Search results for: teacher practice

Authors: E. C. du Plessis

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Teaching practice is a major component of teacher education and the preparation of teachers for the real-life classroom throughout the world. Learning is seen as a constructive process, whether it is classroom based or takes place by means of distance education. Blending theory and practice with effective education in distance context as part of situated learning is crucial. Therefore, the aim of this research was to determine distance education student teachers' classroom readiness on completion of the teaching practice modules of their Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) course. A qualitative research approach was used for the collection, analysis, and interpretation of data. A total of 15 student teachers enrolled at the College of Education of an ODL (Open and Distance Learning) institution were selected and volunteered to participate in the research. In the light of the results of the research, it is recommended that more attention is given to the interaction between mentor teachers, academic lecturers, and student teachers, as well as the expectations and responsibilities of these role-players.

Keywords: communities of practice, mentor teachers, open and distance learning, practicum, professional development, student teachers, teaching practice

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Authors: Kerry Lee

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Many teachers are experienced; however, experience doesn’t necessarily equate to excellence. Excellence in teaching is the single most powerful influence on student achievement. This case study investigates the practices of one of the nation’s most acknowledged teachers in enterprise education. In a number of semi-structured interviews and observational visits, this remote regional teacher talked freely about what skills and strategies she used to achieve this success. It is anticipated these findings will help others to support students to gain greater success (in whatever form that may take).

Keywords: expert teacher, enterprise education, excellence, skills and strategies

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Authors: Yousra Drissi

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This research explores language teacher identity in a multilingual context where both teachers and students come from different linguistic backgrounds. It seeks to understand how teachers perceive themselves as language teachers in this context in relation to different influencing factors, both internal and external. This study is being conducted due to the importance of language teacher identity (LTI) in the university context, which is being neglected in the present literature (in an attempt to address the gap in the present literature). The broader aim of this study is to bring attention to language teacher identity along with the different influencing elements which can either promote or hinder its development. In this research, we are using the sociocultural theory and post-structural theory. This research uses the mixed methods approach to collect and analyse relevant data. A structured survey was distributed to language teachers from different universities around Algeria, followed by in-depth interviews. Results are supposed to show the different points in self-perception that these teachers share or differ in. they will also help us identify the different internal and external factors that can be of influence. However, the results of this research can be used by institutions as well as decision-makers to better understand university teachers and help them improve their teaching practices by empowering their language teacher identity, starting from teacher education programs to continuous teacher development programs.

Keywords: identity, language teacher identity, multilingualism, university teacher

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Authors: Vasileios Floros

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This article delves into the intricate interplay between leadership styles and teacher satisfaction within the Greek educational framework, underscoring the pivotal role of school leadership in shaping educational success and fostering a conducive school culture. Through a comprehensive analysis, the study explores various leadership theories, the psychological contract between teachers and leaders, and the impact of leadership on teacher job satisfaction and group dynamics within educational institutions. It highlights how leadership efficacy can significantly influence the organizational climate, teacher motivation, and, ultimately, educational outcomes. The findings suggest that effective leadership, characterized by a deep understanding of teacher psychology, thoughtful engagement with the school culture, and strategic application of leadership styles, can lead to heightened teacher satisfaction and enhanced educational performance. This research offers valuable insights for educational policymakers, school leaders, and the broader academic community interested in optimizing leadership practices to foster an enriching educational environment in Greece.

Keywords: educational leadership, teacher satisfaction, school culture, leadership styles, Greek education

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Authors: Claerchille Jhulia Robin

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This paper discusses the perspective of ESL learners towards pronunciation instruction. It sought to determine how these learners view the type of feedback their speech teacher gives and its impact on their own classroom practice of providing feedback. This study utilized a quantitative-qualitative approach to the problem. The respondents were Education students majoring in English. A survey questionnaire and interview guide were used for data gathering. The data from the survey was tabulated using frequency count and the data from the interview were then transcribed and analyzed. Results showed that ESL learners favor immediate corrective feedback and they do not find any issue in being corrected in front of their peers. They also practice the same corrective technique in their own classroom.

Keywords: ESL, feedback, learner perspective, pronunciation instruction

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Authors: Muhammad Akram, Qamar Naseem, Imtiaz Ahmad

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The purpose of this study was to correlate students’ perceptions of teacher effectiveness with their academic achievement in English and Mathematics at the secondary level (grade 9th) based on five national professional standards for teacher evaluation in Pakistan (subject matter knowledge, instructional planning and strategies, assessment, learning environment, effective communication. A Students’ Perceptions of Teacher Effectiveness Questionnaire (SPTEQ) was developed by the researchers to collect data from 2009 students from forty public girls and boys high/ higher secondary schools in district Khanewal, Pakistan. The overall reliability of the SPTEQ was α=.86. The study found a significant positive relationship among all the five factors of teacher effectiveness construct. The study also showed significant, positive relationship between teacher effectiveness factors and students’ achievement in English and mathematics. No significant differences were found between male and female students’ perceptions about their English teacher effectiveness. The implications include students’ personal attachments with their teachers that might convince them to overrate their teachers.

Keywords: communication, students’ achievement, teacher effectiveness, teaching strategies, teaching strategies

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Authors: Fangfei Li

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This research was conducted to explore how Chinese overseas students, who rarely received teacher feedback during their undergraduate studies in China, engaged in a different feedback provision context in the UK universities. In particular, this research provides some insights into Chinese students’ perspectives on how they made sense of the teacher feedback they obtained and how they took it on board in their assignments. Research questions in this study are 1) What are Chinese overseas students’ perceptions of teacher feedback on courses in UK higher education? 2) How do they respond to the teacher feedback they obtained? 3) What factors might influence their engagement with teacher feedback? Multiple case studies of five Chinese overseas students in a UK university have been carried out to address the research questions. The main data collection instruments are various types of semi-structured interviews, consisting of background interviews, scenario-based activities, stimulated recall sessions and retrospective interviews. Research findings indicate that student engagement with teacher feedback is a complex learning process incorporating several stages: from initial teacher input to ultimate transformational learning. Apart from students interpreting teachers’ comments/suggestions by themselves, students’ understandings of and responses to teacher feedback could also be influenced by pre-submission guidance, peer discussion, use of exemplars and post-submission discussion with teachers. These are key factors influencing students to make use of teacher feedback. Findings also reveal that the level of students’ reflections on tutor feedback influences the quality of their assignments and even their future learning. To sum up, this paper will discuss the current concepts of teacher feedback in existing studies and research findings of this study from which reconceptualization of teacher feedback has occurred.

Keywords: Chinese students, student engagement, teacher feedback, the UK higher education

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Authors: Agis Andriani

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To create an effective teaching condition, the teacher requests the students as the instruction to guide the them interactively in the learning activities in the classroom. This study involves 160 Indonesian students who study English in the university, as participants in the discourse completion test, and ten of them are interviewed. The result shows that when the students response the teacher’s request, it realizes assertives, directives, commisives, expressives, and declaratives. These indicate that the students are active, motivated, and responsive in the learning process, although in the certain condition these responses are to prevent their faces from the shyness of their silence in interaction. Therefore, it needs the teacher’s creativity to give the conducive atmosphere in order to support the students’ participation in learning English.

Keywords: discourse completion test, effective teaching, request, teacher’s creativity

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Authors: Ugabi John Ibak, Odey Boniface Ugbem

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Education is considered the bedrock of any meaningful developments and teacher education plays a critical role in this direction. Teacher education is the master keys that can alleviate poverty, promote peace, conserve the environment, improve the quality of life for all and help achieve all round sustain enable development in Nigeria and the world over. This paper X-rays the nature and character of the teaching profession, historical background to teacher education in Nigeria, national policy on education, problems of teacher education in Nigeria and prospects of teacher education for sustainable national development. The study shows that the misfortunes of the teacher education owes much to it historical antecedent. Also majorly, is the failure of government to adequately fund education at the various levels in the country. It was discovered that in the history of the nation no government has budgeted 13% of its annual budget (half of 26% UNESCO minimum) to education. This has resulted to poor infrastructure, inadequate equipment and poorly motivated personnel in all the nations public schools at all levels. Hence, the paper concludes that in spite of these overwhelming challenges, teachers have a lot of prospects both in the teaching profession and outside teaching.

Keywords: teacher education, teaching profession, sustainable national development, education, development

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Authors: Michal Levy

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Despite the emotional impact students' misbehavior and aggression has on teacher's emotional wellbeing, teachers frequently use suppressive strategies in the classroom, which maintain a discordance between felt and expressed emotions. The current study sought to gain a deeper insight into teachers' utilization of discordant emotional labor strategies (i.e., expressive suppression, surface acting and emotional dissonance) and their motives to using these strategies in student aggression. A qualitative study was conducted on 16 special education Jewish Israeli teachers. Thematic analysis of the in-depth semi-structured interviews revealed novice teachers were inclined to use expressive suppression, while experienced teachers used emotional dissonance. The teacher's motives for using discordant emotional labor strategies included both instrumental and hedonic goals. Implications for policymakers and professionals in practice are discussed to improve teachers' emotional wellbeing.

Keywords: discordant strategies, emotional labor, student aggression, teachers

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Authors: Mehmet Cogal

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Students with disabilities perform historically lower than their peers on standardized assessments. There needs to be more work in the literature providing strategies to improve student scores on standardized assessments and how they are connected to teacher in-service programs. This quantitative causal-comparative study measured the impact of a teacher in-service program geared toward special education teachers. The study was conducted at a small public charter school serving grades 6-12 in Massachusetts. The students were given a pre and post-test before and after the teacher in-service program. Data were collected from 34 students’ reading scores in grades six, seven, eight, and 10. A paired t-test was conducted to measure if there was an increase in reading scores after the teacher in-service program. The study assumed that the teachers had implemented the strategies they learned during the teacher in-service program. The study also had limitations, including a small sample size, and the findings may not be generalized for the entire special education population. Although the study indicated no significant difference in the test scores, the teacher in-service programs and their effects on student achievement can still be further investigated.

Keywords: student achievement, standardized testing, teacher in-service, special education

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Authors: Michael Amale Kirko, Abebe Gebretsadik

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In the 21st century, developing students’ critical thinking skills has become a prime concern in higher education institutions. Cognizant of this fact, the Ethiopian higher education policy document used critical thinking as one of the guiding principles. The study aims to explore how English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers perceive and practice critical thinking skills (CTS) in teaching reading to improve reading comprehension at Wolaita Sodo University, Ethiopia. A descriptive survey study used an exploratory mixed-methods approach. The study involved 20 EFL instructors and 40 2nd-year English majoring students. The numerical data were collected using teacher and student surveys and classroom observations; the qualitative data were obtained through content analysis and interviews. Teacher survey results indicated that teachers' perceptions are above average (mean = 3.41). And the result of classroom observations showed the practice CTS in class was below average (mean=2.61). The content analysis result revealed instructors utilized fewer higher-order thinking questions during class activities, quizzes, midterm, and final exams. The teachers perceived that teacher, student, and material-related challenges were hindering the practice of CT to improve students’ reading comprehension. Finally, spearman’s rho output showed r=0.97 and p<0.05. Therefore, the results showed that the EFL teachers’ practices of CTS to improve students’ reading comprehension were less frequent; there was a strong, positive, and statistically significant relationship between the teachers’ perceptions and practices of CTS in reading class.

Keywords: perceptions, critical thinking skills, practices, infusing thinking skills, reading comprehension

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Authors: Comfort Aina

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Modern English, as we all know it to be a foreign language to many, will require training and re-training on the path of the teacher and learners alike. As a teacher, you cannot give that which you do not have. Teachers, many of whom are non-native speakers, are required to be competent in solving problems occurring in the teaching and learning processes. They should be conscious of up to date information about new approaches, methods, techniques as well as they should be capable in the use of information and communication technology (ICT) and, of course, should work on the improvement of their language components and competence. For teachers to be successful in these goals, they need to be encouraged and motivated. So, for EFL teachers to be successful, they are enrolled to in-service teacher training, ICT training, some of the training they undergo and the benefits accrued to it will be the focus of the paper.

Keywords: training, management, method, english language, EFL teachers

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Authors: Saheed A. Rufai

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Courses in Pedagogy and Curriculum Development expectedly occupy a core place in the professional education components of teacher education at Lagos, Lagos State, and Sokoto State Universities. This is in keeping with the National Teacher Education Policy statement that stipulates that for student teachers to learn effectively teacher education institutions must be equipped to prepare them adequately. However, there is a growing concern over the unfaithfulness of some of the dominant Nigerian models of teacher education, to this policy statement on teacher educators’ knowledge and skills. The purpose of this paper is to comparatively evaluate both the curricular provisions and the manpower for the pedagogy and curriculum development sub-components of the Lagos, Lagos State, and Sokoto State models of teacher preparation. The paper employs a combination of quantitative and qualitative methods. Preliminary analysis revealed a new trend in teacher educators’ pedagogical knowledge and understanding, with regard to the two intertwined sub-components. The significance of such a study lies in its potential to determine the degree of conformity of each of the three models to the stipulated standards. The paper’s contribution to scholarship lies in its correlation of deficiencies in teacher educators’ professional knowledge and skills and articulation of the implications of such deficiencies for the professional knowledge and skills of the prospective teachers, with a view to providing a framework for reforms.

Keywords: curriculum development, pedagogy, teacher education, dominant Nigerian teacher preparation models

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Authors: Zeynep Guler

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Argumentation and the production of scientific arguments are essential components that are necessary for helping students become scientifically literate through engaging them in constructing and critiquing ideas. Incorporating argumentation into science classrooms is challenging and can be a long-term process for both students and teachers. Students have difficulty in engaging tasks that require them to craft arguments, evaluate them to seek weaknesses, and revise them. Teachers also struggle with facilitating argumentation when they have underdeveloped science practices, underdeveloped pedagogical knowledge for argumentation science teaching, or underdeveloped teaching practice with argumentation (or a combination of all three). Thus, there is a need to support teachers in developing pedagogy for science teaching as argumentation, planning and implementing teaching practice for facilitating argumentation and also in becoming more agentic in this regards. Looking specifically at the experience of agency within education, it is arguable that agency is necessary for teachers’ renegotiation of professional purposes and practices in the light of changing educational practices. This study investigated how science teachers develop pedagogy for argumentation both individually and with their colleagues and also how teachers become more agentic (or not) through the active engagement of their contexts-for-action that refer to this as an ecological understanding of agency in order to positively influence or change their practice and their students' engagement with argumentation over two academic years. Through educational design study, this study conducted with three secondary science teachers (key stage 3-year 7 students aged 11-12) in the UK to find out if similar or different patterns of developing pedagogy for argumentation and of becoming more agentic emerge as they engage in planning and implementing a cycle of activities during the practice of teaching science with argumentation. Data from video and audio-recording of classroom practice and open-ended interviews with the science teachers were analysed using content analysis. The findings indicated that all the science teachers perceived strong agency in their opportunities to develop and apply pedagogical practices within the classroom. The teachers were pro-actively shaping their practices and classroom contexts in ways that were over and above the amendments to their pedagogy. They demonstrated some outcomes in developing pedagogy for argumentation and becoming more agentic in their teaching in this regards as a result of the collaboration with their colleagues and researcher; some appeared more agentic than others. The role of the collaboration between their colleagues was seen crucial for the teachers’ practice in the schools: close collaboration and support from other teachers in planning and implementing new educational innovations were seen as crucial for the development of pedagogy and becoming more agentic in practice. They needed to understand the importance of scientific argumentation but also understand how it can be planned and integrated into classroom practice. They also perceived constraint emerged from their lack of competence and knowledge in posing appropriate questions to help the students engage in argumentation, providing support for the students' construction of oral and written arguments.

Keywords: argumentation, teacher professional development, teacher agency, students' construction of argument

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Authors: Vânia Graça, Paula Quadros-Flores, Altina Ramos

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The use of Digital Technologies in teaching and learning processes is currently a reality, namely in initial teacher training. This study aims at knowing the digital reality of students in initial teacher training in order to improve training in the educational use of ICT and to promote digital technology integration strategies in an educational context. It is part of the IFITIC Project "Innovate with ICT in Initial Teacher Training to Promote Methodological Renewal in Pre-school Education and in the 1st and 2nd Basic Education Cycle" which involves the School of Education, Polytechnic of Porto and Institute of Education, University of Minho. The Project aims at rethinking educational practice with ICT in the initial training of future teachers in order to promote methodological innovation in Pre-school Education and in the 1st and 2nd Cycles of Basic Education. A qualitative methodology was used, in which a questionnaire survey was applied to teachers in initial training. For data analysis, the techniques of content analysis with the support of NVivo software were used. The results point to the following aspects: a) future teachers recognize that they have more technical knowledge about ICT than pedagogical knowledge. This result makes sense if we consider the objective of Basic Education, so that the gaps can be filled in the Master's Course by students who wish to follow the teaching; b) the respondents are aware that the integration of digital resources contributes positively to students' learning and to the life of children and young people, which also promotes preparation in life; c) to be a teacher in the digital age there is a need for the development of digital literacy, lifelong learning and the adoption of new ways of teaching how to learn. Thus, this study aims to contribute to a reflection on the teaching profession in the digital age.

Keywords: digital technologies, initial teacher training, pedagogical use of ICT, skills

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Authors: Tiffany Karalis Noel

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The purpose of this study was to examine the factors attributed to the self-efficacy of beginning secondary content area teachers as they moved through their student teaching experiences. This study used a narrative inquiry methodology to understand the variables attributed to teacher self-efficacy among a group of secondary content area teacher candidates. The primary purpose of using a narrative inquiry methodology was to share the stories of content area teacher candidates’ student teaching experiences. Focused research questions included: (1) To what extent does teacher education preparation affect the self-efficacy of beginning content area teachers? (2) Which recurrent elements of teacher education affect the self-efficacy of beginning teachers, regardless of content area? (3) How do the findings from research questions 1 and 2 inform teacher educators? The findings of this study suggest that teacher education preparation affects the self-efficacy of beginning secondary teacher candidates across the content areas; accordingly, the findings of this study provide insight for teacher educators to consider the areas where teacher education programs are failing to provide adequate preparation. These teacher candidates emphasized the value of adequate preparation throughout their teacher education programs to help inform their student teaching experiences. In order to feel effective and successful as beginning teachers, these teacher candidates required additional opportunities to apply the practical application of their teaching skills prior to the student teaching experience, the incorporation of classroom management strategy coursework into their curriculum, and opportunities to explore the extensive demands of the teaching profession ranging from time management to dealing with difficult parents, to name a few referenced examples. The teacher candidates experienced feelings of self-doubt related to their effectiveness as teachers when they were unable to employ successful classroom management strategies, pedagogical techniques, or even feel confidence in navigating challenging conversations with students, parents, and/or administrators. In order to help future teacher candidates and beginning teachers in general overcome these barriers, additional coursework, fieldwork, and practical application experiences should be provided in teacher education programs to help boost the self-efficacy of student teachers.

Keywords: self-efficacy, teacher efficacy, secondary preservice teacher education, teacher candidacy, student teaching

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Authors: S. C. Lin, W. F. Hung, W. W. Cheng

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Teacher empowerment was regarded as investing teachers with the right to participate in the determination of school goals and policies and to exercise professional judgment about what and how to teach. Professional commitment was considered as a person’s belief in and acceptance of the values of his or her chosen occupation or line of work, and a willingness to maintain membership in that occupation. An effective school has been defined as one in which students’ progress further than might be expected from consideration of its intake. An effective school thus adds extra value to its students' outcomes, in comparison with other schools serving similar intakes. A number of literature from various countries explored that teacher empowerment and professional commitment significantly influenced school effectiveness. However, there lacked more empirical studies to examine the relationships among them. Hence, this study was to explore the relationships among teacher empowerment, professional commitment and school effectiveness in junior high schools in Taiwan. Samples were seven hundred and five junior high school teachers selected from Taichung City, Changhua County and Nantou County. Questionnaire was applied to collect data. Data were analyzed by using descriptive statistics, t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson’s product-moment correlation, and multiple regression analysis. The findings of this study were as follows: First, the overall performances of teachers’ perceptions of teacher empowerment, teacher professional commitment and school effectiveness were above average. Second, the teachers’ perceptions of teacher empowerment were significant different in gender, designated duty, and school size. Third, the teachers’ perceptions of teacher professional commitment were significant different in gender, designated duty, and school size. Fourth, the teachers’ perceptions of school effectiveness were significant different in designated duty. Fifth, teacher empowerment was mid-positively correlation by teacher professional commitment. Sixth, there was mid-positively correlation between teacher empowerment and school effectiveness. Seventh, there was mid-positively correlation between teacher professional commitment and school effectiveness. Eighth, Teacher empowerment and professional commitment could significantly predict school effectiveness. Based on the findings of this study, the study proposed some suggestions for educational authorities, schools, teachers, and future studies as well.

Keywords: junior high school teacher, teacher empowerment, teacher professional commitment, school effectiveness

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Authors: Sumalee Tientongdee

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The pre-service teacher training program at Suan Sunandha Rajabhat University, Bankgok Thailand has been provided for undergraduate students for more than 80 years. It was established as the first teacher college in the country. The pre-service teacher program in science education is considered as one of the new training programs to prepare pre-service teacher to teach science in secondary school level. The need of program assessment is strongly important. Therefore, this study was conducted to gain the opinions and recommendations from the principals, in-service teachers, and mentoring teachers from the partnership schools of Bangkok. The invited 120 participants for the annual meeting was hold in May 2017. The focus group discussion and questionnaires were used to collect the data during the reflection session. The content analysis was used to analyze the qualitative data. The results showed that the pre-service teacher training program in science education should improve students’ creative thinking skill, service mind, personality, and attitudes toward teaching science career. Also, the future science teachers must be able to teach in English to have more opportunities to teach science in Southeast Asian countries.

Keywords: pre-service teacher training program, reflection, science education, Suan Sunandha Rajabhat university

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Authors: Pinar Sali, Esim Gursoy, Ebru Atak Damar

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Teachers’ awareness of and involvement in educational research (ER) is regarded as an indispensable aspect of professional growth and development. It is also believed to be a catalyst for effective teaching and learning. This strong emphasis on the significance of teacher research engagement has sparked inquiry into how teachers construe ER and whether or not they practice it. However, there seems to exist a few researches on teachers’ perceptions of and experience with ER in the field of English Language Teaching (ELT). The present study thus attempts to fill this gap in the ELT literature and aims to unearth English language teachers’ perceptions of ER. Understanding these perceptions would undoubtedly aid in the development of strategies to promote teacher interest and involvement in research. The participants of the present study are 70 English language teachers in public and private schools in Turkey. A mixed-method approach has been used in the study. Both qualitative and quantitative data have been gathered by means of a questionnaire consisting of two parts. The first part of the questionnaire consists of 20 close-ended items of Teachers’ Attitude Scale Towards Educational Research (TASTER). The second part of the questionnaire has been developed by the researchers via an extensive literature review and consists of a mixture of close- and open-ended questions. In addition, 15 language teachers have been interviewed for an in-depth understanding of the results. Descriptive statistics and dual comparisons have been employed for the quantitative data, and the qualitative data have been analyzed by means of content analysis. The present study provides intriguing information as to the English language teachers’ perceptions of the usefulness and practicality of ER as well as the value they attain to it. The findings are discussed in relation to language teacher education. The research has implications for the teacher education process, teacher trainers and policy makers.

Keywords: attitudes toward educational research, educational research, language teachers, teacher research

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Authors: Charlotte Brenner, Fisayo Latilo, McKenna Causey

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This study explores the transformation of teacher candidates' beliefs regarding inclusion and inclusive teaching practices during their instructional and practicum experiences in the Canadian context. With the increasing diversity of schools, the study investigates how teacher candidates' beliefs impact their implementation of inclusive teaching practices, which are essential for meeting diverse student needs. The research examines the influence of teacher education programs, transformative learning experiences, and inclusive practicum placements on teacher candidates' beliefs about inclusion. Using a multiple case study approach, the study assesses teacher candidates' initial beliefs, documents changes in these beliefs after coursework on inclusion, and explores the supports and constraints affecting belief development in both university and practicum settings. Preliminary findings suggest that teacher candidates generally hold positive beliefs about inclusion at the outset of their teacher education programs. However, coursework and practicum experiences significantly shape their understanding of diversity, strategies for inclusion, and awareness of broader social issues related to inclusive classrooms. The research underscores the critical role of teacher education programs in shaping teacher candidates' beliefs about inclusion and highlights the value of transformative learning experiences and inclusive practicum placements in enhancing their understanding of equity and inclusion. Continued research is necessary to identify specific elements within courses and practicum experiences that promote positive beliefs about inclusive teaching practices, ultimately contributing to the creation of more equitable classrooms and improved student outcomes.

Keywords: inclusion, beliefs, teacher candidates, inclusive teaching practices

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Authors: Callie Mady

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This study investigated the Canadian French as an additional language teacher candidates’ confidence and language maintenance strategies by means of questionnaires and interviews pre- and post- a Francophone home-stay practicum experience. Teacher French language proficiency is one of the components of teacher knowledge that can influence students’ French as an additional language acquisition. Although advantageous, seeking opportunities to use French in a French milieu comes with challenges. Teachers, for example, have been found to be hesitant to speak French with native speakers for fear of judgment. Another identified challenge to spending time in a French milieu is finances; while teachers have recognized the value of such an experience, cost is prohibitive. In recognition of the potential barriers and the need to maintain/improve the French proficiency of 'French as an additional language' teachers, this study provided a two-week home stay in a Francophone environment for teacher candidates of French as an additional language with financial subsidies for their participation. Through the post-experience interviews, the French as an additional language teacher candidates revealed an improvement in French proficiency. Similarly, the teacher candidates cited an increase in confidence in the interviews and through the questionnaire. They linked this increase in proficiency and confidence to their experiences with their host families and other Francophone members of the community. This study highlights the provision of immersion experiences as means to support teachers’ language confidence and proficiency.

Keywords: French as an additional language education, teacher language confidence, teacher language maintenance, teacher language proficiency

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Authors: Collins Augustine Ekpiwre

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Both the National Policy on Education (NPE) and the Teachers’ Registration Council of Nigeria (TRCN) gave the directive that all teachers in Nigerian schools should be trained teachers to enable them to be more effective in their teaching responsibilities. This applies to university teachers as well; they are required to acquire teacher qualifications such as Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) or Professional Diploma in Education (PDE) or Technical Teachers Certificate (TTC) or at least, National Certificate of Education (NCE) in addition to possessing academic qualifications in their specialized areas of study. It is on this ground that this study carried out an assessment of university teachers’ qualification status in Bayero University, Kano. The population of the study comprised all the teachers in the university. Data was collected through an examination of the documented official records of the qualification profile of all the teachers in the university obtained from its various faculties. The collected data was analyzed through descriptive statistic of simple percentage and frequency. Based on the findings of the study and in order to strengthen the teacher qualification status of teachers in the university, a few recommendations, for example, special salary scale should be made available to university teachers with appropriate teacher qualifications, were offered.

Keywords: Teacher, university teacher, teacher qualification, university education

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Authors: Todd Pennington, Carol Wilkinson, Keven Prusak

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Traditional models of student teaching practices typically involve the placement of a student teacher with an experienced mentor teacher. However, due to the ever-decreasing number of quality placements, an alternative triad approach is the paired placement of student teachers with one mentor teacher in a community of practice. This study examined the paired-placement of student teachers in physical education to determine the benefits and drawbacks after a 14-week student teaching experience. PETE students (N = 22) at a university in the United States were assigned to work in a triad with a student teaching partner and a mentor teacher, making up eleven triads for the semester. The one exception was a pair that worked for seven weeks at an elementary school and then for seven weeks at a junior high school, thus having two mentor teachers and participating in two triads. A total of 12 mentor teachers participated in the study. All student teachers and mentor teachers volunteered and agreed to participate. The student teaching experience was structured so that students engaged in: (a) individual teaching (one teaching the lesson with the other observing), (b) co-planning, and (c) peer coaching. All students and mentor teachers were interviewed at the conclusion of the experience. Using interview data, field notes, and email response data, the qualitative data was analyzed using the constant comparative method. The benefits of the paired placement experience emerged into three categories (a) quality feedback, (b) support, and (c) collaboration. The drawbacks emerged into four categories (a) unrealistic experience, (b) laziness in preparation, (c) lack of quality feedback, and (d) personality mismatch. Recommendations include: providing in-service training prior to student teaching to optimize the triad experience, ongoing seminars throughout the experience specifically designed for triads, and a hybrid model of paired placement for the first half of student teaching followed by solo student teaching for the second half of the experience.

Keywords: community of practice, paired placement, physical education, student teaching

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Authors: Iman Jabbar

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Within the scope of professionalism and in order to compete with the modern world, teachers, are expected to develop their teaching skills and activities in addition to their professional knowledge. At the college level, the teacher should be able to face classroom challenges through his engagement with the learning situation to understand the students and their needs. In our field of TESOL, the role of the English teacher is no longer restricted to teaching English texts, but rather he should endeavor to enhance the students’ skills such as communication and critical analysis. Within the literature of professionalism, there are certain strategies and tools that an English teacher should adopt to develop his competence and performance. Reflective practice, which is an exploratory process, is one of these strategies. Another strategy contributing to classroom development is motivation. It is crucial in students’ learning as it affects the quality of learning English in the classroom in addition to determining success or failure as well as language achievement. This is a qualitative study grounded on interpretive perspectives of teachers and students regarding the process of professional development. This study aims at (a) understanding how teachers at the college level conceptualize reflective practice and motivation inside EFL classroom, and (b) exploring the methods and strategies that they implement to practice reflection and motivation. This study and is based on two questions: 1. How do EFL teachers perceive and view reflection and motivation in relation to their teaching and professional development? 2. How can reflective practice and motivation be developed into practical strategies and actions in EFL teachers’ professional context? The study is organized into two parts, theoretical and practical. The theoretical part reviews the literature on the concept of reflective practice and motivation in relation to professional development through providing certain definitions, theoretical models, and strategies. The practical part draws on the theoretical one, however; it is the core of the study since it deals with two issues. It involves the research design, methodology, and methods of data collection, sampling, and data analysis. It ends up with an overall discussion of findings and the researcher's reflections on the investigated topic. In terms of significance, the study is intended to contribute to the field of TESOL at the academic level through the selection of the topic and investigating it from theoretical and practical perspectives. Professional development is the path that leads to enhancing the quality of teaching English as a foreign or second language in a way that suits the modern trends of globalization and advanced technology.

Keywords: professional development, motivation, reflection, learning

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Authors: Henry R. Troy

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Corpora are becoming more prevalent in the language classroom, especially in the development of dictionaries and course materials. Nevertheless, corpora are still perceived by many educators as difficult to use directly in the classroom, a process which is also known as “data-driven learning” (DDL). Action research has been identified as a method by which DDL’s efficiency can be increased, but it is also an approach few studies on DDL have employed. Studies into the effectiveness of DDL in language education in Japan are also rare, and investigations focused more on student and teacher reactions rather than pre and post-test scores are rarer still. This study investigates the student and teacher reactions to the use of SkELL, a free online corpus designed to be user-friendly, for vocabulary learning at a university in Japan. Action research is utilized to refine the teaching methodology, with changes to the method based on student and teacher feedback received via surveys submitted after each of the four implementations of DDL. After some training, the students used tablets to study the target vocabulary autonomously in pairs and groups, with the teacher acting as facilitator. The results show that the students enjoyed using SkELL and felt it was effective for vocabulary learning, while the teaching methodology grew in efficiency throughout the course. These findings suggest that action research can be a successful method for increasing the efficacy of DDL in the language classroom, especially with teachers and students who are new to the practice.

Keywords: action research, corpus linguistics, data-driven learning, vocabulary learning

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Authors: Malathi Balakrishnan, Gananathan M. Nadarajah, Saraswathy Vellasamy, Evelyn Gnanam William George

Abstract:

The purpose of the study is to explore how the fun game-learning approach enhances teacher trainers’ higher order thinking skills. Two-day fun filled fun game learning-approach was introduced to teacher trainers as a Continuous Professional Development Program (CPD). 26 teacher trainers participated in this Transformation of Teaching and Learning Fun Way Program, organized by Institute of Teacher Education Malaysia. Qualitative research technique was adopted as the researchers observed the participants’ higher order thinking skills developed during the program. Data were collected from observational checklist; interview transcriptions of four participants and participants’ reflection notes. All the data were later analyzed with NVivo data analysis process. The finding of this study presented five main themes, which are critical thinking, hands on activities, creating, application and use of technology. The studies showed that the teacher trainers’ higher order thinking skills were enhanced after the two-day CPD program. Therefore, Institute of Teacher Education will have more success using the fun way game-learning approach to develop higher order thinking skills among its teacher trainers who can implement these skills to their trainee teachers in future. This study also added knowledge to Constructivism learning theory, which will further highlight the prominence of the fun way learning approach to enhance higher order thinking skills.

Keywords: constructivism, game-learning approach, higher order thinking skill, teacher trainer

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Authors: Jaisridhar P.

Abstract:

The present study aimed to investigate preferred teaching styles of young faculties in agricultural education among 23 constituent colleges of Tamil Nadu Agricultural University (TNAU) using Staffordshire Evaluation of Teaching Styles (SETS). An onlinesurvey was conducted among 156 young faculties of 2014 Batch working in different constituent colleges of TNAU and 73 faculties respondent to the survey. The results showed that 62.53 percent preferred “The one-off teacher” stylefollowed by62.26 percent preferring “The student centered, sensitive teacher” style.“The all-round flexible and adaptable teaching style” was preferred by 61.64 percent. The Official Curriculum Teacher” with 61.23 per cent preferring this style.58.97 per cent preferred “The Big Conference Teacher” followed by 58.08 percent of the faculties preferring “The Straight Fact no Non-sense Teacher” type of teaching style. From the results, it wasconcluded that blended teaching approach can balance a teacher’s personal strengths and interest with student’s needs, and curricular requirements enables a teacher to tailor their teaching according to the student’s needs and as per subject matter.

Keywords: teaching styles, assistant professors, agriculture, tamil nadu

Procedia PDF Downloads 85

Authors: D. Shamatov

Abstract:

Becoming a teacher is a journey with significant learning experiences. Exploring teachers’ lives and experiences can provide much-needed insights into the multiple realities of teaching. Teachers’ stories through qualitative narrative studies help understand and appreciate the complexities of the socio-political, economic and practical realities facing teachers. Events and experiences, both past and present, that take place at home, school, and in the broader social sphere help to shape these teachers’ lives and careers. Researchers and educators share the responsibility of listening to these teachers’ stories and life experiences and being sensitive to their voices in order to develop effective models for teacher development. A better understanding of how teachers learn to become teachers can help teacher educators prepare more effective teacher education programs. This paper is based on qualitative research which includes individual and focus group interviews, as well as auto-biography stories of Master of Science in School Leadership students at Graduate School of Education of Nazarbayev University. Twenty five MSc students from across Kazakhstan reflected on their professional journey and wrote their professional autobiographies as teachers. Their autobiographies capture the richness of their experiences and beliefs as a teacher, but also serve as window to understand broader socio-economic and political contexts where these teachers live and work. The study also provides an understanding of the systemic and socio-economic challenges of teachers in the context of post-Soviet Kazakhstan. It helps the reader better understand how wider societal forces interact and frame the development of teachers. The paper presents the findings from these stories of MSc students and offers some practical and policy implications for teacher preparation and teacher development.

Keywords: becoming a teacher, Kazakhstan, teacher stories, teacher development

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Authors: Kiseob Chung, Hyeonmin Kang

Abstract:

This study aims to explore what is intercultural competency needed for teacher through their experience at the public multicultural alternative school. The public alternative multicultural school is an accredited school for immigrants or students from multicultural families who have experienced school maladjustment at public school. This school has self-regulation in curriculum and function of bridge to public school by helping their adaptation. In particular, this study answers the following questions: What are the most difficulties for teacher at the multicultural alternative school in comparison to public school? What competencies are required for teacher at the multicultural alternative school? Which competencies in cognitive, emotional and practical area should be more required in order for teacher to communicate with student effectively (successfully) in class and other activities in school? What is the background of that we called these competencies especially as ‘intercultural’? This study focuses to clarify teacher’s competency to help immigrants of students from multicultural background to adjust to school life with the term of intercultural competency.

Keywords: intercultural competency for teacher, multicultural alternative school, multicultural students, school maladjustment

Procedia PDF Downloads 432