Relationship between Tutor Confidence and ICT Integration in Primary Teacher Training Colleges in Kenya

Despite increases in computer access and technology training, ICT is not adequately being used to support instruction in teacher education institutions. Unless teachers improve their ability to use existing technology, they will encounter various difficulties. One of the most notable of these difficulties is that they cannot respond to the expectations of their students. Research has shown that the self-confidence of teachers affects their use of technology in instruction. The study assessed the confidence of tutors in primary teacher training colleges regarding the integration of ICT in the teaching and learning practice in Kenya. There are a number of ICT projects that are equipping Kenyan institutions of learning with computers and establishing internet connectivity. But the body of literature on studies among tutors is so scanty, leaving a noticeable gap in the literature about tutors’ level of ICT integration in instruction. The study sought to establish the relationship between tutor confidence and their level of ICT integration teacher training colleges in Kenya. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to investigate tutors’ confidence in the use of ICT in teaching. The simple random sampling technique was used to select six teacher training colleges in Kenya and 169 respondents who participated in the study. Data was collected using a questionnaire and an interview schedule. The data collected was analysed descriptively for frequencies, means, standard deviation, and percentages. The significance of relationships and differences of variables were tested using Pearson moment Correlation and Regression analysis. Results indicated that there is a low level of ICT integration in teaching in all teacher training colleges. A significant relationship was found between the tutor's confidence and their level of ICT integration in teaching (β3= 0.535, p<0.05). It was thus recommended that: College tutors should be given adequate exposure for them to be able to utilize ICT facilities in their classrooms. Colleges should also computerize most activities by buying computerized software within departments. This will compel most tutors to acquire the requisite skills. The ministry of education should also embrace ICT and demand professional documents from college tutors be typed and sent online.

Adjusting 1st year students' teaching practice to the online environment

The current study aimed to collect relevant feedback on teaching practice effectiveness in relation to the tutors, students’ engagement in teaching practice, as well as self-reflection regarding necessary competences for a primary school teacher. Pedagogical activities within the teaching practice have considered: students’ online attendance to the classes held by the primary teacher, filling in an observation form regarding the lessons taught, mentorship session for analyzing the lessons along with the teachers, drafting a psycho-pedagogical record for a pupil, filling a form on reviewing the student’s performance and implication in the teaching practice. Having concluded the study’s results, we can now state that the teaching practice’s way of planning in the second school semester has proven efficient. The mentor-student / inter-student interaction has contributed to developing competences that a primary school teacher does require, through the feedback provided by the observation forms, as well as by involving students directly in the didactic activities, encouraging initiative and self-reflection. Objective analysis of results, suggestions, proposals, as well as difficulties encountered has made it possible to build a solid reference for future teaching practice – both online and in the classroom – and working towards improving it and all its partakers.

Primary specialisations in Australia: graduates’ perceptions of outcome and impact

In 2014, the Australian Government established the Teacher Education Ministerial Advisory Group (TEMAG) to advise on how teacher education programmes could ensure new teachers were adequately prepared for the classroom. Following this, the Australian Government endorsed a key recommendation of the TEMAG Action Now: Classroom Ready Teachers report, the inclusion of specialisations in primary Initial Teacher Education (ITE). This research was conducted at an Australian public university that, in 2016, had embedded specialisations in a revised primary teacher programme structure and was one of the first ITE institutions in Australia to graduate primary teachers with a specialisation. Using a mixed-methods case study design with convenience sampling, this study sought to investigate these primary graduates’ perceptions of undertaking a specialisation in relation to the development of content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge in the specialist area, as well as perceived employment advantages. This research took place over 4 years with participants having completed a Bachelor of Education (Primary) at least three months prior to participating. The participants reported benefits to having completed a primary specialisation but expressed concerns about their preparedness to teach their specialisation and whether it would result in any advantages for employment. Recommendations from the participants included teaching practice in their area of specialisation, consideration of specialist skills and changing the timetabling of the specialisation in the programme. Ultimately, there is a need for ongoing research in this area to determine the extent to which primary specialisations deliver the intended outcomes and impacts at both the policy driver level and the university level.

Teaching Struggling Readers of English as a Second Language in the Malaysian Classroom

Teacher plays an important role in students’ reading growth through the implementation of various suitable instructional strategies in the classroom. This study contributes to the existing literature pertaining to the way the teacher worked with the students who were identified as struggling readers of English as a second language (henceforth ESL). This is a qualitative study involving one primary teacher as a research participant. Data was obtained from classroom observations, interviews and documents collection. Inductive analysis was carried out and the process incorporating a co-construction of meaning between the participant responses and the researcher’s own understanding. Two main themes emerged in the study namely “involvement” and “challenges”. In this paper, one of the themes namely “involvement” that incorporates “classroom environment” and “instructional methods” will be discussed. The findings of this study suggest that the Ministry of Education (henceforth MOE) can look into how support can be given to the teachers to assist them to have more effective teaching strategies in the ESL classroom.

A Case Study of Three Finnish Pre-Service Teachers’ Emotions and Understanding of CLIL During an Online Practicum

The novel exigencies of the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic caused a shift towards online learning environments and teleconference platforms, which have also affected teaching practicums. The impact of this approach on teacher preparation is yet unknown and may render pre-service teachers (PSTs) more vulnerable to the challenges of early professional learning through practice, especially when implementing a methodology they have been insufficiently introduced to. Following three students of primary teacher education who opted for a practicum in a CLIL class at a Finnish teacher training school, this case study examines how the online practicum affected these PSTs’ emotions and understanding of CLIL. The case study is based on the analytical categories of teacher identity and emotion and draws on essay, diary, and interview data. The thematic analysis of the data suggests that the online practicum met participants’ expectations for building confidence and was perceived as an overall instructive experience, which was improved by the quality of mentorship and peer support they received. However, feelings of frustration or dissatisfaction accompanied moments of conflict with incoming expectations, principally related to using English in CLIL. The analysis further suggests that the online practicum strengthened participants’ earlier conception of CLIL as a language-oriented teaching tool. Regardless of whether online CLIL practicums remain a future option, acquiring disciplinary and language knowledge alike are important aspects in teacher preparation for CLIL, which could be an optional part of teacher education programs for PSTs who are aware of or sensitive to language as a tool for learning.

Responding to Global Challenges through Education: Entrepreneurial, Sustainable, and Pro-Environmental Education in Nordic Teacher Education Curricula

The United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and the European Union’s strategies both set goals for solving environmental challenges faced by societies and communities. As part of solving these challenges, both the UN and the EU stress the development of entrepreneurial and innovative education. Teacher education plays a crucial role in these efforts, since teachers and teacher educators have a significant impact on educating citizens far into the future. In this research, we studied how Nordic (Finnish, Swedish, and Icelandic) primary teacher education curricula involve entrepreneurial, sustainable, and pro-environmental education. For this study, the authors analyzed the B.Ed. curricula of three academic teacher education institutions in Spring 2021. We used qualitative content analysis as our research method. According to the results, all three curricula incorporated both entrepreneurship education and sustainable development to some extent, although often not very explicitly. Given the urgency of problems such as global climate change, the educational goals and contents in these curricula related to entrepreneurial education and sustainable development are very limited. The idea of integrating environmental/sustainable and entrepreneurship education could be promoted in the future more explicitly, with these interdisciplinary educational themes emphasised more strongly in the curricula and education policies.