scholarly journals Examination of modelling in K-12 STEM teacher education: Connecting theory with practice

2021 ◽  
Vol 1 (4) ◽  
pp. 279
Author(s):  
Dragana Martinovic ◽  
Marina Milner-Bolotin
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Stem Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Unified Field ◽  
Educational Framework ◽  
Modelling Cycle ◽  
Science School ◽  
Canadian Provinces ◽  
K 12

<p style='text-indent:20px;'>The goal of this paper is to examine the place of modelling in STEM education and teacher education. First, we introduce modelling as a cyclical process of generating, testing, and applying knowledge while highlighting the epistemological commonalities and differences between the STEM disciplines. Second, we build on the four well-known frameworks, to propose an Educational Framework for Modelling in STEM, which describes both teacher and student roles in the modelling cycle. Third, we use this framework to analyze how modelling is presented in the new mathematics and science school curricula in two Canadian provinces (Ontario and British Columbia), and how it could be implemented in teacher education. Fourth, we emphasize the epistemological aspects of the Educational Framework for Modelling in STEM, as disciplinary epistemological foundations may seem too abstract to both teacher educators and teachers of STEM school subjects. Yet, epistemologies are the driving forces within each discipline and must be considered while teaching STEM as a unified field. To nurture critical thinkers and innovators, it is critical to pay attention to what knowledge is and how it is created and tested. The Educational Framework for Modelling in STEM may be helpful in introducing students and future teachers to the process of modelling, regardless of if they teach it in a single- or a multi-discipline course, such as STEM. This paper will be of interest to teacher educators, teachers, researchers, and policy makers working within and between the STEM fields and interested in promoting STEM education and its epistemological foundations.</p>

Literacy in K-12 Teacher Education

2011 ◽  
pp. 469-492
Author(s):  
Kristina Love
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Literacy Practices ◽  
Cultural Practices ◽  
New Literacy ◽  
Cd Rom ◽  
Text Structures ◽  
Critical Areas ◽  
Complex Forms ◽  
K 12

Midway through the first decade of the new millennium, teachers are still facing considerable challenges in dealing with the complex forms of literacy that are increasingly required for success across the K-12 curriculum in Australia. Three critical areas in particular need to be addressed in teacher education in this regard: teachers’ knowledge about text structures and about how language functions as a resource in the construction of a range of spoken, written, and multi-modal genres; teachers’ understanding of language and text as critical socio-cultural practices and how these practices build disciplinary knowledge across the K-12 curriculum; and teachers’ capacity to choose models of pedagogy that allow learners to master new literacy practices, transform meanings across contexts, and reflect substantively on learning through language. In this chapter, I will outline how a video-based interactive CD-ROM entitled BUILT (Building Understandings in Literacy and Teaching) was developed for use in teacher education to address these concerns. I will conclude by signalling some of the challenges that remain for teacher educators training novice teachers to scaffold, through ICT, their K-12 students into an important range of literacies.

Exposing Color Blindness/Grounding Color Consciousness

2011 ◽  
Vol 46 (6) ◽  
pp. 1195-1225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kerri Ullucci ◽  
Dan Battey
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Color Blindness ◽  
Negative Consequences ◽  
Multiple Meanings ◽  
Color Blind ◽  
K 12

As teacher educators we have been struck by the consistency, urgency, and frequency in which students employ color-blind perspectives. This orientation has negative consequences in K-12 settings. In this manuscript, we lay out the multiple meanings of color blindness, drawing from legal, educational, and social science traditions, and offer arguments for color consciousness in education. In addition, we use this theoretical perspective to investigate interventions for countering color blindness in teacher education. Using a framework steeped in the tenets of color consciousness, we draw from scholars as well as our own work to provide interventions designed to challenge color-blind orientations in teachers.

Beyond Damage-Centered Teacher Education: Humanizing Pedagogy for Teacher Educators and Preservice Teachers

2019 ◽  
Vol 121 (6) ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Dorinda J. Carter Andrews ◽  
Tashal Brown ◽  
Bernadette M. Castillo ◽  
Davena Jackson ◽  
Vivek Vellanki
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Critical Consciousness ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Preparation Programs ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Humanizing Pedagogy

Background/Context In our best efforts to increase preservice teachers’ critical consciousness regarding the historical and contemporary inequities in the P–12 educational system and equip them to embody pedagogies and practices that counter those inequities, teacher educators often provide curricular and field experiences that reinforce the deficit mindsets that students bring to the teacher education classroom. For many social justice-oriented teacher educators, our best intentions to create humanizing experiences for future teachers can have harmful results that negatively impact preservice teachers’ ability to successfully teach culturally diverse students in a multitude of learning contexts. Purpose/Objective/Research Question/Focus of Study In this article, we propose a humanizing pedagogy for teacher education that is informed by our experiences as K–12 teachers and teacher educators in a university-based teacher preparation program. We focus on the general questions, How can university-based teacher preparation programs embody and enact a humanizing pedagogy? and What role can curriculum play in advancing a humanizing pedagogy in university-based teacher preparation programs? Research Design In this conceptual article, we theorize a humanizing pedagogy for teacher education and propose a process of becoming asset-, equity-, and social justice-oriented teachers. This humanizing pedagogy represents a strengths-based approach to teaching and learning in the teacher preparation classroom. Conclusions/Recommendations We propose core tenets of a humanizing pedagogy for teacher education that represent an individual and collective effort toward critical consciousness for preservice teachers and also for teacher educators. If university-based teacher education programs are committed to cultivating the development of asset-, equity-, and social justice-oriented preservice teachers, the commitments to critical self-reflection, resisting binaries, and enacting ontological and epistemological plurality need to be foundational to program structure, curricula alignment, and instructional practice.

Pre-service teachers and religion

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 192-200
Author(s):  
Colton T. Ames
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Civic Engagement ◽  
Multicultural Education ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Curriculum And Instruction ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Religious Studies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
K 12

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide teacher educators with a foundation for including religion in multicultural education classes. In doing so, they can foster more robust discussions of religion and its implications for equity and justice in K-12 classrooms. Design/methodology/approach This piece was adapted from the religion unit that the author designed for the multicultural education course, and is the combination of the author’s expertise in religious studies, and curriculum and instruction. Findings As a practice piece, this paper is meant to start discussions and reflections for teacher educators as to how we can better address religion when discussing multicultural education, and the implications of equity, diversity and social justice in the classroom. Originality/value The author hopes that this piece will contribute to a growing field of literature on how to foster discussions of religion in teacher education and K-12 classrooms. As a former religious studies educator, the author hopes to offer a perspective that combines the fields of curriculum and religious studies to create a more robust relationship that will foster democratic and civic engagement.

scholarly journals Developing an Angled Perspective as Teacher Educators: Using Narrative Reflection to Disrupt the Funding of Identity in Teacher Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Brittany Aronson ◽  
Esther Enright ◽  
Tasneem Amatullah
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Identity Theory ◽  
Ethnically Diverse ◽  
Building Capacity ◽  
K 12

Building capacity in teachers to teach students skillfully and respectfully across the diversity gap is complex work that requires teachers to learn to see with what we term as angled perspective. If an angled perspective is learnable, then it is teachable. Using our narratives as religiously and ethnically diverse women teacher educators, we share through our own learning and growth, how this type of analysis can contribute to coalitional building for teacher education, and thus K-12 teachers. Through our conceptualization of identity theory, positionality, and intersectionality, we argue angled perspectives contribute to solidarity work in education. We share implications for teacher educators to integrate angled perspectives into curricula across teacher preparation courses.

scholarly journals Building Collaborative Teacher Education: Integrating UDL through a Faculty Learning Community

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Stacie B. Whinnery ◽  
Keri Fogle ◽  
Jennifer Stark ◽  
Keith Whinnery
Keyword(s):  
Special Education ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Learning Community ◽  
Curriculum Reform ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Education Faculty ◽  
Faculty Learning Community ◽  
Faculty Learning ◽  
K 12

Teacher educators have focused reform efforts on preparing graduates to address increasingly diverse K-12 students. Collaboration among general and special education faculty is seen as beneficial for preparing teacher candidates who can teach diverse learners, yet it is not the norm. This practitioner research study explored a curriculum reform effort that employed a faculty learning community (FLC) to engage general and special education faculty to collaboratively integrate Universal Design for Learning (UDL) into two teacher education programs. Faculty perceptions of the collaborative reform process and resulting curriculum enhancements are presented. Findings indicated the process was valued by our faculty, promoted a stronger culture of cross-disciplinary collaboration, and resulted in systematic curriculum improvements coordinated across content and field courses. This study offers guidance to teacher education faculty interested in collaborative curriculum reform.

Learning to fall forward

2018 ◽  
Vol 35 (5) ◽  
pp. 310-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kira J. Baker-Doyle ◽  
Michiko Hunt ◽  
Latricia C. Whitfield
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Social Activity ◽  
Social Contexts ◽  
School Level ◽  
Connected Learning ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Learning Framework ◽  
The Social ◽  
K 12

PurposeConnected learning is a framework of learning principles that centers on fostering educational equity through leveraging social technologies and networking practices to connect students with opportunities, people and resources in communities within and beyond their classroom walls (Itoet al., 2013). The framework has been adopted and developed in K-12 education by teachers in professional development networks and introduced to some teacher education programs through these networks. Practitioners of connected learning frequently refer to the need for “courage” to develop and introduce connected learning-based practices in their classrooms. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachIn this study, the authors investigate “courage” through a sociocultural lens in the case studies of six educators in a teacher education course on connected learning. The study examines the social contexts and activities that fostered acts of courage during their 14-week course.FindingsThe authors found that personal reflection on freedom and equity, two ethical concepts raised by the connected learning framework, seeded acts of courage. The acts of courage appeared as small acts that built upon themselves toward a larger goal that related to the participants’ ethical ideals. Three types of social activity contexts helped to nurture these acts: seeking models of possibility, mediated reinvention and “wobbling.”Research limitations/implicationsThis study helps to uncover some of the questions that connected learning scholars and practitioners have about why courage is so central, and how to cultivate courageous acts of pedagogical change.Practical implicationsThe theoretical framework used in this study, courage from a sociocultural perspective, may serve to help scholars and teacher educators to shape their research and program designs.Social implicationsThis study offers insights into patterns of networked teacher-led educational change and the social contexts that support school-level impacts of out-of-school professional networking.Originality/valueUsing a sociocultural conception of courage to investigate connected learning in teacher education, this study demonstrates how equity and freedom, central values in the connected learning framework, serve as key concepts driving teachers’ risk-taking, innovation and change.

scholarly journals Reframing Teacher Education: Preparing Teachers for Inclusive Education

Inclusion ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 286-300 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer Kurth ◽  
Jean Ann Foley
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Mentor Teachers ◽  
Traditional Model ◽  
Building Capacity ◽  
Inclusive Settings ◽  
K 12

Abstract Inclusive education is increasingly common in K-12 schools, yet teacher preparation for inclusive education has been lagging. In the present study, interviews of teacher candidates, mentor teachers, university faculty, and fieldwork supervisors were completed to determine experiences of, and preparation for, inclusive education. Results indicate that teacher candidates received very mixed, and often contradictory, messages about inclusive education in their coursework and fieldwork experiences. Recommendations for building capacity for inclusive fieldwork and inclusive teacher preparation are proposed. Further, the need for teacher educators to reframe teacher preparation, from the traditional model of preparing teachers for largely segregated roles to providing the skills and techniques necessary for working and succeeding in inclusive settings, is discussed.

Unstable Ground: Unearthing the Realities of Experiential Education in Teacher Education

2017 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 231-248 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jocelyn Glazier ◽  
Cheryl Bolick ◽  
Christoph Stutts
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Experiential Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Self Study ◽  
Field Notes ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Cross Case Analysis ◽  
University Classrooms ◽  
Interview Transcript ◽  
Do So

Experiential education (EE) leads to positive outcomes for K-12 students; however, such practice remains on the periphery of schools. One key to centering EE in classrooms is to do so in teacher education. This study explores what it means to delve into EE as teacher educators alongside our students in field sites far removed from traditional university classrooms. For this self-study, we analyzed instructor journal reflections, research-assistant field notes, and a collective interview transcript. From these, we developed narrative cases of our individual experiences at field sites. Cross-case analysis revealed themes rarely associated with the work of teacher education professors. Like our students, we were confronted in the field with what Christian Itin refers to as physical, social, moral, emotional, intellectual, and spiritual challenges. The shifting realities of our roles as teacher educators revealed what it means to do EE alongside our students. The experience and accompanying reflection prompted us to consider how centering experience in teacher education shifts the oft-directive and didactic nature of our work. To shift their pedagogy, teacher educators must have new images of possibility. Here, we make transparent our journey as teacher education travelers on the path of experiential education.

scholarly journals Exploring Tensions in the Lives of Professors of Teacher Education: A Canadian Context

2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sal J Badali
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Professional Lives ◽  
Research Writing ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Professional Experiences ◽  
Canadian Context ◽  
Institutional Contexts ◽  
K 12 ◽  
Faculties Of Education

This article explores the major satisfactions and frustrations of professors of teacher education from faculties of education in Western Canadian universities. Data were collected in semi-structured interviews with 31 professors of various ranks. The purpose of the study weas to explore the manner in which these teacher educators frame their professional experiences and construct their roles within complex institutional contexts. The findings indicate that although professors view their work as highly positive, there are significant observable tensions in the professional lives. Two major themes characterizing the work of professors discussed: 1) satisfactions (working with students; delight in teaching; and fulfillment in research writing and scholarship), and 2) frustration (workload and time press issues; research and scholarship). Overall, results indicate a number of issues: many of the same things that gave them satisfaction as K-12 teachers give them satisfaction as professors; workloads and expectations are increasing; and professors acknowledge the centrality of scholarship as it relates to teaching.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document