This study explores the application of Vygotsky's zone of proximal development in pre-service teacher training by investigating the effectiveness of ZPTD in lesson plan design. A qualitative research approach has been utilized to gather and analyze both versions of a lesson plan designed by a pre-service teacher (the researcher). The revised…

Background: K12 teachers need a wider range of design approaches to foster feasible qualitative improvements in all students' schooling experiences. We propose a framework for conceptualizing pre-service teachers' stances toward designerly thinking. Methods: We developed the framework following Crismond and Adams' scholarship of integration…

Rape culture and sexual violence have especially entered popular discourse in recent years, largely due to the significant activism of Tarana Burke's #MeToo movement. As such, because educators are increasingly taking up these topics, approaches to such intense subject matter in literacy learning need to be creatively and critically (re)considered…

Drawing on data from a larger feminist study that explored how secondary English teacher candidates responded to a sexual trauma text set and pedagogy for teaching such narratives with Canadian adolescents, this paper examines how caretaker discourses emerged in response to these stories and learning. This especially manifested as emerging teacher…

To promote inclusive practices in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) classrooms, this research explores teacher candidates' (TCs') views and understandings of differentiated instruction (DI). The article addresses the following research questions: (1) What are intermediate-senior STEM TCs' initial views and understandings of…

Students feel epistemic emotions like surprise or frustration when they encounter content that conflicts with their beliefs or previous knowledge in a way that can facilitate or hinder learning. Pre-service teachers may find that professional perspectives on assessment conflict with their previous knowledge of assessment, creating epistemic…

Differentiated instruction (DI) is a teaching approach that aims to achieve learning for diverse students. This study reports on promoting STEM teacher candidates' (TCs') implementation of technology-enhanced DI in teacher education courses. The research questions are: (1) How do TCs develop digital video games (DVGs) to be inclusive of DI?, and…

This research explored how teacher candidates (TCs) developed and curated learning resources that are both digitally enriched and focused on differentiated instruction (DI). The authors present the analysis of a course assignment in which TCs developed multimedia curriculum resource websites suitable for use by secondary teachers of science,…

Secondary mathematics pre-service teachers (PSTs) are required to take university-level mathematics content courses to develop their mathematical content knowledge. Although PSTs' experiences as students play a major role in the types of teachers they become, there is limited research investigating the experiences of PSTs engaging in these…

While many schools have gravitated away from an emphasis on 'zero tolerance' discipline, embracing a range of 'restorative practices' (RP), only a handful of empirical studies have examined how RP have been received by educators. Moreover, frameworks which embrace RP in the classroom often neglect newer forms of online-mediated conflict and harm…

Integrating STEM education within the elementary school science curriculum in Ontario, Canada, elevated the expectation for elementary preservice teachers to teach STEM skills such as problem-solving through coding. Research shows that educational robotics can promote STEM knowledge and skills. This mixed methods study investigates the effect of…

Restorative practices are gaining traction as alternative approaches to student conflict and harm in schools, potentially surpassing disciplinary methods in effectiveness. In the current article, we contribute to the evolving understanding of restorative practices in schools by examining qualitative responses from educators regarding restorative…

In this article, the authors present a writing activity that allowed pre-service teachers to be creative in the mathematics classroom. Inspired by "The Important Book" by Margaret Wise Brown, students explored secondary-level mathematics concepts, discussing various attributes/characteristics of each concept through their written…

To raise Earth Science (ES) interest in pre- and in-service K-12 teachers, we incorporated ES into an environmental education (EE) course for this audience. The approach recognizes the growing interest in EE, and the focus on inquiry and student-centered learning in British Columbia schools. This case study examines the impact of this innovation…

This nonexperimental, exploratory, mixed-design study used questionnaires with 167 preservice secondary teachers to identify prior educational experiences associated with student-teachers' inquiry understanding. Understanding was determined through content analysis then open coding of definitions of inquiry and descriptions of best-experienced…