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.

Evaluation Conducted With University Teachers on the General Physics Courses Taught at the National University of Costa Rica During 2014 and 2019

Objective. Evaluate the General Physics courses (theory and laboratory) of the Science Teaching career with the university teaching staff, in the period from 2014 to 2019, to identify the strengths and weaknesses in the methodology and propose new educational strategies. Method. The research was conducted through a virtual survey with the LimeSurvey software to the teachers who have taught Physics courses for the Science Teaching career in the last five years; the survey was applied to the total population of 20 teachers, but only 12 of them answered it. The instrument was designed by the teaching staff working on the project to improve the laboratory manuals. The instrument analysis was carried out with the help of an Excel spreadsheet provided by the LimeSurvey software. The instrument was validated by IDESPO staff of the National University regarding the relevance of the content of the statements, the clarity of the questions, and the coherence with the objective of this study. Results. The structure and organization of the General Physics courses have a positive assessment by the teachers, who also showed a preference for the traditional lecturing; but even so, they are willing to train and learn new teaching strategies. Conclusions. The results of this investigation show that teachers are open to technological change and to working on the challenges that government policies have proposed.

Teaching qualities in piano works by Henryk Pachulski in the context of the development of piano technique in children and youth. Part 1

Henryk Pachulski (1852-1921) – a Polish composer, pianist, and teacher. He graduated from the Warsaw Institute of Music, having studied piano with Rudolf Strobl. His harmony and counterpoint teachers were Stanisław Moniuszko and Władysław Żeleński. After that, he studied piano at the Moscow Conservatory with Nicolai Rubinstein and then Pawel Pabst. He learnt harmony from E. L. Langer, then Anton Arensky with whom he also had a special course in counterpoint. In 1886 he started his teaching career at the Moscow Conservatory, which lasted over 30 years. He also performed as a pianist in Moscow, Petersburg, and Warsaw. Pachulski was acknowledged for his technical aptitude, but he gained the greatest recognition as a teacher and a composer. He created over a hundred piano works, including three sonatas, two cycles of variations, two polonaises, two mazurkas, three waltzes, preludes, studies, impromptus, and more. He also wrote chamber, vocal and orchestra compositions, as well as piano transcriptions for orchestra and chamber pieces. This article presents the composer’s music and teaching activity, it also touches on teaching qualities of his piano works. It pays special attention to technical aspects, and the analysis also covers the formal side of these compositions. While preparing the text, the author used information included in the Polish music press from the turn of the 20th century, music collection of the National Library in Warsaw, archive documents, and foreign sources.

The influence of a course in inclusive education on changing pre-service teachers’ readiness to work with students with SEN

Understanding teachers’ perspective towards inclusive education is seen as a decisive factor in making schools more inclusive. Given the increasing need to prepare pre-service teachers to face inclusion in the classroom as soon as they enter the teaching career, we consider appropriate to assess to which extend can a training course have an impact on the level of pre-service teachers to teach in inclusive classrooms. In this respect, final year students from Education Science degree that finalized a study course on the topic of inclusive education were invited to participate into this research by filling in a questionnaire based on the teacher efficacy for inclusive practices (TEIP) scale. Results show that even after taking a relatively short training course, it can bring about some statistically significant changes in pre-service teachers’ knowledge, attitudes and confidence level towards inclusion. Pre-service teachers that have participated to this study are generally in favor of going through training courses to acquire a special set of skills to thereby be able to work in an inclusive learning environment.

An enquiry into the factors affecting the child's preference for school subjects

During a teaching career extending over twenty years in which the Writer has taught as a sole teacher, assistant in large town schools, headteacher of Maori school, as an itinerant instructor in Agriculture, and as an Education Officer with the Armed Forces, he has been struck by the frequency with which sweeping generalisations are made by many members of the teaching profession. Among these most frequently made are such as, "Boys like handwork better than do girls"; "Clever children prefer arithmetic to handwork." Such statements have aroused his interest in the matter of the child's alleged likes and dislikes for school subjects. If such likes and dislikes do ,in fact, exist, then it is felt that as teachers we should know what these are.

An enquiry into the factors affecting the child's preference for school subjects

During a teaching career extending over twenty years in which the Writer has taught as a sole teacher, assistant in large town schools, headteacher of Maori school, as an itinerant instructor in Agriculture, and as an Education Officer with the Armed Forces, he has been struck by the frequency with which sweeping generalisations are made by many members of the teaching profession. Among these most frequently made are such as, "Boys like handwork better than do girls"; "Clever children prefer arithmetic to handwork." Such statements have aroused his interest in the matter of the child's alleged likes and dislikes for school subjects. If such likes and dislikes do ,in fact, exist, then it is felt that as teachers we should know what these are.

Online Internship in a Foreign Country as a Factor Promoting Novice Teachers’ Motivation to Pursue their Teaching Career

Актуальность представленного в статье исследования обусловлена заметным снижением мотивации к педагогической профессии у студентов, обучающихся в настоящее время на педагогических направлениях подготовки, о чем свидетельствует статистика трудоустройства выпускников, и необходимостью поиска педагогическим сообществом эффективных путей повышения уровня мотивации к профессиональной деятельности у будущих учителей. Авторы статьи рассматривают такой способ повышения мотивации будущих педагогов, как педагогическая стажировка, на примере многолетнего опыта участия в зарубежной педагогической стажировке одного из региональных вузов. В статье кратко представлены результаты анкетирования 42 студентов, обучавшихся на педагогических специальностях и направлениях Псковского государственного университета и участвовавших в зарубежной педагогической стажировке в разные годы, начиная с 1991 года. Обобщенные результаты исследования могут послужить ориентирами в процессе теоретической разработки и дальнейшего практического внедрения в учебный процесс такой формы профессиональной подготовки будущих педагогов, как зарубежная педагогическая стажировка в онлайн-формате с целью повышения их мотивации к будущей педагогической деятельности. The relevance of the research is accounted for by a noticeable decline in students’ motivation to choose a teaching career. The statistics shows that graduates of pedagogical universities choose not to work as teachers. Therefore, the teaching community should elaborate efficient means to motivate novice teachers to pursue their teaching career. The authors of the article believe that teaching internship is an effective motivational technique. They investigate the role of teaching internship at the example of a regional university. The article presents the results of a questionnaire which involved 42 novice teachers who studied in Pskov State University and participated in teaching internships (starting with 1991). The results of the research can be used as guidelines for internship curriculum development and implementation and will serve to improve students’ motivation for choosing teaching as a career.

Awareness and knowledge of cyberethics: A comparative study of preservice teachers in Malta, Norway, and Spain

This paper explores the knowledge and understanding of cyberethics held by preservice teachers across three European countries. The study was conducted via an online survey and yielded a total of 1,131 responses from preservice teachers in Spain, Norway, and Malta. The facets of cyberethics included in this study were specifically related to behaving responsibly online, safeguarding privacy, respecting copyright, seeking consent of third parties before posting images or videos on social media platforms, and considering their own professional identity as future teachers when posting images or videos online. The findings indicate that preservice teachers reported similar levels of competence in both applying copyright and respecting privacy rules. However, this varied across countries, with preservice teachers in Malta and Norway reporting higher levels of knowledge and awareness than their counterparts in Spain. Malta had the largest number of participants who reported that they ‘always’ considered the potential impact that posting media online may have on their careers, followed by Norway. Spain had the largest number of preservice teachers who stated that they rarely or never thought about this impact on their teaching career. Our findings highlight the need for student teachers’ knowledge of cyberethics to be prioritised during ITE, especially within the framework of developing a professional digital identity. In light of our findings, we recommend that all ITE programmes include digital competence and cyberethics components in their curricula. This would enable preservice teachers to develop an emerging professional and digital identity to face the challenges of becoming teachers in the 21st century.

Facebook comme plate-forme de développement des compétences professionnelles des enseignants et des étudiants de langue: une étude de cas

En la actualidad, la difusión de tecnologías y, en particular, la creación de redes sociales, exige que los profesores de idiomas aprendan nuevos datos en sus prácticas docentes. Sin embargo, al observar la red, comentamos la existencia de muchas comunidades, especialmente en Facebook, cuyo objetivo es informar a los profesores y a los estudiantes de idiomas acerca de los nuevos conocimientos. ¿Cuáles son las razones por las que un profesor de idiomas o un estudiante se convierte en miembro de estas comunidades? ¿Los sitios de redes sociales ayudan a los profesores de idiomas a mejorar sus aptitudes profesionales? El desarrollo de habilidades profesionales es una de las acciones más importantes que se necesitan para que un estudiante de idiomas obtenga una carrera docente. Nowadays, the diffusion of technologies, and in particular social networking, requires language teachers to learn new data in their teaching practices. Yet, by observing on the net, we remark the existence of many communities, especially on Facebook, which aim to inform teachers and language students about new knowledge. What are the reasons why a language teacher or student becomes a member of these communities? Do social networking sites help language teachers improving their professional skills? Developing professional skills is one of the most significant actions required for a language student to secure a teaching career. De nos jours, la propagation des technologies et plus particulièrement, du réseautage social imposent aux enseignants de langues de nouvelles données dans leurs pratiques d’enseignement. Pourtant, en naviguant sur le net, nous constatons l’existence de beaucoup de communautés, notamment sur Facebook, qui ont pour but d’informer les enseignants et les étudiants de langue sur de nouvelles connaissances. Par la suite, nous étudierons si les enseignants et les futurs enseignants continuent à rejoindre des groupes sur Facebook, même après avoir obtenu leur diplôme. Quelles sont, alors, les raisons pour lesquelles un enseignant ou un étudiant de langues devient membre de ces communautés ? Le réseautage social aide-t-il les enseignants de langue à améliorer leurs compétences professionnelles ? La formation personnelle des enseignants de langue joue un rôle important pour améliorer les connaissances et les compétences d’un professeur.