Action Research in an Undergraduate Teacher Education Program: What Promises Does it Hold?

Learning Study: nurturing the instructional design and teaching competency of pre-service teachers

“…They can design pretest items that are based on the critical features of the object of learning and apply patterns of variation when formulating lesson plans. These findings echo those of studies on action research conducted by Price (2001), Cochran-Smith (2004), Zambo andZambo (2006), andMills (2007), as well as studies on lesson study by Marble (2006) and Parks (2008), which indicate that action research or a lesson study approach can improve the professional growth of pre-service teachers. It seems that the participants have a positive view of the Learning Study course in terms of developing instructional design skills using variation theory as a guiding principle, and nurturing their teaching competency.…”

“…Unsurprisingly, therefore, existing empirical studies focus on using different approaches to bridge that gap. For example, using action research in an undergraduate teacher education programme (Smith & Sela, 2005;Zambo & Zambo, 2006), applying a lesson study approach in an elementary science methods course for preservice teachers (Marble, 2006), and using Learning Study as a model of collaborative practice in initial teacher education (Davies & Dunnill, 2008). In lesson study, a group of teachers meets regularly over periods of time to work on design, implementation, testing, and improvement of one or several research lessons (Stigler & Hiebert, 1999).…”

“…Research shows that incorporating action research approaches into initial teacher education programmes could encourage critical reflection on student teachers' beliefs and conceptions about the role of teachers, teaching and learning; therefore it educates reflective teachers to deal with the complexity of practice (Cochran- Smith, 2004;Gore & Zeichner, 1991;Mills, 2007;Price, 2001). Action research helps pre-service teachers to improve their professional growth and teaching efficacy (Zambo & Zambo, 2006), and to develop skills of careful observation and reasoned analysis (Zeichner & Liston, 1987), but adequate resources and supports need to be provided for the successful implementation of the programme. Consultative support should be provided to prospective teachers to undertake the research needed to acquire better learning skills and help them develop an enquiry-oriented perspective on teaching (Clift, Veal, Johnson, & Holland, 1990;Cochran-Smith, 1991).…”

Estudo Da Vinculação E Da Empatia Em Adolescentes Institucionalizados Com Acompanhamento Psicológico No Piac (Plano Integrado De Apoio À Comunidade) Autoeficácia De Diretores Escolares: Alguns Aspectos Que Interferem Em Suas Crenças

“…Além disso, sabe-se que os resultados das avaliações externas são multidimensionais, pois retratam aspectos relacionados com as ações docentes e discentes, bem como aspectos internos e externos ao processo escolar, de modo que apenas a percepção de autoeficácia das diretoras não se coloca como fator determinante para os resultados alcançados. No entanto, acredita-se que as percepções aqui relatadas reforçam a necessidade de se repensar o modo como as avaliações externas têm sido utilizadas, conforme pontuado por outros pesquisadores (Paro, 2011;Sousa & Oliveira, 2010;Ravitch, 2011;Zambo & Zambo, 2008), buscando maior contextualização das mesmas.…”

“…Esta asserção coincide com o postulado por Pajares e Olaz (2008), que alertam que as condições contextuais são imprescindíveis para a realização das ações, mesmo quando as pessoas se percebem autoeficazes. Entendidos como meios externos e de controle da escola (Paro, 2011;Ravicth, 2011;Sousa & Oliveira, 2010;Zambo & Zambo, 2008), os resultados obtidos em avaliações externas parecem se relacionar com a percepção de autoeficácia de diretores (Guerreiro-Casanova, 2013), bem como com a percepção sobre a continuidade do programa de avaliação externa e a possibilidade de cumprir as metas estabelecidas (McCullers & Bozeman, 2010).…”