Teacher Perspectives Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Democracy is a highly desirable but contested concept in education. However, little is known about how current and future educators perceive, experience and relate to democracy, which could have a significant impact on how students learn about, and become involved in, civic engagement and democracy. This paper reports on a study of 129 College of Education students, finding that they generally have a narrow conceptualization of democracy, primarily focused on electoral politics, only weakly connecting it to education. Social justice, in particular, was highlighted as requiring more attention.

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- Education, Democracy, Standardization, Standardized Testing

There is currently no Australian research literature available on educational professionals’ experiences with home educated students when they make the transition into various mainstream educational institutions. Seventeen educational professionals described their experiences with transitioning home educated students. Students were evaluated as having strong to excellent academic abilities and good to excellent social skills. The few academic problems identified in transitioning home educated students were linked to recognised learning difficulties while the social problems of a few students were linked by professionals to difficult family situations and family itinerancy rather than to the practice of home education. The findings indicate that professionals were frequently unaware of a number of key factors related to student transitions into mainstream institutions, including student histories prior to entrance into mainstream institutions, the curriculum used by home educated students and how these were similar or different to curriculum used in their institutions. Because professionals were also frequently unaware of parent reasons for home educating students, reasons for entering students into mainstream institutions, and student involvement in the decision to make these transitions, it is argued that more care and consideration be given to support these students in their transition into mainstream institutions. In order to ensure positive transition experiences for home educated students, this paper recommends proactive use of existing school transition programs in conjunction with a clearer understanding of the culture of home education.

- by Glenda Jackson
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- Home Schooling, Home Education, Transition, Homeschooling

When young refugee English language learners (ELLs) start formal schooling in the United States, the social-emotional learning (SEL) appropriate for the U.S. school context may be especially unfamiliar to them. By interviewing six elementary school teachers, this exploratory study examined how tea- chers describe refugee ELLs’ social-emotional competencies and what ped- agogical methods they report using with refugee ELLs for their social- emotional skills development. This study also considered to what extent teachers’ views of their refugee ELL students’ SEL and their self-reported pedagogies reflect their recognition of refugee ELLs’ funds of knowledge, teachers’ development of culturally sustaining pedagogies, and teachers’ use of power to promote equity and social justice in the classroom. The teachers identified a range of social-emotional skills, in particular social awareness and relationship skills, as important for refugee ELLs to develop. To help them, the teachers used various pedagogical methods, including explicit teaching, individualizing, creating a positive climate, and collabora- tion and support. However, the teachers’ views of their refugee students’ SEL and their self-reported pedagogical methods were largely deficit- oriented. Interpreting our findings within the existing literature from the critical perspective provides critical insights into teachers’ perspectives and approaches to supporting refugee ELLs’ SEL in early elementary grades.

- by Hyonsuk Cho
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- Refugees, English Language Learners, Social-Emotional Learning, Teacher Perspectives

Albeit school teachers ’ traditional concepts are believed one of the obstacles of fostering children’s creativity, their voices and demands were not heard among the attempts of promoting creativity education in Taiwan. This study aims to gain an in-depth understanding of primary school teachers ’ responses of adopting creative pedagogy in an Asian context. Ten-week lessons based on the framework of creative pedagogy were designed and taught to two six-grade classes by the researcher. During the lessons, the classroom teachers acted as non-participant observers; their views concerning the pedagogy and ethos were collected through individual interviews in the end of the project. Strategies employed in the lessons were considered useful in developing creative qualities. Tensions of adopting creative pedagogy were also indicated. Their concerns revealed certain misconceptions of as well as the support they need in adopting creative pedagogy. A need to contextualise creative pedagogy is...

- by Yu-sien Lin
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- Psychology, Learning and Teaching, Drama In Education, Creative Pedagogy

Despite the need for Response to Intervention (RTI) in secondary grades, research is scant with most studies exploring state-level policy guidance and RTI implementation surveys in classrooms. Additionally,
state and federal policy has generally been vague regarding specific information for RTI implementation in literacy. Our national survey reports data on RTI implementation from 209 secondary grade teachers. Response profiles and statistical significance tests were conducted, determining that many secondary level classrooms are using research-based recommendations for RTI implementation and practice across the country. However, significant regional differences exist in how RTI is being resourced and implemented.

- by Rachelle Savitz
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- Adolescent Literacy, Response to Intervention, Literacy Education, Implementation

The concept of inclusive education has historically divided the field of special education into those who valued specialized practices in exclusive or segregated settings, and those who sought to forge new versions of general education classrooms in which all students could be included. Ideological disputes about what human differences constitute disabilities undergird two very distinct positions that are known as medical and social models of disability. The positions
significantly impact how inclusive education is envisioned and enacted, with proponents of each model holding fast to what they believe is “best” for students. It is precisely because of disagreements about what constitutes special education—and in particular its relationship toward inclusive education—that we see value in comparing and contrasting medical and social models of disability.
In doing so we build upon previous publications of scholars who have analyzed differences between medical and social perspectives of special education. Moreover, we extend these analyses to focus upon inclusive practices in particular, including the impact of how medical and social models impacts each educators’ disposition about how inclusion is conceptualized, enacted, and assessed. For the purpose of this analysis we focus upon the following areas: (1) the concept of disability and “appropriate” placement; (2) the purpose of schools; (3) the nature of teaching learning; (4) a teacher’s role; (5) the notion of student success and failure; and, (6) perceptions of social justice and disability. Within each area we offer a medical and social model perspective before discussing implications for inclusive education. Finally, we describe how, when taken together, these interconnected and sometimes overlapping areas convey how medicalized or sociocultural models of inclusive education can vary dramatically, depending upon a teacher’s general ideological disposition toward disability or difference. [initial draft of published paper]

- by David J Connor and +1
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- Special Education, Teacher Education, Disability Studies, Critical Disability Studies

Engaging students in a challenging (cognitively demanding) task and launching a mathematics lesson with a task prior to instruction are two characteristics of a reform-oriented approach to mathematics instruction often considered together. The current investigation systematically contrasted teaching with challenging tasks using a task-first lesson structure (Task-First Approach) with that of a teach-first lesson structure (Teach-First Approach) through the delivery of two programs of mathematics instruction to 75 Year 1 and 2 students (7 and 8 year olds). The investigation adopted a quasi-experimental design and included three studies. Study One was quantitative in nature and involved analysing pre- and post- program student outcome data. A series of Mixed Design ANOVAs revealed that both teaching approaches resulted in large gains in student mathematical performance. Moreover, there was no evidence that problem-solving performance differed by lesson structure, although the Teach-First Approach was somewhat more effective in improving mathematical fluency. Study Two was qualitative in nature and involved semi-structured interviews with teacher-participants. Analysis of interview data suggested that there appear to be distinct advantages to both the task-first and teach-first lesson structures. Specifically, teacher-participants perceived that the Teach-First Approach was more focused and efficient, whilst the Task-First Approach was viewed as empowering students, and providing an opportunity to build persistence whilst fostering student mathematical creativity. Despite these differences, there was evidence that the most dramatic shift in teaching practice for teacher-participants would be the incorporation of more cognitively demanding tasks into their mathematics instruction in any capacity. Study Three was also predominantly qualitative and involved semi-structured interviews with student-participants. In line with teacher perceptions of the student experience (Study Two), analysis of student-participant interviews indicated that students generally embraced struggle and persisted when engaged in mathematics lessons involving challenging tasks. In addition, many students described enjoying the process of being challenged. Although most students reported preferring the Teach-First Approach when learning with challenging tasks because it provided opportunities for cognitive activation, a substantial minority (41%) of students preferred the Task-First Approach, in part because they relished the higher level of cognitive demand involved. The findings do not support the assumption that for students to learn from cognitively demanding tasks, lessons must begin with these tasks. Given that each approach was revealed to be effective and to possess distinct strengths, it is recommended that early primary teachers give consideration to incorporating both Task-First Approaches and Teach-First Approaches into future mathematics instruction.

- by James A Russo
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- Mathematics Education, Mixed Methods, Cognitive Load Theory, Experimental Design

Online learning is the distance education anyone can enjoy if they have easy access to technology and technological gadgets. There are a large number of online tools available on the Internet and they help English language learners to hone their language skills. By using them, learners can learn English at their own pace. Some of them are padlet, diigo and YouTube. These learning tools are user friendly. They help learners enjoy autonomy. Teachers' presence is dispensed with and students become independent and responsible for their own learning. They can have unlimited amount of knowledge regarding the use of English. Many of these tools are freely available on the net. This paper identifies how the web tools can be used as self-learning materials and modes.

- by sherlin raja
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- Online Learning, Language Learning, Task-based language teaching, Web Tools

A survey was conducted to investigate teachers' perspectives toward ICT integration in teaching at government schools of Delhi, India. Teachers' perspectives were measured in terms of their knowledge, attitudes, decisions and practice of ICT in teaching and learning. These variables were based on Rogers' Innovation-Decision Process (IDP) model. American India Foundation (AIF), a non-profit organization had been running its Digital Equalizer (DE) program in the government schools of Delhi since 2009. The participants of this research were the teachers of the DE schools for the academic year 2016-17. 191 teachers filled and returned the survey. Some of the major highlights from the evaluation conducted suggested that in the recent past (especially, in the last two years) a lot of the teachers received technology usage training and many started to use ICT in their teaching. Broadly, teachers were at a medium level of technological skills and knowledge and held a positive attitude toward integrating technologies in teaching. The majority of teachers had been using ICT and had decided to continue its use in the future. Schools had lent a supporting hand to teachers to continue their exploration of technological use in teaching and learning. A recommendation for further study would be to explore whether these teachers would continue the integration of technology in teaching or not without any support from third parties like private and non-profit organizations.

- by shilpa sahay
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- Information Technology, Political Science, ICT in Education, Teachers Practices

When young refugee English language learners (ELLs) start formal schooling in the United States, the social-emotional learning (SEL) appropriate for the U.S. school context may be especially unfamiliar to them. By interviewing six elementary school teachers, this exploratory study examined how teachers describe refugee ELLs' social-emotional competencies and what pedagogical methods they report using with refugee ELLs for their socialemotional skills development. This study also considered to what extent teachers' views of their refugee ELL students' SEL and their self-reported pedagogies reflect their recognition of refugee ELLs' funds of knowledge, teachers' development of culturally sustaining pedagogies, and teachers' use of power to promote equity and social justice in the classroom. The teachers identified a range of social-emotional skills, in particular social awareness and relationship skills, as important for refugee ELLs to develop. To help them, the teachers used various pedagogical methods, including explicit teaching, individualizing, creating a positive climate, and collaboration and support. However, the teachers' views of their refugee students' SEL and their self-reported pedagogical methods were largely deficitoriented. Interpreting our findings within the existing literature from the critical perspective provides critical insights into teachers' perspectives and approaches to supporting refugee ELLs' SEL in early elementary grades.

- by Hyonsuk Cho
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- Psychology, Refugees, English Language Learners, Social Emotional Learning

The present study first explores schoolwide faculty beliefs about the response to literacy intervention policy and school implementation at one middle school and then provides detailed strengths and weaknesses identified by the literacy interventionists. Findings indicate that schoolwide beliefs were overall positive relating to implementation, but lower regarding implementation in their own classrooms. Literacy interventionists believed there were positive features with interventions and implementation, but that they were provided little voice regarding decisions relating to student placement and exiting, chosen interventions and supplemental materials, and professional development. With their insider knowledge, they provided recommendations for successful implementation at their school that is applicable for all middle schools implementing response to literacy implementation.

Implementing innovation in schools requires careful orchestration of a host of dimensions and stakeholders. Stakeholders fundamental to change are teachers. This article explores the potential of an in-school professional development program at empowering teachers and consequently transforming their perceptions, attitudes, and classroom practice. This program formed part of a 3-year-3-cycle research longitudinal project aimed primarily at promoting Drama within a school situated in a low socioeconomic status area. The discussion centers on the teachers’ initial beliefs, perceptions, knowledge, and practice of Drama and examines the change as a result of the professional development intervention. The research gradually involved all the teacher population (14) in the particular primary state school. At the end of the 3-year project, teachers reported a change in perceptions and enhanced knowledge of Drama conventions and thus felt more confidence to teach the subject. Moreover, they reported that a year after the project had finished, they were still using the Drama strategies learnt in their classrooms

- by Isabelle Gatt
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- Drama Education, Reform, Teacher change, Teacher Perspectives

- by shilpa sahay
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- Information Technology, Political Science, ICT in Education, Teachers Practices

Many factors play a role in the successful transition of students from secondary to
university education: one of them is the (university) teacher. In this study the
similarities and differences in the perspectives on teaching and learning of secondary
and university teachers were investigated. A survey was performed among 675
teachers. Three perspectives on teaching and learning could be distinguished: (1) a
development orientation with shared regulation, (2) a knowledge orientation with
strong regulation, and (3) an opinion orientation with loose regulation. Secondary
teachers scored higher on the first perspective than university teachers who scored
higher on the third perspective. These findings have implications for the transition of
students from pre-university to university education and especially for teachers’ roles.

The article looks at conceptualisations of inclusive education in the international and Kosovo context, including the factual argumentation and legal representation of the term. The study explores the attitudes of teachers and their understanding of inclusive education, including arguments for and against it, implementation challenges, and perspectives. Interviews were used as a tool to generate information from key informants. The study is qualitative and based on an analysis of the experiences of six in-service teachers. The findings suggest that teachers have a wide knowledge of inclusive education and believe it has only positive effects for children with special needs. They believe that children can achieve more in terms of socialisation and modelling of good behaviours from their peers, but that success in academic achievements is lower because of the limited knowledge of teachers about individualised planning and differentiated teaching, and a lack of institutional support and proper evaluation of each teacher’s work.

- by CEPS Journal and +1
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- Inclusive Education, Development Children with Special Needs, Teacher Perspectives

This study explored teacher perspectives on the use of socioscientific issues (SSI) and on dealing with ethics in the context of science instruction. Twenty-two middle and high school science teachers from three US states participated in semi-structured interviews, and researchers employed inductive analyses to explore emergent patterns relative to the following two questions. (1) How do science teachers conceptualize the place of ethics in science and science education? (2) How do science teachers handle topics with ethical implications and expression of their own values in their classrooms? Profiles were developed to capture the views and reported practices, relative to the place of ethics in science and science classrooms, of participants. Profile A comprising teachers who embraced the notion of infusing science curricula with SSI and cited examples of using controversial topics in their classes. Profile B participants supported SSI curricula in theory but reported significant constraints which prohibited them from actualizing these goals. Profile C described teachers who were non-committal with respect to focusing instruction on SSI and ethics. Profile D was based on the position that science and science education should be value-free. Profile E transcended the question of ethics in science education; these teachers felt very strongly that all education should contribute to their students' ethical development. Participants also expressed a wide range of perspectives regarding the expression of their own values in the classroom. Implications of this research for science education are discussed.

- by Mahsa Kazempour
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- Socioscientific Issues, Teacher Perspectives

Introduction I conducted a survey research which explored teachers' perspectives measured in terms of their knowledge, attitudes, decisions and practice of ICT in teaching (Sahay, 2019). These variables were based on Rogers' Innovation-Decision Process (IDP) model. The participants of this research were the teachers of the 72 Delhi government schools who were implementing American India Foundation's (AIF) Digital Equalizer (DE) program for the academic year 2016-17. The findings suggest a little over half of the teachers to have medium level of technological skills and three-fourth of them to have positive attitude, deciding to use technology, and practicing computer-based technologies on a weekly basis. The study recommends for focused teacher technological training programs and increase in technological infrastructure at schools. With these, it would ensure that teachers' knowledge and attitude advance exponentially which could lead to stronger integration of ICT in classrooms. This paper elaborates on the recommendations solicited to the Indian policy-makers, government schools, teachers and researchers based on the extensive literature reviews and survey results. This compilation of recommendations should be guiding steps for the visionaries to keep in mind while integrating ICT in school education in India. Recommendation to Policy-Makers The Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) stated that each country, in association with the private sector should make available the benefits of new technologies in education (United Nations, 2012). It falls on the policymakers of the country to highlight India's image on the global scenario of ICT in education. As per the ICT Development Index (IDI), 2017, a country's transformation to becoming an information society can be illustrated by the three-stage model which are-stage 1: ICT readiness (the level of networked infrastructure and access to ICTs), stage 2: ICT use (the level of intensity of ICTs in the society), and, stage 3: ICT impact (the results/outcomes of more efficient and effective ICT use). It is recommended to the policymakers to capture the evolution of the information society as it goes through the stages of development. India stands at 134 th position (out of 176 countries) in IDI ranking, 2017. The government really needs to work towards increasing the limited bandwidth per Internet user along with low home computer and Internet penetration rates (Measuring the Information Society Report, 2017). Use of computer-related technologies in school education has been commonly taking place for the last decade or so. In places like Delhi, access to technologies at schools has not been an issue. Private and public organizations have been working towards increasing the access of technological tools at government and government-aided schools. The policymakers need to step up to increase the number of technological tools available at schools and measure ICT usage and potential outcomes which may help in retention and learning. The government also needs to ensure uninterrupted power supply to enable proper integration of ICT into schools. Even in metropolitan place like Delhi, the problem of power cuts is frequent in the government schools. There is also a need to provide sufficient computer-related resources and Internet connectivity in all the public schools of the country. It's definitely need of the time for the government to ensure that the present generation of students get trained in use of technologies in order to be adept for their future work place requirements.

- by Mahsa Kazempour
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- Ethics, Science Education, Socioscientific Issues, High School