The purpose of this study was to better understand the impact experience and context have on the development of an early childhood education teacher professional identity. Using the Listening Guide (Gilligan et al. 2006), data were gathered and examined from interviews with three early childhood educators (ECE) currently teaching in a public school setting. Findings suggest that personal life experiences, teacher preparation, and career experience/contexts had a significant impact on the development of the teachers' professional identities. Examining when these early childhood educators committed themselves to the profession, and during which contexts and experiences they embraced early childhood tenets, provided important insight into how teacher preparation programs can bring forth candidates' past experiences for critical discussion to help preservice teachers make better sense of their developing early childhood teacher identity. Implications for provisionary teachers include support for navigating policy and societal influence in addition to day-to-day classroom teaching.

Presenters will introduce the research base behind the relationship between critical reflection and pre-service teacher growth. Participants will engage in discussions of how to scaffold critical reflection to allow access points for students at differing levels of reflective development.

No description available.

This study investigates the development and nature of Professional Mathematics Teacher Identity (PMTI) in pre-service teachers. It is an explanatory, interpretive case study in which six Fourth Year mathematics education students participated. PMTI is examined in terms of three aspects: Mathematics Specialisation; Teaching-and-Learning Specialisation and Caring, and the actualisation of these aspects is analysed in the context of the teaching practicum classroom. The effect of each student‘s personal history, their view of the subject mathematics as well as their experiences during tertiary training and teaching practica is probed. Of these, their experiences as learners in school were found to be the most influential factor, both on their initial career choice and who they are as mathematics teachers. Main findings of this study are firstly that personal histories and perceptions lead to different PMTI‘s and different retentions of what is taught at university; that PMTI is observed in interaction with the learners, and that the students‘ self-perceptions are not congruent with those aspects as actualised in the classroom. For example, all six espouse the theory of learner-centred classrooms, but only two of them truly put this theory into practice in their own teaching, thus demonstrating that espoused theory and theory in action are not necessarily the same. It was also found that the mathematics methodology modules completed by these students were unable to shake entrenched beliefs with which the students enrolled at university. Factors determining career choice were key to understanding PMTI, as were the beliefs with which these students began their tertiary training. / Thesis (PhD)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted

The purpose of this study was to determine fourth-year pre-service teachers’ perceptions of the influence of mentor lecturers on their Professional Teacher Identity (PTI) while on teaching practice. The problem underpinning this study was that the students may not be able to mediate the merging of the academic world with the world of work if the influence of the mentor lecturer is lacking. The significance of this study lies in the student perceptions of the mentor lecturers’ role. The data were collected through the Fourth Years Initiative for Research in Education (FIRE) project. Students reflected in groups on the development of their PTI and the role their mentor lecturers played in this development. In this qualitative, descriptive case study, a document analysis was conducted on transcriptions of the posters that the students created in workshops. The conceptual framework combined a mentorship and a PTI model. The results showed that in PTI development, the mentor lecturers’ influence ranked sixth out of nine. The students felt misunderstood and unsupported. The findings indicate either that the role of the mentor lecturer is a redundant feature of the BEd programme, the mentor lecturer is not meeting the students’ needs, requiring revisitation of the programme, or this millennial generation sample is not open to critical self-reflection and critique. Similar studies may access the mentor lecturers’ perceptions of their own PTI and their influence on their mentees’ PTI development, and why passion for a subject is not a statistically significant influencer of PTI. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2020. / Humanities Education / MEd / Unrestricted

abstract: This qualitative study examines second language (L2) writing teachers’ identities. The study explores L2 writing teachers’ narrated identities (i.e., the teachers’ perceptions of themselves), enaction of these identities (i.e., students’ perceptions of those teachers; those teachers’ classroom behaviors), and identity enaction’s positive impacts on students. In order to investigate these issues, I conducted interviews with three L2 writing teachers of first-year composition in the United States (U.S.), along with student interviews and classroom observations. Findings showed that there were 10 narrated identities of these L2 writing teachers. All of these narrated identities were enacted except for one. The findings also indicated that there were positive impacts on students from enaction of these identities when that enaction involved certain teaching practices. Enaction of L2 writing teacher identity had a positive impact when it involved the teacher paying attention to L2 writers’ needs, showing empathy toward L2 writers, and avoiding overemphasis on L2 writers’ language issues. Enaction of writing teacher identity had a positive impact when it involved the teacher providing an enjoyable writing experience, focusing on content knowledge learning, and focusing on writing issues over language issues. Enaction of language teacher identity had a positive impact when it involved the teacher providing language help. Enaction of freedom teacher identity had a positive impact when it involved the teacher providing guided freedom. Enaction of American teacher identity had a positive impact when it involved the teacher focusing on U.S. academic experience. Enaction of general teacher identity had a positive impact when it involved the teacher displaying positive attitudes towards teaching in general. Enaction of individual coach identity had a positive impact when it involved the teacher providing individualized help. These findings suggest that L2 writing teachers can maintain positive L2 writing teaching practices. L2 writing teachers can make their teaching practices more informed by seeking out teaching resources and insights from various disciplines as pedagogical content experts in L2 writing. They can also teach L2 writers by addressing L2 writers’ needs with positive emotions, providing guided freedom and individualized help, and understanding L2 writers’ educational backgrounds. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation English 2020

Thesis advisor: Larry H. Ludlow / In 2019, as in previous years, White students outperformed African American, Hispanic, and American Indian/Alaska Natives in a variety of K-12 outcomes (Darling-Hammond, 2007; de Brey et al., 2019; Jacob & Ludwig, 2008; National Education Association, 2015). The urgency of the opportunity/achievement gap is clear, as the current cohort of students under 5 years of age marks a turning point in student population demographics as the first in which 50 percent are part of a minority race or ethnic group (U.S. Census Bureau, 2015). Sociocultural integration (SCI) is included in the frameworks of successful bilingual programs (Howard et al., 2007; Scanlan & López, 2014). SCI considers the dynamics of relationships with oneself and others as being built in the context of one’s racial/ethnic, cultural, and linguistic background (Brisk, 2006; Feinauer & Howard, 2014). Acceptance and appreciation of cultural difference is critical for teachers (Bennett, 2003) and a number of pedagogical frameworks center teachers’ role of cultural brokerage as a pathway to fostering positive student outcomes (Grant & Sleeter, 2006; Suárez-Orozco & Suárez-Orozco, 2001; Villegas & Lucas, 2002). In this dissertation, I defined sociocultural integration in a teacher-centered way, and explicitly incorporate teachers’ racial/ethnic identity development in the evolution of their actions to support SCI. Second, I operationalized this definition and built a scale for measuring SCI using innovative “lived experiences” scenario items according to the Rasch/Guttman Scenario scale development methodology (Ludlow et al., 2020). The SCI Scale for Teachers showed desirable psychometric properties and is well suited to increase use due to ease of interpretability. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2021. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.