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This paper reports on a three-year study that examined the effect of 9/11 on preservice teachers’ perspectives and dispositions toward global concerns and global perspective pedagogy. Participants responded to a “before” and “after” survey in which they indicated the level of their awareness of global concerns, perceptions of their importance, perceived impact on self, and dispositions toward global-perspective pedagogy. The study utilized both quantitative and qualitative data collection and analysis. The data revealed that 9/11 had a significant effect on preservice teachers that resulted in a shift in perspectives and dispositions toward critical global concerns and teaching about them. The findings highlight the critical importance of preparing preservice teachers to develop global perspectives, cultivate critical knowledge and perceptual understandings of global concerns, and nurture favorable dispositions toward global perspective pedagogy.

Using a qualitative research design, this study examined the impact of a course that utilized transformative pedagogy to foster preservice teachers’ transformative learning in a social studies methods course. The study was framed around the construct and practice of transformative education and pedagogy. Transformative pedagogy was defined as an activist pedagogy that combines the elements of constructivist, critical pedagogy, multiculturalism and practices that promote dialogical relations, engage and empower students as critical inquirers, participatory, active, and self-reflective learners who confront their prior beliefs, perspectives, frames of reference and attitudes in order to foster the development of critical consciousness, visions of possibilities, and action. Drawing on multiple sources, the data revealed that participants evidenced transformative learning such as follows: (a) deepened perspectives and new understanding of social studies; (b) shifting dispositions and awareness of a new sense of responsibility; (c) evolving self-examination and redefinition of teaching role, and (d) emerging sense of social critique and conscientization. Finally, the article discusses practices of key elements of transformative pedagogy that foster transformative learning such as a community-based learning context, experiential learning activities and project, reflective journaling, modeling, and scaffolding.

The aim of this chapter is to critically analyse multiple stakeholders’ self-perceptions of the value, nature, success and impact of core Aboriginal Studies subjects in primary teacher education university courses.

Participants were drawn from two universities in New South Wales which taught a core Aboriginal Studies subject as part of their primary teacher education degree. The methodology was informed by Yin’s (2003) multiple-case study replication design. This replication presents a picture of the perceptions and events which have impacted on the participants in the study.

The findings have important implications for theory, research and practice. The results of this study demonstrate that core Aboriginal Studies subjects in primary teacher education courses can make a positive difference in changing the perceptions of many pre-service teachers about Aboriginal people.

The purpose of this study was to assemble an evidence-based rationale, which includes the voices of multiple stakeholders, to test the extent to which core Aboriginal Studies subjects in primary teacher education courses are vital to improving educational outcomes for Aboriginal children, advancing reconciliation and creating a more socially just Australian society.

Undertaking professional training through a core Aboriginal Studies subject builds pre-service teachers’ self-concepts, attitudes, commitment, knowledge and skills, and ability and understandings to teach Aboriginal Studies, incorporate Aboriginal perspectives and to be committed to effectively teaching Aboriginal students.

The study supports the need for the inclusion of core Aboriginal Studies subjects in all universities with teacher education courses.

Research on Indigenous students has mostly adopted a deficiency model. In contrast, this study takes an explicitly positive perspective on Indigenous student success by focusing on the active psychological ingredients that facilitate successful learning.

This chapter explores inquiry-based learning from the prospective of preservice teachers learning to enact classroom-based research. After describing a preservice course focused on practitioner inquiry, a framework for analyzing teachers’ perspectives toward teacher research is provided. The framework focuses on the different ways teachers conceive and make use of student learning data as tools for their own inquiry-based learning. Our study shows that changes to preservice teachers’ perspectives toward inquiry are possible, but often slow to nurture. Discussions of different approaches to research and specific research models appeared to be most impacting. Specifically, the above framework suggests that teacher inquiry that pursues dilemmas and wonderings, often leading to more questions, is much more useful than inquiry that seeks distinctive resolutions. When considering teachers’ classroom-based inquiry as a life-long professional pursuit, the results show promise for developing dispositions and skills for inquiry at this early career level. Implications of the course on preservice teachers and the theoretical model are provided.

“Global education involves (1) the study of problems and issues which cut across national boundaries and the interconnectedness of cultural, environmental, economic, political, and technological systems and (2) the cultivation of cross-cultural understanding, which includes development of the skill of “perspective-taking,” that is, being able to see life from someone else's point of view. Global perspectives are important at every grade level, in every curricular subject area, and for all children and adults.(Tye & Tye, 1992)The literature generally suggests that the best way to infuse global perspectives into teacher education programs is by modeling pedagogy through the use of not just readings and lectures, but role plays, case studies, and collaborative investigation of useful resources among colleagues. Merryfield (1997) sets out methods for pedagogy for global perspectives that include exploration of self-knowledge, cross-cultural experiences and skills, perspective consciousness, values analysis, and authentic learning. Given the wide range and capacities for educating large numbers of new teachers in many countries, infusing global perspectives into otherwise technically oriented training programs is often poorly managed.

Purpose – Prior research suggests that high school experiences shape young adult political behaviors, particularly among immigrant youth. The U.S. social studies classroom, focused on democratic citizenship education, proves an interesting socializing institution.Methods – Through qualitative inquiry, we interviewed Latino immigrant young adults and their former teachers regarding their high school social studies experiences and evolving political and civic engagement.Findings – Armed with experience bridging the worlds of the school and home, immigrant students respond and relate to the content and pedagogy of the social studies classroom in such a way that they (1) participate in civic discourse and (2) nurture a disposition toward leadership through teachers’ civic expectations of them and instructional emphasis on critical thinking skills.Social implications – The ability to engage in civic discourse and a disposition toward leadership are both necessary to foster America's democratic ideals, and to take on leadership roles during adulthood. With focused effort on the unique perspective of immigrant youth, high school social studies teachers can nurture in these students the ability to become leaders in young adulthood, broadening the potential leadership pool.Originality – This study highlights how the social studies curriculum may be particularly salient to Latino immigrant youth as they transition from adolescence to young adulthood and develop their political and civic identities.

The purpose of this paper is to examine mentor teachers’ approaches to mentoring preservice teachers in a yearlong teacher residency program (TRP).

This multiple-methods study examined 15 mentor teachers’ approaches over the course of a year in an urban TRP through the lens of Wang and Odell’s (2002) framework for mentoring. Data sources included mentors’ self-assessments over three points in time across one academic year. These self-assessments included numerical ratings of practice (quantitative) as well as open-ended rationales and goal setting (qualitative).

Mentors predominately provided support and technical assistance to the residents learning to teach, drawing on humanistic, and situated apprentice perspectives on mentoring. They worked to develop residents’ self-confidence and exposed residents to a range of practices and school contexts. Glimmers of a more critical constructive approach were apparent in some mentors’ discussions of reflection and collaboration.

This study informs the work of teacher education programs as they develop mentoring structures that align with program visions, expand notions of mentoring, and consider the many roles of a mentor teacher.

Increased emphasis on clinical experiences for preservice teachers highlights the need to attend to the practices of the mentor teachers with whom they work. These mentors, as field-based teacher educators, play a critical role in teacher education, and teacher education programs need to support their professional development as mentors. Understanding mentors’ approaches to mentoring is necessary in order to provide this support.

This study aims to develop a self-reflection scale useful for teachers to improve their skills and to clarify the Japanese teachers’ characteristics during mathematics lesson observation (MLO). In MLO, it is important to understand the lesson plan in advance to clarify observation points, and we aim to develop a scale including these points.

Based on the pre-questionnaire survey, nine perspectives and two situations for MLO were extracted. From these, a questionnaire for MLO was created. The results obtained from 161 teachers were examined, and exploratory factor analysis was conducted. ANOVA was conducted to analyze the effect of differences across the duration of teaching experience on the identified factors.

We developed a self-reflection scale consisting of 14 items with three factors: [B1] focus on instructional techniques and evaluation, [B2] focus on proactive problem-solving lesson development and [B3] focus on the mathematical background of the learning content. While duration of teaching experience showed no effect, three factors of the self-reflection scale for MLO showed a significant effect. Further multiple comparisons revealed the degree of focus was [B2]>[B1]>[B3].

Teachers who use this developed scale may grasp the strengths and weaknesses of their own MLO, which leads to self-improvement. The perspectives emphasized in lesson observation are the same when creating lesson plans and implementing lessons, leading to lesson improvement. Furthermore, based on the characteristics of teachers revealed, new training programs regarding MLO can lead to higher-quality lesson studies.

The purpose of this study is to explain how the quality of teacher-student relationships and the gap of cognitive styles between teachers and students impact student achievement. The population for the study was comprised of 11 career and technical education (CTE) teachers and 210 CTE students, representing six disciplines within CTE. The study occurred in a suburban high school in western North Carolina. Leader-member Exchange (LMX) theory and Adaption- innovation theory guided the research. Dyadic intensity between teachers and students predicts the quality of teacher-student relationships from both the teacher’s perspective and the student’s perspective. The quality of teacher-student relationships from the teacher’s perspective predicts the quality of teacher-student relationships student’s perspective. Further research is recommended to understand how leader-member exchange manifests in classroom settings and impacts student achievement.

The purpose of this paper is to study teachers’ perspectives of social and emotional learning (SEL) in Aotearoa New Zealand (NZ) primary schools.

This research was a case study design investigating the phenomenon of SEL in primary schools (elementary school level) in Aotearoa NZ (Stake, 2005).

The SEL themes that were drawn from the data were: positive interdependence, empowerment, self-management, self-awareness restorative conversations and circle time.

The research challenges the field to work with teachers and community workers to create more in-depth qualitative research knowledge that is contextually relevant to SEL for researchers, educational policymakers and our children.

Based in Aotearoa NZ primary schools, this qualitative research provides a unique perspective of SEL from school-based practicing teachers.