This qualitative multicase analysis investigated the role of "educational niceness" and "neutrality" (e.g., Baptiste, 2008; Bissonnette, 2016) in preservice English teacher feedback on sociopolitical issues in student writing. As part of the field experiences for several ELA methods courses at two universities, one urban and…

Historically, the teaching of literacy in American classrooms has been "restricted to formalized, monolingual, monocultural and ruled-governed forms of language" (The New London Group, 1996, p. 60-61) which disproportionately negatively affects bilingual children of color. In this case study we aimed to understand how bilingual second…

This paper explores the use of animations as an approximation of practice to provide a transformational technology experience for elementary mathematics preservice teachers. Preservice teachers in mathematics methods courses at six universities (n = 126) engaged in a practice of decomposing and approximating components of a fraction lesson. Data…

Effective teachers are characterized by their abilities to make thoughtful, deliberate, and informed adaptations while teaching (Hoffman & Pearson, 2000). These in-the-moment teaching decisions are guided by a complex web of teacher knowledge. Raising teachers' awareness of the decisions they make on a moment-by-moment basis may aid in…

Refocusing teacher preparation on the practice of teaching calls for new and different knowledge and skill. We describe the types of knowledge and skill that teacher educators need in order to teach a practice-focused mathematics methods course and report on one program's exploration of possible supports to develop this knowledge in teacher…

The author, who teaches the English Methods class in the credential program, knew from entries in students' Writer's Reader's Notebooks (Rief) that they were struggling with the articles assigned about a five-paragraph essay. Following a discussion of form-first instruction and CCSS assessments, this article provides concrete suggestions for…

While knowledge, attitudes and beliefs as well as skills are integrated parts of Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) competency, few teacher education programmes have targeted the well-rounded CRT competency in all of these three aspects. Drawing on the conceptual framework of CRT competency and constructivist learning theory, the present study…

This study, rooted in the evaluation of a reading methods course, sought to determine the implications for preservice teachers (PSTs) who participated in literature circles that intentionally used multicultural literature to discuss social justice issues. Using an interpretative mixed-methods approach, we collected quantitative surveys and…

English language learners (ELs) present the fastest growing school population in the southeastern region. Therefore teachers need to be specifically prepared to provide culturally and linguistically appropriate support to ELs using research-evidenced practices. For this purpose, a southeastern university integrated an afterschool academic EL…

Purpose: This study was framed with an explorative approach in which preservice classroom teachers (PCTs) participated in physical education learning activities. The purpose was to investigate the construction of their practical knowledge. Methods: Data collection was integrated into a methods course and included a written text assignment in which…

Contextualized in the critical pedagogies of universal design for learning (UDL) and social justice education, our study aimed to equip teacher candidates (TCs) to provide students with equitable access to learning social studies content knowledge, skills, and processes as a way to equally empower all students to be civically engaged, and thus to…

Music educator preparation curricula have been studied by several researchers (Killian, Dye & Wayman, 2013; Raiber & Teachout, 2014; Thornton, Murphy & Hamilton, 2004). Preservice educators complete a unique curriculum to meet the requirements of their institution based on the guidelines for teacher certification set by the state…

The technological developments that have directed 21st century skills have brought new content and dimension to narrative by integrating story narration, one of the earliest verbal narrative skills of mankind, with digital technology. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect of web-based digital story preparation on the literacy…

To better prepare physical education (PE) teachers, this study explored a group of pre-service teachers' understanding, application, and development of critical thinking (CT) in a capstone methods course. Participants were 12 pre-service teachers from a PE teacher education (PETE) program at a large university in the southwestern United States.…

In this collaborative self-study, two teacher educators examined transcripts of preservice teachers' inquiry groups focused on assessment and tutoring of struggling readers as part of a reading methods course. The analysis identified instances of scaffolding by the course instructor that influenced preservice teachers' development. Types of…