Openness to Faith as a Disposition for Teachers in Catholic Schools

In the Catholic Church, which includes in its mission the provision of school education, the significant rise of “no religion” in Western societies prompts serious new questions about how this mission can be lived out. An important response can be found in the Enhancing Catholic School Identity Project, which provides empirical evidence of the lived faith dispositions of members of Catholic school communities and recommends the enhancement of Catholic school identity through the recontextualisation of faith in dialogue. We argue that the dispositions of teachers are a vital factor in the development of a Catholic Dialogue School. Using aggregated data in Australia, we illustrate the importance of a teacher disposition that is intentionally and explicitly open to Catholic faith.

The investigation of the self-efficacy of special education teachers who teach mathematics to English language learners with disabilities

Of the English Language Learners (ELLs) in USA K-12 schools, 665,000 are identified as having a disability. In mathematics, ELLs with disabilities have significantly lower outcomes than English dominant, and non-disabled peers. Numerous studies over four decades have linked student outcomes to teacher self-efficacy (i.e. belief in ability to perform a task for expected outcomes). Considering many ELLs with disabilities receive mathematics instruction from special education teachers, there are questions about the self-efficacy of these teachers to provide quality instruction, since there are few studies focused specifically on preparing or supporting special education teachers to teach mathematics to ELLs with disabilities. The purpose of this dissertation is to examine in-service special education teachers' overall self-efficacy in teaching mathematics in teaching any student with a disability and in teaching ELLs with disabilities in culturally and linguistically responsive ways. One hundred seventeen special education teachers from 9 states were recruited for this study which utilized surveys and follow up interviews. Six participants, chosen for having low or high self efficacy in teaching mathematics to any student with a disability or in teaching mathematics to ELLs with disabilities, were interviewed about factors which were helpful or harmful to their self-efficacy. Themes from the data included (a) teacher preparedness, (b) student characteristics, (c) teaching pedagogy, (d) building culture, (e) overall teacher disposition and (f) culturally responsive pedagogy.

Dispositions for Inclusive Literacy: Fostering an Equitable and Empowering Education for Academically Diverse Learners

This article offers teacher educators’ practical methods for, and shares findings from a study of, developing teachercandidate dispositions for inclusive literacy. Based on the extensive teacher disposition literature, the authors discernthat dispositions for inclusive literacy include the belief that all students have valid ways of being literate; the valueof inclusive literacy experiences for all students; and an attitude that all students should be participants in meaningfulliteracy experiences. Using a within-site case study approach, qualitative thematic analysis of three assignments usedin a literacy teaching methods course suggest that it is possible to shift narrow dispositions to broader and moreinclusive conceptualizations that support struggling readers and students with disabilities in the general educationclassroom. Conclusions suggest that dispositional development toward inclusive literacy can support teachercandidates’ implementation of inclusive literacy practices; thus, fostering an equitable and empowering education foracademically diverse learners.