Action Research in Teacher Education: Classroom Inquiry, Reflection, and Data-Driven Decision Making

One of the growing interests in teacher education lies in how and what teachers learn across time and space in the complex ecologies and technologies of today’s society. Teacher research has been implemented in teacher education programs as a powerful, exploratory tool for teacher candidates to inquire about educational problems and to improve their knowledge of teaching practice. This article presents insights gained from review of 18 action research projects completed by classroom teachers enrolled in a graduate reading methods course. To better understand what teachers learned through the action research process and how their self-study impacted teaching and learning in their classrooms, qualitative research methods were used to analyze the teachers’ projects. The data revealed action research impacted literacy instruction, teachers struggled with how to make their literacy instruction explicit, projects focused on specific literacy topics, teachers used a range of resources for their selected intervention and shared information with each other and with colleagues in their respective contexts

Social and emotional learning in a classroom: Language arts and literacy teachers’ perceptions and practices in South Korea and the United States

The purpose of this study is to understand how language arts and literacy teachers of South Korea and the United States of America (USA) perceive the importance of social and emotional learning (SEL), and in what ways these teachers support the development of students’ social and emotional skills. As a comparative inquiry, the study explores teacher perceptions and practices regarding an integrated approach of SEL and literacy instruction. Language arts and literacy teachers were recruited to participate in the survey. The findings show that the participants valued the use of SEL strategies and activities to support students’ social and emotional development. Specifically, the participants responded they incorporate academic and nonacademic strategies for students to practice social-emotional skills in a classroom. Although specific SEL strategies vary, teachers in both countries agree on the importance of SEL and appraise its positive impacts on students and the classroom environment. This study is meaningful to inform future research efforts that explore an integrated approach of SEL and literacy from a cross-cultural perspective

Enhancing teacher learning from guided video analysis of literacy instruction: An interdisciplinary and collaborative approach

The technological infrastructure for the use of instructional and professional videos is common in today’s educational venues. However, there has been a dearth of awareness and training to help teachers critically analyze and effectively utilize video recordings of authentic classroom instruction for their professional development. This self-study examined the teaching and learning process, particularly knowledge and lessons that we, as teacher educators, learned from commentary regarding video analysis and pre- and post- surveys completed by the candidates in a graduate level special education course. The investigation explored the extent to which the guided video analysis process facilitated the candidates’ learning of literacy instruction in order to teach high needs students by examining teacher-candidates’ analysis of video-recorded lessons, followed by discussions with peers and further reflections on their own teaching

Writing Instruction in the Middle Grades: A Cross-Cultural Inquiry of Teacher Perceptions and Practices in South Korea and the United States

Despite its importance in promoting student academic achievement and career development, writing pedagogy has received little emphasis in research and professional development efforts. The purpose of this study was to examine teacher perceptions and practices of writing in the middle grades from a cross-cultural perspective. 16 middle-grade teachers from South Korea and one state within the United States were recruited for a semi-structured interview. Transcripts of the interview responses were analyzed, using a constant comparison method. The findings showed that teachers’ instructional practices in writing were contextualized with their personal and professional knowledge and experiences. Country specific patterns were found in teacher perceptions of best practices in writing instruction while cross-cultural patterns were observed in the ways that teachers differentiated instruction for struggling writers and motivated them to write