Recognizing the Intellectual Complexity of Teaching. A Response to “Democratic Teaching: An Incomplete Job Description”

This response to “Democratic Teaching: An Incomplete Job Description” explores the intellectual work that teachers must do to achieve the goal of preparing citizens for a flourishing democracy. This piece analyzes the rigor of such a teaching task and asks questions about what it means to engage in the intellectual work of teaching for democracy. Public perceptions of teaching as an intellectual practice and the impact this has on teaching as both a profession and element of fostering democracy are explored

Recognizing the Intellectual Complexity of Teaching. A Response to “Democratic Teaching: An Incomplete Job Description”

This response to “Democratic Teaching: An Incomplete Job Description” explores the intellectual work that teachers must do to achieve the goal of preparing citizens for a flourishing democracy. This piece analyzes the rigor of such a teaching task and asks questions about what it means to engage in the intellectual work of teaching for democracy. Public perceptions of teaching as an intellectual practice and the impact this has on teaching as both a profession and element of fostering democracy are explored

Action Research: Can It Be a Means for Helping Teacher Candidates Learn about Student Diversity?

This paper describes the use of action research in a teacher education course as a way to support novice teachers in meeting the learning needs of a diverse student population. Our experiences as instructors in teacher education courses led us to look for strategies that could support novices’ attempts to meet students’ diverse needs because students viewed this as one of their greatest challenges as beginning teachers. We explore action research as one such strategy to respond to this learning need. We examine this practice for supporting novice teachers and consider three cases of student learning as examples. Our findings suggest that teacher candidates were able to use their action research projects to meet students’ learning needs but were less able to articulate their attempts to do so in an aware manner. However, they did understand the purpose of action research to help them reflect on and improve their practices as teachers. Suggestions are made to help students better understand this process as a result of these findings

The Research Portfolio: Educating Teacher Researchers in Data Analysis

This paper describes research on a course assignment, the research portfolio, designed for a two-course teacher research experience in a Masters of Arts in Teaching program. The focus of the assignment is the process of data collection and analysis that is critical to the success of teacher research. We sought a way to help our teacher candidates grapple with the complexity of the process while learning the necessary skills and habits that support effective learning and research. We share our findings, which look at how teacher candidates responded to the assignment and how our work has evolved as a result

More than Hoop Jumping: Making Accreditation Matter

This study provides a discussion of faculty perspectives on the impact of national accreditation on a teacher education program. Research questions from a three-year investigation examined the influence of accreditation on how teacher educators approach their work and whether meeting accreditation requirements contributes to ongoing, systemic self-reflection. Self-study survey data identified faculty perspectives on the influence of accreditation on planning, instruction, curriculum development, assessment, and collaboration. Accreditation as a form of self-study reveals both strengths and the inherent challenges of meeting the sometimes competing goals of accreditation requirements and meaningful examinations through self-reflection. Study implications underscore the need for conscious efforts to maintain self-reflection as central to program improvements and considerations for teacher educators’ work

Service Learning as an Instructional Strategy for the Preparation of Teachers

This paper addresses the strengths and challenges of university-based service learning projects, using preservice elementary teachers in an undergraduate social studies methods course as a model for implementing service learning in university courses. The goal of the project was to provide future teachers with the motivation and experience in facilitating service learning projects as a means of promoting student equity, social responsibility, and social justice. The carryover of this attitude and response to the first year of the teaching career is considered. Three cases of teachers are presented to share findings that focus on issues of context, teacher characteristics, understanding of the service learning pedagogy, and the responsiveness of students to the approach. Implications and recommendations for including service learning pedagogy in university courses are discussed

Service Learning as an Instructional Strategy for the Preparation of Teachers

This paper addresses the strengths and challenges of university-based service learning projects, using preservice elementary teachers in an undergraduate social studies methods course as a model for implementing service learning in university courses. The goal of the project was to provide future teachers with the motivation and experience in facilitating service learning projects as a means of promoting student equity, social responsibility, and social justice. The carryover of this attitude and response to the first year of the teaching career is considered. Three cases of teachers are presented to share findings that focus on issues of context, teacher characteristics, understanding of the service learning pedagogy, and the responsiveness of students to the approach. Implications and recommendations for including service learning pedagogy in university courses are discussed