Section archive - Instruction in Teacher Training

The current article draws upon data from a larger study of teacher preparation in New York City which is engaged in examining the features of both alternative and traditional pathways into teaching. The authors found that less than half of the traditional programs required any coursework in classroom management. Early entry candidates were more likely to have had a course in classroom management.

The authors argue that it is crucial to prepare early childhood teachers to create high-quality environments that facilitate the development of all children. The Early Childhood Ecology Scale-Revised (ECES-R) has been developed as a reflective tool to help early childhood teacher candidates examine their beliefs concerning classroom ecology. The authors posit that the ECES-R identifies five dimensions that promote a high-quality, culturally responsive classroom ecology. These dimensions include the sociocognitive, sociocultural, sociolinguistic, socioemotional, and sociophysical dimensions.

The current study compared the child development content knowledge gains of two classes of undergraduate preservice early childhood teachers. Some of the preservice teachers taught child development with case-based instruction and some of them taught the same content with traditional didactic instruction. The study also sought to determine if students' level of prior knowledge interacted with the type of instruction they received.

Using a mixed-methods research approach, the authors evaluated the impact of teacher professional development to instil culturally responsive pedagogies in secondary classrooms. The results reveal that the majority of teachers showed evidence of culturally responsive practices. Furthermore, the findings show that the students were able to describe examples of teachers caring for them as culturally located individuals.