Preservice Teachers’ Reflection Processes When Collaboratively Reflecting on Videotaped Classroom Teaching

In recent times, more attention has been directed towards identifying international trends and ‘best’ practice for assessing pre-service teachers’ classroom performance. Previous attempts to assess Oman’s preservice teachers were based on adopting a psychometric/measurement assessment practice, whereby performance was measured by grades. Such an approach, in recent times, has been viewed as being fundamentally flawed in its attempts to measure pre-service teachers’ classroom practices. This is primarily due to its inability to authentically assess teacher’s learning in the classroom setting. Further underpinning this problem, is that Omani pre-service teachers are expected to undertake an International English Language Testing System (commonly referred to as IELTS), as a measurement of their English proficiency. This approach is problematic, in principle, as it is positioned after graduation and therefore forms no connection to the pre-service teachers’ school experience nor does it add to quality teaching and assessment. This recent shift in thinking, as to the idea that educational assessment should be based on psychometric measurements and grades, has evolved into assessment practices which encourage the integration of assessment into the learning and teaching environment. This thesis is concerned with how the pre-service English Language teacher’s classroom performance is assessed in Oman. Drawing on the work of Gipps (1999, 2002), this thesis adopted a sociocultural perspective to investigate the phenomenon of assessment practices associated with evaluating pre-service teacher’s classroom performance during school-based professional experience (also known as teaching practicum). Understanding assessment practices from a sociocultural perspective and its current practices such as authentic assessment and Assessment for Learning (AfL) assists pre-service teachers to learn so as to become professional, qualified teachers. To achieve the aims of this study, the thesis adopted a qualitative hermeneutic phenomenology approach to investigate the assessment phenomenon and to gain a deep understanding from the key stakeholders involved in the phenomenon. To enable this, the data collected from three higher education institutions, namely Sultan Qaboos University (SQU), Rustaq-College of Applied Sciences (CAS) and Nizwa University and their participating schools. A range of different data sources obtained: assessment texts which position pre-service English Language teachers; three-series of interviews with the different stakeholders: three pre-service teachers, three cooperating teachers and four university supervisors to reveal their experiences; and observing the phenomenon in situ to triangulate with the aforementioned data. Implementing hermeneutic phenomenology, the obtained data analysed using two approaches: Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) and Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) so that the existing practices for assessing pre-service English language teachers’ classroom performance in Oman were captured. The analyses revealed that each institution has its assessment practices influenced by its socio-political structure, yet SQU, unlike Rustaq-CAS and Nizwa University, is distinguished in relation to its pre-determined set of professional standards for graduating teachers; explicit assessment criteria that are shared and discussed with pre-service teachers; collaboration between all stakeholders in the assessment process; a clearly defined role for the cooperating teacher as mentor; effective feedback provided to the pre-service teacher; using portfolios to record and document the pre-service teachers achievements; and effective self- and peer-assessment strategies. These practices are mostly experienced by stakeholders at SQU due to its international accreditation under the influence of the standards based on the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages (ACTFL). The findings suggest that SQU assessment practices are more aligned with the indicators of international best practice, compared to that of Rustaq-CAS and Nizwa University. Similarly, SQU had a better understanding of assessment practices from a sociocultural perspective. This means that within the context of assessing pre-service teachers’ classroom performance in Oman, the findings are not about each higher education institution but about producing quality teacher graduates by reforming the Omani assessment practices. Having SQU as a model in Oman, the key recommendations for policy and practice from this study are to: 1) set a national professional standards for teachers; 2) have explicit assessment criteria that align with the professional standards; 3) share the assessment criteria for success between all stakeholders in the phenomenon; 4) strengthen the collaboration between schools and universities as well as university supervisors and cooperating teachers,5) make the role of the portfolio more explicit in terms of monitoring and enhancing pre-service teacher development and learning; 6) empower the cooperating teacher to provide a more meaningful mentoring role to pre-service teachers; 7) provide explicit training in effective peer and self-assessment strategies for pre-service teachers in the classroom context and 8) provide explicit training in understanding and delivering quality feedback on classroom performance for all stakeholders.

As many EFL countries introduce digital textbooks and AI-based language education, the importance of enhancing pre-service language teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) in language teacher education is increasingly being emphasized. This qualitative case study examined how 13 pre-service English teachers applied various elements of TPACK through their participation in a chatbot-integrated course designed to provide hands-on, design-based experience. Analysis of participants' weekly reflection journals revealed their evolving engagement with TPACK elements, Design Knowledge, and contextual considerations. As the semester progressed, the pre-service English teachers demonstrated enhanced TPACK contribution through their growing capacity to integrate technology in language instruction and deeper understanding of pedagogical implications. The preservice teachers were also able to better combine chatbot and language teaching and became more confident in situating themselves as effective English teachers through the course. The study provides a comprehensive TPACK-based framework for language teacher educators to evaluate and develop preservice teachers' technological, pedagogical, and content competencies in technology-enhanced instruction. These findings offer practical implications for language teacher educators seeking to incorporate TPACK-informed approaches in their course design and professional development programs.

Summary In light of the growing diversity in European and Slovenian schools, equity-centered plurilingual pedagogies have gained prominence across the political, educational, and scientific spectrum. This gives particular weight to this study, which aims to contribute to the understanding of the complexity of factors that promote the mainstreaming of plurilingual pedagogies. The concept of Linguistically Sensitive Teaching (LST) was used as a lens to study pre-service teachers’ perceptions of plurilingual pedagogies in their educational context. More specifically, the study aims to examine pre-service teachers’ perceptions of the relevance of plurilingual pedagogies for their future profession and their understanding of the teachers’ competence in regard to the implementation of plurilingual pedagogies in Slovenian schools. Data from 27 pre-service primary education teachers from the University of Ljubljana of the Faculty of Education were examined. Reflection prompts were used to stimulate and guide the critical engagement of participants within the context of LST: a video, a document, and a SWOT analysis template. The findings illustrate pre-service teachers’ awareness of the relevance and the benefits of plurilingual pedagogies for their profession and their understanding of the complexity of factors, specifically in relation to teachers’ knowledge, attitudes, and skills that promote the mainstreaming of plurilingual pedagogies. The study highlights how the reflections of pre-service primary education teachers can support the development of future pre-service teacher training within initial teacher education. As such, it has positive implications for developing teacher education to better respond to the needs of linguistically and culturally diverse classes in today’s schools.

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.

Many of the preservice elementary teachers with whom I work begin to contemplate questions such as, What is my role in the teaching of art? and What is the role of art in education and society? while enrolled in the elementary art methods course required for teacher certification. As a form of critical inquiry, contemplation of such questions can be an important and integral part of these preservice elementary teachers' professional development. Moreover, recent research has shown that preand inservice teachers and students can use questions or questioning as strategies to develop critical thinking, increase cognitive or metacognitive activities, improve comprehension, focus attention, organize new material, and enhance learning in general.1 In this article, however, the focus is not upon the strategic use of preservice elementary teachers' questions to enhance learning, but rather, on my use of such questions to gain important and evaluative insights into the field of art education. Because preservice elementary teachers consider themselves to be outsiders looking in on the field, they can offer fresh and valuable perspectives to those of us inside it. These perspectives, of course, are shaped by preservice teachers' experiences of the elementary art methods course. Indeed, the particular texts used in the course serve to construct the lenses through which they look at art education and what it means to teach art at the elementary level. During the past several semesters, preservice elementary teachers enrolled in my courses have engaged in a form of critical inquiry as each kept a journal, reflecting on and questioning one of the following texts: Creative and Mental Growth (Viktor Lowenfeld and Lambert Brittain),2 Children and Their Art (Al Hurwitz and Michael Day),3 and Emphasis Art (F. Wachowiak).4 That is, 137 preservice elementary teachers enrolled in six sections of elementary art methods at two different institutions formulated questions

The aim of this study is to examine the quality of the written argument of pre-service science teachers on certain socio-scientific issues and their opinions about the process. The study group consisted of 26 pre-service science teachers (18 females, 8 males) studying in the 3rd grade of a state university designated with respect to the purposeful sampling method of the study group. In the study, a case study pattern is adopted from qualitative research designs. The data source of the study consisted of sugar loading in pregnancy, raw / loose milk and processed / pasteurized milk, written arguments for the SSI of the nuclear power plant, pre-service science teachers' journals, researcher notes and semi-structured focus group interviews. The data obtained in the study were analysed according to descriptive and content analysis techniques. At the end of the research, it was determined that the quality of argument increased positively during the implementation when the written arguments of pre-service science teachers were examined after class discussion. In the evaluation of the research process, it was determined that pre-service teachers' awareness of the SSI and the YouTube supported classroom discussion process contributed positively to life skills and science process skills such as decision making, hypothesis building, discussion, analytical thinking.

PurposeThe majority of states and school systems within the USA have implemented the Common Core State Standards, but with this implementation and focus on language arts and mathematics, many believe that social studies education has lagged. The purpose of this paper is to investigate preservice teachers’ social studies self-efficacy, experiences, and beliefs. Participants were preservice teachers in a required education course. During this course, preservice teachers were required to complete a 20-hour practicum within a school. Participants completed a teacher social studies self-efficacy scale, as well as a reflection questionnaire and course discussions. Results showed that preservice teachers reported that they did not have social studies experiences within the practicum. Implications of this study support preservice teachers having additional social studies education and C3 Framework mastery experiences.Design/methodology/approachWith regard to the teacher’s sense of efficacy scale, descriptive statistics (means, standard deviations) were calculated. Following qualitative tradition (Glaser and Strauss, 1967; Miles and Huberman, 1994), the author used a constant comparative method to code the reflection questionnaire and group discussions. This included calculating answers and coding themes across the sources. These data gleaned insight into the participants’ experiences within the course and practicum regarding the domain of social studies education.FindingsTo answer research question 1, means and standard deviations were calculated. Using the social studies teacher’s sense of efficacy scale, participants reported M=6.4, SD=1.25. Research question 2 concerned whether or not participants were given a mastery experience (practicum/tutoring) in social studies. Moreover, if they were not given such an experience, in what domain did they work? Results indicated that a few participants (19 percent) stated that they had an opportunity to tutor in social studies. Most reported that the majority of their tutoring is in reading (58 percent) or mathematics (24 percent).Research limitations/implicationsThe findings from this study inform social studies research as it focuses on teacher social studies self-efficacy and mastery experiences within a practicum. First, preservice teachers in this study had relatively low self-efficacy beliefs in the domain of social studies. Second, the participants had very few mastery experiences in social studies. Finally, preservice teachers seem to feel that they will enjoy teaching social studies, and they did learn social studies within their schools.Practical implicationsTeacher educators are constrained in the time that they have to impart knowledge, pedagogy, and efficacy beliefs on preservice teachers. While evolving legislative mandates are at the forefront of many aspects of teaching, a teacher’s belief in his or her ability to teach may be what leads to perseverance in the classroom. Experiences within social studies classrooms and a use of the C3 Framework will help to highlight teachers’ and students’ growth within the domain of social studies. This study highlights the need for more mastery experiences in social studies as a way of strengthening new teachers’ content knowledge.Social implicationsThe future of social studies education within the classroom seems to be a dire situation. The consequence of the marginalization of social studies within the classroom is twofold. First, students to do have direct social studies instruction. Second, preservice teachers do not have an opportunity to observe or teach within this domain. As stated earlier, legislation is guiding classroom instruction. However, if teachers and schools are informed, social studies education does not have to disappear from student’s classroom time. School systems and teachers who have not yet done so should begin to consider using the C3 Framework.Originality/valueThe need to understand preservice teachers’ social studies self-efficacy beliefs is of importance given the constraints that they will most likely be facing once they enter the classroom. In other words, if preservice teachers are expected to teach children social studies, teacher educators should understand their learning of and beliefs about teaching in this domain. This study focused on preservice teachers’ self-efficacy and social studies beliefs. This study highlights the need for more mastery experiences in social studies as a way of strengthening new teachers’ content knowledge. Today, there are limitations wherein preservice teachers do not have many experiences with social studies. Future approaches should focus on offering more mastery experiences to preservice teachers.

Language teacher educators train pre-service teachers in numerous theories and pedagogical practices of language learning and language teaching. They expect that their student teachers will translate this conceptual and practical knowledge into action during their practicum. However, in the process of determining pre-service teachers’ readiness for the field experience and the profession in general, methods classes measure only their conceptual knowledge and omit looking at their student teachers’ belief system about language teaching and learning. This belief system is a strong indicator of how the students organize their knowledge for application (Borg, 2003) and may help teacher educators gauge students’ read ness in the use of new pedagogies that these pre-service teachers may not have experienced before. Using two reflective essays and a piece of authentic assessment as instruments to gather data, as well as Jürgen Habermas’s theory on cognitive interests as a framework to explore the espoused beliefs of nine pre-service language teachers at the end of a methodscourse, this qualitative study addressed the following questions: What levels of cognitive interests do the nine pre-service world language and ESL teachers exhibit prior to student teaching? To what extent do the students’ levels of cognitive interests change during the methods course called Teaching a Second Language? What are the most common cognitive interests regarding such areas of teaching performance, such as methodology and assessment among the participants? The results show that the nine pre-service teachers held mostly technicaland some practical cognitive interests at the beginning of the semester. In the end, most of the participants held practical interests, and three out of the nine pre-service teachers held elementary emancipatory beliefs. One pedagogical recommendation is to include experiences in the training of pre-service teachers that promote emancipatory beliefs that could support teachers in their pursuit of transforming challenging social conditions while examining and adopting new pedagogies.

Background:The purpose of this study was to determine pre-service and in-service science and mathematics teachers’ perceptions of the characteristics of a professional teaching environment. The study further investigated the relationships of field placement contexts and grade levels on pre-service teachers’ perceptions of importance and availability of certain aspects of a professional teaching environment.Materials and methods:The teacher perceptions were assessed using the Professional Environment for Teaching Survey (PETS). The responses reflecting the teacher perceptions of importance were subjected to a principal component analysis and two components were identified. These were Resources for Teaching and Recognition of Teacher Contributions. Data obtained from pre-service teachers who (were) enrolled in a graduate teacher education licensure program at a large Midwestern university and from in-service teachers who were mentors for the pre-service teachers.Results:Correlation and forward stepwise multiple regression analyses of the data suggested that the perceptions of importance and/or availability of those pre-service or in-service teachers with more experience were related to the academic degree they held and the content that they were teaching or expecting to teach.Conclusions:Results for the in-service and pre-service teachers’ perceptions were discussed in terms of characteristics of a professional teaching environment.

ABSTRACTThe aim of this study is to determine pre-service classroom teachers' beliefs and thoughts about the roles of teachers and students in the classroom before taking the Mathematics Teaching I course. With this purpose, the study employed the survey method, a descriptive research technique. The study sample included 75 pre-service teachers (55 females and 20 males) who studied in Omer Halisdemir University's education faculty's primary level teaching department classroom teaching programme in the 2013–2014 academic year, and took the Mathematics Teaching I course. The study data were collected using a survey form including three open-ended structured questions. The data were analysed using the qualitative data analysis method. The study results indicated that the pre-service teachers' beliefs, in terms of both teachers' and students' roles, were between the absolute and transitional levels based on Baxter Magolda's epistemological refection model. This reveals that pre-service teachers' beliefs are in line with conventional teaching and learning approaches.

Effective teaching and learning strategy is one of the most important topics in the field of teachers’ professional development. Teachers’ education and pre-service teachers’ training programmes provide necessary coursework, field experience, and student teaching internship experience to pre-service, potential, and second career teachers who are seeking initial license status. Due to the rapid developments in Hong Kong, China, school teachers face challenges, difficulties, and social problems due to excess enrolment of teachers from different backgrounds. The regular curriculum and material also fail to cover all these issues. The current study applied the seminar technique as recommended in Polya’s Four-Step Problem-Solving Model with targeted discussion topics and engaged 12 STEM pre-service teachers at one of the Postgraduate Diploma in Education (PGDE) programmes. The results indicated that beyond regular coursework, field experience, and internship experiences embedded in the curriculum, additional seminars allowed the participants to establish inter-disciplinary teaching strategies and critical thinking skills. The results of this study serve as a blueprint for teachers’ education programme leaders and school administrators to establish similar seminars and conduct such sessions for their pre-service and in-service teachers to refresh and advance their teaching and learning strategies.

This study investigated pre-service and in-service English teachers’ efficacy beliefs about teaching English at primary schools in Turkey by revealing the teaching aspects that they felt most and least efficacious. The study also attempted to understand pre-service teachers’ views about the effectiveness of pre-service teacher education and explore which major problems in-service teachers encountered while teaching English at primary schools. The quantitative and qualitative data were collected from 170 pre-service and 129 in-service teachers through a questionnaire. The quantitative and qualitative data were analysed using descriptive statistics and content analysis, respectively. According to the findings, both groups held similar positive or negative efficacy beliefs about most teaching aspects: while they reported feeling most efficacious in ‘using visual materials’, ‘giving simple instructions’, and ‘using gestures, facial expressions and body language effectively’, they reported feeling least efficacious in ‘using mainly kinaesthetic activities’, ‘managing class time effectively’, and ‘knowing how each language skill can be developed’. Pre-service teachers agreed that the ‘teaching practicum’ was the most ineffective aspect of the programme, followed by ‘lack of practice-based courses’, ‘inadequate number of teaching English to young learners courses’, and ‘language courses’. In-service teachers reported having problems because of ‘limited class hours’, ‘poor textbooks’, ‘lack of technological resources’, ‘lack of learner preparedness’, ‘lack of learner motivation’, and ‘large classes’. In the light of these findings, implications were generated to improve the effectiveness of pre-service and in-service teacher education, which could increase the quality of education for English language students at primary schools

The aim of this study is to reveal the development of the professional knowledge and competencies of pre-service English teachers through the practice of lesson study. The action research method, one of the qualitative research methods, was used in this research. Action plans are prepared in two cycles. Accordingly, each lesson plan represents action research and two cycles. The study group of the research consisted of two pre-service English teachers from among fourth-year students studying in the English language teaching department of a public university and taking teaching practice courses. In the research, interview, observation, reflective daily form, student evaluation form and the letter about the process were used as data collection tool. At the end of the research, it was concluded that the lesson study method improved pre-service teachers’ student-centered methods and technique usage skills and positively affected the pre-service teachers’ views of the teaching profession and developed their beliefs about being successful teachers.

The purpose of this research study is to examine the metaphors generated by pre-service history teachers regarding the concept of freedom. Qualitative method is used in the research study and phenomenology is utilized as a research design. Semi-structured forms are used as a data collection tool in the study. Each pre-service history teacher is asked to complete the sentence in the forms beginning as “Freedom is like/ freedom is compared to …… because ……..” in order to examine their metaphors regarding the concept of freedom. The study group is composed of 34 students studying in History Teaching Department in KazA±m Karabekir Education Faculty in Ataturk University during the spring term of 2013-2014 academic year and taking the course “Human Rights and Democracy II”. There is no sampling in the study as a result of being in contact with all of the students. Thirty four forms obtained from the pre-service history teachers are examined carefully and four students’ forms are not considered for evaluation because of lack of necessary requirements. It is revealed that out of 30 forms, pre-service teachers use 26 metaphors in total regarding the concept of freedom. When the metaphors developed are examined, it is understood that pre-service teachers mostly resemble the concept of freedom to a bird, a kite, and a life. Considering the common features of these metaphors, they are grouped under 7 categories. These categories include equality, struggle, changing according to circumstance, respect to others, balance factor, life space and richness. An expert’s opinion from the field is taken regarding the metaphors’ representation of the categories. Three metaphors do not overlap the coding carried out by the researcher and the expert. Using Miles and Huberman’s formula, reliability is found as 90. Out of the categories formed, “respect to others” and “life space” are the categories which are represented by the major metaphors. Key words: History, history teacher, metaphor, freedom, pre-service history teachers, education faculty.

<span>The purposes of this study were to (1) identify the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK), Technology Integration Self Efficacy (TISE) and Instructional Technology Outcome Expectations (ITOE) of pre-service physical education teachers, (2) examine the relationships among TPACK, TISE and ITOE, and lastly (3) examine the differences between pre-service physical education teachers who perceived and who did not perceive technology integration by their university instructors on TPACK, TISE, and ITOE scores. Findings indicate that while TPACK, TISE and ITOE perceptions of pre-service physical education teachers were at satisfactory levels, university instructors were not good role models in the use of technology in their classrooms. Pre-service teachers reported that integration of physical education and sport-related emerging technologies were almost non-existent in the teaching practices within the university setting. TPACK, TISE, and ITOE were moderately related with each other (p<0.05). Pre-service teachers' self-perceptions of TPACK, TISE, and ITOE were positively influenced by their perception of university instructors' technology integration into teaching in university courses (p<0.05). Providing professional development programs for the teacher education program instructors, both in technology integration in teaching and in emerging physical education and sports-related technologies, is recommended.</span>