Suchergebnisse

An undergraduate teacher education program at Gallaudet University prepares deaf students in "regular" education. This includes a required full-time internship with hearing students (assisted by sign language interpreters). Graduates then continue in a master's degree program in deaf education, thus acquiring dual certification. Several studies indicate that these deaf candidates progress through the same developmental stages as hearing candidates and that they develop high expectations for deaf learners. Issues related to implementing such a program are discussed.

While virtual technology for training in the simulation field has a long history in medicine, aviation, and the military, the application of similar emerging and innovative technologies in teacher preparation and education has been limited. TLE TeachLive™ (Teaching Learning Environment, Teaching in a Virtual Environment) [TLE] is an inventive mixed-reality environment (the blending of real and synthetic content) where prospective teachers can interact with a group of virtual students. The purpose of the virtual teaching environment of TLE is to strengthen teacher recruitment, preparation, and retention in education by allowing teachers to improve their skills with virtual students, providing a more constructive and ethical approach to learning the art of teaching. The protected environment allows pre-service teachers to utilize their emergent knowledge of behavior, diversity, and effective instruction in a flexible and safe practice environment. In this simulated environment, permission does not have to be gained to work with actual children and they are not exposed to missteps on the part of novice teachers as the teachers learn to refine their instructional techniques. This study investigated pre-service teachers' use of differential reinforcement of incompatible behavior, a set of behavior management strategies, in a simulated classroom. Results indicated that the majority of participants evidenced an increase in the use of these strategies to enhance student engagement in the classroom.

This article reports on a descriptive study of standards and criteria for competence in braille literacy within teacher preparation programs and the specific role played in the achievement of proficiency in braille literacy by university teacher preparation programs in blindness and visual impairment. It contains a summary of the need for such research, historical background, research methods, and a discussion of standards and implications for personnel preparation.

The number of deaf education teacher preparation programs and the number of program graduates were tabulated from reference issues of the American Annals of the Deaf beginning in 1973 and progressing every third year through 2009. Programs and graduates reached their highest levels from the mid-1970s through mid-1980s. In 2006 and 2009, only about one fourth as many students were majoring in deaf education in relation to the general U.S. college population as in 1973, 1976, and 1979. Yet because the population of children identified as deaf and hard of hearing has also declined, the ratio of program graduates to deaf children has stayed relatively balanced for the past 20 years. Current challenges faced by teacher preparation programs include increases in interpreter preparation programs and programs for teaching American Sign Language, as well as the changing nature of the role of teacher of the deaf.

This study is aimed at exploring how teacher preparation programs in Taiwan—both traditional and alternative— prepare teachers for teaching controversial public issues specific to Taiwan (e. g., national identity, sovereignty, and ethnic issues). Using a case study design, this study documents six social studies teachers' readiness and attitudes about whether to teach controversial public issues or not. Findings illuminate that 1) teachers' attitudes and readiness have been influenced by their teacher preparation programs (both traditional and alternative); 2) teachers from different teacher education programs contribute to their curricular-instructional decision making for teaching controversial public issues differently.

PurposeIn a context where standardized testing and achievement scores have become the hallmark of accountability frameworks, the issue of social responsibility is not given much attention in schools in Jamaica. This has led to a continuous decline of the moral and spiritual dimension of schooling in the country. This is evidenced through an increase in school violence and other disparities among students. This paper aims to explore teachers' perception of how they are prepared for their role as agents of social responsibility.Design/methodology/approachThrough interviews of 16 in-service teachers, this research sought to explore teachers' perception of how they are prepared for their role as agents of social responsibility. Each participant in the study was interviewed using a structured interview schedule comprising six questions. Data collected were transcribed and analyzed by sorting and identifying codes. Pattern codes were established which were then interpreted to form themes. Three themes emerged which are used to present findings.FindingsFindings revealed that teachers had a shared understanding of social responsibility; they felt that they were prepared for this role throughad hoccurriculum encounters, were not adequately prepared for their role and social responsibility required a belief in the idea first before it can be taught.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings from the research are used to present arguments in the paper for emphasis on preparing student teachers to be agents of social responsibility and for a rethinking of teacher preparation curriculum in Jamaica. The paper also presents strategies that can be used to guide the re-thinking of teacher preparation programmes.Practical implicationsTeacher preparation programmes represent the avenue through which teachers can be prepared to develop their social consciousness, so that they can in turn help students. The results of this paper are means of helping teacher educators understand this.Originality/valueThis paper is one of the first since the early 1990s to discuss social responsibility as a key component of teacher preparation in Jamaica. It also fills the void of scarcity of research in Jamaica on teacher education on a whole and social responsibility in teacher education in particular.

This book introduces the reader to a collection of research-based works by authors that examine assessment and the application of professional judgment guided by assessment for learning in contrast to the more normalizing assessment of learning that currently pervades the nature of assessment in teacher preparation.

While the future of many teacher preparation programs in vision remains unclear, the national demand for teachers who are trained in blindness and visual impairment continues to soar. Course syllabi from teacher training programs in vision were collected to ascertain what teacher trainers think is important content for preservice teachers. The findings revealed that course content, assignments, and requirements tended to vary among programs.

Like the cigarette commercial, "We've come a long way baby," teacher education has come a long way as well. Despite the many critics of education, it is an established fact that our educational record stands alone as a model. Throughout our history, professional educators have moved step-by-step to improve programs and to increase expectations. For the teacher, this has meant that the acceptable minimum of training has increased from completion of a year of education beyond the level achieved by the students they taught to graduation from normal school to completion of a 4-year college degree preparation program and beyond. Even more important are the many changes in program scope and depth. One need only compare the texts and journals we expected students 50 years ago to master with those we use now to realize how much more substantial our requirements are today. Students of today must master more content, acquire a more solid theoretical understanding, and be able to apply that content and theory in the classroom. Though education's standards and expectations have been raised, we must do even better in the future. The world of the 21st Century will demand literacy of all, not just 90% of the population; the survival of every citizen will depend on possession of advanced manual and cognitive skills; the continued existence of society itself will require a literate and skilled citizenry that understands its origins and the context in which society develops and prospers. There are a number of factors impacting upon teacher preparation today and in the future. Here are a selected few that I would like to focus on: (a) societal expectations, (b) limited life space, (c) problems of adequate funding, (d) adult and continuing education and lifelong learning, (e) the impact of technology, and (f) the knowledge base on education.

Initial teacher education programs are undergoing reforms to equip pre-service teachers with inclusive skills, knowledge, attitudes, and values that are critical for successful implementation of inclusive education. This dissertation, comprised of four articles and a summary, sought to describe how the colleges of education in Ghana prepare teachers for inclusive education. A descriptive survey research approach was adopted in all four articles.The first article sought to determine the knowledge of pre-service teachers regarding the concept of inclusive education, special education needs (SEN), inclusive pedagogical approaches, and their feelings of self- efficacy in terms of teaching in inclusive settings. The results indicated that the majority of the final-year pre-service teachers have been introduced to the concept of inclusive education, and overall, they demonstrated good knowledge of inclusive education and SEN. However, only the minority indicated that they provided support for the SEN children they encountered and felt highly self-efficient in terms of their preparedness to teach students with SEN. The second arti- cle sought to determine the inclusive pedagogical approaches, knowledge, and values that pre- service teachers acquire from a SEN course, their perceptions of the adequacy of the SEN course, and the challenges associated with the delivery of the SEN course. It was found that the medical model view of disability was dominant in the SEN, and only a minority of pre-service teachers acquired the requisite inclusive values, principles, and pedagogical practices from the course. On the whole, the SEN course was found to be adequate in equipping pre-service teachers with the knowledge and skills required to identify the different categories of SEN and disabilities but inadequate in providing pre-service teachers with sufficient inclusive knowledge, skills, and practices.The third article examined the knowledge of teacher educators regarding the concept of inclusive education, SEN, and inclusive pedagogical approaches, as well as their attitudes toward inclusive education, perception of their roles, and preparedness to train teachers for inclusive education. Overall, they demonstrated positive attitudes toward inclusive education and teacher preparation for inclusive education. However, the majority were of the view that Ghana was unready for the implementation of inclusive education because of contextual factors, such as inadequate facilities, inadequate teacher preparation, inadequate resources, societal attitudes, inadequate public education, and lack of political will. Moreover, the majority lacked adequate inclusive teaching experience and felt somewhat prepared for training teachers for an inclusive classroom. The final study adopted a cross-sectional approach to determine pre- service teachers' views and opinions about disability, their level of discomfort, their attitudes toward inclusive education, and the impact of independent variables. Although, the pre-service teachers understood disability in terms of the dynamic interaction of both biological factors and environmental factors, they felt more comfortable interacting with people with disabilities, but their overall attitudes were scantily positive, with some being predisposed to cultural beliefs about disability. The overall study indicates that Ghana needs reforms in initial teacher educa- tion to prepare pre-service teachers and teacher educators to promote inclusion. The studies discussed several factors that could be adopted to effectively train teachers on issues of SEN, disabilities, and inclusive pedagogical approaches to improve upon their attitudes and self- efficacy.