ethanporcaro/eric-fulltext-meta huggingface dataset:
Exploring Japanese University EFL Teacher Motivation
Author: Tsutsumi, Rie
Date: 2014-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: English (Second Language),Second Language Learning,Second Language Instruction,Language Teachers,Teacher Motivation,Job Satisfaction,Likert Scales,Teacher Attitudes,Foreign Countries,College Faculty,Statistical Analysis,Questionnaires,Professional Autonomy,Job Security,Teacher Selection,Tenure

Current studies show that it is becoming clear that language teachers give significant importance to learners' motivation level, interest levels, and attitudes toward their learning. Motivated teachers can have a powerful influence on students' career directions, and positively impact learners' motivations and interests. However, not many studies have been conducted on teachers' motivation. This teachers' motivation research focuses on teachers' career history, job satisfaction levels, and what university English teachers value in their teaching jobs. In this study, the researcher is attempting to explore factors which enhance and affect university English teachers' motivation in detail. It investigates teacher motivation through quantitative research utilizing questionnaires with six Likert scale questions to explore what teachers experience on a daily basis and throughout their teaching career, both inside and outside of their classrooms. It was found that Japanese university EFL teachers tend to seek intrinsic needs and wants such as autonomy, self-growth, and seeing students' growth through daily interaction in English classes. The results suggest that inner psychological aspects of motivation can be a powerful source of motivation. At the same time, they seek job security most among many extrinsic factors. It implies that working conditions, especially hiring conditions regarding the contract, such as whether they are hired as part time or full time, tenured or contract, dynamically affect teachers' motivation when seeing their career as a lifelong career in their profession.
How Should We Evaluate Student Teachers?
Author: Deering, Thomas
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Student Teachers,Student Teaching,Student Teacher Evaluation,Professional Development Schools,Grades (Scholastic),Schools of Education,Pass Fail Grading,Referral,Letters (Correspondence),Job Applicants,Classroom Techniques,Principals,Cooperating Teachers,Elementary School Teachers,Middle School Teachers,Grading,Supervision

In this article, Thomas Deering addresses possibly the most written about component of teacher preparation: &quot;student teaching.&quot; Deering states that a cursory examination of literature databases identified some 4000 articles on this topic, spanning the last three decades. An issue often related to Professional Development Schools (PDSs) that is attracting increasing interest is action research in the student teaching experience, so the purpose of this investigation was to look into the accuracy of the evaluation process for student teachers. Two questions guided this research: (1) How valid are letter grades assigned to student teachers?; and (2) How accurately does a letter of recommendation identify a student teacher&apos;s strengths and weaknesses? The research showed that letters of recommendation written by individuals who have been trained in writing letters of recommendation as a component of a course in the supervision and evaluation of student teachers offer a more accurate assessment of the student teacher than does a traditional letter grade. Based on this research, the author has come to the conclusion that teacher education institutions should do away with the traditional letter grade as the method of evaluating the student teacher and adopt a pass/fail system supported by letters of recommendation written by cooperating teachers who have been trained to write letters that are clear and specific as to the student teacher&apos;s strengths and weaknesses.
Peer Debriefing: Teachers&apos; Reflective Practices for Professional Growth
Author: Hail, Cindy
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Graduate Surveys,Teacher Education,Reading Instruction,Methods Courses,Demography,Peer Relationship,Graduate Students,Professional Associations,Communities of Practice,Interpersonal Communication,Peer Evaluation

In this article, the authors describe the process of &quot;peer debriefing&quot;: exposing oneself to a disinterested peer in a manner paralleling an analytic session and for the purpose of exploring aspects of the inquiry that might otherwise remain only implicit within the inquirer&apos;s mind. The authors wanted to know if former graduate students engage in peer debriefing or similar activities, and framed their research question for this pilot study: Do graduates of the university&apos;s elementary and reading master&apos;s programs utilize the practice of peer debriefing? The authors report on a survey by inservice teachers, indicating that overall, respondents seem to use all or parts of the peer debriefing process, such as discussing educational matters with others who are knowledgeable. but not specific stakeholders in the situations. Almost all teachers surveyed reported that they use other teachers as sounding blocks, and that reflecting with colleagues is an important part of their professional growth.
Predictors of Teacher Candidate Success in Developing a Capstone Project: The Teacher Work Sampling (TWS) Methodology
Author: Watkins, Paul
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Predictor Variables,Preservice Teachers,Teacher Competencies,Summative Evaluation,Work Sample Tests,Preservice Teacher Education,Grade Point Average,Academic Achievement,Admission Criteria,Teacher Education Programs,Regression (Statistics)

Many university and college teacher education programs have adopted the Teacher Work Sample (TWS) as their capstone assessment demonstrating a teacher candidate's competencies in planning, assessing and reflecting on instructional practice. The TWS summative results submitted by students at a mid-size state university who were in their final semester of a teacher preparation program included participants from elementary, special education and early childhood majors, and were evaluated by teams of faculty, university supervisors (part-time faculty), and practicing classroom teachers who work with the university students in the field. Students were expected to meet all of the elements of the TWS with 70% accuracy or higher. In the case of this study students were admitted to the education program with a minimum 2.5 GPA. To assure the program is getting highly qualified students, universities should consider raising the GPA requirement to as much as 2.7. Consequently, teacher preparation programs must set high expectations for their graduates. These programs must select candidates who enter the program first as high performing undergraduates and finish as proficient, highly-qualified professional teachers. Success on the TWS relates more strongly to GPA than any other predictor considered in this study. More teacher preparation programs around the country who adopt the TWS assessment model should consider those dispositions and prerequisites that strengthen the teacher candidate's likelihood of success.
Turn with Students: Making Conversation a Priority in Teacher Education
Author: Harman, William Gregory
Date: 2011-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Preservice Teachers,Interpersonal Communication,Teacher Student Relationship,Teacher Education,Standards,Classroom Techniques

In this article, the author describes his attempt to define conversation in the context of teaching, and to explain why it is a vital focus, both theoretically and practically. This article illustrates how educators currently do not pursue the systematic teaching of conversation in teacher education. Harman then presents a few existing ideas that could be productive starting points for a pedagogy of conversation, and, finally, offer ideas for what educators could afford to sacrifice in order to spend more time on conversation with teacher candidates. He argues that educators need to better cultivate in their teacher candidates the ability to converse, to turn things over with students. Educators must instruct the candidates in how to speak with their students, rather than merely to them, or even worse, at them.
Labyrinths: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow-Implications for Education
Author: Michels, Barbara
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Intellectual History,Background,Design,Creative Activities,Patternmaking,Geometric Concepts,Educational Practices,Elementary School Students,Relaxation Training,Therapeutic Environment

Educators are continuously looking at innovative ways to teaching and working with students of all ages. The tools used range from the simplest technologies, such as chalk and pencils, to the high-tech tools involving computers and information systems. The best tools and strategies often invoke the use of the old and new or the old in a new way. In 2002 an interest in labyrinths (the old) led most naturally to an Internet search (the new) and resulted in the obvious question of how these mysterious, yet marvelous, patterns could be applied to the instructional arena. An extensive search of the traditional literature databases and the Internet at that time revealed only passing comments and anecdotal records and there were few of those. The existing literature did reveal that these mystifying geometric forms have a long history. Curiosity was piqued and enthusiasm ignited as questions centering on how these may relate to children in an educational setting came to the surface. Courses such as &quot;Classroom Management&quot; that, of course, include student behavior, became a consideration. What if a simple geometric tool, such as the labyrinth, could positively affect student behavior and the overall climate in the classroom? Schools create a community in which effective teaching and learning occur. Teachers should care about students&apos; personal, emotional, and spiritual well being besides delivering knowledge. It is important that students are exposed to learning in a climate that nurtures their development in all ways. Could labyrinths help students look inside their minds and explore their potential? The students themselves have some of the answers. As one said, &quot;It gave me a chance to reflect on the things I&apos;ve done, said and felt.&quot; (LECT, 2003) This article will look at the historical background of the labyrinth as well as definitions. Then a modern view will be given with details on the various ways it is being used today including an overview of a school study. Finally, some questions for the future will be raised.
Preparing Teachers to Remake Society: New College at Teachers College, Columbia University, 1932-1939
Author: Murrow, Sonia E.
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Educational History,Educational Development,Teacher Education Programs,Educational Philosophy,Community Education,Alternative Teacher Certification,Student Characteristics,Middle Class,Program Termination,Social Influences,Political Influences,Economic Impact,Curriculum Development,Educational Practices,Activism,Higher Education

New College was an experimental and demonstration undergraduate teacher education program, founded in 1932 at Teachers College Columbia University, only to be shut down by the administration eight years later. Described as an &quot;unorthodox venture,&quot; New College promised to be an alternative route to teacher education at a time when the nation was in the throws of economic and social devastation (Cremin et al, 1954, p. 222). This dramatic backdrop, &quot;wedged between a past war and perhaps a coming war,&quot; shaped how the program was executed and eventually became marginalized (New College Yearbook, 1939, p. 6). This essay aims to illuminate New College's founders, the philosophical framework behind the program, including its strong emphasis on community education, the mostly middle class students who enrolled in it, and finally its closing in the context of social, political, economic, and international events that held the attention of professional educators and others in the 1930s. Constructed with the help of primary and secondary sources (Cremin et al, 1954; Daughtery-Mix, 1968; Zeichner and Liston, 1991), this study also aims to characterize and analyze social, economic, and political realities that shaped higher education discourse about education at a time when progressivism dominated at Teachers College, and because of its influence, many programs nationwide (Tyack and Hansot, 1983). New College aimed to prepare empathetic and knowledgeable teacher-leaders, informed by a social reconstructionist critique of American capitalism, to work for social change in a community context. Though the program eventually could not garner the financial and ideological backing it needed to survive, it still provides a compelling example through which to contemplate complex and significant teacher education reform questions in the past and present.
National Standards: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow
Author: Leavitt, Lynda B.
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: National Standards,Academic Standards,State Standards,Curriculum Development,Curriculum Implementation,Alignment (Education),Standardized Tests,Global Approach,Behavioral Objectives,Educational Objectives,Definitions,Educational Trends,Educational Development,Educational Policy,Trend Analysis,Elementary Secondary Education

What is meant by the term &quot;standards&quot;? This article will use the definition of the National Academy of Sciences for their workshop on Assessing the Role of K-12 Academic Standards, &quot;generally used to refer to both content standards, which describe material that students should be expected to learn, and performance standards, which describe the level of proficiency or mastery expected of students…Most state standards specify both&quot; (Beatty, 2008, p. 2). No Child Left Behind (NCLB) theoretically aligns state standardized assessments with that particular state's standards and thus, teachers are required to use them for instructional planning, especially as states release curriculum frameworks, becoming more and more specific about what concepts are being taught and how they will be assessed. National standards have the possibility of creating common outcomes on achievement and performance assessments; yet a variety of different types of educational reforms are being considered. It must not be forgotten that students are individuals with unique possibilities; moving towards an increase in national standardization might just be moving this country in a direction that impedes the development of these unique possibilities. Undoubtedly, educators are already overwhelmed with a long list of standards from various organizations. Will one more list of standards make the difference for students?
The Role of Religion in 21st-Century Public Schools: Historic Perspectives on God and Goodness in the Classroom
Author: Jones, Steven P.
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Role of Religion,Public Schools,Educational Philosophy,State Church Separation,Moral Development

No other educational issue hits a more sensitive nerve with the American public than the role of religion in the public schools. While the intentions and actions of the religious and non-religious parents and community members overlap a great deal as they conceive of the good people they want their children to become, there is no apparent overcoming of their differences regarding the place of religious faith and religious life in that vision. Non-religious parents do not use religious language to describe the basis of their moral commitments and their hopes for the moral life their children will lead. Other second languages are available to them, each suggesting a community to serve, and each with the power to circumscribe our first instincts for radical autonomy. There is, for instance, the language of the civic republican tradition that articulates commitments and practices that can powerfully shape character. These commitments and practices establish interconnections between people, joining people to families, friends, communities, and churches--making each individual aware of his reliance on the larger society (Bellah, 1985, p. 251). The second languages of social responsibility and social justice suggest other commitments, duties, and obligations that can shape the habits of the heart of young people. Religious people have recourse to these same second languages. So, the group of parents and community members that wants faith-based understandings for their children press the school administrator to open graduation ceremonies with what they deem to be an appropriate prayer. The group of parents and community members that insists the school not endorse or inculcate faith-based understandings--the secular humanists and those with religious understandings who worry school personnel may be forced to endorse only limited and particular understandings--press those same administrators to deny the request for the opening prayer. This essay looks briefly at the ideas of Plato, Rousseau, and the founders of the common schools in America, as well as more contemporary educational philosophers John Dewey and Nel Noddings, to explore the different ways parents think about how to help their children live good lives, and what role public schools play or don&apos;t play in achieving this goal.
Aesthetic Education and Masked Emotions: A Model for Emancipatory Teacher Preparation
Author: Clark, Barbara A.
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Aesthetic Education,Preservice Teacher Education,Preservice Teachers,Painting (Visual Arts),Museums,Critical Thinking,Visual Perception,Psychological Patterns,Individual Development,Poetry,Elementary Education

According to Maxine Greene (1988), aesthetic education is &quot;integral to the development of persons--to their cognitive, perceptual, emotional, and imaginative development&quot; (p. 7). The purpose of this paper is to present the developing sense of self that pre-service teachers experienced through an aesthetic entry point, the 9/11 mural by Graydon Parrish entitled, &quot;The Cycle of Terror and Tragedy/&quot; Pre-service teachers explored the psychosocial theories that Erikson (1963) outlined in the course text by Woolfolk (2008) while viewing the 9/11 mural. Greene&apos;s (2001) research on aesthetic education and Perkins&apos; (1994) research on visual thinking structured and supported the aesthetic experience, thereby providing a foundation to begin thinking deeply about the psychosocial theory of Erikson when facing the expansive allegorical mural by Parrish. The museum arena in which the mural was displayed provided a community space for pre-service teachers to think critically with one another. This kind of structured aesthetic experience can be key to an emancipatory form of teacher preparation.
Critical Pedagogy and the Teaching of Reading for Social Action
Author: Naiditch, Fernando
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Critical Theory,Reading Instruction,Social Action,Critical Reading,Reader Text Relationship,Critical Thinking,Thinking Skills,Reading Strategies

Reading teachers, novice or experienced, face the hard task of having to teach students how to read by moving beyond the mere &quot;surface level&quot; of reading (finding meanings in the text) into a more critical perspective (assigning meaning to what is being read). Many teachers struggle in trying to reconcile these two perspectives as they teach learners how to read. In addition, teachers also struggle with assessment, particularly as it relates to the expected outcomes of reading. Instead of being evaluated based on what the students consider relevant and meaningful (what the text means to the students), students are evaluated on what teachers expect them to take from a reading activity (what the teachers think the text should mean). In this article, the author will explore the contributions of critical pedagogy to the teaching of reading and discuss an approach that helps learners move beyond the level of comprehension and use what they have learned in reading towards engaging in some kind of social action. The author argues that, for reading to be effective and purposeful for both teachers and students, there needs to be a concrete connection between the text and the real world, and that this connection can be achieved through encouraging social action.
Take out the Tests, and Hide the Grades; Add the Spiritual with All Voices Raised! Professor Explications and Students&apos; Opinions of an Unconventional Classroom Milieu
Author: Knowlton, Dave S.
Date: 2010-00-00
Type: Journal Articles
Subjects: Classroom Environment,Epistemology,Higher Education,Educational Strategies,College Faculty,College Instruction,Educational Change,Religious Factors,College Curriculum,Instructional Innovation,College Students,Student Attitudes,Grading,Student Evaluation

A primary piece of the conceptual framework that underlies this paper is the argument that changing instructional practices and strategies has not led to substantive innovation in higher education classrooms. More broadly stated, instructional strategies typically have not led to true innovation in higher education because strategy change often has not been the result of a shift in the professor&apos;s epistemological stance--a change in the ways that a professor understands (and embraces) the nature of teaching, learning, and knowing. For example, many professors within higher education still equate learning with memorizing content; therefore, they do not fully value strategies that go beyond memorization. An epistemological shift toward understanding the nature of learning as a complex process that transcends memory would allow professors to more properly value congruent instructional strategies (Anderson, 1998; Bain, 2004; Knowlton, 2003). This paper describes a three-phased progression--embracing a new epistemological stance, revising the classroom environment to one that is consistent with that stance, and accepting the instructional strategies that emerge naturally from that classroom environment. The author describes his journey through these phases.