Experienced teacher educators hunting assumptions to examine their pedagogy : an international collaborative study
- Brandenburg, Robyn, Garbett, Dawn, Ovens, Alan, Thomas, Lynn
- Authors: Brandenburg, Robyn , Garbett, Dawn , Ovens, Alan , Thomas, Lynn
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Frontiers in Education Vol. 7, no. (2023), p.
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- Description: The research presented in this article focuses on an international collaboration conducted by four experienced teacher educators who used assumption identification and examination to advance pedagogical practice. It describes and examines how teacher educators deliberately undertook reflective practices to inform and enhance teaching. Four vignettes are described and analyzed—Practica woes and Modelling practice—and examined using the simple, complicated, and complex teaching framework. The key outcomes include the impact and role of assumption definition, identification, and examination as powerful reflective tools. Researching practice in teacher education is an effective way to advance pedagogical knowledge and practice and a disposition of inquiry is necessary to enhance knowledge at all stages of teacher educator experience. This international collaboration highlights the importance of problematizing teaching, continually inquiring into and interrogating practice and grasping the teachable moments. Copyright © 2023 Brandenburg, Garbett, Ovens and Thomas.
- Authors: Brandenburg, Robyn , Garbett, Dawn , Ovens, Alan , Thomas, Lynn
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Frontiers in Education Vol. 7, no. (2023), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The research presented in this article focuses on an international collaboration conducted by four experienced teacher educators who used assumption identification and examination to advance pedagogical practice. It describes and examines how teacher educators deliberately undertook reflective practices to inform and enhance teaching. Four vignettes are described and analyzed—Practica woes and Modelling practice—and examined using the simple, complicated, and complex teaching framework. The key outcomes include the impact and role of assumption definition, identification, and examination as powerful reflective tools. Researching practice in teacher education is an effective way to advance pedagogical knowledge and practice and a disposition of inquiry is necessary to enhance knowledge at all stages of teacher educator experience. This international collaboration highlights the importance of problematizing teaching, continually inquiring into and interrogating practice and grasping the teachable moments. Copyright © 2023 Brandenburg, Garbett, Ovens and Thomas.
Intersex awareness and education : what part can health and physical education bodies of learning and teaching play?
- Hunter, Lisa, Zavros-Orr, Agli, Brömdal, Annette, Hand, Kirstine, Hart, Bonnie
- Authors: Hunter, Lisa , Zavros-Orr, Agli , Brömdal, Annette , Hand, Kirstine , Hart, Bonnie
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sport, Education and Society Vol. 28, no. 9 (2023), p. 1047-1067
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- Description: It is well-documented that schools fail to adequately engage with contemporary content about intersex awareness and education or inclusion of people with intersex variations. Where sexuality and relationships education are the remit of Health and Physical Education (HPE) curriculum in countries such as Australia, the learning area shows little obligation/response-ability towards the needs of students with intersex variations. It also fails to pay nuanced attention to non-dominant issues, knowledge, or people with respect to sex, gender and sexuality. Similarly, the normative endosex nature/focus of HPE/PE/sport and related professional education bodies (e.g. in teaching and coaching) ignore the need for relevant and affirming content about intersex bodies. A recent project reported here, created a collective narrative addressing how such HPE bodies of learning and teaching can advocate for and enact approaches that are inclusive, affirming, visible, and supportive in promoting and upholding the human rights and health needs of students with intersex variations. The research question driving the project was: What part can HPE bodies of learning and teaching play concerning intersex awareness and education? This original empirical research draws on the methodology and theory of narrative inquiry. The narrative was created between artefacts from a cohort of second year Australian pre-service HPE teacher education students in dialogue with teacher/researcher/expert/author bodies. The paper employs a recently developed Strategic Framework for intersex inclusion that promotes a positive whole-school approach, for educational institutions to be more inclusive, humane, safe and educationally relevant for people with intersex variations. This framework assists critical reflection on project findings. We argue that such engagement, as illustrated in this project’s scope, promotes a positive and diverse understanding about intersex in educational spaces, curriculum and pedagogies, guidelines, and policies, and ultimately reflect Australian Human Rights Commission recommendations and Australian anti-discrimination legislation. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
- Authors: Hunter, Lisa , Zavros-Orr, Agli , Brömdal, Annette , Hand, Kirstine , Hart, Bonnie
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Sport, Education and Society Vol. 28, no. 9 (2023), p. 1047-1067
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: It is well-documented that schools fail to adequately engage with contemporary content about intersex awareness and education or inclusion of people with intersex variations. Where sexuality and relationships education are the remit of Health and Physical Education (HPE) curriculum in countries such as Australia, the learning area shows little obligation/response-ability towards the needs of students with intersex variations. It also fails to pay nuanced attention to non-dominant issues, knowledge, or people with respect to sex, gender and sexuality. Similarly, the normative endosex nature/focus of HPE/PE/sport and related professional education bodies (e.g. in teaching and coaching) ignore the need for relevant and affirming content about intersex bodies. A recent project reported here, created a collective narrative addressing how such HPE bodies of learning and teaching can advocate for and enact approaches that are inclusive, affirming, visible, and supportive in promoting and upholding the human rights and health needs of students with intersex variations. The research question driving the project was: What part can HPE bodies of learning and teaching play concerning intersex awareness and education? This original empirical research draws on the methodology and theory of narrative inquiry. The narrative was created between artefacts from a cohort of second year Australian pre-service HPE teacher education students in dialogue with teacher/researcher/expert/author bodies. The paper employs a recently developed Strategic Framework for intersex inclusion that promotes a positive whole-school approach, for educational institutions to be more inclusive, humane, safe and educationally relevant for people with intersex variations. This framework assists critical reflection on project findings. We argue that such engagement, as illustrated in this project’s scope, promotes a positive and diverse understanding about intersex in educational spaces, curriculum and pedagogies, guidelines, and policies, and ultimately reflect Australian Human Rights Commission recommendations and Australian anti-discrimination legislation. © 2022 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.
Teaching efficacy of undergraduate PE students what are the key predictors and what can PE educators learn from this?
- Magill, Ceriann, Cronin, Colum, Walsh, Barbara, Polman, Remco, Rudd, James
- Authors: Magill, Ceriann , Cronin, Colum , Walsh, Barbara , Polman, Remco , Rudd, James
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Frontiers in Education Vol. 8, no. (2023), p.
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- Description: IntroductionTeaching efficacy describes the belief in a teacher's ability to promote learning and this belief is an invaluable asset for all teachers. This study examined the contextual influences that predict the teaching efficacy of first-year undergraduate PE students wishing to enter teacher training programs.MethodUsing a mixed methods study design, 168 PE students completed an online questionnaire and 16 of these participants took part in semi-structured focus groups. The data collection procedures investigated students' perceptions of PE teaching efficacy and examined students' awareness of how their involvement in PE or sports influenced their decision to study PE.ResultsTeaching experiences and role model influences were the key predictors of students' perceived PE teaching efficacy.DiscussionsWe recommend that higher education PE programs should facilitate theoretically informed reflective learning opportunities to enable students to understand and make sense of the impact of these key predictors. These opportunities will enable students to understand their starting point in PE teaching efficacy and identify the requirements to develop it. The study extends the existing literature by identifying the key predictors of PE teaching efficacy derived from the acculturation experiences of undergraduate PE students.
- Authors: Magill, Ceriann , Cronin, Colum , Walsh, Barbara , Polman, Remco , Rudd, James
- Date: 2023
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Frontiers in Education Vol. 8, no. (2023), p.
- Full Text:
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- Description: IntroductionTeaching efficacy describes the belief in a teacher's ability to promote learning and this belief is an invaluable asset for all teachers. This study examined the contextual influences that predict the teaching efficacy of first-year undergraduate PE students wishing to enter teacher training programs.MethodUsing a mixed methods study design, 168 PE students completed an online questionnaire and 16 of these participants took part in semi-structured focus groups. The data collection procedures investigated students' perceptions of PE teaching efficacy and examined students' awareness of how their involvement in PE or sports influenced their decision to study PE.ResultsTeaching experiences and role model influences were the key predictors of students' perceived PE teaching efficacy.DiscussionsWe recommend that higher education PE programs should facilitate theoretically informed reflective learning opportunities to enable students to understand and make sense of the impact of these key predictors. These opportunities will enable students to understand their starting point in PE teaching efficacy and identify the requirements to develop it. The study extends the existing literature by identifying the key predictors of PE teaching efficacy derived from the acculturation experiences of undergraduate PE students.
The affordance of place in developing place-responsive science teaching pedagogy : reflections from pre-service teachers
- Authors: Ma, Hongming , Green, Monica
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science Teacher Education Vol. 32, no. 8 (2021), p. 890-910
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- Description: Despite being increasingly popular within broader educational discourse, place-responsive pedagogy is less apparent in science teacher education. This paper investigates the perspectives of pre-service teachers in a science education course informed by place-responsive pedagogy in a Bachelor of Education (primary) program at an Australian regional university. The place-based study belongs to longitudinal research that examined the impact of the modified science course hallmarked by university–school partnerships and science lessons conducted by pre-service teachers with children from rural and regional schools in Gippsland, Victoria in a wetland and school ground setting. The study and science course were framed by a place pedagogy framework. Using this framework, we examine how pre-service teachers view and understand the affordance of places for teaching science. The study employed a document analysis of coursework essays as well as follow-up semi-structured interviews with two pre-service teacher cohorts (wetland and school ground). Findings indicate that pre-service teacher’s exposure to place-responsive frameworks helped build their awareness about the affordance of place for science teaching. Challenges associated with taking science beyond the conventional classroom are also identified and discussed. © 2021 Association for Science Teacher Education.
- Authors: Ma, Hongming , Green, Monica
- Date: 2021
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Science Teacher Education Vol. 32, no. 8 (2021), p. 890-910
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- Description: Despite being increasingly popular within broader educational discourse, place-responsive pedagogy is less apparent in science teacher education. This paper investigates the perspectives of pre-service teachers in a science education course informed by place-responsive pedagogy in a Bachelor of Education (primary) program at an Australian regional university. The place-based study belongs to longitudinal research that examined the impact of the modified science course hallmarked by university–school partnerships and science lessons conducted by pre-service teachers with children from rural and regional schools in Gippsland, Victoria in a wetland and school ground setting. The study and science course were framed by a place pedagogy framework. Using this framework, we examine how pre-service teachers view and understand the affordance of places for teaching science. The study employed a document analysis of coursework essays as well as follow-up semi-structured interviews with two pre-service teacher cohorts (wetland and school ground). Findings indicate that pre-service teacher’s exposure to place-responsive frameworks helped build their awareness about the affordance of place for science teaching. Challenges associated with taking science beyond the conventional classroom are also identified and discussed. © 2021 Association for Science Teacher Education.
Freedom and constraint in teacher education : Reflections on experiences over time
- Authors: McGraw, Amanda
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol. 43, no. 3 (2018), p. 154-167
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- Description: Teacher education programs in Australia increasingly comply with new and narrowing accountabilities so that they can be approved by diverse regulatory authorities and accredited. This is an auto-biographical narrative study which draws upon the memories of a teacher educator who contrasts her experience of learning to teach in the early 1980s with her recent experience as a Program Leader working with colleagues to design a new Master of Teaching program. She interviews Professor Bernie Neville who was responsible for the design and implementation of the teacher education program she completed in 1983. He reflects on the principles guiding his practice at a time when greater freedoms were possible. She contrasts this with an interview her colleagues conducted with her during the program accreditation phase and highlights tensions in the current process of program design related to an increasing performance-orientation, greater levels of compliance, and managing an over-crowded curriculum.
- Authors: McGraw, Amanda
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol. 43, no. 3 (2018), p. 154-167
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Teacher education programs in Australia increasingly comply with new and narrowing accountabilities so that they can be approved by diverse regulatory authorities and accredited. This is an auto-biographical narrative study which draws upon the memories of a teacher educator who contrasts her experience of learning to teach in the early 1980s with her recent experience as a Program Leader working with colleagues to design a new Master of Teaching program. She interviews Professor Bernie Neville who was responsible for the design and implementation of the teacher education program she completed in 1983. He reflects on the principles guiding his practice at a time when greater freedoms were possible. She contrasts this with an interview her colleagues conducted with her during the program accreditation phase and highlights tensions in the current process of program design related to an increasing performance-orientation, greater levels of compliance, and managing an over-crowded curriculum.
Wilding pedagogy in an unexpected landscape : Reflections and possibilities in initial teacher education
- Green, Monica, Dyment, Janet
- Authors: Green, Monica , Dyment, Janet
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education Vol. 21, no. 3 (2018), p. 277-292
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- Description: This article stems from our participation in the Wild Pedagogies colloquium on Tasmania’s Franklin River in December 2017. The two authors embarked on the 10-day rafting trip with a group of nine other educators and academics from Australia, Canada and England, engaging in extensive conversations about wild pedagogy principles in education. Conceived and developed by some of the Franklin river participants on earlier colloquiums in North America and Scotland, wild pedagogy thinking and practice is constituted by six key touchstones, including: (1) agency and the role of nature as co-teacher; (2) wildness and challenging ideas of control; (3) complexity, the unknown, and spontaneity; (4) locating the wild; (5) time and practice; and (6) cultural change. The touchstones framed our group’s discussions pre-, during and post-colloquium. Drawing on the colloquium’s conversations and engaging with a number of the main touchstone ideas post-colloquium, in this paper the teacher educator authors use two distinct case studies (regional and online contexts) to locate the wild within their initial teacher education practice. They do this by initially making links between current teacher education practice and the touchstone ideas, before re-engaging with the touchstones to collaboratively envisage future wilding possibilities. In conclusion the authors advance the touchstone ideas as particularly relevant to those teacher educators seeking to wild their teaching practice in challenging times.
- Authors: Green, Monica , Dyment, Janet
- Date: 2018
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education Vol. 21, no. 3 (2018), p. 277-292
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: This article stems from our participation in the Wild Pedagogies colloquium on Tasmania’s Franklin River in December 2017. The two authors embarked on the 10-day rafting trip with a group of nine other educators and academics from Australia, Canada and England, engaging in extensive conversations about wild pedagogy principles in education. Conceived and developed by some of the Franklin river participants on earlier colloquiums in North America and Scotland, wild pedagogy thinking and practice is constituted by six key touchstones, including: (1) agency and the role of nature as co-teacher; (2) wildness and challenging ideas of control; (3) complexity, the unknown, and spontaneity; (4) locating the wild; (5) time and practice; and (6) cultural change. The touchstones framed our group’s discussions pre-, during and post-colloquium. Drawing on the colloquium’s conversations and engaging with a number of the main touchstone ideas post-colloquium, in this paper the teacher educator authors use two distinct case studies (regional and online contexts) to locate the wild within their initial teacher education practice. They do this by initially making links between current teacher education practice and the touchstone ideas, before re-engaging with the touchstones to collaboratively envisage future wilding possibilities. In conclusion the authors advance the touchstone ideas as particularly relevant to those teacher educators seeking to wild their teaching practice in challenging times.
Cross-cultural communication in teacher education : A case study of an Australian pre-service teacher placement in Liaoning, China
- Jin, Aijing, Cooper, Maxine, Golding, Barry
- Authors: Jin, Aijing , Cooper, Maxine , Golding, Barry
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol. 41, no. 6 (2016), p. 20-34
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- Description: This paper presents a case study of the experiences and reflections of four fourth year pre-service teachers from Federation University Australia who completed their three-week teaching placement in Anshan, Liaoning Province, China, in April 2014. The study also explores the perspectives and opinions of both the Chinese mentor teachers and Chinese students towards the Australian preservice teachers. The research confirms the mutual benefits of crosscultural teacher education professional experiences for pre-service teachers, Chinese mentor teachers and Chinese students. The teaching experiences revealed major differences in educational concepts and teaching strategies and approaches between the two systems because of the different social and cultural contexts. The evidence from the voices of the participants indicates that the professional experience in these two Chinese schools fostered the Australian pre-service teachers’ cross-cultural communication skills, developed their confidence and skills as teachers and generally enriched their personal and professional lives.
- Authors: Jin, Aijing , Cooper, Maxine , Golding, Barry
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol. 41, no. 6 (2016), p. 20-34
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- Description: This paper presents a case study of the experiences and reflections of four fourth year pre-service teachers from Federation University Australia who completed their three-week teaching placement in Anshan, Liaoning Province, China, in April 2014. The study also explores the perspectives and opinions of both the Chinese mentor teachers and Chinese students towards the Australian preservice teachers. The research confirms the mutual benefits of crosscultural teacher education professional experiences for pre-service teachers, Chinese mentor teachers and Chinese students. The teaching experiences revealed major differences in educational concepts and teaching strategies and approaches between the two systems because of the different social and cultural contexts. The evidence from the voices of the participants indicates that the professional experience in these two Chinese schools fostered the Australian pre-service teachers’ cross-cultural communication skills, developed their confidence and skills as teachers and generally enriched their personal and professional lives.
Preparing pre-service teachers for professional engagement through place/community pedagogies and partnerships
- Authors: Green, Monica
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol. 41, no. 11 (2016), p. 44-60
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- Description: There is an expectation that Australian teachers engage professionally in all aspects of teaching and learning, including engagement with teaching networks and broader communities. This paper reports on a partnership between a teacher educator and an environmental educator who set out to expand pre-service teachers' professional knowledge, engagement and practice in an undergraduate Bachelor of Education (primary) course. The paper reports on a study about teacher education students' perspectives of fieldwork-based learning and its potential to inform students' future engagement with the broader school community. Using a conceptual framework of place- and community based education, the study examined data from an electronic survey and student teacher fieldwork reflections to better understand how pre-service teachers interpret the benefits of working with local schools, and communitybased representatives. Findings suggest pre-service teachers' professional engagement was significantly enhanced as a consequence of partnership fieldwork. The implications for teacher education and future teacher practice are discussed.
- Authors: Green, Monica
- Date: 2016
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol. 41, no. 11 (2016), p. 44-60
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: There is an expectation that Australian teachers engage professionally in all aspects of teaching and learning, including engagement with teaching networks and broader communities. This paper reports on a partnership between a teacher educator and an environmental educator who set out to expand pre-service teachers' professional knowledge, engagement and practice in an undergraduate Bachelor of Education (primary) course. The paper reports on a study about teacher education students' perspectives of fieldwork-based learning and its potential to inform students' future engagement with the broader school community. Using a conceptual framework of place- and community based education, the study examined data from an electronic survey and student teacher fieldwork reflections to better understand how pre-service teachers interpret the benefits of working with local schools, and communitybased representatives. Findings suggest pre-service teachers' professional engagement was significantly enhanced as a consequence of partnership fieldwork. The implications for teacher education and future teacher practice are discussed.
Forging a school-university learning partnership from a teacher education perspective
- Burke, Jenene, Goriss-Hunter, Anitra
- Authors: Burke, Jenene , Goriss-Hunter, Anitra
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: ATEA (Australian Teacher Education Association) 2013 Conference p. 1-7
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- Description: This paper describes an innovative cross-institutional learning partnership that was designed to foster the learning of both Pre-Service Teachers (PSTs) and students and teachers from a local regional Secondary College. Around 150 Grade Nine (13-14 year old) students took part in a purpose-designed activity day at the university that was organised and conducted by 34 second year PSTs as part of their teacher education program. This project was designed as an authentic teaching experience for PSTs that would enable them to translate theory from their teacher education course into teaching practice. At the same time the secondary students were offered a range of learning experiences informed by school-derived curriculum. These specifically focused activities contributed to the students’ school based learning programs whilst also encouraging them to think of university as a future option. In this paper reflections, utilizing a self-study methodology, are provided by the lecturers who developed and implemented the program. The lecturers describe and discuss what they observed about the learning of the PSTs. Many of the PSTs indicated strongly that they were able to engage in a scaffolded, authentic teaching experience as preparation for their initial school placements. Overall, the evidence suggests that the initiative offered a powerful learning experience that enabled PSTs to connect theory with teaching practice.
- Authors: Burke, Jenene , Goriss-Hunter, Anitra
- Date: 2013
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: ATEA (Australian Teacher Education Association) 2013 Conference p. 1-7
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: This paper describes an innovative cross-institutional learning partnership that was designed to foster the learning of both Pre-Service Teachers (PSTs) and students and teachers from a local regional Secondary College. Around 150 Grade Nine (13-14 year old) students took part in a purpose-designed activity day at the university that was organised and conducted by 34 second year PSTs as part of their teacher education program. This project was designed as an authentic teaching experience for PSTs that would enable them to translate theory from their teacher education course into teaching practice. At the same time the secondary students were offered a range of learning experiences informed by school-derived curriculum. These specifically focused activities contributed to the students’ school based learning programs whilst also encouraging them to think of university as a future option. In this paper reflections, utilizing a self-study methodology, are provided by the lecturers who developed and implemented the program. The lecturers describe and discuss what they observed about the learning of the PSTs. Many of the PSTs indicated strongly that they were able to engage in a scaffolded, authentic teaching experience as preparation for their initial school placements. Overall, the evidence suggests that the initiative offered a powerful learning experience that enabled PSTs to connect theory with teaching practice.
Practicum assessment of culturally and linguistically diverse early childhood pre-service teachers
- Nuttall, Joce, Ortlipp, Michelle
- Authors: Nuttall, Joce , Ortlipp, Michelle
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: European Early Childhood Education Research Journal Vol. 20, no. 1 (2012), p. 47-60
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- Description: The practicum is an integral component of teacher education courses, but culturally and linguistically diverse pre-service teachers can face particular struggles in meeting assessment requirements on the practicum in early childhood settings. This paper reports from a small, exploratory study of early childhood practicum handbooks from four Australian universities, interviews with early childhood pre-service teachers whose home language is not English, and interviews with early childhood educators who had supervised pre-service teachers from diverse backgrounds. Analysis of the data suggests that, while the universities aim to produce graduates who are sensitive to the diversity of the children they teach, similar considerations are not evident in the experiences of some diverse pre-service teachers. We illustrate this claim by describing the case of Sue, a Singaporean Chinese student, who struggled to pass a final-year practicum. © 2012 Copyright EECERA.
- Authors: Nuttall, Joce , Ortlipp, Michelle
- Date: 2012
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: European Early Childhood Education Research Journal Vol. 20, no. 1 (2012), p. 47-60
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: The practicum is an integral component of teacher education courses, but culturally and linguistically diverse pre-service teachers can face particular struggles in meeting assessment requirements on the practicum in early childhood settings. This paper reports from a small, exploratory study of early childhood practicum handbooks from four Australian universities, interviews with early childhood pre-service teachers whose home language is not English, and interviews with early childhood educators who had supervised pre-service teachers from diverse backgrounds. Analysis of the data suggests that, while the universities aim to produce graduates who are sensitive to the diversity of the children they teach, similar considerations are not evident in the experiences of some diverse pre-service teachers. We illustrate this claim by describing the case of Sue, a Singaporean Chinese student, who struggled to pass a final-year practicum. © 2012 Copyright EECERA.
‘Stepping back’ to understand learning: Pre-Service Teachers’ perspectives on their learning through authentic experiences in professional settings
- Burke, Jenene, Wheatland, Jill
- Authors: Burke, Jenene , Wheatland, Jill
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: The Australian Teacher Education Association (ATEA) 2011 Conference
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- Description: This paper will examine Pre-Service Teachers’ (PSTs) perspectives on their learning through their involvement in one of three workplace-based initiatives undertaken as part of their teacher education program. Research conducted by Darling-Hammond and colleagues (2008) confirms that highly effective teachers support meaningful learning in a number of ways, including ‘creating ambitious and meaningful tasks’ that reflect how knowledge is used in the field, by engaging students in active learning and by encouraging the type of thinking that enables students to learn to evaluate and guide their own learning (p. 5). The three school-based initiatives selected for this research project have been designed accordingly in an attempt to promote meaningful learning for PSTs. The initiatives that are examined are The Youth Festival, undertaken as part of the Graduate Diploma of Education Secondary (GDE Sec); Pathways to the Adult World (PAW); and, several Small Group Learning Projects in the Bachelor of Education (Physical Education). The study has been conducted as a University of Ballarat Institute of Professional and Organisational Learning (IPOL) teaching and learning fellowship. While the researchers employed a qualitative, self-study methodology in the research, this paper focuses on the PSTs self-study on their learning through their involvement in the various initiatives. Data were derived from an assessment task that was completed by the PSTs after their involvement in one of the work-place based initiatives and subjected to thematic analysis by the researchers. The research attempts to interrogate and reveal what students say that they are learning through their authentic experience in a professional education setting as part of their teacher education coursework.
- Description: E1
- Authors: Burke, Jenene , Wheatland, Jill
- Date: 2011
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: The Australian Teacher Education Association (ATEA) 2011 Conference
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: This paper will examine Pre-Service Teachers’ (PSTs) perspectives on their learning through their involvement in one of three workplace-based initiatives undertaken as part of their teacher education program. Research conducted by Darling-Hammond and colleagues (2008) confirms that highly effective teachers support meaningful learning in a number of ways, including ‘creating ambitious and meaningful tasks’ that reflect how knowledge is used in the field, by engaging students in active learning and by encouraging the type of thinking that enables students to learn to evaluate and guide their own learning (p. 5). The three school-based initiatives selected for this research project have been designed accordingly in an attempt to promote meaningful learning for PSTs. The initiatives that are examined are The Youth Festival, undertaken as part of the Graduate Diploma of Education Secondary (GDE Sec); Pathways to the Adult World (PAW); and, several Small Group Learning Projects in the Bachelor of Education (Physical Education). The study has been conducted as a University of Ballarat Institute of Professional and Organisational Learning (IPOL) teaching and learning fellowship. While the researchers employed a qualitative, self-study methodology in the research, this paper focuses on the PSTs self-study on their learning through their involvement in the various initiatives. Data were derived from an assessment task that was completed by the PSTs after their involvement in one of the work-place based initiatives and subjected to thematic analysis by the researchers. The research attempts to interrogate and reveal what students say that they are learning through their authentic experience in a professional education setting as part of their teacher education coursework.
- Description: E1
Pre-service primary teachers’ perceptions of early childhood philosophy and pedagogy: A case study examination
- Lord, Alison, McFarland, Laura
- Authors: Lord, Alison , McFarland, Laura
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol. 35, no. 3 (2010), p.
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- Description: Abstract: This study examined the experiences of three primary teacher education students participating in early childhood-focused community play sessions, as well as their perceptions of early childhood and primary philosophy and pedagogy. The purpose was to explore perceived differences in primary and early childhood preservice teacher courses, which may then translate to differences in approaches to pedagogy in the field. Three pre-service teachers participated in a weekly community play session on a rural university campus in NSW, Australia. As these students had been educated in primary education pedagogy, a focus group interview was conducted to gain insights to their experiences in the play sessions, which had an early childhood emphasis in theory and practice. Qualitative analysis suggests that these students found several major differences in their early childhood and primary experiences. Themes and properties that emerged included Pedagogy (curriculum, parents, play) and Foundational Knowledge (developmental theory, discontinuity of development). These primary students found the idea of developing curriculum based on observations and interests rather than mandated Syllabus outcomes, challenging. Also, they found the role of play and parent-teacher relationships in early childhood and primary to differ. Students also noted a lack of foundational developmental theory, specifically in the birth-two period, in their teacher education course, and expressed the idea that younger children are discretely different from older children, rather than seeing development as a continuous process. Implications for teacher education courses and children’s transition to school are discussed
- Authors: Lord, Alison , McFarland, Laura
- Date: 2010
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol. 35, no. 3 (2010), p.
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Abstract: This study examined the experiences of three primary teacher education students participating in early childhood-focused community play sessions, as well as their perceptions of early childhood and primary philosophy and pedagogy. The purpose was to explore perceived differences in primary and early childhood preservice teacher courses, which may then translate to differences in approaches to pedagogy in the field. Three pre-service teachers participated in a weekly community play session on a rural university campus in NSW, Australia. As these students had been educated in primary education pedagogy, a focus group interview was conducted to gain insights to their experiences in the play sessions, which had an early childhood emphasis in theory and practice. Qualitative analysis suggests that these students found several major differences in their early childhood and primary experiences. Themes and properties that emerged included Pedagogy (curriculum, parents, play) and Foundational Knowledge (developmental theory, discontinuity of development). These primary students found the idea of developing curriculum based on observations and interests rather than mandated Syllabus outcomes, challenging. Also, they found the role of play and parent-teacher relationships in early childhood and primary to differ. Students also noted a lack of foundational developmental theory, specifically in the birth-two period, in their teacher education course, and expressed the idea that younger children are discretely different from older children, rather than seeing development as a continuous process. Implications for teacher education courses and children’s transition to school are discussed
Shaping conduct and bridling passions : Governing practicum supervisors' practice of assessment
- Authors: Ortlipp, Michelle
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood Vol. 10, no. 2 (2009), p. 156-167
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Courses preparing early childhood professionals through institutes of technical and further education utilise competency standards to guide the assessment of students during professional experience. Some universities offering early childhood teacher education courses use the term 'competencies' in practicum assessment forms and draw on teacher competency standards. This article explores how discourses of competence produced within positivist and liberal humanist discourses shape, guide and direct (govern) tertiary supervisors' beliefs about and understandings of the legitimacy of their professional judgement. Tertiary supervisors take up these discourses and use them as the basis upon which they govern themselves. The author argues that one of the effects of governmentality in this instance is that tertiary supervisors regulate and silence their professional judgement and defer to discourses of scientific rationality when assessing students on practicum placements. They produce assessment strategies that enable them to hide their subjective judgement within what appears to be a logical, rational and objective assessment process and position themselves as the rational, objective assessor, and, at the same time, the fair, responsible tertiary supervisor.
- Description: 2003007750
- Authors: Ortlipp, Michelle
- Date: 2009
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood Vol. 10, no. 2 (2009), p. 156-167
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: Courses preparing early childhood professionals through institutes of technical and further education utilise competency standards to guide the assessment of students during professional experience. Some universities offering early childhood teacher education courses use the term 'competencies' in practicum assessment forms and draw on teacher competency standards. This article explores how discourses of competence produced within positivist and liberal humanist discourses shape, guide and direct (govern) tertiary supervisors' beliefs about and understandings of the legitimacy of their professional judgement. Tertiary supervisors take up these discourses and use them as the basis upon which they govern themselves. The author argues that one of the effects of governmentality in this instance is that tertiary supervisors regulate and silence their professional judgement and defer to discourses of scientific rationality when assessing students on practicum placements. They produce assessment strategies that enable them to hide their subjective judgement within what appears to be a logical, rational and objective assessment process and position themselves as the rational, objective assessor, and, at the same time, the fair, responsible tertiary supervisor.
- Description: 2003007750
Designing capacity : Broadening and deepening design capacity through design education
- Barron, Deirdre, Zeegers, Margaret
- Authors: Barron, Deirdre , Zeegers, Margaret
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at The European Conference on Educational Research: From Teaching to Learning?, Gothenburg, Sweden : 10th-12th September 2008
- Full Text:
- Description: In this paper we canvass a shift in professional practice for teachers and teaching and learning as it focuses on Design Education. We acknowledge that changes in formal educational settings result from the scope and rapidity of changes in emerging technologies and understandings of pedagogical influences on teaching and learning. In canvassing the changes, in this paper we identify issues that emerge in relation a number of proposed solutions in dealing with gaps in teacher education in the field of Design Education. We suggest that these same solutions draw on traditional disciplines which ignore the possibilities of Design to engage 21st Century problems in teaching and learning. We draw attention to a neglect in current teacher education programs in relation to teachers of design and what this may imply for classrooms, teachers, and their work.
- Description: 2003006590
- Authors: Barron, Deirdre , Zeegers, Margaret
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at The European Conference on Educational Research: From Teaching to Learning?, Gothenburg, Sweden : 10th-12th September 2008
- Full Text:
- Description: In this paper we canvass a shift in professional practice for teachers and teaching and learning as it focuses on Design Education. We acknowledge that changes in formal educational settings result from the scope and rapidity of changes in emerging technologies and understandings of pedagogical influences on teaching and learning. In canvassing the changes, in this paper we identify issues that emerge in relation a number of proposed solutions in dealing with gaps in teacher education in the field of Design Education. We suggest that these same solutions draw on traditional disciplines which ignore the possibilities of Design to engage 21st Century problems in teaching and learning. We draw attention to a neglect in current teacher education programs in relation to teachers of design and what this may imply for classrooms, teachers, and their work.
- Description: 2003006590
Negotiating the dilemmas of community-based learning in teacher education
- Johnston, Robbie, Davis, Robert
- Authors: Johnston, Robbie , Davis, Robert
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Teaching Education Vol. 19, no. 4 (2008), p. 351-360
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: At the University of Ballarat, pre-service teachers (PSTs) in their second year of the Bachelor of Education (P-10) are required to plan community-based teaching and learning in conjunction with school students, their teachers and schools along with community organizations. These requirements are in synergy with curriculum developments in schools and appear to be valued by them. In this paper, the implementation of community-based teaching and learning programs developed by PSTs is examined for educational and organizational issues that shaped the outcomes for PSTs. The paper highlights a number of consistent themes that throw light on factors that appear to affect the success of such pre-service courses. These insights contribute to the understanding of community-based PST education curricula and pedagogies as an important and emerging area of interest.
- Authors: Johnston, Robbie , Davis, Robert
- Date: 2008
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: Teaching Education Vol. 19, no. 4 (2008), p. 351-360
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: At the University of Ballarat, pre-service teachers (PSTs) in their second year of the Bachelor of Education (P-10) are required to plan community-based teaching and learning in conjunction with school students, their teachers and schools along with community organizations. These requirements are in synergy with curriculum developments in schools and appear to be valued by them. In this paper, the implementation of community-based teaching and learning programs developed by PSTs is examined for educational and organizational issues that shaped the outcomes for PSTs. The paper highlights a number of consistent themes that throw light on factors that appear to affect the success of such pre-service courses. These insights contribute to the understanding of community-based PST education curricula and pedagogies as an important and emerging area of interest.
Teacher education for rural communities : A focus on ‘incentives’
- White, Simone, Green, Bill, Reid, Joanne, Lock, Graeme, Hastings, Wendy, Cooper, Maxine
- Authors: White, Simone , Green, Bill , Reid, Joanne , Lock, Graeme , Hastings, Wendy , Cooper, Maxine
- Date: 2008
- Type: Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at 2008 Australian Teacher Education Association National Conference: Teacher Educators at Work: What works and where is the evidence?, Novotel Twin Waters, Sunshine Coast, Queensland : 8th-11th July 2008 p. 381-390
- Full Text:
- Description: In Australia we face a national crisis in attracting and retaining teachers and other professionals with regard to rural areas. In response to this difficulty in ‘staffing the empty schoolhouse’ (Roberts 2004), the majority of state education departments have initiated some form of rural incentive scheme designed to attract teachers to rural schools. This paper argues that such schemes have little chance of success unless teachers taking up such incentives have actually been prepared for teaching in nonmetropolitan schools. Although many universities claim to prioritise rural and regional education and community development as part of their vision statements, in reality relatively few education providers reflect this rhetoric in their practice and only a handful have made direct links to such state-based schemes in pre-service teacher education, or initiated their own rural incentives. A preliminary study into pre-service preparation and rural incentive schemes, as part of a three-year ARC Discovery Grant, indicates that, nationally, the majority of Faculties and Schools of Education have no easily accessible or advertised incentive programs to encourage students to undertake a rural practicum. Nor do many reflect rural education in their course-work. This paper will introduce the ‘TERRAnova’ project, and then discuss findings of the preliminary work to date that has focussed on identifying incentives and their significance. Drawing on evidence collected from websites from Australian Universities representing all pre-service teacher education programs in the nation, we argue that few Faculties and Schools appear to see it necessary or desirable to provide students with links to information about particular state-based rural funding opportunities. We show how some, either directly or indirectly, imply the importance of a rural practicum, and that a few teacher education programs provide written advice to students who are considering taking up a rural practicum. It is unclear, however, whether follow-up advice is provided, so that the impact and effectiveness of such advice on students’ experiences and willingness to take rural education seriously can be questioned. Our analysis so far indicates that it is the regional universities which are more likely to address rural education needs, and on this basis we question the metro-centricity of teacher education practice more broadly and suggest ways of expanding the options of teachers in their initial teaching appointments.
- Description: 2003006408
- Authors: White, Simone , Green, Bill , Reid, Joanne , Lock, Graeme , Hastings, Wendy , Cooper, Maxine
- Date: 2008
- Type: Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at 2008 Australian Teacher Education Association National Conference: Teacher Educators at Work: What works and where is the evidence?, Novotel Twin Waters, Sunshine Coast, Queensland : 8th-11th July 2008 p. 381-390
- Full Text:
- Description: In Australia we face a national crisis in attracting and retaining teachers and other professionals with regard to rural areas. In response to this difficulty in ‘staffing the empty schoolhouse’ (Roberts 2004), the majority of state education departments have initiated some form of rural incentive scheme designed to attract teachers to rural schools. This paper argues that such schemes have little chance of success unless teachers taking up such incentives have actually been prepared for teaching in nonmetropolitan schools. Although many universities claim to prioritise rural and regional education and community development as part of their vision statements, in reality relatively few education providers reflect this rhetoric in their practice and only a handful have made direct links to such state-based schemes in pre-service teacher education, or initiated their own rural incentives. A preliminary study into pre-service preparation and rural incentive schemes, as part of a three-year ARC Discovery Grant, indicates that, nationally, the majority of Faculties and Schools of Education have no easily accessible or advertised incentive programs to encourage students to undertake a rural practicum. Nor do many reflect rural education in their course-work. This paper will introduce the ‘TERRAnova’ project, and then discuss findings of the preliminary work to date that has focussed on identifying incentives and their significance. Drawing on evidence collected from websites from Australian Universities representing all pre-service teacher education programs in the nation, we argue that few Faculties and Schools appear to see it necessary or desirable to provide students with links to information about particular state-based rural funding opportunities. We show how some, either directly or indirectly, imply the importance of a rural practicum, and that a few teacher education programs provide written advice to students who are considering taking up a rural practicum. It is unclear, however, whether follow-up advice is provided, so that the impact and effectiveness of such advice on students’ experiences and willingness to take rural education seriously can be questioned. Our analysis so far indicates that it is the regional universities which are more likely to address rural education needs, and on this basis we question the metro-centricity of teacher education practice more broadly and suggest ways of expanding the options of teachers in their initial teaching appointments.
- Description: 2003006408
Critical imagination : A pedagogy for engaging pre-service teachers in the university classroom
- Cartwright, Patricia, Noone, Lynne
- Authors: Cartwright, Patricia , Noone, Lynne
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at 5th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Education, Honolulu, Hawaii : 6th-9th January 2007 p. 610-629
- Full Text:
- Description: In this paper we consider the aspect of teacher education which takes place, not in the school, but in the university classroom. Teaching about teaching, it is argued, must be grounded in students' understanding of the present, but must foster both hope and critique. Beginning from Maxine Greene's (2000) concept of imagination, this paper develops a notion of critical imagination as a way of conceptualizing a critical pedagogy in the university classroom. Two pedagogical strategies based on critical imagination are outlined and analyzed. Writing is prioritized as a pedagogical tool. Excerpts from our professional teaching journals, together with samples of students' writing in response to these strategies, clothe the strategies in the reality of teaching practice. We argue that the use of teaching strategies based on critical imagination as a means of 'jarring' students to think differently seems to move our students to think a little more humanely and a little more critically. But this is neither a simple nor unproblematic task.
- Authors: Cartwright, Patricia , Noone, Lynne
- Date: 2007
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at 5th Annual Hawaii International Conference on Education, Honolulu, Hawaii : 6th-9th January 2007 p. 610-629
- Full Text:
- Description: In this paper we consider the aspect of teacher education which takes place, not in the school, but in the university classroom. Teaching about teaching, it is argued, must be grounded in students' understanding of the present, but must foster both hope and critique. Beginning from Maxine Greene's (2000) concept of imagination, this paper develops a notion of critical imagination as a way of conceptualizing a critical pedagogy in the university classroom. Two pedagogical strategies based on critical imagination are outlined and analyzed. Writing is prioritized as a pedagogical tool. Excerpts from our professional teaching journals, together with samples of students' writing in response to these strategies, clothe the strategies in the reality of teaching practice. We argue that the use of teaching strategies based on critical imagination as a means of 'jarring' students to think differently seems to move our students to think a little more humanely and a little more critically. But this is neither a simple nor unproblematic task.
Understanding the “unsaid”: Deconstructing silence and reconstructing self
- Authors: Brandenburg, Robyn
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at The Sixth International Conference on Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices, (S-STEP), East Sussex, England : July 30th - August 3rd, 2006 p. 36-40
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: What can the examination of silence and the unsaid in teacher education classrooms contribute to our understandings as learners and to our ways of knowing as teacher educators? This paper explores the ways in which the silences were identified, constructed and enacted within the Teaching and Learning Mathematics units of the Bachelorof Education course. This self-study research was conducted as a means of systematically monitoring a reconcepualised and reorganised approach to teaching and learning mathematics in the Bachelor of Education Course at the University of Ballarat, Australia.
- Description: E1
- Description: 2003002009
- Authors: Brandenburg, Robyn
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Conference paper
- Relation: Paper presented at The Sixth International Conference on Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices, (S-STEP), East Sussex, England : July 30th - August 3rd, 2006 p. 36-40
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: What can the examination of silence and the unsaid in teacher education classrooms contribute to our understandings as learners and to our ways of knowing as teacher educators? This paper explores the ways in which the silences were identified, constructed and enacted within the Teaching and Learning Mathematics units of the Bachelorof Education course. This self-study research was conducted as a means of systematically monitoring a reconcepualised and reorganised approach to teaching and learning mathematics in the Bachelor of Education Course at the University of Ballarat, Australia.
- Description: E1
- Description: 2003002009
Using imagination to engage future teachers in a critical pedagogy in the tertiary classroom
- Noone, Lynne, Cartwright, Patricia
- Authors: Noone, Lynne , Cartwright, Patricia
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International journal of learning Vol. 12, no. 6 (2006), p. 325-332
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: This paper explores some of the possibilities and dilemmas that have arisen for us as tertiary teachers of future teachers as we attempt a critical pedagogy through literacy. We are interested in problematising both the so-called 'literacy problems' of current preservice teachers, and also the orthodox canonical understanding of academic literacies. Grounded in the constraints of contemporary neo-conservative socio-political circumstances of life, including education, we imagine the possibility that education could be otherwise. Our critical literacy pedagogical approach seeks to disrupt our students' taken-for-granted understandings of themselves, their world and what it is, and could be like, to be teachers in schools. The material on which this paper is based is derived from our reflections on students' written responses to our pedagogy as we engage in on-going action research about our teaching. Through the language used in the responses, we see evidence of students' engagement (or not) in the critical enterprise. Contradictions emerge regarding the varying discourses about learning, knowledge, teaching and academic literacies that the students and we, as teachers, live out in the tertiary classroom. In making visible our struggles to explore with our students that which is 'not yet', we foreground and celebrate tertiary teaching.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003001868
- Authors: Noone, Lynne , Cartwright, Patricia
- Date: 2006
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International journal of learning Vol. 12, no. 6 (2006), p. 325-332
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: This paper explores some of the possibilities and dilemmas that have arisen for us as tertiary teachers of future teachers as we attempt a critical pedagogy through literacy. We are interested in problematising both the so-called 'literacy problems' of current preservice teachers, and also the orthodox canonical understanding of academic literacies. Grounded in the constraints of contemporary neo-conservative socio-political circumstances of life, including education, we imagine the possibility that education could be otherwise. Our critical literacy pedagogical approach seeks to disrupt our students' taken-for-granted understandings of themselves, their world and what it is, and could be like, to be teachers in schools. The material on which this paper is based is derived from our reflections on students' written responses to our pedagogy as we engage in on-going action research about our teaching. Through the language used in the responses, we see evidence of students' engagement (or not) in the critical enterprise. Contradictions emerge regarding the varying discourses about learning, knowledge, teaching and academic literacies that the students and we, as teachers, live out in the tertiary classroom. In making visible our struggles to explore with our students that which is 'not yet', we foreground and celebrate tertiary teaching.
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003001868
Critical pedagogy and situated practice : An ethnographic approach to pre-service teacher education
- Zeegers, Margaret, Smith, Patricia
- Authors: Zeegers, Margaret , Smith, Patricia
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Learning Vol. 10, no. (2004), p. 3455-3461
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003000804
- Authors: Zeegers, Margaret , Smith, Patricia
- Date: 2004
- Type: Text , Journal article
- Relation: International Journal of Learning Vol. 10, no. (2004), p. 3455-3461
- Full Text:
- Reviewed:
- Description: C1
- Description: 2003000804