Introduction: The Purpose of This Book

In which areas and domains do individual teacher educators prefer to work on their professional development? What kind of learning activities do they want to take on and with whom? Are there significant differences in these preferences between teacher educators? This article reports on a recent survey (N = 268) about the professional development of teacher educators and differences in learning preferences between less and more experienced teacher educators and between university-based and school-based teacher educators. Findings show, for example, that while most university-based teacher educators were mainly interested in improving their teaching, less experienced school-based teacher educators were more focussed on aspects such as coaching skills. In this study, ‘learning profiles’ have been developed for four categories of teacher educators. These profiles may help to create more meaningful arrangements for teacher educators’ initial education and further professional development in a context where teacher education is required to have a more school-based as well as a more research-based orientation.

In this chapter I write from a stance that acknowledges the complex, dynamic, and contested nature of teaching practices and the schools where those practices are enacted and developed or learned. This chapter places teacher education in schools in a wider context of professional practice and the literature of situated and workplace learning to illuminate a broader perspective and deeper understanding than might be gained by considering teacher-education practicums—also called work-integrated learning (WIL)—in isolation. This is underpinned by the premise that enhancing the quality of teacher-education WIL is best built upon a deep and rich understanding of what teaching practice is like, the context where it is enacted, and the nature of what needs to be learned to become a teaching professional. Workplaces (including school classrooms) shape student (including teacher-education student) learning to such an extent and in such different ways from academic environments that development of specific WIL pedagogies is warranted. These specific pedagogies, underpinned by WIL theories, would move the focus away from instruction to privilege learning through student engagement with, and participation in, authentic workplace activities and relationships. These pedagogies would also acknowledge the significant influence of contextual factors on student learning, in particular the manner in which learning is shaped by the complex and interdependent interactions between students and workplaces. Fine-grained examination of schools as both workplaces and learning contexts for teacher-education students through WIL lenses open up pedagogical possibilities that can harness the richness of authentic contextual workplace influences to enhance student learning. This, combined with deliberate quality assurance of WIL experiences, will shape the construction of WIL experiences that best develop teacher-education students’ authentic and appropriate capabilities for current and future education needs.KeywordsSituated learningWork-integrated learningWorkplace learning theoryProfessional practiceQuality assurance

This article provides a comparative case study of two connected learning experiences in teacher education that vary in scope, participants, time, and design to consider the questions: 1) What characterizes humanizing engagement across varied experiences of connected learning in teacher education? and 2) What repertoires of practice become shared through discourses of collegiality in educators’ connected learning experiences? Back-tracing from educators’ written reflections to their digitally networked activity in Twitter chats, processual case analysis involved rounds of inductive coding and exploratory data visualization. We identified repertoires of practice across three continua of preservice and inservice educators’ practices–sharing, care, and experimentation–which together characterize a range of more and less humanizing discourses of collegiality. Participants in both cases reflected on experiences across the spectrum of each continua, highlighting the limits of these connected learning designs in fostering humanizing learning experience in teacher education. We provide implications for teacher educators regarding fostering more critical and reflexive humanizing connected learning in teacher education as well as for the design of such experiences.

Though teachers in schools are increasingly being asked to take responsibility for the education and training of prospective and practicing teachers, little empirical research has been undertaken into the support that they require to perform their duties effectively. This study provides an international needs analysis of the professional learning needs of this occupational group through a survey of 1680 school-based teacher educators (SBTEs) conducted in 12 countries. While the findings from this study reveal that most SBTEs receive some form of preparation for their role, they require that preparation to be more collaborative and target the pedagogic and research-related aspects of their work. The findings also indicate how much more needs to be done to recognise, address and support SBTEs’ learning needs in relation to the rapidly-changing socio-economic, cultural and technological contexts that underpin the work of all teacher educators.

Many novice teachers have difficulties in selecting and applying effective classroom management strategies to prevent or diminish disruptive behaviors. Negative experiences with classroom management largely determine teacher wellbeing and early attrition. Therefore, more in-training opportunities are needed to prepare prospective teachers to manage complex classroom practices effectively. A Virtual Reality-environment seems promising in developing classroom management skills and promoting teacher resilience; however, its potential is influenced by students’ perceptions towards this technology. This study describes four pre-service teachers’ and six school-based teacher educators’ experiences with and perceptions towards the use of a Virtual Reality learning environment to train classroom management skills and promote teacher resilience. Responses of semi-structured interviews reflect five themes: software- and equipment-related issues; feedback cues; realism and authenticity; instructor proficiency; and added value for teacher training. Results show that, for most themes, pre-service teachers and school-based teacher educators raised similar remarks and/or suggestions for improvement; however, they differed in their perceptions towards the added value of Virtual Reality to teacher training curricula. Our study highlights teachers’ needs for highly authentic and realistic simulations aligned with real-life classrooms and presents recommendations to augment the immersive experience needed for teachers to develop effective CMS and become more resilient.

Little research attention has been paid to the relationship between preservice teachers and their school‐based teacher educators, although many writers argue it is central in preservice teachers’ development. In this paper, I discuss dilemmas experienced by participants in preservice supervision, as highlighted at recently conducted supervision workshops, where preservice teachers and school‐based teacher educators compiled portraits of their ideal ‘other’ in the supervisory relationship. The dilemmas focus on conceptions of ‘good’ teaching, issues of compliance and initiative, and commitments of time and priority to the supervision relationship. These dilemmas are related to the general literature on supervision, and more specifically to that on preservice supervision. Consideration of the ideal portraits also revealed several major impediments to successful supervision in preservice teacher education. Finally, the paper highlights the need for long and short term reform, calling for cultural changes to school and university, improved resourcing of the practicum, a focus on shared long term goals, and for research and critical examination of supervisory practices and lived out experiences in preservice teacher education.

Background: A plethora of new terms and digital pedagogies have been making recent headlines in higher education with the promise, or threat, that digital technology will revolutionise the way in which universities operate. Blended learning is part of this digital revolution and institutions of higher education worldwide are increasingly adopting it as a new mode of delivery. The exposure of blended learning as central to mainstream higher education has been heightened exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Purpose: Challenged by the argument around the concept of ‘blended’ being ill defined, and also given the lack of practical ‘blended’ experiences in physical education teacher education (PETE), this paper aims to explore physical education teacher educators’ and pre-service teachers’ (PSTs’) enactment and experiences of an integrated approach to blended learning. Method: Three physical education teacher educators and two classes of physical education PSTs participated. The integrated blended approach was designed through a block structure which allowed intended outcomes, teaching and learning activities and assessment tasks to be aligned and interconnected. Data collection occurred over two academic years for the same three physical education teacher educators and two different cohorts of PSTs. Focus groups interviews were conducted with the three teacher educators and a voluntary sample of PSTs. PSTs’ learning blogs were also analysed. Results: Findings were presented in three categories: Development of strong building blocks; Blended learning ‘releases the teaching and learning from the grips of the lecturer’; and Assessment in a blended (and non-blended) environment. We attempted to go beyond the binary humanist assumption about blended learning by designing an integrated approach with a clear but flexible structure. That is, with an organic alignment and purposeful integration of all its instructional components. Conclusions: When introducing blended learning in a (physical education) teacher education programme, we suggest designing an aligned and integrated approach structured in blocks, where all instructional components are interconnected and informing each other, enhancing prior knowledge. Given the growing role of digital technology for teaching and learning in educational policies and new PETE curricula, we advocate for the publication of more research-based experiences on blended learning in PETE programmes that might be replicated in other PETE programmes. This would encourage colleagues to explore the implications of digital technology and learn from other PETE contexts and also the sustainability of digital technology as an established mode of delivery.

Todays’ teacher education needs to provide pre-service teachers with readiness to integrate ICT in education. Teacher educators are expected to serve as role models for pre-service teachers, providing them with examples and meaningful experiences of learning with ICT. The aim of this study is to provide an insight into teacher educators’ and pre-service teachers’ confidence toward using ICT in education. In this study, both groups assessed their Technological Pedagogical Knowledge (TPK). The aim was to study the possible differences between teacher educators’ and pre-service teachers’ TPK assessments, and based on their assessments, to provide insights into teacher educators’ readiness to act as role models for pre-service teachers. The participants of the study were 123 pre-service teachers and 83 teacher educators. The results indicate that the assessments of teacher educators were higher than pre-service teachers’ assessments at the sample level. The results also indicate that pre-service teachers and teacher educators can both be divided into two aligning sub-groups, with higher and lower assessments. However, the comparison of these sub-groups showed that the assessments of the pre-service teachers in the higher sub-group were higher than with the assessments of the teacher educators in the lower (modest) sub-group. This study provides evidence for variation among teacher educators and pre-service teachers in terms of their TPK. This implies a need for more tailored ways to develop TPK in teacher education.

Introduction: Although there is ambiguity about the elements of teacher knowledge, all researchers accept that being able to anticipate what errors can be made, the reasons for and the strategies to overcome these errors, in short, the knowledge of students is important for student achievement. In this study, knowledge of students refers to being aware of students’ possible errors and underlying reasons for these errors and knowing how to overcome these errors. Based on this consideration, the purpose of this study is to investigate pre-service elementary teachers’ knowledge of students on the subtraction topic. Methods: Considering the purpose, the data were collected from 118 pre-service elementary teachers who were enrolled in a four-year Elementary Teacher Education program via a task-based questionnaire related to the topic of subtraction and semi-structured interviews following the questionnaire. The task-based questionnaire included three completed incorrect subtraction tasks and was prepared considering the related literature and the elementary school mathematics curriculum of Turkey. Each task in the questionnaire contained a different type of error. The pre-service elementary teachers’ answers to the task-based questionnaire were categorized as correct, partially correct, wrong, or no answer by means of categorical analysis. The pre-service elementary teachers who gave correct and partially correct answers to the tasks were asked to participate in the second part of the study to learn their possible strategies to overcome the errors made in the tasks. Results: As a result of the quantitative and qualitative analysis of the pre-service elementary teachers’ responses, it was found that their knowledge of students for subtraction is limited. Specifically, although the pre-service elementary teachers were partially able to identify the errors in the first and second task, they were not able to identify the error in the third task. Furthermore, they were better able to determine a more commonly occurring subtraction error compared to the uncommon ones. The pre-service elementary teachers could not identify the underlying reasons that led the students to the errors. They could not explain what conceptual knowledge related to the topic of subtraction the student lacked that resulted in the errors. As the pre-service teachers did not attain these reasons, they were not able to provide strategies to overcome these errors different than restating the rules or procedures to overcome students’ errors. Discussion: Only being able to identify the errors is not enough to make the instruction effective. Teachers also need to know and provide a rationale for why the errors happen and how to overcome them (Even & Tirosh, 1995). Contrary to this statement, the pre-service elementary teachers in this study could not attempt to understand the students’ thinking or could not explain the reasons behind students’ errors with the notion of subtraction. Son (2013) emphasizes that pre-service teachers tend to explain the reasons for students’ errors as procedural. Similar to this emphasis, the pre-service teachers identified the errors as resulting from not applying procedures carefully or not enough knowing algorithms to find correct solutions. However, without addressing the reasons or focusing on procedures does not promote students’ understanding of the related topic (An, Kulm, & Wu, 2004). The pre-service teachers’ difficulties in identifying the possible conceptual reasons may result from deficits in knowledge of students (Fennema & Franke, 1992; Ball et al., 2008). Limitations: The findings were limited with the responses of the pre-service elementary teachers participating in this study. Moreover, the pre-service elementary teachers’ knowledge of students was investigated within the scope of subtraction. Conclusions: Although the pre-service elementary teachers could identify students’ errors on subtraction, they had difficulty in identifying the reasons and suggesting strategies to overcome the errors. Therefore, it can be concluded that the pre-service teachers’ knowledge of students for the topic of subtraction is limited. An implication of this is that teacher educators need to include error-analysis tasks to help pre-service teachers be aware of the importance of their knowledge of students.

Preparing preservice teachers for professional engagement is important for teacher education and has received much attention over the past decades. Therefore, finding effective training and coaching to improve the professional skills of preservice teachers (PSTs) is of great importance. This study developed a proactive online training program (POTP) based on a model of work-integrated learning (WIL) activities and teacher education. The objective was to evaluate the effectiveness of the POTP in improving PSTs’ professional skills. The participants consisted of 83 PSTs in an education program from two universities in Thailand. This study comprises three phases: phase I, the development of the POTP; phase II, a quasi-experimental study with a pretest-posttest design; and phase III, a focus group discussion. The findings demonstrated that PSTs in the group in which the POTP was implemented exhibited increased professional skill development compared to the PSTs in the control group, i.e., without the POTP. Analysis from the focus group confirmed that participants gained knowledge and satisfying online tools, and they were found to have better skills. They also revealed that the POTP not only improved professional skills but also enhanced the inspiration and confidence of the PSTs and supported their life and career goals and preparation. Therefore, educators, practitioners, and policymakers involved in pedagogical content knowledge development in teacher education programs can apply the POTP and assessment models proposed in this work to develop essential soft skills for PSTs and to better prepare them for their careers as teachers in the 21st-century digital era.

The emotional and cognitive work of becoming a teacher is often unknown to preservice teachers, leaving many to negotiate professional identities without support from teacher educators. This article examines how one preservice teacher, Ava Mendon, used language to negotiate professional identities and to build professional confidence during her teacher-education experiences. Multiple in-depth interviews were analyzed using discourse analysis techniques to reveal three key experiences that propelled Ava to negotiate her professional identity. Findings indicate the need for teacher educators to deliberately provide opportunities for preservice teachers to negotiate identities in teacher-education experiences to develop professional confidence as beginning teachers.

The purpose of the study was to reveal the relationships among teaching concerns, their sense of efficacy and their preferences of a classroom environment of pre-service science teachers. Data were gathered from 623 pre-service science teachers. Based on the structural equation modelling results, the pre-service science teachers’ sense of self-efficacy was negatively associated with their concerns. In addition, the pre-service science teachers’ sense of efficacy was positively associated with the constructivist learning environment. Moreover, pre-service science teachers’ concerns were positively related to their constructivist learning environment. The findings shed light on pre-service teacher and teacher education experiences and outcomes.

This chapter was inspired by our concern to provide a summary of key insights into teacher education for teachers in school who are increasingly taking responsibility for designing curricula for beginning teachers’ school-based professional learning, as a result of the ‘practicum turn’ in initial teacher education. Drawing on our own empirical research into the development of beginning teachers’ expertise and on wider literature, it sets out the particular challenges inherent in learning to teach and summarises what we know of beginning teachers as learners to propose a series of research-informed and practice-sensitive principles that could effectively underpin the practice of school-based teacher educators.

Purpose – The purpose of this chapter is to examine how the exploration of metaphors of learning and teaching can contribute to the professional development of teacher candidates and teacher educators. Approach – The chapter draws on the author's experiences as a teacher and teacher educator to illustrate ways in which metaphors of teaching offer deeper understandings of the personal and social dimensions of teaching and teacher education practices. Findings – Metaphors and other artifacts by the author and teacher candidates are examined to illustrate how metaphors have been be used to story experience in teacher education. Research implications – Imagining and re-imagining metaphors provide a solid foundation for the preparation and development of teachers. Engaging teacher candidates in the identification and development of their metaphors of learning and teaching contributes to their development into teachers able to understand the experiences of their students and adapt their teaching to enhance student learning. The exploration of metaphor can also help teacher educators to better understand their professional identities and practices. Value – Teacher educators are uniquely positioned to help teachers explore how their teacher images inform practice and to analyze these images to enhance personal professional knowledge and teaching practices.

The 21st century has emerged as an era of accountability and standardisation for the teaching profession (Mikulec & Miller, 2012). The current research is comprised of 4 interrelated empirical studies which measure and explore individual differences in perceptions of teacher-student boundaries in the secondary school context from an ethical perspective. This research is timely given it has been 8 years since the Teacher Code of Conduct was introduced in Victoria (The Institute, 2008). While the relationship between teachers and their students has been recognised as a powerful contributor to learning, engagement, and development, the professional limitations of teacher-student interactions have been relatively unexplored. Further, technological advances in the last decade have created new environments that potentially expose teachers to new possibilities and vulnerabilities such as Social Networking Sites (SNS). Within a contingency framework for ethical decision-making (Ferrell & Gresham, 1985) the current research employs a mixed-methods approach and a cross-sectional design. Participants were preservice secondary teachers (N = 288) enrolled at a Victorian university and early career secondary teachers (N = 227) registered in Victoria. All participants completed a questionnaire during class time (preservice) or online (early career) which took approximately 40 minutes. In the absence of a measure of attitudes towards teacher-student interactions and behaviours, the Professional Interactions and Behaviours Scale (PIBS) was developed and validated in Study A. Based upon the Victorian Teacher Code of Conduct, (The Institute, 2008), 5 types of teacher-student interactions were educed from the items; emotional support, physical support, teacher disclosure, connectivity, and befriending. Although average endorsement was modest, early career teachers reported higher endorsement of teacher disclosure and preservice teachers provided greater approval of connectivity and befriending. An opportune international collaboration enabled further comparisons with preservice secondary teachers in Norway (N = 227), who demonstrated greater endorsement of the provision of physical support to students than Victorian preservice teachers. Differences in reported ethical training provided during teacher education are also noted and considered as a context for the development of attitudes toward professional behaviour. Utilising a person-centred approach, Study B explored profiles of trait-like characteristics among the Victorian preservice teachers through cluster analysis. This study proposed that individual differences in personality (Mc Crae & Costa, 2003) and attachment style as defined by Bartholomew (1990) may relate to other personal characteristics such as the need for popularity, domains of contingent self-worth and perceptions of professional behaviour as measured by the PIBS. Preservice teachers described as “responsive resilient” in personality were more likely than “curious & sensitive ambiverts” to endorse teacher provision of emotional support to students. Further, securely attached individuals were more likely to endorse the provision of physical support than dismissive individuals. Study C utilised a mixed-methods approach to explore profiles of teacher-student interactions styles in early career secondary teachers and their responses to ethical dilemmas relating to teacher-student boundaries. Four profiles emerged; “sparing investors”, “reserved professionals”, “relational enthusiasts”, and “supportive ambitious” and in terms of interpersonal goals, professional expectancies and values, burnout, career satisfaction and career aspirations. Few quantitative differences were observed between profiles in terms of ethical decision-making, yet thematic analysis highlighted contextual considerations and protective behaviours as key considerations of early career teachers. Study D explored current and prospective social networking behaviour and found both preservice and early career teachers were highly engaged with SNS, with preservice teachers reporting greater usage. Almost half of participants in both the preservice and early career samples reported negative experiences as a result of online social networking such as bullying or workplace issues. In relation to connecting with students, early career teachers were more likely to accept a friend request from a past student than preservice teachers. Taken together, these studies explore individual differences in teacher-student boundaries as they are perceived by preservice and early career teachers in Victoria. The PIBS is presented as a valid contemporary measure of perceptions towards teacher-student interactions, and differences of experience and culture considered. Implications of the findings are considered in relation to teacher selection processes, the ethics curriculum in teacher education, and regulation of the teaching profession in Australia.