Pilot Study: Improving the Success of Teacher Candidate Pedagogical Aspiration
Primary researchers
Study #1 - Dr. Brian Lewthwaite, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba;
Study #2 - Dr. Barbara McMillan, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba;
Study #3 - Dr. Ralph Mason, Faculty of Education, University of Manitoba;
Study #4 - Dr. Ann Kajander, Faculty of Education, Lakehead University
Descriptions of proposed research
Study #1 - This multi-year study focuses on supporting chemistry teacher candidates in their developmental trajectories as chemistry educators. It is based on an acknowledgement that a combination of personal attribute dispositions and environmental factors will facilitate or impede teacher candidate development. Emphasis is placed on developing a congruency of aspiration through communication and negotiation among members of the teacher candidate microsystem - the teacher candidate, faculty advisor, fellow teacher candidates and collaborating teacher - in order to facilitate development. The study will identify mechanisms that support development within the existing framework of the University of Manitoba’s teacher education program.
Study #2 - TBA
Study #3 - Scaffolded Early Practicum - This project is not currently active.
This project will document a teacher education program for fostering teacher candidates’ awareness of the mathematical learning of individual students in secondary mathematics classes. In the first phase of the project, teacher candidates teach groups of three to five students each through a series of inquiry-oriented mathematics lessons. Through small-group discourse, interpreting the students’ written products, and interactive writing, each teacher candidate has a variety of opportunities to notice and influence the students’ engagement with the mathematical activities that the teacher candidates have provided. It is anticipated that as the project progresses, it may serve as a pilot study for altering the relationship between the Faculty of Education’s first-year courses and practica.
The research aspect of the study will identify the factors that affect teacher candidates’ efforts to notice and understand the individual students they teach. As well, changes in teacher candidates’ understandings of inquiry-based teaching of mathematics will be documented. Interactive writing, student products, questionnaires, and individual interviews will generate data during the scaffolded early practicum and into the teacher candidates’ regular practicum that follows.
