Leveraging Social Media and Scholarly Discussion for Educator Empowerment

This paper shares insights from an international community of educators who have been using social media as a virtual space for a scholarly reading group: #edureading. The collection of educator narratives presented in this paper show how social networks on Twitter and Flipgrid were used as inclusive environments for teacher-led professional development. This paper is both a report of research involving five practitioners inquiring into their collective experience, and an exercise in building the scholarly capacity of the #edureading group. The accessibility of the social media platforms, as well as the collaborative, inquiry-based approach to scholarly reading, emerge as key themes in the educator narratives. The findings of this research emphasise that professional learning occurring in virtual spaces is open to social mediation using the norms of social networks, rather than the norms of workplaces, jurisdictions or education sectors, and that this can lead to a greater sense of empowerment for educators

Educational Policies and Schooling for Arabic Speaking Refugee Children in Australia and Turkey

This paper aims to compare refugee settlement and education policies between two geographically and culturally distinct nations, Australia and Turkey. Due to its geographical position in the Middle East, Turkey now hosts millions of refugees especially following the outbreak of the Syrian civil war in 2011. Australia also has a long history of hosting and supporting refugees from many countries and the Arabic-speaking nations are no exception. Conducting a comparative historical analysis, this study aims to fill the gap in our knowledge about the education policies and practices of both countries. Based on the expectations and needs of refugee students, it emerges that new policy practices and approaches backed by adequate academic and financial resources are required in both countries.

Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Work with Teacher Assistants: A Systematic Literature Review

With the number of teacher assistants (TAs) employed in schools steadily increasing, most teachers are likely to work with a TA at various times throughout their career. International research indicates there is scope for teachers to enhance their work with TAs. This systematic review examines teachers’ perceptions of their work with TAs. Twenty-six studies were reviewed to gain insight into teachers’ thoughts, beliefs and/or impressions of their work with TAs. Ten perceptions of teachers relating to the manner in which they work with TAs were identified and further categorised into four key themes of roles and responsibilities, planning and pedagogy, leadership, and interpersonal relationships. Implications from the review highlight a need for schools and universities to reconsider teacher preparation and ongoing training with respect to teachers’ work with TAs.

Motivation Profiles in the Selection of a Study Program: Why do Physical Education Students Decide to Choose Teacher Education?

Students´ motivation to select a study program is an important factor that influences the professional development of student teachers. The exploratory study intended to clarify whether different study choice motivation profiles can be distinguished for PE students and how these profiles can be characterized. The analysis is based on 816 German PE students from 12 universities. The identification of different profiles was carried out by means of latent profile analysis. Among the PE students who were examined, four profiles can be identified concerning the motivation for the selection of a teacher education. The findings differ from most non subject-specific findings, mainly in the number of identified profiles. Further studies need to address whether this finding is subject-specific by comparing different subjects. Furthermore, it is necessary to examine the relevance of the identified profiles with respect to the development of competence of PE students

Secondary Curriculum Literacy and Teacher Word-Knowledge: Further Findings from a Western Australian ITE Cohort Study

The Australian Government, in its Professional Standards for Teachers and Australian Curriculum framework, requires that all secondary teachers actively teach the specific literacy of their learning area. Yet achievement of that goal hinges on teachers having first acquired the pre-requisite literate competencies during their own schooling. There are reasons to doubt that this is the case for some graduate teachers, which means attempts to raise standards in schools are beset by a troubling circularity. Here we illustrate the problem with further findings from a Western Australian ITE Cohort Study (n=393), focussing this time on the word knowledge of secondary teaching graduates. Our analysis suggests that some secondary ITE students carry shortcomings from their own schooling that may hamper their ability to teach word knowledge or to self-correct. Current training and resources may thus have limited efficacy for some graduating teachers, placing limits on what can be achieved in schools. We consider the implications for literacy policies and for initial teacher education at secondary level.

Pre-service Teachers’ Perceptions of Professional Standards and their Integration into Pre-service Training: A Comparative Study of Australia and Pakistan

This paper critically analyses 52 Australian and 68 Pakistani pre-service teachers’ (PST) perceptions of professional standards for teachers enabling the comparison of teacher preparation in the two countries. A multivariate analysis of variance tested the hypothesis that an integrated standards-based teacher preparation program was more effective for professional skills and competencies development than a non-integrated one. While the Australian PSTs undertaking a standards-integrated curriculum reported significantly higher levels of professional preparation in ten areas of professional Standards, their Pakistani counterparts - who were not exposed to such curriculum - reported inadequate preparation. The findings have implications for teacher educators and policy makers involved in the development of pre-service teacher programs.

The Role of Individual Preferences in the Efficacy of Written Corrective Feedback in an English for Academic Purposes Writing Course

This study examined the effectiveness of written corrective and the role of individual differences (ID) in the uptake of the feedback. Data was taken from a nine-week, English as a foreign language (EFL) writing course from 101 intermediate (n=101) students at a private university in Kobe, Japan. Using an explanatory sequential mixed methods design, quantitative data was first collected concerning writing errors, followed by qualitative semi-structured interviews. Three classes were placed into either two treatment groups (direct and indirect) or a control group, and completed four writing tasks (pre-test, post-test and two delayed post-tests). The study found the two treatment groups showed significant improvements on local and global errors, whereas the control group did not. Additionally, the qualitative component elicited the influence of affective factors. The study adds to the body of literature addressing the impact of written corrective feedback, specifically on students’ self-editing strategies.

Implementation of a National Teacher Education Strategy in Finland through Pilot Projects

The implementation of a teacher education strategy in a decentralised Finnish education system is analysed. Altogether, 31 pilot projects, involving teacher educators from all universities, were funded to support the implementation of the strategy and professional learning of autonomous teacher educators in the context of the strategy. In this mixed-methods research, the directors and active partners of the pilot projects were asked how they perceived the characteristics of the pilot projects that have been recognised as supportive for the implementation of the strategy. The directors were also asked to evaluate the impact of the projects. The projects have supported the achievement of the strategy’s aims. Research and goal orientation, active learning, collaboration, contextualisation and reflection were emphasised in the pilot project activities. Common goal setting and evaluation of the pilot projects should be emphasised more in the implementation of the strategy.

Preservice Teachers’ Reflections on Their Teaching Self-Efficacy Changes for the First Professional Experience Placement

Professional experience plays a vital role in the formation of teaching self-efficacy (TSE), a construct which has attracted much attention from teacher education researchers. This study investigates how 18 preservice teachers (PTs) reported changes in their TSE for their first professional placement. Data were collected via face-to-face interviews with each PT and analysed in NVivo. Results show the majority of interviewees reported an increase in their TSE after completing the placement. Also, three patterns of individual TSE change were identified: beginning with a low level of TSE before quickly rising to a higher level at the end of the practice, experiencing growth from a medium starting level, and either decrease or increase from an initial high level of TSE. Variations of TSE in subdomains including classroom management, student engagement, instruction, and flexibility were also found. Teacher educators could facilitate PTs’ TSE development by providing extra assistance at the beginning of their placements, especially with their classroom management skills.

Literacy Uses and Practices of Schoolchildren Living in a Contemporary Malaysian Context

This paper reports the uses and practices of literacy in English of primary schoolchildren in Malaysia. Data was gathered from two children, their parents and the English subject teacher. The results reveal four major findings. First, the results reveal that the students’ experience with out-of-school literacies in English were largely afforded by new technologies Second, popular culture played a considerable role in the students’ out-of-school lives. Third, the students’ engagement with out-of-school texts was influenced by cultural artefacts and social discourses, and fourth, there were also complementing and contrasting literacy practices reflected in both environments. This paper argues that awareness of the students’ uses and practices of English as they participated in different communities may enable teachers to incorporate aspects of out-of-school literacy into the school to facilitate the students’ learning. Additionally, it may also help teachers prepare the students to face the growing challenges of using English in the 21st century.