August 27 | International Portal of Teacher Education

Aug. 27, 2013

Dear subscriber,

MOFET ITEC Portal Newsletter

Dear Subscriber,

We are delighted to be sending you another issue of The International Portal of Teacher Education resource list, focusing on teacher education, pedagogy, instruction, and the professional development of teachers.

MOFETeach 2014 – Education for Sustainability: between January 20-28, we offer a special study tour in Israel for teachers, policy makers & administrators. One day of the study tour will be dedicated to a Mini-Conference, and another will be dedicated to visits to Green Industries. Join us in learning about latest advances in ecology and sustainability education in the present and future! For more information click here.

Wishing you interesting and enjoyable reading,

The MOFET Portal Team

August 27, 2013

International Portal of Teacher Education

Please note: a complete list of recent additions to the portal follows the Featured Items.

August 2013

Featured Items

Design-Based Research: A Decade of Progress in Education Research?

In this article, the authors review the basic features of Design-based research (DBR). The authors describe the trends toward increasing its use, and highlight and analyze the most cited articles that focus on DBR in education. The authors conclude that DBR is being utilized increasingly in educational contexts and especially those in the United States. It seems to be especially attractive for use in K–12 contexts and with technological interventions. The increasing number of studies reported suggests that researchers and graduate students are finding ways to meet the time demands of multiple iteration studies.

Assessment Literacy Overlooked: A Teacher Educator's Confession

In this article, the author presents reflections and guidance concerning assessment literacy in teacher education. The author argues that assessment literacy consists of an individual’s understandings of the fundamental assessment concepts and procedures deemed likely to influence educational decisions. The author claims that accountability assessments have become the determiners of educator quality. Furthermore, the author argues that prospective teachers should understand educational assessment because of the potential of such testing to serve as a catalyst for improved instruction.

How Is the Internship Going Anyways? An Action Research Approach to Understanding the Triad Relationship between Interns, Mentors, and Field Advisors

The author examines at the relationship between mentors, interns, and field advisors on a theological internship programme from an action research perspective. The author uses the work of Hans Georg Gadamer as a conceptual framework. The findings reveal that three themes emerged: One of the behavioural themes that came out of each interview with the interns and mentors was the as sense of the initial emotional uncertainty it is connected with the field advisor. Another finding that emerged is the role of the field advisor as the reflective friend. The third finding centres on the theme of the field advisor as being an insider/outsider.

Learning to Balance Assistance with Assessment: A Scholarship of Field Instruction

In this article, the author focuses on ways of embracing and managing a central dilemma of supervision: balancing support with assessment. The author used a case study method to analyze the interactions between eight student teachers and himself, their university field instructor. The author employed at least five different strategies to provide an educative balance of support and assessment of his student teachers’ work and progress: (a) a ‘‘back door’’ critique of their teaching; (b) a depersonalized approach to assessment; (c) a ‘‘green light’’ indication that they ‘‘passed'; (d) humor; and (e) a focus on student learning.

The (Failed) Case of the Winston Society Wikispace: The Challenges and Opportunities of Web 2.0 and Teacher Education

In this article, the authors examine the case of the Winston Society. The authors argue that the participants saw the technological demands of the Winston Society as less threatening than participating in social practices that emphasized more participatory and collaborative knowledge-making, distributed expertise, and less published and individuated kinds of authorship. The authors claim that the data pointed to at least three alternative directions for the use of new literacies in teacher education: teachers’ discomfort with digital epistemologies, the potential of online affinity spaces and of networking social media to mediate teachers’ professional development.