Browsing by Subject "Teacher preparation"

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
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    Before we teach it, We Have to learn it": Wisconsin Act 31 compliance within public teacher preparation programs
    (2013-09) Moody, Heather Ann
    Wisconsin Act 31 was established for the purpose of addressing American Indian history, culture, and sovereignty within K-12 schools as a response to treaty rights issues in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Yet, in the 21st century there remain issues with compliance throughout not only K-12 schools but also institutions of higher education. The research addresses how public institutions of higher education factor into compliance with regard to teacher preparation programs. Through a mixed methods approach, instructors from nine University of Wisconsin System institutions were surveyed regarding their professional and personal background in relation to American Indian Studies as well as their understanding of Wisconsin Act 31. In addition, a document analysis was performed on the syllabi from teacher-licensing certified courses. The results provided an overall understanding of the issues within teacher preparation programs that affect future educators. A distinction became apparent between courses that are education-related and those that are discipline specific. Majority of the courses are education-related and provide an emphasis on the general human diversity elements of Wisconsin Act 31. Alternatively, discipline specific courses address the foundational topics of Wisconsin Act 31 including culture, history, sovereignty, and contemporary issues. The differences between the types of courses that fulfill the Wisconsin Act 31 teacher-licensing requirement signify a need for further investigation into bringing together University of Wisconsin institutions, the Department of Public Instruction, and American Indians to fully address Wisconsin Act 31 requirements.
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    Can policy influence teacher preparation programs with regard to self-efficacy: a case study of Wisconsin PI34
    (2013-09) Schlesser Erwin, Wanda
    ABSTRACT This mixed methods study examined if state policy can influence pre-service teachers' sense of self-efficacy. Specifically, this study examined if teachers' sense of self-efficacy is associated with implementation of the Wisconsin Policy Initiative 34 (PI34). The University of Wisconsin-River Falls (UWRF) teacher preparation program served as a case study. Data were collected from identified elementary teacher candidates who completed their preparation program prior to and after implementation of PI34. Responding to a modified version of the Ohio State Teacher Efficacy Scale survey, participants provided information on their sense of self-efficacy. Questions were included to assess teacher perception on the influence of various support systems with regard to their sense of self-efficacy. Findings indicate that even after controlling for content knowledge, participants who graduated after PI34, reported higher self-efficacy scores than those who graduated before the law was enacted. All groups had similar perceptions regarding the influence of the support received from peers, principals and formal mentoring programs. However, those teachers who graduated after implementation of PI34, had lower ratings of their teacher preparation programs than those who graduated before the law. These findings suggest that policy can influence teachers' sense of self-efficacy. However, policy makers and practitioners need to identify specific programmatic changes that can affect that influence.
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    Current Practices in Stimulating the Moral Imagination through the Teaching of Literature
    (2013) Sutton, Wade R; Rauschenfels, Diane
    The purpose of this study was to examine the current practices of moral inquiry in high school literature classrooms. While we have measured moral judgement (Kohlberg, 1984), moral behavior (CEP, 2009) and moral imagination (Yurtsever, 2006), we have not targeted these or developed practical ways for educators to measure development of the moral imagination in high school students. “One measure of the impoverishment of the moral imagination in the rising generation” according to Vigen Guroian (1996) at the University of Virginia “is their inability to recognize, make, or to use metaphors.” However, because the public school system has been defined by assessments and data-driven instruction, the value of the moral narrative remained under-developed. Even though it has been accepted that literature effects character development (Cain, 2005), the informed use of literature in developing moral judgment was problematic (Edgington, 2002; Narvaez, 2002; Glanzer, 2008) because there have been “no ‘Moral Aptitude Tests’” (Ryan, 1986). This study examined the practical methods and assessments that educators used overtly or covertly to strengthen the moral imagination in their students. Results indicated a lack of preparation in the educational programs for educators, resulting in a systematic lack of trust in our educators and revealing similarities in underdeveloped methods and assessments. A high value was found to be placed on the teaching of the moral imagination, while little or no effort could be dedicated to it.
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    Learning to teach as situated learning: an examination of student teachers as legitimate peripheral participants in cooperating teachers' classrooms
    (2014-08) McDonald, Eric J.
    Learning to teach science well is a complex endeavor and student teaching provides a time for emerging teachers to learn how to reason in this uncertain landscape. Many pre-service teachers have rated student teaching as a very important part of their teacher education program (Koerner, Rust, & Baumgartner, 2002; Levine, 2006) and there is little doubt that this aspect of teacher preparation has a great impact (Wilson, Floden, Ferrinin-Mundy, 2001). It is surprising, therefore, that the interaction between the cooperating teacher and student teacher represents a gap in the literature (Cochran-Smith & Zeichner, 2005). In fact, little effort has been made in science education "to understand the contributions of cooperating teachers and teacher educators" (p. 322). Research is needed into not only how teacher preparation programs can help pre-service teachers make this transition from student teacher to effective teacher but also how the expertise of the cooperating teacher can be a better articulated part of the development of the student teacher. This instrumental case study examines the nature and substance of the cooperating teacher/student teacher conversations and the changes in those conversations over time. Using the theoretical framework of situated learning (Lave & Wenger, 1991; Lave, 1996) the movement of the student teacher from their position on the periphery of practice toward a more central role is examined. Three cooperating teacher/student teacher pairs provided insight into this important time with case data coming from pre and post interviews, baseline surveys, weekly update surveys, and recorded conversations from the pair during their time together. Four major themes emerged from the cases and from cross case comparisons with implications for student teachers regarding how they react to greater responsibility, cooperating teachers regarding how they give access to the community of practice, and the teacher preparation community regarding the role it plays in helping to facilitate this process.
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    A post-intentional phenomenological case study of pedagogical awareness of technology integration into secondary science teaching.
    (2012-07) Benson, Thor Kristoffer
    Pre-service teachers continue to matriculate through content and methods courses without sufficient attention to how these disciplines merge in the practice of teaching with technology. Consequently, a disconnect exists between learning what to teach and the act of teaching with technology. In order to develop this proficiency, Niess (2005) and others (Beck and Wynn, 1998; Becker, 2001; Duhaney, 2001; Flick and Bell, 2000) suggest investigating the pedagogical decisions that teachers make and how technology integration must inform those decisions. Using Vagle's (2010) post-intentional phenomenological approach, this study examined the practice of two pre-service science teachers and the tentative manifestations of their pedagogical awareness of technology integration in secondary science student teaching. This study investigated the what, how and why surrounding the pedagogical decisions with technology and how these pre-service teachers came to understand the impacts to their teaching. Additionally, this study examined the challenges that existed in identifying the participants' pedagogical awareness of technology integration into teaching. Utilizing Mishra & Koehler's (2006) framework of technological pedagogical content knowledge (TCPK), the participants provided insight into their perception of how their TPCK changed throughout student teaching through observed lessons, interviews and the reflexive phenomenological practice of bridling. Single-case and cross-case analysis indicated that the participants perceived a deeper understanding in their TPCK, greater student engagement through student-centered technology integration and greater comfort levels with technology integration in their teaching. This study also indicated existent challenges in how pre-service teachers decipher their own pedagogical awareness from that of their cooperating teachers. These results have implications for science teacher preparation, cooperating teachers and student teaching supervisors as these constituents conglomerate into more effective science teacher preparation. Situating pre-service teachers in the reflexive practice of bridling provides both time and space to investigate their pedagogical understandings that inform the practice of teaching.