Intentionally Integrating Developmental Theory and Research Into Teacher Education: Examples From the Field

• In Event: Innovative Approaches to Teaching Educational Psychology in Teacher Preparation Programs

Abstract

Purpose
Educators’ knowledge and beliefs about human development, conceptions of teaching and learning, and perceptions of education-related theory and research play a central role in their instructional practices (Guilfoyle et al., 2020; Tezci et al., 2016). Despite familiarity with the age group they teach, many educators hold misconceptions about student development as well as the teaching and learning process (McDevitt & Ormrod, 2008; Steinberg, 2015). Although educational psychology is not widely recognized as a central part of educators’ professional practice (Moser et al., 2021), incorporating it within teacher education is critical for developing educators’ research-based knowledge to inform their beliefs and practices regarding human development.

Perspectives and Method
We discuss how intentionally integrating knowledge of human development and teacher education research into teacher education can help educational psychology instructors to effectively prepare preservice and in-service educators to be responsive to students’ diverse developmental and learning needs. We provide a rationale for building sustainable collaborations among educational psychology instructors to develop this as an integrated and sustainable element of a teacher education program. We discuss how educators can develop signature assignments, engage in collaborative teacher inquiry, and partner with schools to provide graduate coursework to in-service teachers as professional development. We provide examples and lessons learned from our practice.
We conducted a literature review of best practices to integrate human development into teacher education and provide examples from the field. Educational psychology instructors can collaborate with other teacher educators to create assignments integrated across courses and clinical experiences. We share three assignments that incorporate developmental theory and research into teacher curriculum to support pre-service educators’ application of knowledge to their instructional practices: a reflective blog assignment, a case study paper, and a lesson plan assignment (Table 1).
Collaborative teacher inquiry is a stance through which educators view their practice (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1993; Dana & Yendol-Hoppey, 2020), and is a way for educators to advocate for instructional practices to meet students’ developmental and learning needs (Currin, 2019; Wolkenhauer & Hooser, 2017). We share how instructors can promote collaborative teacher inquiry through class discussions, collaborative teacher inquiry groups, and teacher inquiry paper (Table 2).
Instructors can partner with schools to provide graduate coursework to in-service teachers as professional development to transform educators into teacher leaders. We share an innovative example of how instructors and teacher educators collaboratively integrated research-informed practices regarding human development throughout a master’s degree program delivered at a Professional Development School (NAPDS, 2008). The program uses a practice-to-theory approach where teacher leaders bring problems of practice and leadership to “class”, use theory to understand the issues, and identify research-informed practices to address them.

Conclusions and Significance
We conclude by discussing how intentionally integrating human development and teacher education research into teacher education allows instructors to effectively prepare teachers to enact culturally responsive beliefs and practices by making connections between knowledge of developmental theories and learners’ backgrounds through critical reflection (Gay & Kirkland, 2003; Liu, 2015) and transforming teacher identity (Kahn et al., 2014; Miller Dyce & Owusu-Ansah, 2016).

Authors

• Sarah Kiefer, University of South Florida
  Presenting Author

• Raven Robinson-Wilson, University of North Florida
  Presenting Author

• Rebecca West Burns, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania
  Presenting Author

• Kerrijo Ellis, University of South Florida
  Presenting Author