employed percentage, means, and S.D. for quantitative whereas grounded theory (Strauss & Corbin, 1999) was applied for qualitative data. Three major findings revealed that: 1) the effects of the pre-service EFL teacher training was very high; 2) the participants showed changes in all areas of EFL knowledge and experience provided after the training; and 3) the participants viewed five factors which included training contents, knowledge and experience, training activities, training process, and the trainer that affected the training. However, the findings indicated that the critical problem of the study was time limitation of the training course. This study has shed light on the significant role of EFL training for pre-service EFL teachers before their practicum as the findings showed positive change in their motivation and attitude for their teaching practice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Sayit Abdul Karim

The present study attempts to investigate effective EFL teacher educators from the perspectives of student teachers and teacher educators. A survey design was employed to examine student teachers' and teacher educators' perceptions of the attributes of effective EFL teacher educators. Furthermore, an adapted questionnaire was administered online to 408 participants (334 student teachers, and 74 teacher educators) to obtain data about effective EFL teacher educators using four categories of attributes of effective teacher educators, namely subject matter knowledge (SMK), pedagogical knowledge (PK), organization and communication skills (OCS), and socio-affective skills (SAS). Descriptive statistical analyses were conducted for the measurement of central tendency. The findings revealed the student teachers and teacher educators have different perceptions of how they perceived effective EFL teacher educators. There was a significant statistical difference between student teachers' and teacher educators' perceptions of the three categories of attributes, namely SMK, PK, and OCS. Meanwhile, there was no significant statistical difference between student teachers' and teacher educators' perceptions of SAS. The results of the present study may serve several pedagogical implications in the program of teacher education. Keywords: EFL student teachers, teacher Educators, effective teacher, perceptions


2019 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Ida Katrine Riksaasen Hatlevik ◽  
Eli Lejonberg

Frafall blant studenter som er i starten av studiet, er en stor utfordring for lærerutdanninger, og det er få norske studier som har undersøkt tiltak som kan imøtekomme frafallsproblematikk. Artikkelen belyser hvordan mentoroppfølging av lektorstudenter kan bidra til en god start på studiene. Mentoroppfølgingen som undersøkes her, innebærer at studentene er delt inn i grupper etter fagkombinasjon og møtes tre ganger per semester. Gruppene ledes av en veilederutdannet lærer med samme fagbakgrunn og som har sitt primære virke i skolen. Artikkelen bygger på intervjuer med studenter og mentorer og to spørreskjemaundersøkelser blant studentene. Funnene indikerer at førsteårs lektorstudenter har et stort behov for tiltak som bidrar til at de blir kjent med andre lektorstudenter som følger samme studieløp, men at organisatoriske tiltak som skal bidra til sosial integrasjon, også bør ha et innhold som er relevant for utdanningens formål. Artikkelen bidrar med kunnskap om at oppfølging ved en mentor kan imøtekomme utfordringer førsteårsstudenter kan ha både med å bli del av et studiefellesskap og med å starte utvikling av læreridentitet. I tillegg kan mentoroppfølging få frem utdanningsinnholdets relevans tidlig i studiet. Dette er kunnskap som også kan ha overføringsverdi til andre lærerutdanningsprogram.Nøkkelord: lærerutdanning, mentoroppfølging, utvikling av læreridentitet, identitetsdanning, studieengasjement, studiemiljø, frafallMentoring in teacher education:How mentoring may contribute to a good startAbstractDropout among students at the beginning of their studies is a major challenge for teacher education programmes. Few Norwegian studies have investigated activities aimed at addressing dropout issues in teacher education. This article highlights how mentoring can provide student teachers with a good start in their teacher education. In the empirical setting examined here, mentoring implies that student teachers were divided into groups by subject, and they met with their mentors three times per semester. The mentors leading these groups were schoolteachers with mentor education, who were teaching similar subjects to those that the students were studying. The data collection methods included interviews with the student teachers at the end of their first year of teacher education and with their mentors, and two student surveys. This article contributes to the literature by providing knowledge of how the challenges students may face at the beginning of their studies, can be addressed by activities that not only have a social agenda but also include content that is educationally relevant. Our results show that the mentoring activities investigated in this study helped the student teachers by allowing them to get to know other first year student teachers taking the same subjects, by broadening their insights into the teaching profession and enabling them to start developing a teacher identity, as well as by clarifying the relevance of the educational content early in the programme. This knowledge may also have transfer value to other teacher education programmes.Keywords: teacher education, mentoring, teacher identity development, identity formation, student engagement, study environment, student dropout


2015 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-69 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Huhtala

In this qualitative study the author examined personal narratives written by 14 Finnish speaking student teachers of Swedish, in order to find out what they tell about their thoughts and feelings concerning their future work as language teachers. The following three themes were in focus: firstly, what university students tell about their reasons for wanting to become teachers in the first place; secondly, what kinds of worries concerning their future work they mention in their narratives; and thirdly, how student teachers could be supported during transition from teacher education to teaching. According to the study, students choose teaching for reasons that are related to: (a) teacher identity and (b) teaching profession. They see teaching as meaningful and rewarding, but tell about worries connected to: (a) appearing in class and not having enough subject knowledge; (b) contacts with teenagers and their parents; and (c) heavy workload and lack of time. The results give support to previous studies indicating that novice teachers would benefit from organized mentoring sessions during transition to working life, so as to make it smoother and less challenging.


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