Profiles of Chinese preschoolers' academic and social–emotional development in relation to classroom quality: A multilevel latent profile approach

Linking classroom quality to separate domains of child development might neglect the transactional interactions across developmental domains. This research utilized latent profiles across academic and social–emotional development to explore which aspects of classroom quality can predict children's profiles at the classroom level. Data were drawn from 96 preschool classrooms and 547 children (3–5 years old) in China in 2020. Multilevel latent profile analysis identified three profiles (entitled low-, average- and high-level development at the individual level), and two classes (entitled average and below-, average and above) at the classroom level. Multinominal logistic regression analyses revealed that instructional quality in math, science, and diversity, and the interactional quality in supporting children's learning and critical thinking, predicted children's profiles.publishedVersio

Publishing cooperative and work-integrated education literature: The Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education

The Asia-Pacific Journal of Cooperative Education (APJCE) was founded in 1999, with the first volume published in 2000. The journal strongly adhered to the philosophy of having freely and readily accessible information, and opted to be a free, fully online, open access journal. Over the last 12 years, the journal has grown and has become well-established in the cooperative (co-op) and work-integrated learning (WIL) community. The number of publications per year has steadily increased and the number of submissions has shown strong growth, especially in the last three years. APJCE articles are increasingly cited in other journals and significant book publications, and both its author and user bases have become more international. This article will discuss the advantages from the APJCE perspective of being an open access journal and provide an analysis of the growth of APJCE. The article will also discuss the performance of the journal in the context of co-op/WIL literature internationally and discuss some recent developments for the journal

Using Focus Groups to Explore Sources of Self-Efficacy in Puerto Rican Preservice Teachers

This article used focus groups to explore Puerto Rican preservice teachers\u27 perceptions of sources of self-efficacy. The present study allowed, through a qualitative design, examination of the experiences of preservice teachers at the end of their student teaching practicum. The qualitative design and the use of the focus group technique provided insight into the main sources of their perceived self-efficacy through the self-assessment of their field experience. The beginning of the student teaching practicum provoked an intense process of emotions in which the preservice teachers needed support and guidance, particularly in aspects of planning, differentiation, and classroom management. The participants agreed that substantial feedback and guidance from cooperating teachers and university supervisors helped them being confident and increased their perceived self-efficacy by reducing the feelings of anxiety generated by the practicum

A longitudinal small-scale qualitative study of the perceptions and experiences of the practicum of a sample of pre-service secondary teachers on a one-year university course

This research explores the expectations, perceptions and experiences of a small sample of pre-service secondary teachers on practicum during their one-year teacher- training course. The practicum is a significant preparation for teaching and for some it can be a positive experience, but for others it can be depressing and miserable causing them to leave the course. The pre-service teachers’ perceptions of the practicum give some indication of what makes them stay and continue in the teaching profession, but also what makes them want to leave. Previous research (Hobson et al., 2006; Ellis, 2010; Johnston, 2010) identified some of the key issues at that time, but that is now out of date as schools change in response to the emerging fourth Industrial Revolution (Schwab, 2016). However, workload remains a major issue as identified in 2006 by Hobson et al., and this impacts negatively on the pre-service teachers’ work-life balance and their wellbeing. This research has also identified the significance of the mentor-mentee relationship and the school ethos in the process of legitimate peripheral participation. Where this occurs, pre-service teachers are able to develop and are likely to continue with a career in teaching, but where this does not take place, they are more likely to be considered as outsiders and leave the course

International perspectives on the theory - practice divide in secondary initial teacher education

This paper is centred on one of the main issues that underpins the move towards more school based initial teacher training in England - who is developing the theoretical aspects of a teacher’s professional knowledge? Traditionally this has been one of the functions of the University. For the purposes of this paper we have focussed on the trainees' perspectives of what theoretical aspects of their training have been developed in schools , which teaching staff were involved and how well was this done

Transitions in teacher education and professional identities: proceedings

The University of Minho, Braga, Portugal, was the host for the 2014 Annual Conference of the Association for Teacher Education in Europe (ATEE), which took place in August, from the 25th to the 27th. The Conference focused on Transitions in Teacher Education and Professional Identities looked at the transitions in teacher education and analysed different experiences in professional identity of (student) teachers from an international perspective. Three keywords may be identified: challenges in teaching, dilemmas in teacher education and in teacher educators’ role and current trends that are shaping teacher education in different contexts. Similar dilemmas and even contradictions have been identified in different settings with different modes of government intervention in teacher education in which content, structure and duration are also diverse but with similar features. Another key theme discussed at the Conference was the complexity of the concept of identity and also the contested nature of the transitions: transitions for what? How? Why? These transitions and shifts in teacher education and professional identities need to be examined within the context of current policies but also in the light of the complexities and contradictions of teaching as a profession. Teacher educators are also facing transitions in teacher education curricula but also regarding their own identities. These are complex processes that may include resistance and turbulence because transitions may be troublesome for many reasons. In this regard context and language matter but also the kinds of policies and practices that exist within teacher education. There are questions that remain unanswered. However, despite the differences, the dilemmas, and even the contradictions, teacher education can make a difference in professional identity development as was the case of successful experiences that have been described in the Conference

Rethinking reflection in teaching and teacher education: A review of the existing frameworks and a proposal for an alternative terminology

Reflection in education is usually associated with teachers reviewing their own practices in order to identify problems and find possible solutions to be applied in practice. Following the scoping review design suggested by Arksey and O’Malley (2005), the paper focuses on the existing theses written on reflection in education in the Turkish context as well as the major frameworks employed in the field on reflection in teaching and teacher education. Based on this review, the aim of this paper is to argue that the term “reflection”, which is used to represent a deep cognitive and metacognitive process about teaching and learning experiences is misleading and insufficient. Thus, relying on mainly the concepts used by Gestalt psychologists, a new term to be used instead of reflection is proposed: insighting. This new term, not only represents the inward look and deep philosophical questioning needed for successful reflection, but it also represents a positive conceptualisation of the act of deep thinking, removing it from being conceptualised as an aspect of “problem solving” alone

Tracing The Footprints of Environmental Education in Teacher Education: A Review of Pre-Service Teachers’ Training in Universities

ABSTRACT Environmental education is an important aspect of pre-service teacher education as it helps to equip future teachers with the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitudes to effectively integrate environmental education into their teaching practice. It is essential to provide pre-service teacherswith the professional skills necessary to become environmentally literate individuals and educators. This study aimedto critically assess thefootprints of Environmental Education within the pre-service teachers' curriculum in universities and collegesof education.A thorough search of references and databases turned up 8550 academic articles and records, of which 19 satisfied the requirements for inclusion in a comprehensive analysis of Environmental Education in pre-service professional education. PRISMA technique was employed to demonstrate how data was collected sequentially and logically for the systematic review. The findings of the study among others include a lack of qualifiedlecturers in the field of environmental education at the facultiesof education and a lack offramework for the teaching and learning of environmental education in most of the universities used for the analysis.Italso emerged thatthere is a lack of clarity of EE curriculum structure in the teacher trainee universities. The study recommendedthatall teacher trainee universities and colleges shouldmake environmental educationcompulsory modules for all preservice teachers and Universities should organize workshops and capacity-buildingprograms to equip teacher educators

Beyond progressive liberalism and cultural relativism: Towards critical postmodernist, sociohistorically situated perspectives in classroom studies

In this paper we propose that classroom studies in the TESOL field tend to subscribe to either of the following two normative orders: (a) progressive liberalism, and (b) cultural relativism, without reflexively recognizing and meta-analysing these normative frameworks and their social, historical, and political situatedness. Drawing on Foucault's (1981) methods of historical excavation, we attempt a critical analysis of the socio-historical situatedness of these modernist normative orders. By building on relational analysis from critical educational studies (Apple, 1999), critical ethnography (Canagarajah, 1993; Chick, 1996; Kumaravadivelu, 1999; Pennycook, 2001), and the theory and method of articulation from cultural studies (Slack, 1996), we propose critical postmodernist, socio-historically situated perspectives in classroom studies and educational research as alternatives that break away from the modernist determinism of reproduction theories on the one hand, and radical postmodernist relativism on the other. We illustrate how such perspectives can contribute to our understanding of classroom practices with two classroom examples from Hong Kong schools, and we attempt to show the potential of these perspectives for contributing to the opening up of possibilities for change.postprin