Professional development programs are based on different theories of how students learn and different theories of how teachers learn. Reviewers often sort programs according to design features such ...as program duration, intensity, or the use of specific techniques such as coaches or online lessons, but these categories do not illuminate the programs' underlying purpose or premises about teaching and teacher learning. This review sorts programs according to their underlying theories of action, which include (a) a main idea that teachers should learn and (b) a strategy for helping teachers enact that idea within their own ongoing systems of practice. Using rigorous research design standards, the review identifies 28 studies. Because studies differ in multiple ways, the review presents program effects graphically rather than statistically. Visual patterns suggest that many popular design features are not associated with program effectiveness. Furthermore, different main ideas are not differentially effective. However, the pedagogies used to facilitate enactment differ in their effectiveness. Finally, the review addresses the question of research design for studies of professional development and suggests that some widely favored research designs might adversely affect study outcomes.
Much of what teachers need to know to be successful is invisible to lay observers, leading to the view that teaching requires little formal study and to frequent disdain for teacher education ...programs. The weakness of traditional program models that are collections of largely unrelated courses reinforce this low regard. This article argues that we have learned a great deal about how to create stronger, more effective teacher education programs. Three critical components of such programs include tight coherence and integration among courses and between course work and clinical work in schools, extensive and intensely supervised clinical work integrated with course work using pedagogies that link theory and practice, and closer, proactive relationships with schools that serve diverse learners effectively and develop and model good teaching. The article also urges that schools of education should resist pressures to water down preparation, which ultimately undermine the preparation of entering teachers, the reputation of schools of education, and the strength of the profession.
For years, policymakers, districts, and scholars have pushed for the inclusion of more Black male teachers in US public schools; however, their even smaller subset-Black male special education ...teachers-has been ignored, particularly by scholars. The results of this study provide insight into the recruitment and retention of Black male special education teachers as the author interviewed 10 of them on what factors impacted their decision to enter the field and assume the roles they did. The results highlight that these teachers have had a parent who was a special educator or mentor who aided their decision, and they often assume the role of a tutor or father figure, particularly for Black boys in their schools. Implications for research and practice are also discussed.
This Special Issue examines English teachers’ perspectives on multilingualism and teaching English in multilingual contexts, implemented or planned teaching practices, and the teachers' intended ...goals. The research presented in this collection focuses on the perspectives of pre- and in-service teachers in a range of educational settings. Overall, the findings suggest that teachers continue to experience tensions between monolingual and multilingual ideologies and need continued support in adapting to the ever-evolving teaching contexts. While researchers and philosophers of language have been calling for a multilingual shift in education, teacher education and professional development programs lag behind in revising their curricula. Therefore, due consideration must be paid to the teachers; they are the agents of change, but they are also experts and professionals, and their views, knowledge, and pedagogical aims must be treated with respect. Many of the articles presented in this reprint illustrate that collaboration and mentorship between school and university partners can be fruitful, creative, and rewarding. The collection is a call for more opportunities for teachers and researchers to work in tandem to implement multilingual pedagogies that foster equal educational opportunities for all learners across different ages and stages of language development.
The edTPA, a nationally available performance assessment for teacher candidates, has recently been developed and implemented in teacher education programs across the United States. Advocates make ...arguments for the need for such an assessment while critics of standardized performance assessments point out the dangers of standardization. This article takes a step back from the arguments in support of or in opposition to the assessment and asks fundamentally what the underlying conception of teaching of the edTPA is. After examining conceptions of teaching articulated by scholars such as Nathanial Gage, Larry Cuban, Lee Shulman, Paulo Freire, and bell hooks, this article argues that the underlying conception of teaching of the edTPA is one of professional practice, not only at the individual level but also at the level of teaching as a collective enterprise. The conception of teaching argument is also connected to discussions of the validity arguments for the edTPA with specific attention to face validity, content validity, and construct validity.
Meaningful teacher–student relationships are linked to a range of positive student outcomes. However, there is limited research on how teacher education programs attempt to prepare teachers to form ...relationships with students. This article employs comparative case methodology to explore how two different teacher residency programs—No Excuses Teacher Residency and Progressive Teacher Residency—attempt to prepare their teacher residents to form meaningful relationships with students. Drawing on theoretical work by Martin Buber and Paulo Freire, this article finds two very different approaches to teacher–student relationships: Instrumental and Reciprocal. It concludes by discussing the implications of each.
Policymakers have increasingly worked to combat teacher turnover by implementing induction programs for early-career teachers. Yet the existing evidence for the effects of induction on turnover is ...mixed. Drawing on data from the three most recent administrations of the Schools and Staffing and Teacher Follow-Up Surveys, as well as the Beginning Teacher Longitudinal Study, this study investigates whether different kinds of induction supports predict teacher turnover among nationally representative samples of first-year teachers. We find that receiving induction supports in the first year predicts less teacher migration and attrition, suggesting that using induction to reduce new teacher turnover is a promising policy trend. We also find that levels of induction support are fairly constant for different kinds of teachers and teachers in different kinds of schools. The exceptions are that teachers who are Black and who work in schools with more students who speak English as a second language report higher levels of induction supports.
This study uses the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT), to investigate the dialogic interaction between preservice science teachers (PSSTs) and mentor teachers (MTs). We focus on the cultural ...and historical nature of feedback by MTs while PSSTs are learning to teach climate change. The primary data was video recordings of feedback sessions. The written feedback from MTs, PSSTs' lesson plans, and reflections were used as auxillary data. We used grounded theory and discourse analysis to analyse the data to answer the question, 'What is the cultural-historical nature of MTs feedback to PSSTs on their climate change lessons?' By highlighting components such as division of labour within classrooms, CHAT provided a lens to make sociocultural and historical aspects of teaching activity more visible to inform research on teacher education. We then conducted a frequency analysis to identify what aspects of CHAT were most and least attended by MTs. We noticed that MTs mostly highlighted educational and scientific norms that influence the sociocultural rules of science classrooms. The framework also helped us to identify other sociocultural components of teaching that were lacking such as the community of school. We suggest that CHAT can provide a guideline for MTs effective feedback to PSSTs.
At a time when the contemporary landscape of teaching is populated with successive and persisting government policy reforms that have increased teachers' external accountabilities, work complexity, ...and emotional workload, understanding why and how many teachers are able to sustain their capacity to be resilient and continue to work for improvement is an important quality retention issue. The purpose of this paper is to build upon but take further current understanding of resilience in teachers by exploring in greater depth the nature of resilience in teachers as a relational concept and the ways in which it may be related to the learning and achievement of their pupils. The empirical basis of the paper draws upon analyses of twice yearly semi-structured face-to-face interview data from 300 teachers in different phases of their careers in 100 primary and secondary schools in England over a consecutive three-year period. Through these analyses, the paper contributes additional empirical evidence to the emerging but still limited literature on the factors which influence teachers' capacity to be resilient. The paper concludes with a consideration of the implication of the findings for the quality retention of teachers.
Worldwide, teacher educators and policy makers have called for teacher preparation that is more deeply linked to practice. Yet we know little about how such linkages are achieved within different ...international programs. We examine the degree to which programs provide opportunities to learn that are grounded in practice, during university coursework. We report on observation data (N = 104 hr) from the methods courses in six programs in Finland, Norway, and California. Using an analytical framework decomposing the conception of “grounding in practice” in teacher education, this article provides evidence regarding the successes and challenges of incorporating practice in teacher education.
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