There is broad agreement that the practicum is a key part of teacher education. In the context of the classroom, the teacher candidate begins to adopt the role of teacher as outlined by the Ministry of Education in Ontario. One challenge for teacher candidates is to translate to the classroom what they have experienced in their university program. Associate Teachers influence this translation of pedagogy by how they shape what Student Teachers have explored in theory. The broad scope of research literature on the role of the Associate Teacher lacks clarity on the varied perceptions of the supportive roles of Associate Teachers. Research is needed on how Teacher Candidates and Associate Teachers perceive their pre-service practice experience and the impact of the Associate Teacher support. This study is a qualitative one. The research is based on a series of semi-structured interviews conducted with teachers who were participants in the 2007/2008 elementary pre-service consecutive teacher education program at one Ontario University. Findings from the research suggest that the use of participatory dialogue throughout the practicum is essential to support the learning process of Student Teachers concerning teaching in the classroom. Additionally, differentiated mentored support by the Associate Teacher proved essential to the completion of the practicum by the Teacher Candidate.

This study sought to understand how a group of pre-service teachers in a combined secondary science and mathematics teaching methods course conceptualized and experienced interdisciplinary approaches to teaching. Although knowing how to plan interdisciplinary activities is an essential teaching practice in Quebec, these pre-service teachers faced many challenges during the process of learning to teach with this approach. By using two interdisciplinary frameworks (Nikitina, 2005; Boix Mansilla & Duraising, 2007), I qualitatively analyzed the development of the pre-service teachers' prior and emerging ideas about interdisciplinarity and their ability to plan interdisciplinary teaching activities. The provincial curriculum and issues related to time greatly shaped students' conceptions about interdisciplinarity in the classroom and constrained their ability to plan for and envision the enactment of interdisciplinary lessons in secondary science and mathematics classes. In addition, images of themselves as content-specialists, self-efficacy beliefs in relation to interdisciplinary teaching, and student learning as a source of teacher motivation emerged as key factors promoting or interrupting the development of interdisciplinary teaching approaches. Examination of these factors highlights the need for teacher-education programs to provide opportunities for pre-service teachers to explore how they see themselves as educators, increase their instructional self-efficacy beliefs, and motivate them to teach in an interdisciplinary fashion. Keywords: interdisciplinary teaching, student-teachers, curriculum, teacher-education program, self-efficacy, motivation / Cette étude a cherché à comprendre comment un groupe d'enseignants en formation qui suivaient un cours sur les méthodes d'enseignement combiné de science et de mathématique au secondaire conceptualisaient les démarches d'enseignement interdisciplinaire et en faisaient l'expérience. Même s'ils savent que le fait de planifier des activités interdisciplinaires est une pratique d'enseignement essentielle au Québec, ces futurs enseignants faisaient face à nombre de défis pendant le processus d'apprentissage de cette démarche d'enseignement. À l'aide de deux structures interdisciplinaires (Nikitina, 2005; Boix Mansilla & Duraising, 2007), j'ai réalisé une analyse qualitative de la progression des concepts antérieurs et émergents des enseignants en formation à l'égard de l'interdisciplinarité et de leur capacité à planifier des activités d'enseignement interdisciplinaire. Le cursus provincial et les enjeux relatifs au temps ont permis de donner une structure solide aux conceptions des étudiants quant à l'interdisciplinarité dans la classe, et ont freiné leur capacité de planifier et d'imaginer la réalisation de cours interdisciplinaires en science et en mathématique au secondaire. En outre, leur perception d'eux-mêmes à titre de spécialistes de contenu, le sentiment d'efficacité personnelle en lien avec l'enseignement interdisciplinaire et l'acquisition des connaissances des étudiants comme source de motivation pour l'enseignant ont émergé comme les facteurs clés faisant la promotion ou interrompant le développement de démarches d'enseignement interdisciplinaire. L'examen de ces facteurs met en lumière le besoin de programmes d'éducation qui offriraient aux futurs enseignants l'occasion d'explorer la façon dont ils se perçoivent en tant qu'éducateurs, d'augmenter leur sentiment d'efficacité personnelle et de les motiver à enseigner dans un mode interdisciplinaire. Mots clés : enseignement interdisciplinaire, étudiant-enseignants, cursus, programme d'éducation à l'intention des enseignants, sentiment d'efficacité personnelle, motivation

<p> This qualitative study focuses on how beginning teachers attain skills to engage families in the educational process. Historical rationale, theoretical frameworks, and key research findings for family engagement training during the last three decades were reviewed, studied, and analyzed for themes. A review of scholarly literature is incorporated into this inquiry to provide a lens into the scope of existing family engagement research regarding the ways in which teachers are trained how to partner with families. This study also includes discussion and analysis of state and federal policies and mandated reporting to support new teachers in engaging families, the identification of theoretical frameworks that provide insight and rationale for teacher-family partnerships, and the inclusion of pre-service beginning teacher training focusing on partnering with families in the elementary school. Data for this case study includes beginning teacher training, interviews, document analysis, and anecdotal accounts, including teacher reflective journals. Utilizing case study and participant action research (PAR) methodology, the author identifies how providing professional development opportunities for beginning teachers supports increasing teacher-family engagement. The study focuses on beginning teacher training, as well as identifying attitudes and interactions with families, emerging patterns, and further research themes. Utilizing research in this case study, I set out to identify trends in the literature, research, and participant training modules to enhance training for beginning teachers in engaging families in the educational process. </p>

<p> Teaching writing has long been neglected as in schools. Findings from the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) indicated that most students have basic writing skills, but cannot write well enough to meet the needs of employers or for college. The writing programs in prescriptive literacy programs, which were adopted to ensure student achievement have not proven to be effective for developing proficient student writers. This design study is an attempt to provide teachers trained to teach in a prescriptive literacy program with the writing content and pedagogical knowledge necessary to engage elementary students in writing as a complex, intellectual activity so that they become proficient writers. </p><p> From the literature on effective writing instruction and on teacher learning, I developed a theory of action to guide the design. A key feature of the design was to situate teacher learning in the context of a study group led by a facilitator with knowledge about writing instruction. The design emphasized teachers learning from writing themselves, reviewing student work, learning effective strategies and procedures of writing instruction, and developing knowledge through collaborative talk and reflections. Seven teachers, Grades 2 to 5, from a Title I urban school that required teachers follow the script of <i>Open Court Reading </i> (<i>OCR</i>) participated in the study. At the time of this study a window of opportunity had opened up to modify the <i> OCR</i> writing component. </p><p> I framed teacher learning in two dimensions&mdash;Dimension 1: Instructional Strategies and Procedures, and Dimension 2: Writing as a Process. I investigated the impact of the design and the process of the design's development. Overall teachers' knowledge about writing content increased; their knowledge about writing pedagogy increased to a lesser degree; however their level of growth varied. Moreover growth in the elements of instructional strategies also varied. Growth ranged from 15% for teacher modeling writing and 109% for teacher referring to literature to teach writing strategies. Thus, I found the design basically sound but recommended modifications for future iterations.</p>

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<p> This study examines the impact of cultural competency training and an equity agenda on teacher beliefs and expectations as they relate to student achievement. Despite excessive investment in education reform, prevailing efforts continue to produce inequitable outcomes. I want to advance a theory of action that promotes embedding discourse and training to build understanding of the diverse student populations in our public schools as a strategy to improve student outcomes. </p><p> I used a mixed methods research design to study the impact of cultural competency training on teachers' beliefs about the students they teach and to examine the relationship between the training and the achievement of those students. Methods included a web-based questionnaire, interviews of teachers, leaders, and consultants, document review, and analysis of student achievement scores in one school. Quantitative findings suggest a relationship between teacher beliefs and student outcomes: as teachers participated in cultural competency training, student achievement on the statewide reading test increased for all student groups and the gaps between groups decreased. Qualitative findings show an increased understanding of diverse student and family needs and improved understanding of personal bias changed teachers' beliefs and perceptions about their students and led teachers to hold higher expectations academically for their students. </p><p> While the scale of this study was small (one school in one district), findings support the need for cultural competency training in schools and districts experiencing a gap in achievement between more affluent and white students and culturally or linguistically diverse student populations.</p>

The study presented in this dissertation examines the process of change in 39 elementary schools as they participated in the implementation of a board-wide balanced literacy initiative. The study focuses specifically on the perspectives of school personnel—teachers, principals, and literacy facilitators—after one year of implementation as staff engaged with the requirements of new pedagogical practices and increased collaboration. The study has several goals: (a) to better understand the nature and role of teacher agency in a change process; (b) to examine the role of professional collaboration in teacher learning and acceptance of change; (c) to add to our understanding of resistance to change processes; and (d) to examine what factors seem to be consistently present in schools that embrace change more easily. The study made use of complexity theory and structuration theory as a way of framing an understanding of the change—or the lack of change—that occurred within the complex social environments of schools. Findings suggest that teacher agency played a notable role in the change process where it occurred, but also demonstrated the need to consider teacher agency in more complex ways. Teacher resistance to the changes that were being implemented was less significant than was expected, but, like agency, showed a complexity that suggests attention to this area is a vital component of school-based change. The study also found that participants felt more positive about change in environments characterized by professional collaboration, and environments in which administrators were active learning partners with teachers. / L'étude présentée dans cette thèse porte sur le processus de changement initié dans 39 écoles primaires alors qu'elles participaient à la mise en œuvre d'une initiative en littératie équilibrée lancée par la commission scolaire. L'étude se concentre spécifiquement sur le personnel de l'école – enseignant(e)s, directeur(trice)s et facilitateur(trice)s – à la suite de première année de mise en œuvre de l'initiative alors que le personnel impliqué fait face aux exigences de nouvelles pratiques pédagogiques et aux attentes d'une collaboration accrue. L'étude a plusieurs buts: (a) mieux comprendre la nature et le rôle de l'enseignant(e) en tant que vecteur de changement; (b) examiner le rôle de la collaboration professionnelle dans la formation continue et l'acceptation du changement; (c) parfaire nos connaissances quant à la résistance face aux processus de changement; (d) identifier les facteurs présents dans les écoles qui réagissent mieux au changement. L'étude s'est inspirée de la théorie de la complexité et de la théorie de la structuration pour guider la compréhension du changement – ou l'absence de changement – survenu à l'intérieur du complexe tissu social des écoles. Les résultats suggèrent que les enseignant(e)s, en tant que vecteurs de changement, ont joué un rôle notable là où des transformations se sont produites, mais cela soulignent aussi le besoin de considérer ce rôle de façon plus détaillée. La résistance manifestée par les enseignant(e)s face aux changements mis de l'avant a été moins importante qu'escompté, mais au même titre que le concept de vecteur de changement, elle s'est avérée être un élément essentiel dans le processus de changement en milieu scolaire. L'étude a aussi démontré que les participant(e)s réagissaient de façon plus positive face au changement dans des milieux où la collaboration professionnelle était présente et où les administrateur(trice)s participaient au processus d'apprentissage, aux côtés de leur enseignant(e)s.

<p> The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the concepts of praxis and locus as they pertain to teacher education practices and novice learning in the Denver Teacher Residency Program. The term locus was meant to suggest a nuanced and comprehensive way to consider the K-12 school and classroom as the essential location for learning to teach. The term praxis referred to adaptive expertise, or practical reasoning, problem solving, and wisdom informed by theory in practice. An analytical case study investigated two research questions: 1) In what ways is teacher learning deliberately located in the clinical setting of a K-12 classroom? 2) In what ways do clinical practices, learning experiences, and curricula develop the capacity for praxis in residents? An emergent research design for this case study included extended fieldwork and interim data analysis. Data collection included interviews with, and observations of program participants (residents, instructors, field coordinators, mentor teachers, program administrators), as well as document review (e.g., curricular documents, assignment descriptions, assigned texts).</p>