The Content of Beginning Special Educators' Conversations with Their Electronic Mentors

2016 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-45
Author(s):  
Roberta Gentry
Keyword(s):  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Special Educators ◽  
Teacher Assessment ◽  
Surprising Result ◽  
Electronic Mentoring ◽  
Ethical Practices ◽  
Survey Question ◽  
Perceived Outcomes

Abstract This exploratory study examined the frequency and content of text-based interactions between special education mentors (n=22) and mentees (n=50) within the Electronic Mentoring for Student Success Program (eMSS). Perceived outcomes of participants, based on an open ended survey question, were also analyzed. The Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Continuum (InTASC) Model Core Standards (2011) were used to qualitatively code the conversations between novice teachers and their mentors. Support for all standards was found with learning environments (n=850), professional learning and ethical practices (n=878), and leadership and collaboration (n=906) being the most common topics of discussion. However, several standards (i.e. assessment and content knowledge) were difficult to code because demonstration is required which cannot be observed in an asynchronous site. Frequency of interactions revealed a surprising result that mentors posted (n=675) twice as often as mentees (n=322). Mentees reported perceived outcomes in three main areas: collaboration, pedagogical knowledge, and emotional support.

Perceptions of a Collaborative Professional Learning Program: Seeing the “Bigger Picture”

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 290-303
Author(s):  
P. Charlie Buckley ◽  
Kimberly A. Murza ◽  
Tami Cassel
Keyword(s):  
Data Analysis ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Social Communication ◽  
Special Educators ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Integrative Approach ◽  
Theory Approach ◽  
Learning Program ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Related Service

Purpose The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of special education practitioners (i.e., speech-language pathologists, special educators, para-educators, and other related service providers) on their role as communication partners after participation in the Social Communication and Engagement Triad (Buckley et al., 2015 ) yearlong professional learning program. Method A qualitative approach using interviews and purposeful sampling was used. A total of 22 participants who completed participation in either Year 1 or Year 2 of the program were interviewed. Participants were speech-language pathologists, special educators, para-educators, and other related service providers. Using a grounded theory approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967 ) to data analysis, open, axial, and selective coding procedures were followed. Results Three themes emerged from the data analysis and included engagement as the goal, role as a communication partner, and importance of collaboration. Conclusions Findings supported the notion that educators see the value of an integrative approach to service delivery, supporting students' social communication and engagement across the school day but also recognizing the challenges they face in making this a reality.

Using Holistic and Ethical Practices with Emotional Support Animal Requests

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Leslie A. Stewart ◽  
Timothy J. Hakenewerth ◽  
Peter Rabinowitz ◽  
Heather Fowler
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Support ◽  
Ethical Practices

Mentoring as More Than “Cheerleading”: Looking at Educative Mentoring Practices Through Mentors’ Eyes

2018 ◽  
Vol 70 (5) ◽  
pp. 567-580 ◽  
Author(s):  
Randi N. Stanulis ◽  
Lindsay J. Wexler ◽  
Stacey Pylman ◽  
Amy Guenther ◽  
Scott Farver ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Student Teaching ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Study Groups ◽  
Mentor Teachers ◽  
Classroom Teachers ◽  
Student Work ◽  
School Year ◽  
Mentoring Practices ◽  
Educative Mentoring

Traditionally, classroom teachers have been asked to “cooperate” during student teaching, providing advice to imitate and emotional support to meet immediate needs. Based on theories of educative experience, educative mentoring focuses on growth, continuity, and inquiry. The purpose of this study was to understand what educative practices look like through the eyes of 10 mentor teachers who participated in six mentor study groups across a school year. We report on mentor’s talk about and enactment of three practices: coplanning, observing and debriefing, and analyzing student work. Although we introduced and gave name to particular mentoring practices, the mentors’ interpretations of what these look like when done in educative ways helped us craft the definitions we present in our findings. The findings of this study highlight that mentors benefit from professional learning that is focused on concrete practices with opportunities to develop over time in educative ways.

Meeting the Professional Development Needs of Special Educators in 21st Century Classrooms

2016 ◽  
pp. 52-68
Author(s):  
Elizabeth Hardman
Keyword(s):  
Learning Community ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Special Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Personnel Preparation ◽  
Preparation Programs ◽  
Community Work ◽  
Culture Of Learning ◽  
Basic Infrastructure

This chapter describes the challenges personnel preparation programs meet when preparing pre-service special educators for service in today's technology rich classrooms. The author used action research methodology to explore the feasibility of developing a virtual Professional Learning Community (PLC) for the purpose of building a collaborative culture of learning in special education and providing pre-service and novice special educators access to networks of support. A wiki and Ning provided the basic infrastructure for the virtual PLC and the data collected from the websites were analyzed using the eight essential characteristics of PLC development. The results showed that the PLC membership participated in community work primarily as observers only, relying almost entirely on the teacher educator to direct and manage all facets of community work. The implications of the research are discussed with respect to how personnel preparation programs prepare teachers for service in in 21st Century classrooms.

scholarly journals Exploring Latent Topics and Research Trends in Mathematics Teachers’ Knowledge Using Topic Modeling: A Systematic Review

Mathematics ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (22) ◽  
pp. 2956
Author(s):  
Sunghwan Hwang ◽  
Eunhye Cho
Keyword(s):  
Systematic Review ◽  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Mathematics Teachers ◽  
Topic Modeling ◽  
Research Trends ◽  
Pedagogical Content ◽  
Knowledge For Teaching ◽  
Mining Technique ◽  
Over Time

Mathematics teachers’ knowledge is considered one of the most critical factors in instruction and student achievement. As such, various studies have focused on mathematics teachers’ knowledge. Despite the expansion of the field, however, a systematic review was rarely implemented. Therefore, this study aimed to identify major research topics and trends on mathematics teachers’ knowledge by analyzing abstracts of 3485 scholarly articles published from 1987 to 2021. Using a text-mining technique, 11 underlying topics were found in the articles. The topics were classified based on their relationships and the following four groups were identified: “assessment”, “teachers’ knowledge for teaching”, “students’ knowledge and understanding”, and “teachers’ professional learning”. Over time, the analysis of research trends showed that professional development is the most popular topic, followed by pedagogical content knowledge and students’ mathematical understanding. Moreover, the popularity of these topics has not changed considerably over time. This study provides implications based on these results.

scholarly journals Problem-Based Learning for Responsive and Transformative Teacher Professional Development

2019 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-25
Author(s):  
Tom J. McConnell ◽  
Joyce M. Parker ◽  
Jan Eberhardt
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning Communities ◽  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Teacher Professional Development ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Problem Based Learning ◽  
Learning Activities ◽  
Pedagogical Practice ◽  
Additional Information ◽  
Teacher Professional

Educational reform should include teacher professional development (PD) to help educators learn how to implement new programs. This article shares a research-tested model of PD that uses the analytic framework of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) to support professional learning. Evidence suggests that PBL is effective in changing content knowledge and pedagogical practice. To teach content, facilitators engage teachers in learning activities designed using common PBL structures. Stories about authentic phenomena present problems associated with specific concepts. Learners work in groups to analyze problems, seek additional information, and construct plausible solutions. This same approach can support Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) to help teachers examine and revise their own teaching. In this model, teachers collaborate to identify “problems of teaching.” The group uses PBL to analyze information and solutions. Teachers research teaching strategies, test a proposed strategy, and analyze evidence to build new understandings of teaching.

scholarly journals What kind of support do teachers really need in a blended learning context?

2021 ◽  
pp. 116-129
Author(s):  
Shurong Zhao ◽  
Junxia Song
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Blended Learning ◽  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Emotional Support ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Policy Support ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Related Factors ◽  
Supportive Environment ◽  
Support Policy

Teachers in higher education are the principal participants in blended learning (BL). Without their engagement, any attempt at BL might fail. In the process of BL implementation, they are faced with various challenges and are mostly not well prepared. However, studies have often neglected the feeling of teachers and their anxieties during BL implementation. There is insufficient research on teacher-related factors, especially teacher support. To address this question, a questionnaire was conducted among 123 respondents from 10 universities in China between March and May 2020. An analysis of the data collected shows that BL is widely recognised by teachers, but they lack confidence in their competence in BL implementation. The top three difficulties that faculty face are increased workload, a lack of funds to build their own courses and a lack of time to prepare online activities. Further, respondents have a clear need for pedagogical support, financial and infrastructure support, policy support, technical support and emotional support. These findings indicate that a targeted support system should be constructed to address these difficulties. Special attention should be paid to formulating BL guidance, offering a supportive environment that values BL efforts and relieving the workload of faculty.   Implications for practice or policy: BL teachers need various support to design and implement BL courses. Higher education institutions should formulate guidance and clarify the definition and key implementation elements to guide BL practice. Management departments of higher education institutions should take effective measures to alleviate the burden of teachers. The training of teachers in the application of BL technology should focus on strengthening technological content knowledge and technological pedagogical knowledge.

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