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Pre-service teachers' conceptions of assessment have received relatively little attention in research concerned with professional development in initial teacher education. These conceptions, alongside others regarding teaching and learning, however, have a great impact on future teachers' instructional practices. In this study, the authors examine conceptions of assessment indirectly, by analysing 79 Finnish pre-service subject teachers' narratives of students' failure. Their findings reveal four major conceptions: (a) assessment is about feedback and reflection; (b) assessment needs to be personalised and demonstrate students' learning; (c) assessment should take into account students' invested effort; and (d) assessment fails to measure students' success or failure. These findings provide a qualitative insight into and extend both research on teachers' conceptions of assessment as a vital aspect of assessment literacy and research on pre-service teachers' conceptions in particular. The relevance of these findings for future teachers' professional development is discussed.

This paper reports on a three-year research project aimed at examining experiences of being a teacher in a context of school reform and adverse times. A mixed-method research design was devised, including a national survey, semi-structured interviews, focus groups and a professional development programme. Findings suggest that teachers face old and new demands in a context of school reform and adverse times along with the worsening of their working conditions, the deterioration of their socio-economic status and the lack of career prospects. Some of them try to survive; others resist feelings of giving up by becoming more resilient and resisting. Professional values, a sense of professionalism and identity, along with the relational and emotional dimensions of teaching, and, in some cases, school culture and leadership, explain the ways in which some teachers became more resilient and resistant than others.

This paper provides an overview of research on veteran teachers and teacher identity. It analyses issues at the personal, situated and professional levels that have been shown to impact on veteran teachers' identities. The search included empirical studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 2005 and 2016. In total, 19 papers were analysed. Findings revealed that many studies focused on veteran teachers' resilience. Issues concerning veteran teachers' identities are key to understanding why they remain in the profession and are able to sustain their motivation and commitment over time. Many veteran teachers portrayed in the literature built on their confidence regarding their professional competence and relied on internal and external issues to maintain their motivation and commitment to teaching. The role of emotions in the transformation of veteran teachers' identities and the permeable boundaries of the personal, situated and professional scenarios influencing veteran teachers' identities are highlighted in the paper.

Pre-service teachers' conceptions of assessment have received relatively little attention in research concerned with professional development in initial teacher education. These conceptions, alongside others regarding teaching and learning, however, have a great impact on future teachers' instructional practices. In this study, the authors examine conceptions of assessment indirectly, by analysing 79 Finnish pre-service subject teachers' narratives of students' failure. Their findings reveal four major conceptions: (a) assessment is about feedback and reflection; (b) assessment needs to be personalised and demonstrate students' learning; (c) assessment should take into account students' invested effort; and (d) assessment fails to measure students' success or failure. These findings provide a qualitative insight into and extend both research on teachers' conceptions of assessment as a vital aspect of assessment literacy and research on pre-service teachers' conceptions in particular. The relevance of these findings for future teachers' professional development is discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a three-year research project aimed at examining experiences of being a teacher in a context of school reform and adverse times. A mixed-method research design was devised, including a national survey, semi-structured interviews, focus groups and a professional development programme. Findings suggest that teachers face old and new demands in a context of school reform and adverse times along with the worsening of their working conditions, the deterioration of their socio-economic status and the lack of career prospects. Some of them try to survive; others resist feelings of giving up by becoming more resilient and resisting. Professional values, a sense of professionalism and identity, along with the relational and emotional dimensions of teaching, and, in some cases, school culture and leadership, explain the ways in which some teachers became more resilient and resistant than others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides an overview of research on veteran teachers and teacher identity. It analyses issues at the personal, situated and professional levels that have been shown to impact on veteran teachers’ identities. The search included empirical studies published in peer-reviewed journals between 2005 and 2016. In total, 19 papers were analysed. Findings revealed that many studies focused on veteran teachers’ resilience. Issues concerning veteran teachers’ identities are key to understanding why they remain in the profession and are able to sustain their motivation and commitment over time. Many veteran teachers portrayed in the literature built on their confidence regarding their professional competence and relied on internal and external issues to maintain their motivation and commitment to teaching. The role of emotions in the transformation of veteran teachers’ identities and the permeable boundaries of the personal, situated and professional scenarios influencing veteran teachers’ identities are highlighted in the paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]