"We would never go back" Stories of early years teachers transitioning to play-based learning environments

<p>International and national interest has been growing around the use of play-based learning approaches in the early years of primary school. This qualitative study explored the journeys of five early years teachers in New Zealand, who were transitioning to using play-based learning approaches in their classrooms. Semi-structured interviews and observations of teacher interactions were used to explore the reasons teachers were moving away from traditional teaching practices, the pathways they were taking, and the changes they had made in both their practices and their beliefs about themselves as teachers. Findings indicated that teachers in this study adopted play-based learning approaches because they were more appropriate for their students’ learning and development. They had initiated the move to play-based learning themselves, often with the support of a fellow teacher. School leaders and other colleagues were both understanding of, and resistant to, the changes the teachers were making. Teachers had adapted the physical environment of their classroom to accommodate play-based practices. More significantly, however, they had transformed the way they perceived themselves and their role in the classroom. This grassroots movement towards implementing play-based learning approaches in schools has implications for curriculum, assessment, resourcing, and preschool primary transitions.</p>

"We would never go back" Stories of early years teachers transitioning to play-based learning environments

<p>International and national interest has been growing around the use of play-based learning approaches in the early years of primary school. This qualitative study explored the journeys of five early years teachers in New Zealand, who were transitioning to using play-based learning approaches in their classrooms. Semi-structured interviews and observations of teacher interactions were used to explore the reasons teachers were moving away from traditional teaching practices, the pathways they were taking, and the changes they had made in both their practices and their beliefs about themselves as teachers. Findings indicated that teachers in this study adopted play-based learning approaches because they were more appropriate for their students’ learning and development. They had initiated the move to play-based learning themselves, often with the support of a fellow teacher. School leaders and other colleagues were both understanding of, and resistant to, the changes the teachers were making. Teachers had adapted the physical environment of their classroom to accommodate play-based practices. More significantly, however, they had transformed the way they perceived themselves and their role in the classroom. This grassroots movement towards implementing play-based learning approaches in schools has implications for curriculum, assessment, resourcing, and preschool primary transitions.</p>

Online teaching practicum during COVID-19: the case of a teacher education program in Greece

PurposeThrough the present study, the authors investigate whether online practicum in teaching, with fellow teacher-candidates acting as students, can be effective and whether the teacher-candidates actually developed skills useful for their future teachings, through this form of practicum, which is necessary when, out of necessity, like in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is no other option for universities.Design/methodology/approachThe method selected was qualitative research through in-depth interviews, since the present research question and the research topic in general have not been examined in the past. The authors gathered 45 teacher-candidates' journals on this experience, and, then, they interviewed them through semi-structured interviews.FindingsThe findings indicated that the teacher-candidates got acquainted with new technologies in education to a great extent. Moreover, they developed skills that will be proven useful for their future teachings, like adaptability, flexibility and handling of students' interaction in online settings.Originality/valueThe present case study consists of a paradigm of international value, since it fills in a gap in literature on an online alternative of practicum in teaching in cases of crisis, like the COVID-19 pandemic. Valuable insights are gained for researchers, practitioners and policymakers and best-practices for online teaching practicum have derived for future use.

ANALISIS HIGHER ORDER THINKING SKILLS (HOTS) PADA EVALUASI TEMATIK BERMUATAN IPS SISWA KELAS V SDN BADRAN YOGYAKARTA

This study is a qualitative study aimed at describing: 1) how is the suitability of HOTS analysis in the thematic evaluation of social studies containing fifth-grade students at SDN Badran Yogyakarta; 2) how about the quality of evaluation questions, how to make evaluation questions; 3) difficulties encountered in making thematic evaluation questions with social studies according to HOTS criteria; 4) the work done prepares teachers to be able to implement HOTS and is there a re-checking of thematic evaluation questions. Data collection techniques using observation, interviews, and documentation studies. Data analysis techniques used the Huber and Mayer analysis techniques and HOTS analysis instruments to analyze the questions. The results of this study are: 1) HOTS analysis on the thematic evaluation of social studies students in grade V SDN Badran Yogyakarta produced a percentage of 53.75%, 2) the quality of thematic evaluation of social studies is quite good because they are made using various references, adjusted KD and students' abilities, 3 ) the questions are made based on the criteria of questions, based on KD, KKO, students 'abilities, and checked again 4) the teacher's difficulty is extensive and difficult social studies material, the ability to understand HOTS and make good items according to students' abilities. 5) the effort made is to bring in the speakers, involve the teacher in education and training, fulfill K13 pre-education facilities in stages. 5) there is a re-checking of questions in the form of a teacher, fellow teacher, TU, and school principal examinations. Breaking up the items is not done because it takes time, the school does not have a special team to study the evaluation questions.

Botchan

This English translation of 坊っちゃん (1906) was published in Tokyo by Ogawa Seibundo in 1918. It is a first-person narrative of a young man’s two-month tenure as assistant mathematics teacher at a provincial middle school in 1890s Japan. A native son of Tokyo, with all its traits and prejudices, he finds life in a narrow country town unappealing — with its dull and mischievous students, scheming faculty, bland diets, stifling rules, and gossipy inhabitants. Impulsive, combative, committed to strict ideals of honesty, honor, and justice, he is quickly enmeshed in the strategems of the head teacher, “Red Shirt.” His sufferings and confusion continue to mount until finally he and fellow-teacher “Porcupine” are able to deliver a “heavenly chastisement” and escape the island, back to his one emotional attachment, Kiyo, the old family retainer. Natsume Kinnosuke (1867-1916) signed his work Sōseke — “stubborn.” Like the narrator of Botchan, he was a city-born Tokyo-ite, who found himself teaching middle school in remote Matsuyama in Shikoku in 1895. He emerged to study English literature in London, become Professor at Tokyo Imperial University, and a successful novelist, beginning with the popular I Am a Cat in 1905.

Coalitional Resistance: Challenging Racialized and Gendered Oppression in Teacher Education

In this article, the authors push back against “unnatural invisibility” and stereotypes of Asian American women by introducing a culturally informed coalitional resistance framework. Drawing from elements of Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) and AsianCrit, we use the framework to discuss the evolving microaggressions we have faced in teacher education spaces and how we have survived through them. We examine marginalizing experiences each of us has faced along multiple axes of oppression across our careers, the forms of resistance we could (or chose not to) enact in specific contexts and moments, and how, through coalitional resistance, we are reclaiming our collective right to thrive and be recognized for our contributions as teacher educators. We conclude by offering implications of coalitional resistance for fellow teacher educators of color and those who wish to support them.

Exploring the effect of supportive teacher evaluation experiences on U.S. teachers’ job satisfaction

Teacher satisfaction is a key affective reaction to working conditions and an important predictor of teacher attrition. Teacher evaluation as a tool for measuring teacher quality has been one source of teacher stress in recent years in the United States. There is a growing body of evidence on how to evaluate teachers in ways which support their growth and development as practitioners. For this study, we inquired: What is the relationship between supportive teacher evaluation experiences and U.S. teachers’ overall job satisfaction? To answer this question, we employed a multilevel regression analysis to multiply-imputed data on U.S. lower-secondary teachers’ experiences from the 2013 Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS). We found a small, positive relationship between the perceptions of supportive teacher evaluation experiences and U.S. secondary teachers’ satisfaction after controlling for other important teacher and school characteristics and working conditions. Further, teachers who felt their evaluation led to positive changes in their practice had higher satisfaction. Teachers whose primary evaluator was a fellow teacher as opposed to the principal also had higher satisfaction on average. We discuss the implications of these findings for school leaders as well as future teacher evaluation policy.

Spaces In-between: Text Poems from Community Practice and Research

A commitment on the part of the academy to address social issues has increased over the past three decades, resulting in service learning courses, volunteering opportunities, and community-university partnerships. Faculty, staff, and community practitioners collaborating to lead these efforts often carry enormous responsibility and answer to often competing interests of students, community members, and universities. Using the experience of an scholar/artist/teacher in a university-community partnership founded by the first author in a racially polarized town, this article explores the potential of arts-based methods, specifically poetry and collage, to mitigate the consequence of this work. The format is a dialogue between two engaged teacher/researcher/practitioners and friends to clarify the hidden experience of the researcher with narrative truth to articulate and share not only experiences, but also lessons learned as a contribution to our fellow teacher/researcher/practitioners.