The Rational Teacher: Rational Emotive Behavior Therapy in Teacher Education

Rational Emotive Behavior Theory and Therapy (REBT; Ellis, 1973) is a form of humanistic psychology that helps individuals live happier, more productive, more self-actualizing and more creative existences. Under what has been called Rational Emotive Education (REE), some (see, e.g., Bernard, 2001, 2000, 1990, 1984; Bernard & Ellis, 1983; DeVoge, 1983; DiGiuseppe, 1983; DiGiuseppe & Bernard, 1990; Ellis, 1975, 1974, 1973, 1972, & 1971; Knaus, 1977; Knaus & Bokor, 1975; Knaus & Eyman 1974; Knaus & McKeever, 1977; Vernon, 1998, 1997, 1996, 1994, 1993, 1990, & 1989) have applied REBT in various educational settings. Having been successful in clinical settings and in reducing both undesirable student behavior and teachers' stress, additional innovative applications of REBT are now being explored and used. This paper describes the incorporation of REBT into yet another unexplored setting within REE: teacher education. Undergraduate Education majors, taking a psychological foundations course and prior to their Student Teaching Practicum, learned REBT principles and methodology and applied them in both learning and teaching contexts. The learning context included situations the Undergraduate Education majors encountered in their college lives. The teaching context included situations they encountered while participating in their preschool field placement. The application of REBT to both contexts allowed the Education majors to address their personal and professional development, including their effectiveness as teachers in training.     

Using Technology to Deliver Immediate Corrective Feedback to Preservice Teachers

Teacher preparation programs are under scrutiny for their role in the troubled American educational system. If American education is to improve, teacher educators must identify and encourage teachers to use effective teaching practices. A promising technique for increasing use of teaching practices is providing feedback to teachers on newly acquired behaviors. The focus of this study was to examine the effects of immediate corrective feedback on one specific teaching behavior, use of three-term contingencies, to preservice teachers. A multiple baseline design across participants was used to evaluate the effects of immediate corrective feedback, delivered via a wireless FM listening system. Immediate corrective feedback (as compared with delayed feedback) was shown to be an effective way to increase preservice teacher completion of three-term contingency trials by all participants. These findings and other considerations for additional research using feedback are addressed.     

What Do Teachers Want (from Psychoanalysts)?

From his thirty-year perspective as both a psychoanalyst and teacher educator, the author reviews the programs described by Farley and Manning, Sklarew, and Kusché and Greenberg. He assesses their relationship to Freud's vision and to the needs and wants of current teachers.     

The role of teachers' perceived control and children's characteristics in interactions between 6-year-olds and their teachers

The study aimed at an understanding of child-teacher interactions in school preparatory classrooms. Relations between observed interactions and sex of the child, teachers' ratings of their perceived control, and of children's undercontrolled and overcontrolled problem behaviors, social competence and work efficiency were studied. Thirty-six teachers and 92 six-year-olds, 39 girls and 53 boys, from 19 classrooms were directly observed on 2-5 occasions during a total mean of 60 minutes per child. The results showed that interactions involving teacher support behaviors were the most common, but comparatively less well explained by the predictors. Associations were found between perceived control and two types of teacher command interactions. For teacher commands initiated by child externalizing behavior, the relation with perceived control was shown to hold for boys only. Male sex and rated undercontrolled problems were predictive of more interactions initiated with externalizing behaviors and also of more restrictive teacher responses following child positive behaviors. Overcontrolled children, who had teachers high in perceived control, were more often met with support behavior when they were off-task. It was concluded that teacher perceptions of control and of child behaviors as well as sex of the child contribute to ongoing processes in preschool classrooms and that the chosen methodology could be used to further the search for factors affecting interactions in preschool settings.     

Using behavioral skills training with preservice teachers in the university classroom

Preservice and novice teachers often identify behavior management as an area of weakness that they attribute to a lack of sufficient instruction during their teacher preparation. Behavioral skills training (BST) is an evidence‐based teaching methodology based on the principles of applied behavior analysis used to teach new skills. This study investigated the use of BST in the university setting to teach undergraduate preservice teachers enrolled in a field‐based special education course to implement a token economy during small group instruction with children. A single‐case research design was used to assess the effectiveness of using BST by evaluating accuracy of implementation before and after BST. Results showed BST was an effective teaching procedure and social validity measures collected from the preservice teachers indicated BST was acceptable to all participants. Limitations and needs for future research are discussed.     

Profiles of bystanders' motivation to defend school bully victims from a self‐determination perspective

This study was aimed at exploring which latent profiles emerge based on ratings of self‐determined motivation to defend victims of bullying, and to explore if they are related to bystander roles and victimization in bullying, as well as student–teacher relations. Data were collected from 1,800 Swedish and Italian students, with an age range between 10 and 18 years (M = 12.6, standard deviation = 1.74). The students completed a survey in their classrooms. Latent profile analysis was used to explore the possible clusters of individuals with similar ratings on the motivational variables. Multivariate analysis of variances were conducted to explore differences between the profiles in relation to their roles when witnessing bullying and to student–teacher relationships. Four latent profiles emerged. The profiles represented respondents (a) high in prosocial motivation, (b) high in externally extrinsic motivation, (c) intermediate in externally extrinsic motivation, and (d) with identified/introjected motivation. Multivariate analyses showed that reports of bystander roles when witnessing bullying, teacher–student relationships, and bullying victimization, significantly differed over the motivational profiles. The bystanders were unevenly distributed across the four groups and most individuals were categorized in the prosocial motivation group. Female and male bystanders were evenly distributed across clusters. The prosocial motivation group experienced victimization to a lesser extent than the other profile groups. Students in the intermediate externally extrinsic group were more likely to take the pro‐bully and outsider role during bullying. Concerning student–teacher relationships, the prosocial motivation group reported the closest relationships with their teachers, while the intermediate externally extrinsic group reported the most conflictual relationships.     

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.     

Writing SMARTER goals for professional learning and improving classroom practices

Writing SMART Goals has recently become an integral part of the landscape of teacher professional learning in Australian schools, including both teacher professional development and performance management in classroom practices. This paper discusses the origins of SMART Goals and the diverse terms and definitions associated with such goal setting. Anecdotal evidence suggests that for some teachers, writing personal, professional or teaching and learning goals may be a daunting task. For school leadership teams, these goals often are the basis for operationalising school improvement over time. We make a case for clarity with SMART Goals within the context of each school, as interpreted and supported by school principals and leadership teams working with their staff. This paper concludes with some tentative suggestions for school leaders intended to improve SMART Goals, and teacher professional learning, over time. We hope this clarification and our suggestions support writing more effective learning goals for both teachers and students over time.