Volume 46, Issue 6, November 2020, Page 773-777.

Highly committed teachers spend more effort helping their schools achieve the academic goals. The Covid-19 pandemic had a dire effect on education worldwide. However, just after a few semesters, teachers were asked to return back to schools to teach in person. This study aims to analyze the organizational commitment levels of school teachers before and after the implementation of the Covid-19 pandemic measures that resulted in a two semester break in face-to-face teaching. In this study, a quantitative research method (...) was utilized. A total of 300 teachers’ commitment levels were assessed in a longitudinal test by using a popular tool in order to see the relative change as result of Covid-19 pandemic in Cyprus. The study mainly focuses on gender, marital status, education levels, job experience, and duration of work in the organizations in which the information from responses were statistically analyzed. According to the results of the quantitative analysis, the organizational commitment sampling average were determined to be at medium-high levels. The commitment levels of teachers were observed to decrease after the Covid-19 pandemic measures came to be implemented in schools. A detailed investigation of the school teachers’ commitment levels corresponding to the different demographic characteristics before Covid-19 and after the implementation of normalization measures is presented herein. (shrink)

Teachers' emotional states such as optimism and commitment have long been approved influential in second/foreign language education. Although many correlational investigations have been conducted on teacher optimism and commitment, their interaction and kinship with teachers' work engagement have been largely ignored in the literature. Considering this situation, the present mini-review aims to present the theoretical underpinnings, definitions, dimensions, and conceptualizations of these three important variables taken from positive psychology. Moreover, the present review can offer a number of practical (...) implications for EFL teachers, teacher educators, program designers, school principals, and L2 researchers, and raise their awareness of the impact of inner emotions on teachers' academic performance. Finally, research gaps and future directions are provided for eager researchers to run similar and complementary studies in EFL contexts. (shrink)

Dr Lloyd maintains that a teacher's commitment is not only compatible with but a necessary condition for successfully teaching religious understanding within the system of public education. As I am in sympathy with this thesis, I do not wish to argue against it but to add some further interpretation of it. Lloyd's thesis deals with a certain process of communication, specified in two directions: first as to its subject , and secondly as to its context . His thesis contains (...) two points: the kind of communciation he has in mind is at least possible and the necessary condition for its success is the commitment of the teacher. (shrink)

Boredom is a psychological phenomenon that is defined as a state of hatred or incompatibility with any kind of repetitive experience in situations where liberation from instability is not possible and has several consequences. Boredom is one of the important causes of decreased motivation in EFL learners, and it is necessary to identify the factors affecting it. Therefore, this literature review addresses the state of boredom in relationship with teachers’ immediacy and professional commitment. Reviewing the literature has revealed that (...) while teachers’ immediacy and professional commitments affect EFL learners’ boredom, other factors such as individual differences and environmental factors are in action. However, many studies confirmed that teachers play the most important role in decreasing or increasing learners’ state of boredom. The findings are significant for teacher educators to design more appropriate teacher education programs. (shrink)

This research aimed to explore the impact of organizational commitment on turnover intention of substitute teachers in public primary schools in Xuzhou, and applied psychological capital as a mediator variable to establish a research model. A questionnaire was conducted with 400 substitute teachers using convenience sampling. The results show that organizational commitment has a negative yet significant effect on turnover intention. It also shows positive impact on psychological capital. Furthermore, psychological capital is shown to negatively impact turnover intention, (...) while having a mediating effect between organizational commitment and turnover intention. (shrink)

Kindergarten teachers’ professional commitment affects their emotional input and turnover intention, and it is affected by the spiritual and material factors of teachers’ families, kindergartens, and society. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the mediating effect of the dimensions of subjective well-being in the relationship between social support and professional commitment. The study is grounded in human ecology theory and social exchange theory. We surveyed 778 kindergarten teachers from different educational systems in Guangdong Province in China. We used (...) the “Appreciative Social Support” and “Subjective Well-being” Scales and the “Professional Commitment Questionnaire.” The results showed that the four variables of social support, positive affect, life satisfaction, and professional commitment of kindergarten teachers were significantly and positively correlated with each other: social support positively predicted positive affect and life satisfaction, positive affect and life satisfaction positively predicted professional commitment, and social support indirectly influenced professional commitment through the parallel and chain path of positive affect and life satisfaction. This represents a compound multiple mediating effects on professional commitment. (shrink)

These days, technology advancement has inspired a large number of educators to employ social media in the English as a foreign language context. But, some EFL educators are yet unwilling to use such chances, because they are left untrained. Therefore, applying professional development in this field appears necessary as it is regarded as the main cause of improving educators’ education activity, and proposing new education approaches. To strengthen the academic investment in educators’ professional learning, comprehending elements affecting educators’ performance of (...) learning from PD is vital. Lower commitment degrees were specified as an element that impedes EFL educators from employing social media in EFL education. Moreover, developing the professional identity of educators is an important issue that straightly pertains to educators’ performance, which assists educators both in comprehending their professional lives and presenting them with a framework to elucidate, expand and contemplate their professional activities. Stimulated by the interest in research on social media-focused courses, this review inspects how teachers’ commitment and identity affect EFL teachers’ implementation of social media in PD. In a nutshell, implications for stakeholders of the study are presented. Indeed, the social media as an impotent device should be incorporated in PD programs to develop both teachers’ commitment and identity. Faculty members should establish workshops, and seminars to arrange for a platform for teachers to use social media to support learning. (shrink)

In this article, I argue that the concept of disposition is often unclear in teacher education programs, sometimes referring to general personal values and beliefs, and sometimes referring to professional commitments and actions. As a result, it is unclear whether teacher education programs should focus on selecting the right kind of person, or on educating the student for a profession. I suggest that a clearer distinction should be made between predispositions (value commitments that a person may or may not act (...) upon) and professional dispositions (characteristics attributed to a person based on actually observed actions), and that teacher education programs should focus their attention on the latter, not the former. The question is not whether student-teachers have the ?right? personal beliefs but whether, if the dispositions required by the profession are at odds with their personal beliefs, the former will override the latter. (shrink)

Teacher Subject Identity in Professional Practicefocuses on a key, but neglected, element of a teacher's identity: that of their subject expertise.Studies of teachers' professional practice have shown the importance of a teacher's identity and the extent to which it can affect their resilience, commitment and ultimately their effectiveness. Drawing upon narrative research undertaken with a range of teachers over a period of 14 years, the book explores how subject expertise can play a significant role in teacher identity, acting as (...) a professional compass guiding teachers at all levels of their professional practice. It reveals powerful individual stories of meaning-making which highlight the dynamic importance of teachers' subject expertise The book's metaphor of a professional compass goes to the heart of teacher professionalism, and provides a valuable mechanism to enable teachers to respond to challenges they face in their daily practice. It enables teachers to consider the moral dimensions of their practice, and can constitute a significant component in professional formation and identity. Throughout the book the importance of subject expertise for teachers' professional practice is explored at a range of scales: from the classroom to broad education policy, and at different stages of a teacher's career which offers readers a deeper understanding of the importance of subject expertise for teachers. Teacher Subject Identity in Professional Practicemakes a significant contribution to an under-researched area. It identifies the role and significance of teachers' subject expertise as a dimension of their teacher identity. The book is key reading for teacher educators, policy makers and researchers with an interest in teachers' professional development and practice. (shrink)

Positive psychology has received increasing attention in the field of education. Therefore, it would be of utmost importance to analyze the relationship between the constructs falling under the category of positive psychology and other constructs to pave the way for both educational authorities and teachers themselves. Reviewing the previous studies, it turned out that there have been no studies to discuss the interplay between teachers’ psychological capital and their job commitment and academic optimism particularly in the context of China. (...) To fill this gap, the current study set out to inspect the function of Chinese English as a Foreign language teachers’ psychological capital in promoting their job commitment and academic optimism. To accomplish this, 316 Chinese teachers were asked to complete “Psychological Capital Scale,” “Job Commitment Scale,” and “Academic Optimism Scale.” The results of regression analyses revealed that Chinese EFL teachers’ psychological capital can strongly predict their job commitment and academic optimism. The conclusion and implications of the results are finally discussed and it is mentioned that both educational authorities and teachers can benefit from this study and make the experience of teaching much more productive. (shrink)

Teachers’ professional identity is a feature of an educator that must be planned in an extended, steady, and continuing procedure and typically forms in any particular academic and social setting. As the education profession is largely stressful, it calls for consistent commitment and also motivation to help alleviate the difficulties. Indeed, the educators’ efficiency and effectiveness are mediated by these constructs to both school problems as well as the teaching work as a whole. Besides multiple factors affecting teachers’ professional (...) identity, commitment and motivation have important functions that are addressed by this mini-review of literature. Briefly, several implications are proposed for the EFL instructional recipients. (shrink)

Employees are critical stakeholders for an organization because they directly deal with the end-users and represent the entire firm. To recognize the strategic importance of the employees, organizations create communication programs to keep employees apprised of organizational issues. In this regard, this study examined the role of communication strategies on organizational commitment. The study also investigated the mediating effect of faculty engagement between communication strategies and organizational commitment. Self-administered survey aided in acquiring data from 276 English language teachers (...) in China. The analysis of the data was conducted using SmartPLS through the Structured Equation Modeling technique. The outcome of the study demonstrated that information flow and information feedback significantly impact organizational commitment and faculty engagement. The analysis also revealed that information adequacy significantly impacts organizational commitment but has no relationship with faculty engagement. The mediation analysis demonstrated that faculty engagement mediated the relationship between information flow and organizational commitment and between information feedback and organization commitment. However, faculty engagement did not mediate the relationship between information adequacy and organizational commitment among English language teachers in China. In theoretical terms, the study contributed in terms of incorporating different communication strategies and examining their effect on organizational commitment and faculty engagement. In practical terms, this study would be beneficial for the management of the educational institutes to develop different ways of enhancing communication strategies within the institute. This study also provided directions for the future, for example, conducting the study on other subject teachers, increasing the sample, carrying out the research in a different context, and adding different mediators and moderators in the existing model. (shrink)

Research has approved that teaching is a complex profession involving many cognitive, social, cultural, and psycho-emotional factors. To perform efficiently, teachers must be psycho-emotionally powerful and ready to cope with the existing challenges and complications of teaching a second/foreign language. This demands attempts to be made to psychologically empower the teachers to form positive outlooks about their profession and practices. Despite the criticality of psychological empowerment, few studies in L2 contexts have dealt with it. Against this gap, the present article (...) aimed to theoretically analyze the interaction among teachers’ PE, optimism, and commitment. In so doing, the definitions, models, components, typologies, and empirical studies related to these constructs were presented. Finally, practical implications of this line of research for EFL/ESL teachers, teacher trainers, and researchers are provided to raise their awareness of psycho-emotional factors involved L2 education. (shrink)

The way EFL students experience the process of learning has always been of utmost importance since it tremendously affects the amount of learning and received pleasure throughout this process for both teachers and students. From this aspect, both self-efficacious and committed teachers make a contribution to their organization’s success. Even though many studies have been conducted about teachers’ self-efficacy and their organizational commitment, a few of which concentrate their attention on the link between these two variables. To fill this (...) gap, this review paper provides a glimpse at the underlying roles of teacher self-efficacy and their organizational commitment. Furthermore, it presents the definitions and applications of each construct. Finally, some implications and future recommendations are put forward to avid scholars. (shrink)

The purpose of this study is to investigate the characteristics, relationships and mechanisms underlying the psychological capital, career commitment, gratitude and career well-being of teachers in ethnic areas. In total, 573 primary school and secondary school teachers in Sichuan Province were investigated. Following questionnaires were used to investigate these questions: “Psychological Capital Questionnaire for Primary and Secondary School Teachers,” “Gratitude Questionnaire,” “Teacher Career Well-being Questionnaire” and “Career Commitment Questionnaire for Primary and Secondary School Teachers.” The results show that (...) the psychological capital of teachers in ethnic areas is higher than that of teachers in non-ethnic areas. Teachers in ethnic areas have lower levels of career well-being and lower levels of gratitude than teachers in non-ethnic areas. There was no significant difference in career commitment between teachers in ethnic areas and teachers in non-ethnic areas. There were significant positive correlations among psychological capital, gratitude, career well-being and career commitment. Psychological capital can predict career commitment significantly and positively. The mediating effect of career well-being between teachers’ psychological capital and career commitment was significant in both ethnic areas and non-ethnic areas. The chain of mediating effects between gratitude and career well-being was significant in non-ethnic areas. In conclusion, psychological capital can predict teacher career commitment effectively, and the prediction mechanism in ethnic areas is different from that in non-ethnic areas. (shrink)

This insightful book uniquely charts the events, experiences and challenges faced by teachers during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic including periods of national lockdowns and school closures. Research-based and evidence informed, this key title explores the multiple media outputs created by teachers in a variety of different socio-economic contexts. The authors reflect on their stories through a series of themed analyses, as well as describe and discuss key issues related to the enactment of teacher professionalism in challenging times. With fascinating (...) vignettes and interview extracts that reinforce the idea that teachers can manage rather than survive, this book unveils a strong sense of moral purpose, professional identity, commitment, care, and resilience. It will be of interest to teachers, headteachers and teacher educators internationally. (shrink)

This study shows that professional identity should not be viewed as a composed variable with a uniform structure. Based on the literature and previous research, we view teachers? job satisfaction, self?efficacy, occupational commitment and change in the level of motivation as indicators of teachers? professional identity. Using two?step cluster analysis, three distinct professional identity profiles have empirically been identified, based on data of 1214 teachers working in secondary education in the Netherlands. These profiles differed significantly regarding the indicators of (...) teachers? professional identity. Teachers belonging to the found profiles did not significantly differ in their amount of experience. (shrink)

Upon its recent publication in Portuguese, Paulo Freire’s newest book became an instant success. This English translation is sure to meet with similar acclaim. In Teachers as Cultural Workers, Freire speaks directly to teachers about the lessons learned from a lifetime of experience as an educator and social theorist. No other book so cogently explains the implications for classroom practice of Freire’s latest ideas and the pathbreaking theories found in Pedagogy of the Oppressed and other treatises.This book challenges all who (...) teach to reflect critically on the meaning of the act of teaching as well as the meaning of learning. Freire shows why a teacher’s success depends on a permanent commitment to learning and training, as part of an ongoing appraisal of classroom practice. By observing the curiosity of students and the manner through which students develop strategies for learning, the teacher is helped in discovering doubts, successes, and the teacher’s mistakes. When teachers open themselves to recognize the different roads students take in order to learn, they will become involved in a continual reconstruction of their own paths of curiosity, opening the doors to habits of learning that will benefit everyone in the classroom. (shrink)

Worldwide, there is a growing expectation that teachers will act in a ?professional? manner. Professionalism, in this regard, includes identification of a unique body of occupational knowledge, adherence to desirable standards of behaviour, processes to hold members to account and commitment to what the profession regards as morally right or good. In other words, as ethical conduct. Teaching ethically involves making reasoned decisions about what to do in order to achieve the most good for learners. Often, this involves a (...) complex interplay between current context, past experience and personal beliefs and values. However, teacher education and accountability frameworks typically give priority to the ?practical rationality? of planning, delivery and assessment of the official curriculum, not the ?value rationality? involved in exploring the ethics of teaching in difficult practical circumstances. An aspirational code of ethics for teachers was recently developed by the New Zealand Teachers Council. The authors were part of a group commissioned to design and deliver a single professional development workshop for teachers to raise awareness about the code. This article focuses on the challenges of developing a workshop that both informs and educates teachers about ethics. (shrink)

This publication addresses the issue of mental health of teachers and staff as a key to education reform. Many teachers suffer from the crippling effects of isolation, cynicism, and discouragement. In order to be personally effective, teachers must demonstrate initiative, commitment, compassion, and dedication to children, positive characteristics that depend upon how teachers feel about themselves. Materials are offered for the teaching professional including: practical ideas, suggestions, and prescriptions for developing teacher self-esteem; and suggestions for learning to work with (...) others in more productive ways. Following a foreword by Robert W. Reasoner, a former superintendent of schools in San Jose, California, the book is organized into seven chapters: (1) Integrity with a Capital I; (2) Life's Decisions--Chance or Choice? (3) The Three Ts--Tell the Truth, Tell the Truth, Tell the Truth; (4) If It's To Be, It's Up to Me! (5) You and Me and Them; (6) Working Relationships Take Work; and (7) What Works, Works. (LL). (shrink)

In this paper, we make initial advances towards building an argument for the inclusion of Critical Literacy Awareness within the new Early Career Framework in England. Using illustrative examples from recent research projects, we argue that post-2010 education policy has discursively divided practitioners, structuring relationships between different groups of teachers in schools as hierarchical and competitive, rather than collegial and supportive. We argue that such hierarchies may be a contributing factor to the teacher retention crisis, given that research indicates teachers (...) working in schools with a collegial culture are more likely to remain committed and motivated. We propose that engagement with CLA may enable early career teachers to critique and resist dominant discourses which differentiate and hierarchically divide them from their colleagues, and therefore, the utility of CLA should be explored within future iterations of the Early Career Framework. (shrink)

A cosmopolitan ethic invites both an appreciation of the rich diversity of values, traditions and ways of life and a commitment to broad, universal principles of human rights that can secure the flourishing of that diversity. Despite the tension between universalism and particularism inherent in this outlook, it has received much recent attention in education. I focus here on one of the dilemmas to be faced in taking cosmopolitanism seriously, namely, the difficulty of judging what is just in the (...) context of an increasingly divergent public—and classroom—discourse about values, rights and equality. I propose in what follows that judgement cannot rely on any script, even one as attractive, perhaps, as cosmopolitanism. To explore what is at stake in making judgements in an educational context, I draw on both Hannah Arendt's and Emmanuel Levinas's notions of judgement and thinking. The paper discusses the educational significance of thought and judgement as conditions for reframing the universalism–particularism problem found in a cosmopolitan ethic. My argument is that there is a world of difference between educating for cosmopolitanism, which entails a faith in principles, and ‘thinking cosmopolitan’, which entails a hope in justice for my neighbours. (shrink)

Four year initial teacher education courses have recently undergone radical reform, in particular in relation to the time that students spend in schools. Through the introduction of mentorship programmes, teachers have become very much more involved in training the students whilst they are in school. How do teachers view the changes that have been introduced? Do they agree with the principles and models that guided the developments? Headteachers and class teachers who acted as mentors for students from the University of (...) Reading have supplied some answers. They are very committed to the model of student learning upon which the mentorship programme is built, the belief that schools and the university must work in partnership to implement and further develop the mentorship programme and the view that schools need to adopt a whole school approach to their involvement in initial teacher education. These findings indicate that the teachers agree with the underlying principles that guided the development of the mentorship programme in which they are involved and they are supportive of the resulting changes to school experience. (shrink)

The notion of a community of inquiry has been treated by many of its proponents as being an exemplar of democracy in action. We argue that the assumptions underlying this view present some practical and theoretical difficulties, particularly in relation to distribution of power among the members of a community of inquiry. We identify two presuppositions in relation to distribution of power that require attention in developing an educational model that is committed to deliberative democracy: (1) openness to inquiry and (...) readiness to reason, and (2) mutual respect of students and teachers towards one another. Our contention is that these presuppositions, presented as preconditions necessary to the creation of a community of inquiry, are not without ideological commitments and dependent upon the ability of participants to share power. Using group dynamic theories and the ideas of Hannah Arendt, we argue that behaviours commonly interpreted as obstacles to dialogue or reflective inquiry could provide opportunities for growth. (shrink)

In this conversation, American philosopher Robert Brandom talks about the historical background of his inferentialism, reconstructing the influence of his teachers Wilfrid Sellars and Richard Rorty.

Why has the ‘Philosophy for Children’ movement failed to make significant educational inroads in Australia, given the commitment and ongoing efforts of philosophers and educators alike who have worked hard in recent decades to bring philosophy to our schools? In this article we single out one factor as having particular importance, namely, that, on the whole, teachers consider philosophical inquiry to be futile. We argue that the explanation rests with teachers’ underlying epistemological beliefs and that openness to philosophy depends (...) upon teachers being disposed to engage in the practices of reason-giving and reason evaluation, being aware of the epistemic value of such practices and, concomitantly, having highly developed reasoning skills. Drawing on both anecdotal evidence and wide-ranging research from within cognitive psychology, we go on to make a case for change within teacher education programmes. (shrink)

A common complaint among those involved in teaching the educational foundations is the reluctance of many trainee teachers to engage in issues of educational theory. This is particularly apparent with those trainees who are more concerned with managing classrooms of children than grappling with what are often abstract and difficult ideas. This paper considers the current use of educational stories as a pedagogical strategy in teacher training, and a story that has been used in this way is presented. It is (...) argued that teachers of the educational foundations disciplines can, via stories, appeal to the opposing tensions and schemata in students’ own minds, and this engagement can be enhanced when students are confronted with broader educational debates, perspectives and proposals. Stories provide abstract concepts with a necessary tension, they suggest a way of entering the theoretical via the concrete and they show students the personal relevance of certain debates, which may have previously appeared remote and obscure. The end result is that students are challenged to make decisions about matters of fundamental importance such as the kinds of teachers they will be and about the ethical commitment they will make to teaching. (shrink)

Our survey of literature on moral dilemmas in teaching reveals that scholars declare the need to unequivocally resolve them yet refrain from doing so. This phenomenon is rooted in falure to distinguish between the different moral conflicts. The methods of resolving abstract hypothetical dilemmas, advocated but not implemented by the scholars, are poorly suited to deal with conflicts involving social pressure and high-stakes consequences for the parties involved, like most of the conflicts that teachers report. Thus, textbooks invite teachers to (...) resolve dilemmas on their own through reflection and dialogue, beyond the limits which Habermasian ethics of dialogue allows. The scholarship licenses lax attitudes towards commitment to professional and ethical standards by appealing to the ethics of care. It appeals to outdated versions of ethics of care that posit care in opposition to the ethics of duties, no longer employed in ethics of nursing and other caring professions. (shrink)

The way in which educators choose to engage with learners and to offer opportunities to share knowledge of both the physical world and the world of ideas is an ongoing area of international research interest but remains diffuse and difficult to systematise. This idiosyncratic quality underscores the privileged position of teachers as creative professionals. By exploring Claude Lévi-Strauss’s conception of how and for what purpose we share knowledge within society, this paper explores the relationship between perceptions of teachers’ professional role (...) and the challenges they face working within formal education systems. The artisan quality of teachers’ practice, gained through experience, association and personal commitment, makes possible a visualisation of teacher professionalism as bricolage that, when read alongside theories of teacher agency, generates an affirmative picture of how teacher professionalism may be reframed as creative and responsive rather than homogenous and mechanistic. (shrink)

Many teacher candidates get their first taste of life as a full-time teacher in their practicums, during which they confront a host of challenges, pedagogical and ethical. Because ethics is fundamental to the connection between teachers and students, teacher candidates are often required to negotiate dilemmas in ways that keep with the ethical ideals espoused both by the professional body and the community at large. Presenting the case of a teacher candidate who finds herself emotionally depleted in her devotion to (...) students, we look to the ethics of care and virtue for clarifying insights. Care ethics extols intersubjectivity and reciprocity, while virtue ethics enjoins commitment to a noble ideal for its own sake; both perspectives offer useful insights for our case. We argue that the perspectives and practices of contemplative traditions can facilitate the integration of care and virtue ethics, mitigating the risk of disruption in caring relations while minimizing the possibility of a personal p... (shrink)

_2020 PROSE Award Winner, Education Theory Category 2019 Outstanding Academic Title, _Choice_ In _Where Teachers Thrive_, Susan Moore Johnson outlines a powerful argument about the importance of the school as an organization in nurturing high‐quality teaching._ Based on case studies conducted in fourteen high-poverty, urban schools, the book examines why some schools failed to make progress, while others achieved remarkable results. It explores the challenges that administrators and teachers faced and describes what worked, what didn’t work, and why. Johnson draws (...) on vivid portraits of schools to highlight an array of school‐based systems and practices that support teachers’ professional growth and effectiveness. These include a rich and interactive hiring process; team‐based curriculum planning and assessment; and informative feedback and ongoing professional learning. Critical to all of these is the role of the principal as an essential agent in a school’s success. Although these elements may vary from school to school, Johnson argues that together these systems provide a comprehensive, mutually reinforcing set of well-orchestrated strategies that can help schools deliver results that exceed the sum of teachers’ individual efforts. Since 2000, policy makers and education officials have diligently sought to improve schools by improving the quality of individual teachers. However, even if those teachers are skilled and committed, the schools where they work are all too often disjointed, dysfunctional organizations that serve no one well. _Where Teachers Thrive _explains clearly how educators within a school can join together to adopt systems of practice that ensure growth and success by all teachers and their students. (shrink)

Cover -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Half Title -- Table of Contents -- Note on the Text -- Preface -- Introduction Reprofessionalizing and Politicizing Teachers -- Chapter 1 The Dead Hand of the Past: The Idealist Legacy -- Chapter 2 Reactions and Adaptations -- Chapter 3 Teachers, Materialism and the Real World -- Chapter 4 Choice and Ideology -- Chapter 5 Justifying Teacher Intervention -- Chapter 6 Teachers and Committed Intervention -- Chapter 7 Teachers as Intellectual Vanguard -- (...) Chapter 8 Conclusion -- Select Bibliography -- Index. (shrink)

Moral distress has been the subject of extensive research and debate in the nursing ethics literature since the mid-1980s, but the concept has received comparatively little attention from those working outside of applied ethics. In this article, I defend a care ethical account of moral distress, according to which the phenomenon is the product of an agent’s inability to live up to one of her caring commitments. This account has a number of attractions. First, it places a greater emphasis on (...) the importance of the relationship between the caregiver and her cared-for than that found in previous accounts. Second, it does not make problematic assumptions about the correctness of a caregiver’s moral judgments, as has been claimed in relation to previous accounts of moral distress. Finally, my account allows for a clear conceptual distinction to be drawn between moral distress and other forms of negative moral emotion such as guilt and regret. Earlier accounts draw this distinction by appealing to the causal aetiology of moral distress, but as I show here, such appeals are ultimately unsuccessful unless they are made from an explicitly care ethical starting point. One of the implications of my account is that moral distress has the potential to occur in the context of any caregiving relationship. This claim is explored in the final section of the paper, in relation to student-teacher and parent-child caregiving. (shrink)

What makes a good teacher? In 1991 Hartmut von Hentig attempted to answer this when he first formulated a "Socratic oath" for the profession and it is a question which remains relevant today. In The Socratic Oath for Teachers Klaus Zierer revisits and reframes the concept of a teacher's oath while also addressing challenges currently facing our society developments in recent didactic-methodological research, and fresh perspectives on the goals of the teaching profession. Referencing Socrates throughout, this short think piece proposes (...) a professional oath for teachers that at its core is fully committed to the successful education and well-being of students. Drawing upon key research and his own experiences within education, Zierer answers the following questions, establishing how a professional oath may support teachers. For example, What is a professional oath, and what can it do? What characterises teacher professionalism? What can be understood by teacher attitudes? Why are they crucial for a successful professional oath? Why is Socrates suitable as a guarantor for a professional oath of teachers? Why is a renewal of the Socratic Oath necessary? For whom is an oath necessary, and what must it contain? In this fascinating work, Klaus Zierer explores the principles and goals of the teaching profession and formulates theoretically sound and empirically validated principles of successful teaching. This is an essential read for any teacher, senior leader, policy maker, educationalist or researcher who wants to learn more about what makes a good teacher. (shrink)

A common complaint among those involved in teaching the educational foundations is the reluctance of many trainee teachers to engage in issues of educational theory. This is particularly apparent with those trainees who are more concerned with managing classrooms of children than grappling with what are often abstract and difficult ideas. This paper considers the current use of educational stories as a pedagogical strategy in teacher training, and a story that has been used in this way is presented. It is (...) argued that teachers of the educational foundations disciplines can, via stories, appeal to the opposing tensions and schemata in students’ own minds, and this engagement can be enhanced when students are confronted with broader educational debates, perspectives and proposals. Stories provide abstract concepts with a necessary tension, they suggest a way of entering the theoretical via the concrete and they show students the personal relevance of certain debates, which may have previously appeared remote and obscure. The end result is that students are challenged to make decisions about matters of fundamental importance such as the kinds of teachers they will be and about the ethical commitment they will make to teaching. (shrink)

Critical thinking is often described by philosophers of education as a process of transcendence: a way to take one’s beliefs, values, and actions as objects of thought, and to reflect on them for the sake of evaluation and possible transformation. John Dewey argues, for example, that “the essence of critical thinking is suspended judgment”; it involves a pause that allows us to stand back to reflect, to “metaphori- cally climb a tree...[to get] a more commanding view of the situation.”1 This (...) process calls for a difficult balancing act between commitment and suspicion. Effective transcendence requires recognition of one’s fallibility, a degree of suspicion regarding one’s views and methods of thinking as a motivation for distancing oneself from these in order to evaluate them. Yet distancing must not be taken too far — one must trust in and remain committed to certain beliefs and methods as criteria for judgment in order to ground the evaluation made possible by stepping back to reflect. Critical thinkers must recognize their own fallibility without being paralyzed by it, and must commit to evaluative criteria without losing the suspicion that motivates reflection and revision. Teachers who work to promote critical thinking as transcendence must find a way to negotiate this balance, avoiding too much emphasis on either extreme. (shrink)

_Co-Published by Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group and the Association of Teacher Educators._ The_ Handbook of Research on Teacher Education_ was initiated to ferment change in education based on solid evidence. The publication of the First Edition was a signal event in 1990. While the preparation of educators was then – and continues to be – the topic of substantial discussion, there did not exist a codification of the best that was known at the time about teacher education. Reflecting the needs (...) of educators today, the Third Edition takes a new approach to achieving the same purpose. Beyond simply conceptualizing the broad landscape of teacher education and providing comprehensive reviews of the latest research for major domains of practice, this edition: stimulates a broad conversation about foundational issues brings multiple perspectives to bear provides new specificity to topics that have been undifferentiated in the past includes diverse voices in the conversation. The Editors, with an Advisory Board, identified nine foundational issues and translated them into a set of focal questions: What’s the Point?: The Purposes of Teacher Education What Should Teachers Know? Teacher Capacities: Knowledge, Beliefs, Skills, and Commitments Where Should Teachers Be Taught? Settings and Roles in Teacher Education Who Teaches? Who Should Teach? Teacher Recruitment, Selection, and Retention Does Difference Make a Difference? Diversity and Teacher Education How Do People Learn to Teach? Who’s in Charge? Authority in Teacher Education How Do We Know What We Know? Research and Teacher Education What Good is Teacher Education? The Place of Teacher Education in Teachers’ Education. _The Association of Teacher Educators is an individual membership organization devoted solely to the improvement of teacher education both for school-based and post secondary teacher educators. For more information on our organization and publications, please visit: www.ate1.org _. (shrink)