Browsing by Subject "Teacher Education"

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Becoming an Expert through the Process of Professionalization: A Case Study of an Adult Basic Education Licensure Program
(2018-05) Kreil, Jamie
This is a case study of ABE licensure program participants who completed or are actively completing the program as a part of the professionalization process. Program participants were either pre-service (less than one year teaching experience and/or actively looking for a teaching position) or in-service (more than one year teaching experience and already hired). They may also have taken on multiple professional roles before and after program participation, and may have taught a variety of content in a variety of settings. Given this diversity of experience and work settings, research questions addressed what ABE teacher expertise looks like, how it develops through specific licensure program components, and ways in which it can continue to develop after program completion. Findings indicated that experience and time of entry into the program factored into the degree to which participants benefited from specific program components. Implications for program administrators and professional development providers outline how to remain engaged with the field, connect with K-12 practitioners, and prepare teachers on academic and practical levels.
“Can I just be a human with them?" Cultivating Equity-Mindedness for the Teaching and Learning of Elementary Mathematics
(2016-07) Colum, Karen
Equity has risen to a prominent position in mathematics education with some organizations such as the NCTM positioning it first of six principles for teaching mathematics. Additionally, much work has been focused on the development of effective mathematics teaching practices (NCTM, 2014), culturally relevant practices (Gay, 2000, Leonard, 2008) and developing social justice curriculum (Gutstein, 2006). However, what is still lacking is explicit attention to equity issues within the different academic disciplines in teacher preparation programs (Banks, 1993; Ladson-Billings, 1994). Many scholars argue that mathematics education courses need to have an explicit focus on equity and mathematics instruction to prepare teacher candidates for the realties in schools (Aguirre, 2009; Gutiérrez, 2012a; Martin, 2003). Therefore, this study addresses this problem outlined by the literature as it purposefully embedded issues of equity alongside the typical content contained in a mathematics methods course. A phenomenological understanding of teacher candidates’ perceptions as they experience becoming equity-minded in a mathematics methods course holds great potential to provide new insights into integrating equity into the teaching and learning of mathematics from an authentic, learner-centered perspective. This study seeks to help teacher educators and teacher education programs understand more deeply how teacher candidates may experience cultivating an equity mindset for the teaching of elementary mathematics by addressing follow question: How might cultivating equity mindedness take shape with teacher candidates in an elementary mathematics methods course? This qualitative study utilized a post-intentional research design (Vagle, 2014) to investigate a group of teacher candidates’ lived experiences of cultivating equity-mindedness while enrolled in a face-to-face, undergraduate, mathematics methods course. For sixteen weeks following the conclusion of the course, qualitative methods were used to collect data from the teacher candidates’ accountings of their experience shared through individual interviews and written course assignments. Iterative cycles of whole-part-whole approach (Vagle, 2014) captured tentative manifestations of the phenomenon of cultivating equity-mindedness as it was experienced in the methods course. Five tentative manifestations were produced through data analysis: (1) metacognitive awareness; (2) struggles with power; (3) knowledge of students; (4) multiplicity in practice; and (5) discourse of equity. The insights gained from this study were used to make recommendations for teacher educators and teacher preparation programs for practices that help promote and foster the growth of equity-oriented mindset for the teaching and learning of mathematics.
Cooperating teachers' thinking and actions during conferences with student teachers in parent education.
(2009-05) Sponsel, Leanne Marie
Study of cooperating teachers' thoughts (rather than classroom teachers' thoughts) in parent education (rather than in the primary and secondary schools) has been nearly absent from the education field's research pool. This is also true for research on conferencing between teachers in that prior research was conducted from the student teachers' perspective rather than the cooperating teachers'. To better understand the work of cooperating teachers (and their thought-action consistency levels), a stimulated recall methodology was used in this exploratory study. The research questions were: 1) What is the nature of cooperating teachers' thinking during conferences with student teachers in parent education? 2) What is the relationship between cooperating teachers' thinking and their actions during these conferences? 3) What are the observable and reported responses of student teachers to cooperating teachers' actions during the conference? Participants were recruited from colleges and universities in a Midwestern state that offered licensure programs in parent education. Nine pairs of student teachers and cooperating teachers participated. Recruitment was done without consideration of issues such as gender, age, or race, but cooperating teachers were required to be licensed, to have several years of teaching experience, and to have had at least one experience of being a cooperating teacher. Data collection comprised of several steps: observing the parent education class, videotaping the cooperating teacher-student teacher conference, and audio taping separate interviews with the teachers using the video of their conference as a stimulus for their recall of their thoughts during the conference. Data analysis consisted of transcribing all video and audio tapes, indentifying reported thoughts, and assigning a thought type and focus. Transcripts were then combined in several formats to create working tables for data analysis. Results showed that this particular group of cooperating teachers reported "intending", "evaluating", and "reflecting" as the most common thought types during conferences with their student teachers, and there was notable consistency between cooperating teachers' thoughts and actions. When consistency occurred, it was more likely that the student teachers' actions were then related to the cooperating teachers' actions. Overall, cooperating teacher-student teacher relationships (created in part through conferencing) were positive, and a common pattern of communication that impacted the conference process was revealed. A helix pattern - like a spring with periodic stretches in its coil - described the circular aspect of the teachers' communication as well as the changes of direction within their conversations. Some instances of disagreement or personal discord were evident in three of the teaching pairs, and there were times when the participants shared thoughts or feelings with the researcher but not with the other teacher. Advanced levels of teaching skills were shown throughout the present study, and one of the compelling questions for future research is "Are cooperating teachers in parent education better equipped to be cooperating teachers (compared to teachers in elementary and secondary grades)? Patterns of conferencing were remarkably similar among the pairs of teachers and with little exception, the cooperating teacher guided the conference. Questions or statements preceded by intending and evaluating thought types appeared to promote reflection on the part of the student teachers. Participants' reactions to being involved in the study were extremely positive. A common reaction was to say that the experience was fun and interesting, and that they learned through this process. One of the recommendations from this study is to look at the learning that comes out of participating in a study or in using the methodology for personal learning. Other recommendations include assuring that cooperating teachers are aware of concepts related to this study, such as: thought can inform and direct action; conferencing is a tool for teaching future teachers; and the helix pattern of communication during conferences can guide conferencing. Suggestions for future study include using this methodology with an increased number of participants, conducting longitudinal studies, doing follow-up studies with participants after they have worked in the field for several years, and studying the process of conferencing.
De-emphasizing gender in talk about texts:literature response, discussion, and gender within a classroom community of practice.
(2012-05) Brendler, Beth Monica
Drawing on and reexamining theories on gender and literacy, derived from research performed between 1974 and 2002, this qualitative study explored the gender assumptions and expectations of 19 preservice and practicing secondary language arts teachers in a graduate level adolescent literature course. The theoretical framework was structured around a social constructionist lens, including reader response, gender, and communities of practice theories. The methodology employed ethnographic methods, as well as critical discourse analysis and conversational analysis techniques. This four-month study examined the ways the participants learned in a classroom community of practice and how that functioned. It also explored the ways class members identified with or resisted gender expectations in their book discussion groups and how their individual communities of practice may have influenced those expectations. It looked at the kind of discourses that were maintained and disrupted in the discussion groups, as well as the participants' responses to literature within the classroom community, and within their personal blogs and written responses. The group conversational dynamics provided an additional lens on gender beliefs and power relations. The participants showed diversity within gender that suggested that their varied communities of practice, including this classroom community of practice, most likely influenced their gender beliefs and their response to literature.
Developing culturally relevant pedagogy: a meaning making process
(2014-04) Kruizenga, Teresa M.
Guided by my own practice as an elementary teacher, literacy coach and teacher educator, I sought what Erickson (1986) describes as " divulging the journey of the participants from the actors point of view " (p.119) to understand the lived experience of nine preservice teachers who actively sought wide, deep, and thoughtful engagement with what it means to practice culturally relevant pedagogy at the intersection of three distinctly unique and different locations: a Midwestern university setting, an urban elementary school setting and the community in which their field experience took place. This qualitative study uses what Gloria Ladson-Billings (1994) calls culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP). Participants Focused on the three criteria of CRP: (a) Students must experience academic success; (b) students must develop and/or maintain cultural competence; and (c) students must develop a critical consciousness through which they challenge the status quo of the current social order, as well as, Gonzalez, Moll & Amanti's (2005) Funds of Knowledge as an anchor for seeking more equitable spaces within the elementary classroom. In an attempt to engage in ethnography that Fetterman (2010) calls telling a credible, rigorous, and authentic story I collected the following data: fieldnotes, students' writings (i.e., journal writings, lesson plans, essays), video and audio recordings of university course work, video recordings of participants teaching, and unstructured interviews. My findings give us new stories to consider when thinking about what it means to become a teacher and the uneven workings of power between the preservice teachers, their cooperating teachers, and their university instructors. Furthermore, engagement in this study had revealed to the preservice teachers the unequal power structures within a racialized society and how it is enacted in schooling. The findings suggested that the preservice teachers, within this study, were discovering their human selves at the intersection between what they brought to their social roles and the testimonies of their pupils, families, and the community. This study also explains how using story as a metaphor brought the preservice teachers' racialization stories and the stories of their pupils, families, and the community within the urban school setting to the forefront.
Engaging disengaged students: the lived experience of teachers who try and try again.
(2010-05) Beaton, Anne Marie Meitz
In public education and most recently with the No Child Left Behind Act, there is a nation-wide push for every student to learn regardless of his or her background or ability (H.R. Rep. No 107-63, 2001; U.S. Department of Education, 2006; Symonds, 2001). Engagement is thought to be a key to student success (Bowen, 2005; Shulman, 2002). As a result, teachers are called upon and expected to find ways to engage all students - even the most disengaged (Barkley, 2010). Research has focused on what motivates students (Barkley, 2010) as well as how teachers can better engage students (Bryson & Hand, 2007), yet research has not questioned the human aspect of this endeavor or stopped to ask what it is like for teachers to do this work. In this study, phenomenological interviews of 6 secondary English teachers are used to generate a description of the teacher's lived experience of working to engage disengaged students. A hermeneutic approach is used to deepen and interpret the meaning of the essence of the teacher's lived experience. Emerging themes reveal a recurring cycle that exposes the intellectual challenge and emotional drain for the teacher. Implications from the study reach past the nuts and bolts of instructional practice to draw attention to the teacher as human in this work and will inform teacher preparation and professional development.
Experiences and Tensions in Justice-Oriented Teacher Education
(2020-11) Kiesel, ryan
This paper investigates and interprets the experiences of university students participating in a teacher preparation undergraduate major and initial licensure program. The program contains a mission statement focused on developing a “justice-orientation” in its participants. Through qualitative and interpretive research methodology the researcher and the participants examined moments of tension and conflict experienced in program participation.
The Identities of Teachers in Jewish Day Schools: Descriptions, Development, Impacts, and Relationships
(2014-06) Tornberg, Robert E.
This study is rooted in several interests of the researcher: 1) Literature focusing on the importance of teacher identity development for pre-service and in-service teachers; 2) Several crises in the Jewish community including the high rates of assimilation and the shortage of teachers for Jewish day schools; and 3) The belief of Jewish communal leaders that Jewish education and Jewish educators hold one of the keys to addressing these issues. The purpose of this case study is to examine the extent to which teachers in Jewish day schools self-identify as teachers, as Jews, and as Jewish teachers/educators; to what they attribute the development of their various identities; how the identities interact; and how such identifications shape their beliefs about teaching and learning. The "case" that was studied was graduates of the DeLeT (Day School Leadership through Teaching) Program at Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion (Los Angeles) and Brandeis University (Waltham, MA), a teacher preparation program specifically for teachers in Jewish day schools. Through studying this case, the researcher believes that the prior findings of others on teacher identity was expanded and extended. Furthermore, he holds that an understanding of several additional identities--Jewish identity, Jewish teacher identity, and Jewish educator identity--relevant to Jewish education and Jewish educators is helpful to Jewish community professional and lay leadership as they struggle with the crises alluded to previously. Many findings emerged from this research. Aside from the interview data providing an in-depth understanding of teacher identity, Jewish identity, and Jewish teacher/educator identity, issues such as the impact on identity of Israel experiences and the influence of the teacher's role in her or his school surfaced. Additionally, the data led to the learning that various forms of identity development can be affected in a teacher preparation program. One of the significant overall "learnings," however, was that, in thinking about the identity of teachers, it is not sufficient to look only at "teacher identity." Teacher educators and those responsible for in-service teacher development must also take into account, for example, the teacher's religious, national, and cultural identities. It is clear from this study that these parts of a person's identity impact her or his teacher identity and vice-versa and the boundaries between these "identities" are porous, ambiguous, and mutable. Teacher identity simply does not exist in a vacuum. This reality becomes even more vital when the teacher is working in a religious context or in a school with a particular mission (e.g. social action). These mission-driven schools are highly invested in values as well as content and the "person" of the teacher as an authentic role model becomes critically important. In addition to exploring the many layers of identity that affect teachers in general, and Jewish educators in particular, the researcher also proposes a formal definition of the term "Jewish educator." This term, used regularly in scholarly and practitioner literature is not defined and its meaning is not clearly understood by those who use it. Therefore, this definition has been developed based on the interviews conducted (more than 80% of which were with people who consider themselves to be Jewish educators) and the experience of the researcher. Its purpose is to put the conversation about this term "on the table" for discussion and refinement.
Infusing Social Justice and DEI Practices into Teacher Candidate Literacy Instruction
(2022-06) Robinson, Lindsay
In response to factors in the landscape of the American education system (i.e. growing diversity of the K-12 student population, lack of diversity in the K-12 teacher workforce, current events highlighting racial and socioeconomic inequities, and a growing understanding of the opportunity gap), university teacher educators (TEs) have worked to integrate social justice (SJ) and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) into teacher candidate (TC) preparation with the goal of preparing TCs who can teach culturally, linguistically, and racially diverse children. Research indicates that these concepts are not typically infused by teacher educators in coursework through entire programs. Instead, ideas are often siloed into introductory courses, and if SJ and DEI concepts are taken up across coursework, it is often sporadic and inconsistent across the program curriculum. Thus, current teacher preparation programs often limit or undermine the confidence of TCs to teach in socially just ways because TCs are not prepared with cohesive, well designed programmatic curriculum that makes clear connections between SJ theory and enactment. Using case study methodology, this study addressed a gap in the literature by investigating how a revised curriculum in a literacy course that follows introductory elementary education coursework, built upon, and increased the understanding and confidence of TCs to teach literacy in a socially just way. Results from this study indicate that SJ pedagogies must be modeled and explicitly discussed by TEs in the context of discipline-specific instruction. As a result, TCs grow in their literacy knowledge, pedagogies, and confidence to employ SJ concepts when they are given opportunities to design, test out, reflect upon, and receive feedback on scaffolded literacy assessments and lessons for K-6 learners. Study findings can be used to strengthen teacher education programs with a social justice emphasis, particularly in the field of literacy education, by indicating a roadmap of how to infuse social justice programmatically and disciplinarily. This includes, but is not limited to, providing TEs with a clear scope and sequence of what SJ concepts can be addressed throughout the program and how. Results from this study also note the need for agreement among TEs on the definition and application of SJ, and opportunities for TCs to enact SJ pedagogies in authentic practicum experiences. This study also points to how TEs can make intentional changes to their instruction that shift TCs’ understanding and self-efficacy; findings also point to the need for intentional collaboration and curriculum planning by TEs to continuously weave and connect SJ concepts throughout the program. All of these efforts help TCs have a more nuanced and practical understanding of SJ. Finally, explicit connections between SJ theory and enactment in a particular discipline needs to occur in order for TCs to feel confident in teaching each disciplinary subject in a socially just manner.
Learning to Teach In Teach For America: A Case Study
(2014-12) Covert, Louise
There is a gap in research examining teacher candidates' perspectives of learning to teach in alternative certification programs and, in particular, Teach For America's (TFA) program. This interview case study used critical discourse studies (Gee, 2005) and examined how one TFA corps member (CM) learned to teach through TFA's training model and its influence on her early teacher development. The study participant was Josephina, a 23-year-old upper-middle-class White woman. Her TFA placement was in a small urban charter high school, where 100% of students were English learners, recent immigrants and refugees, and everyone qualified for free and reduced lunch. Josephina's case was one of six study participants. She was selected because her CM profile most closely aligned with media and research claims about CM identity and how CMs fared as teachers of record in United States' under-resourced public schools. The study sought to look beyond generalized characterizations about how TFA CMs learn to teach. Findings supported research claims that CMs were underprepared to teach. Concurrently, study findings countered claims that CM teachers of record indisputably complied with TFA's program expectations, were uniquely harmful or successful as teachers of record, entered education intending to be temporary teachers, and were unilaterally ineffective as teachers of record in relation to alternative and traditional certification programs at large.
A Poststructural Discourse Analysis of a Preservice Teacher’s Linguistic Ideological Becoming
(2024-06) Hemsath, Dustin
This dissertation is a single-case study and employs a poststructural approach to discourse analysis to investigate how language ideologies of a world language (WL) preservice teacher develop. Prominent discourses about language teaching and learning in U.S. K-12 schools support monolingual ideologies (e.g., Rivers & Robinson, 2012). While many WL preservice-teacher mentors combat these discourses with multilingual ideologies, monolingual ideologies and associated practices persist within the field (Turnbull, 2018). As a result, WL preservice teachers are bombarded with conflicting discourses, and they can become disoriented regarding the theory and practice options presented to them. They may then enter the profession feeling unprepared without a professional identity or the ideological grounding for making informed decisions (Martel, 2013). Little research regarding WL teachers’ ideological development has been published. With more understanding of the ways WL preservice teachers navigate conflicting discourses, WL teacher preparation programs would be better equipped to help them establish strong professional identities.Using ideological becoming (Bakhtin, 1981), communities of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991), and poststructural discourse analysis (Baxter, 2008) as theoretical lenses, this study contributes to the sparse literature available in this context. I analyze interviews, observations, and documents to examine how a preservice teacher and his cooperating teacher negotiated their language ideologies and how those ideologies evolved during their ten-week, high-school-Spanish student-teaching placement. Findings suggest that both participants gained a greater consciousness of their beliefs and values about language teaching and learning. They show how both participants’ language ideologies were influenced by discourses from their own language learning experiences and how participants negotiated conflicting beliefs in dialogue with one another to navigate their partnership in the classroom. I explore these findings to understand how the preservice teacher’s beliefs about language teaching and learning evolved through this dialogue, eventually leading him to leave the profession. This study implicates the connection between language ideologies and instructional practice, the co-construction of ideologies through dialogue, and the complexity of ideological becoming for WL preservice teachers. I propose methods to more effectively support preservice teachers’ professional identity development that help them gain a consciousness of the discourses that impact their ideologies regarding language teaching and learning.
The Relationship Between the Implicit Theories of Intelligence and Reading Theory of Preservice Teachers in Master’s Level Deaf Education Preparation Programs
(2018-05) Small, Justin
Deaf and Hard of Hearing (D/HH) teachers’ personal implicit theories of intelligence and the influence this has on their theoretical orientation toward reading, are factors in teaching deaf students. These factors are not well understood or researched. Research regarding literacy in deaf education has primarily focused upon the student. There has been little focus on the theoretical orientations of reading that the teacher holds and the impact these held theories may have in deaf education. The researcher conducted a study of preservice teacher candidates in master level D/HH programs in the contiguous 48 states of the United States to see if a relationship existed between the Implicit Theory of Intelligence and the Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile. The researcher used The Implicit Theories of Intelligence Scale (ITIS) and the Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile (TORP) questionnaire that were provided to students in 34 master level D/HH preparation programs, which resulted in a sample of 35 respondents. Quantitative, statistical analyses of responses were completed to seek correlations between the two theories as well as correlations between the questions on the scales themselves. The results of these analyses indicated correlations between the ITIS and the TORP sum scores of the respondents. In addition, correlations were found between the sum scores and questions on each scale as well as between the questions on the scales themselves. The data supported the research question that the Implicit Theory of Intelligence teachers hold impacts the reading theory they ascribe to.
Teacher Education Reform and Quality Evaluation in Ghana: Opposing Forces?
(2024) Awuah, Rebecca
Many countries around the world are implementing changes to their systems of teacher education in an effort to improve the way teachers teach and how much children learn in school. This dissertation uses the case of Ghana to examine how a suite of ambitious reforms—including the upgrading of teacher education to university education, a new Bachelor of Education curriculum, and changes to the regulation and oversight of teacher education—interact with enduring conventions and structures, which historically, have shaped the organizational character of institutions that train teachers (called colleges of education today). Adopting the sociological perspective of new institutional theory, this study examines the range of ways those who teach future teachers, lead colleges of education, and oversee teacher education, preserve or alter enduring conventions and structures, with a particular focus on processes of quality evaluation, such as accreditation, certification, external examination, and university affiliation, intended to maintain standards and ensure quality. The investigation adopted the method of comparative case study formalized by comparative and international development scholars Lesley Bartlett and Frances Vavrus (2016). Case study data were compared along a horizontal axis—instances of reform unfolding within three colleges of education—a vertical axis—perspectives on reform processes from individuals and organizations positioned along a local to global scale—and a transversal axis—which compared present-day processes in relation to what came before. The horizontal and vertical axes of comparison drew on interviews, observations, and document analysis, and focused on examining reform processes and individual and collective meaning-making, particularly as they relate to systems of authority and status within the arena of teacher education in Ghana. The transversal axis of comparison drew on archival sources and studies of the history of education in Ghana to build an understanding of the historical antecedents to conventions and structures that those implementing reforms today must contend. Drawing on the empirical evidence and historical narrative, and theorizing through comparison, the study found: (1) Pedagogical change within institutions that train teachers is possible when reforms encompass multiple institutional change processes, address regulatory, normative, and cultural-cognitive institutional elements, and are implemented with technical and financial support; (2) Teaching methods yield to reform efforts more readily than conceptions of teacher education knowledge; (3) Processes of quality evaluation are institutional carriers that transport conceptions of knowledge and relational systems, and thus, act as forces that resist change in teacher education; and (4) Aspirations of modern teaching methods and ownership of improvement in teaching and learning are hindered when teacher educators do not have authority over the knowledge to train teachers and teacher training institutions are accorded low autonomy.
Teacher Life: A Narrative Inquiry into the Storied Knowledge of Teachers
(2020-08) Knaus, Jake
Teacher development has traditionally focused upon the technical side of teaching—lesson planning, educational technology, and classroom management. The true work of teachers, however, is best understood using the conceptual framework of practical reasoning—how teachers decide what actions to take. Aristotle claimed that practical reasoning comes from action, but also guides that action. Shulman called this the “wisdom of the practice,” which is an apt description of teacher knowledge—both teacher knowledge itself as well as the ways in which it is produced. In this narrative inquiry dissertation study, I gathered a group of six teachers in an inquiry group to discuss a common text and to share stories of our teaching practices. Additionally, I conducted a semi-structured interview with each teacher. The narratives that I collected, analyzed, and (re)told give insight into the storied nature of the knowledge of teachers, as well as the ways in which teacher knowledge is developed and can be used in the education of teachers. In this dissertation, I develop a new conception of teacher development, which I call “teacher life.” Teacher life describes the complex and nuanced process of becoming in the lives of teachers. It also speaks to the ways in which our professional and personal lives combine to move us into new places as teachers and as people. By connecting the storied nature of teacher knowledge with the theoretical framework of practical reasoning, I describe teacher life as a concept defined by moments in a teacher’s life and the commitments that they make. I explore the key components of constructing a teacher life, and suggest a pedagogy for teacher development, case-based teaching, that uses the stories that we teachers tell and the knowledge those stories contain. Teacher life, as a concept, offers teacher educators a new way to consider the development of teachers. With the careful and intentional curation of the lived experiences of teachers, communicated through the medium of story, the knowledge that is intrinsic to, as well as a product of, teacher’s practical reasoning could be brought to bear in the development of teachers at all stages of their careers.
Teaching Culture In Chinese University EFL Classrooms: Understanding Instructors' Perspectives And Pedagogical Decisions
(2016-08) Li, Yichen
Foreign language education scholars from the West have agreed for a long time on the importance of including culture in foreign language classroom (Byram & Morgan, 1994; Fantini, 1997; Hall, 2002; Hymes, 1997; Kramsch, 1993; Seelye, 1993) and countries in the East have taken up this work, often without locally produced research. This dissertation study hopes to contribute to this gap by exploring the attitudes and practices that Chinese English as a foreign language (EFL) instructors have regarding culture integration, in a time after a top-down nation-wide policy, the College English Teaching Reform (2002), explicitly calls for such integration. Against this policy backdrop and in response to these empirical gaps, the present study examines how four Chinese EFL university instructors teach culture and why they teach it the way that they do. This qualitative multi-case study includes the analysis of classroom observations, stimulated recalls, and individual interviews with the key policy actors (instructors, the Dean of the School, and the primary policy-maker) using constructivist theories (Cannella & Reiff, 1994; Richardson, 1997; Steff & Gale, 1995). Findings show that although linguistic proficiency is still prioritized over culture learning in the instructors’ teaching, a wide range of culture-related topics were included in the university level EFL classrooms. However, culture was usually regarded as facts and mainly introduced through teacher presentations with anecdotal information consisting of stories of the instructors’ personal knowledge of the target culture as outsiders. The myriad of cultural perspectives, which exist behind these facts, were seldom discussed in instruction by the case study participants. This study also indicates that the instructors’ curricular and instructional decisions were greatly informed by their attitudes toward culture teaching, pre-existing culture knowledge, and the pedagogical approaches they used. The Reform was not found to have a direct impact on instructors’ pedagogical decisions. Implications of this study include the need for the professionalization of EFL teaching and elevation of instructors’ cultural knowledge as well as their pedagogical knowledge. For culture integration and Reform enactment to occur in the Chinese EFL context, there needs to be a multi-pronged and systemic approach involving all policy arbiters (Johnson & Johnson, 2014), including policy makers, teacher education programs, EFL program administrators, and instructors in the process of creation, interpretation, and appropriation of language education policies. This study argues for more sense-making of national Chinese policies by local actors such as instructors and program administrators.
Understanding Teacher Educator Perspectives on the Internationalization of Teacher Education
(2017-06) Sippel, Christopher
The purpose of this study was to examine the perspectives of teacher educators on the internationalization of their discipline. This study utilized both qualitative and quantitative methods, interviews, survey, and observation, to understand the views of the teacher educators in a homogenous and localized teacher education program. The study findings indicate that while the teacher educators in this case study are supportive of the internationalization of their discipline, a multitude of barriers prohibit its advancement. Perhaps most importantly the teacher educators saw themselves as one of the main barriers. They identified that they lack the appropriate background and experience to offer an internationalized program. It emerged that many of them are still experiencing a developmental trajectory in their own international understanding. This study helped to identify the stages of development for teacher educators and how institutions and discipline-specific organizations may engage teacher educators in the process of internationalization, especially making sure that efforts target teacher educators at the appropriate stage in their development. These lessons may be valuable for other teacher education programs, especially those with homogeneous and localized faculty demographics.

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