Pre-service teachers' pedagogical relationships and experiences of embedding Indigenous Australian knowledge in teaching practicum

This paper argues from the standpoint that embedding Indigenous knowledge and perspectives in Australian curricula occurs within a space of tension, ���the cultural interface��� (Nakata, 2002), in negotiation and contestation with other dominant knowledge systems. In this interface, Indigenous knowledge (IK) is in a state of constancy and flux, invisible and simultaneously pronounced depending on the teaching and learning contexts. More often than not, IK competes for validity and is vexed by questions of racial and cultural authenticity, and therefore struggles to be located centrally in educational systems, curricula and pedagogies. Interrogating normative western notions of what constitutes authentic or legitimate knowledge is critical to teaching Indigenous studies and embedding IK. The inclusion (and exclusion) of IK at the interface is central to developing curriculum that allows teachers to test and prod, create new knowledge and teaching approaches. From this perspective, we explore Indigenous Australian pre-service teachers��� experiences of pedagogical relationships within the teaching habitus of Australian classrooms. Our study is engaged with the strategic transgressions of praxis. We contend that tensions that participant Indigenous Australian pre-service teachers experience mirror the broader (and unresolved) political status of Indigenous people and thus where and why IK is strategically deployed as ���new��� or ���old knowledge within Australian liberal democratic systems of curriculum and schooling. It is significant to discuss the formation and transformation of the pedagogical cultural identity of the teaching profession within which Indigenous and non-Indigenous pre-service teachers are employed.

Going online : young children and teachers accessing knowledge through web interactions

Children accessing and using internet-connected technology is a relatively recent phenomenon, and rapidly having an impact on their experiences and activities in homes and early childhood classrooms. Technology refers to devices such as computers, smart phones and tablets - many capable of being connected to the internet - and the products, such as websites, games, and interactive stories (Plowman and McPake, 2013). These activities can be played, created, watched, listened to and read, and incorporated into traditional everyday activities. This article provides suggestions for strategies for teachers to consider when incorporating technology into early childhood education.

Teachers using annotations to engage students in assessment conversations : recontextualising knowledge

Assessment for Learning practices with students such as feedback, and self- and peer assessment are opportunities for teachers and students to develop a shared understanding of how to create quality learning performances. Quality is often represented through achievement standards. This paper explores how primary school teachers in Australia used the process of annotating work samples to develop shared understanding of achievement standards during their curriculum planning phase, and how this understanding informed their teaching so that their students also developed this understanding. Bernstein's concept of the pedagogic device is used to identify the ways teachers recontextualised their assessment knowledge into their pedagogic practices. Two researchers worked alongside seven primary school teachers in two schools over a year, gathering qualitative data through focus groups and interviews. Three general recontextualising approaches were identified in the case studies; recontextualising standards by reinterpreting the role of rubrics, recontextualising by replicating the annotation process with the students and recontextualising by reinterpreting practices with students. While each approach had strengths and limitations, all of the teachers concluded that annotating conversations in the planning phase enhanced their understanding, and informed their practices in helping students to understand expectations for quality.

An examination of Saudi high school teachers' ICT knowledge and implementation

This study investigated Saudi high school teachers' implementation of ICT in schools. The study also explored the relationship between the teachers' level of TPACK and their implementation of ICT. In the first phase of the study, more than 250 Saudi teachers from Al-Madinah administrative area filled in a four-part self reported questionnaire while in the second, 12 teachers completed semi-structured interviews. Findings from both phases of the study revealed that Saudi high school teachers demonstrated low level of effectiveness of ICT implementation. Among a number of barriers, Teachers' TPACK knowledge was found as the best predictor of the effectiveness of ICT implementation.

Understanding preservice teachers��� development of pedagogical knowledge practices when co-teaching primary science to peers

Preservice teachers articulate the need for more teaching experiences for developing their practices, however, extending beyond existing school arrangements may present difficulties. Thus, it is important to understand preservice teachers��� development of pedagogical knowledge practices when in the university setting. This mixed-method study investigated 48 second-year preservice teachers��� development of pedagogical knowledge practices as a result of co-teaching primary science to peers. Data were collected through a survey, video-recorded lessons, extended written responses and researcher observations. The study showed how these preservice teachers demonstrated 9 of 11 pedagogical knowledge practices within the co-teaching arrangement. However, research is needed to determine the level of development on each pedagogical knowledge practice and how these practices can be transferred into authentic primary classroom settings.

Changing views of culture, learning, teaching, and knowledge : Fiji in-service primary teachers

This paper explores in-service primary teachers' views and beliefs about culture, learning, teaching and knowledge. Fifty Bachelor of Education in-service primary teachers at a university in Fiji participated in the study. The analysis reveals a mix of old and new beliefs about culture, learning teaching and knowledge. The influence of globalization of technology is a contributing factor towards changing views. To keep the indigenous epistemologies alive and valued like the Western epistemologies, more effort is needed to integrate these in formal education. This has implications for the future professional preparation of pre-service and in-service teachers.

Mapping geographical knowledge and skills needed for pre-service teachers in teacher education

In Australia, for more than two decades, a ���social science��� integrated framework was the favoured approach for delivering subjects such as history and geography. However, such interdisciplinary approaches have continued to attract criticism from various parts of the academic and public spheres and since 2009, a return to teaching the disciplines has been heralded as the ���new��� way forward. Using discourse analysis techniques associated with Foucauldian archaeology, the purpose of this paper is to examine the Australian Curriculum: Geography document to ascertain the discourses necessary for pre-service teachers to enact effective teaching of geography in a primary setting. Then, based on pre-service teachers��� online survey responses, the paper investigates if such future teachers have the knowledge and skills to interpret, deliver and enact the new geography curriculum in primary classrooms. Finally, as teacher educators, our interest lies in preparing pre-service teachers effectively for the classroom so the findings are used to inform the content of a teacher education course for pre-service primary teachers.

An enquiry into the professional competence of inclusive education teachers in Beijing: Attitudes, knowledge, skills, and agency

Attitudes, knowledge, and skills are widely recognised as the three pillars of professional competence of inclusive education teachers. Studies emerging from the Chinese context consider these three pillars important for the practice of Learning in Regular Classrooms���an idiosyncratic Chinese form of inclusive education. Our mixed methods study reveals that agency is the fourth pillar of the professional competence for inclusive education teachers in Beijing, China. Results from comparative analysis indicate that the level of teachers��� agency is significantly lower than that of their attitudes, knowledge, and skills. We offer some implications for policy and practice in inclusive education.

Representing the epistemic nature of teachers��� practical knowledge : The case of class teachers��� general pedagogy

The present study addressed the epistemology of teachers��� practical knowledge. Drawing from the literature, teachers��� practical knowledge is defined as all teachers��� cognitions (e.g., beliefs, values, motives, procedural knowing, and declarative knowledge) that guide their practice of teaching. The teachers��� reasoning that lies behind their practical knowledge is addressed to gain insight into its epistemic nature. I studied six class teachers��� practical knowledge; they teach in the metropolitan region of Helsinki. Relying on the assumptions of the phenomenographic inquiry, I collected and analyzed the data. I analyzed the data in two stages where the first stage involved an abductive procedure, and the second stage an inductive procedure for interpretation, and thus developed the system of categories. In the end, a quantitative analysis nested into the qualitative findings to study the patterns of the teachers������ reasoning. The results indicated that teachers justified their practical knowledge based on morality and efficiency of action; efficiency of action was found to be presented in two different ways: authentic efficiency and na��ve efficiency. The epistemic weight of morality was embedded in what I call ���moral care���. The core intention of teachers in the moral care was the commitment that they felt about the ���whole character��� of students. From this perspective the ���dignity��� and the moral character of the students should not replaced for any other ���instrumental price���. ���Caring pedagogy��� was the epistemic value of teachers��� reasoning in the authentic efficiency. The central idea in the caring pedagogy was teachers��� intentions to improve the ���intellectual properties��� of ���all or most��� of the students using ���flexible��� and ���diverse��� pedagogies. However, ���regulating pedagogy��� was the epistemic condition of practice in the cases corresponding to na��ve efficiency. Teachers argued that an effective practical knowledge should regulate and manage the classroom activities, but the targets of the practical knowledge were mainly other ���issues ���or a certain percentage of the students. In these cases, the teachers��� arguments were mainly based on the notion of ���what worked��� regardless of reflecting on ���what did not work���. Drawing from the theoretical background and the data, teachers��� practical knowledge calls for ���praxial knowledge��� when they used the epistemic conditions of ���caring pedagogy��� and ���moral care���. It however calls for ���practicable��� epistemic status when teachers use the epistemic condition of regulating pedagogy. As such, praxial knowledge with the dimensions of caring pedagogy and moral care represents the ���normative��� perspective on teachers��� practical knowledge, and thus reflects a higher epistemic status in comparison to ���practicable��� knowledge, which represents a ���descriptive��� perception toward teachers��� practical knowledge and teaching.

Future chemistry teachers use of knowledge dimensions and high-order cognitive skills in pre-laboratory concept maps

This poster describes a pilot case study, which aim is to study how future chemistry teachers use knowledge dimensions and high-order cognitive skills (HOCS) in their pre-laboratory concept maps to support chemistry laboratory work. The research data consisted of 168 pre-laboratory concept maps that 29 students constructed as a part of their chemistry laboratory studies. Concept maps were analyzed by using a theory based content analysis through Anderson & Krathwohls' learning taxonomy (2001). This study implicates that novice concept mapper students use all knowledge dimensions and applying, analyzing and evaluating HOCS to support the pre-laboratory work.

Communicating musical knowledge through gesture: Piano teachers��� gestural behaviours across different levels of student proficiency

Teachers��� communication of musical knowledge through physical gesture represents a valuable pedagogical field in need of investigation. This exploratory case study compares the gestural behaviour of three piano teachers while giving individual lessons to students who differed according to piano proficiency levels. The data was collected by video recordings of one-to-one piano lessons and gestures were categorized using two gesture classifications: the spontaneous co-verbal gesture classification (McNeill, 1992; 2005) and spontaneous co-musical gesture classification (Simones, Schroeder & Rodger, 2013). Poisson regression analysis and qualitative observation suggest a relationship between teachers��� didactic intentions and the types of gesture they produced while teaching, as shown by differences in gestural category frequency between teaching students of higher and lower levels of proficiency. Such reported agreement between teachers��� gestural approach in relation to student proficiency levels indicates a teachers��� gestural scaffolding approach whereby teachers adapted gestural communicative channels to suit students��� specific conceptual skill levels.

Language knowledge for secondary teachers.

El objetivo de este recurso es proporcionar a los profesores de secundaria los conocimientos requeridos en la materia de lengua en el curriculo nacional del a��o 2000 y en la Estrategia Nacional de Alfabetizaci��n (National Literacy Strategy Framework) para las etapas 3 y 4 (key stage 3 y 4). Abarca los conceptos esenciales para el estudio de la gram��tica y la estructura del lenguaje, as�� como, la aplicaci��n de estos conocimientos al desarrollo de las habilidades de lectura, escritura, conversaci��n y comprensi��n. Se completa con un CD-Rom con comentarios sobre las actividades incluidas en el libro.

Language knowledge for primary teachers.

El objetivo de este recurso es proporcionar a los profesores de primaria los conocimientos requeridos en la materia de lengua para cumplir con los requisitos del programa nacional de estudios y con los objetivos de la estrategia nacional de alfabetizaci��n (National Literacy Strategy Framework) para las etapas 1 y 2 (key stage 1 y 2). Estos objetivos incluyen textos, oraciones y palabras; adem��s, se destaca la importancia de la aplicaci��n de los conocimientos ling����sticos en distintos tipos de textos.