Section archive - Trends in Teacher Education

This study examined the flipped classroom through the eyes of pre-service language teachers to reveal what hinders them from or encourages them to adopt this approach. Data were collected from students in a Computer-Assisted Language Learning (CALL) course; they experienced two flipped class sessions (complementing the traditional instructor-led sessions) and completed a survey about their experiences. Semi-structured interviews were also conducted with a sub-set of students to examine their perceptions in greater depth. Three major themes emerged regarding benefits of the flipped classroom: learner autonomy, learning by doing with support, and preventing cognitive overload. Four challenges emerged: learners’ technology access and technical ability, technical support for instructors, ambiguous student responsibility, and an inability to provide immediate clarification. Three additional notable themes emerged: heightened awareness of peers in the classroom, different reactions to content-oriented versus technically-oriented instructional videos, and student workload. These themes are discussed in detail, along with suggestions for teacher training and professional development. Also considered is the need to establish guidelines for best practices in flipped classrooms and to develop high-quality approaches to flipping without a dependence on instructional videos.

Globalization is undoubtedly affecting every aspect of our lives. The reach and the reality of globalization means that what happens “there” to “them” now affects what happens “here” to “us.” The destinies of billions of people around the planet have become inextricably tied, connected by multiple networks, whether virtual, commercial, political, trans-familial, socio-cultural, or educational. This is the globalized space in which today’s teachers operate, it is the space they must navigate, they have no choice to do otherwise than to look, know, think, understand and teach beyond the boundaries of the(ir) local. But what exactly does that mean in practice? In response, the author begins first with a brief discussion about globalization—what it means, and how it is—or perhaps not—affecting teaching and teacher education. She then discusses the mindsets teachers (and therefore teacher education/educators) need to cultivate along four dimensions in the context of globalization: the curricular, professional, moral, and personal. She then closes with two immediate actions we should take as/to be a global teacher education community.

This article presents a scoping review of the 103 empirical studies focused on coteaching in teacher education to enhance conceptual clarity and heighten understandings of the nature and extent of such research. The authors map the methodological characteristics of these studies that serve to the breadth and depth to which coteaching in teacher education has been examined. Next, they describe the outcomes and phenomena explored by the 103 studies to reveal the intended results as well as points of tension for coteaching in teacher education. Finally, they couple an analysis of coteaching definitions within these studies with an analysis of the ways in which coteaching is implemented in teacher education. Notable findings of this scoping review include the extensive range of ways coteaching is implemented across the preservice teacher education curriculum, the variety of aims for coteaching in these contexts, and the need for continued grounding in frameworks to enhance understandings of coteaching practices and impacts for stakeholders including P–12 students, inservice teachers, teacher candidates, and university faculty.

For nearly 40 years the quality and value of the contribution of universities to initial teacher education has been brought into question. This is particularly so in England where the ongoing ‘discourse of derision’ has resulted in universities no longer being seen as necessary partners in the process. More recently, similar challenges have taken place in other countries such as USA and Australia. However in 2013, when the Welsh Government turned its attention to the apparent low quality of its current provision, rather than challenging the role of universities, it chose to strengthen their contribution. There were however to be important changes that insisted that universities put the student teacher learning at the heart of course planning, that universities clarify their own distinctive contribution and that they work in close collaboration with schools. While this approach to initial teacher education is not new, this is the first time that such a model has been implemented on a national scale. This paper outlines the nature, rationale and underlying research for the reforms in Wales. It concludes by speculating on their likely impact in raising the quality of provision and securing the future contribution of universities to teachers’ learning.