Reimaging Pre Service Teachers Practical Knowledge

Drawing from the discourse of practice-oriented teacher education, this book investigates the state of pre-service teachers’ practical knowledge in mainland China, providing insights into the reform of initial teacher education programmes for teacher educators. Conducting empirical studies at a university in Beijing, involving 400 pre-service teachers, the author investigates factors influencing pre-service teachers’ practical knowledge. Five innovative methodologies, namely concept mapping, visual metaphors, video analysis, epistemic network analysis, and formative interventions are employed to make pre-service teachers’ practical knowledge visible, helping to increase our theoretical understanding of practical knowledge and proposing practical guidelines for the reorganisation of initial teacher education. While the study is grounded in mainland China, the methodological thinking and theoretical discussions can inspire international scholars and teacher educators, and therefore contribute to the global reform of teacher education.

Drawing from the discourse of practice-oriented teacher education, this book investigates the state of pre-service teachers' practical knowledge in mainland China, providing insights into the reform of initial teacher education programmes for teacher educators. Conducting empirical studies at a university in Beijing, involving 400 pre-service teachers, the author investigates factors influencing pre-service teachers' practical knowledge. Five innovative methodologies: concept mapping, visual metaphors, video analysis, epistemic network analysis, and formative interventions are employed to make pre-service teachers' practical knowledge visible, helping to increase our theoretical understanding of practical knowledge and proposing practical guidelines for the reorganisation of initial teacher education. While the study is grounded in mainland China, the methodological thinking and theoretical discussions can inspire international scholars and teacher educators, and therefore contribute to the global reform of teacher education.

This book utilises expectancy–value theory and undermining effect of extrinsic reward theory to examine the impact of the Central Government-Funded Teacher Education (CGFTE) policy on Chinese pre-service teachers' motivations for choosing the teaching profession. Quantitative data analysis revealed six distinct categories of motivations to teach: teacher influence, job advantages (extrinsic), social value (altruistic), personal interest (intrinsic), others' suggestions, and fallback career. These categories were further exemplified in ten narrative stories. The findings indicate that the CGFTE policy attracts high-school graduates with higher intrinsic motivation to enrol in teacher-training programs, but it seems ineffective in increasing their intrinsic career-choice motivation. It is argued that the CGFTE policy, which emphasises extrinsic benefits but limits professional development, does not have a significant negative impact on pre-service teachers' motivation to choose teaching. This conclusion is supported by the offsetting effects of the policy's restrictive and encouraging aspects, as explained by expectancy–value theory and the qualitative data. Nevertheless, the intrinsic motivation of policy-funded pre-service teachers did not improve as much as that of their self-supported counterparts, indicating potential undermining effects of the policy. The study concludes by discussing the implications of these findings for enhancing the CGFTE policy, teacher training, and career education in China. The book will be an essential read for students and scholars of higher education, Chinese studies, and educational studies in general.

Within a Chinese English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learning context, this book investigates how teachers and learners interacted and articulated their understanding of English for Research Publication Purposes (ERPP)-related knowledge in a synchronous EFL classroom. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic changed the way people receive education, causing an almost overnight switch from on-campus instruction to distance learning. Under the use of three different learning analytics approaches, this book has moved beyond the usual descriptive understanding of the online learning process to an in-depth exploratory and inferential analysis of the entities, structures, relations, and processes of learning. The findings enrich current understandings of the complexity of ERPP teaching and learning in synchronous learning contexts. These findings also drive us to rethink and reshape the way ERPP instruction is delivered post-pandemic. An essential read for students and scholars of education and academic English. This book will also be a vital source for researchers in the field of learning analytics, data analysis, and data interpretation in language teaching and learning.

The widening of income and wealth inequality has become one of the most important obstacles on the road to China’s common prosperity. In the context of inequality reduction and anti-poverty strategy in China, this book investigates the complex relationship between education and intergenerational mobility in terms of occupation and income. Based on large-scale social survey data, cutting-edge econometric models and statistical methods, the book examines the role of education in breaking the intergenerational transmission of poverty and promoting intergenerational mobility. It analyzes the characteristics of birth cohorts in intergenerational mobility, the long-term trends of educational, occupational, and income mobility among rural and urban residents across generations, and also the different regional patterns of intergenerational mobility against the background of social changes in China. Based on empirical findings, the author advances suggestions on an education policy conducive to poverty alleviation. The book will appeal to scholars and students studying the sociology of education, the economics of education and Chinese education, as well as policy makers interested in the topics of education policy systems and poverty alleviation, as well as education equity and social mobility.

Challenges to practicum! The authors have explored professional practice knowledge and the ways practicum is dealt with in teacher education. They report from Research and Development projects based on collaboration between universities and school communities. Empirical studies have been carried out in Australia, Canada, China, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden. Communication about practicum is reframed. Preservice teachers’ experiences during practicum serve as a point of departure for improving teacher education. The book is a must for everyone committed to quality in initial teacher education, including preservice teachers, school leaders and local supervisors. “This volume explores new and different ways to think about the construction and evaluation of the practicum that students encounter. Contributors ask the reader to consider the assumptions that the practicum is based on, question these assumptions and strive to find new and better ways to contribute to the autonomy, professionalism, and moral development of emerging teachers. The focus is clearly on creating conversational and learning spaces for students that encourage them to think explicitly about theory and its application to practice and vice versa. The book not only challenges our thinking but also provides rich examples of research and evaluation in this area, which help us to hear the voices of those involved in the practicum in fresh and insightful ways.” Reflections by Roslin Brennan Kemmis, Head of the School of Education, Charles Sturt University, Wagga Wagga, Australia

STEM Teacher Preparation and Practice for the 21st Century: Research-based Insights introduces the reader to a collection of thoughtful, research-based works by authors that represent current thinking about the future of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics or STEM as it known today, as well as STEM education for a rapidly evolving global society and the preparation of STEM teachers to meet the educational needs of a changing educational landscape. Each chapter focuses on STEM teaching and the preparation of teachers who will enter classrooms to instruct the next generation of students in STEM. Research in the learning sciences focuses on the cognitive, epistemological, and socio-cultural characteristics of scientific and engineering research communities in their efforts to improve Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education. STEM education is a means to help individuals develop different strategies in order to solve interdisciplinary problems and gain skills and knowledge as they are engaged with STEM related activities through formal and informal learning programs. Research also suggests that STEM may well stand as the new general education for the 21st century. In much of the current discourse on teacher quality and preparation, two essential points for consideration have emerged: the strength of the relationship between teacher content knowledge and student achievement, and the specific representations of knowledge that are most conducive to effective teaching. Add to these two points one additional: the nature of transforming a chaotic system of discreet preparation and clinical experiences into a coherent, aligned and logical system of continuous and progressive development and support throughout a teacher’s career. These three points apply to STEM teacher preparation, induction and professional learning as well as to teacher preparation, induction and professional learning in general. Importantly, the contributing authors to this book have brought to the foreground research-based insights concerning STEM teacher preparation. Each chapter presents clear paths to understanding and reimagining STEM teaching and the importance of STEM teacher preparation, acknowledging the value of STEM literacy and the interdisciplinary nature of STEM teaching.

For pre-service teachers at three levels of education - early childhood, primary and secondary. Learning to teach is a difficult and complex activity. It is a process that requires pre-service teachers to chart uniquely personal pathways to becoming effective teachers, pathways that are littered with complex and demanding challenges that vary across time, place and person. This book offers pre-service teachers a novel way of addressing those challenges. It reveals what pre-service teachers need to do to transform their preconceived notions about teaching, acquired during twelve years as students in schools, into the practical theories that guide the classroom teaching of highly effective practitioners. It presents examples of the knowledge and theories of actual teachers, both pre-service and in-service; activities for explicating, reviewing and re-building knowledge and theories; and research-based guidelines to effect change while learning to teach. This book will contribute to making the task of learning to teach much more comprehensible to prospective teachers, while empowering students to take a more significant role in their own professional development.