Elizabeth Soslau

Student-teachers’ emotional needs and dichotomous problem-solving: non-cognitive root causes of teaching and learning problems

Abstract This study investigated whether typical field instruction practice adequately addressed student-teachers’ emotional needs and discerned whether unmet needs interrupted teacher learning. Four student-teachers completed weekly needs-based writing tasks, based on a broad application of Needs Theory. At the conclusion of the 16-week practicum, data collected during typical field instruction practices (transcripts of weekly conferences, observation field notes, and reflective writing tasks) were compared with non-typically collected data (needs-based writing task). Findings from within-case and cross-case analyses illuminated non-cognitive root causes of teaching and learning problems. Student-teachers’ dichotomous problem-solving, when attempting to satisfy emotional needs, thwarted teacher-learning opportunities.

Exploring Intersubjectivity between Student Teachers and Field Instructors in Student Teaching Conferences.

Abstract Student teachers are learners of teaching and emerging collaborative practitioners preparing to join school-based professional learning communities. Using situative learning theory, this 16-week multiple-case study explored whether necessary conditions were satisfied within field instructor-led conferences towards the goal of helping student teachers learn how to develop roles as participatory contributors. Systematically shared meanings of conference discourse and similar perceptions of control regarding topic selection were explored as indicators of successful conferencing. Findings show that even though field instructors aimed to engage student teachers in mutually understood conversations and share control of topic selection; these objectives were not fully achieved. Conference participants’ perceptions of discourse and control must be aligned if field instructors are to help student teachers improve instructional decision-making and develop contributor roles as members within communities of practice.

Leveraging Data Sampling and Practical Knowledge: Field Instructors’ Perceptions About Inter-Rater Reliability Data

For accreditation and programmatic decision making, education school administrators use inter-rater reliability analyses to judge credibility of student–teacher assessments. Although weak levels of agreement between university-appointed supervisors and cooperating teachers are usually interpreted to indicate that the process is not being implemented with fidelity, it is unclear which part of the process contributes to weak agreements. Quantitative analysis of data (N = 230) from four semesters, and matched-pair sampling (n = 14), countered weaknesses found in usual analysis methods. Using “data-driven decision making,” “personal practical knowledge” and “evidence-based practice” as theoretical frameworks, university-based field instructors’ discussions about what accounted for varying correlations were analyzed. Qualitative data analysis (focus group/questionnaires) found that field instructors (n = 7) assumed divergent scores indicate weakness in evaluation processes and posited conflicting root causes. Inter-rater reliability analyses should include pair-wise sampling, so that weak and strong rates of agreement are unmasked and opportunities for meaningful data conversations are possible.

Review Essay: A structuralist approach to argumentation in education

The authors present a review and critique of Argumentation and Education, a compilation of conceptual and research chapters about the theoretical foundations and practices of using argumentation in education. The book is described as providing a structuralist approach to constructing and evaluating arguments. Contrasting the structuralist paradigm with a dialogic perspective, the authors argue that authentic argumentation is a pedagogical tool, which involves dynamic, ever-changing, and unpredictable interactions. Ultimately, the authors highlight the absence of an essential focus in a book about argumentation and education: an authentic description of natural, spontaneous, student-created, and student-valued argumentation.

The Challenges of Supporting Equity Literacy Skill Development in White Teacher Candidates: A Self-Study of Two White Field Instructors

Abstract In classrooms, race-based bias, discrimination, and inequities result in unsafe and unproductive learning environments. Teacher educators are charged with helping preservice teachers develop racial literacy skills. This self-study explores the ways in which two White teacher educators recognize and attempt to manage challenges during field instruction of White teacher candidates. The teacher educator researchers explore their own Whiteness and use a racial lens to critique their practices. Post-lesson-debriefing conferences between teacher educators and their candidates are shared as illustrative vignettes to reveal instructors’ teaching challenges and failures. Implications for working with White teacher candidates, improvements to field instruction practices, student teaching curricula revisions, and programmatic changes are posited.

The Promises and Realities of Implementing a Coteaching Model of Student Teaching

Within a sociocultural framework, we use situated learning theory to explore the use of a coteaching approach during student teaching. Coteaching is a model for learning to teach where clinical educators and teacher candidates teach alongside one another and share responsibility for pupil learning. Teacher education programs have adopted this model for student teaching because there is evidence that coteaching supports pupil learning and coteacher learning. This study of coteaching in three teacher education programs, within the same university, examined opportunities afforded for teacher candidates’ development of growth competence, adaptive teaching expertise, and collaborative expertise. Data analysis from the nested, cross-case qualitative study enabled us to examine opportunities for candidate learning afforded by coteaching during student teaching, posit recommendations on using coteaching, explain the necessary conditions, and discuss the model’s current limitations.