Student Voice in School Improvement: A Principal in the Nuevo South Reflects on a Student-Centered Practitioner Inquiry

The purpose of this brief is to share my reflections as a practitioner-scholar conducting a student-centered inquiry. My dissertation sought to provide a channel for accessing Latinx students’ voices regarding their experiences in credit recovery programs. I share what I learned from students and how the power harnessed by the input of authentic student voice is now driving instructional change throughout the building and the district. I conclude with recommendations for other practitioners on ways they may begin to include students in school improvement efforts as co-leaders, co-researchers, and co-policy actors.

Addressing Anxiety: Practitioners’ Examination of Mindfulness in Constructivist Supervision

It is widely documented that practicum students experience anxiety as a natural part of their counselor development. Within constructivist supervision, mindfulness exercises are used to help counselors-in-training (CITs) work with their anxiety by having them focus on their internal experiences. To inform and strengthen our practice, we engaged in a practitioner inquiry study to understand how practicum students experienced mindfulness as a central part of supervision. We analyzed 25 sandtray reflections and compared them to transcripts from two focus groups to uncover three major themes related to the student experience: (a) openness to the process, (b) reflection and self-care, and (c) attention to the doing. One key lesson learned was the importance of balancing mindfulness exercises to highlight the internal experiences related to anxiety while providing adequate opportunities for CITs to share stories and hear from peers during group supervision.

Supporting Practitioner Inquiry in Teacher Education: Opportunities and Challenges in ESOL Contexts

Formal preparation and professional development with an explicit focus on the teaching of English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) is essential. Thus, teacher preparation programs play a vital role in meeting this pressing need. Practitioner inquiry has the potential to be a powerful anchor in clinical field experiences for teacher candidates working with emergent bilingual/multilingual students (EB). The purpose of this paper is to present practitioner inquiry as a promising pedagogical practice for teacher education, drawing from examples of implementation in an elementary, preservice teacher preparation program that leads to state credentialing in ESOL. Opportunities and challenges related to the use of this practice with teacher candidates, as well as recommendations, are discussed. Keywordspractitioner inquiry, professional development, teacher education, English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL), bilingual/multilingual students

Visual Culture As a Teaching Practice in Visual Arts Education in Turkey: Practitioner Inquiry

The present research investigates the experiences of pre-service visual arts teachers in the planning and application phase of a course focusing on visual culture in the special teaching methods course. This course in Turkey provides information about how and with what type of methodologies arts-related topics should be taught in visual arts education. During the first semester, the course was conducted theoretically, and in the second semester the researcher focused on the application of these theories. In this research, visual culture is discussed as one of the special teaching methods of visual arts education. A total of five visual arts pre-service teachers were selected as participants using criterion sampling. The research used practitioner inquiry as a method and conducted during the 2017–2018 spring and 2018–2019 fall semesters, lasting 8 weeks in total. During the application process, the pre-service teachers taught their samples of course plans on visual culture that they created during their pre-service practice to the primary and secondary school students in 2 weeks of classes. The research data were obtained through semi-structured interviews, document review, and reflective notes and analyzed with descriptive methods. As a result of this research, the visual arts pre-service teachers saw the students gain a critical perspective, become more aware of issues in their daily lives, express themselves in a better way, and improve their inquiring skills with the application of a visual culture course plan. With the visual culture course plan, the pre-service teachers also gained several professional experiences and skills.

Am I Promoting Feedback Cycle and Sociomaterial Learning?

This study employed practitioner inquiry to determine whether feedback cycle and socio-material learning was promoted through the provision of written corrective feedback (WCF). The context of study was the final draft submitted in an academic writing course for arts and social science students. The practitioner inquiry was shaped by mixed methods, through the quantitative (categorisation) and qualitative (analytical) examination of WCF. The categorisation of WCF was guided by a feedback typology and the extent of learning opportunities. A total of 309 instances of WCF were found across 55 final drafts. Indirect and metalinguistic feedback on Content and Language was frequent. Furthermore, most of the WCF was restricted to the final essay, with minimal expansive opportunities for students to extend their learning beyond this writing course. In the subsequent analysis of the WCF, this study concluded that feedback was provided for the purpose of keeping track of work done. To really promote a feedback cycle or sociomaterial learning, writing instructors should consider improving students’ feedback literacy skills.

Assessment of Case-Based Instruction in a Graduate Educational Psychology Course

This chapter showcases a teacher educator's assessment of case-based instruction in an advanced level educational psychology course. First, action research, self-study, and reflective practice are explained as constructs of practitioner inquiry. Then, case-based instructional models related to teacher candidates' classroom management proficiencies are reviewed. Next, the teacher educator's examination of own teacher preparation practice is described to highlight development, implementation, and improvement of the target educational psychology course geared towards advancement of teacher candidates' classroom management capacities. Thereafter, solutions and recommendations for promoting teacher candidates' P-12 grades classroom management expertise are discussed. Finally, future research directions are proposed for ascertaining effectiveness of case-based instruction as evidence-based pedagogical approach for strengthening teacher candidates' P-12 grades classroom management aptitudes.