Creative Pedagogy for Literacy Instruction

This chapter intends to provide a definition for the multi-faceted concept of creativity, describe components of the creative process, identify potential barriers to nurturing creativity, and present an explanation of creative pedagogy. The author believes that the pervasiveness of literacy in all subject matter provides an ideal mechanism for training preservice teachers in creative pedagogy. Throughout the chapter, the reader will find descriptions of activities that promote creativity through literacy instruction and examples of creative pedagogy in a preservice teacher education course.

ROLE OF THE TOP MANAGERS IN CO-CURRICULAR PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION IN PRESERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION INSTITUTES

This study is directly related to understanding the process of co-curricular implementation in a Preservice Teacher Training Institute in Sri Lanka, in order to get the maximum benefit of it with the view of making teacher training more effective in these institutions.

Mindfulness and Connection Training During Preservice Teacher Education Reduces Early Career Teacher Attrition Three Years Later

Early career attrition from teaching disrupts school continuity, precludes many of those who leave the profession from achieving expertise, and drains limited economic resources from educational systems. Because low resource schools experience higher levels of teacher attrition, the phenomenon also contributes to inequitable educational opportunities for socioeconomically disadvantaged students. Although reducing premature attrition is an important policy objective, rates of teacher attrition have remained elevated and stable for at least the last two decades. In a cluster randomized controlled trial design (N=98), we examined the impact of a nine-week meditation-based intervention (MBI) that was integrated into undergraduate preservice teacher education on persistence in the teaching profession three-years later. Participants assigned to the MBI were six times more likely to still be teaching three-years into their career (Odds Ratio=6.05, 95% CI[1.83, 25.37], p=.002). Benefit-cost analysis indicated that integrating a MBI into preservice teacher education incurs minimal costs on the teacher education program but yields substantial predicted savings to educational systems with $2.6 return on every dollar invested. Implications for teacher education and teacher learning are discussed.

INTEGRATING STUDENTS WITH REFUGEE AND ASYLUM SEEKER BACKGROUNDS INTO SCHOOL: TEACHERS’ PERSPECTIVES

The critical aspect of refugee and asylum seeker education has become almost a worldwide phenomenon. The difficulties of language, culture, acceptance and resettlement all impact on a school’s capacity to support these students and ensure that they access to best educational opportunities possible in many countries which are dominated by neoliberalized education systems. Neoliberalized education systems are dominated by the five Cs (Competitiveness, Conformity, Conservatism, Convention and Commerce) and are the antithesis of the European educational child-centred traditions conceived by Pestalozzi, Froebel, Steiner and others. This writing draws on a research project designed to establish the perspectives of members of a school community about belonging. It was conducted in a primary school in urban Australia which has a reputation for developing inclusive practices and an ethos of belonging for its diverse homeland population and its refugee and asylum seeker population which comprised 40% of the school enrolment at the time of the investigation. The research indicated the importance of the teacher perspectives, values and beliefs and has implications for teachers of refugee and asylum seeker students everywhere. It also has implications for preservice teacher education and the importance of preparation to specifically support these cohorts of students and their communities in addition to being flexible and open to change.