University of Regina Open Journals
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Early Career Teachers’ Evolving Content-Area Literacy Practices
No full textBecoming effective teachers is dependent upon a variety of factors intersecting with early career teachers’ beginning teaching experiences. This paper provides a glimpse into ways in which four early career secondary school teachers began to embed literacies into their teaching practices in content areas and how their approaches shifted between the final term of their teacher education program in 2013 and their first year of teaching in 2014. The authors explore three factors that may shape the practices of early career teachers, with disciplinary specialties in science, math, social studies, and other content areas, as they persist in infusing their teaching practice with literacy strategies over the first year of teaching, or alternatively discontinue using these strategies. These factors are coursework in a Literacy in the Content Areas course during their teacher education program, teaching context, and disciplinary specialty.Keywords: early-career teachers; secondary teachers; content-area literacy; disciplinary literacy; pedagogical content knowledg
Socialization Through (Online) Design: Moving into Online Critical Spaces of Learning
No full textThis research investigates the social and socialization practices within an online professional development web seminar. The aim of this study was to identify the kinds of social and community building practices that occur in online professional development webinars by exploring how communication tools such as chat are used for community building and socializing purposes. Data was comprised of all electronically generated web seminar (webinar), written chat comment transcripts that were automatically generated during this series of webinars. Data were analyzed inductively and recursively using the constant comparative method. Findings revealed that the Online Web Seminars in Literacy project (oWSL) built community through moderators and participants greeting, assisting, and offering one another support. Moreover, social practices found within and across seminars included social talk, thoughtful debate, and the formation of nested affinity groups. This research revealed that this online professional development webinar provided a space where social practices like creating a sense of community through mutual support and engaging in productive disagreement among participants can stimulate informative critical dialogue that webinar organizers can draw upon to form dynamic and productive online professional development communities.Keywords: Online communities of practice; socialization; web seminars (webinars); professional development; critical literac
The Relevance of Prior Learning in Teacher Education Admissions Processes
No full textIn this paper, we argue that teacher education admissions processes would benefit from attending more to prospective teacher candidates’ cognitive frames. We begin with the introduction of a three-stage heuristic for describing teacher education. We then review the literature about constructivist notions of prior learning and teacher education program admissions processes. These processes, we argue, fail to adequately account for candidates’ preconceptions about teaching and learning, which affect their beliefs and understanding. Virtually none of the admissions processes we examined explicitly attempts to map the cognitive frames of applicants to uncover the structure of their ideas about teaching and learning. Teacher education institutions might best concentrate upon candidates’ cognitive frames within two core areas: subject area content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge. These two areas have the greatest potential to influence candidates’ future cognitive frameworks, understandings, and points of reference. Keywords: teacher education admissions processes; identifying cognitive frames; subject area content knowledge; pedagogical knowledg
SNAP® For Schools: Impact on Internalizing Symptoms
No full textStop Now And Plan (SNAP®) is an empirically supported cognitive behavioural program for children identified as presenting with externalizing problems. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the implementation of the SNAP® for Schools program as a universal prevention program for children not identified as presenting with internalizing or externalizing problems, specifically, whether the program would lead to reductions in emotion dysregulation, anxiety, intolerance of uncertainty, and anxiety sensitivity. It was hypothesized that the SNAP® for Schools program would reduce emotion dysregulation and internalizing constructs in non-identified, school-aged children. The sample consisted of elementary school children in Grades 3 and 4. Participating children completed a battery of symptom measures one week pre- (n = 65) and post-SNAP® (n = 57) as well as one month after (n = 54) completing SNAP® in their classrooms. For children who scored in the upper 10% on the measure total and/or subscale scores, reductions in emotion dysregulation, anxiety, and anxiety sensitivity were observed. Findings contribute to a better understanding of the effectiveness of SNAP® for reducing emotion dysregulation and internalizing symptoms in children with elevated internalizing symptoms and emotion dysregulation. Limitations and future directions are discussed.Keywords: Stop Now and Plan®; universal prevention program; internalizing symptoms; emotion dysregulation; cognitive behaviour therap
A Review of The Way of the Teacher: A Path for Personal Growth and Professional Fulfillment by Sandra Finney and Jane Thurgood Sagal
No full textA Review of The Way of the Teacher: A Path for Personal Growth and Professional Fulfillment by Sandra Finney and Jane Thurgood Sagal"I enthusiastically commend Finney and Thurgood Sagal for their thoughtful, hopeful, and inspiriting book which ought to be adopted as a core text in all Bachelor of Education programs as well as professional development plans for teachers." Carl Legg
Examining the Organization of a Second Grade Classroom: An Action Research Analysis Using Human Resource and Structural Frames
No full textThis paper presents an examination and analysis of the restructuring of the organization of a second grade classroom housed in a laboratory school setting. During the 2014-2015 academic year, the traditional power structure of teacher as ultimate authority with students positioned as subordinates was explored. Using action research and the application of frame theory the organizational structure of the second grade classroom is considered using human resource and structural frames. Keywords: organization; power, elementary; structure; human resourc
A Review of Teaching Adults: A Practical Guide for New Teachers, by Ralph G. Brockett
No full textBook Review: Brockett, R. G. (2015). Teaching adults: A practical guide for new teachers. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass
Patterns in Contemporary Canadian Picture Books: Radical Change in Action
No full textThis comprehensive qualitative examination of two groups of Canadian picture books, 57 titles published in 2005 and 120 titles published in 2015, offers comparative data that demonstrate patterns related to authors, illustrators, characterization, genres, audiences, and particular elements of Radical Change. Following book collection, content analysis was conducted with a consideration of Dresang’s notion that books for children are evolving with respect to forms and formats, perspectives, and boundaries. Our process for analysis was developed from Berg’s framework of systematic content analysis based on predetermined as well as emerging categories. There is much recent research exploring particular content in children’s literature, supporting the central importance of literature in the classroom and community. Comparative Canadian studies across decades, however, are rare, and are increasingly important as a way to track and describe the changes that are taking place with respect to books for young people. It is interesting that in both 2005 and 2015, picture books tended to feature children as protagonists, with the highest number of books from the 2005 set utilizing the fantasy genre (at 34%) or realistic fiction (at 28%) and the highest number of books from the 2015 set occurring in non-fiction (at 34%, up from 16% in 2005) or fantasy (at 31%). Historical fiction in both years presented comparatively low, at 12% and 3%, respectively.Findings of this study support and extend the notion of Radical Change. The research team noted marked innovations within the 2015 group related to forms and formats, boundaries, and perspectives. Of particular note are the increasing numbers of books that present Indigenous content and perspectives. While many of the changes appearing in Canadian picture books between 2005 and 2015 might be predicted through the standard categories of Radical Change (Dresang, 1999), other findings also emerged that suggest new Radical Change considerations. Continuing to examine children’s literature as artifacts of a culture can illuminate particular aspects of that culture and offer opportunities to engage authors, illustrators, and publishers in filling gaps where particular perspectives or topics are missing. Advocacy is important as children’s literature continues to be a source of tension for what it portrays and presents as well as its missing voices. A knowledge of patterns and trends in relation to available content and resources supports classroom practice as well as encourages classroom research and further explorations of the evolving landscape of children\u27s books
Story as a Means of Engaging Public Educators and Indigenous Students
No full textTwo concerns in public Indigenous education are the education of teachers and the engagement of students. In this study, drawing on stories and multiple perspectives is an approach presented to address both concerns. In open-ended interviews with seven Indigenous educators and leaders in urban public school boards, story was highlighted as a central component of the success of Indigenous students. Participants believed that educators’ understanding and teaching practice is enriched by seeking out stories and multiple perspectives—those of Indigenous students and their families and communities in particular. They also believed that when these stories are valued in school, students’ sense of belonging and engagement increase. This paper explores various angles on drawing on stories in public schools as modes of engagement and learning for both educators and students. These angles address the experiences that students, teachers, and families bring to schools and the stories tied to local communities and embedded in Canadian school systems.
Borderlands of Possibility: Exploring the Construction of Professional Identity With Intern Teachers
No full textStudents enrolled in Bachelor of Education degree programs engage in academic study and field experiences that both validate and challenge their existing understandings of who they are and who they are becoming: their professional identity. This interpretive case study explored the ways in which four intern teachers constructed professional understandings during the 15 weeks of their culminating field experience: a borderland space. Ecologically defined as an ecotone, this time in between—of being a student and becoming a teacher—is a zone of transition, a crossroads of being and becoming. Using a series of conversational interviews where the researcher and the participants explored the experience of living on the borderland, this study revealed the challenges of constructing a professional identity as well as the ways in which these intern teachers gradually assumed the subject position: teacher. Four essential aspects of this experience were distilled from the findings of this inquiry and arranged into a conceptual framework to assist teacher educators as they craft curriculum capable of engaging student teachers in the consideration of who they are becoming as teachers. By contributing to our growing understanding of the ways in which preservice teachers view themselves as emerging professionals, this inquiry suggests deeper investigation of the mentor-mentee relationship is needed in order to better support student teachers on the borderlands of their final field experience. Keywords: professional identity; borderland space; intern teachers; field experience; interpretive case stud