A qualitative study on Chinese primary school EFL teachers' beliefs about incorporating intercultural competence into foreign language teaching.

Intercultural competence has become one of the important goals of foreign language education. The potential and value of foreign language education on students' intercultural competence (IC) has been widely recognized by academia. Currently, most of the research on intercultural foreign language teachers in China focuses on university teachers, with little attention paid to primary school EFL teachers. However, the cultivation of IC is a staged and continuous process which cannot be achieved in one stroke. Therefore, it is necessary to include primary school EFL teachers in the study of IC cultivation. This paper presents data on Chinese primary school EFL teachers' beliefs about incorporating IC into foreign language teaching. Specifically, their understanding of culture, IC, and intercultural teaching practices are investigated through interviews. The interview transcriptions were analyzed using thematic analysis. The research found: 1. Chinese primary school EFL teachers generally hold an essentialist view of culture; 2. Teachers emphasize the attitudinal dimension of IC; however, they also exhibit a tendency to oversimplify IC or perceive it as a higher-order skill than language proficiency, hence deeming it unsuitable for cultivation at the primary school level; 3. Most cultural teaching practices are teacher-centered, focusing on background knowledge-style introduction. In general, teachers' intercultural teaching practices align with their cultural outlook. At last, the study explores two suggestions for promoting intercultural foreign language teaching: 1. Supporting primary school EFL teachers in updating their language and culture concepts system; 2. Encouraging teachers to reflect on their daily teaching practices as a major opportunity to promote the development of intercultural foreign language teaching.

The core competencies of a health education teacher.

Teachers play a crucial role in students' learning and in the development of health literacy. Hence, the aim of this study was to identify the core competencies needed for teachers of health education in supporting student learning. A three-round Delphi study was carried out over an 8-week period, through consultation with 25 Finnish experts in health education. An open-ended question was used to identify the core competencies for school health educators. The data were analysed using inductive content analysis. In subsequent rounds, experts were asked to assess the importance of the identified competencies on a 7-point Likert scale, and finally to rank the most important competencies. In total, 52 competencies were identified and categorized into eight core competence domains. Thereafter, 40 competencies were assessed and selected for the third round, in which the experts ranked the 15 most important competencies, encompassing four core domains, i.e. pedagogic and subject-specific didactic, social and emotional, content knowledge and continuous professional development. Other domains of competence identified in the present study were ethical competence, competence in school health promotion, contextual competence and professional well-being competence. The study defines health education teacher core competencies and domains, and the information can be used in teacher education programmes, for developing teaching and for teachers' self-evaluation.

Ethnocultural empathy development of future language teachers through digital multiliteracy resources for low-literacy adult migrants.

The increasingly digital and multicultural 21st-century society requires future teachers to be prepared for the changes and challenges they may encounter. Not only language and digital competences, but critical-thinking and problem-solving skills are needed. Moreover, well developed socio-affective abilities, empathy among them, are also key when dealing with others. This is even more relevant when teachers are to work with a non-mainstream population, such as adult migrants with low literacy levels, and to design student-centered curricula or activities. Empathy is a multifaceted process involving, among others, perception, intellection, affect and other sensory aspects of the lived experience. It has been argued that the first-person perspective-taking involved in empathic engagement must necessarily involve rational computation and cognitively mediated processing. Training future teachers in the Pedagogy of Multiliteracies is a means to integrate multimodal digital instruction and aggregate cognitive as well as socio-emotional features to the education of future language teachers. Method: A mixed-method pre-post study was conducted with 48 trainee teachers who participated in stand-alone digital multiliteracy interventions, in which they were encouraged to envisage themselves as future teachers of low-literate migrants. Policy documents such as the reference guide on Literacy and Second Language Learning for the Linguistic Integration of Adult Migrants, journal articles, audiovisual resources as well as examples of existing educational materials aimed at the target audience, were made available to them on an online platform. In two separate studies, trainees were encouraged to collaboratively produce two different multimodal outputs. The Revised Scale of Ethnocultural Empathy was administered before and after the intervention, subjecting the data obtained to quantitative analysis. Qualitative data was also collected to gain a better understanding of the affective and cognitive processes experienced by the participants. Results: Simple statistical analysis coupled with the comparison of means was used to respond to the research questions. Statistical hypothesis testing, including correlations and non-parametric statistics were used to analyze the relationship between each of the factors within the RSEE and the participants, considering the different interventions applied. Non-parametric tests (U-Mann Whitney) were used to compare the differences between the levels of ethnocultural empathy of the participants in the two studies. Significant differences were found in Factor 3 (Empathy) and Factor 5 (Anxiety) between the groups and their post-intervention results, with a p value of 0.053 and 0.038, respectively. The effect size r was calculated, obtaining a size effect of 0.625 for Factor 3 (Empathy) and 0.674 for Factor 5 (Anxiety). These results indicate that the significant differences and the size effect between both groups are large. U-Mann Whitney non-parametric analysis also revealed gender differences in Factor 3 (Empathy), showing females higher levels than males. Effect size r analysis showed a large size effect of 0.708 for Factor 3 (Empathy). The findings pertaining to gender-related differences in empathy levels confirm the conclusions drawn by previous studies. When contrasting study 1 and 2, statistical differences were also shown after the intervention for the 'Anxiety and Lack of Multicultural Self-efficacy' factor. The qualitative data analysis was carried out with Atlas.ti v.8, in order to isolate and categorize the broader themes and the most significant explanatory quotes extracted from the participants' records and interviews. The results reveal the learning strategies that each group of learners applied to successfully complete the task at hand, as well as the participants' deployment of their critical thinking skills and the awakening of a sense of awareness of their own professional competence development process. Conclusion: This study set out to compare how effective two digital multiliteracy interventions were in developing future language teachers' ethnocultural empathy and cognitive abilities when appraising the educational needs of low-literacy migrants. Despite the small sample size, the study certainly adds to our understanding of the impact of multimodal tasks involving critical thinking skills on trainees' cognitive and affective abilities. Besides, it expands the growing body of research that points to the desirability of embedding digitally-based content creation tasks in training curricula for future language teachers.

Teachers' needs for an FASD-informed resource: a qualitative interview needs assessment based on the ADAPT-ITT framework.

Background: Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) represent a wide range of neurodevelopmental differences associated with prenatal alcohol exposure and are highly prevalent. The current study represents the initial stages in adapting the Families Moving Forward (FMF) Program, an evidence-based behavioral consultation intervention for caregivers of children with FASD, to a website for teachers. Aims: To understand teachers' needs and preferences for an FASD-informed intervention website and to assess the goodness of fit of the FMF Program to teachers and the school setting. Methods: Twenty-three teachers with experience teaching students with FASD were interviewed. Interviews were conducted via Zoom and lasted about 53 minutes on average. Data were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using qualitative content analysis in Dedoose. Results: Three overarching themes represented teachers' needs for an FASD-informed resource: teachers need evidence-based FASD information and strategies, teachers have very little extra time, and the needs of special and general education teachers vary. Teachers were positive about the concepts of the FMF Program and felt they would have good fit. Conclusions: Teachers need an evidence-based FASD-informed intervention that is easy to use, concise, and responsive to varying needs and levels of experience. Results will inform the adaptation process of the FMF Program.

Neuroscience literacy and evidence-based practices in pre-service teachers: A pilot study.

AIM: K-12 educators are susceptible to "neuromyths" or misconceptions about the brain and learning, yet how these beliefs relate to practice is not yet understood. This exploratory pilot study investigated how knowledge and beliefs about the brain and learning relate to knowledge of evidence-based teaching and learning principles. METHODS: Preservice teachers (N = 29) completed an online survey that measured their knowledge and beliefs about the brain and learning, including belief in neuromyths, and their knowledge of evidence-based teaching and learning principles. RESULTS: Pre-service teachers commonly endorsed several neuromyths, consistent with prior research. There was a strong positive correlation between participants' knowledge and beliefs about the brain and learning, and knowledge of evidence-based teaching and learning principles. DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest that new teachers with better knowledge of the brain and learning may also have more knowledge of evidence-based principles, though more research is needed to determine their impact on teaching.

From contact to connection: a comprehensive examination of affective touch in educational settings.

We often talk about the way we talk, and we frequently try to see the way we see, but for some reasons we have rarely touched on the way we touch. The communication we transmit with touch is perceived to be one of the most powerful means of establishing human relationships. In particular, tactile communication with parents, caregivers and teachers is particularly important for infants and students, as it helps make stronger relationships between educators or teachers and schoolers and also between students. Research has demonstrated the numerous benefits that an affective touch has on students, physically, socially and cognitively, or as has observed, touch touches deeper that just one's skin and it is a recipe for creating meaningful relations. However, in the educational context, touch is perceived to be a complex phenomenon full of tension and emotion. For years, a dilemma has arisen in educational institutions in some countries, whether teachers can touch students or not? Despite the benefits that affective touch brings to students, cases of sexual abuse and inappropriate behavior at school have alerted the education system, to such an extent that many teachers worldwide consider what is and is not appropriate when communicating affectively with their students through touch. In this perspective article, by drawing on previous literature reviews, we shall highlight the benefits that affective touch has on learners.

When the Confounding Effect of Optimism Meets the Collider Effect of Motivation: Prospective teachers' Moral Motives and Moral Stances.

Previous studies clearly indicate the importance of exploring factors that influence teachers'/prospective teachers' moral stances on teaching-related ethical concerns. However, none of these studies have specifically examined the moral motives of teachers/prospective teachers based on the activation of their moral regulation systems in personal, interpersonal, and social settings, while considering both the collider effect of motivation strength and the confounding effect of dispositional optimism. Such an investigation could provide deeper insights into teachers' moral stances regarding critical incidents that give rise to ethical concerns within educational environments, particularly during the initial stages of their teaching careers (i.e., teacher education). Therefore, in the current study, prospective teachers' moral motives were examined as predictors of their perceptions regarding unethical teacher behaviors, considering the collider effect of motivation strength and the confounding effect of dispositional optimism. 701 prospective teachers participated in the study. Comprehensive analyses, including preliminary exploratory structural equation modeling (ESEM) and a main analysis (i.e., set-ESEM), were implemented to investigate the relationships between the research variables thoroughly. The results revealed that the moral motives of 'self-restraint' and 'not harming' had a significant negative effect on the moral stances of prospective teachers regarding the adoption of unethical teacher behaviors. In contrast, the 'social order' moral motive had a significant positive effect on their moral stances toward adopting unethical teacher behaviors. In particular, these effects were not due to the collider effect of motivation strength or the confounding effect of dispositional optimism. Theoretical and practical implications were also discussed in the study.

Neuromyths: Misconceptions about neurodevelopment by Italian teachers.

BACKGROUND: Neuromyths are commonly held misconceptions about the brain, often generated by a misunderstanding of scientifically established facts. To date, limited research has explored the pervalence of neuromyths about neurodevelopmental disorders in the teacher population. METHOD: The current study investigated the prevalence of teachers' general and neurodevelopmental neuromyths among 820 Italian teachers. RESULTS: Italian teachers correctly identified 73% of general neuromyths and 70% of neurodevelopmental neuromyths. The difference between general and neurodevelopmental neuromyths endorsement was significant. Frequency of accessing relevant information emerged as a protective factor. A mediation analysis showed that higher need for cognition was significantly associated with a higher frequency of accessing relevant information about the brain, which in turn led to lower endorsement of neuromyths. CONCLUSION: In line with our findings, we suggest that teachers can benefit from neuroeducation initiatives aimed to enhance neuroscience literacy in both the initial education and continuous professional development of teachers.

The application and challenges of ChatGPT in educational transformation: New demands for teachers' roles.

With the rapid development of information technology, artificial intelligence has demonstrated great potential in promoting educational transformation. In November 2022, the release of the artificial intelligence product ChatGPT attracted widespread attention, particularly in the field of education, sparking heated discussions among scholars. As a language processing tool, ChatGPT can not only answer user questions but also complete user-specified tasks and even continuously optimize task performance. However, while possessing powerful features, ChatGPT also has some shortcomings that need improvement, such as the accuracy of answering questions, data pollution issues, ethical and safety concerns, and the risk of knowledge plagiarism. In the process of promoting school education reform, the application of ChatGPT brings both opportunities and challenges. Moreover, ChatGPT's emergence offers teachers an opportunity to reflect on their professional value and sets higher demands for them.

Students' reading comprehension level and reading demands in teacher education programs: the elephant in the room?

Introduction: Reading comprehension is considered a key ability for students in teacher education programs. Methods: Data from 72 students enrolled in a Chilean school of education was used to estimate the contribution of reading proficiency in first-semester academic performance using regression analysis. Results: Reading comprehension made a significant, albeit modest contribution to predict students' academic performance, after controlling for their scores in the standardized national admission tests and high-school grades. The students' average reading level was below the level of text complexity required in their first term and, although by their senior year they had made significant progress in reading comprehension, their reading level continued to be lower than text demands. Discussion: A qualitative exploration of students' reading behaviors and attitudes revealed they devoted few hours per week to reading class material and even less time to reading for leisure. Faculty were cognizant of the reading deficits of their students but had few suggestions as to how to address. Future studies in higher education should confirm whether the misfit between reading proficiency and reading demands observed in this school of education is the exception or the rule.

Academic Procrastination of Spanish Pre-service Teachers during the COVID-19 Pandemic / La procrastinación académica de los estudiantes españoles de formación inicial del profesorado durante la pandemia de COVID-19

The present study seeks to ascertain whether the academic procrastination of university pre-service teachers varied during the COVID-19 pandemic when compared to data collected from another sample (n = 794) taken before the pandemic, and the reasons that might explain this. 910 pre-service teachers responded to the PASS scale, Academic Procrastination Scale, Unintentional Procrastination Scale, Active Procrastination Scale, and the New General Self-Efficacy Scale during the pandemic. The results reflect greater procrastination than for the pre-pandemic sample; 37.8% felt that their procrastination had increased due to the pandemic, which was more evident amongst women, whereas 8.7% reported having procrastinated less, displaying the highest level of self-efficacy. In both instances, the most commonly alleged reasons were greater time management, together with changes they were forced to make in their study habits. We discuss the implications that might need to be considered when planning and organizing teaching, should a similar situation occur again. (AU)

El objetivo de este trabajo es conocer si la procrastinación académica de los estudiantes universitarios de formación del profesorado varió durante la pandemia de COVID-19 en comparación con datos recogidos de otra muestra (n = 794) antes de la pandemia y los motivos que lo justifican. Han participado 910 estudiantes, que respondieron a la escala PASS, la Escala de Procrastinación Académica, la Escala de Procrastinación Involuntaria, la Escala de Procrastinación Activa y la Nueva Escala de Autoeficacia General durante la pandemia. Los resultados indican una mayor procrastinación que la muestra prepandemia. Un 37.8% cree haber aumentado su procrastinación por la pandemia, sobre todo las mujeres, mientras el 8.7% afirman procrastinar menos, siendo los que mayor autoeficacia tienen. En ambos casos, los motivos más frecuentes han sido el disponer de más tiempo, junto a cambios en sus hábitos de estudio. Se comentan las implicaciones para la organización docente en caso de repetirse una situación similar. (AU)

Attitudes of Teachers toward Multilingualism, Heritage Language Maintenance, and Second Language Learning at School.

INTRODUCTION: Providing an adapted language input in a multicultural classroom is often challenging to educators. Teachers are frequently the parents' first contacts for language counseling and educational support, and therefore, they may influence the language exposure not only in the classroom but at home as well. This study aimed to investigate the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral attitudes of teachers toward multilingualism in Flanders. The effects of contextual teacher- and school-related properties on the attitudes of teachers were also considered. METHODS: An online survey questioning the cognitive, emotional, and behavioral attitudes of teachers was developed and distributed to all schools in Flanders. 710 preschool, primary, and secondary teachers completed the questionnaire. RESULTS: The results showed rather positive attitudes toward heritage language maintenance and multilingualism. However, there are still some misconceptions about multilingual language learning strategies. Teachers are interested in extra training, as they find it hard to use the languages of their pupils as a resource in their teaching practice. DISCUSSION: Teachers mostly consider multilingualism an added value. Supplementary training and extra advice given by speech-language therapists could be helpful to inform teachers about the importance of their students' proficiency in the heritage language and could give teachers insight into the principles of second language acquisition.

Using the theory of planned behaviour to predict pre-service teachers' preferences for scientific sources.

BACKGROUND: Despite the growing emphasis on research-based teacher education and calls for evidence-informed practice, teachers tend to prefer experiential over scientific knowledge sources to inform their actions, justify decisions and analyse educational problems. This tendency already occurs as early as during initial teacher education, and it is possibly bolstered by school internships where mentors emphasise the value of practical over scientific knowledge. AIMS: The present study applied the theory of planned behaviour (TPB) to investigate under what conditions pre-service teachers intend to use and prefer scientific sources from educational research. METHODS: The study's participants were 343 pre-service teachers in a half-year school internship who indicated their attitudes towards educational research, behavioural control (i.e. self-efficacy), perceived subjective norm, intentions of using research and preference for scientific sources in a survey. Perceived subjective norm was established by measuring whether pre-service teachers believed their mentors considered research-based knowledge. RESULTS: In line with the predictions of the standard TPB model, structural equation modelling confirmed the effects of positive attitudes, self-efficacy and perceived subjective norm on pre-service teachers' intentions of using research. In turn, intentions and self-efficacy predicted preferences for scientific sources but not the use of scientific sources when planning a lesson in the internship. CONCLUSIONS: Pre-service teachers' scientific source preferences are shaped not only by personal dispositions but also by the social context of school.

Critical approaches to English language teacher education: A narrative inquiry into trainee teachers' experiences as speakers of English.

Working within the framework of critical language teacher education, this article concerns itself with the disenfranchising experiences of a group of trainee English language teachers as speakers of English in the world. It presents the results of a mixed-method narrative inquiry carried out with 198 trainee teachers studying undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in Teaching English as a Foreign Language in the South of Spain. Both a questionnaire and structured interviews were used to collect participants' narratives of the disenfranchising experiences they have had as English speakers, their reflections on the factors that played a role in those experiences and their tools to manage them. The ATLAS.ti program was used to carry out the content analysis of the narratives, using both deductive and inductive categories. Results point to the need to address the interrelation of language, power and identity as part of teacher training programs and adopt a critical perspective in English language teacher education in order to equip future teachers to better understand communication and the factors that play a role in it, balance power inequalities in communicative interactions and deal with disenfranchising experiences as English speakers in the world.

Primary and secondary pre-service teachers' attitudes towards inclusive education.

The practice of inclusive education in schools has led to changes in policy and pedagogy, hence teacher acceptance and attitude are important components of its success. The aim of this study is to identify the differences in attitudes of primary and secondary pre-service teachers on inclusion and the potential relationship between demographic variables such as definitions of inclusion, previous experience working in a school, completion of a module on inclusive schools, and other variables. The study included 548 Australian university students studying primary (n = 348) or secondary (n = 193) professional teaching. All participants completed the Teacher Attitudes to Inclusion Scale (TAISA). Principle components analysis was performed to transform the TAISA questionnaire into smaller set of components and two-way between-groups analysis of variance was used to analyse data. Results showed that primary pre-service teachers have more positive attitudes towards inclusion than secondary pre-service teachers. Primary pre-service teachers were also more responsive to training on inclusive education. Implications for practice and future research are discussed.

Somatic education approaches in piano studies: A snapshot of Spanish conservatoire practices.

Somatic education in professional instrumental teaching is an emerging field in Spanish conservatoire culture. Although we find that the Alexander Technique was included in some European institutions since the middle of the XXth Century, this was not the case in the Spanish context. By means of a qualitative study, through document analysis and fifteen in-depth interviews with somatic teachers, the statutory frameworks of professional Piano studies and teaching plans related to somatic education in Spanish conservatoires, the principles that support them and the current practices that are undertaken in professional piano studies were analyzed. We found that there are eclectic approaches and practices in correlation with the background of the teachers in charge of the courses. Four main orientations can be described: somatic education per se; ergonomics and postural technique; body communication, training and technique; and mental and concentration control techniques. Further research to explore the interrelationships between somatic approaches and instrumental teaching would greatly benefit the field.

Decolonizing ELT teacher education by incorporating knowledge of local communities in the teaching practicum.

Despite significant advances in the epistemological frameworks that guide teacher education in Colombia and elsewhere, it continues to be governed mostly by traditional Eurocentric paradigms. Decolonizing teacher education requires epistemological moves to resignify the plurality of local knowledges and praxis. This article aims at reporting a qualitative research project carried out with three student teachers of a teacher education program with emphasis on English, at a public university in the northeast of Colombia. The main objective was to explore and reflect on how EFL pre-service teachers incorporated knowledge of local communities as resources for language teaching and learning during the practicum. Data were gathered over a three-semester period through pre-service teachers' lesson plans, materials, a final academic report, and a semi-structured interview. Data were analyzed based on the principles of thematic data analysis. Findings revealed that student teachers approached knowledge from an ecological perspective coming from different ways of knowing, seeing, being and living in the world. At the same time, the ecology of knowledges helped them to overcome the challenges they faced during the project.

Dimensions of reading: a study of the beliefs of language and literature preservice teachers.

This study aims to analyze the beliefs that future Language and Literature teachers hold regarding reading. This work is part of a broader research endeavor focused on the reading habits and practices of teachers in training and their role as prospective mediators since the way in which they perceive reading significantly impacts the mediation processes they undertake in their teaching practices to cultivate readers. To achieve these objectives, a multiple case study is conducted, involving interviews with 1st-year students (n = 15), 3rd-year students (n = 15), and 5th-year students (n = 15) enrolled in Language Pedagogy programs across three universities affiliated with the Chilean Council of Rectors. For data analysis, a content analysis approach is employed, supported by NVivo 12. The findings reveal that beliefs about reading primarily fall into two dimensions: academic and personal, with the former exhibiting clearer definition and characterization. This can be attributed to the influence of the disciplines integrated into their education, namely literature and linguistics. In conclusion, it is imperative to address the social dimension of reading during the initial teacher education program, as this aspect is not emphasized by preservice teachers, despite its pivotal role in shaping their identity as reading mediators within the context of their teaching practice.

Teachers' Verbal and Nonverbal Communication, Students' Psychological Needs, and Positive and Negative Outcomes in Physical Education.

Focused on physical education (PE), this study examined the association between teachers' communication and students' psychological needs, enjoyment/boredom, PE usefulness, and students' grade perception. Participants were 1,000 students (572 girls; Mage = 14.58 ± 0.65) from 29 Spanish secondary schools. A path model including variables measured at three times was tested: teachers' verbal/nonverbal communication (Time 1), needs satisfaction/frustration (Time 2), and PE outcomes (Time 3). Verbal communication positively predicted needs satisfaction, which, in turn, positively predicted enjoyment, PE usefulness, and students' grade perception and negatively predicted boredom. Verbal communication negatively predicted needs frustration, which was a positive predictor of boredom. Multigroup analysis showed that gender did not moderate the associations in the path model, whereas mediating effects were found between teachers' communication and consequences via students' psychological needs. Teachers should improve their communicative capacities to satisfy students' psychological needs and promote positive PE  outcomes.

Microteaching: Overview and examination evaluation.

Nearly all teachers are forced into teaching and gain experience through time, but many do not feel adequately prepared for their fieldwork in their training program. Only solution which helps teachers and students is to connect theory to practice by microteaching. It is a strategy for acquiring teaching abilities on a smaller scale, in which teachers may practice previously learned skills as well as acquire new ones. The efficiency of microteaching may be predicted using feedback from participants. While preservice instructors benefit from microteaching and students themselves find it helpful, academics have not yet looked closely at the assignment itself to determine precisely what microteaching entails. As a result, this study aids in learning more about the interactional aspects of microteaching and the effect of it in both teachers and students.