Assessing Preservice Teachers’ Concerns and Comforts with Multicultural Education

Currently, racial/ethnic minority students represent a third of the K­12 student enrollment across the United States; by the year 2035, they will represent over 50 percent (American Educational Research Association, Division K Newsletter, 1998). This significant increase in the ethnic diversity of the K­12 population, coupled with persistent disparities in educational attainment among various ethnic/racial groups in the United States, has supported an educational reform movement known as multicultural education (Banks, 1997). This movement’s goal is to redesign schooling in ways that increase educational equity for a range of cultural, ethnic, and economic groups (Banks, 1997, p. 7). Teacher preparation accrediting agencies and professional associations, such as the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education, have joined this movement through the development of guidelines and standards for the infusion of multicultural education in teacher preparation. As of 1986, 27 states had implemented guidelines and requirements for the inclusion of multicultural education or human relations content in teacher education (Martin, 1991)

Personal Epistemologies and the Learning Paradox in Teacher Education: A Neglected Dilemma

In this chapter, we discuss the role that personal epistemologies play in teacher education, particularly with respect to the potential problems and roadblocks they may present. We suggest that epistemological beliefs govern the kind of knowledge that preservice teachers consider to be legitimate and worthwhile learning in their programs, regulate the ways in which they make choices among competing knowledge claims and justify their own choices. A body of research has examined epistemic cognition as a dimension of the cognitive growth that occurs during the college years (e.g., Baxter- Magolda, 2002; King & Kitchener, 2002; Perry, 1970), and recently, the role of personal epistemologies of preservice teachers, teachers, and teacher education professors in teacher education has been investigated (Schraw, Bendixen, & Dunckle, 2002; Joram, 2007: Shepard, 2000). However, relatively less work has been devoted to developing ways to modify preservice teachers’ personal epistemologies. Notwithstanding the few studies that have been conducted in this area, we argue that teacher educators need to design learning activities that may help change epistemic orientations that have potentially negative consequences for teacher education. We suggest that examining literature on the learning paradox, with particular attention to the role of metaphor in learning, offers inroads to accomplishing these goals. Drawing on this theoretical background, we identify four approaches teacher educators can take to teach more effectively by taking their students’ personal epistemologies into account

Formação inicial de professores a partir de uma perspectiva da justiça social: Uma aproximação teórica

A partir una caracterización del sistema escolar en Chile, que presenta altos índices de segregación social e inequidad, se argumenta la importancia de preparar profesores chilenos para enseñar desde una perspectiva de justicia social. Sleeter, Montecinos y Jiménez (2016) proponen un enfoque con cuatro temáticas a incluir en un currículo para la formación docente desde una perspectiva de justicia social: (a) situar a las familias y a las comunidades dentro de un análisis de las desigualdades estructurales; (b) desarrollar relaciones de reciprocidad con los estudiantes, las familias y las comunidades; (c) enseñar teniendo altas expectativas académicas en los estudiantes, capitalizando en su cultura, lengua e identidad; y (d) elaborar y enseñar un currículo que integre las perspectivas marginalizadas y enfrente de manera explícita los temas de equidad y poder. Estas dimensiones se elaboran teóricamente y luego se ejemplifica a través de las acciones, cogniciones y disposiciones de una estudiante de pedagogía quien en su practicum enseña desde una perspectiva de justicia socialBeginning with a characterization of Chile’s school system, which presents high levels of social segregation and inequity, the importance of preparing teachers from a social justice perspective is introduced. Sleeter, Montecinos y Jimenez (2016) have developed an approach which entails four issues to be addressed in a teacher preparation curriculum that has a social justice orientation: (a) situate families and communities within an analysis of structural inequalities; (b) develop relationships of reciprocity with students, families and communities; (c) teach with high expectations, capitalizing on students’ culture, languages and identities; and (d) develop and teach a curriculum that integrates marginalized perspectives and directly addresses issues of equity and power. This approach is exemplified through the actions, cognitions and disposition of a student teacher who teaches from a social justice perspectiveA partir de uma caracterização do sistema escolar no Chile, que apresenta altos índices de segregação social e iniquidade, argumenta-se a importância de preparar professores chilenos para ensinar desde una perspectiva de justiça social. Sleeter, Montecinos e Jiménez (2016) propõem um enfoque com quatro temáticas a incluir em um currículo para a formação docente desde una perspectiva de justiça social: (a) situar as famílias e as comunidades dentro de uma análise das desigualdades estruturais; (b) desenvolver relações de reciprocidade com os estudantes, as famílias e as comunidades; (c) ensinar tendo altas expectativas acadêmicas nos estudantes, capitalizando sua cultura, língua e identidade; e (d) elaborar e ensinar um currículo que integre as perspectivas marginalizadas e enfrente de maneira explícita os temas de equidade e poder. Estas dimensões se elaboraram teoricamente e logo se exemplificam por meio de ações, cognições e disposições de um estudante de pedagogia que em sua prática ensina desde uma perspectiva de justiça socia

Liderazgo pedagógico en directores nóveles en Chile: Prácticas de observación de clases y retroalimentación a profesores

El rol de los directores escolares es clave para movilizar la mejora de los centros escolares. A través de un enfoque cualitativo-longitudinal utilizando la técnica thin-slice, este artículo examinó la calidad de las prácticas asociadas con la observación en el aula y la retroalimentación proporcionada por 10 directores nóveles al final de su primer y su segundo año en el cargo. Los resultados de este estudio señalan que el patrón de observación de los directores nóveles experimenta cambios desde el primer al segundo año en el cargo, desde un foco en los docentes y el contenido hacia un foco en la interacción contenidos-estudiantes. Respecto del tipo de retroalimentación en el año 2 se observa mayor uso de una retroalimentación más descriptiva que evaluativa. Los resultados de esta investigación muestran cómo con más experiencia los directores fortalecen su liderazgo pedagógico. No obstante, las limitaciones observadas el año 1 y el escaso uso de retroalimentación que promueva la metacognición y reflexión en los docentes sugieren que la observación en aula y retroalimentación a los docentes son prácticas a desarrollar por los programas de formación para directores.The role of school principals is key to mobilizing the improvement of schools. Through a qualitative-longitudinal approach, using the thin-slice technique, this paper examined the quality of practices associated with classroom observation and the feedback provided by 10 novice principals at the end of their first and second year in office. Results show that from year 1 to year 2, participants changed the focus of their observation from greater attention to content and teachers to more attention to the interactions between content and students. They also changed the type of feedback they would provide to teachers, decreasing the use of evaluative feedback and increasing the use of descriptive feedback. The results of this study show how with more experience principals strengthen their pedagogical leadership. Notwithstanding, the limitations observed in year 1 and the limited use of feedback that promotes teachers’ metacognitive and reflective engagement suggest that classroom observation and feedback to teachers are practices that need to be explicitly developed by principal preparation programs

Trabajo Interprofesional en los Centros Escolares : Cambiando Trayectorias de Vulnerabilidad a la Deserción en Estudiantes Secundarios

Preventing school dropout requires interprofessional work that addresses in a coordinatedmanner the multiple individual, school and structural factors that lead a young person to leaveformal schooling. This study examines the configuration of interprofessional work that isdesigned and implemented in two Municipal Departments of Education in Chile to prevent thetruancy and dropout among students in secondary education from becoming a situation ofsocial vulnerability. Data were produced through in-depth interviews with a total of 63individuals, including municipal-level and school level professionals, parents and students.These two cases show contrasting models in their approaches. The first model is oriented tooffer psychosocial support so that adolescents can develop their life project. Psychologists,social workers and teachers, under the leadership of the municipal-level coordinator and theschool principal, deploy relational agency and relational expertise to develop commonknowledge; and students feel that their needs are addressed. In the second case, the modelfocuses on the prevention of truancy and school dropout. The expertise provided bypsychologists and social workers fails to expand the practices of teachers; and students pointout that psychosocial intervention is more of a barrier than a support. These results highlightthe importance of designing psychosocial supports that consider students' voices and the needto prepare professionals for coordinated interprofessional work that aligns motivations towork togethe

Aportes de los departamentos en la mejora escolar según perspectivas de directivos chilenos

En los centros escolares de educación secundaria, los directores participan en el liderazgo pedagógico directa e indirectamente mediante la distribución de funciones a los coordinadores o jefes departamentales. Varios estudios señalan que la eficacia de los departamentos disciplinares, como estructura e impulso a la mejora, están estrechamente relacionados con las condiciones creadas por el director de un centro escolar. El siguiente artículo, de carácter exploratorio y descriptivo, se basó en una encuesta aplicada a 993 integrantes de equipos directivos de centros escolares chilenos, municipales (públicos) y particulares subvencionados, en que 737 correspondieron a directivos de 692 centros de educación secundaria completa y regular. Se examinó, en función de estos últimos, cómo los directores y jefes de unidades curriculares caracterizan tal estructura departamental, su organización y gestión; asimismo, qué expectativas y valoraciones tienen de su con- tribución a la mejora. Según estos directivos, la estructura del departamento sirve para promover el trabajo colaborativo de los docentes, lo que a su vez fortalece los resultados de aprendizaje de los estudiantes, mejora la implementación del currículo y aumenta la autoeficacia de los docentes. Además, los departamentos disciplinarios son la forma en que el jefe de la unidad curricular distribuye el liderazgo pedagógico a los jefes de departamento. Sin embargo, el puesto de jefe de departamento no siempre está disponible como recurso para liderar desde el medio y se pueden encontrar algunas diferencias en el trabajo de los departamentos entre los centros que crean y no este puesto

Targets, threats and (dis)trust: The managerial troika for public school principals in Chile

Public education in Chile has been steadily losing students as a result of the implementation, for the last 35 years, of a market model. In this paper we exemplify how a structural problem (public schools’ declining enrollment) created by neoliberal educational policies is transformed into an individual problem to be managed by the public school principal. Principals must sign a performance-based contract that specifies sanctions and incentives for meeting enrollment targets. The current paper examines, through data produced by in-depth interviews and shadowing, how 19 principals worked toward that target. Findings show that to manage enrollment principals spent, on average, 24% of their time performing marketing tasks. Principals, thus, have developed an entrepreneurial self, which is promoted by quasi-market school governance models. Through this entrepreneurship they manage various threats that represent barriers to the possibilities for meeting enrollment targets

Lessons Learned from a Collaborative Self-Study in International Teacher Education: Visiones, Preguntas, y Desafíos

International experience is a critical part of any efforts at internationalizing the teacher education curriculum (Cushner & Mahon, 2002). Professional teacher preparation standards (NCATE, INTASC) have made clear that teachers, particularly those teaching foreign language and social studies, need to have international experiences. These experiences need to be extended to higher education faculty as well given that their experiences have the potential to influence both the pedagogy and curriculum of teacher education experiences. Indeed, it is folly to ask teacher education faculty to promote an international teacher education without having experienced and studied international education any more than we would ask teachers to teach second language learners without any substantial background or experience with these learners and expect them to do quality work. The internationalization of teacher education has not only involved USA faculty and students traveling to study/work abroad. It implies hosting international faculty and students who come to the USA as well as engaging with the international tenured and tenured track faculty who work at many teacher education programs for scholarly as well as pedagogical purposes