scholarly journals Pre-service teacher professional noticing for teaching mathematics

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Stephanie A. Hopkins

Students with disabilities and/or those who have difficulty learning mathematical concepts can be found in almost every classroom. Over the last several decades, the responsibilities and roles of general and special education educators have shifted, blurring the conventionally held boundaries between special education and general education teachers and their pedagogical practices. Both special education and general education teachers are expected to provide an optimal mathematical instructional experience to all students. One way to best prepare novice teachers for this task is by increasing their overall Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). The purpose of this study is to contribute to research about specific components of a pre-service teacher's PCK. This research utilized a cross-sectional research design in its study of a representative sample of preservice teachers at specific moments in time during their teacher preparation program. Mathematical content knowledge and teachers' beliefs regarding the teaching of mathematics were found to have a statistically significant impact on professional noticing. Although not statistically significant, the differences the choice of a major had on a teacher's noticing ability requires further investigation. This study addresses an important gap in the research literature on noticing in that it includes special education teachers. Additionally, the study provides concrete recommendations for teacher preparation programing and suggestions for future research.

1996 ◽  
Vol 17 (5) ◽  
pp. 323-328 ◽  
Author(s):  
STANLEY E. WIGLE ◽  
DARYL J. WILCOX

There has been a great deal of controversy surrounding the inclusion of students with disabilities in general education classrooms. when students with disabilities are included in general education classrooms, such placements must be congruent with the concept of least restrictive environment (lre). five criteria are identified in this article as elements important to the establishment of an lre within inclusive general education classrooms. these criteria have implications for the preparation of preservice teachers. these implications are the foci for suggested teacher preparation program elements related to the efficacy of preservice classroom teachers.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-13 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zachary Y. Mngo ◽  
Agnes Y. Mngo

The opinions of general education secondary school teachers in seven select schools involved in a pilot inclusive education program in the Northwest Region of Cameroon were sought. The findings reveal that most teachers in Cameroon still prefer separate special education institutions to inclusive ones. These conclusions contradict earlier research which showed that resistance to integrated classrooms was emanating from beliefs and customs. Teachers with some training on teaching students with disabilities and more experienced and highly educated teachers were more supportive of inclusive education indicating that resistance to the practice is linked to inadequate or complete lack of teachers’ preparedness. Younger, less experienced teachers with no training in special education indicated less enthusiasm regarding the benefits of inclusion, their ability to manage integrated classrooms, and teach students with disabilities. The implication of these findings for future research, institutional support systems, institutional policies, and overall instructional leadership is discussed in this article.


Inclusion ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 189-202
Author(s):  
Jennifer A. Kurth ◽  
Anjali Forber-Pratt

Abstract The trend of educating students with disabilities in inclusive general education settings is expanding. Consequently, teacher preparation for inclusive practices is a necessary consideration for teacher educators. An important component of shaping preservice teacher dispositions comes from school experiences and interactions with mentor teachers. It is through this relationship that preservice teachers formulate their own attitudes, beliefs, and skills about inclusive practices. This article reports the findings from a set of surveys containing both closed- and open-ended responses related to inclusive education from both preservice (student) and mentor teachers. Analysis of the open-ended responses revealed definitions of inclusive education focused on student deficits and barriers to implementation of inclusive practices that focused on deficits in the capacity of the environment. Implications for teacher preparation, including challenging deficit-based assumptions, are discussed.


1997 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 10-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Gloria Delany-Barmann ◽  
Greg Prater ◽  
Sam Minner

Twelve Navajo preservice teachers in the Rural Special Education Project on the Navajo Nation in Kayenta, Arizona, shared their perceptions regarding the factors which enabled them and constrained them as they completed a special education teacher preparation program. Several themes emerged during the process of interviewing the students including the importance of cultural teachings and family support; the influence of language factors, financial constraints, and cultural responsibilities; and the lack of availability of educational opportunities on the Navajo Nation. Each of these factors is discussed in this article and recommendations are made for others interested in establishing successful teacher preparation programs for Native American students.


1997 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myrna R. Olson ◽  
Lynne Chalmers ◽  
John H. Hoover

School principals and special education teachers identified general education teachers who were the most skilled at including students with disabilities in their classrooms. After 10 individuals identified by both principals and special educators were interviewed, seven themes emerged. These teachers (a) described their own personalities as tolerant, reflective, and flexible; (b) accepted responsibility for all students; (c) described a positive working relationship with special educators; (d) reported adjusting expectations for integrated students; (e) indicated that their primary inclusionary attitude was showing interpersonal warmth and acceptance in their interactions with students; (f) felt that there was insufficient time available for collaboration; and (g) expressed reservations about fully including all students. Results are discussed in terms of teacher preparation, administrative practices, implications for increased inclusion, and suggestions for further research.


Author(s):  
Linda P. Blanton ◽  
Mildred Boveda ◽  
Lorena R. Munoz ◽  
Marleen C. Pugach

Initial licensure polices in special education were examined to determine how these policies support or hinder reform efforts to develop teacher education programs that prepare graduates for the increasingly complex needs of diverse students. Initial special education licensure policies are described with an emphasis on the differences across states on two key options: whether licensure for special education teachers is a stand-alone initial license or whether the state requires a general education license prior to obtaining a second license in special education. As the field grapples with how best to prepare both general and special education teachers who can teach to high standards for students with disabilities, the influence of these options is examined in relation to four contemporary issues facing special education and the trade-offs that accrue when a particular licensure option is adopted.


2012 ◽  
Vol 45 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jennifer R. Newton ◽  
Michael J. Kennedy ◽  
Christine Walther-Thomas ◽  
Jake Cornett

Policy makers, university teacher education faculty, school leaders, and government officials are asking the same question: How do we recruit, prepare, and retain effective teachers who will produce desired student outcomes in every classroom? This complex question garners distinct opinions depending on the queried stakeholder, but most agree that significant improvement is needed in the processes of teacher preparation and induction (Darling-Hammond, 2010; Greer & Meyen, 2009; Sykes, Bird, & Kennedy, 2010; Wang, Odell, Klecka, Spalding, & Lin, 2010). An argument can be made that the need for improvement is most urgent within the field of special education teacher preparation (Brownell, Sindelar, Kiely, & Danielson, 2010; Piper, 2007; Pugach, Blanton, & Correa, 2011; Simonsen et al., 2010; Sindelar, Brownell, & Billingsley, 2010) . To illustrate, recent achievement data for students with disabilities provides striking evidence of the critical need for improvement in areas of literacy, graduation rates, and other postsecondary outcomes (e.g. National Center for Education Statistics [NCES], 2009; Wagner, Newman, Cameto, Levine, & Garza, 2006). There is substantial variability in the numerous factors that contribute to the struggles of students with exceptionalities on measures of academic and social success (see Skiba, Poloni-Staudinger, Simmons, Feggins-Azziz, & Chung, 2005; Wagner et al., 2006). Many complex factors influence a teacher's impact on student achievement, which leads to the need for us to continue to examine and reform our current models of teacher preparation. Thus, teacher educators and practitioners must continue to investigate and evaluate the effects of new and existing policies, programmatic structures, and individual practices on outcomes of interest and disseminate those findings. Although calls to reform teacher education and P-12 instruction for children with exceptionalities are not new (Vaughn & Fuchs, 2003), it is clear that new thinking is needed to overcome traditional barriers to academic and social success for individuals with exceptionalities. However, despite the critical need for improvement, teacher preparation models within special and general education largely remain fixed to traditional methods that reflect the status quo as opposed to evidence-based practice (Boyd, Grossman, Lankford, Loeb, & Wycoff, 2009; Brownell, Griffin, Leko, & Stephens, 2011; Sykes et al., 2010).


2020 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-23
Author(s):  
L. Shaked

This paper discusses the effects of Special Education law (1918) in Israel and amendments followed in 2002; 2018 on school placement policy and attitudes toward inclusion. The critics on differential budget to different setting that the budget doesn’t support the least restrictive environment concept and inequality in the allocation of resources among students in special education and students integrated in the regular education lead to the amendment nr.11 of Special Education law. Present paper argues that while state policy makes an ongoing effort to increase access to general edu- cation by innovative legislation, increasing the state funding in order to accommodate and meet the needs of students with disabilities in inclusive education the practices of educational institutions perpetuated exclusion from general education. For regular teachers to feel confident in their ability to teach all students, a change in teacher preparation programs should be implemented. A change in teacher preparation programs still needs a profound reform.


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