Growing Scholarly Teachers and Educational Researchers: A Curriculum for a Research Pathway in Pre-Service Teacher Education

This paper advocates the development of high-level research capability in some students in their undergraduate Bachelor of Education course. The rationale for this viewpoint is presented in relation to three questions: "What is educational research?" "Why should universities develop high-level research capability in some preservice teacher education graduates?" and "What type of curriculum can support the development of high-level research capability in some preservice teacher education graduates?" The first two questions are addressed broadly. The latter question is addressed with reference to an existing Research Pathway within a Bachelor of Education course. The paper concludes with the identification of a priority issue for subsequent iterations of the Pathway and a reflection on the shift in my role as a teacher in this Pathway from ‘teacher researcher’ to ‘scholarly teacher’

The Resources Boom : Cash Cow or Crisis for Preservice Teacher Education in Western Australia?

This is a research paper describing the impact of globalisation on the provision of preservice teacher education in Western Australia. The author utilises a range of research methodologies to gather and analyse current data, finally a range of possible futuristic scenarios are presented. The paper has significance for those concerned with future policy and planning in the area of preservice teacher education yet has a broader impact for all educational planners. It is written from the perspective of a concerned tertiary educator with over twenty-five years experience in education. The author currently co-ordinates a post-graduate course in preservice teacher education at a university in Western Australia

First Year Teachers\u27 Perceptions of Their Preparation for Teaching English Language Learners

The number of English language learners (ELLs) in public schools is increasing rapidly throughout the United States. All teachers are expected to meet the individual needs of these culturally and linguistically diverse students in their classrooms. However, little training and guidance in preservice teacher education programs is being provided to prepare future teachers. This study investigated how first year teachers viewed their preparation of working with English language learners in their preservice teacher education program. From a transformative learning lens, it is recommended that preservice teacher education programs consider effective ways to provide a variety of field experiences and classroom experiences that will help prospective teachers understand how to teach ELLs. The research question was How do first year teachers perceive their preparation of working with English language learners? Drawing from qualitative data, the study described the experiences of six first year teachers and included their personal background, field experiences, and classroom experiences. The data revealed that teachers need more ELL one-on-one opportunities, professional development, and instructional support and resources in their preservice teacher education program

Initiating Community Engagement for Enhancing Preservice Teacher Education

Facilitating community engagement in education is promoted and emphasised in university policies and strategic plans. How can a university facilitate innovations to develop collaborative partnerships with its community? This paper presents leadership processes for initiating community engagement with an Australian university and highlights examples of innovations in Science Education for Sustainable Living (SESL) with preservice teachers’ reflections on their teaching practices. Data collection included observations of practice, interviews, minutes of meetings, and written correspondence with a wide range of participants (i.e., senior QUT staff, lecturers, preservice teachers, principals, school executives and teachers, and other community members). A four-step process for implementing SESL innovations provided an example of university-community engagement, and was used as a catalyst for preservice teachers (n=14) to reflect on SESL, which provided opportunities for enhancing their science teaching practices. Results indicated that connecting the community with preservice teacher education aided in promoting understandings of sustainable living and kept environmental issues on the agenda. The four-step process implemented by the preservice teachers for SESL assisted to conceptually advance understandings of scientific causes and effects in order to propose appropriate solutions. Initiating university-community engagement required articulating visionary directions, understanding change processes, motivating potential key stakeholders, and promoting collaboration and team effort. In addition, distributing leadership aided in facilitating university-community collaboration and allowed for the implementation of a wider range of innovations. It was concluded that distributing leadership will be essential in order to sustain university-community engagement, particularly as key stakeholders in leadership roles can deploy energy and resources at levels required for successful collaborations

Service-learning in preservice teacher education

This national study was designed to gain an understanding of the status of service-learning in teacher education programs. Results indicate that service-learning is introduced to preservice teachers in the majority of teacher education institutions (59%), while 37% prepare their teacher candidates to use service-learning as a teaching method. Although service-learning exists in the language and curriculum of the majority of teacher education programs, it still resides largely on the periphery. The quality, depth, and integration of service-learning are very limited. Teacher educators need increased institutional support and a deeper understanding of service-learning theory and practice for it to become a more fully integrated component of teacher education

Converting theory to practice: University-school collaboration on devising strategies for mentoring pedagogical knowledge

There appears no shortage of theorists for preservice teacher education; however many ideas are abandoned without practical applications. Indeed, it can take years for theories to materialise into practice, if they materialise at all. The quality of preservice teacher education is central for enhancing an education system, and mentors’ roles can assist to shape preservice teachers’ development within the school context. Yet mentoring can be haphazard without being underpinned by a theoretical framework. A mentoring model (personal attributes, system requirements, pedagogical knowledge, modelling, and feedback) has emerged from research and the literature to guide mentors’ practices. This qualitative study investigates mentors’ pedagogical knowledge as one factor crucial to the mentoring process. More specifically, this study involves a questionnaire and audio-recorded focus group meetings with experienced mentors (n=14) who deliberated on devising practical applications for mentoring pedagogical knowledge. Findings revealed that these experienced mentors pinpointed practical applications around a mentor’s role for providing pedagogical knowledge to the mentee. These strategies were varied and demonstrated that any one mentoring practice may be approached from a number of different angles. Nevertheless, there were core mentoring practices in pedagogical knowledge such as showing the mentee how to plan for teaching, articulating classroom management approaches, and talking about how to connect learning to assessment. Mentors may require education on current mentoring practices with practical strategies that are linked to theoretical underpinnings

Its Time for a Total Curriculum Approach to Preservice Teacher Education Programs : a Personal Viewpoint.

This article contests the ways in which preservice teacher education programs have been conceptualised, planned and implemented in universities. The article, therefore, is NOT about responding in technocratic ways alone to institutional, practising school, and employer constraints. Rather, it is about conceptualising preservice teacher education programs so that intending graduates work towards becoming reflective practitioners with a commitment to social justice. Such a conceptualisation is considered appropriate given the increasing diversity of learners and learning settings; the increasing complexity of communities and society; the growing possibilities for engaging in truly collaborative approaches to teacher education; and the expanding challenge of fulfilling the multi-faceted role of teachers both now and in the future

Bridging Transformation in a PDS Preservice Teacher Education Program

This empirical work explores Transformational Learning within preservice teacher education. Self-identified disorienting dilemmas are a catalyst for communicative discourse in which preservice teachers approach learning by problematizing biases and assumptions

Practicum Pairs: An Alternative for First Field Experience in Early Childhood Teacher Education

This paper focuses on partnership between pairs of students in early childhood education during a teaching practicum in preschools and kindergartens. One hundred students enrolled in early childhood preservice teacher education programs at a large metropolitan Australian University were paired and placed in kindergartens and preschools with host teachers. The project aimed to explore the perceptions and experiences of host teachers and students involved in the paired practicum which was evaluated qualitatively using semi-structured surveys of host teachers and students. This paper identifies eight practices and two principles making this paired practicum successful or not successful