Clare Kosnik

University of Toronto | U of T · Department of Curriculum, Teaching and Learning

This article begins by outlining the history of teacher education—from an apprenticeship model to an intellectual endeavor back to apprenticeship-type programs. It shows how the dismantling of traditional university-based teacher education programs by governments led to the involvement of for-profit teacher education program using an apprenticeship...

This article explores the ways in which lived experiences informed literacy teacher educators' (LTEs) pedagogies and practices of social justice. In particular, three case studies were conducted to examine why the LTEs chose to address social justice, as well as how their life experiences influenced their views and pedagogies in their literacy cour...

This paper reports on a qualitative research study that examined how 10 literacy teacher educators (LTEs) utilized children’s literature to invite teacher trainees to critically engage with social issues, challenge their assumptions about literacy, and begin to develop the knowledge and dispositions to work alongside diverse learners (e.g., cultura...

Given the intense politicisation of education, many teacher educators are caught in the cross-hairs of government’s reform agendas, university expectations and student teacher needs. This paper reports on a study of 28 literacy teacher educators in four countries (Canada, US, Australia and England). This paper reports on the broad question: How is...

Teacher educators are an occupational group who appear to suffer from an identity crisis. They do not seem to be able to agree on what their role or professional learning needs are. This situation has dire consequences for the next generation of teacher educators who enter the field in the same rather haphazard and ad hoc way as the ones before. Th...

The timeframe for publishing this book is an interesting one internationally. As increasingly sophisticated and economically competitive ‘knowledge societies’ evolve around the world, national and international demands on education multiply, demanding the production of high-quality educational ‘outcomes’ from schooling and higher education. Intensi...

The timeframe for publishing this book is an interesting one internationally. As increasingly sophisticated and economically competitive ‘knowledge societies’ evolve around the world, national and international demands on education multiply, demanding the production of high-quality educational ‘outcomes’ from schooling and higher education. Intensi...

This chapter reports on a study of 28 literacy/English teacher educators in 4 countries (Canada, the USA, Australia, and England) with a focus on their use of digital technology. For analyzing the data, we used Ottenbreit-Leftwich et al.’s (2010) six different ways to incorporate technology into teacher education: information delivery, hands-on ski...

This unique book is an important source of information for all of those who educate future teachers and those who participate in teacher education as students, researchers, educators and policymakers. The volume also contributes to the international development of higher quality and research-led teacher education provision by providing clear eviden...

This unique book is an important source of information for all of those who educate future teachers and those who participate in teacher education as students, researchers, educators and policymakers. The volume also contributes to the international development of higher quality and research-led teacher education provision by providing clear eviden...

This paper presents findings from the large-scale study Literacy Teacher Educators: Their Backgrounds, Visions, and Practices that includes 28 literacy/English teacher educators (LTEs) from four countries. The participants were interviewed three times and shared their course outlines. Six pre-service LTEs who use a constructivist approach are prese...

This is a self-study of three teacher educators: two who integrated digital technology into their literacy methods courses and one who shared their journey as a critical friend. In the first year of the study the literacy teacher educators simply layered digital technology onto the existing course, in part because they were very ad hoc in their pla...

This chapter presents the findings from a study of 28 literacy/English teacher educators (LTEs) in four countries (Canada, U.S., England, and Australia). Three interviews were conducted and course syllabi were examined. The study found that LTEs draw on three sets of experiences in developing and delivering their courses: pivotal early childhood ev...

Teacher educators are often considered as a homogeneous group but given their varied backgrounds, interests, and strengths they are in fact quite heterogeneous. A number of variables come into play: educational background (e.g. highest degree a PhD or Master); years experience as a classroom teacher (e.g., few years versus being a master teacher);...

Given expanding concepts of literacy and evolving communication patterns literacy teacher educators face a daunting task–preparing student teachers for a world where literacy is very complicated and contested. This paper addresses two key questions: What are the elements of a pedagogy of literacy teacher education? What opportunities for learning d...

The longitudinal study of teachers gives a time perspective on the life and work of teachers, instead of just a snapshot at a particular point. The time period in question may be just a few intense months, as in some ethnographic research, or several decades, as in some life-history research. Longitudinal research is useful in exploring such topics...

This chapter examines recent “reform” efforts in teacher education around the world. There are three main sections. First, we identify eight types of reform policies and initiatives. These include: establishing standards and minimum requirements for teacher education; making teacher education more “research-based”; making pre-service programmes mor...

This research examined the ways in which pre-service primary teachers’ experiences of physical education during the practicum influenced the development of their identities as teachers of physical education. Guided by a social constructivist view of identity, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 pre-service teachers over one academic y...

This study involved 28 literacy/English teacher educators in four countries: Canada, U.S., UK, and Australia. The goal of the study was to examine their backgrounds, pedagogies, research activities, identity, and turning points in their lives. Eight of the participants self-identified as having a critical stance which they actualized through specif...

As forms of communication (e.g., text messaging, blogging, videos, Instagram) proliferate, those of us in teacher education often grapple with the place of digital technology (DT) in our courses. We struggle with both the logistics of using DT and re-conceptualizing our courses to actualize what Bullock (2011) describes as “Teaching 2.0”. Part of t...

We have taken a novel approach to this final section of Building Bridges: Rethinking Literacy Teacher Education in a Digital Era. Rather than simply providing a summary of the previous 12 chapters, we have used these chapters as data. Since the authors’ own research and experience as teacher educators was a large part of the basis for their respect...

This paper reports on a research study of 28 literacy teacher educators (LTE) in four countries: Canada, the USA, England and Australia. It identifies three main forms of professional development: informal, formal and communities of practice and four spheres of knowledge: research; pedagogy of higher education; literacy and literacy teaching; and c...

This study involved 28 literacy/English teacher educators in four countries: Canada, the U.S., UK, and Australia. The goal of the study was to examine their backgrounds, pedagogies, research activities, identity, and turning points in their lives. Seven of the participants who are Canadian are presented in this chapter. Data analysis (using NVivo)...

In exploring the main goals of teacher growth, we begin with honing a vision of teaching. We start here because having a sound vision is central to effective education. It gives direction to teachers’ efforts and their decisions about what and how to teach (Hammerness, Darling-Hammond, & Bransford, 2005; Kennedy, 2006).

So far in Part II we have emphasized informal teacher learning, discussing how a great deal of professional growth comes through everyday activities, especially in the classroom but also in other settings. We turn now to formal PD, which of course can also have a major impact. By providing an “ outside perspective” it can introduce teachers to idea...

Schooling in most countries is deeply subject-oriented: teachers spend most of their day teaching one or more subjects. So if teachers are to make learning relevant – as discussed in the previous chapter – they must do so largely through subject teaching. This is challenging, given the very academic nature of much school subject content (Meier, 199...

The ability to plan and implement a solid instructional program in one or more subjects is basic to good teaching. Refining the capacity to do this is the second goal of teacher growth we wish to address. Although teachers don’t just teach subjects, it’s a large part of what they do. In discussing vision in the previous chapter, we touched on some...

I’m spending less time bringing children to an assessment task, and more time visiting them at whatever it is that they’re doing and seeing what sort of information I can gain from observing them. (Mike, in his fourth year of teaching)

As noted in the Introduction to Part II, a large proportion of professional learning takes place informally in the classroom as teachers observe their students and experiment with various topics, materials, and activities. Our focus in this chapter is on informal teacher learning in general, in the classroom and going beyond it to selfchosen activi...

As discussed in Chapters 2 and 3, teachers need to continue developing a solid academic program, with a sound assessment component. However, everything depends on the relevance of the program (Noddings, 2005, 2013; Ravitch, 2010, 2013; Smith & ilhelm, 2002). There is no point offering students a “good program” if the content lacks meaning and value...

Teachers’ professional identity – how they perceive themselves and their role – is of crucial importance. It affects their ability to survive and thrive in the profession (Day & Gu, 2010; Flores, 2012) and has a pervasive influence on their pedagogy and how they interact with their students (Danielewicz, 2001; Lieberman and Friedrich, 2010). Rodger...

In Chapter 9 we saw that informal inquiry by teachers in their own classroom is an important means of professional learning. However, we described it only briefly there, as one avenue of teacher learning among many. In this chapter we look at teacher inquiry more broadly, including formal varieties; we also discuss whether teacher inquiry should be...

Creating a classroom that respects and supports all students equally is basic to good teaching. It is necessary for students’ academic learning, personal growth, and present well-being. We agree with Villegas and Lucas (2002) that attending to “student diversity is central to the learning process” (p. xxii). To make inclusion a reality, however, te...

Creating a classroom environment that supports student learning and well-being is another key goal of ongoing teacher growth. As noted in Chapter 1, many new teachers see their role as mainly curriculum delivery and think that – with so much to “cover” – they won’t have time for much else. But they soon realize that other aspects of their students’...

So far at the school level we have focused mainly on learning by individual teachers and small groups of colleagues. However, the school as a whole can be a very important unit for professional growth. Teachers may be more motivated to try new approaches when everyone in the school is working together; and the school is a convenient setting for obs...

Abstract: We have been studying 42 teachers since they started their career, 20 who began in 2004 and 22 who began in 2007; although the study is ongoing, in this paper we report only up to 2011-2012. Over this period, we saw substantial change in the teachers, specifically in the extent to which they taught for relevance and values development. In...

Teacher learning doesn't end with initial preparation; many insights and skills remain to be added. This book is concerned with ongoing teacher learning, its goals (Part I) and pathways (Part II). It is based on a longitudinal study of 42 teachers: 20 over their first 8 years of teaching and 22 over their first 5 years. The areas of continued teach...

This study involved 28 literacy/English teachers in four countries: Canada, the USA, the UK and Australia. The goal of the study was to examine their backgrounds, knowledge, research activities, identity and support within the university. The teacher educators had a range of classroom teaching experience which they drew on in many ways. Most went f...

This article reports on a study of 21 mid-career and senior literacy/English teacher educators in four countries: Canada, the United States (US), the United Kingdom (UK), and Australia. Three main themes are discussed: identity (re)construction; knowledge development (e.g. of pedagogy; current literacy practices); and reconceptualisation of their w...

This article considers the key questions: what do teacher educators need to know and how can they be prepared to assume a critical role in education? The authors discuss the U.S. context where teacher education has received unrelenting criticism. They argue that teacher educators require specialized knowledge: “learning on the job” is simply inadeq...

Literacy Teacher Educators: Preparing Teachers for a Changing World brings together the perspectives of 26 literacy/English teacher educators from four countries: Canada, US, UK, and Australia. In this unique text, the contributors of whom many are renowned experts in critical literacy and multiliteracies, provide readers with an overview of trends...

We began working together in September 2010-Lydia as a teaching assistant in Clare's literacy methods courses. From the moment we met, it has been a highly productive teaching partnership with the lines between graduate student and professor blurring entirely. We simply see ourselves as co-teaching and co-writing.

Background: In many contexts, elementary physical education (PE) classes are taught by the classroom teacher rather than by a PE specialist. Elementary classroom teachers often cite negative attitudes resulting from experiences as school pupils and inadequate pre-service PE teacher education as barriers to teaching a quality PE programme.Purpose: T...

We have taken a novel approach to this concluding chapter. Rather than simply outline some next steps for literacy teacher education, we used the previous 14 chapters as a form of data. We read through the chapters to identify common themes which we present here as a kind of educational significance of the work of our exemplary literacy teacher edu...

This paper describes an initiative, Becoming Teacher Educators (BTE), which is a group for doctoral students who want to become teacher educators. The group is composed of two professors and 12 doctoral students. The various activities in which the group has engaged over the past three years are described. This article brings to light a few key ele...

Designed to help student teachers develop an approach to teaching that is both theoretical and practical, this text focuses on key aspects of teaching rather than trying to "cover the waterfront." Based on extensive research on teachers’ views, their own long experience as teacher educators, and other sources, the authors recommend 7 priorities for...

As pre-service instructors, we turned to longitudinal study of our graduates as a primary means of finding out how our courses could better prepare student teachers for the challenging early years of teaching. In addition, we used other self-study methods, notably regular feedback from student teachers during the program. The study of 22 graduates...

One of the complaints about teacher education is that research done on programs tends to be local and ends at the completion of the program. As Clift and Brady (2005) found in the American Educational Research Association (AERA) panel on research and teacher education, between 1995 and 2001 only 24 studies were conducted on preservice literacy cour...

Many attempts at educational reform focus either on developing the knowledge and skills of individual teachers through courses, workshops, publications, and so on, or on mandating curriculum and pedagogy — with related professional development — across a whole-school system. The first approach is problematic because individual teachers need workpla...

The term learning community (LC) could conjure up one of the following images: a group of faculty gathered in an office developing a new program; a team of teachers sitting around a table in the library working on a school-wide initiative; a cohort of students celebrating the end of their program; or a research team huddled over transcripts, discus...

This article reports a study of literacy instruction in our own elementary preservice program. It examines the views and practices of both the preservice faculty who teach literacy and a sample of graduates of the program during their first three years of teaching. The new teachers reported learning many things from their preservice program, includ...

Developing a Pedagogy of Teacher Education: Understanding Teaching and Learning About Teaching (J. John Loughran. 2006. London: Routledge. 196 pages.)

Teacher education for literacy teaching is often fairly narrow in focus. New approaches are needed that are sociocultural in orientation and take due account of the diversity of language forms, both traditional and contemporary, formal and informal, literary and non‐literary. We believe this need can be met by largely adopting a ‘multiliteracies’ a...

This article looks at the non-tenure-line instructors in a teacher education programme. Although they play a crucial role in teacher education, they largely toil in the shadows. They have limited voice in programme decisions, are offered little or no induction, and often work in isolation. The high turnover in staff and their heavy teaching and sup...

Most would agree that a learning community of practice cultivates social and intellectual development in educational settings but what are the other benefits and what does a learning community actually look like in practice? This book explores such questions as: "Are learning communities essential in education?" "How are they designed and developed...

In this study we asked beginning elementary teachers about their needs as first-year teachers and the adequacy of their preservice program in helping to meet them. The new teachers varied in satisfaction with their preparation but showed considerable consensus on their needs. They felt the study of both theory and practice should be conducted in de...

This book offers a comprehensive, "social constructivist" approach to preservice education. Written in a clear, accessible style, it presents key principles of teacher education and concrete examples from eight successful programs in Australia, Canada, and the United States. It extends constructivism beyond Piaget and Vygotsky to more recent theori...

Aself-study community encourages the sharing of experiences and new insights, both positive and negative. The building of knowledge develops through dialogue in a personal-constructivist-collaborative approach (Beck, Freese, & Kosnik, 2004). Loughran and Northfield (1998) note that the individual perspective may be a significant paradox in self-stu...

This paper begins with a description of my work in a Canadian school of education, where I now realize that I was well insulated from the US context, where many are highly critical of teacher education. My recent move to Stanford University immediately immersed me in the highly controversial practices being imposed on schools and schools of educati...

Using qualitative and quantitative methods, we studied a large sample of our 2002–2003 preservice students to see how they were selected and how they fared in the program. Our research suggested that a key component of a preservice admissions process is to look for evidence that applicants possess qualities important for strong teaching; in our sam...

Research on teacher education must extend into the graduates’ first few years of teaching; a longitudinal approach will help teacher educators appreciate the demands beginning teachers face while assessing the effectiveness of the teacher education program. For this study, we studied 12 graduates of the Mid-Town program at OISE/UT in the last month...

The research on teacher education is surprisingly consistent in identifying the perennial problems of teacher certification programs. Darling-Hammond and Sykes (1999) succinctly list five basic critiques: inadequate time; fragmentation of the program; uninspired teaching methods; superficial curriculum; and traditional views of schools (p. 23). Lor...

The challenges teacher educators are now facing are of a different nature from those of the past few decades. They have taken on an urgency and a magnitude not witnessed before. Strict government control of education is increasing, the social problems in the schools are more severe, the budget restrictions we face in the university are greater, and...

In the last 20 years, many faculties of education in Ontario developed strong partnerships with school districts, involved classroom teachers in program delivery, redesigned programs to be more coherent and relevant, conducted research on preservice programs, and increased opportunities for reflective practices. However, many of the problems long a...

With its emphasis on personal, constructivist, and collaborative teaching and learning, a self-study approach has the potential to significantly enhance the preservice practicum. We begin by outlining various dimensions of the self-study approach and then note some of the challenges to implementing this approach in teacher education. In the central...

Staff with a limited-term appointment, whether part-time or full-time, are being used increasingly in teacher education today. This raises the question of how it is possible to offer a balanced preservice program when only a small proportion of the staff are permanent academics with a career commitment to formal theory development. In this paper we...

Many preservice teacher education programs in recent years have increased the amount of time student teachers spend in field placements by adding an “internship “ component. An internship is typically longer than a practice teaching session and is designed as a bridge between being a student teacher and having full teaching responsibilities. This s...

Much has been written in recent decades about the importance of community in education. According to some of the literature, a solution to the lack of community in preservice education might lie in the creation of "cohort programs," in which a relatively small number of student teachers engage in their coursework and (insofar as possible) their fie...

A review of Experimenting with the World: John Dewey and the Early Childhood Classroom by Harriet Cuffaro. New York: Teachers College Press, 1995.

The university campus component of preservice teacher education is often seen as overly theoretical, fragmented, and unconnected to practice. Indeed, some commentators maintain that a key step in the “reform” of teacher education is to reduce the time student teachers spend on campus. In response, teacher educators have made a number of suggestions...

In contrast to curriculum standards initiatives, the teaching standards movement advocates a broad teaching approach that includes teaching for understanding, skills development in context, collaborative activities, and diversity of content and method. Using this conceptualization to analyze teachers' responses to a survey, we found that their prac...

Preservice practicum supervision is often carried out by special supervisory staff rather than by tenured or tenure-track education faculty. Some researchers feel this creates an unfortunate separation between the campus program and the practicum and results in lost opportunities to strengthen the school-university partnership. Five years ago, in a...

It is often suggested that student teachers be placed in cohorts during their preservice program. In this paper we describe how we implemented a cohort model and examine the effects on our student teachers. We found there were many positive effects, such as a high level of participation in whole class and small group activities, greater awareness o...

This paper is a self-study of my work as a professor as I redesigned and implemented an innovative teacher education program at OISE/UT. I begin by providing the background and setting to our program, a one-year, post-baccalaureate B.Ed. program. Since it is cohort-based, 60 students, we had the opportunity to structure the program around action re...

Describes a report which was considered the blueprint for teacher education, discussing teacher education as a lifelong process, fuller integration of practicums and campus programs, and a vision for teaching and teacher education; describing various Ontario faculties of education; highlighting an exemplary program at the Ontario Institute for Stud...

The research literature indicates lack of clarity and agreement about the role of 'associate teachers'—teachers who supervise teacher education students during their practicum. This study of a group of associate teachers revealed that they found their role satisfying and gave student teachers a considerable amount of support, feedback and direction...