scholarly journals Talking About Sustainability in Teacher Preparation in Finland and the United States

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (1) ◽  
pp. 69-87
Author(s):  
Susan Wiksten
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
The United States ◽  
The Us ◽  
Research Findings ◽  
Specific Culture ◽  
Context Specific ◽  
Scientific Phenomena

This article reports on empirical research findings from a case study of teacher education in Finland and the United States. A sociological perspective was deployed for investigating how the concept of sustainability was addressed in two teacher education programs. One of the programs was located in Finland and the other in the US. The study was carried out in 2015 and 2016. Seventeen semi-structured, open-ended, audio-recorded interviews form the core of the research materials. A thematic analysis of interviews was conducted for identifying articulations related to sustainability in subject-matter specialized teacher preparation. Findings from this study contribute to research on teacher preparation. Notably, by articulating how context-specific culture and social norms contribute to local models of teacher education. Findings from this study indicate that teacher training practices in Finland have encouraged students to articulate sustainability in relation to critical thinking, whereas in the US, sustainability has been articulated in relation to social justice. The key point supported by the evidence is that sustainability was by teachers and teacher educators conceptualized as being about the popularization of knowledge about ecology and biodiversity. The kind of communication that was by teachers and teacher educators described as effective for popularizing knowledge about scientific phenomena were forms of teaching that expanded on content-specific knowledge by connecting it to ethical and civic frameworks of the societies in which students live.

Afterword: The Need to Re-Balance Our Portfolio of Education Means and Ends

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (4) ◽  
pp. 1-15
Author(s):  
Margaret Smith Crocco
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
The United States ◽  
Reform Movements ◽  
Special Issue ◽  
Means And Ends ◽  
Historical Moment

The author responds to several themes that emerge across the articles in the special issue, considering them in light of contexts of schooling, teacher education, and the contemporary historical moment in the United States. The articles raise salient concerns about what the reform movements of the last twenty or so years have meant for scholars, practitioners, and students who are involved in schooling and teacher preparation.

When Asked, Teachers Said…

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-29
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
United States ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
The United States ◽  
Teacher Education Programs ◽  
Education Programs ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Racial Hierarchies ◽  
The U.S

The authors perceive that institutionalized racial hierarchies are the greatest barrier to educational equity in the United States. While P-12 teachers may express the desire to make their classrooms spaces of joy, creativity, and intellectual brilliance, it is primarily through intentional skills development that teachers succeed. The authors assert the need for greater investments by school districts and teacher education programs in professional development for in-service P-12 teachers that further empower them and, in turn, their students, to contribute to the dismantling of racism in the U.S. Teacher educators, administrators and policy makers need to position themselves as cultivators and supporters of P-12 teachers in ways that encourage and sustain their antiracist advocacy and equity work in their teaching.

Building a “Lifetime Circle”: English Education in the Age of #BlackLivesMatter

2017 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 248-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maisha T. Winn
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Preservice Teachers ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Teacher Training ◽  
Restorative Justice ◽  
English Education ◽  
Ways Of Knowing ◽  
Mass Incarceration ◽  
The United States

This article argues that, to prepare teachers in the era of #BlackLivesMatter, there must be a radical reframing of teacher education in which teachers learn to disentangle their teaching from the culture of Mass Incarceration and the criminalization of Black and Brown people in the context of the United States in their practice. Using a restorative justice paradigm, I seek to understand in what ways, if any, teacher training, specifically of English teachers, can address issues of Mass Incarceration and how teacher preparation can support preservice teachers to resist colonizing pedagogies and practices that privilege particular ways of knowing and being that isolate particular youth.

A Search for the Heart of Teacher Education Through Curriculum

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mari Koerner
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
The United States ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Public And Private ◽  
Alternative Pathways ◽  
Caring Teachers ◽  
The Face ◽  
The Impact

Most of the millions of teachers in public and private schools have gone through teacher preparation programs. Preparing a person to teach is a centrally important, complicated, and many-layered process that carries deep responsibilities for the people who prepare those teachers, namely, teacher educators. So, it is not surprising that, even in the face of over 1,400 research studies about its effectiveness, there are still ongoing debates about the impact of teacher preparation on teachers in classrooms. It is not uncommon to see claims that teacher preparation is vitally important and, at the same time, claims that teacher preparation makes little difference. Because of myriad philosophies and varied desired outcomes, experts who design the pedagogy and content have varying touchstones for excellence that are put into programs along with variation in courses, admission, and degree requirements. How is it possible to get to the “heart” of preparing knowledgeable and caring teachers? There seems to be no one curriculum for the thousands of people entering the classrooms across America, so how can educators design and implement the methods that will best serve students in classrooms all across the country? Many underlying philosophies and values, as well as research, steer this enterprise—which leads to more confusion and angst. There has always been the quest for a “one shoe fits all” model for definitive curriculum, so epochs in teacher preparation can be traced back to when ideas and practices shifted. Other, varied sources contribute to the implementation and goals of teacher education: state and federal governments, education college research faculty, and local Boards of Education. The necessary professional credentials should be a factor (and ideally the same in all states), but ways to obtain teaching credentials are currently multiplying as alternative pathways are being created at a rapid pace. Then, there is the central question: Who is speaking for the welfare of the children in a united voice? Certainly, everyone in this endeavor should never forget that the purpose of a free and public education, both in the United States and other countries, is to create a literate population who can support and sustain a democracy. The ongoing quest is to discover what constitutes the heart of teacher preparation.

Teacher Education for Cultural and Linguistic Diversity in the United States

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ann Mogush Mason ◽  
Bic Ngo
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
White Supremacy ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Institutional Practices ◽  
Cultural And Linguistic Diversity ◽  
Individual Consciousness ◽  
Just Society

Teacher educators in the United States generally agree that teachers must be prepared to teach for cultural and linguistic diversity. In the first two decades of the 21st century, efforts to do so have occupied much of the literature in critical teacher education and have pervaded the institutional practices at many colleges and universities. However, not all approaches to teacher education for cultural and linguistic diversity demonstrate understanding of the role that white supremacy plays in maintaining structures and institutions that limit possibility in the lives of people of color. Even when teacher educators themselves are critically conscious of this role, institutions are often more powerful than individual consciousness. Specifically, because teacher education is located in institutions that are rooted in white supremacist practices, efforts to shift practices toward teacher education for cultural and linguistic diversity are typically swallowed up by the recuperative power of white supremacy. If teacher education is going to be part of building a more just society, it must orient itself explicitly to understanding the role it plays in maintaining white supremacy and then to mounting new efforts that can stand up to its recuperative power.

Opportunities to Study, Practice, and Rehearse Teaching in Teacher Preparation: An International Perspective

2020 ◽  
Vol 122 (11) ◽  
pp. 1-46
Author(s):  
Karen Hammerness ◽  
Kirsti Klette ◽  
Inga Staal Jenset ◽  
Esther T. Canrinus
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Student Learning ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Teaching Practices ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
The United States ◽  
International Studies ◽  
Methods Courses

Background Around the world, policy makers and teacher educators are paying increasing attention to how teacher candidates learn to study and enact teaching and to grounding preparation more deeply in teachers’ classroom practice. Evidence from the United States and the Netherlands suggests that efforts to tie preparation to practice may significantly impact pupils’ learning. However, the nature of teacher candidates’ opportunities to study, practice, and rehearse teaching remains underexplored, especially in international studies. Purpose Our research analyzes opportunities to study, practice, and rehearse teaching in teacher education coursework in five different programs in five countries. We focus specifically on the degree to which campus coursework provides candidates with opportunities to study, practice, and rehearse actual teaching practices. What kind of opportunities exist in these international programs’ coursework to study, practice, and rehearse teaching? Are there any typical patterns and connections that teacher education students encounter more often than others? Research Design Our multiple case study design uses data from surveys of program candidates, observations of methods courses, and interviews with program faculty and students. We highlight our inclusion of observation of methods courses, which are relatively rare in studies of teacher education. We collected these data in five programs in five countries: Chile, Cuba, Finland, Norway, and the United States. Findings Analysis of all data revealed frequent opportunities for candidates to analyze artifacts from teaching and to do work that pupils will do. Candidates had some opportunities to plan, to rehearse teaching strategies, and to experience their teacher educator modeling teaching practices. Despite a growing focus on student learning in the United States and in other countries, there were few opportunities for teacher candidates to analyze student learning or to examine samples of students’ work. The dearth of opportunities for candidates to examine and analyze student learning was especially surprising: We underscore this finding as critical for teacher education. Conclusions These findings about opportunities to study, practice, and rehearse teaching can provide helpful lenses for teacher education programs to examine where and how they offer these opportunities. Teacher educators may wish to consider the balance of learning opportunities within programs. The programs offered ample opportunities to plan for teaching, for instance. However, substantial experiences may come at the expense of others, especially when compared with the few opportunities to examine student learning.

Student Teaching and Certification Assessments

2019 ◽  
pp. 230-252
Author(s):  
Kelly A. Parkes
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Student Teaching ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
The United States ◽  
Music Educators ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
University Administrators ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Education Levels

This chapter discusses the tests and assessments used to determine workforce readiness for music educators in approved teacher preparation programs, with a view to making some recommendations for research needed in the near future. The chapter, which is based on relevant research literature, consists of three main sections: The first section focuses on briefly surveying the landscape of teacher preparation tests in the United States, the second section focuses on describing the tests and assessments, and the third section considers alternative models of assessment. The strengths and weakness of both the assessments and the policies that support their use are discussed. The chapter has relevance for both music teacher educators and university administrators seeking to understand the assessments used with preservice music educators at university and state Department of Education levels in the United States.

scholarly journals Formación multi/intercultural del profesorado: perspectivas en los Estados Unidos y en España

10.14201/3127 ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sonia Nieto ◽  
Miguel Anxo Santos Rego
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Linguistic Diversity ◽  
The United States ◽  
Teaching Staff ◽  
Reform Movements ◽  
Student Body ◽  
Current State ◽  
Multicultural Perspectives

RESUMEN: En este trabajo ofrecemos una perspectiva derivada de lo que está sucediendo en dos países, los Estados Unidos de Norteamérica y España, en la Unión Europea, cuyos sistemas educativos, cada uno en función de sus características y problemas específicos, intentan dar respuesta a las grandes cuestiones planteadas. Pensamos que en las sociedades cuyas poblaciones están experienciando cambios dramáticos en sus formas de vida, la formación de profesores se ha convertido en un auténtico desafío. Este desafío se hace especialmente evidente en las sociedades occidentales teniendo en cuenta que la diversidad cultural, étnica, racial y lingüística de los alumnos se encuentra alejada tanto del origen como de las experiencias de quienes les enseñan. Esta contribución está animada por un espíritu de confrontación dialógica y autoanálisis crítico, desde nuestras respectivas concepciones, a fin de explorar las consistencias e implicaciones comunes que deben servir para una definitiva integración de las perspectivas multi/intercultural en la formación de los profesionales de la educación, con las oportunas consecuencias en la dinámica de reforma en ambos sistemas educativos. Tratamos de describir las condiciones que han llevado en los Estados Unidos y en España a desarrollar un foco de educación multi/intercultural como marco filosófico que suponga una transformación en los programas de formación del profesorado. Sugerimos ideas que pueden favorecer una formación más eficaz de los profesores en clave multi/intercultural. Terminamos llamando la atención sobre los principales desafíos que conviene tener presentes a la hora de avanzar perspectivas multi/interculturales en el complejo ámbito de la formación docente.ABSTRACT: The challenge of teacher preparation is a particularly urgent one in Western societies where the cultural, ethnic, racial, and linguistic diversity of the student body is growing at the same time that the diversity of teaching staff is diminishing. In addition, most teachers from the majority cultures in these societies have had few experiences with people different from themselves. In this article we present our perspectives concerning the current state of intercultural/multicultural teacher education in the United States and Spain. Our collaboration is motivated by a sense of dialogic confrontation and critical self-analysis. Given our respective wiewpoints and experiences, it is our intention in this article to explore commonalities and implications of multicultural/intercultural teacher preparation, with a view toward an integration of these perspectives in the educational reform movements currently taking place in many societies, including our own. We attempt to describe the condition in both the United States and Spain that have led to the development of multicultural/intercultural education as a philosphical framework that demands a transformation in the preparation of teachers. We suggest some fundamental concepts that can help promote teacher education that is centered in equiality and social justice, and we cióse by calling attention to some of the principal challenges of developing multicultural perspectives in the preparation of educators.

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