Section archive - Theories & Approaches

This study investigated the effects of the Big Five personality traits on academic success as measured by the final grade and study satisfaction of college and university students in early childhood education in Germany. As expected, students with higher conscientiousness also had better college and university GPAs. The findings indicated that conscientiousness corresponded with better GPAs for college and university students in early childhood education. Furthermore, school-leaving GPA was quite a good predictor of college and university GPA in this study of early childhood education. In addition, higher conscientiousness was associated with higher study satisfaction but only for college students.

This article aims to describe a conceptual model, including specific skills and processes of data-based decision making, to address accountability demands for continuous improvement based upon student learning results across multiple contexts. Considerations for implementation by teacher educators will be shared to build a comprehensive system of sustained school reform.

This article aims at investigating the impact of structural differences in teacher education on teachers’ CK and PCK. Therefore, the authors conducted a cross-sectional comparison with German pre- and inservice mathematics teachers at different points in their teaching careers. The findings showed that the CK of the teacher groups considered here differed significantly. As expected, the largest differences in CK and PCK were found between the beginning and the end of initial teacher education. Differences in the structures of teacher education were reasonably well reflected in participants’ CK and PCK.

The article explores the question of placing student teachers for their field experience in schools for a diversity of social and educational conditions in South Africa. It outlines the criteria that a sample of teacher educators uses for placing student teachers in ‘suitable’ schools, and relates these criteria to placements in challenging social and educational contexts.Different conceptual models for understanding the link between Teaching Practice placements and a social justice approach to teacher education have been outlined, and a position advanced for understanding and developing the elements of the different models within their particular historical context. These conceptual models are helpful but not sufficient to capture the aspirations, pressures and dilemmas involved in preparing teachers for a range of schooling contexts.