Education Faculty Research

Review recent research from the education faculty at Merrimack College.

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Dr. Stephanie Garrone-Shufran

Preparing secondary teacher candidates to teach academic English

In this qualitative study, mainstream teacher candidates in a secondary teacher education program were asked to incorporate academic English instruction into their lesson planning and implementation in fieldwork placement classrooms. Teacher candidates attended a training session in which one method for identifying academic English features was taught. Artifacts, classroom observations, and interviews from four teacher candidates were analyzed to determine what features of academic English were identified and how these were taught to high school students. While all four teacher candidates accurately identified features of academic English in their lessons, only two participants taught features of academic English to students. The experiences of the participants illustrated that teacher candidates need, in addition to the ability to identify features of academic English, knowledge about how to teach language, a commitment to teaching language in their lessons, and the support of university supervisors and supervising practitioners who possess the same knowledge and commitment.

Dr. Lisa O'Brien

Using connected teaching and learning to deepen children’s interdisciplinary learning

This qualitative study examined the interplay between teacher facilitation, children’s uptake of vocabulary and reasoning strategies, and the roles children assumed as learners as they experienced instruction grounded in Connected Teaching and Learning ([CTL] an interdisciplinary instructional framework that leverages key practices from culturally responsive pedagogies and meaningful use of multimodal text sets. Analyses suggest (1) students assumed more active roles in their learning as they “enacted” the work of scientists and (2) varied teacher facilitation practices and children’s vocabulary and reasoning uptake were key factors in children’s shift to more active roles. Although findings suggest CTL is a promising instructional framework, findings also underscore the significance of how teachers act on the instructional framework.

Authors: Lisa M O’Brien, Jeanne R Paratore, and Sarah Blodgett.

Dr. Rory P. Tannebaum

What Do They Want to Know: Exploring What Preservice Teachers Want and Expect from Their Preparation Coursework

Teacher educators expect a great deal from their preservice teachers (PSTs). Beyond learning foundational methods for engaging students and managing classrooms, PSTs are also expected to incorporate into their pedagogical decision-making critical issues grounded in matters of race (Banks, 1993; Ladson-Billings, 1998), socioeconomic status and class (Kozol, 1991), sex and gender (Crocco, 2001), religion (McClain & Neilsen, 1997), and sexual orientation (Mayo, 2013).

This is in addition to understanding issues of accountability (Burroughs, Groce, Webeck, 2005), accommodations for students with special needs (Espin et al., 2001), the integration of new and consistently evolving technology (Berson et al., 2000), and amassing a large enough content knowledge to effectively teach one of the several content areas (if not more than one). Mastering any one of these components to “good” instruction could take years, yet those in teacher education often expect PSTs to gain a deep understanding of each of these components and place them within the larger context of effective teaching prior to entering into the classroom as novice educators.

What is perhaps most intriguing about this is that traditional PSTs must complete a great deal of general education requirements simply to graduate and participate in a range of extracurricular activities just to become marketable. In addition to all of this, these individuals must somehow maintain a social life during this critical time in their lives in which they are making new friends, learning about themselves, and living away from their families for the first time in their lives.

Dr. Kathryn Welby

Teaching Future Educators during a Global Pandemic.

While schools are the center of attention in many regards throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, programs that prepare educators have not received nearly as much attention. How has the reliance on technology, shifts in daily norms with health precautions, and other pandemic-related changes affected how colleges and universities are preparing teachers for their careers? This article walks the reader through the pandemic, from spring 2020, when the virus first shut down the US in most ways, to the winter of 2021. The authors, two educator preparation faculty members from both public and private higher education institutions in Massachusetts, reflect on their experiences navigating the challenges and enriching insights the pandemic brought to their work. Considerations for future implications for the field of teacher-preparation are delineated to think about the long-term effects this pandemic could have on higher education and K-12 education.