Teacher preparation for generalist (non-specialist) elementary teachers in Ontario typically comprises one compulsory music class. In entry surveys, many generalists describe themselves as highly apprehensive about and unconfident in their ability to teach music, confirming previous research. Using narrative inquiry, we explore the stories of both…

As a subject discipline frequently marginalized within the school system, enduring approaches to assessment do little advance the status of physical education. Current assessment practices in physical education are often disconnected from curricular outcomes, subjective in nature, and focused on assessment of learning rather than assessment for or…

This research examines the impact of the biographies of generalist elementary school pre-service teachers (PSTs) on their experiences of Canadian physical education teacher education (PETE), and how these biographies shape self-confidence and self-perceived competence as physical educators. The phenomenological case study took place in a Canadian…

The purpose of this mixed-methods research was to investigate changes in preservice elementary teachers' science teaching beliefs and explain how these beliefs influence the way these teachers interpret their science teaching and learning experiences. Supported by the theoretical underpinnings of teacher beliefs and drawings as a tool to…

Background: The current interest in models-based practice (MBP) as an innovation and framework has necessitated deeper understanding of both what MBP is and how teacher educators teach pre-service teachers about innovative approaches such as MBP. Despite several studies of individual teacher educators enacting MBP, there are few examples of how…

In this self-study, an education professor examines his efforts to attend to the concerns of teacher candidates concerning equity, diversity and social justice in a new School and Society course. The teacher educator asked teacher candidates complete exit cards after most classes and also read numerous teacher candidate journals and responses to…

This exploratory study used eye-tracking methodology to examine how elementary teachers study a multimedia model of reading development. Seven experienced teachers and 11 pre-service teachers participated. Visual attention, prior knowledge, and post-task scores were analyzed using quantitative and qualitative methods. Significant differences…

This study investigated the relationship between pre-service English-as-a-second-language (ESL) teachers' pedagogical beliefs and their actual teaching practices. To determine the nature of this relationship, 99 teachers-in-training with little or no teaching experience were asked to complete a questionnaire seeking information about their…

Service-learning (SL) has been validated throughout many studies as a productive experience to encourage relationship building between institutions and the community with measurable results. The aim of this meta-synthesis is to identify the underlying principles that promote SL in higher education with English Language Learners (ELLs) as a…

This study explored Canadian and American pre-service elementary teachers' self-efficacy beliefs for literacy instruction, as well as the contextual factors (i.e., course and field experiences) that contribute to these self-efficacy beliefs. Survey data were collected over a two-year period at the beginning and end of a required elementary…

Each fall the author assigns undergraduate teacher education students to design rubrics that they can use to evaluate auditions for reality television shows like "American Idol." The point is to draw students into a critical reflection on assessment literature and practices they have been studying. Through these reflections, the author…

This paper examines the practice and professional development of teacher educators engaged in diversity pedagogy in Canadian teacher education programs. Using a reflective inquiry combined with a self-study of teacher and teacher education practices (S-STEP), three educators discuss the complexity of their research and teaching experiences through…

This paper reports the results of an international study examining pre-service teacher reports of teaching self-efficacy for inclusive education; principally focusing on the explanatory relationship between a scale designed to measure teaching self-efficacy in this area and key demographic variables within Canada, Australia, Hong Kong, and…

This mixed-methods study reports on the perspectives of 208 teacher candidates on teaching children with developmental disabilities and delays (DD) in inclusive classrooms from Kindergarten to Grade 6. The questionnaire included items on demographics, experience, knowledge, and feelings of competence, advocacy, and sense of efficacy. Open-ended…

Shaping a professional identity is an important process in learning to teach. Case studies of Natasha and Julia, two pre-service elementary classroom teachers, were analysed to explore how they developed identities for teaching physical education during a pre-service teacher education programme. By critically analysing their physical education…