As a social studies teacher educator in the United States, it is crucial that I work to better understand myself and my teaching in regard to anti-racism. As a community, we need to study ourselves both as individuals and as programs to better ourselves as teacher educators who care deeply about racial justice, both for our own students and for…

Responding to a writer, a core practice for writing teachers begins when the teacher notices the author of a written product. The purpose of this study was to understand how early childhood (EC) preservice teachers (PSTs) in a literacy methods course noticed the K-1 writers responsible for seven written products. Twenty PSTs approximated taking…

Background/purpose: The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify strengths and deficits of alternative teacher certification programs, with particular emphasis on approaches to strengthening mathematical content knowledge and pedagogy. Materials/methods: Six participants included both teacher candidates enrolled in internship in the…

This paper presents research that exists at the crossroad of scholarly practice and scholarly inquiry. We outline the process in the design, enactment, and empirical examination of an elementary methods course activity, Exploring and Supporting Student Thinking (ESST), which engaged 18 elementary prospective teachers (PTs) in two sessions of…

Critical thinking is an important life skill that needs to be nurtured in young minds during the primary education years. This study explored pre-service teachers' perception of barriers to their efforts in promoting critical thinking skills in classrooms, and further explored possible solutions to overcome these perceived barriers. The study used…

This phenomenological study explored best practices to increase preservice teacher self-efficacy before the student teaching semester. The research was guided by this central inquiry and three sub-questions. Using a pre- and post-phenomenon survey instrument as well as an initial questionnaire and a final reflection, preservice teachers who were…

Although many music teacher candidates begin university studies planning to teach secondary ensembles, most will ultimately be certified to teach younger children and may be called to do so. The purpose of this study was to examine how music teacher education programs prepare preservice music educators to teach music to children from birth through…

Purpose: This study aimed to explore how educational technology influenced a preparatory teacher education program using heteroglossic and global approaches. Design/Approach/Methods: The researchers drew upon the theoretical framework of multilingual digital storytelling (MDST), which emphasizes the intercultural awareness attributes of…

Music education method courses include pedagogical content essential for successful classroom instruction. Preservice music educators, however, have expressed concerns with their method course experiences. Researchers have found that modeling, peer teaching experiences, various forms of feedback, and video recordings can help improve…

Because teaching is an inherently political act, it is important for music teacher educators to consider their role in the public discourse and how they approach the political dimensions of teaching with future music educators. In this interest article, we offer a theoretical basis for engaging preservice music teachers in critical reflection and…

This manuscript discusses a teacher education experience utilized within an early childhood literacy methods course named, book-tasting presentation. Existing literature suggests that book-tastings, in a variety of forms, are evident at the PK-12 level, yet not prevalent in higher education and specifically, teacher education. The aim of the…

Research (Ling, Sharifah & Hasnah, 2014; Rohaty, 2003) has shown that Malaysian preschool teachers, despite knowing and understanding the importance of visual arts and inquiry-based learning, lack the theoretical knowledge and practical training that would enable them to implement the approach in their teaching (Ling, Sharifah and Hasnah,…

In the United States, recent STEM education reform initiatives call for teaching STEM subjects through integration of multiple related subjects. In response to this call, an integrated STEM education methods course was developed for secondary preservice teachers in STEM disciplines. At the conclusion of the course, qualitative data (e.g.,…

This paper explores how a teacher preparation program in a liberal arts institution built upon the foundations of dialogic, relational pedagogy utilizes strong alumni connections to improve teacher education curriculum and support preservice, inservice, and teacher educators as they work to teach against the grain. Best visualized as an infinity…

In this self-study, two science educators partnered with two elementary teachers to plan, implement, and reflect on a unit taught in second grade classrooms that integrated science and language arts. The researchers hoped to increase their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for elementary science teaching so that they might use their experiences…