Apr. 15, 2015
Dear subscriber, 
MOFET ITEC Portal Newsletter

Dear Subscriber,

We are delighted to be sending the monthly newsletter of the International Portal of Teacher Education, containing the latest articles on teacher education, pedagogy, and instruction that have been published in academic journals.

MOFET International is delighted to invite you to join the many colleagues who have already registered for the International Online Conference on Teaching Hebrew as an Additional Language, on Sunday and Monday, May 10 and 11, 2015. For registration and more information check the conference website

Wishing you interesting and enjoyable reading,

The MOFET Portal Team

April 15, 2015 International Portal of Teacher Education
Please note: a complete list of recent additions to the portal follows the Featured Items.
April 2015
Featured Items
The Missing Link: Research on Teacher Education
This article seeks to understand how teacher preparation makes a difference in classroom instructional quality that leads to student learning. It reviews the research that has been conducted on the fundamental practices of teacher education and how they affect student learning. It shows repeatedly that the link between teacher education programs, effective teachers, and student learning is missing in research on teacher education. The article indicates the complicating factors of making causal connections between teacher education and student learning. It also focuses on research that attempts to link program characteristics to student learning.
Beginning Teachers Who Stay: Beliefs about Students
The goal of this study was to explore teachers’ beliefs about students in the United States and if these beliefs evolve during the first five years of teaching. Findings from the present study indicate that teachers’ beliefs about students are positive and adaptive and become more cohesive and positive during the first five years of teaching, despite the challenges typically encountered by beginning teachers.
Making Meaning in Student Teaching
This article examines the way the teacher candidates used their understandings of their roles and relationships to construct instances of success. These participants had the same content major, took the same teaching coursework, and had the same programmatic expectations for student teaching. Both deemed their student teaching internship as a successful learning experience, and they received a passing grade. However, the two teacher candidates differed in the ways which they made meaning of everyday events and relationships. One of the participants defined success through the feedback from her cooperating teachers and university supervisors, whereas the other participant drew upon her own internal beliefs.
Beliefs about Teaching: Persistent or Malleable? A Longitudinal Study of Prospective Student Teachers’ Beliefs
This study explored the change in university students’ beliefs about the role of teachers. The findings reveal that the most commonly-used metaphor type was the teacher as pedagogue, reflecting the idea of the teacher as a nurturer. The students showed tendencies in their preferences for forms of expertise in the teacher’s knowledge-base measure similar to the categorisation of their metaphors. Another interesting trend is the relatively high emphasis on didactics on the knowledge-base measure by the users of self-referential and contextual metaphors in both years. Furthermore, beliefs as measured on the knowledge-base instrument tended to remain unchanged. Metaphor categorisation may be more vulnerable to subjective interpretation.
Impact of an Assessment Course on Teacher Candidates’ Assessment Literacy
The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of a required assessment course on the assessment literacy of teacher candidates. The findings showed that certain aspects of assessment literacy were present before the course. At the onset of the course, teacher candidates had the highest mean scores for Ethical Assessment, Scoring, and Choosing Assessment Methods. However, the exposure to the course potentially increased assessment literacy in some areas. For instance, the participants came into the course with low mean scores in sound design of assessments and communicating results. The results revealed that the participants increased in their mean scores for sound design of assessment and communicating results on the posttest, though these were still the lowest scores.
Using Online Error Analysis Items to Support Preservice Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Mathematics
This article describes an online tutoring system that was used to give preservice teachers an opportunity to analyze and remediate student work. Through a careful analysis and rich discussion about different suggested remediation strategies, preservice teachers were exposed to a variety of techniques that could be used to help correct student errors. The author argues that this online error analysis items challenged preservice teachers to analyze, diagnose, and provide targeted instructional remediation intended to help mock students overcome common error patterns and misconceptions.
Reconsidering the Local After a Transformative Global Experience: A Comparison of Two Study Abroad Programs for Preservice Teachers
This study utilized a comparative case study design to understand preservice teachers’ views on programmatic elements that led to transformative learning experiences in the areas of global and local diversity. The findings reveal that participants in both programs demonstrated a new or enhanced interest in global issues and a more nuanced understanding of themselves as educators, though the relationship between global issues and their identities as culturally competent teachers of diverse students varied between programs. The findings can be grouped into three primary categories: relevant and interactive assignments, hands-on experiences, and support for personal growth.
April 2015
All Recent Items
Multiculturalism & Diversity
Teachers’ Awareness of Their Diverse Classrooms: The Nature of Elementary Teachers’ Reflections on Their Science Teaching Practice
“It’s not just Learning English, It’s Learning Other Cultures”: Belonging, Power, and Possibility in an Immigrant Contact Zone
The ‘Immigrant Corner’: A Place for Identification and Resistance
Analysing ‘Migrant’ Membership Frames through Education Policy Discourse: An Example of Restrictive ‘Integration’ Policy within Europe

Professional Development

From Preservice to Teacher Leadership: Meeting the Future in Educator Preparation

Instruction in Teacher Training

Making Meaning in Student Teaching
Research Studies and Active Learning Promoting Professional Competences in Finnish Teacher Education
Team-based Simulations: Learning Ethical Conduct in Teacher Trainee Programs
The Case for Increasing Workplace Decision-Making: Proposing a Model for Special Educator Attrition Research
Using Instructional Technology to Improve Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge of Phonological Awareness
Collaborative Teacher Education: Forging Tangible Connections between Field and Classroom

Research Methods

Incorporating Translation in Qualitative Studies: Two Case Studies in Education
Still Flies in Buttermilk: Black Male Faculty, Critical Race Theory, and Composite Counterstorytelling
Charting the Impact of Federal Spending for Education Research: A Bibliometric Approach
Visual Juxtaposition as Qualitative Inquiry in Educational Research

Mentoring & Supervision

Examining a Program Designed to Improve Supervisory Knowledge and Practices of Cooperating Teachers

Teacher Education Programs

Reconsidering the Local After a Transformative Global Experience: A Comparison of Two Study Abroad Programs for Preservice Teachers

Preservice Teachers

Teacher Candidates’ Perceptions of Technology Supported Literacy Practices
Beliefs about Teaching: Persistent or Malleable? A Longitudinal Study of Prospective Student Teachers’ Beliefs

Beginning Teachers

Beginning Teachers Who Stay: Beliefs about Students
Advanced Internship: A High-Impact, Low-Cost, Super-Capstone Course

Assessment & Evaluation

Impact of an Assessment Course on Teacher Candidates’ Assessment Literacy
Four Facets of Classroom Assessments: Obstacles, Obligations, Outcomes, and Opportunities

ICT & Teaching

Using Online Error Analysis Items to Support Preservice Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge in Mathematics
Preparing Special Education Teachers for Teaching Mathematics and Science with Technology by Integrating the TPACK Framework into the Curriculum: A Study of Teachers’ TPACK Development through Assessment of Lesson Plans

Theories & Approaches

Why Humanistic Teacher Education Still Matters
The Missing Link: Research on Teacher Education
University Autonomy, Agenda Setting and the Construction of Agency: The Case of the European University Association in the European Higher Education Area
Equity: Policy Rhetoric or a Matter of Meaning of Knowledge? Towards a Framework for Tracing the ‘Efficiency–Equity’ Doctrine in Curriculum Documents
Reflective Teaching: Theory within Classroom Practices
April 2015
 
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