Then and now: developing capacity and transforming pedagogy in online pre-service teacher education

The aim of the study reported in this paper was to evaluate the perceived benefit of video-recorded interviews as an alternative to the traditional lecture format in pre-service teacher education programs. Pre-service teachers traditionally struggle with the gap that they perceive exists between the theories taught at university and the practical competencies they require as teachers in primary and secondary school contexts. Additionally, they report that the shift from face-to-face to online delivery of course content, rapidly being adopted in the tertiary environment, seems to have often been made without associated shifts in format and pedagogy.

In the previously mentioned study, participants were drawn from cohorts of more than 300 pre-service teachers enrolled in an inclusive Education course in the Faculty of Education of an urban Australian university. The course was delivered both online and face-to-face on three campuses of the university to students in three different Education programs. In order to provide an alternative to the traditional lecture format, the developer of this course initiated and created video-recorded interview dialogues which were subsequently uploaded into the Faculty’s Learning Management System for student access. The interviews, conducted by the Course Coordinator, were held with a number of professionals with field experience relevant to key concepts of the course.

Data were collected from Student Evaluation of Teaching and Learning (SETL) questionnaires. The questionnaires were designed to gather both quantitative and qualitative data from the pre-service teachers about the extent to which the use of video-recorded interview dialogues enhanced their learning. In particular the questionnaires sought to ascertain whether, in the views of the pre-service teachers, this delivery method, first, engaged and interested them, and, second, assisted their learning through linking theory to practice. This paper provides a synthesis of the study’s findings and explores their implications for the delivery of learning experiences in both the online and on-campus modes of pre-service teacher education programs. A focus is placed on how video-recorded interviews can be used to enhance resource accessibility and to increase pre-service teachers’ engagement and learning in coursework.

The "theory-practice gap": Turning theory into practice in a pre-service teacher education program

his thesis investigates the theory-practice gap using the exemplar of teacher education. The research is situated in a pre-service teacher education program that explicitly seeks to bridge the theory-practice gap so that it produces “learning managers” who can negotiate the contemporary knowledge society in ways different to those of their predecessors. The empirical work reported in this thesis describes and interprets the experiences of preservice and beginning teachers in turning theory into practice. In order to accomplish this outcome, the thesis draws on Mead’s theory of emergence and symbolic interactionism to provide a theoretical perspective for meaning-making in social situations. Data for the study were collected through interviews and focus groups involving a sample of first-year graduate teachers of an Australian pre-service teacher education program. The main finding of this thesis is that the theory-practice gap in pre-service teacher education under present institutional arrangements is an inevitable phenomenon arising as individuals undergo the process of emergence from pre-service to graduate and then beginning teachers. The study shows that despite the efforts of the program developers, environmental, social and cultural conditions in teacher education processes and structures and in schools inhibit the trainee and novitiate teacher from exercising agency to effect change in traditional classroom practices. Thus, the gap between theory and practice is co-produced and sustained in the model that characterises contemporary preservice teacher education in the perspectives of lecturers, teachers and administrators.

Developing effective school and university partnerships for teacher education

The use of school-university partnerships to address the theory-practice divide in teacher education has recently come to attention in international teacher education studies (e.g. Darling-Hammond, 2005; Jones & Ryan, in press). School-university partnerships are particularly important in primary science teacher education as a means to overcome limited opportunities primary pre-service teachers have to observe and practice science teaching during their Practicum. Their opportunities are limited due to a lack of practising teachers who include science in their classroom teaching or who do not feel sufficiently competent to act as science mentors. This is generally attributable to low teacher confidence and knowledge of how to teach science (Jones & Carter, 2007).

This workshop will report on a study which is exploring existing approaches to school-university partnerships in science teacher education at 5 Australian universities. Utilising a multiple case study methodology (Yin, 2009), the project has examined the experiences of establishing, maintaining and developing these partnership and explored the benefits of the partnerships for pre-service teachers, practising teachers and schools.

A key outcome of the project is the development of an “Interpretive Framework” in which partnership practices were exemplified, contextualized and summarized, documenting key phases in the development of partnership arrangements. The Framework is currently undergoing validation with Australian universities. In this paper, the authors present the Framework to an braoder audience for comment and seek to explore its relevance and transferability to school-university partnerships in an international context.

Non-formal education: Scouting, schooling and teacher training

Array

We did the how to teach it: music teaching and learning in higher education in Australia

The Australian Government recognizes that the Arts are acritical part of formal school education and it should not be viewedas subordinate or extra. This paper forms part of a wider researchproject titled “Pre-service teacher attitudes and understandings ofMusic Education” that started in 2013. The focus of this paperinvestigates music teaching and learning in a core unit within theBachelor of Education (Primary) course at Deakin University(Australia). Using questionnaire and interview data gathered in 2014,I employ Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis to analyse andcodify the data. Three themes are discussed in relation to: Why it isimportant to include music in the primary school? What wasenjoyable and what aspects were challenging in the musicworkshops? What can students integrate as generalist teachers intotheir future classrooms? Though the findings focus on “we did thehow to teach it”, it also highlights some challenges and opportunitiesfor students and staff. Tertiary educators are challenged to raise thecapacity and status of music when preparing students to translate themusic curriculum into their future classrooms.

Longitudinal Teacher Education Workforce Study [LTEWS] final report. November 2013

The Longitudinal Teacher Education Workforce Study (LTEWS) investigated the career progression of graduate teachers from teacher education into teaching employment in all states and territories across Australia in 2012 and the first half of 2013, and tracked their perceptions, over time, of the relevance and effectiveness of their teacher education programs. Specifically, it investigated: The career progression of the 2011 teacher education graduates from teacher education into, andpossible exit from, teaching employment, including their utilisation into teaching, their retention and attrition in teaching in their early years, and their geographic and schools sector mobility; and, The views of teacher education graduates over time on the relevance and effectiveness of their teacher education for their teaching employment, including the relationship between their views of their teacher education and their early career teaching career.LTEWS was conducted concurrently with the Studying the Effectiveness of Teacher Education (SETE) project, which is a three-year project investigating these issues in Queensland and Victoria. SETE is funded by the Australian Research Council, the Victorian Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD), the Queensland Department of Education, Training and Employment (QDETE), the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT), and the Queensland College of Teachers (QCT). LTEWS focused on data collection in states and territories other than Queensland and Victoria. The findings from the SETE study were incorporated with the LTEWS findings to provide a national data set.

Becoming a 21st century literacy teacher:provocations, perceptions and possibilities in teacher education

This paper reports on a study that investigated pre-service teachers’ digital funds of knowledge and their perceptions of the digital pedagogies and practices in early years literacy classrooms. It also explores pre-service teachers’ experiences of “produsing” a cumulative multimodal portfolio (in the form of a wiki) and its application for future literacy teaching and learning. Specifically, 123 education students enrolled in their second year of an undergraduate initial-teacher education course at an Australian university completed an anonymous survey. The resultsshow that this group of students were active users of technology-based tools, but had limited experience with using participatory user-led knowledge creation tools (such as Web 2.0 technologies) although many observed the use of these tools in early years literacy classrooms while on professional experience school placements. Further findings show thatalthough the majority of this group of pre-service teachers felt more confident after creating a wiki and reported that they would use them in future literacy teaching and learning, their understandings of the pedagogical and creative potential of these digital tools in supporting literacy learning in young children appeared limited. The findings suggest that there is a need for educators in higher education to understand their students’ digital funds of knowledge and to provide rich opportunities to support these students’ use and understandings of the affordances of these new technologies as vehicles to explore and enrich 21st century literacy learning in early years digital environments.

Inquiry-based learning in teacher education: a primary humanities example

Inquiry-based learning features strongly in the new Australian Humanities and Social Sciences curriculum and increasingly in primary school practice. Yet, there is little research into, and few exemplars of, inquiry approaches in the primary humanities context. In this article, we outline and explain the implementation of a place-based simulation as a vehicle for inquiry in a humanities subject in a teacher education course. Preliminary findings of surveys of pre-service teachers conducted pre and post the implementation of the inquiry model suggest increased engagement and enhanced learning outcomes. Further analysis is required in order to determine the depth of pre-service teachers’ understanding of inquiry approaches.

School-based approaches to pre-service primary science teacher education resulting in gains in confidence

The quality of science education has been the focus of a number of research projects nationally and internationally, including concerns about primary teachers’ lack of science knowledge and confidence to teach science. In addition, the effectiveness of traditional approaches to teacher education have been questioned. The Science Teacher Partnerships with Schools (STEPS) responds to these concerns by investigating the effectiveness of school-based approaches to pre-service primary science teacher education. It considers established, innovative and successful practices at five universities to develop and promote a framework supporting school-based approaches to pre-service teacher education. An analysis of the five models was conducted in 2013 involving interviews with teacher educators, pre-service teachers, and school principals and teachers. Pre-service teachers at these universities also engaged in pre- and post- online surveys generating data on their expectations and experiences associated with these experiences. This paper reports on the analysis of the survey data, which shows that there are statistically significant gains in pre-service teachers’ responses to several items relating to their confidence to teach science. Analysis of the data also shows interesting differences between universities noted in different confidence items. The school based experience was shown to provide these pre-service teachers with an authentic engagement with the teaching of science while being supported by their university tutors. While raising confidence at university does not automatically translate to confident early career teachers, the gains in confidence are an important step in assisting prospective teachers to approach the teaching of science more positively than they might otherwise. Implications for teacher education and the role that university-school partnerships can play in preparing confident teachers of science will be discussed.

Forming, informing and transforming teacher education researchers as ethical subjects

Editorial statement from the November 2011 issue of Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education.

School-based pedagogies and partnerships in primary science teacher education: the Science Teacher Education Partnerships with Schools (STEPS) project

The STEPS project responds to international concern about primary teachers' lack of science knowledge and confidence to teach science, and recent questioning of the effectiveness of traditional approaches to teacher education.It will review and build on established, innovative and successful practices at five universities, to develop and promote a framework supporting school-based approaches to pre-service teacher education.The models involve partnerships between universities and primary schools to engage pre-service primary teachers in classroom teaching and learning that effectively connects theory with practice.Through critical appraisal of these and similar models, the project will identify key features of the approach and the critical success factors required to establish and maintain strong working relationships with schools and build student capacity.The principles, framework, and resources together with exemplifying case studies, will be designed and disseminated to promote uptake of these innovative practices in the sector.This website documents the nature of the project, the emerging Interpretive Framework, principles and resources, case studies, and other project outputs.

Initial teacher education and assessment of graduates in Australia

In this chapter we discuss the impact of recent standards-based legislation and implementation in Australia designed to improve the quality of teacher education and examine the ways in which teacher educators are assessing graduates in relation to beginning teacher standards, the evidence they are using within the context of accreditation of their programs, and the impact this is having on the teacher education curriculum. We report on research into the implementation and evaluation of an authentic teacher assessment approach being used in one Australian university and argue that such an approach not only empowers pre-service teachers but also teacher educators.

Collaborative reflective experience and practice in education explored through self-study and arts-based research

Eight teacher educators used self-study methodology to engage in reflective practice to overcome their isolation as individual teachers and researchers, and to facilitate professional development. Their research question asked: How can we continue to develop our teaching practice to ensure we are high quality, contemporary teacher educators? They contributed collaboratively in one overarching research project as well as through several focussed projects that explored issues in their individual teaching practices including: sustainability, creativity, curriculum design, pedagogy, assessment, and the learning experiences for students. This paper explores the outcomes from collaborative inquiry that five of the eight educator/researchers engaged in during a research-writing retreat. It documents their experience using arts-based strategies in which drawings were created about their experiences of engaging in a collaborative project and smaller focussed self-study projects. Analysis involved inquiring into each other’s drawings through recorded conversation. The metaphoric representations found through analysing the drawings provided insight into participants’ teaching practices and identities as teacher educators. Six months later when the participants had developed their projects further and used other artsbased methods to understand these experiences, they reflected on the key issues for their teaching practices that had arisen from undertaking this Collaborative Reflective Experience and Practice in Education research. Arts-based inquiries and reflective analysis over six months, constitute this paper. The experiences and analyses are shared to show how creating and sharing metaphoric meaning of visual representations is useful in self-study research to drill down into the real issues. Importantly, this in-depth sharing provides authentic interdisciplinary links when individual educators share their own approaches to teaching in their disciplined area. Findings suggest that gaining new insights into each other’s discipline-based approaches to teacher education through these methods, revealed different responses to pedagogical challenges and allowed for new possibilities for understanding the landscape of teacher education.

A gallery walk: 'drawing out' understandings of collaborative self-study in teacher education

The Collaborative Reflective Experience and Practice in Education (CREPE) Research Group formed mid 2014 as a group of eight teacher educators interested in working collaboratively to improve our teaching practice through self-study methodology. Located at distance across the three campuses of Deakin University in Victoria, Australia and from the disciplines of mathematics, science, visual arts, performing arts, and curriculum and pedagogy, we aimed to better understand, improve, and share our practices as teacher-educators. While a few of us had engaged in self-study previously, all were comfortable with observing some kind of professional reflective/reflexive practice. We shared the intention of engaging in the scholarship (teaching practice and research) of self-study methodology via community of practice approaches, focusing on our collaborative (overarching) research as well as engaging in focused research simultaneously. It is our efforts towards collaborative research that are the subject of this chapter.