Abstract
To better prepare teachers for the field, education preparation programs (EPP) need to increase their emphasis on using practice-based experiences that are embedded throughout the teacher preparation program. These experiences must give opportunities for TCs to practice reflective and critical thinking skills. These key skills must be explicitly taught and scaffolded throughout the practice-based experiences to better prepare self-reflective TCs and critical thinking practitioners. Therefore, the purpose of this chapter is to show how to incorporate critical thinking and reflective practice opportunities in (1) content courses using case-based instruction, video-based instruction, lesson study, and microteaching; (2) within practicum settings using observational feedback and video analysis; and (3) finally, incorporating performance assessments, such as the EdTPA and PPAT, to measure a TC's ability to provide instruction while thinking critically.
TopIntroduction
The goal of this chapter is to set the stage to demonstrate the importance of developing critical thinking and reflection skills in teacher candidates (TCs) within our educator preparation programs (EPPs). Research demonstrates that critical thinking and reflection are essential and don’t necessarily develop in the TC without providing explicit models and opportunities to practice and receive feedback within both coursework and practicum/clinical experience.
This chapter first demonstrates the need for more opportunities for TCs to develop critical thinking and reflection skills. Next, we demonstrate how to teach critical thinking skills through university coursework using the following practices: (a) case-based instruction; (b) video-case instruction; (c) lesson study; and (d) microteaching. Then we will shift and demonstrate how to develop these skills in practicum-based experiences using the following practices: (a) performance feedback; (b) video analysis; and (c) performance-based assessments. For each setting, coursework and practicum, we provide a summary of the research base with an emphasis on what it looks like in the preparation of teacher candidates.
Background
According to the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). The current model for EPPs has not prepared teachers for the demands of the field. One reason for this is because EPPs focus most of their time on pedagogy and theory with limited opportunities to practice instruction of this content in a classroom setting (NCATE, 2010). Teachers learn how to teach using general instructional practices in university content courses and then apply these skills in a separate practicum setting that is often the culmination of the student’s preparation program (Robinson, Nemr, Nicoll-Senft, Spear-Swerling, Tralli, & 2017). This creates a disconnect between theory and practice that many TCs will not be able to deploy the coursework content to their classroom setting (Scheeler, 2008). Because TCs are not able to apply their skills in classroom settings throughout their program, TCs often feel unprepared for the profession (Boyd, Grossman, Lankford, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2009; Ronfeldt & Reininger, 2012) which results in increased teacher attrition, lower student achievement (Goldhaber & Haber, 2014; Boyd, Grossman, Lankford, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2009), and disrupts teaching teams or school programs because of frequent turnover (Ronfeldt, Loeb, & Wyckoff, 2013).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Case-Based Instruction: Case-based instruction is a teaching method that uses facts within a narrative to describe a problem scenario or target issue.
Performance Feedback: Performance feedback is verbal or written comments given by a supervisor or peer after a teacher observation. Feedback must include specific, discrete, and individual behaviors that meet the student’s needs and teacher’s ability.
Lesson Study: An instruction method that has a group of teachers working collaboratively on creating, implementing, and revising a “research lesson.”
Critical Thinking: The highest level of reflective thinking that includes a technical understanding, practical application, and the ability to identify a personal contribution and bias towards a teaching practice.
Video-Based Instruction: Video-based instruction, similarly to case-based instruction, uses technology to capture scenarios and videos of teacher instruction that TCs can use to analyze and reflect upon instruction.
Practice-Based Experience: A scenario that replicates an authentic classroom environment or incorporates an example of an authentic classroom setting where TCs can practice teaching skills. This typically occurs prior to the practicum experience.
Authentic Classroom: The actual classroom setting with a teacher and students.
Performance-Based Assessment: An assessment that measures a teacher’s instruction, such as a teaching portfolio, practicum tasks, EdTPA, PPAT, etc.
Micro-Teaching: A teaching strategy that simulates a teaching environment, in which TCs practice designing, rehearsing, and implementing a lesson to a small group prior to an authentic classroom setting.
Practicum Experience: The student teaching part of a EPP when TCs give instruction in an authentic classroom setting.
Content Courses: University courses that focuses on teaching pedagogy and theory.