Spirituality and Mindfulness Practices of Early Childhood and Elementary Preservice Teachers: A Snapshot

This paper describes the results of a research survey that interpreted the patterns of mindfulness and spirituality within a convenience sample of preservice teachers at a Midwest teacher education institution. Mindfulness and spiritualty represent topics of developing interest in teacher education that serve to increase candidate focus and revision of practice. Respondents completed a survey as part of a semester’s project that interpreted the results of a semester-long mindfulness intervention on student mindfulness and spiritual attitudes and practices. The findings determined that participants had senses of mindfulness and self the emphasized themselves, and their external worlds, let weak connection with a higher spiritual entity. Significant differences were observed between early childhood and elementary majors.

Preservice Elementary Teachers and Music in the Elementary Classroom

The purpose of this pretest-posttest study was to investigate elementary preservice teachers’ perceptions of and level of comfort with music in the elementary classroom after enrolling in an online music integration course. Participants were preservice elementary teachers ( N = 93) enrolled in three sections of an online music integration course at a large university in Southern California. Results showed significant differences in participants’ agreement with aspects of music teaching, comfort with music, and music integration. Findings also indicated significant differences in participants’ rankings of musical outcomes in an elementary setting. There were no significant differences found among participants’ ranking of music and other subjects in the elementary classroom.

The doors they choose: Solutions to “The Lady or the Tiger”

We consider the extent that elementary preservice teachers enrolled in a social studies methods course expressed empathy for story characters when solving the story’s emotionally ladened problem. We believe that the manner by which these students resolved one character’s dilemma informs about the nature of their own emotions. Participants read Frank Stockton’s story, “The Lady and the Tiger” toward the beginning and at the conclusion of the semester. The data represented all student responses to the prompt, “Read the short story at the following link. To what door do you think the princess directed the accused? What is the reason for your choice?” Forty-two students completed both reflections of the reading. The analysis found that in their initial reflections, a solid majority of students selected the tiger. At the end of the course, this percentage decreased to a smaller majority. Analysis of the six students who changed their perspectives of the princess’s decision found that five referenced course experiences in their explaining the reason for change. This paper fills a gap in social studies research about emotions and decision-making. Additional research needs to interpret the specific nature of these emotions and the conditions that influence them.

Cultivating Asset-, Equity-, and Justice-Oriented Identities: Urban Field Experiences of Elementary Preservice Teachers of Color

I examine how three elementary-level preservice teachers of Color cultivated their asset-, equity-, and justice-oriented pedagogical learning and identities through multilayered community-engaged tasks. Systemic and structured support from multiple stakeholders played a critical role in helping the preservice teachers of Color to promote and sustain their asset-, equity-, and justice-oriented pedagogical learning and identities. This study demonstrates that giving students tasks with multiple modalities (e.g., individual and collaborative work, face-to-face meetings, online reflections) can cultivate their pedagogical learning and identity construction. This work has implications for creating asset-, equity-, and justice-oriented pedagogical spaces in both the classroom and the field.