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The aim of this research was to evaluate attitudes toward the use of technology in education among teachers in training and the relationships with other variables derived from the use of technology and teaching style. The study focused on a Spanish sample of 842 future educational professionals in the training stage, belonging to the Autonomous Community of Valencia, with 54.75% identified as female and 46.25% as male, with a mean age of 41.17 years. The results indicated that a constructivist teaching style is related to more favorable attitudes toward the use of technology in teaching, unlike a traditional style. Various variables linked to the use of technology and that have negative effects on people's well-being (such as experiences of suffering from cyberbullying or the fear of missing out) are related to less favorable attitudes toward technology in education. The implications of the variables studied as possible differential factors in the inclusion of technologies in their profession by future teachers are discussed. Plain Language Summary: The use of technologies in education The purpose of this research was to explorate attitudes toward the use of technology in education among teachers in training and the relationships with other variables derived from the use of technology and teaching style, such as Fear of Missing Out, cybervictimization, and teaching-learning styles. The study focused on a Spanish sample of 842 future educational professionals in the training stage, who respond to a series of self-report quantitative measures. The conclusions shows that constructivist teaching style is related to more favorable attitudes toward the use of technology in teaching, unlike a traditional style. Different variables linked to the use of technology and that have negative effects on people's well-being (such as experiences of suffering from cyberbullying or the fear of missing out) are related to less favorable attitudes toward technology in education. The implications of the variables studied as possible differential factors in the inclusion of technologies in their profession by future teachers are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through the voices of 100 Spanish teachers from Early Childhood, Primary, Secondary and Higher Education who carry out inclusive practices, this study explores the recommendations of these professionals for other colleagues to be inclusive. We conducted a qualitative multicase study using semi-structured interviews. The data were analysed through an inductive category and coding system. The findings are presented based on four topics: teacher planning, methodologies, ethical and emotional competences, and training. The results show similarities and differences between the guidelines given at different educational levels. This research provides practical lessons and it highlights that it is possible to be inclusive at any educational stage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports the results of an empirical study designed to determine the degree to which college instructors of Spanish can distinguish between machine translation (MT) and non‐MT writing samples produced by second language (L2) learners of Spanish in an intermediate‐level writing course. We also investigated relationships between detection accuracy rates, instructor teaching experience, and text type (narrative or argumentative), as well as signs instructors consider indicators of both kinds of writing. Results demonstrated that instructors were able to distinguish MT from non‐MT writing with a high degree of accuracy by relying on a broad array of indicators. However, neither text type difference nor instructor experience related significantly to detection ability. These findings have practical implications for the L2 classroom with regard to instructor response to MT use and the integration of MT tools to support L2 writing development. The Challenge: Many language instructors seek to discourage learner use of machine translation (MT), assuming they are capable of reliably detecting such use. But are instructors in fact able to reliably differentiate between MT‐assisted and MT‐unassisted target language writing and, if so, what indicators do they rely upon when making such judgments? Given students' widespread use of these tools, what implications for practice might answers to these questions hold, particularly in terms of academic integrity policies and second language (L2) writing pedagogy? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we attempt to explain how Spanish schoolteachers built their knowledge around Progressive Education and just how they assimilated these new teaching practices, a process we conceptualise as "appropriating the New". Our source consists of the 287 files presented by state schoolteachers from all of Spain as part of their candidacy in the competitive exams held in 1932 for the position of school headteacher. These files, which contain the professional history of each of these teachers, elaborated by him or herself, allow us to analyse the discourses and practices developed and used in their classrooms. Drawing on these teachers' accounts we have designed a typology with five different levels of appropriation of the ideas and practices of Progressive Education. These five categories are (1) Recognising the New; (2) Understanding the New; (3) Bonding with the New; (4) Applying the New; (5) Internalising the New. These levels, which represent the gradual implication of this sample of schoolteachers with the ideas of Progressive Education, bear witness to how their identification with these concepts led to a transformation of their teaching practices. We will then use this typology to study the appropriation of one of the best-known progressive ideas, i.e. self-government, which under the Second Republic of Spain in the 1930s acquired a particular political relevance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article describes outcomes from the Erasmus + project botSTEM, involving a theoretical framework for Science, Technology, Engineering & Technology (STEM) and robotics and teaching activities for preschool teachers and teachers educating children 4–8 years old. Spanish and Swedish preschool teachers' self-efficacy and views of teaching STEM and robotics are presented, using a mixed methodology based on a questionnaire and focus group interviews. The 3-year long project has improved the preschool teachers' self-efficacy in STEM and robotics teaching, as described in a questionnaire answered by the preschool teachers after the project. Possibilities in STEM and robotics teaching experienced by them include an increase in children's agency, knowledge and interest, and the obstacles are mainly structural or technical. Robotics teaching also supports children with special needs when interacting with peers. The results from the botSTEM project point to the benefit of supported long-term professional development for STEM and robotics teaching in preschools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reflective thinking, which constitutes an important goal in language teacher education, can be fostered by participating in online communities of practice. This study explored types of reflective discourse generated by novice Spanish language teachers, and associated themes and categories, as they participated in a weekly blog and a video‐conferencing session. Types focused on descriptive versus critical reflections, while categories comprised teacher‐, learner‐, and context‐oriented themes. Blog posts, comments to posts, and video‐conference transcripts were analyzed using a mixed‐methods approach that included a corpus‐based analysis and a content discourse analysis. The results show that critical, teacher‐oriented reflections predominated in the data. This points to the benefits of engaging novice teachers in an online community of practice in terms of promoting more critical reflections during their initial teacher education, as well as the challenges inherent on expanding the focus of reflections on students' learning. The Challenge: Language education programs can foster reflection among novice instructors by implementing online communities of practices. However, it is necessary to explore not only the affordances offered by technology to build such communities but also the types of reflective discourse generated within such contexts in relation to teachers' early development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has evidenced which skills are required for reading acquisition and which methods are effective for teaching reading. However, recent research indicated that teachers lack sufficient knowledge about the constructs involved in reading instruction. The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine Spanish teachers’ practice and opinions on reading instruction. Two samples of Spanish teachers, 840 Preschool teachers and 876 Primary teachers, were surveyed about their opinion on reading skills, their reading instruction practices, and methods of detecting and assessing reading difficulties. The questionnaire for primary teachers also included questions on preparedness and knowledge. Most teachers favored whole-word methods, included maturity and motivation, as relevant aids for phonological awareness and showed poor grasp of factors underpinning reading acquisition. Teachers showed inconsistent and limited knowledge of the evidence-based approach for effective reading instruction. Specific programs are needed to provide preservice teachers with evidence-based instruction and continuous training for in service teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Pixel-Bit, Revista de Medios y Educacion is the property of Pixel-Bit, Revista de Medios y Educacion and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Challenge: Developing Advanced speaking proficiency in the TL is an important goal for teacher candidates. However, what happens after they begin teaching? Do in‐service teachers' proficiency levels improve, remain the same, or decline over time? How can teachers maintain or improve their proficiency? This study examined the perceived and assessed speaking proficiency levels of 10 in‐service Spanish teachers, their use of Spanish in and outside of work, and factors that motivate or hinder the maintenance or development of their proficiency. It also compared their current proficiency levels with their proficiency levels before completion of their undergraduate program. Data were gathered through semistructured interviews and Oral Proficiency Interview—Computer scores. Results show that three teachers had improved from Advanced Low to Advanced Mid since graduation, six maintained their Advanced Low proficiency, and one decreased to Intermediate High. Most were accurate in their predictions of their current proficiency levels. All have some contact with Spanish outside of the classroom, but they vary considerably in the frequency and types of activities in which they are engaged. The relationship between participants' proficiency levels and use of Spanish is discussed, along with implications for teacher education and professional development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Challenge: Preservice teachers' personal experiences as learners often shape their pedagogical beliefs. (1) How do preservice teachers evaluate a lesson that does not reflect best practices (as described by the World‐Readiness Standards) at the beginning and at the end of a methods course? (2) How do they describe changes in their perceptions? Previous research has explored the possibility of changing preservice teachers' beliefs and has examined the role of methods courses and field experiences in shaping their pedagogical views. This study uncovers the beliefs of preservice Spanish teachers by examining how they evaluate a lesson at the beginning and end of a methodology course and how they describe any changes of perspective they experience. The findings indicate that participants varied in their evaluations and highlight the value of observation in teacher preparation. Though exposure to good pedagogy is helpful for future teachers, these findings suggest that it may also be valuable to evaluate a non‐exemplary lesson that does not reflect the Standards. This type of observation provides a unique opportunity for reflection not only on the pedagogy employed in the lesson but also on one's own development as a teacher. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines preservice Spanish teachers' perceptions of linguistic sexism, norm, and use in Spanish. Analysis of 723 participants' answers showed that sexism and linguistic non-adequacy were associated. Results proved that the exclusion of women from the generic masculine in Spanish was considered sexist, and that participants used some Gender Fair Language (GFL) mechanisms to make women visible when deemed necessary, especially with professions. Also, regardless of its adherence to norm, linguistic sexism was perceived as grammatically wrong. Thus, GFL criteria were finding their way into use even if contrary to norm. Therefore, policies based on direct intervention in the training of preservice teachers Spanish as a first language would produce a more egalitarian use of language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This memoir evaluates the career of Geoffrey Ribbans, Gilmour Professor of Spanish and Editor of the Bulletin of Hispanic Studies at Liverpool University until 1978. He then moved to Brown University where he was William R. Kenan Jr Professor of Hispanic Studies until retiring in 1999. His monographs, editions and articles focused mainly on Pérez Galdós, Antonio Machado and Unamuno—arguably the three greatest Spanish writers of modern times. One of Hispanism's most profound literary critics, Geoffrey Ribbans' pioneering contributions to learning were justifiably recognized internationally: they will go on influencing researches into late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Spanish literature and society for many decades to come. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As students feel empowered to select their own goals, they forge their own journeys to success. A culturally sustaining tool, student reflection is an informative practice for selfpaced growth in language learning and beyond. A French and a Spanish teacher share their protocols to bring goal-setting into any classroom, along with the research and results from their own experience. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, we adapt and validate the Teacher Efficacy Scale for Writing to the Spanish educational context. The study participants comprised 452 teachers of Spanish language and literature from compulsory education. We analyse a factorial model of the scale with two factors, personal efficacy and general efficacy, and two sub-factors within the personal efficacy factor. We also compare the fit of the proposed factorial model to the traditional 2-factor model and analyse the factorial invariance of the model with respect to participants' gender and educational level. Our results confirm that the proposed factorial model has a good fit to the data as well as its factorial invariance with respect to the sample characteristics. The Escala de Eficacia Docente para la Escritura is a valid, reliable, easy-to-use instrument for assessing teacher efficacy for writing in Spanish teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The objective of this article is to analyze the initial process of Spain's secondary teachers in constructing their identity, during their participation in the master's program in education and practice teaching. A biographical/narrative approach was used to analyze the accounts of 160 students in the master's program at Universidad de Valencia in 2019-2020 and 2020-2021. The focus was on the positive and negative qualities of their training, and their experience in practice teaching. Numerous traits of ideal and non-ideal teachers were identified during the two stages. The conclusion was that identifiable changes occur in teachers' identity that support their transition to teachers as they set aside their role as students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the benefits of blended learning for Spanish language teaching. Topics include concept of the flipped classroom and the use of a three-step planning model and the Didactic Slider for Online Teaching as a reflection tool; and examples of using blended learning in language teaching, such as creating individual learning paths, rethinking homework assignments, and using technology to improve pronunciation.

The article focuses on the possibilities and limitations of distance foreign language teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic in Germany. Topics include the experiences of Spanish and French teachers; change in the education system due to school closures required new forms of teaching and learning, including digital communication, interaction, and organization; and digitalization of the teaching and learning process led to the rethinking, planning, and execution of foreign language teaching.

Copyright of Educación XX1 is the property of Editorial UNED and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Educación XX1 is the property of Editorial UNED and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This study explores the effects of the shift to emergency remote teaching on assessment practices due to COVID-19 lockdown. A total of 936 Spanish teachers from all educational levels ranging from early childhood to university participated in this nationwide survey. Four aspects were explored: (1) changes in the use of assessment instruments (e.g. exams); (2) changes in assessment criteria, standards and grading; (3) changes in the delivery of feedback and use of rubrics; and (4) changes in students' involvement in assessment (i.e. self- and peer assessment). In general, results are mixed, with some areas undergoing certain changes with the aim of adapting to the new situation (e.g. primary education teachers lowering their grading standards), whereas many other assessment practices have remained similar, especially among higher education teachers. Unfortunately, some of the assessment practices have worsened, such as students' involvement in assessment which has decreased. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

English as a lingua franca (ELF) is a well-known concept for English used as an international contact language among people from diverse linguacultural backgrounds. Using a questionnaire, we explored the attitudes of Spanish and Swedish pre-service primary school teachers towards English and its users after their collaboration on a virtual platform, during which they were ELF users. The findings showed that the ELF user attitudes of the two European student cohorts tended to be ambivalent, mixed, and self-contradictory. After discussing factors for participants' attitudinal tendencies, we conclude that the ambivalence in their overall attitudes seems to mirror the ambivalence of the 'double' definitions of English in educational policy documents, which may affect the goals of teaching English in the classroom. We suggest that university teaching help pre-service teachers develop critical perspectives towards English and English users, as well as reflecting on why they teach English to their future pupils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent scholarship in professional development (PD) has advocated for solid conceptual frameworks and understanding of the complex process involved in how language educators may continue to develop and fulfil the current challenging teaching demands. However, specific relationships underlying departmental cultures and how language educators relate to professional development activities are not completely understood, particularly in large programmes implementing curricular reforms. This paper reports on the outcomes of a PD programme framed within three main notions of sociocultural theory (learning by doing, scaffolding and collaboration) and designed to support a language programme reform in higher education in the United States. Drawing from observation and PD programme data, findings indicate that beyond the expertise and open spaces to participate, language educators need to be engaged in content meaningful to them and manageable within the context of their second language teaching practices. The embeddedness of individual acts of both teaching and reflection about it becomes the bedrock for significant PD and is fundamental to transform language teaching practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of International Journal of Medicine & Science of Physical Activity & Sport / Revista Internacional de Medicina y Ciencias de la Actividad Física y del Deporte is the property of Revista Internacional de Medicina y Ciencias de la Actividad Fisica y del Deporte and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the association between Spanish physical education teacher's perceived self-efficacy toward including overweight and obese students and their attitudes toward overweight and obese students. Method: Four hundred and seventy-one physical education teachers filled out questionnaires to assess their self-efficacy expectations to meet overweight and obese student's educational needs, and to identify physical education teacher's beliefs and attitudes toward these students. Results: The physical education teachers with a higher perceived self-efficacy in fostering participation and in assessing and promoting overweight and obese student's learning were more sensitive toward these student's fitness and healthcare and showed less pejorative attitudes toward overweight and obesity. Conclusions: These results highlight the need for teaching education programs capable of increasing the physical education teacher's perceived self-efficacy in this area. The results also show that there is a need for training for teachers and students in strategies aimed at reducing the cases of victimization of overweight and obese students. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article we will reflect on the risky behaviours in adolescents that are most concerned with teachers in Spanish Language and Literature area who have completed as a specialty the Master's Degree in Didactics of Language and Literature in Secondary Education and Baccalaureate at the International University of La Rioja. To do this, we will analyse a corpus consisting of 366 activities of the subject "Psychology of the adolescent", carried out by students of three different nationalities (Colombia, Ecuador and Spain) in the five courses (2016 - 2020) of the Master's Degree. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the use of movement and games in Spanish language learning, providing practical activities and ideas for teachers. Topics include the benefits of movement-based learning, including the use of gestures and theater, and provides activities such as Olympic language games and hopscotch with vocabulary word; and using outdoor spaces, such as the schoolyard for activities that involve language learning through movement, such as practicing directions on a chalk-drawn map.

As part of efforts from various disciplines to study teaching work, this article uses socio-discursive interactionism to analyze the work of an elementary Spanish teacher. The methodological proposal involves an analytical device based on the dimensions of prescribed work (planning), effective work (class sessions) and represented work (meanings that the teacher attaches to her work), and of self-confrontation as a tool for reflecting on practice. The analysis shows a professional who manages her class and reacts to diverse situations that students experience, in order to bring them closer to the learning objectives. The proposed methodological device facilitates exploring teaching work at different moments of a teaching practice, and enriches the analysis with the teacher's reflections on her own work. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses everyday observation of practicing Spanish and Italian teachers, who sometimes find serious deficits in students' pronunciation at the beginning of the qualification phase. Topics discussed include discrepancies in pronunciation which lead to comprehension difficulties and negative emotional reactions; motivation on the part of the learner to acquire correct pronunciation; and historical development of pronunciation training in the Romance languages.

This study explored the experiences of five Latinx Spanish teachers who worked in schools in rural North Carolina and South Carolina. Using data from 25 semistructured interviews and publicly available school/community demographic information, this qualitative multiple‐case study sought to answer the following questions: (a) How do Latinx Spanish teachers in the rural South perceive experiences that help or hinder retention? (b) In what ways are Latinx Spanish teachers navigating their role as advocates for linguistic and cultural diversity in their rural schools and communities? Findings showed that participants were constantly balancing the benefits and challenges of their work in a rural area. Due to the racialized nature of the Spanish language, participants reported instances of Spanish being conflated with immigration which resulted in hostility from both students and adults. Nonetheless, participants felt a sense of responsibility in providing their students with exposure to cultures outside of their own cultural setting. As working conditions can have a profound effect on a teacher's decision to stay in the classroom, the findings suggest that emphasizing the positive aspects of teaching in a challenging context may encourage teacher retention. The Challenge: Recruiting and retaining World Language teachers in the rural South is difficult. It is even more challenging for Latinx teachers of the Spanish language. How do Latinx Spanish teachers in the rural South perceive experiences that help or hinder retention? In what ways are Latinx Spanish teachers navigating their role as advocates for linguistic and cultural diversity in their rural schools and communities? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study uses a one-group pre-test and post-test design to describe the mental models of geologic time held by a group of Spanish pre-service primary teachers, before and after an instructional intervention that introduced the work with different timescales. The questionnaire was given before instruction and five weeks after it. It consists of a timeline where seven key events were to be sequenced, and two questions, one open-ended and one closed, related to the absolute ages of the events and their duration. The mental model that was repeated the most before and after instruction contemplates the planet and life as something that has evolved over time but is still quite far from the scientific model. The results also show a significant evolution of mental models towards the scientific model, although students still evidence certain difficulties when working with scales and absolute ages, tending to underestimate the spans of time involved. Furthermore, students exhibited certain difficulties when working with the ages of the most recent events that involve shorter time spans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The topic of this study is professional development (PD) on Web 2.0 technologies for foreign language teachers and integration of these tools into the language classroom. This research explored the experiences of eighteen teachers of Spanish in grades 7-12 from both rural and urban areas in Nebraska, United States, who participated in a technology, pedagogy, and content-based online PD. This qualitative case study included data from interviews, classroom observations, and documents to explore the learning and integration journeys of Spanish teacher participants during and after the PD. While qualitative findings indicated mainly positive learning experiences in the three areas -technology, pedagogy, and content- as well as in technology integration, the observational data illuminated issues of technology access and use of the target language (TL) by the teachers. The article concludes with implications for the design of PD on technology for foreign language teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study pioneered the construction or adaptation of a Spanish version of the Teacher as Social Context (TASC) Questionnaire. The current study included a sample of 410 secondary education teachers in Spain. A confirmatory factor analysis was performed using the maximum likelihood estimation; the factorial invariance of the TASC-Spanish teacher measure across genders was analyzed using a multi-group confirmatory factor analysis. Finally, correlational analyses between the three TASC scales (involvement, structure, and autonomy support) and behavioral and emotional engagement were run. The results of this research confirmed the structure of the original instrument maintaining the three basic domains. The measurement model also proved to be invariant across gender. Besides, this study supports the assumption that teachers' perceptions of their own activity to fulfil students' basic psychological needs show a relationship with students' emotional and behavioural engagement, being teachers' involvement the most determinant domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

So far, in science, the process of learning foreign languages and the process of development for individuals' communicative culture has been considered separately. In this study, the possibility of communicative culture development in teaching Spanish was defined. In the national tradition the methods of teaching Spanish are not represented as widely as, for example, the methods of teaching English, German, and French. There is a need for research on this topic. In this paper the process of learning was studied, not only from the point of view of linguistics properly but also from the point of view of the development of culture, in particular the communicative culture of students. The aim of this research was to study the theoretical literature on the stated topic, to conduct an ascertaining experiment using a questionnaire among students studying Spanish as a specialty, on the topic "Student's communicative culture". According to the results of the experiment we succeeded: - to establish the content of the concept of communicative culture in the understanding of students; - find out which of its components have greatest importance from their point of view; - to determine the students' opinion on the existence of a connection between learning Spanish as a specialty and the development of a communicative culture, and also to establish how this relationship is expressed; - check whether students are aware of the methodology by which they are taught Spanish, and whether they know that this technique is a communicative technique. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Cuadernos de Psicología del Deporte is the property of Cuadernos de Psicologia del Deporte and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Current curricula, which organize initial teacher education programs, include, among their stated purposes, preparing teachers to help their future students to grow as global, participatory, and ethically engaged citizens. However, we know little about how teacher educators prepare their students to be citizens. This article analyses how a group of teacher educators from a public university in Spain understand citizenship education, exploring the net of metaphors and idealized visions they seem to share, regardless of their formal conceptualizations. The discussion of the findings considers the implicit hierarchies of these shared assumptions that define what is deemed as real, desirable, and possible in citizenship education. Implications for teacher education are also contemplated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The beliefs of a teacher about language, culture, teaching-learning process, among other aspects, may reflect on their actions, methodologies, teaching strategies and their students' learning. In this context, considering that the Spanish language is official language in more than 21 countries and each of them has particularities and richness of linguistic variations and cultural traditions, this work proposal seeks to investigate the beliefs of Spanish teachers of the State of Ceará about diversity language and the perspectives for their teaching. For this, the paper bases on studies on beliefs situated in the area of Applied Linguistics and Educational Sociolinguistics. In addition, to obtain the data, we applied questionnaires with Spanish teachers of the state public network and / or language schools. As a result, we found that most of the 27 teachers investigated chose to speak a peninsular variety; however, they are not favorable to the valorization of this variety in the didactic approach of the diversity of the Spanish language. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the experiences of eight Latina heritage speakers (HSs) who were enrolled in world language teacher preparation programs at two higher education institutions. Using data from interviews, classroom observations, and other documents, the qualitative multiple‐case study investigated their educational experiences and the challenges involved in attaining initial Spanish teacher certification. Four themes emerged: motivation to become a world language teacher, language awareness, developing professional and pedagogical knowledge, and issues related to the academic program. Recommendations for world language teacher preparation are offered. The Challenge: Although heritage speakers (HSs)' experiences as language learners have been broadly studied, those as preservice world language teachers have been overlooked. What motivates HSs to become language teachers? What are HSs' needs in a world language teacher education program? What challenges do HSs experience during student teaching? [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the investigation was to ascertain the representations of Spanish teachers about language teaching and learning in order to establish which of them promote processes of knowledge construction in their students as they work in small groups. A qualitative study through an in-depth interview and observations of two teachers from Aguascalientes, Mexico, was conducted. The results indicate that the teachers have sufficient knowledge about the pedagogic model of the subject they teach and about the epistemological principles in which such model is based upon. Nonetheless, when applied to their classes, both teaches differ considerably from one another. This leads to conclude that the ways in which these teachers intervene to promote processes of knowledge construction in their students when they engage in learning tasks while working in small groups, depends on the teachers' representations of these theoretical constructs and how they have integrated them to their teaching practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our objective was to test the factorial validity of the different versions (TSES-24, TSES-12, and TSES-11) of the Teacher's Sense of Efficacy Scale in Spanish preservice teachers'. The participants were 358 preservice teachers. The confirmatory factor analysis showed inadequate fit indexes for both TSES-24 and TSES-12 but adequate fit indexes for TSES-11, which was invariant across gender. The reliability analysis showed appropriate values. The global factor for teachers' sense of efficacy and the three factors that constitute it positively predicted intrinsic motivation and life satisfaction. The global factor for sense of efficacy and the classroom management and student engagement factor negatively predicted amotivation. The results support the use of the TSES-11 three-factor model, rather than TSES-24 or TSES-12, for Spanish preservice teachers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Electronic Journal of Research in Educational Psychology is the property of Editorial of the University of Almeria (Spain) and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

This article suggests the value in a broad view of STEAM beyond arts-integration, as well as the potential of design thinking for STEAM. Despite much interest in STEAM it is often challenging for many teachers to integrate into their teaching of school subject matter. I suggest that as an interdisciplinary crossroads, design thinking provides a natural bridge between the arts, sciences, and other subjects. In this it can offer guiding flexible structure and in-road for teachers to design STEAM-based lessons, and to incorporate as an integrated aspect of students' STEAM learning. I discuss an example of an elementary Spanish teacher, who, as a student in a graduate-level design thinking and education course, used design thinking to design an interdisciplinary STEAM project for her students. This example illustrates how design thinking can guide teachers' STEAM curriculum design, and be interwoven into elements of STEAM curricula, to open up more interdisciplinary, creative and project-based opportunities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, being a teacher requires understanding and positively responding to the cultural and linguistic nuances present in the classroom. The increasingly diverse schools are placing higher expectations on teachers in regard to the use of multicultural practices. This is compelling teacher preparation programs to find new formulas to adequately train teacher candidates. International student teaching programs have been shown to yield important benefits for participants. This article describe an international student teacher exchange program between the University of North Texas and the University of Seville (Spain) and reflects on the effects of the experience on a Spanish preservice teacher and his mentor teacher in Texas. Implications and suggestions for teaching preparation programs are also provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]