scholarly journals Promoting Innovation and Creativity in Initial Teacher Technical Education in Ireland: A Case Study

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pauline Anne Logue
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Educational Technology ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Technical Education ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Student Perspective ◽  
Active Teaching ◽  
Institute Of Technology ◽  
Creativity And Innovation

The Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), Ireland, is a Higher Education (HE) provider of Initial Teacher Education (ITE).Graduates on its BSc (Hons) in Education (Design, Graphics and Construction) degree programme are qualified to teach technical subjects at second level. A defining element of delivery is the promotion of creativity and innovation in the classroom, by means of active, student-centred and design-led teaching and learning (T&L) strategies. This paper outlines a GMIT qualitative student-perspective pilot study, involving a total of 42 GMIT student teacher participants (n=42).  The study aims to analyse the effectiveness of two selected platforms in the ITE programme: 1) presentation contributions by 14 student teachers at the GMIT ‘Creativity and Innovation in Teaching’ Conference (2016) (n=14), and 2) a textual analysis of student online  forum critical reflection submissions (2016-2017) (n=28). The research confirms the effectiveness of  both strategies in promoting a practice of innovation and creativity in the classroom, including evidence of the innovative educational technology classroom tools and increased student-centred, active learning and design-led strategies in T&L. Keywords: Creativity, Innovation, Educational Technology, Technical Education, Initial Teacher Education, Active teaching Strategies.

Preparing Assessment Literate Teachers

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher DeLuca ◽  
Heather Braund
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Beginning Teachers ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teacher Assessment ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Assessment Literacy ◽  
Knowledge And Skills ◽  
Teacher Assessment Literacy

A standards-based accountability paradigm of education currently shapes teaching and learning in many schools around the world. This paradigm is characterized by increased academic standards and greater levels of assessment throughout learning periods. Across policy and curriculum documents, teachers are called to implement assessments to monitor, support, and report on student learning. Assessments can be formative (i.e., used to inform teaching and learning processes) or summative (i.e., used to communicate achievement through grades) and based on a variety of evidence (e.g., tests, performance tasks, conversations, observations, and so on). Given the growing emphasis on assessment as a dominant aspect of contemporary teaching and learning, there is a need for teachers to be assessment literate. The term assessment literacy was initially used to refer to the knowledge and skills teachers required in the area of assessment, historically with a strong focus on principles of measurement and test design. Over the past decade, however, the concept of assessment literacy has evolved. Newer notions of assessment literacy have moved away from demarcating the knowledge and skills needed for competency in assessment and instead recognize that assessment literacy is a contextual and social practice that requires teachers to negotiate their knowledge of assessment in relation to their pedagogy, curriculum, and classroom contexts. Central to this conception is the view that teacher assessment literacy is both sociocultural and contextual, shaped by various factors including teacher background, experience, professional learning, classroom context, student interactions and behaviors, curriculum, and class diversity. With the increased role of assessment in schools, pressure has been placed on initial teacher education programs to prepare beginning teachers with the necessary capacity to become assessment literate. While much of the existing research in the area of assessment education has focused on the value of discrete courses on teacher learning in assessment or on specific pedagogical approaches to enhancing student learning in assessment, results continue to point toward the need for more comprehensive preparation of teachers for the current standards-based paradigm of education. Accordingly, two frameworks for assessment education are described that consider multiple dimensions to preparing assessment literate teachers. These frameworks are DeLuca’s Assessment Education Framework and Xu and Brown’s Teacher Assessment Literacy in Practice Framework. These assessment education frameworks were selected as they work within a contemporary constructivist and sociocultural view of assessment literacy. The two frameworks suggest areas for teacher education that not only include the fundamentals for assessment literacy but also move beyond the fundamentals to engage the messier dimensions of what it means to do assessment work in schools. In both cases, student teachers are pressed to make connections and challenged to enact ideas in context to refine and synthesize their thinking. Xu and Brown detailed the macro- and micro-level influences that further shape assessment decisions in action. The composite picture is that learning to assess is not a neat and tidy enterprise of textbook curriculum. Instead, it is about learning foundational ideas and building an integrated stance toward teacher as assessor through contextualized reflective learning. Driving this learning is an enduring understanding that one’s assessment literacy is always in the making—a continuously evolving competency in relation to new contexts and experiences.

scholarly journals The Power of Inquiry in Equity-Oriented Teacher Education

2021 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 368-386
Author(s):  
Lexie Grudnoff ◽  
Helen Dixon ◽  
Jill Murray
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Education Programme ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Teacher Inquiry ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Persistent Problem

Abstract The international problem of differential achievement between groups of students has particular significance for New Zealand given its persistent problem of inequitable outcomes for Māori and Pasifika students, and those from poor communities. This qualitative study investigated how engagement in teacher inquiry supported student teachers’ understandings of, and practice for, equity. The 28 participants were in a one-year, equity-oriented Master’s initial teacher education programme. The data set comprised 84 research-related assignments participants completed for their teacher inquiry course. Thematic data analysis showed that the structured inquiry process supported participants to challenge inequity by problematizing student engagement and to address this by using a range of evidence to enhance their teaching. Overall, the study suggests that inquiry as research process and stance, along with the application of the Facets equity framework in authentic teaching and learning contexts, is a powerful source of student teacher equity-focused professional learning and practice.

scholarly journals Student Teachers as Future Researchers: How do Hungarian and Austrian Initial Teacher Education Systems Address the issue of Teachers as Researchers?

2018 ◽  
Vol 8 (3) ◽  
pp. 35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Csilla Pesti ◽  
János Gordon Győri ◽  
Erika Kopp
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Education Systems ◽  
Comparative Aspect ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Conducting Research ◽  
Oriented Research

Even though initial teacher education is a rather short period in comparison to the other phases of a teacher’s career, it has a crucial role in shaping student teachers’ career-long activities. Many argue that everyday teaching in a classroom setting is comparable to conducting research, as teachers pursue experimenting with different strategies to teaching and learning, as they reflect on their own as well as their colleagues’ work, and as they make decisions about their future steps based on these experiences. This paper aims to reveal how the concept of teachers as researchers is addressed in initial teacher education programmes by answering two questions: How is the concept of teachers as researchers represented in these programmes? What kind of experiences do student teachers have regarding practice-oriented research? The research has a case study design with a comparative aspect, in which one Hungarian and one Austrian institution offering initial teacher education serve as the two cases. Results show that both universities have integrated research into their initial teacher education programmes, but in different ways and to different extents. An important notion is that although various courses that deal with research and/or research methodology and could contribute to the development of student teachers’ research competences could be identified, the activities of these courses are somewhat restricted to taking place within the university walls (e.g., discussion of research results), detached from practice. The study is expected to contribute to the understanding of structural similarities and differences in initial teacher education systems in the two countries that may foster or hinder the development of student teachers’ development during their school-based teaching practice, with a particular focus on those that are required to conduct practice-oriented research. 

scholarly journals Student teachers’ perceptions of democracy in the mathematics classroom: Freedom, equality and dialogue

Pythagoras ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 33 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Wajeeh Daher
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Mathematics Classroom ◽  
Mathematics Teacher Education ◽  
Comparison Method ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Teaching And Learning Mathematics ◽  
Learning Mathematics ◽  
Two Stages

This article studies student teachers’ perceptions of the pedagogic and didactic aspects of teaching and learning mathematics in a democratic classroom. It is concerned primarily with issues of democracy in the mathematics classroom, specifically freedom, equality and dialogue. The research was conducted in two mathematics teacher education classes, where students were in their third year of study to major in mathematics. To find these students’ perceptions of democracy in the mathematics classroom the first two stages of the constant comparison method were followed to arrive at categories of democratic and undemocratic acts. The participants in the research emphasised that instructors should refrain from giving some students more time or opportunities to express themselves or act in the mathematics classroom than other students, because this would make them feel unequal and possibly make them unwilling to participate further in the mathematics classroom. The participants also emphasised that instructors should not exert their power to stop the flow of students’ actions in the mathematics classroom, because this would trouble them and make them lose control of their actions. Further, the participants mentioned that instructors would do better to connect to students’ ways of doing mathematics, especially of defining mathematical terms, so that students appreciate the correct ways of doing mathematics and defining its terms.

scholarly journals “This is why students feel lost when they go into teaching practice”: English Language Teachers’ Views on their Initial Teacher Education

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (10) ◽  
pp. 371-387
Author(s):  
Sue Garton
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Native Speaker ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Significant Shift ◽  
Snowball Sampling ◽  
Quantitative And Qualitative Research

The last 20-25 years have seen a significant shift in the views about what teachers need to know to be able to teach. This shift has led to new developments in the theory of second language teacher education (SLTE) and a growth in research in this area. One area of research concerns the attitudes and expectations of those learning to become teachers. While most studies in this area focus on teacher education programmes in BANA countries, this article looks at data from student teachers studying in Russia and Uzbekistan. The study employed a quantitative and qualitative research design, using a researcher-designed on-line questionnaire. Through snowball sampling, data from 161 students and recent graduates in the two countries were collected, analysed, and compared to investigate the content of SLTE programmes. The study identified what the novice teachers felt were the strengths and weaknesses of their programme, and what changes they would like to see. Results showed that while the respondents were mainly satisfied with their methodology, and theoretical linguistics courses, they felt the need for more practice, both teaching and language practice. The data also revealed that, in Uzbekistan in particular, the idea of global English struggles to take hold as native-speaker models remain the norm. The implications of the study underline the need for SLTE to explicitly link theory to practice and to promote the idea of varieties of English, rather than focus on native-speaker norms.

scholarly journals O que dizem as pesquisas sobre a Resolução de Problemas na formação inicial de professores de Matemática: um olhar sobre as fragilidades metodológicasWhat research on problem solving in the initial teacher education of mathematics says: a look into the methodological weaknesses

2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (2) ◽  
pp. 721-750
Author(s):  
Luiz Otavio Rodrigues Mendes ◽  
Ana Lucia Pereira ◽  
Marcelo Carlos de Proença
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Problem Solving ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Point Problem ◽  
Mathematical Content ◽  
Revisión Sistemática ◽  
Starting Point

ResumoA resolução de problemas, quando trabalhada com o problema como ponto de partida, tem apresentado profícuas possibilidades no ensino superior. No entanto, quais as possíveis fragilidades quando se trabalha com esta abordagem nesta perspectiva? À vista disso, este artigo apresenta o resultado de uma pesquisa que tem como objetivo desvelar as fragilidades que se evidenciam a partir do desenvolvimento da abordagem de resolução de problemas, em que se tem o problema como ponto de partida na formação inicial de professores de Matemática, apresentadas em teses e dissertações. A partir de uma revisão sistemática da literatura, encontramos 12 pesquisas que constituíram o corpus de dados, para serem analisadas seguindo as técnicas de Análise de Conteúdo, de onde foi possível identificarmos quatro categorias. Os principais resultados revelam que as fragilidades se relacionam com: I) dificuldades quanto à falta de conhecimento sobre o conteúdo matemático da educação básica pelos licenciandos; II) dificuldades apresentadas pelos licenciandos em comunicar suas ideias a respeito do conteúdo matemático trabalhado; III) dificuldade no entendimento dos problemas pelos estudantes; e, IV) dificuldades relativas ao tempo, referentes à realização das atividades pelos licenciandos e ao desenvolvimento da abordagem de ensino. Tais apontamentos podem contribuir com pesquisas futuras que desejem traçar este caminho, aprimorando-as e contribuindo com o processo de ensino e aprendizagem da Matemática.Palavras-chave: Solução de problemas, Formação inicial de professores, Matemática.AbstractWhen working with the problem as a starting point, problem-solving has presented fruitful possibilities in Higher Education. However, what are the possible weaknesses when working with this approach from this perspective? In view of this, this article presents the result of research that aims to unveil the fragilities that are evident from the development of the problem-solving approach, in which the problem is taken as a starting point in the initial training of mathematics teachers, presented in theses and dissertations. From a systematic review of the literature, we found 12 surveys that constituted the corpus of data, to be analyzed following the Content Analysis techniques, from which it was possible to identify four categories. The main results reveal that the weaknesses are related to I) difficulties related to the students’ lack of knowledge about the mathematical content of basic education; II) students’ difficulties to communicate their ideas about the mathematical content worked; III) students’ difficulty in understanding the problems; and, IV) difficulties related to time, concerning the students’ activity performance and the development of the teaching approach. Such notes can contribute to future research that wishes to follow this path, improving them and contributing to the process of teaching and learning Mathematics.Keywords: Problem-solving, Initial teacher education, Mathematics.ResumenLa resolución de problemas cuando se trabaja con el problema como punto de partida, ha presentado posibilidades fructíferas en la educación superior. Sin embargo, ¿cuáles son las posibles debilidades de entender y trabajar con este enfoque en esta perspectiva? En vista de esto, este artículo presenta el resultado de una investigación que tiene como objetivo develar las debilidades que se evidencian a partir del desarrollo del enfoque de resolución de problemas, en el que el problema se toma como punto de partida en la formación inicial de docentes de Matemáticas, presentadas en tesis y disertaciones. A partir de una revisión sistemática de la literatura, se encontraron 12 investigaciones que constituían el corpus de datos, para ser analizadas siguiendo las técnicas de Análisis de Contenido de manera cualitativa. Los principales resultados revelan que las debilidades están relacionadas con I) dificultades relacionadas con la falta de conocimiento sobre el contenido matemático de la Educación Básica por parte de los estudiantes de docencia, II) dificultades presentadas por los estudiantes de docencia para comunicar sus ideas sobre el contenido matemático trabajado, III) dificultad presentada por los alumnos para comprender problemas y IV) dificultad relacionada con el tiempo para desarrollar actividades y aplicar el enfoque. Tales notas pueden contribuir a futuras investigaciones que deseen trazar este camino, mejorarlas y contribuir al proceso de enseñanza y aprendizaje de las Matemáticas.Palabras clave: Resolución de problemas, Formación inicial de profesores, Matemáticas

scholarly journals Practice-Focused Research in Initial Teacher Education

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jane Abbiss ◽  
Eline Vanassche
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Research ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Educational Systems ◽  
Theoretical Contribution

A review of the field of practice-focused research in Initial Teacher Education (ITE) reveals four broad genres of qualitative research: case studies of teacher education programs and developments; research into student teacher experience and learning; inquiry into teacher educators’ own learning, identity, and beliefs; and conceptual or theory-building research. This is an eclectic field that is defined by variation in methodologies rather than by a few clearly identifiable research approaches. What practice-focused research in ITE has in common, though, is a desire on the behalf of teacher educator researchers to understand the complexity of teacher education and contribute to shifts in practice, for the benefit of student teachers and, ultimately, for learners in schools and early childhood education. In this endeavor, teacher educator researchers are presented with a challenge to achieve a balance between goals of local relevance and making a theoretical contribution to the broader field. This is a persistent tension. Notwithstanding the capacity for practice-focused research to achieve a stronger balance and greater relevance beyond the local, key contributions of practice-focused research in ITE include: highlighting the importance of context, questioning what might be understood by “improvement” in teacher education and schooling, and pushing back against research power structures that undervalue practice-focused research. Drawing on a painting metaphor, each genre represents a collection of sketches of practice-focused research in ITE that together provide the viewer with an overview of the field. However, these genres are not mutually exclusive categories as any particular research study (or sketch) might be placed within one or more groupings; for example, inquiry into teacher educators’ own learning often also includes attention to student teachers’ experiences and case studies of teacher education initiatives inevitably draw on theory to frame the research and make sense of findings. Also, overviewing the field and identifying relevant research is not as simple as it might first appear, given challenges in identifying research undertaken by teacher educators, differences in the positioning of teacher educators within different educational systems, and privileging of American (US) views of teacher education in published research, which was counteracted in a small way in this review by explicitly including voices located outside this dominant setting. Examples of different types of qualitative research projects illustrate issues in teacher education that matter to teacher educator researchers globally and locally and how they have sought to use a variety of methodologies to understand them. The examples also show how teacher educators themselves define what is important in teacher education research, often through small-scale studies of context-specific teacher education problems and practices, and how there is value in “smaller story” research that supports understanding of both universals and particularities along with the grand narratives of teacher education.

iTE

2018 ◽  
pp. 2104-2118
Author(s):  
Brendan Mac Mahon ◽  
Seán Ó Grádaigh ◽  
Sinéad Ní Ghuidhir
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Resource Sharing ◽  
Collaborative Design ◽  
Education Programme ◽  
Pedagogical Knowledge ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Knowledge Development ◽  
Teaching Learning

Research on the use of iPad in initial teacher education is limited. This paper outlines a study to examine how the professional learning and pedagogical knowledge development of student teachers could be supported following 1:1 iPad deployment on a second level initial teacher education programme in Ireland. Findings show that iPad can be utilised both as an effective pedagogical tool and as a medium for the creation of new learning spaces where student teachers' professional and pedagogical knowledge development is supported through feedback, peer-learning, resource sharing and critical reflection. Creating resources with and for iPad as part of a collaborative design process can also support student teachers in developing and integrating technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) within their approaches to teaching, learning and assessment. Implications for initial teacher education providers and the integration of technology within schools are outlined.

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