In this issue of Action in Teacher Education, authors contribute ideas about preservice teachers that will move the profession forward. To begin, Endo writes about who are our teacher educators and why it is critical to have a diverse faculty. The next two articles are content area focused and investigate best practices within mathematics and social studies that can also transfer to other content areas. The last two articles compliment each other. The first addresses the need for critical reflection that leads to dissonance and durability while the last looks at preservice teacher mental health and the need for support in educator preparation programs.
Endo, author of “Beyond ‘Good-Faith’ Efforts: Diversifying the Faculty Ranks in Teacher Education through Equity-Conscious Recruitment Practices,” offers findings from an autoethnographic cross-case study conducted at a Predominantly White Institution (PWI) dedicated to recruiting teacher educators who are Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). Based on a content analysis of new faculty search-related documents associated with 10 new faculty author-facilitated searches spread across 9 years, Endo advances three overarching guides with detailed phases to support all participants throughout the process. The three guides advocate for planning for equitable and inclusive practices, engaging in innovative strategies, and reducing cognitive errors through a model of shared accountability and decision making. This article highlights the need for and benefits of faculty discussing common types of belief biases and cognitive errors that tend to disadvantage applicants and candidates who are BIPOC over applicants and candidates who are White. Four specific case descriptions are provided to stimulate constructive faculty discussions. Implications extending from each guide provide insights and inspiration for educator preparation programs (EPPs), policies, and practices.
The second article, authored by Colonnese, Reinke, and Polly, conducts “An Analysis of the Questions Elementary Education Teacher Candidates Pose to Elicit Mathematical Thinking.” Framed by question types from the National Council of Teacher of Mathematics (NCTM) and components of eliciting students’ thinking by Shaughenessy et al. (2019), the authors identified three findings with implications for teacher educators, teacher candidates, and classroom teachers. Teacher candidates more frequently elicited students’ thinking related to the ways they solved a problem than they elicited students’ thinking related to understanding mathematical concepts; consequently, clinical assignments have been revised. Teacher candidates’ level of questions aligned with researched findings; thus, teacher educators are urged to consider multiple ways to extend their examination of candidates’ reenactment of practices. Teacher candidates learned to elicit mathematical thinking in their first course and to facilitate discussions in the second course; teacher candidates will benefit from developing core practices across multiple semesters extending into their student teaching. The authors conclude that future research related to number talks and problem-solving tasks would be useful to understand the impact of different instruction routines.
The action research study conducted by Wrenn and Stanley explored preservice teachers’ (PSTs) understanding and teaching academic language in their social studies method course. This study adopted the mixed methods and collected multiple data evidence from 39 preservice teachers. The results of this study showed an increase in PSTs’ capability in coarticulating their way of teaching academic language, self-awareness of strengths and weakness in planning and modeling academic language, as well as their knowledge. One important implication of this article is that it provided three strategies to support PSTs. Concept maps were the main strategy to expand PSTs’ understanding of academic language. The second was the mini-lessons on professional dispositions by including soft skills such as professional responsibility, stress management, and empathy. The last was disciplinary literacy book clubs (DLBCs) by concrete and authentic experience with academic language.
In their article, Terrell and Sherman empirically explore the ways that different factors are associated with teachers’ reflections. In their qualitative case study multi-method approach, the authors conducted within-case analyses yielding two predominant findings associated with the highest form of reflection, i.e., critical reflection. While some habits of critical reflection appear to transfer across contexts, some habits of critical reflection appear to remain contextually dependent. The authors further identified two themes among the participants with the highest critical reflection that are extrinsic and elicited: critical reflection was initiated by change in context; dissonance was elicited by partner; and one theme that is intrinsic and dispositional: an expectation of dissonance. The implications of their findings indicate that teacher educators must engage preservice and novice teachers in developing a discipline of critical reflection that recognizes dissonance and reinforces durability.
The mental health of preservice teachers is examined by Ressler, Apantenco, Wexler, and King in their qualitative study with multiple data collection through interviews, focus groups, and surveys from 33 pre-service teachers. Through a careful triangulation of data, Ressler and colleagues discovered three major findings. The need to normalize stigma surrounding mental health conversations was recognized. The struggle between being professional and mentor health problem they were facing was discussed. But at the same time, they realized the mentor health as part of their professional journal. This article is very timely examining the mentor health of preservice teachers, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. It sheds light on the need to provide support for mentor wellness among preservice teachings during their teacher preparation.
Overall, the articles in this issue add to the research on teacher education and help support teacher educators. In the new pandemic world that includes so many other challenges, we must become a diverse profession that embraces best practices and expands our understanding of the challenges preservice teachers face. We hope you enjoy this issue and also gain a takeaway as a teacher educator.