1 In this paper, critical re#ection refers to deliberation on the moral and ethical dimensions of... more 1 In this paper, critical re#ection refers to deliberation on the moral and ethical dimensions of educational practice. Critically, re#ective teaching is instructional practice predicted on such re#ection. For a more through explanation of these terms, refer to Methodology section.
This research draws on the experiences of two new teacher educators to sketch the beginning of a ... more This research draws on the experiences of two new teacher educators to sketch the beginning of a theory accounting for a process of transition from classroom teacher to teacher educator. As these two educators negotiated the transition from the world of classroom teaching to that of the university-based teacher educator, attention was focused on the knowledge bases they employed in their decision making, the institutional/contextual challenges and supports they experienced, and the extent to which their professional identities as teacher educators drew from their time spent in school classrooms. The result is a set of four broad categories that establish a framework for thinking about the move from teacher to teacher educator: shifting role identification, institutional and cultural context, frames of understanding and knowledge, and the practice arena. Twelve additional sub-categories are nested within these four "problematics of practice." Together, these categories represent a starting point for further conversations about how teacher educators develop their identities and professional expertise. (Contains 25 references.) (SM) Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document.
The work of teacher education during student teaching typically takes place in two distinct "spac... more The work of teacher education during student teaching typically takes place in two distinct "spaces": placement sites and college/university settings. The program featured in this article is structured in ways that clearly mark out those two spaces. Yet this configuration led our university supervisors, whose work primarily took place in the field, to feel like "outsiders." To redress this concern, a third learning space was incorporated into our student teaching seminar. We suggest that "third spaces" in combination with return-to-campus courses not only mitigates the peripherality of university supervisors, but also amplifies the influence of a teacher preparation program.
Moving Our Field Forward: Practitioner Research in the Social Studies Organization of Whitepaper Contents
Powerful Design Principles and Processes: Lessons from a Case of Ambitious Civics Education Curriculum Planning. A Response to "Reinventing the High School Government Course: Rigor, Simulations, and Learning from Text
This case study examined the extent and nature of the critical reflection and critically reflecti... more This case study examined the extent and nature of the critical reflection and critically reflective teaching evident among three secondary preservice teachers, noting factors that hindered and supported the instructor's attempts to promote critically reflective teaching and discussing social reconstructionist factors. The paper emphasizes the second half of the project, which involved the student teaching semester. Data collection included student interviews at the start, midpoint, and conclusion of student teaching; several observation visits to students' classrooms; and field notes. Data also came from written artifacts (structured pre-observation forms prior to each observation visit, five journal assignments, and unit plans, lesson plans, student handouts, and evaluation tools). Data analysis involved the constant comparative method. Results indicated that all participants were critically reflective about teaching. Critical reflection carried across semesters, though it was not the predominant form of thinking for any of the students. Factors influencing critical reflection included (in descending order) journal assignments, study participation, observation visits, peer observations, and return-to-campus seminars. In the methods semester, the emphasis on social reconstructionism and democratic education had little impact on participants' thinking. However, in the student teaching semester, each participant provided varying amounts of evidence of reflection on the construction of a more equitable, just, and democratic society. (Contains 33 references.) (SM)
An action research project was conducted to promote critically reflective teaching in a semester-... more An action research project was conducted to promote critically reflective teaching in a semester-long secondary social studies methods course. To encourage critical reflection, the instructor drew explicit attention to issues of rationale building in social studies, critical thinking, democratic education, and social transformation. Evidence of critical reflection was sought in multiple settings, including: interviews conducted with the three case study participants at the start, midpoint, and conclusion of the semester; observations of their class participation; and assignments and other written work collected from participants. Throughout the semester, data were collected that served as evidence of participant deliberation about the ethical and moral basis of their work as teachers, teaching practices informed by this deliberation, and factors that seemed to facilitate and/or inhibit the learning of critically reflective teaching. The results of the study suggested that teacher educators can influence preservice teachers to become more critically reflective, though this work appears to be inhibited by numerous programmatic and psychosocial concerns. Furthermore, while encouraging some amount of critical reflection about teaching appears to be a realistic aim for teachers of preservice secondary social studies teachers, influencing the quality and content of such reflection seems to be the greater challenge. Factors that helped and hindered this effort to promote critically reflective teaching are identified. The course syllabus is appended. (Contains 33 references.) (ND)
The author draws on the voices of beginning teachers in a particular teacher education program an... more The author draws on the voices of beginning teachers in a particular teacher education program and his own experiences as a teacher educator in several different settings to account for preservice teacher reflection and resistance to rationale-based social studies teacher education. Twelve categories represent the perspectives of beginning social studies student teachers. Some are directly related to larger explanatory frameworks offered by teacher education research. Others reflect commonplace tensions in the university classroom. These twelve categories of reflection and resistance in rationale-based teacher education may serve as starting points for thinking about more effective approaches to helping beginning teachers answer the powerful question-- what are you teaching for? If the philosopher George Santayana was correct when he claimed, “Fanaticism consists of redoubling your effort when you have forgotten your aim, ” then what is it called when you never knew your aim in the ...
Through practitioner inquiry, social studies educators and researchers can address pressing issue... more Through practitioner inquiry, social studies educators and researchers can address pressing issues in the field, including improving social studies practice and realizing the democratic potential of social studies education. Practitioner research fundamentally shifts the culture of contemporary school reform and offers an antidote to educational reform efforts that de-professionalize teachers and teacher educators.
There is growing momentum in teacher education to organize the preparation of teachers around “co... more There is growing momentum in teacher education to organize the preparation of teachers around “core practices.” Advocates call for identifying discipline-oriented, research-based teaching moves asso- ciated with student learning and then shifting teacher education pedagogies and programs toward preparing beginning teachers to implement these moves in classroom and school settings. This study examines core practices as a recent reform impulse in teacher educa- tion practice. The authors explore a growing literature on core prac- tices to generate both conceptual and practice-based responses with special attention to social studies teacher education. By leveraging two vignettes of “on-the-ground” social studies teacher education, the authors discuss questions and issues about taking core practices into the murky, diverse, and complex practice spaces of social studies teacher education and extend the conversation about what this set of reform ideas might mean for social studies education.
Social studies in the new educational policy era: Conversations on purposes, perspectives, and practices, 2018
What policy priorities should social studies education advocate and why? Coming at this question ... more What policy priorities should social studies education advocate and why? Coming at this question as an interested observer, not a scholar, of educational policy left me struggling to even make sense of what the query entails. The realm of educational policy can seem a multi-level house of mirrors. Nearly everyone has ideas about what would make schools better, and nearly all of these ideas reflect and suggest policies. In the United States, education policy issues implicate federal, state, local, and classroom authorities, including, of course, individual teachers. Policies interact in complex ways in different contexts; they develop and change over time, serve some more than others, and support and shape systems of schooling. Some policies drive educational decision-making; others are ignored, unnoticed, and resisted. Few would argue that policy does not matter, this much is clear. Beyond that, the question is complicated.
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