Preparing Teachers and Students for Democracy: Teacher and Student Learning and Authentic Intellectual Work

Thesis advisor: Marilyn Cochran-SmithPreparing students to participate in a democratic society means cultivating citizens who are capable of making informed, rational decisions about complex issues related to the common good. In order to do this, teachers need to provide students learning opportunities that promote critical thinking and involve in-depth examination of meaningful content. Drawing on Gutmann's (1987) theory of democratic education, this dissertation examines how beginning teachers who were prepared in a teacher education program that emphasized social justice and democratic practices think about and engage their students in this type of work. Specifically, using Newmann's (1996) framework of "authentic intellectual work" as an indicator of knowledge consistent with democratic education, this dissertation examines the extent to which the learning opportunities teachers create and the work that students produce demonstrate authentic intellectual work and examines the degree to which teachers' understandings of student learning align with authentic intellectual work. This qualitatively-oriented mixed methods study (Creswell, Plano Clark, Gutmann, & Hanson, 2003; Morse & Niehaus, 2009) used quantitative and qualitative methods concurrently to examine 11 beginning teachers' experiences during the preservice period and first two years of teaching. Using the Teacher Assessment/Pupil Learning protocol, this study draws upon quantitative methods to evaluate teachers' assessments/assignments (n=53) and students' work (n=481) on these assignments and qualitative methods to analyze interviews (n=54). Findings suggest that these beginning teachers and their students engaged in "moderate" levels of authentic intellectual work, although this varied widely. The quality of assessments was positively correlated to the quality of student learning. The degree to which teachers fostered authentic learning opportunities is complicated by teachers' beliefs about assessment and student learning and particular contextual factors such as time, accountability frameworks, classroom management, student ability, and content area. Teachers whose goals for learning aligned with authentic intellectual work were more likely to construct more authentic learning opportunities. This dissertation argues that evaluations of teacher performance and student learning must account for the quality of learning and utilize multiple measures of evaluation.Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2011.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Teacher Education, Special Education, Curriculum and Instruction

Expanding Local to Global through ESRI Story Maps

For decades, the “expanding communities” model has dominated the elementary classroom, sustained by notions that young children need to first understand their local communities before they can understand the broader world. As proponents of this approach value how it supports young learners developmentally, critics fault its narrow scope. How will children become global thinkers if they fail to explore the world beyond their home? Instead of separating local and global perspectives and topics, we set out to integrate them, to teach children about the world through their local communities. We created Community Story Maps as an inquiry-driven project where students learn about local history through the lenses of history, civics, economics, and geography and compare their surroundings to geographically different places and regions. The Community Story Maps project illustrates how an online resource—Esri Story Maps—can be used to deepen historical and geospatial thinking and make connections between the local and global

Preparing Preservice Secondary Social Studies Teachers for Common Core

For history and social studies educators, the Common Core standards present a new challenge, asking teachers explicitly to integrate literacy skills into their instruction. As K-12 and higher education institutions think about how to support teachers to meet this charge (Gewertz, 2012b; Sawchuk, 2012), this study uses the work of preservice teachers to examine how they address and fail to address Common Core standards. Our findings are based on qualitative analysis of unit plans (105 lessons) from preservice secondary history teachers. Analysis was completed on individual lessons and then on each unit holistically. Finally the units were analyzed collectively in order to draw more generalized findings. This study identifies specific aspects of the standards where educators are more likely to struggle with implementation of the Common Core ELA standards and provides suggestions on how teacher educators can better prepare preservice secondary history teachers to attend to the framework

Teacher Education for Social Justice: What’s Pupil Learning Got To Do With It?

There are many controversies related to the increasingly widespread theme of “social justice” in teacher education, including debates about whether and/or how promoting pupils’ learning is part of this theme. This article briefly discusses the concept of teacher education for social justice in terms of pupils’ learning and then considers this notion in terms of the current press to hold teacher education accountable for learning. The article then presents the results of the “Teacher Assessment/Pupil Learning” (TAPL) study, an analysis nested inside a larger qualitative study about learning to teach over time in a preparation program with a stated social justice agenda. The purpose of the TAPL analysis was to evaluate the outcomes of teacher education for social justice by assessing the intellectual quality of assessments created or used by teacher candidates during the student teaching period and also to assess the quality of their pupils’ responses to those assessments. The project used Newmann and Associates’ (1996) framework of “authentic intellectual work” and the scoring system that emerged from that framework because of their general consistency with the idea of social justice. Drawing on scored examples of teacher candidates’ assessments and pupils’ work samples, the article shows that many teacher candidates created cognitively complex and authentic learning opportunities for their pupils and that when pupils had more complex classroom assignments, they produced higher quality work. The article concludes that although it is complex, it is possible to construct teacher education assessments, such as the TAPL, that focus on pupil learning outcomes in ways that are consistent with social justice, especially preparation for a democratic society

Teacher Education for Social Justice: What’s Pupil Learning Got To Do With It?

There are many controversies related to the increasingly widespread theme of “social justice” in teacher education, including debates about whether and/or how promoting pupils’ learning is part of this theme. This article briefly discusses the concept of teacher education for social justice in terms of pupils’ learning and then considers this notion in terms of the current press to hold teacher education accountable for learning. The article then presents the results of the “Teacher Assessment/Pupil Learning” (TAPL) study, an analysis nested inside a larger qualitative study about learning to teach over time in a preparation program with a stated social justice agenda. The purpose of the TAPL analysis was to evaluate the outcomes of teacher education for social justice by assessing the intellectual quality of assessments created or used by teacher candidates during the student teaching period and also to assess the quality of their pupils’ responses to those assessments. The project used Newmann and Associates’ (1996) framework of “authentic intellectual work” and the scoring system that emerged from that framework because of their general consistency with the idea of social justice. Drawing on scored examples of teacher candidates’ assessments and pupils’ work samples, the article shows that many teacher candidates created cognitively complex and authentic learning opportunities for their pupils and that when pupils had more complex classroom assignments, they produced higher quality work. The article concludes that although it is complex, it is possible to construct teacher education assessments, such as the TAPL, that focus on pupil learning outcomes in ways that are consistent with social justice, especially preparation for a democratic society

Developing A System of Program Assessment Within Teacher Education: Lessons Learned

Our intention in this article is to present one institution’s efforts to take on program assessment and respond to calls for accountability. To do so, the teacher education program simultaneously sought to address the narrowly defined measures called for by policy makers and politicians, while at the same time broadening and expanding outcomes (such as student learning) and the missions, themes, and values of the teacher education program. The following describes the accountability movement in teacher education and then offers the lessons learned within one program developing a system of assessment within teacher education

Developing A System of Program Assessment Within Teacher Education: Lessons Learned

Our intention in this article is to present one institution’s efforts to take on program assessment and respond to calls for accountability. To do so, the teacher education program simultaneously sought to address the narrowly defined measures called for by policy makers and politicians, while at the same time broadening and expanding outcomes (such as student learning) and the missions, themes, and values of the teacher education program. The following describes the accountability movement in teacher education and then offers the lessons learned within one program developing a system of assessment within teacher education

Reflecting on Pupil Learning to Promote Social Justice: A Catholic University’s Approach to Assessment

In contrast to current education policies that conceptualize pupil learning largely in terms of standardized exam scores, we offer an alternative view, one that conceives of pupil learning as a source of insight for pupils and teachers alike. Drawing on survey data and a qualitative study of the teacher candidate experience, we explore the following questions: In a teacher education program committed to promoting social justice, embracing an inquiry-into-practice stance, and affirming diversity by meeting the needs of diverse learners, how do teacher candidates assess pupil learning, in particular, how are their assessments influenced by these program themes? Further, how do they respond when dilemmas linked to pupil learning arise? Specifically, we focused on dilemmas two teacher candidates encountered that engendered a sense of “disequilibrium,” a feeling something was not quite right with their teaching. In turn, we consider how they responded”typically taking ownership of dilemmas and modifying their teaching, while occasionally distancing themselves from responsibility for pupil performance. To conclude, we discuss implications for teacher educators, and specifically for Catholic institutions of higher education that prepare teachers for both public and Catholic schools

Reflecting on Pupil Learning to Promote Social Justice: A Catholic University\u27s Approach to Assessment

In contrast to current education policies that conceptualize pupil learning largely in terms of standardized exam scores, we offer an alternative view, one that conceives of pupil learning as a source of insight for pupils and teachers alike. Drawing on survey data and a qualitative study of the teacher candidate experience, we explore the allowing questions: In a teacher education program committed to promoting social justice, embracing an inquiry-into-practice stance, and affirming diversity by meeting the needs of diverse learners, how do teacher candidates assess pupil learning, in particular, how are their assessments influenced by these program themes? Further, how do they respond when dilemmas linked to pupil learning arise? Specifically, we focused on dilemmas two teacher candidates encountered that engendered a sense of disequilibrium,” a feeling something was not quite right with their leaching. In turn; we consider how they responded-typically taking ownership of dilemmas and modifying their teaching, while occasionally distancing themselves from responsibility for pupil performance. To conclude, we discuss implications for teacher educators, and specifically for Catholic institutions of higher education that prepare teachers for both public and Catholic schools

Reflecting on Pupil Learning to Promote Social Justice: A Catholic University\u27s Approach to Assessment

In contrast to current education policies that conceptualize pupil learning largely in terms of standardized exam scores, we offer an alternative view, one that conceives of pupil learning as a source of insight for pupils and teachers alike. Drawing on survey data and a qualitative study of the teacher candidate experience, we explore the following questions: In a teacher education program committed to promoting social justice, embracing an inquiry-into-practice stance, and affirming diversity by meeting the needs of diverse learners, how do teacher candidates assess pupil learning, in particular, how are their assessments influenced by these program themes? Further, how do they respond when dilemmas linked to pupil learning arise? Specifically. we focused on dilemmas two teacher candidates encountered that engendered a sense of disequilibrium, a.feeling something was not quite right with their teaching. In turn, we consider how they responded - typically taking ownership of dilemmas and modifying their teaching, while occasionally distancing themselves from responsibility for pupil performance. To conclude, we discuss implications for teacher educators, and specifically for Catholic institutions of higher education that prepare teachers for both public and Catholic schools