Transcending gender dichotomy through art teacher education in Zimbabwe

Zimbabwe is a patriarchal society characterized by gender dichotomy and male domination that permeates through social, educational and domestic spheres resulting in numerous challenges for art teacher education students. Expanding critical consciousness within art teacher education programmes is an imperative step towards developing art teachers who are self-aware and reflexive concerning the intersections of gender, art and education. This study investigated how engagement with visual art can provoke a heightened critical awareness about gender bias, stereotyping and equity among Zimbabwean art teacher education students. Sixteen selected art teacher education students (eight males and females) at the Great Zimbabwe University participated in the study. Participants were guided by researcher-constructed prompts for purposes of image making, interpretation and dialogue. Visual discourse analysis of the students’ visual narratives and discourse analysis of focus group transcriptions revealed several themes as well as evidence of critical reflection and expanded critical awareness related to gender issues. Visual and dialogic methods offer promise for critical engagement and reconciliation of tensions surrounding issues of gender amongst art teacher education candidates.

Assessment of self-efficacy in online learning of teacher education students in one state university in the Philippines

Purpose–This paper attempted to describe the online learning self-efficacy of Teacher education students from two groups with and without prior online learning experience in one state university in the Philippines. It further determined whether the self-efficacy of the two groups are comparable as to learning in the online environment, time management, and technology use. Methodology–The researchers utilized the Online Learning Self-Efficacy Scale (OLSES) to collect the necessary data to assess and compare the level of online learning self-efficacy of the respondents from the two groups. Three hundred and eighty-seven Teacher Education students with and without prior online learning experienceparticipated in the study. Results–The study revealed that both groups rated their self-efficacy in learning in the online environment, time management, and technology use as very good. However, the students with online learning experience yielded a relatively higher online learning self-efficacy in all three domains compared to the students without an online learning experience. The study further showed that there is no significant difference in the online learning self-efficacy betweenthe two groups. Conclusion–The Teacher Education students assessed their online learning self-efficacy as very good regardless of their online learning experience. Based on the results of the study, since the p-values of all variables do not exceed the critical value of 0.05, the null hypotheses were all accepted. This implied that there is no statistical difference that exists in the online learning self-efficacy of the students from the two groups.Recommendation–The academic institution, instructors, and students should include the online learning self-efficacy of the students in designing a comprehensive online learning program. It is also recommended to conduct experimental research and explore other demographic factors for future research directions to substantiate the results of the present study.Practical Implications–The higher education institutions would be able to develop a comprehensive design of online delivery of teaching and learning, grounded on the self-efficacy in online learning of the students, to accommodate the needs of various students who lack learning experiences in the context of online learning.

Context Analysis of Non-intellective Correlates affecting Future Educators’ Sociolinguistic Competence

The study investigated the non-intellective correlates affecting the sociolinguistic competence of teacher education students, with a focus on the analysis of their contexts relative to social experiences, language attitude, and use of linguistic forms in different situations. It also determined the common difficulties they experience in the use of English in both oral and written forms. Descriptive mixed methods were utilized, with a validated questionnaire serving as primary instrument to gather relevant data from 331 teacher education students from different fields of specialization. Focus group discussions were conducted to activate the students’ awareness of non-intellective correlates and extract emerging issues in language use. The analysis of the quantitative data together with the coded and categorized transcriptions revealed that while the students generally have a positive attitude towards the use of the English language, they rarely use varied linguistic forms adaptive to different social contexts, implying the need to work on their adaptive capacities in using English for various purposes. Most of the issues they encounter are psychological and socio-physical in nature, while limited vocabulary, over-consciousness in grammar use, and lack of confidence affect their skills most. It was recommended that contextualized activities be developed for integration in the communication courses to highlight the authentic use of language in different social contexts.

Individual Characteristics of Teacher Education Students: Re-Examining the Negative Selection Hypothesis

Teachers’ individual characteristics, such as cognitive and academic abilities, interests, and personality, are considered relevant for their professional competencies, successful teaching, the development of students’ competencies, and student achievement. This study re-examined the idea that the teaching profession attracts people with rather unfavorable characteristics, differentiating teaching degrees and study majors. Using extensive data from the German National Educational Panel Study (NEPS; Starting Cohort First-Year Students; N = 8952) and multinomial logistic regression, the study investigated whether students’ individual characteristics influence the choice of (a) study programs (teacher education vs. other) and (b) teaching degrees (primary and special vs. lower secondary vs. upper secondary education/Gymnasium). The empirical results showed that individual characteristics predict the choice of study programs and teaching degrees and that it is crucial to take into account teacher education students’ heterogeneity when investigating teacher education and the teaching profession.

Self-Directed Learning Through Computer-Aided Mathematics Instruction: First-Year Teacher Education Experience

Objective: The study investigates first-year teacher education students’ self-directed learning through Computer-Aided Mathematics Instruction (CAMI).Methods: A total of 230 first-year mathematics teachers specialising in Further Education and Training (FET) phase teaching participated in the study, where responses from 50 student teachers were purposively and conveniently selected to report on in this paper. A qualitative research method approach was used and open–ended questionnaires were utilised to collect the data for first-year teacher education students’ self-directed learning. The questionnaires were analysed using descriptive data analysis.Results: Results of the study revealed that CAMI was used to monitor students’ learning, the time the learning takes place, the performance of the student within the duration of time, and to evaluate student performance. The results also revealed the skills that characterised self-directed learning and active learning where the student teachers were motivated to learn more and to solve difficult problems in mathematics.Conclusions: The study recommends technology integration, such as CAMI, in teacher education and teaching and learning in the Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), to promote self-directed learning and support effective learning for future learners.

The Patch: An Artful Syn(aes)thetic Mapping of Linguistic Data through Collaborative Digital / Analogue Literacy Processes

The Patch workshop explores creative / critical analyses that can map the collectively relevant topoi of semiosis in linguistic texts according to the three ecologies as articulated by Félix Guattari. As creative pedagogues both in service and critical of creative economics, we valourize a generative practice, one that results in successive creative readings, writings, visualizations, sonifications and audiovisual artifacts. The Patch is a human-computer procedural algorithm, engaging a series of recursive and recombinant processes that utilize several software programs, collaborative writing and performance practices to bridge analogue and digital literacies. A total of 80 teacher education students, graduate students and faculty, working with a single input text, provided the data reported in this paper.

Understanding Teacher Education Students’ Research Competence Through Their Conceptions of Theory

Learning a scientific way of thinking is a fundamental aim of university education. It means that there are certain thinking skills that students across all disciplines should learn during their studies. For example, critical thinking and reasoning skills are essential for all university graduates. In addition, students are expected to achieve certain skill levels related to scientific research, for example: learning the basic concepts of science and research methodology, understanding the research process and understanding the nature and origins of scientific knowledge. We call these skills research competence and see research competence as one of the main elements of scientific thinking. We assume that understanding the basic concepts of science is a starting point for the development of research competence and more broadly, for scientific thinking. However, previous studies have shown that scientific concepts are not easy for students to learn. The aim of this study is to increase our understanding of a particular aspect of university students’ research competence by exploring teacher education students’ (N = 179) conceptions of one of these challenging concepts, the concept of theory. The results illustrate that understanding the concept of theory is challenging even for graduating (fourth and fifth year) master students. Only half of them were able to describe the concept of theory in a scientific context suggesting that the other half had unscientific conceptions of theory, named here as non-scientific conceptions. When looking at the students’ who reported scientific conceptions of theory, one quarter of graduating students and a few early stage (first and second year) students had a declarative approach meaning that they were able to describe the concept of theory by using some basic scientific terms. About one fifth of graduating and early stage students had a procedural approach meaning that they were able to describe theory related to research as “doing”. Only a small number of students showed an understanding of the nature and origins of scientific knowledge and the role of research and theory, called here an epistemic approach.

Teacher-Education Students’ Stress Experience, Coping Strategies, and Pre-Teaching Performance: A Case in a Public Higher Education Institution in the Province of Cebu, Philippines

This paper examined teacher-education students' stress experience and strategies to cope with the demands related to their pre-teaching evaluation performance. It employed a quantitative research design (descriptive-correlation) through the use of two standardized survey questionnaires, the Stress Survey Questionnaire (SSQ) and Student's Coping Scale (SCS), in collecting the needed data for inferential analysis. The respondents of this research were 135 teacher-education students of a public higher education institution in the province of Cebu, Philippines. The respondents were solicited via a purposive random sampling technique. This paper found that most teacher-education students had a very satisfactory performance relative to their pre-teaching performance evaluation. Differing from the existing literature, the respondents experienced a moderate level of stress while fairly utilizing unhealthy means to cope with the demand in school. Results further revealed that the stress experienced by respondents relates to their coping strategies. In contrast, both stress experienced and coping strategies do not relate to the pre-teaching performance of the respondents. Based on the findings and conclusion, this paper proposed an intervention plan for adoption. Received: 10 July 2021 / Accepted: 23 September 2021 / Published: 5 November 2021