Kenneth Zeichner and Jesslyn Hollar
The purpose of this paper is to contrast the approaches to improve teacher quality through initial teacher education (ITE) in the Canadian province of Alberta, a consistently…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to contrast the approaches to improve teacher quality through initial teacher education (ITE) in the Canadian province of Alberta, a consistently high-performing system on international comparisons, to the approach taken in the USA, which has consistently fared less well than the average country in these comparisons.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors draw on a case study of policies and practices related to teaching and teacher education in Alberta and on analyses of US teaching and teacher education policy to compare a business capital approach with a professional capital approach to ITE.
Findings
The decision by philanthropists, business and corporate interests, and the federal government in the USA to invest in the business capital approach has led to the growing privatization of public education. The USA would do well to learn from Alberta’s investment in the professional capital of teachers. Alberta’s system truly is a system that has decided to invest in building “the whole teacher.” The province supports education, including ITE, pays its teachers competitive salaries, and provides access to high quality and teacher-driven professional development.
Originality/value
While comparative analyses of education systems are not new, this comparative analysis of ITE in Alberta and the USA using a theoretical framework based on Hargreaves and Fullan’s (2012, 2013) discussion of business and professional capital should give pause to the current US trajectory of disinvesting from university and college-based initial teacher preparation in favor of early-entry programs.
Details
Keywords
The decade of the 1980s was unique for the sheer quantity of education reform reports and legislation. Virtually every state enacted education reform legislation, including…
Abstract
The decade of the 1980s was unique for the sheer quantity of education reform reports and legislation. Virtually every state enacted education reform legislation, including reforms of teacher education, licensing, and comprehension. According to Darling‐Hammond and Berry, over 1,000 pieces of legislation related to teachers have been drafted since 1980, and “a substantial fraction have been implemented.” As I discussed in my 1989 RSR article, “Five Years after A Nation at Risk: An Annotated Bibliography,” two waves of 1980s reform reports were identified in the enormous body of primary and secondary literature dealing with education reform. The reform publications of the early 1980s stressed improvements in curricular standards, student performance outcomes, and changes to the education programs, such as salary increases, teacher testing, and stricter certification requirements. The second‐wave reform publications emphasized more complex issues centered around the concepts of restructuring the schools and teacher education programs, as well as empowering teachers to become more involved in curriculum and governance issues.
Alicia R. Crowe, Todd S. Hawley and Elizabeth W. Brooks
In this study we explored prospective social studies teachers’ memories of their middle and high school social studies teachers. Our goal was to determine what lessons, if any…
Abstract
In this study we explored prospective social studies teachers’ memories of their middle and high school social studies teachers. Our goal was to determine what lessons, if any, their apprenticeships of observation taught them about teaching. Analysis of interviews with these prospective teachers indicated they talked about five ways of being a social studies teacher: an information giver, a content knowledge expert, a “character”, a caring, committed teacher, and “powerful.” After discussing these five ways of being a social studies teacher we present implications for teacher educators interested in building upon prospective teachers' initial conceptions of powerful social studies teaching and learning.
Details
Keywords
A review of publications in teaching and teacher education over 10 years (2000–2010) on teacher professional development is the subject of this chapter. The first part synthesises…
Abstract
A review of publications in teaching and teacher education over 10 years (2000–2010) on teacher professional development is the subject of this chapter. The first part synthesises production referred to learning, facilitation and collaboration, factors influencing professional development, effectiveness of professional development and issues around the themes. The second part selects from the production nine articles for closer examination. The chapter concludes by noting how the production brings out the complexities of teacher professional learning and how research and development have taken cognizance of these factors and provided food for optimism about their effects, although not yet about their sustainability in time.
Details
Keywords
Michael Kompf and Frances O’Connell Rust
The first part of this chapter addresses the history and development of the International Study Association of Teachers and Teaching (ISATT) and its engagement with the global…
Abstract
The first part of this chapter addresses the history and development of the International Study Association of Teachers and Teaching (ISATT) and its engagement with the global educational community. We provide an account of the context and background against which ISATT developed as well as information about the founders’ orientations and the actions that led to ISATT’s birth. The second part of the chapter uses patterns of topic focus as graphic indicators of the evolution of ISATT’s research interests expressed through publication titles.
Details
Keywords
Nancy T. Walker, Jennifer Wimmer and Thomas Bean
This article considers the current state of teacher discourse and reflection, situated in daily practice, craft knowledge, multiliteracies and new literacies. Based on studies of…
Abstract
This article considers the current state of teacher discourse and reflection, situated in daily practice, craft knowledge, multiliteracies and new literacies. Based on studies of content area teachers' use of multiple texts in social studies fields like economics, the authors profile Kenneth, an experienced teacher whose practice is grounded in craft knowledge and ideas about principled practices. In addition, Kenneth is an active proponent of new and digital literacy practices in his classroom simulations. The case example of Kenneth is then used to suggest how the process of practical argument might offer other content area teachers a useful framework for teacher reflection based on teachers’ craft knowledge and principled practices.
Teachers are central to the learning of their students, and teacher learning is integral to teaching quality. In this study, six teachers who had recently completed the National…
Abstract
Teachers are central to the learning of their students, and teacher learning is integral to teaching quality. In this study, six teachers who had recently completed the National Board assessment in the Middle Childhood/Generalist certificate area were interviewed over a six-month period about the effects of the certification process on their views and practices. Overall, the six teachers described changes in their practices for each of the eleven standards, with nearly all of the teachers describing changes in three areas in particular – reflection, assessment, and family involvement. In addition, most of them reported that the certification experience increased their confidence as teachers in part because it validated their current practice and in part because others treated them with more respect. Overall, four of the six teachers described their experience as having had a significant positive effect on their practice, with one teacher characterizing the effect as modest, while another reported little change. The teacher who reported few changes did so because she believed that her practices were already consistent with the National Board vision. A number of features of the National Board certification process appeared to contribute to the professional development of these teachers, including the standards themselves, the portfolio process (but not the assessment center exercises), writing structured commentaries, and collaborating with colleagues.
Amparo Clavijo Olarte and Maribel Ramírez Galindo
In this chapter, we use self-study to explain the ways we enact community pedagogy in socioeconomically and culturally diverse school contexts in Bogotá, Colombia. We use our…
Abstract
In this chapter, we use self-study to explain the ways we enact community pedagogy in socioeconomically and culturally diverse school contexts in Bogotá, Colombia. We use our personal and professional journeys as language teachers, teacher educators, and researchers to show key experiences in our life stories and teaching trajectories that have influenced our teaching and research praxis. Our main interest as researchers and practitioners was to connect school curricula to the life of children and teachers in schools. Self-study helped us identify and problematize our identities and positions as foreign language teachers who espouse valuing of local knowledge. Through reflection and implementing field experiences with practicing teachers in professional development sessions in schools, we felt that we achieved such connection to develop the mindset for critical pedagogy.
Details
Keywords
Sets out to examine five school‐based initial teacher trainingschemes and to assess the most successful aspects of each. Aims inparticular to investigate the ways in which student…
Abstract
Sets out to examine five school‐based initial teacher training schemes and to assess the most successful aspects of each. Aims in particular to investigate the ways in which student teachers are encouraged and assisted systematically to reflect on their practice. All those interviewed (student teachers, mentors and university tutors) recognized reflection as a crucial component of the mentoring process for structuring the analysis of teaching, but considered it a complex and challenging activity. Mentors lacked confidence in their ability to analyse and make explicit their implicit theories of teaching. Furthermore, they were inhibited by a lack of training, the time available and by the absence of a collaborative and supportive working environment. Learning to teach undoubtedly involves the mastery of reflective practice in which teaching performance is developed simultaneously with thinking about teaching.