The goal of this study was to explore the influencing factors of pre-service science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for targeted aspects of nature of science (NOS) and nature of scientific inquiry (NOSI) in a 13-month teacher development program, through multiple data sources. The program included a research experience, a course on…

Drawing from the experiences and reflections of new urban educators, this study examines how teachers undergo their first year of teaching on account of their student teaching. Using "Situated Learning Theory"--with an emphasis on legitimate peripheral participation--this study explores how sociocultural and contextual elements of…

Teacher coaching has emerged as an effective alternative to traditional forms of professional development. Researchers have studied instructional coaching models and found a positive influence on teacher efficacy and student outcomes. Yet there is little mention in any of the literature of including teacher candidates in the coaching process.…

Teacher certification exams were put on hold as New York City became the epicenter of the COVID-19 crisis in March of 2020. State officials closed testing centers and school buildings, and teacher candidates began to panic as administrators at their student teaching placements worked feverishly to adjust. This changed teacher candidates' ability…

This qualitative study aims to provide insight into why teacher candidates, interested in pursuing K-12 teaching, made the decision to leave their traditional teacher preparation programs during the COVID-19 pandemic. The researchers utilized sociocultural theory as the framework to ground the research. The study finds the educational disruption…

This study explored how students (pre-service teachers) benefit from the support of having a peer with them during their first professional experience in preschool contexts, utilising a PAL (Peer Assisted Learning) approach. International students at a large Australian University were interviewed as part of this qualitative study. We found that…

Interest in reflective practices, within the broader framework of teachers' professional knowledge, has been ongoing in educational research for the past few decades. The idea from which reflection itself stems is that of teachers' agency in their own professional development. The initial positivist approach viewed the relationships between…

This case study investigates the factors that challenge and support preservice teachers' (PST) arts integration beliefs and practices. The participants include a total of 74 PSTs enrolled in a mandatory university arts course at a large Southern university across three consecutive semesters. Concurrent with arts class enrollment, PSTs are also…

The Department of Education initiated a pilot of the Rural and Remote Training Schools project in 2011 to promote rural and remote teaching to university students. The program is a key component of the Department's broader attraction and retention strategy and targets the Pilbara, Kimberley, Midwest and Goldfields regions; areas that are deemed to…

This paper presents the findings of a group of teacher candidates with undergraduate degrees in a STEM discipline who were followed through an intensive 1-year preparation program and their 1st year of teaching. We report on the affordances and challenges participants' discipline knowledge presented to developing pedagogical content knowledge…

While observing exemplary in-service teachers is important, researchers suggest there may be benefits to observing peers as well. Much of the peer observation literature is focused on the process of peers observing peers in the same institution. The authors of this study brought together undergraduate music education peers from two separate…

Recognising the importance of learning from experience, this mixed methods study critically problematises how teacher educators position student teaching as pivotal in teacher education programmes' inability to focus on racial equity. Through learnings from a survey of US university-based teacher educators who constructed student teaching…

Filled with practical steps for all the stakeholders in the student teaching experience, this article emphasizes the many ways that communication adds to student teaching success, as well as includes useful checklists.

This paper has two interrelated goals. The first is to introduce a framework: oppositional democracy. The second is to use this framework to address what I see as a central problem that occurs when learning to teach: the moment when someone with power tells an aspiring teacher that something she hopes to accomplish is "unrealistic". The…

This paper explores ways in which cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) provides a useful framework for examination of reflection and action during inclusive education fieldwork. Deeper understanding of combined reflection and action - praxis - is needed for researchers and teacher educators to support teacher candidates' implementation of…