Search

Despite an increasing number of English-language learners (ELLs) in U.S. schools and a trend toward placing them in mainstream classrooms, relatively little attention has been paid to synthesizing and appraising the extant research on how future mainstream teachers are prepared to teach this student population. To shed light on this topic, the article analyzes the limited but expanding body of research on the preprofessional preparation of mainstream teachers for linguistically diverse classrooms. The authors found that between 2000 and 2018, teacher educators experimented with a variety of pedagogical strategies, most of which situated learning to teach ELLs in diverse classrooms, schools, and communities--both in the United States and elsewhere. The authors conclude that despite having equity goals and including a variety of pedagogically rich ideas for preparing future mainstream teachers to teach ELLs, the vast majority of the studies leave unquestioned the power dynamics that sustain existing educational and social inequalities, thereby perpetuating the status quo., Introduction Recently, public schools in the United States passed a major milestone. For the first time in history, students of color composed the majority of enrollments in elementary and secondary [...]

This is the second of a two-part article intended to offer teacher educators a cohesive overview of the sprawling and uneven field of research on teacher preparation by identifying, analyzing, and critiquing its major programs. The article discusses research on teacher preparation for the knowledge society and research on teacher preparation for diversity and equity, the second and third programs of research the authors identified through their massive review of research on initial teacher education, 2000-2012. Guided by their 'Research on Teacher Preparation as Historically Situated Social Practice' theoretical/analytic framework, the authors describe the multiple clusters of studies comprising each of these programs of research and examine the social practices in which researchers engaged within one cluster selected from each. This article also suggests new directions for research on teacher education based on lacunae in the literature and on our analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the existing field. Keywords teacher education preparation, teacher education research methodology, certification/licensure, Researchers in many fields and in many parts of the world are now interested in studying the ways teachers are recruited, prepared and certified. They work from different, sometimes competing, [...]

This is the first of a two-part article that aims to chart the contemporary landscape of research on teacher preparation and certification. It is based on a review of more than 1,500 studies published between 2000 and 2012. Part I provides information about how the review was conducted and describes the theoretical/analytic framework the authors developed to guide the review. The framework combines ideas from the sociology of knowledge and research as social practice. This framework situates the research on teacher education within salient economic, intellectual, and demographic developments of the past half century and also examines the practices of researchers who are differently positioned from one another, have divergent purposes and audiences, and who work both inside and outside teacher education. Part I also analyzes the first of three major research programs--research on teacher preparation accountability, effectiveness, and policies, identifying strengths and weaknesses in this body of studies. Keywords teacher education preparation, teacher education research methodology, certification/licensure, Research on teacher preparation and certification is an emerging, complex, and multifaceted field, influenced by competing ideas about the purposes of research and the goals of education. This is the [...]

Over the past three decades, increased migration resulting from globalization has dramatically transformed the demographic makeup of nations throughout the world (Ben-Peretz, 2009). Nowhere is this transformation more apparent than [...]

Students who speak languages other than English are a growing presence in U.S. schools. As a result, many mainstream classroom teachers are finding that they have English language learners in their classes. Unfortunately, most mainstream classroom teachers have had little or no preparation for providing the types of assistance that such learners need to successfully learn academic content and skills through English while developing proficiency in English. In this article, the authors identify a small set of principles that can serve as the linguistic foundation for the teaching of English language learners in mainstream classes. The authors then outline linguistically responsive pedagogical practices that flow directly from those principles. They conclude with concrete suggestions for how teacher education programs can incorporate the knowledge and skills that will prepare all preservice teachers to be linguistically responsive. Keywords: English language learners; linguistic diversity; teacher education, Across the United States--in small Midwestern towns and rural areas, in the Southeast, as well as in coastal metropolitan areas--classroom teachers are increasingly seeing English language learners (ELLs) (1) in [...]

The use of a dispositional framework in the preparation of teachers, especially one that attends to issues of social justice, has generated considerable debate of late. In this article, the author argues that assessing teacher candidates' dispositions related to social justice is both reasonable and defensible. She explains why social justice matters in teacher education, provides a definition of the term dispositions and discusses why programs of teacher education must attend to them, and gives examples of practices used at one institution to assess teacher candidates' dispositions related to social justice to illustrate that such assessment can be done in a fair and principled manner. The author concludes that underlying the dispositions debate is an all-out war to define the goals of public education, the role of teachers, the nature of knowledge, and conceptions of learning, teaching, and learning to teach. Keywords: dispositions; teacher education; social justice; teacher beliefs, In recent years, teacher education has been under severe, if not outright vicious attack. The role of dispositions in teacher education, particularly the disposition related to social justice, is one [...]

Teaching students from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds calls for a new way of looking at teaching based on an understanding of the role of culture and language in learning. Six important qualities that can be used as a framework for professional development initiatives are presented.

To successfully move the field of teacher education beyond the fragmented and superficial treatment of diversity that currently prevails, teacher educators must articulate a vision of teaching and learning in a diverse society and use that vision to systematically guide the infusion of multicultural issues throughout the preservice curriculum. A vision is offered of culturally responsive teachers that can serve as the starting point for conversations among teacher educators in this process. In this vision, culturally responsive teachers (a) are socioculturally conscious, (b) have affirming views of students from diverse backgrounds, (c) see themselves as responsible for and capable of bringing about change to make schools more equitable, (d) understand how learners construct knowledge and are capable of promoting knowledge construction, (e) know about the lives of their students, and (f) design instruction that builds on what their students already know while stretching them beyond the familiar., The results of the 2000 Census show that the U.S. population is becoming increasingly diverse. This trend is especially salient in the K-12 student population. Currently, one of every three [...]

This article provides an overview of a program designed to help urban districts recruit teachers from nontraditional sources. Results indicate that recruiting and training uncertified teachers, paraprofessionals, and former Peace Corps volunteers has alleviated staffing problems in participating districts and has provided a diverse pool of motivated instructors.

The widening cultural chasm between teachers and students in elementary and secondary schools is a serious problem in American education demanding concerted action. As the works in this special issue [...]

The article discusses literature examining what teacher-educators are already doing and what they need to do to prepare classroom teachers to teach English language learners (ELLs). It examines the growing trend toward the inclusion of ELLs in mainstream classes and the role of language in schooling. It summarizes key points and recommendations for policy and research.

Presents information on education regarding the methods that are needed to meet the demand for a more racially diverse school teacher system in the United States. Why African-American teachers are needed; Details on the factors preventing this goal; Information on how to expand the teacher multiracial sector.

Presents information on education regarding the design principles within multicultural teacher education. In-depth look at these principles; How they apply to good practice in multicultural teacher education; Reference to the Multicultural Preservice Teacher Education Project.

Background/Context: New teachers must cope with various instructional, personal and organizational challenges, an experience that often leads to difficulties enacting innovative, student-centered instructional practices learned in their preservice programs and contributes to high rates of teacher attrition. Purpose: Drawing on complexity theory, this review of empirical research takes an organizational or "systems" perspective on the experiences of first-year teachers as they transition from preservice education to the teaching profession. In so doing, we aim to shift away from constructions of the teacher as an autonomous actor and instead build a more complex, nuanced, and layered understanding of the multidimensional influences that work together to shape the practices of novice teachers. Research Design: We conducted a metasynthesis of 46 studies that met the following criteria: (a) were focused on first-year teachers, (b) offered sufficient description of participants' professional practices, (c) featured participants who attended a university-based preparation program, and (d) were conducted since 1990. We first recorded each study's methods, findings, and descriptions of first-year teacher practices. As a second level of analysis, we used a complexity lens to identify the systems comprising first-year teacher practices, noting how those systems and their component or elements interacted to shape first-year teaching. Findings/Results: We found that common patterns of interactions between and among systems of first-year teaching--including the teacher herself, the classroom, the school, and the larger district, state, and federal environments--tend to reinforce traditional, teacher-centered practices. Yet, in some studies, conditions surfaced that enabled participants' to enact student-centered and equity-minded teaching practices learned in their preservice programs. Conclusions/Recommendations: Authors suggest that taking a complex systems view of beginning teaching, rather than singularly focusing on the teacher's actions out of context, can reveal opportunities for fostering more supportive, enabling conditions for new teachers to enact innovative practices that many preservice programs promote and experience a smoother transition into teaching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]