Pre-Service Teachers’ Reflective Practice and their Teaching Practicum Beliefs

While learning assessment serves as feedback for teachers in maintaining or improving teaching practice, reflective practice play can be seen in how pre-service teachers plan, design, implement and evaluate their teaching approaches. Practicing reflection can help pre-service teachers starting to embrace the value and passion of teaching which manifests in their professional teaching practice. This study was conducted to determine the reflective practice of pre-service teachers and their teaching practicum experience. Involved in this study were 103 pre-service teachers from the government Teacher Education Institution. The study used self-developed survey questionnaires on pre-service reflective practice and beliefs about their teaching practicum. Results showed that there is a significant relationship between the reflective practice of pre-service teachers and their beliefs about teaching practicum. On the other hand, reflective practice as well as the beliefs of male and female pre-service teachers about their teaching practicum does not have a significant difference. Teacher educators should impart reflective practice as part of their teaching practicum. For further research, a wide scope of study may be conducted involving different Teacher Education Institutions in private and public Higher Education Institutions to verify the findings in this study.

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.

Preparing Student Teachers to Teach with Technology: Case Studies in Finland and Israel

This quantitative study examines the training of student teachers for ICT-based teaching in two teacher education institution, in Israel and Finland. The data was collected in 2015-2017 using a questionnaire administered to 41 Finnish and 44 Israeli student teachers. The results show that most student teachers had practice in ICT-based teaching. However, about a third of student teachers in both institutions practiced only two times or less using ICT. Those who practiced mostly used a teacher-centred approach as did their college and school mentor teachers who integrated ICT in their lessons. The variable describing competency in ICT-based teaching correlated with student teachers' attitudes, the number of ICT-based lessons they taught, modelling by the school mentor teacher, and the various schools’ infrastructures and support. The results show that students in Israeli institutions are better prepared to teach with ICT which can be explained by the impact of the latest national reforms. We conclude that students' perception of their TPACK is the function of a variety of factors: on a personal level (attitudes towards the contribution of ICT to teaching and learning); on an institutional level (curriculum, modelling by faculty, institutional strategies); on a field practice school level (modelling by school mentors, infrastructure, pedagogical, technological, and administrative support); and on a national level (reforms and their implementation models). All these factors must be considered to promote the pedagogically innovative integration of ICT in teacher training and the overall education system. The best strategy to achieve this goal is to support collaboration between TEIs and schools on the national level. Wide-scale implementation of ICT in teaching demands significant investments in infrastructure and training. Hence much of its success depends on the national vision and priorities given to this purpose.

Teacher educators' vision of an 'ideal' teacher

There is no clear definition of what constitutes an ideal teacher educator, particularly from the perspective of Malaysian educators. Developing teacher educators’ vision of an ideal teacher ensures that teachers have high levels of professional, personal, and contextual dimensions in teaching practices, including competence in the practice of professional teaching, knowledge, and understanding. Therefore, the objective of this study was to find out the range of visions of what it is to be a good teacher educator in a Malaysian teacher education institution. Seventeen teacher educators from an established university in Malaysia participated in the study. A survey consisting of eight questions was used as the research instrument. The data obtained from the questionnaire were analysed by using descriptive and textual analysis techniques. The findings reveal certain criteria of an ideal teacher such as possessing sound subject matter knowledge, mastery of both generic and content-specific pedagogy, and hands-on teaching skills. The teacher educators shared that they have to adjust their goals to attain their vision, namely the need to adapt to the current policies, new ideas, and the ever-changing educational trends. The findings also show that an ideal teacher is the one who is responsible to nurture and bring about the best learning experience for students. This research has unfolded the teacher educators’ vision of the ideal teacher and pedagogical implications reflected in every facet of their educational practices.

PEER INSTRUCTION IN A FLIPPED LEARNING ENVIRONMENT: EXAMINING ESL STUDENTS’ PARTICIPATION IN WRITING ARGUMENTATIVE ESSAYS

Over the years, peer instruction and flipped learning approach has indicated its usefulness in teaching and learning. However, studies on how peer instruction in a flipped learning environment encourage active student participation in writing remain limited in Malaysia. Therefore, this study examines ESL students’ participation during peer instruction in the flipped learning environment when composing argumentative essays. A total of 120 upper intermediate students undergoing an English proficiency course at a teacher education institution in Malaysia participated in this study. Qualitative data were gathered from student assessment forms (pair work and group work), lesson study logs, EdPuzzle video quizzes, and samples of student worksheets. Descriptive interpretations and thematic analysis were used to analyse textual data. The findings revealed that ESL students participated in this study by engaging themselves in interactions during in-class writing activities, contributing knowledge to others, getting prepared with the essential concepts and content before class, focusing on the task, and assessing the quality of argumentative writing. The findings implicate that teachers should consider the use of peer instruction in a flipped learning environment for students to engage actively in the teaching and learning of argumentative essay writing.

Transforming Perspective Teachers' Beliefs about Teaching: What Teacher Educators do in a Teacher Education Institution in Pakistan?

Taking the lenses of cultural perspectives, this study has investigated the role of teacher educators in transforming the teaching and learning beliefs of prospective teachers in a formal teacher education program in a remote mountainous region of Pakistan. We used a qualitative exploratory approach to conduct the study and collected data from eight teacher educators through semi-structured interviews, non-participatory observations of the classroom practices, as well as researchers' field, notes Findings, showed that the changing culture of teacher education in Pakistan seem to redefine and reinterpret teacher educators' roles in transforming prospective teachers' beliefs. As a result, teacher educators saw themselves as role models, counselors, mentors, storytellers, and listeners. These findings have pertinent implications for the teacher educators' roles in similar settings.

Becoming an English Teacher: An Autobiographical Narrative Inquiry

This paper documents a fragment of a story in my life that plays a significant role in shaping my identity as an English teacher and influencing me in deciding to become an English teacher as my career choice. This study's research question is 'how and why did I decide to become an English teacher?'. This study was conducted using the "narrative inquiry" method underthe qualitative research paradigm. The study is carried out by describing an individual's life, collecting and retelling parts of his life relevant to the research topic. In this study, the fragments of the story that are retold are the writer's own experience. This study shows that a person's journey to become a teacher can start long before he/she enters a teacher education institution. A person's decision to become a teacher can come internally and come from external factors, such as the influence of 'significant others', socio-cultural factors, economic factors, and teacher political factors. All of these factors are intertwined or influence a person's final decision on whether to choose a career as a teacher or not.

Configuration of Research Culture: Investment, Process, and Norm

Research is a priority in higher education institutions. Considering that the development of research culture is highly influenced by the paradigm by which institutions operate on, this paper sought to identify the configuration of the research culture. The researcher conducted a narrative inquiry with key informants from seven reputable teacher education institutions in Region VII and coded the interview transcripts with the aid of NVIVO 11.3.2. Using Thematic Analysis (Braun and Clarke, 2006), three overarching themes on the configuration of the research culture, with its corresponding attributes and characteristics, were identified. The results showed that the research culture consists of observable and measurable inputs and outputs that interact in internal and external dynamics that are developmental and systemic, leading to standardized and contextualized practices in a teacher education institution. Therefore, research culture is an investment, a process, and a norm as it is evidence-based, dynamic, and distinct to the academic institution.

The Relationship between Academic Procrastination and Academic Performance of Freshmen Students from a Teacher Education Institution

The academic environment is full of challenges and obstacles. With this idea, students promote some unconventional practices in studying. One of which is academic procrastination. This study analyzed the relationship between academic procrastination and academic performance of freshmen students from a teacher education institution. The researcher used a descriptive-correlational research design for this study. Ninety (90) freshmen students took part in the survey using a convenience sampling technique in the academic year of 2018-2019. This study used an adapted instrument for data gathering through a survey. The study also utilized SPSS 20 to analyze the data. Results showed that the respondents procrastinate in their academic activities. In terms of academic performance, professional education subjects got the lowest rating score and the major subjects got the highest. In addition, the program, scholarship status, and religion of the respondents got significant statistical differences. Furthermore, the study also obtained a low indirect relationship between academic procrastination, general education subjects, and professional education subjects. From the findings of the study, the researcher provided pertinent recommendations for parents, students, instructors, and the institution.