Promoting reflection in pre-service teachers through problem-based learning: an example from Canada

This article discusses the process, benefits, challenges and recommendations associated with the adoption of the Problem-based Learning (PBL) approach to promote reflection for pre-service teachers. Drawing upon Schön’s concept of reflection, this article explains how a pre-service course in Canada aims to promote the participants’ ‘reflection in action’ of assessment content knowledge and professional competence through PBL. The article points out that PBL enables the pre-service teachers to critically reflect on assessment issues and make meaningful connections between their reflections and real-life teaching. The key challenges are the facilitators’ inadequate understanding of using PBL to promote reflection, as well as the pre-service teachers’ struggle with time constraint and juggling between their need for teacher guidance, group collaboration and self-directed study. To address these challenges, the article recommends formal professional development sessions for the PBL instructors, and the achievement of a balance between learner autonomy and teacher guidance.     

A structural equation model of pre‐service teachers' perceptions of future goals and current course‐related motivation

This study examined relationships between pre‐service teachers' perceptions of future goals and motivation to complete current tasks required in teacher education courses. Using 351 pre‐service teachers' survey responses from two southern universities in the USA, a full‐structural modeling was conducted. Results showed pre‐service teachers' perceived endogenous instrumentality (value of the current course “content” to attain future goals) had a direct effect on their intrinsic motivation, and their perceived exogenous instrumentality (value of the current “grade” to attain future goals) had a direct effect on their extrinsic motivation. This research suggests students' understanding of a relationship between their course content and future goal encourages their motivation to learn for enjoyment. Furthermore, students' understanding of a relationship between the course grade of the current course and their future goal encourages their motivation to get a high course grade, not necessarily because they enjoyed the course content. This study contributes to understanding pre‐service teachers' cognitive/motivational characteristics and to developing appropriate learning environments of teacher education that align with pre‐service teachers' learning characteristics to promote their effective learning.     

教师创造性教学行为与小学生创造性思维的关系：有调节的中介模型

以471名小学生为被试,采用儿童报告法考察教师创造性教学行为与小学生创造性思维的关系,同时探析小学生创意自我效能感的中介作用以及开放性人格的调节作用。结果发现:(1)在控制儿童性别、年龄和父母受教育程度后,感知到的教师创造性教学行为显著正向预测小学生创造性思维的流畅性、变通性和独特性;(2)感知到的教师创造性教学行为可以通过创意自我效能感影响小学生创造性思维的流畅性、变通性和独特性;(3)开放性人格能够调节感知到的教师创造性教学行为对小学生创意自我效能感的作用,个体开放性人格水平越高,小学生感知到的教师创造性教学行为对创意自我效能感的预测作用越强。研究表明,创意自我效能感和人格开放性可能是教师创造性教学行为与学生创造性思维关联的重要机制,改善教师的创造性教学行为,提高创意自我效能感和人格开放性水平,有助于促进小学生的创造性思维发展。     

Photovoice and pre-service geography teachers' visual sense of place

This study researched the development of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of pre-service geography teachers (PGTs), adopting a place-based approach. The study planned and implemented a photovoice-based semester class on visualization, happiness and sense of place. Data were collected through photographs taken by PGTs, including their narratives and reflections and analyzed through grounded theory. The geographical place where PGTs felt happiest was the first-place they lived as a child. Participants' affective feelings of place happiness appeared attached to objects that reflected mobility such as a cellular phone or a transportation means, such as bus.     

幼儿教师教学策略的结构、类型及特点

以432名幼儿教师为样本,探讨了幼儿教师教学策略的结构及类型,并进一步分析了不同类型幼儿教师的教学策略特点。结果表明:(1)幼儿教师教学策略的结构主要包括引导监控策略、分析总结策略、交流互动策略及计划应变策略4部分;(2)幼儿教师教学策略的类型主要分为综合发展型、整合提升型和交流缺失型3种;(3)综合发展型幼儿教师的教学策略水平较高,交流缺失型幼儿教师的交流互动策略最差,而整合提升型幼儿教师的教学策略正处在整合发展期。     

专家与新手教师对静态课堂教学场景的知觉差异

教师在课堂教学过程中,需要实时监控和加工课堂中的各种信息,以此来调整教学和管理课堂.研究选取9名专家教师和16名师范类研究生,采用专家、新手教师对比的范式,借鉴场景知觉的研究方法,以静态教学场景和非教学场景作为刺激材料,利用眼动技术,探讨了教学经验对课堂教学场景知觉的影响.结果发现,相对于新手,专家对静态课堂教学场景的注视次数更多,总注视时间更长;对于不同的场景类型,非教学场景受到的注视次数更多;专家对于非教学场景的注视次数要多于教学场景,但是平均注视时间少于教学场景;专家对非教学场景的总注视时间长于新手.研究表明,专家对非教学场景采取的是多次注视但每次注视时间短的策略,体现的是一种快速扫描的注视模式,而对教学场景采取的是少量注视但每次注视时间长的策略,体现的是认真观看的注视模式.     

Building well-being among university teachers: the roles of psychological capital and meaning in life

The present study aims to address the issue of temporal precedence linking psychological capital and meaning in life and, further, to examine the relationship between meaning in life, psychological capital, and well-being among university teachers. Data were collected in three measurement waves; 412 university teachers in China were selected as the final sample, completing the measures of Meaning in Life Questionnaire, Psychological Capital Questionnaire, and Psychological Well-Being Scale at all three time points. The results showed that university teachers’ psychological capital positively predicted their meaning in life over time, but not vice versa; meaning in life and psychological capital positively predicted well-being over time; furthermore, meaning in life partially mediated the effect of psychological capital on well-being among university teachers over time.     

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.     

Inhibitors to EFL teachers’ reflective teaching and EFL learners’ reflective thinking and the role of teaching experience and academic degree in reflection perception

The present study investigated Iranian English as a Foreign Language (EFL) teachers’ perception of their own reflective teaching, of inhibitors to their reflective teaching, of inhibitors to their students’ reflective thinking, and the impact of teaching experience and academic degree on their perception of reflective teaching. To this end, 304 private-language-institute English as a Foreign Language Teachers teachers participated in the study by completing English Language Teaching Reflection Inventory developed by Akbari, Behzadpoor, and Dadvand, Inhibitors to EFL Teachers’ Reflective Teaching Questionnaire and Inhibitors to EFL Learners’ Reflective Thinking Questionnaire, with the last two instruments being developed and validated by the researchers. The results indicated that (1) Iranian EFL teachers perceived their reflective teaching to lie at a medium level, (2) three types of inhibitors to EFL teachers’ reflective teaching included ‘lack of knowledge’, ‘affective-emotional’ and ‘teaching situation’ inhibitors, and (3) three types of inhibitors to EFL learners’ reflective thinking also comprised ‘affective-emotional’, ‘cognitive’ and ‘learning situation’ inhibitors. The results of two-way ANOVA indicated both academic degree and teaching experience significantly differentiated Iranian EFL teachers with respect to their reflective teaching perception, but the interaction effect of them did not do so. The results are discussed in detail in the article.