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.

The effectiveness of faculty development programs for training university professors in the health area: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

BACKGROUND: The growing discussion on teacher development focuses on diversified educational skills that promote knowledge and innovation in the teaching, learning and assessment process. With the Covid-19 scenario, this picture of necessary changes has become more evident, demonstrating the need for professional preparation to work in teacher development. The aim of the study was to analyze the effectiveness of teacher development programs for the training of university teachers in the health area, through a systematic review and meta-analysis. METHODS: The systematic review and meta-analysis were carried out according to the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines and involved searching five databases - PubMed-Medline, Education Resource Information Center (ERIC), SCOPUS, Embase and Web of Science. The review included randomized clinical trials and cohort studies that addressed the effectiveness of teaching professionalization in the health area for university professors. The quality of the selected studies was assessed based on the evaluation criteria of the Joanna Briggs Institute tool. The random effects meta-analysis method was used to explain the distribution of effects between the studies, using Stata® software (version 11.0) and publication bias was examined by visual inspection of the graphs and Egger's test. RESULTS: We included 12 studies in the systematic review and 8 in the meta-analysis. These studies were published between 1984 and 2022 in 14 countries. Significant changes were reported in teachers' behavior to stimulate and encourage students, improvement in the quality of teaching and teaching staff, as well as improvement in skills such as leadership and self-evaluation. Furthermore, the result of the meta-analysis showed that there is evidence of the effectiveness of the positive effects of teacher development programs after their implementation, with this effect being 1.70% and an increase of 4.75 in the effect of these teacher development programs. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that development programs have been implemented in different countries and contexts, all of which have proven to be effective in the short, medium and long term. We recommend that future research focus specifically on the different competencies that have been acquired following the implementation of these programs.

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.

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.

A novel skin cancer prevention strategy: Preservice teachers' perceptions of a sun safety intervention and experiences in schools.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: Teachers play a vital role in developing children's sun protection routines however upskilling preservice teachers (PSTs) while at university has not yet been trialled as a targeted skin cancer prevention strategy. Hence, this study investigated PSTs perceptions and experiences of sun safety following a brief pilot intervention and placement in primary schools in Western Australia. METHODS: This study used a triangulation mixed methods design. Participants (n = 161) completed a post intervention survey which was analysed quantitatively. A random sub-sample was invited to participate in focus groups (three groups, n = 21) and one-on-one interviews (n = 4). This data was transcribed and uploaded in NVIVO software for thematic analysis. RESULTS: Participants felt the intervention increased their awareness of the dangers of overexposure to ultraviolet radiation (UVR) with many feeling more knowledgeable, skilled and confident to teach sun safety in school settings. Most reported clear sun safety messages in their placement schools. However, only 34.4% reported they had been briefed on the school's sun safety procedures. There was consensus among PSTs that sun protection in primary schools needs to be improved to maximise the protection of children from harmful UVR overexposure. Participants supported a need for consistent sun protection messaging across primary schools with greater emphasis on education rather than compliance management to sun protection. CONCLUSION: Enhancing existing teacher education programs to include more rigorous curriculum content and pedagogical approaches to sun protection education is a novel skin cancer prevention strategy and could feasibly support PSTs self-efficacy to effectively deliver sun safety curriculum in Australian schools.

Exploring the relationships between teacher noticing, ambisonic audio, and variance in focus when viewing 360 video.

A growing body of research has supported the implementation of innovative and immersive video for teaching and learning across the lifespan. Immersive video, delivered through eXtended Reality (XR) tools like 360 video, provides users with new ways to see real or created environments. Unfortunately, most of the existing research has highlighted immersive video without accompanying immersive audio. This use of monophonic audio can create a disconnect for viewers as they experience close to real world video with sounds that do not match a real-world environment. The purpose of this study was to respond to this gap in the literature by exploring the use of ambisonic audio and its impact on preservice teacher noticing and variability of viewing focus when watching 360 video. Data were collected from undergraduate teacher education students who participated in a self-paced online activity that included watching 360 videos and responding to a questionnaire. A convergent mixed methods design was employed to compare participants' professional noticing and observed viewing behavior in the context of ambisonic and monophonic audio. Results showed that users in ambisonic audio conditions in 360 video environments were more likely to have higher focus. Moreover, for users who had specific professional knowledge, monophonic audio with immersive video had a negative impact on their variance in focus. The paper concludes with recommendations for future research on the use of audio in virtual and augmented reality environments.

Evaluating a Multicomponent e-Cigarette Prevention Program in the Rural Northwest: Teacher and Parent/Guardian Program Outcomes.

There are effective prevention strategies to combat increasing rates of youth e-cigarette use. This study assessed the outcomes of an e-cigarette prevention program with teachers and parents/guardians across a three-county rural area. Researchers assessed teachers' and parent/guardians' increased knowledge and confidence in implementing vape prevention after receiving evidence-based trainings. Pre- and post-surveys demonstrated that teachers had a statistically significant increase in knowledge gain across all eight vape-specific domains assessed as expected. The parent/guardian pre- and post-survey results also show that knowledge and confidence increased significantly across seven domains. Findings suggest that multicomponent e-cigarette education and prevention programs better prepare teachers and parents/guardians to intervene with youth e-cigarette use and initiation, including being more likely to talk to youth about the risks of tobacco and vaping. Recommendations for school nurses are discussed and include educating youth, families, and staff for positive impacts.

Public commentary on teacher quality: an analysis of media comment on the teaching performance assessment.

In Australia, the Teaching Performance Assessment (TPA) is a relatively new, mandatory hurdle which must be completed just prior to the graduation stage of initial teacher education (ITE) programmes. This high-stakes task is one of a growing number of requirements to come out of the standards and accountability regime as outlined in the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) document for accreditation for ITE programmes. We delve into the public commentary about the broader commission of preservice and graduate teacher quality in general and the TPA in particular. We draw on Bernstein's pedagogic identities and deductively apply this theory to explore this phenomenon. We use a data set of publicly available legacy media and social media tweets made over a ten-month period from August 2019 to May 2020 to reveal the focus, inherent bias and pedagogic identities promoted by these public discourses. The paper concludes with discussion about the implications of these drivers on the public perception of quality in ITE and on the status of teaching more broadly.

Career change teachers in hard-to-staff schools: should I stay or leave?

Recruiting career changers into teaching has emerged as a part of a strategy by governments worldwide to address complex teacher shortage problems in hard-to-staff schools. In this paper, we present a case study of two career change teachers and trace their career journey into Initial Teacher Education (ITE) and the teaching profession in two separate hard-to-staff schools. We interviewed these teachers during the first 2 years of their career change journey. During this period, 'push-and-pull' factors impacted their intentions to stay in the profession. Challenges included inadequate school-level mentorship support, social-geographic isolation in a regional school setting during the COVID-19 remote learning and the more complex working conditions in hard-to-staff schools. The adverse impacts of these challenges were, to some extent, mitigated by the participants' commitment to making a positive difference in the lives of children and young people through the teaching profession, a strong work ethic and support provided by their ITE programme in the form of university-based mentors and adjustment to study requirements. The participants responded to these push-and-pull factors in ways that highlighted their reflexive decision-making and determination to stay in teaching despite challenges. We discuss the implications of these findings for workforce planning strategies aimed at recruiting career change teachers in hard-to-staff schools.

Preservice Teachers' Online Teaching Experiences During COVID-19.

This study aimed to investigate the online teaching experiences of preservice teachers during the pandemic. Due to COVID-19, preservice teachers were required to work with children and families remotely to gain practicum experiences. Three preservice teachers' work (family reflection papers, lesson reflection papers, video recordings of teaching, eBooks, and teaching movies) from two courses were analyzed using constant comparative analysis. The study findings indicated that preservice teachers struggled with maintaining children's active engagement and identifying appropriate time to scaffold children's learning since they could not observe the learning process of the children. However, they were able to overcome the challenges by employing different strategies (modeling, child-centered approach, and patience), with these attempts reflecting their pedagogical resilience.

The effects of microlearning-supported flipped classroom on pre-service teachers' learning performance, motivation and engagement.

Flipped classroom (FC) has recently attracted researchers' interest in teacher education thanks to its potential for promoting pre-service teachers' (PTs) professional development. However, some of major issues are the lack of interactivity, disengagement, and amotivation of PTs for pre-class activities due to poor online instruction design. This explanatory sequential mixed study explores the effects of the microlearning-supported FC on PTs' learning performance for professional development, motivation, and engagement. A total of 128 PTs participated in this study from a university in Turkey. In the quantitative phase, a quasi-experimental pretest-posttest design was conducted and the treatment lasted for 14 weeks. The PTs were divided into two experimental groups and one control groups using random sampling technique. In first experimental group (m-FC, n = 43), the participants learned with microlearning-supported (by using a-bit sized learning chunks outside the classroom) FC model. In the second experimental group (t-FC, n = 39), the participants learned with traditional FC model. A control group (non-FC, n = 46) was not taught using FC model and teacher-centered approach was adopted in this group. The findings indicated that FC model (in both experimental groups) increased learning performance, intrinsic motivation, emotional, and behavioral engagement compared to a group that was not used to FC. Moreover, m-FC group had better intrinsic motivation and engagement than both t-FC and non-FC groups. Semi-structured interviews showed that two major themes emerged regarding benefits and challenges of microlearning-supported FC. Most of PTs had positive perceptions that it enhances the willingness to participate in pre-class activities. The implications for teacher education, recommendations and directions for further studies were also discussed.

Teachers' online preparedness in times of crises: trends from Norway and US.

The closing of schools world-wide in March 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in a rapid and unexpected shift from predominantly in-person teaching to online teaching practices. As teacher educators in the field of educational technology, we wondered about the preparedness of teachers for making the transition to fully online environments. Through an internationally distributed survey consisting of predominantly open-ended questions, we captured teachers' perceptions of this transition. We aimed to inform our practice and that of other teacher educators about the strengths and weaknesses of professional development designed to develop teachers' digital competence. In this paper, we present data from Norwegian (n = 574) and US (n = 239) teachers related to their elaborations on readiness. We qualitatively examined data for evidence of extent of preparedness and alignment to the pedagogical, ethical, attitudinal, and technical dimensions of digital competence. Findings indicated themes related to extent of preparedness, trends in preparation, focus on digital tools, teacher agency without autonomy, collaboration/networks, and challenges for work and learning lives. Findings informed implications and recommendations for the professional development of teachers' digital competence at the teacher education, K-12 schools, and school policy/leadership levels.

Predicting Preservice Science Teachers' TPACK through ICT usage.

Designing effective and efficient learning environments by integrating recent educational technologies into the teaching process has become an important goal of education for nearly two decades. However, earlier studies showed that a higher level of technology knowledge does not guarantee the development of TPACK. At this point, studies guided by the transformative approach defining TPACK as a unique knowledge revealed encouraging results for a better understanding of technology-integrated instruction. This study aims to investigate to what extent ICT usage categories predict preservice science teachers' TPACK. Totally 326 preservice science teachers with a mean age of 21.62 (SD = 1.41) from seven different universities participated. For that purpose, a correlational study was conducted. The ICT-TPACK-Science Scale and the ICT Usage Questionnaire were used to collect data. Six separate multiple regression analyses were conducted to predict TPACK measures using ICT measures. Results indicated that approximately a third of the variability in total-TPACK scores can be accounted for by three ICT measures. The relative importance of individual predictors is arranged in the following order desktop software, emerging ICTs, and hardware. As for the dimensions of the ICT-TPACK-Science Scale, the overall effect of the ICT predictors decreased in the following order: Designing, implementing, planning, proficiency, and ethics. Emerging ICTs made the highest contribution to the designing and proficiency dimensions; while desktop software made the highest contribution to the implementing, planning, and ethics dimensions. To sum up, this study describes the association between ICT usage and TPACK in the view of the transformative ICT-TPACK-Science framework. The utilization and transformation of ICT tools as a cognitive partner for effective and efficient science teaching in different TPACK dimensions needs further investigation.

Healthy sleep for healthy schools: A pilot study of a sleep education resource to improve adolescent sleep.

ISSUE ADDRESSED: Insufficient sleep and unhealthy sleep practices in adolescents are associated with significant health risks. Sleep education programs in schools aim to improve sleep behaviour. A new eLearning sleep education program, Healthy Sleep for Healthy Schools (HS4HS), was developed focused on these goals and is distinguishable from other sleep education programs because it is delivered by teachers, making it more sustainable and adaptable for schools. We aimed to evaluate if HS4HS would improve student sleep knowledge, healthy sleep practices, sleep duration and reduce sleepiness. We also aimed to understand if this intervention could be successfully implemented by trained teachers. METHODS: Teachers trained in sleep delivered HS4HS to 64 South Australian students in year 9 (aged 13-14 years) over 6 weeks during regular school curriculum. A sleep education survey assessing sleep patterns (such as healthy sleep practices, time in bed and sleepiness), and a sleep knowledge questionnaire was completed pre- and post-HS4HS delivery. Evaluations were also completed by teachers. RESULTS: Sleep knowledge and healthy sleep practices significantly improved post intervention. Time in bed on both school days and weekends increased slightly and sleepiness decreased slightly, but these changes were not statistically significant. Teachers found the program useful, comprehensive and easy to incorporate into their curricula. CONCLUSIONS: After short training, teachers can deliver sleep education during class and improve sleep practices in their students. This suggests that this program may offer potential as an effective and useful resource for teachers wanting to include sleep health in their curriculum. SO WHAT?: Sleep is the foundation of good health and teachers can promote and integrate sleep education into their curricula for the first time with this online teacher focussed program, which has the potential to be a sustainable sleep health promotion resource.

School learning support for teacher technology integration from a self-determination theory perspective.

Teacher technology integration research on persistence is needed. Teachers' persistence is strongly associated with their autonomous motivation, as defined by self-determination theory (SDT); however, most SDT-based studies have focused on teachers' support and students' motivation and well-being. SDT founders also recently suggested that future studies should include teacher motivation towards the use of technology. Accordingly, this experimental and longitudinal study aimed to investigate how the proposed support encouraged and sustained the low- and high- quality teachers' integration practices. It proposed a school learning support intervention with three dimensions-leader, expert, and peer support-to meet teachers' basic needs and thereby increase their motivation for and persistence in classroom technology integration. It had a sequential explanatory mixed-methods design, involved 122 school teachers and lasted for 22 months. Pre-, post- and delay- questionnaires and two arounds of interviews were used to collect the teachers perceptions on needs satisfaction and technology integration practices. The results suggest that the support increased the extent to which the teachers' needs were met, resulting in more high-quality (student-centered) but not low-quality (lecturing) integration practices. However, the intervention sustained both types of integration practices. The findings offer three major empirical implications, makes two theoretical contributions, and offers four practical suggestions for researchers and practitioners.

Responding to Worldview Threats in the Classroom: An Exploratory Study of Preservice Teachers.

This study used two training sessions and two focus groups with 17 preservice teachers (aged 20-36) completing their first teaching practicum placement during their Bachelor of Education program at an urban research university in western Canada. The aim was to implement ideas from terror management theory (TMT) during their teaching practicum. Participants explored how to facilitate contentious issues so as to prevent defensive reactions when worldviews clash in the classroom. A dramaturgical analysis identified participant objectives, conflicts, tactics, attitudes, emotions, and subtexts as they explored how to anticipate and avoid worldview and self-esteem threat, navigate tense pedagogical spaces, build capacity for expressing uncomfortable emotions, and diffuse threat with humor. Because difficult emotions are central to teaching potentially polarizing content, participating preservice teachers explored when compensatory reactions might emerge and, as a result, developed their own emotional awareness-TMT became both an experience and a teachable theory.

Chinese Preservice Teachers' Perspectives of Mentoring Relationships in an International Learning Partnership.

Mentoring is an essential fixture of teacher education. With growing opportunities for international learning exchanges, there is a need to better understand how cross-cultural mentoring can be characterized by reciprocal learning. This study investigated mentee perceptions of the mentoring relationship in an international, cross-cultural teacher education exchange. We conducted research among 19 Chinese preservice teachers who participated in an international teacher education exchange program, exploring their perspectives on the cross-cultural mentoring relationship and mutual learning. Our findings suggest that learning outcomes are improved in a mentoring relationship when there are strong relational ties, opportunities for reciprocal learning, and a greater awareness of cultural complexity. We contend that there is value in supporting the mentoring relationship directly, which has implications for both international exchanges and teacher education programs.

Perspectives of EFL teacher trainers and pre-service teachers on continued mandatory distance education during the pandemic.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the world experienced a fast transition to online education, starting in March 2020. This study aimed to review the process from the perspectives of prospective teachers and teacher trainers in a foreign language teacher education program after two semesters of mandatory distance education to make adjustments and take precautions for online possibilities in the future. Data was collected through questionnaires composed of open- and closed-ended items. A range of themes emerged from the responses, presented in terms of participants' preferences, their perceived benefits and challenges and recommendations for the future.

The impact of prior occupations and initial teacher education on post-graduate pre-service teachers' conceptualization and realization of technology integration.

Post-graduate teacher recruitment schemes are designed to fulfil ongoing teaching shortages. However, despite the emphasis of technology integration in educational contexts, little research has examined the knowledge, skills and attitudes post-graduate pre-service teachers bring to teaching from a technology perspective. This paper presents findings from the final phase of an explanatory case study exploring the development of post-graduate pre-service teachers' technology integration beliefs and practice during a teacher education program at an Australian university. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 17 post-graduate pre-service teachers after two professional (field) experiences. A social cognitive lens was applied to understand how technology integration beliefs and practice developed during this time. Results showed occupation-specific technology experience provided this group with a diversity of technology expertise, confidence using technology, resilience to overcome technical issues, and self-regulatory traits to learn new technology tools. Contributing personal factors influencing beliefs and practice included age, professional background, technology skills and technology self-efficacy beliefs. Initial practice revealed a predilection to integrate technology to supplement teacher-directed pedagogy. The shift towards technology integration to support student-centred pedagogy was dependent upon modelling and mentoring provisions offered by both teacher-educators and teacher-mentors during professional (field) experience placements. Other extrinsic factors, such as hardware provisions, Information Technology infrastructure, and school culture, were also instrumental in the conceptualization and realization of technology pedagogy. Recommendations include the necessity for post-graduate teacher education programs to recognise the untapped technology expertise this group may bring to teaching, and practical suggestions to support the development of meaningful technology integration epistemologies.

Primary Science Education in Australian Universities: An Overview of Context and Practice.

Stagnating test scores, underwhelming student scientific literacy and declines in post-compulsory science enrolment are major issues in Australian science education. Universities are central in improving science education, as a relatively small group of 33 higher education providers can directly influence generations of primary teachers responsible for foundational science learning. Since this is a major review of primary science practice at Australian universities, factors including, but not limited to, changing employment conditions, shifts in study modes and an ever-expanding research literature base need to be considered in a more contemporary review. This paper aims to describe the reported primary science practices, challenges and strengths of Australian teacher education programs through semi-structured interviews and online surveys with 17 academics and analyses of public materials on university websites. Thematic analyses reveal noteworthy diversity in approaches, united by authenticity and student-centred learning. Key strengths included robustness of educational approaches, relevance and teaching team compositions. Key challenges included time, external pressures, resources and student capacity. These nuanced findings will be discussed as they relate to teaching and research.