Sources of anxiety among pre-service teachers on field placement experience

This study examined pre-service students’ perceptions of their sources of anxiety during field experience. A sample of 85 undergraduate education students participated in the study (females = 52.9%). The students completed a survey on their perceptions of sources of anxiety during teaching practice. The results suggest students experience anxiety in four domains, namely preparation and execution of lesson plans, evaluation of lessons, classroom management, and relationship with host school staff. Evaluation of lessons ranked high as a source of anxiety for student teachers on field placement, followed by preparation, classroom control and relationship with the host school staff, respectively. Seeming inconsistencies between university and school-based supervisors in lesson plan formats compounded the pre-service teachers field placement-related anxieties Appropriately targeted student support interventions can help allay the fears and anxiety of pre-service teachers during teaching practice.     

THE USE OF IMPOSED AND SELF-SELECTED TRAINING PACKAGES TO ESTABLISH CLASSROOM TEACHING SKILLS1

Although much is known about techniques for teaching elementary pupils in the classroom, no procedures have been consistently effective in training teachers to use these techniques. In the present study, six teacher trainees were observed individually and trained sequentially to use a variety of teaching skills: praise for academic responses, praise for appropriate classroom behavior, correction procedures for incorrect academic responses, and token fines. These skills were examined under four conditions: (1) baseline sessions were taught by the trainees before any instructions on the use of the teaching skills. (2) Instruction sessions were taught by the trainees after they were given instructions describing the use of several teaching skills. (3) During each Imposed-Package session, the trainees received modelling, verbal feedback, graphic feedback, and grade and quiz contingencies on their use of a particular teaching skill. (4) During each Self-Selected Package session, a grade contingency was in effect with the trainees choosing the components (modelling, verbal feedback, graphic feedback, quiz contingency) they wanted included in their training package for a particular skill. The effects of instructions were quite varied. Large increases on three of the four skills occurred with one trainee; almost no changes occurred with another trainee; and changes with the remaining four trainees fell within these extremes. The Imposed and Self-Selected Packages reliably increased the use of teaching skills, including those skills for which instructions had not been effective. The Self-Selected Package was considered to be as effective as the Imposed Package, since the time required for training a teaching skill varied from two to nine sessions with both packages. Under the Self-Selected Package, the trainees chose from modelling, verbal feedback, and graphic feedback, but none chose the quiz contingency. Questionnaire data collected after training showed that all six trainees preferred the Self-Selected Package to the Imposed Package. The effectiveness of the Self-Selected Package, together with the trainees' preference for it, suggests that it may be desirable for teacher training programs to specify the teaching skills, arrange a contingency for performance, and allow trainees to choose which additional components are to be used in each training session.     

Designing Translingual Pedagogies: Exploring Pedagogical Translation through a Classroom Teaching Experiment

This study examined how middle-grades language arts teachers learned to integrate a small-group collaborative translation activity into their teaching practice. We discuss what we call pedagogical translation as an emergent social practice, in which translation routines that are familiar to multilingual students may be leveraged toward instructional goals in a mainstream language arts class. The data were drawn from a classroom teaching experiment iteration of a larger design-based research study, whose goal is to create a fully developed instructional protocol useful to all teachers in linguistically diverse language arts classrooms, but especially teachers with limited or emerging proficiencies in languages other than English. We position pedagogical translation as a paradigm case of translingual pedagogy—instructional approaches designed to leverage the full range of emerging bilinguals’ linguistic resources—and we focus our analysis on the agentive participation of teachers as they integrate new translingual routines into their instructional practice. Using a conjecture mapping procedure, we describe the evolution of an instructional theory for how pedagogical translation can be leveraged toward literacy learning objectives. We present qualitative narratives describing how participating teachers made locally situated design choices that meshed new routines with existing instructional practice, documenting trajectories of teacher participation as agentive designers of translingual pedagogy.     

Vocational Concerns of Elementary Teachers: Stress,Job Satisfaction,and Occupational Commitment

This study examines the vocational concerns of 185 elementary teachers. Participants were classified based on their perceptions of the magnitude of their classroom demands and resources. These groupings were then examined for differences in teachers' personal coping resources, job satisfaction, and occupational commitment. Results indicated that teachers classified as perceiving high classroom demand vis‐à‐vis classroom resources reported lower personal coping resources, less job satisfaction, and more plans to leave their current job.     

How Much Does Creative Teaching Enhance Elementary School Students' Achievement?

This study examined the relationship between creative teaching and elementary students' achievement gains. Forty‐eight upper elementary school teachers' classroom instruction was observed and evaluated over the course of 8 different lessons throughout the year. For each teacher, during each lesson, both a creative teaching frequency score and a quality score were derived. These scores were then used as predictor variables in a structural equation model to determine the magnitude of the relationship between creative teaching and classroom achievement gains in reading, language, and mathematics. Our results demonstrated that (a) the majority of teachers do not implement any teaching strategies that foster student creativity; (b) teachers who elicit student creativity turn out students that make substantial achievement gains; and (c) classrooms with high proportions of minority and low‐performing students receive significantly less creative teaching.     

BASAL READING MANUALS: WHAT DO TEACHERS THINK OF THEM AND HOW DO THEY USE THEM?

This study was undertaken to determine teachers’ perceptions of the helpfulness of basal reading manuals and to systematically examine teachers actual use of these manuals. Thirty‐eight teachers in grades 1‐5 responded to a questionnaire asking them to rate how helpful each part of the basal manual was in presenting a reading lesson. In addition, ten of these teachers were observed for an entire story cycle to determine what parts of the manual he/she used. Data indicated that teachers rated vocabulary instruction as the most helpful followed by comprehension questions. Classroom observations indicated that all ten teachers used the basal in teaching vocabulary and comprehension. Skills instruction was rated third in helpfulness followed by background information and prereading questions. Enrichment activities were rated as least helpful. Classroom observations found 9 out of the 10 teachers used skill instruction, while 5 used background and prereading questions. Only 1 teacher used the enrichment suggestions. These results indicate that verbal report data were highly consistent with the data collected in classroom observation.     

Mentoring in-service chemistry teachers: acquirements as mentees

The aim of this study is to identify a group of chemistry teachers’ (mentees) acquirements of mentoring program by analyzing their reflective journals. Four mentees participated in this study and they met with their mentors once a week for eight consecutive weeks. The mentees devised lesson plans as well as activities during the mentoring sessions. After each mentoring session, the mentees were asked to reflect the process and their gains to their journals. The journals were analyzed in two stages; content analysis of the journals and the analysis of the mentees level of reflections. The analysis of the mentees’ journals showed that the mentorship program supported the mentees to improve their pedagogical content knowledge; allow them to utilize various methods, techniques, and materials in their lessons. Besides, the mentees indicated that they performed chemistry courses more effectively with the help of the acquirements from the mentoring sessions. The result of this study showed also that mentors can play key roles in supporting professional developments of teachers. It is suggested that rehearsing lesson plans before going into the classroom would make the mentoring sessions more beneficial.     

Teacher Efficacy In the Context of Teaching Low Achieving Students

This paper focused on the efficacy of Singapore teachers who teach low achieving adolescent students. Three dimensions of self-reported teacher efficacy—instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement—were examined in relation to teacher attributes and the teacher–student relationship. Data were obtained from the Teacher Self-Efficacy Scale Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk Hoy (Teaching and Teacher Education 17:783–805, 2001) and the Teacher–Student Relationship Scale Ang (The Journal of Experimental Education 74:55–73, 2005). Significant differences between novice teachers and experienced teachers emerged in teacher efficacy beliefs in relation to instructional strategies, classroom management, and student engagement. Conflict in teacher–student relationship was found to predict teacher efficacy for teachers of low achieving students. Implications for teachers’ professional development were discussed.     

Impact of Teachers' Language Expression and Message Valence when Conveying Classroom-Compliance Instructions1

This study examines how the types of language expression and message valence used by teachers to convey classroom-compliance instructions affect elementary-school children's psychological reactance and their intention to follow instructions. Altogether, 178 elementary-school children (54% girls) participated in a mixed-design experiment. Participants read four self-developed cartoons, where a hypothetical teacher conveyed classroom-compliance instructions through four expressions, and responded to questions measuring psychological reactance and the intention to follow instructions based on the cartoons. The results showed that psychological reactance was relatively significant in the high-controlling language condition. In the low-controlling language condition, the approach evoked less psychological reactance and enhanced the intention to follow instructions, whereas avoidance did so in the high-controlling language condition. Our findings offer suggestions on how teachers can improve classroom management by altering their messages in accordance with the motivation characteristics of their students.     

Expository Texts in First-Grade Classroom Libraries: Issues in Teacher Selection

Abstract

In 2010, the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) were adopted by most states in the US. The authors of these standards called for a shift from previous standards by recommending that young children experience a 50-50 balance between informational and literary reading. For this mixed-methods study, researchers examined the contents of 23 first-grade classroom libraries 8?years after the implementation of the CCSS to determine the percentage of expository texts found in these libraries and if these percentages differed based on the SES of the school or the number of years a teacher had been teaching. In addition, researchers interviewed twelve selected classroom teachers to gain an understanding of how they selected books for their libraries and what influenced their decisions. Results indicated that 22.8% of the texts found in first-grade classroom libraries were expository and there was no difference based on SES of the school or years a teacher had been in the classroom. Teacher interviews indicated that book cost, reading level, student interest, and genre (both narrative and expository/nonfiction) influenced their library text selections. Only two teachers indicated that the CCSS impacted their book choices.     

What Does it Mean to Notice my Students’ Ideas in Science Today?: An Investigation of Elementary Teachers’ Practice of Noticing their Students’ Thinking in Science

Abstract

Efforts toward improving K-12 science education emphasize teachers noticing students’ thinking as they engage in disciplinary practices and reasoning. This noticing requires specialized teacher knowledge and skills as it involves attending to students’ ideas, as well as making sense of and responding to those ideas so that the disciplinary substance in them is recognized, made explicit, and supported. This study investigates three elementary teachers’ in-the-moment noticing of students’ ideas while teaching science and their thinking about what it means to engage in this teaching practice. Results indicate that teachers notice many different kinds of student science ideas, and also that teachers have different ways of thinking about which student ideas are substantive during a science lesson. This research contributes to our theoretical understanding of the nature of teacher noticing in science. Noticing students’ science ideas involves not only the presence of ideas and the ability to notice them, but also a teacher’s understanding of this teaching practice in the moment.     

Translating the ICAP Theory of Cognitive Engagement Into Practice

ICAP is a theory of active learning that differentiates students’ engagement based on their behaviors. ICAP postulates that I nteractive engagement, demonstrated by co‐generative collaborative behaviors, is superior for learning to C onstructive engagement, indicated by generative behaviors. Both kinds of engagement exceed the benefits of A ctive or P assive engagement, marked by manipulative and attentive behaviors, respectively. This paper discusses a 5‐year project that attempted to translate ICAP into a theory of instruction using five successive measures: (a) teachers’ understanding of ICAP after completing an online module, (b) their success at designing lesson plans using different ICAP modes, (c) fidelity of teachers’ classroom implementation, (d) modes of students’ enacted behaviors, and (e) students’ learning outcomes. Although teachers had minimal success in designing Constructive and Interactive activities, students nevertheless learned significantly more in the context of Constructive than Active activities. We discuss reasons for teachers’ overall difficulty in designing and eliciting Interactive engagement.     

SELF-CONTROL TRAINING IN THE CLASSROOM: A REVIEW AND CRITIQUE

Self-control training in classroom settings is becoming widespread. Establishing effective self- rather than externally controlled behavior modification programs in schools would enable children to control their own academic and social behavior, while enabling teachers to devote more time to teaching. The following components of self-control are reviewed in the present article: self-recording, self-evaluation, self-determination of contingencies, and self-instruction. Self-control strategies designed for the maintenance of appropriate classroom behavior, and issues associated with self-control training, such as the reliability of self-observation, response maintenance, generalization, and the role of external control, are examined. Finally, suggestions for maximizing the potential effectiveness of self-control training in the classroom (e.g., teaching self-observational procedures, teaching students to provide themselves with instructions and praise), as well as future areas for experimental investigation (e.g., social changes that may be associated with self-control procedures), are presented.     

Understanding own teaching: becoming reflective teachers through reflective journals

Reflective journal facilitates teachers to reflect on their teaching and then generate feedback for the improvement of their classroom practices. This study examined how in-service English teachers in a MA Linguistics program at a US Mid-Western University perceived the influence of reflective journals toward their teaching attitudes. At the time of the research, participants were 25 years of age or older. The findings generated from interviews indicated that most participants were convinced that reflective journals help them become reflective teachers. It also found that most in-service teachers regard reflective journals as an effective tool to increase teaching awareness, and thus improve their performance during teaching.     

Learning to Notice Mathematics Instruction: Using Video to Develop Preservice Teachers' Vision of Ambitious Pedagogy

Video is used extensively in teacher preparation, raising questions about what and how preservice teachers learn through video observation and analysis. We investigate the development of candidates' noticing of ambitious mathematics pedagogy in the context of a video-based course designed to cultivate ways of seeing and interpreting classroom interactions. Qualitative analysis of candidates' observations of teaching at the beginning and end of the course generated a framework of practices and associated approaches for noticing instructional interactions. The 3 practices include attending to features of instruction, elaborating on observations, and integrating observations to reason about instruction. Findings reveal that variations in candidates' noticing was tied to their attention to the details of the features of ambitious pedagogy and to the extent to which they integrated observations to examine the relation between student thinking, teaching practice, and mathematical content.     

What kind of tensions are involved in the pedagogical use of religious narratives? Perspectives from Finnish Evangelic Lutheran and Islamic religious education

Abstract

In this article, we examine how narratives of religious traditions are used as resources in religious education (RE) and compare practices from Evangelic Lutheran religious education (LRE) and Islamic religious education (IRE) in Finnish public schools. The sacredness of narratives from holy books entails that there can be contestations over their pedagogical use, and teachers need to negotiate the possible tensions between the pedagogical aims of liberal RE and the integrity of the holy narratives. The research data consists of interviews with teachers of LRE (n = 4) and IRE (n = 5) as well as classroom observations. The results of qualitative content analysis show that teachers use narratives as pedagogical resources when teaching about and from religion. However, tensions occurred between the ideals of student-centred, experiential and creative learning, on one hand, and respecting the sacredness of the narratives, on the other. We also present teachers’ ways of negotiating the tensions as well as some differences between LRE and IRE in the pedagogical use of narratives.     

Synthesising affect and cognition in teaching and learning

Teachers often approach teaching with an energy and enthusiasm to inspire their students with their skills and knowledge. However, when faced with students who are not fully engaged in their learning, teachers sometimes find it difficult and frustrating to communicate the subject knowledge. This paper looks at the importance of teachers reflecting regularly on their teaching with thoughts not just about the communication of subject knowledge, but combining this with the emotions and affective experiences of themselves and their students. We interviewed 11 new secondary science teachers about their first 3 years of teaching and in particular, questions were directed at their relationships in school, communication with students, the ideal lesson and reflection. Our findings revealed that teachers who were most successful when faced with adversities in the classroom, were those who appreciated that, as well as communicating subject knowledge, there is also a need for affective communication with the student. Many of the teachers we spoke to emphasised the importance of establishing a rapport with their students, and especially when they were disengaged and disinterested in learning. The data highlight the importance of conceptualising teaching and learning as encompassing both affect and cognition in order to have a balanced and healthy view of teaching, learning, the student and the school.

There can be no knowledge without emotion. We may be aware of a truth, yet until we have felt its force, it is not ours. To the cognition of the brain must be added the experience of the soul. Arnold Bennett (1867–1931)

不同经验教师对学生课堂行为加工的眼动研究

教师对课堂信息的知觉和加工是教师教学能力和教学专长发展的重要组成部分。以往有关课堂场景中学生行为知觉和注意的研究主要采用问卷调查、主观报告和定性分析等研究方式,不仅缺乏对学生课堂问题行为客观量化的分析,对教师如何加工课堂场景中学生行为也研究较少。本研究选取11名专家、9名经验教师和17名新手,让其观看一段时长约15秒的小学数学课堂教学视频,并记录其观看过程中的眼动信息。结果发现,教师对学生课堂典型行为的注视次数和注视次数比率多于问题行为;相对于专家和经验教师,新手对学生的典型课堂行为注视次数更多、总注视时间更长、注视比率更大;就学生的典型行为而言,新手比专家和经验教师注视的次数更多、总注视时间更长,注视的比率也更大。结论认为,教学经验会影响教师对课堂教学场景中学生行为信息的知觉,新手对突显的典型行为关注要多于问题行为,而专家和经验教师则在典型行为和问题行为上平均分配注意资源。     

Considerations for classroom seating arrangements and the role of teacher characteristics and beliefs

As a part of classroom management, teachers face the question of how and where to seat their students. However, it is far from clear what considerations teachers have when making seating arrangements. Therefore, in this study seating arrangement considerations from 50 teachers in grades 4–6 of elementary school were assessed. In Phase 1, teachers were interviewed about their goals and considerations for classroom seating arrangements. Teachers mentioned between 2 and 19 reasons for placing students at specific places in the classroom, with mostly academic considerations. They mainly preferred arrangements in small groups to promote student cooperation. In Phase 2, teachers completed a questionnaire about seating arrangements. This allowed us to examine individual differences between teachers related to gender, years of experience, and beliefs, and the concurrence between the interview and questionnaire data. Teachers reported multiple and various considerations for seating arrangements. Correlations with their general student-oriented or subject-oriented beliefs and personal characteristics were low. The concurrence between measurement methods also was low. The discussion focused on teacher awareness of classroom seating arrangements as an important part of classroom management and a tool for prevention and intervention.