Humanizing Pedagogy in Teacher Education: Dilemma Cases and Novice Teachers’ Dispositional Development

• In Event: Roundtable Session 25
  In Roundtable Session: Locating the Self in Identity as Teacher in Career Choice

Abstract

Teacher education programs continue to grapple with the development and assessment of dispositions in teacher candidates. How do we design performance assessments that provide a vantage into teachers’ attitudes and behaviors? How can we maintain a focus on students’ learning while assessing and developing teachers’ dispositions? How can we utilize dispositional assessments as formative data to facilitate supports and interventions? This paper examines one cohort of novice teachers and their use of dilemma cases taken from close work with culturally and linguistically diverse students. Findings indicate that teacher candidates’ chosen dilemmas, reflections on practice, and synthesis with theory make the use of dilemma cases an effective tool for formatively assessing dispositional development with an eye on the students’ experience.

Author

• Jenna Cushing-Leubner, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities