Dean's great discovery : multiplication, division and fractions

Multiplication, division and fractions are 'hotspots' for students in the middle years with many students experiencing difficulty with these concepts (Siemon, Virgona & Cornielle, 2001). Arrays effectively model multiplication and help children develop multiplicative thinking and learn multiplication facts (Young-Loveridge, 2005). In this article we show how an open-ended array problem enabled a Grade 5/6 student to think about the relationship between multiplication, division and fractions. In the article we describe the project and 'hot spot' mathematical tasks that we used and provide some background on multiplicative thinking before presenting the case and a commentary (Western Melbourne Roundtable, 1997) of one student's exploration. This case was documented whilst we were working on a collaborative project with a team of upper primary teachers and a group of pre-service teachers at a local primary school.

Teacher performance assessment in teacher education : an example in Malaysia

As part of a cross-cultural collaboration, a teacher performance assessment (TPA) was implemented during 2009 in three Malaysian institutes of teacher education. This paper reports on the TPA for graduating primary teachers in Malaysia. The investigation focused on the pre-service teachers’ perceptions about whether the TPA provided them with an opportunity to document successfully their professional learning and professional practice. Successful completion of the Malaysian TPA was closely aligned to successful relationships, support and collaboration between Malaysian lecturers and pre-service teachers, and between pre-service teachers and their classroom teachers. Overall, the TPA did provide pre-service teachers with an opportunity to focus on the connection between theory and professional learning during field-work, and to become reflective evidence-based practitioners. Recommendations for improving the assessment of pre-service teachers are discussed.

Teaching out-of-field : factors shaping identities of secondary science and mathematics

It is widely recognised that many teachers work 'out of field', taking subjects outside their specialities. Studies undertaken by the author and by other researchers shed light on how teachers themselves experience and understand out-of-field teaching. The article discusses the issue in relation to junior secondary science and mathematics. Evidence is drawn from the 2009 Teacher Identity In and Across Subjects (TIIAS) study. The article also includes a table summarising the findings of eight major research reports relevant to this issue. The author draws a range of conclusions. Teachers' experience and understanding of out-of-field teaching is determined not only by their subject content knowledge and their pedagogical content knowledge, but also by their context and by the personal resources available to them. Rural teachers often accept the need to teach across a number of subject areas, as part of their professional identity, despite the fact that they often lack easy access to subject specialists. Teachers tend to be more positive about out-of-field teaching when they themselves have had input into which subjects they will teach, and when they have an interest in or informal knowledge of the subject area. Teachers' interest in professional development to support their out-of-field teaching is influenced by whether they see themselves as simply filling in for someone, making the most of an opportunity, or pursuing an interest. Professional learning should ideally be initiated by or negotiated with the teachers, and should be provided at the point of need. School leaderships should maximise teachers' input into subject allocation and provision of professional learning opportunities. Teacher education courses need to prepare pre-service teachers to cope with out-of-field teaching.

Modelling the cooling of coffee : insights from a preliminary study in Indonesia

This paper discusses an attempt to examine pre-service teachers’ mathematical modelling skills. A modelling project investigating relationships between temperature and time in the process of cooling of coffee was chosen. The analysis was based on group written reports of the cooling of coffee project and observation of classroom discussion. Findings showed that pre-service teachers were able to model the process of cooling of coffee as a decreasing exponential function. Difficulties with interpretation of the constant rate of cooling and reinterpretation of mathematical model were identified.

Literacy in early childhood and primary education : issues, challenges and solutions

Literacy in Early Childhood and Primary Education provides a comprehensive introduction to literacy teaching and learning. The book explores the continuum of literacy learning and children's transitions from early childhood settings to junior primary classrooms and then to senior primary and beyond. Reader-friendly and accessible, this book equips pre-service teachers with the theoretical underpinnings and practical strategies to teach literacy. It places the 'reading wars' firmly in the past as it examines contemporary research and practices. The book covers important topics such as assessment, multiliteracies, reading difficulties and diverse classrooms. Each chapter includes learning objectives, reflective questions and definitions of key terms to engage and assist readers. Written by an expert author team and featuring real-world examples from literacy teachers and learners, the book will help pre-service teachers feel confident teaching literacy to diverse age groups and abilities.

Information communication technology in secondary science education in Sri Lanka

This study researched the instruction of pre-service science teachers in Sri Lanka in the use of information communication technologies. It examined the use of a framework called the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge model that was found to assist the pre-service teachers in the effective use of technologies in their teaching.

Digital oral feedback written assignments as professional learning for teacher educators : a collaborative self-study.

Allan Luke (2008) uses a “pedagogical economy where literacy education is taken as a cultural gift”. This paper reports on the digital oral feedback provided to pre-service teachers in a literacy unit and explores the pedagogical gift this feedback is to the teacher educators marking this work. Rather than mark their written work as individual lecturers, we collaboratively read the assignment and recorded the sound file of the conversation around each assignment. We then participated in another conversation with a critical friend, which enabled us to explore the impact of this form of assessment on our professional identities as teacher educators. We found these conversations provided a rich context for our professional learning about ourselves as teacher educators, as well as specific content knowledge we both brought to the teaching of this unit. We found we were working as a team to provide more in-depth feedback of the assessment criteria for each assignment than we did with written feedback. Through this dialogical feedback we were able to construct the pre-service teachers' assignments as an important textual gift in our collaborative professional learning about assessment, and in exploring our beliefs and practices as teacher educators.

The rural practicum : preparing a quality teacher workforce for rural and regional Australia

Communities play a critical role in supporting pre-service teachers during rural and regional professional experience. This support, coupled with access to teacher educators and university resources, appears to positively influence graduate attitudes toward taking up a rural appointment. These are among the key findings to emerge from open-ended responses within 263 surveys completed for the Rethinking Teacher Education for Rural and Regional Sustainability—Renewing Teacher Education for Rural and Regional Australia project (TERRAnova). The national surveys, collected annually from 2008-2010, monitored the impact of state-based financial incentives designed to promote rural and regional professional experience. Findings discussed in this article have implications for teacher educators and rural school leaders as they work in partnership with communities to support pre-service teachers on rural and regional practicum.

Towards mathematical literacy in the 21st century : perspectives from Indonesia

The notion of mathematical literacy advocated by PISA (OECD, 2006) offers a broader conception for assessing mathematical competences and processes with the main focus on the relevant use of mathematics in life. This notion of mathematical literacy is closely connected to the notion of mathematical modelling whereby mathematics is put to solving real world problems. Indonesia has participated as a partner country in PISA since 2000. The PISA trends in mathematics from 2003 to 2009 revealed unsatisfactory mathematical literacy among 15-year-old students from Indonesia who lagged behind the average of OCED countries. In this paper, exemplary cases will be discussed to examine and promote mathematical literacy at teacher education level. Lesson ideas and instruments were adapted from PISA 2006 released items. The potential of such tasks will be discussed based on case studies of implementing these instruments with samples of pre-service teachers in Yogyakarta. 

Building awareness of mathematical modelling at teacher education: a case study in Indonesia

A growing interest to teach mathematics closely connected to its use in daily life has taken place in Indonesia for over a decade (Sembiring, Hadi, and Dolk 2008). This chapter  reports an exploratory case study of  the building of an awareness of mathematical modelling in teacher education in Indonesia. A modelling task, re-designing a parking lot (Ang 2009), was assigned to groups of pre-service secondary mathematics teachers. All groups undertook the stages of collecting data on a parking lot, identifying limitations in the current design of the parking lot, and proposing a new design based on their observations and analyses. The nature of the mathematical models elicited by pre-service teachers during various stages of completing the modelling task will be examined. Implications of this study suggest the need to encourage pre-service teachers to state the assumptions and real-world considerations and link them to the mathematical model in order to validate their models.

Building effective school-university partnerships for a quality teacher workforce : a Victorian led initiative

‘Building effective school-university partnerships for a quality teacher workforce: A Victorian led initiative’ project, (‘BESUP’), funded by the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development from 2010 – 2011, was conducted by the research team from the School of Education, Deakin University in collaboration with key personnel in two ‘clusters’ of schools located in the Maroondah Education Coalition and in Keysborough/Noble Park.

The overall aim of this project was to examine a pilot model of effective school-university partnership that engages pre-service and in-service teachers and researchers in the co-production of professional knowledge and practice. The model of a university-school partnership that was investigated in the research project was developed as part of the Master of Teaching, a 16 credit pre-service postgraduate course in the School of Education that had the first intake of pre-service teachers in March, 2010. In the design and implementation of the Master of Teaching course, the School of Education set out to create a new relationship between key stakeholders in the preparation of the next generation of teachers. A commitment to doing the professional experience component differently was central to the conceptualization of the new course. To this end, three new professional experience curriculum units were designed with the placements ‘embedded’ into the units themselves.

The research questions that shaped the BESUP research project are:
• What are the design features of an effective school-university partnership model?
• What are the features of cross-generational (pre-service, in-service) models of quality supervision, mentoring and support in a school-university partnership model?
• What are the conditions for an effective professional development program for teachers and academic staff to support professional experience within school-university partnerships?

That the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development funded this research is evidence of the system’s awareness of and concern for investigating ways forward that will provide the next generation of teachers with strong links between the learning experiences undertaken in the university component of their pre-service teacher education and the professional experience component located in schools. The report suggests the significance of ongoing professional conversations and new ways of engaging in professional learning among all of the partners.

The humanities curriculum in a changing world

In this article Harvie discusses the perceptions that pre-service teachers have about Humanities teaching & learning.Harvie expresses the importance of a sound humanities program in schools is central to developing individual members of society that are informed about Values, Citizenship, Australian and Global History, Geography and Economics.

Cross-curriculum priorities and the ethics of interpreting Indigenous texts

Deakin University’s first-year unit, ‘Reading Children’s Texts’, is mandatory for the B.Ed. (Primary). Newly revised, it addresses the cross- curriculum priorities, Indigenous histories and cultures, and Australia’s engagements with Asia. The unit introduces the study of narrative, genre, and ideology. But how should the political topics embedded in the English curriculum be framed for pre-service teachers, and how relevant are literary texts to the teaching of ethical interpretation of texts to both primary and secondary students?

Incorporating the aesthetic dimension into pedagogy

One of the dimensions of learning experiences, which is not often given much attention outside of the creative arts, is the aesthetic dimension. In this paper we report on a study we conducted which explores the importance of learning through aesthetic experiences as identified by Dewey. While there is literature available which engages with the significance of such experiences (Hinchliffe, 2011; Nakamura, 2009) there is little which explores the nexus between this and specific practices in classrooms. Through examining pedagogical practices and beliefs of some exemplary teachers (as identified by their community), our study uncovered some approaches which offer alternate considerations for pedagogy. These have the potential to further enrich the sometimes static nature of the ‘official’ curriculum (Apple, 2000) as often assumed by pre-service teachers who attempt to deliver it through experiences.

Bend me, shape me, anyway you want me: constructing teacher identities across different learning paradigms

This article discusses one key finding from a qualitative study that investigated the experiences of overseas-born, ethnic minority early childhood pre-service teachers in New Zealand. Data were collected through interviews with recently graduated Bachelor of Teaching (Early Childhood Education) teachers and early childhood lecturers. Until they were supported to incorporate their cultural knowledges into their new learning, most graduate participants found there was little to which they could relate in the pedagogies and content of their teacher education courses. This article makes recommendations for the planning, preparation and delivery of early childhood teacher education.