Reflection in alignment to professional standards: What did the student teachers highlight?

This study investigates the professional development of elementary student teachers in a teacher education program. Student teaching is a process for pre-service teachers to apply learning in an authentic school context, and one critical aspect of professional development is through reflection. The participants were primarily examined through their weekly reflections on teaching and learning experiences over an eight-week period. Using the state Standards for the Teaching Profession as a framework, the student teachers chose to reflect on topics they were most interested in exploring. Results indicated that the participants gave predominant attention to classroom management; the standards that received the least reflection were organizing curriculum and planning instruction. Analysis of the reflection journals also revealed how the student teachers grew as individuals and in interaction with others in a learning community. Based on the results, implications for teacher education are proposed. Limitations are also discussed.

A Course-Based Teaching Experience for STEM Undergraduates Improves Student Perceptions of Teaching Self-Efficacy and Attitudes Toward Teaching Careers

In the Learn By Doing Lab, STEM majors teach hands-on science to third- through eighth-grade students visiting the campus. Participants develop confidence in their ability to teach science and a more positive view of the teaching profession. Participants recognize that the experience builds 21st-century competencies.

Technology Leadership In Malaysian Schools- The Way Forward To Education 4.0

Education 4.0 is the answer to the global needs for the advanced integration of humans and technology. Leading school’s technology utilization can be the way forward to support education 4.0 realization. This study aims to investigate the effects and roles of principals’ technology leadership towards teachers’ ICT utilization and students’ academic performance in secondary schools in Selangor, Malaysia. This empirical study uses a set of questionnaires to gather information from respondents who are in the teaching profession. A total of 310 questionnaires were completed and analyzed. The findings have shown significant positive impacts between the effects of the technology leadership roles of principals on teachers’ effective ICT utilization and students’ academic performance. The integration of ICT and technological tools in schools has a great challenge towards the new era of the Education 4.0 system. This suggests that principals who embrace technology will effectively lead their schools to acquire educational resources to enhance student engagement and learning.

The Classroom Demands and Teacher Self-Efficacy in On-Site and Online Teaching

We investigate in this work the relationship between the perceived demands of the teaching profession and the general sense of teachers’ self-efficacy in on-site and online teaching contexts. We present the results of a study with N= 127 Romanian teachers, with ages ranged from 19 to 55, with a mean age of 39,26 years, SD = 9,20 (123 females, 4 males; 73 from urban area, 54 from rural area). Our results show that the self-efficacy of teachers is lower in online professional activities, compared to the self-efficacy of teachers perceived in the on-site professional activities. In the case of the online teaching environment the teachers with high scores on teachers’ self-efficacy tends to consider as being more challenging when dealing with different levels of children's development, working with children with learning disabilities, who have a small number of attendances, who do not follow the received instructions and with children who need more time and energy compared to other children. We discuss implications of our results for policies and strategies to enhance the quality of teaching practices.

Mid-career Teacher Retention: Who Intends to Stay, Where, and Why?

Teacher turnover is widely understood to be among the most pressing challenges facing the American public education system. Who and where are the mid-career teachers who choose to stay in the profession? Why do they stay? Researchers need to attend to these questions to inform both national dialogue and local actions regarding how to retain and sustain mid-career teachers who positively impact student learning. This quantitative study explored mid-career teachers’ responses to the 2015–2016 National Teacher and Principal Survey to ascertain if certain demographic factors (e.g., race, school location) and school climate and teacher attitudinal factors (e.g., job satisfaction, career pathway and opportunities, support from administrators and/or sources beyond school leaders and colleagues, and influence over school policy) affect a mid-career teacher’s decision to remain in the teaching profession. Findings indicate that mid-career teachers (5 to 20 years of teaching experience) in a secondary setting are significantly more likely to intend to stay in the profession than their peers in an elementary setting, and non-White mid-career teachers (Black/African American, Asian, Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islanders, and Native American/Alaskan Native) than their White peers, respectively. Suburban mid-career teachers are more likely to express a desire to remain in the profession than their counterparts in urban, town, and rural settings. Related to the climate and attitudinal factors, mid-career teachers with more positive perceptions of school climate are more likely to remain in the profession. The most important factor in mid-career teacher retention is the teacher’s level of satisfaction with workplace conditions that directly impact teaching.

I Want to Become a Teacher because…? Student-Teachers Change in Attitudes of Becoming Teachers in Austria and Kosovo

The motivation for career choice motivation of student-teachers is a well-studied topic with a representative theoretical basis in teacher education research that has a long-standing tradition in the international research landscape. However, in understanding the pressing questions of why young people choose to become teachers, only a few longitudinal and comparative studies have been carried out that focus on the development of motivation for choosing a teaching career. This longitudinal study reports on the effects of time within initial teacher education and how it influences student-teacher attitudes and motives about the teaching profession. This article is a product of a larger study that aims at addressing the existing literature gap by examining student-teacher change in attitudes of becoming teachers in Austria and Kosovo starting from initial teacher education, during early stages of their teaching career as novice teachers, and to more advanced stages of their teaching career. This is a panel study located within a longitudinal design. In this study, a questionnaire and student-teacher reflection texts were used as instruments. Data were collected in three phases during which 673 student-teachers participated in face-to-face administered questionnaire as follows: 341 (phase 1), 185 (phase 2), and 147 (phase 3), as well as 19 student-teacher reflections. Questionnaire data were analysed using the general linear model (GLM) with repeated measures test, whereas the reflection text data were analysed using thematic analysis. The findings in this longitudinal study provide evidence that student-teacher attitudes and motives for becoming teachers can change over time during the initial teacher education in Austria and Kosovo, and they can be influenced by in-school experiences during teaching practice. The study concludes that motives for choosing a teaching career are primarily intrinsic, are not time-stable, and change over the course of studies. The study findings have clear implications for initial teacher education programs in addressing changes in student-teachers’ attitudes of becoming teachers. The insights gained from the findings of this study lead to recommendations that initial teacher education programs should strengthen teaching practice to better manage the preparation of students and teachers and their entry into the teaching profession.

PENGARUH PERSEPSI SISWA SMA/SMK TENTANG PERAN GURU DAN PROFESI GURU TERHADAP MINAT SISWA MENJADI GURU

The purpose of this study is to describe the influence of high school / vocational high school students' perceptions about the role of the teacher and the teaching profession on the interest in becoming a teacher. The population in this study was all students of class XII in FKIP_UNLA partner schools, namely SMAN 8 Bandung, SMAN XI Bandung, SMKN 3 Bandung, and SMK Bandung Community Development, by using quota sampling. This type of research is quantitative research with correlation research methods. Data collection techniques were obtained using: Questionnaire, and interview, namely in the form of statements relating to the perceptions of high school / vocational students about the role of the teacher and the teaching profession the effect on student interest in becoming the teaching profession. Research results show that the perception of high school / vocational students about the role of teachers and the teaching profession contributes effectively to changes in the variable of student interest to become a teacher, and of these two variables the perception of students gives an influence on students' interest in becoming teachers.

Pre-Service Teacher Preparation to Integrate Computational Thinking

United States education has experienced a big push for students to learn coding as part of computer science and more explicitly address computational thinking (CT). However, CT remains a challenging subject for many students, including pre-service teachers. CT, which overlaps mathematics and computer science, tends to be offered as an elective course, at best, in P-16 education. Pre-service teaching profession students usually do not have foundational knowledge to guide them in integrating computational thinking into the curriculum that they will eventually teach as instructors themselves. This chapter explains computational thinking in light of K-8 education, discusses issues and needs in integrating CT into K-8 curriculum, identifies relevant theories and models for teaching CT, describes current practice for integrating computational thinking into K-8 curriculum, and discusses pre-service teachers' preparation that can lead to their successful incorporation of CT into the curriculum.

Teacher Identity, Growth Mindset, and Agency

This chapter discusses the problem of teacher retention as it relates to handling the unexpected, whether it be meeting the needs of all learners, classroom management, or any other problem teachers may encounter. The authors propose that teacher education programs can support the growth of preservice teachers by helping them to develop teacher identity early in their learning through experiences and autonomy. In addition, preservice teachers should develop a growth mindset to promote agency when encountering learning obstacles and to engage in reflective practice. By identifying as teachers, allowing themselves to grow, and being proactive in searching for ways to improve their practice, preservice teachers can better prepare themselves for the reality of teaching and, hopefully, remain in the teaching profession.