*2.2.4. Field-based work*

should identify candidates with personal traits and life experiences that can help them become hackers: individuals who demonstrate passion for education and motivation for social justice causes, who define themselves as creative and thinking outside the box, who have experience learning in nontraditional schools or with technology, and so on. Schools of education should broaden the spectrum of applicants and encourage candidates with diverse background to contribute their unique perspectives and skills to the teaching force. This recommendation

Another focus should be on career changers who enter teaching after starting their professional lives in another occupation. My study supports previous findings that showed the personal qualities and attributes career changers bring to the profession are likely to improve the quality of teaching and student learning. For example, Williams and Forgasz supported recruiting career changers in Australia because these teachers bring attributes such as maturity, life experience, work knowledge, skills from other professions and industries, and high levels of motivation that supplement those school leaders bring to teaching [20]. Teacher education programs should continue to create opportunities for career changers to enter teaching

Study participants who had changed careers to teach stated it took them time to realize that some skills they acquired at other settings were relevant in schools. Previous research also indicated that teachers who enter the profession with a broader understanding of the goals of public education or a love of children perform better at their jobs [21]. Even first-career teachers participating in the study commonly referred to their previous educational experiences such as summer camps or volunteering. Jarvis perceived the individual as a "whole person made up of the mind and the body [who] comes to a learning situation with a history, a biography that interacts in individual ways with the experience that generates the nature of learning," ([22], p. 101). From the perspective of adult-learning theories, individuals reflect mostly on the highly structured learning that occurs in classrooms or workshops but also have much to share about learning in informal settings. Teacher preparation programs should design strategies to allow students to bring their unique perspectives, habits, and skills from

*It's good for students to see adults grappling with problems like that…As a kid, I thought teachers just* 

Relatively new terms such as *online learning*, *blended–hybrid*, and *web-facilitated* environments have become part of the education jargon [23]. Teachers are expected to work and teach with new pedagogies such as project-based learning (PBL), self-directed projects, paper-free classes, and blended-learning teaching. The new pedagogies emphasize the importance of real-life learning, an interdisciplinary approach, and the use of technological tools to promote

Study participants detailed the pedagogical hacking they initiated in their classrooms. A high school social studies teacher transformed her classes to be flipped and paperless. An

aligns with the goal of U.S. public schools to diversify faculty by all means [17–19].

and consider what they need in their pre- and in-service training.

106 Contemporary Pedagogies in Teacher Education and Development

previous experiences into the conversation.

*2.2.3. Teacher education pedagogy*

*knew everything.*

deep learning [24].

Most (*n* = 6) participants stressed the importance of being in the field and interacting with students and teachers early in the training process, and 45% of their comments regarding teacher education connected to being in the field. Three teachers described their fieldwork as the most meaningful part of their teacher-development training. One stated, "The most valuable, adaptive moments—my ability to adapt—came from working with kids. You can't help kids until you understand their thinking, and that doesn't come from a book. It comes from working, interacting, with a wide variety of students as much as you can." Participants also related time in the field to other program aspects, such as training teachers to set realistic expectations. As another participant described, "They need to be in the schools all the time. Too many people don't realize what they're getting into."

culture that leads the way for innovation and creativity is important in any higher education program but has an especially crucial role when preparing the next generation of educational

Preparing Educational Hackers

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http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.77036

*That is where I think my philosophy in education started to change, because I hated the way I was* 

Teachers who hack continually reflected on their goals, methods, and progress. Their reflection identified gaps between the present and desired future, detected problems, and explored different means to approach problems. As one teacher described openly, "I'm still battling my traditional teacher self." Teachers who hack devoted time to learning and acted to improve practices and outcomes. In this, my study results are consistent with the literature, which strongly recommended reflective practice as part of teachers' learning and development, and

Darling-Hammond and Bransford emphasized the importance of reflection to the learning process because it helps student teachers find alternative strategies for the future and to solve problems [27]. Boz and Boz found that encouraging student teachers to reflect on their teaching and identify their strengths and areas for development within reflective practice was essential to learning [35]. Reflection enables future teachers to recognize the limitations of their personal assumptions, acknowledge other perspectives, consider the moral and ethical consequences of choices, and clarify the reasoning processes involved in making and evaluating decisions [40]. Reflection can also support student teachers to think about the different ways of practicing quality teaching and to examine innovative models for teaching other than

The habits of reflection and critical thinking can be learned, applied, and accomplished. Teacher preparation programs should help prospective teachers develop the habit of reflecting by using structured assignments that require students to apply critical thinking and reflection to their own practices or to others they experience during fieldwork. Any segment of a teacher education program can incorporate the critical thinking skill of looking for gaps or problems. It does not require a special course; it requires special attention. Every subject future teachers should know can be processed thought the lenses of critical thinking and reflection. For example, reflection regarding field observations might include a segment to help student teachers look at problems in the field and think of possible solutions. Student teachers can be asked to create their teaching identity, asking themselves questions such as, Why am I here? What benefit do I bring? What is meaningful about me that I want to bring

Increasing the number of reflecting episodes and enhancing their depth will help future teachers adopt this way of thinking and carry it into their daily teaching routines. "Institutions that, in general, encourage the teaching methods and the process of modeling devoid of any historical context or at philosophical base that would encourage critical reflection and that

would lead students to ponder what worked. What did not, and why?" ([16], p. 358).

which was supported by adult learning theories [21, 39, 40].

what they had experienced so far [27].

into teaching?

leaders.

*2.2.5. Reflection*

*teaching it.*

These results correspond with the literature that recognized the central and crucial role of fieldwork—time spent in schools and in classrooms [28–31]. Common expressions in the literature to describe field-based learning, *practicum*, or *student teaching* in teacher education included *key factor*, [32] program *capstone*, [27, 33] *culminating experience*, [34] *very important*, [35] *critical element*, [36] and *the bridge* between preparation for teaching and the beginning of a teaching career [37]. All of these expressions indicate the central role attributed to this method of training future teachers, which can play a significant part in developing future teachers' sense of engagement with and commitment to the process of reforming the public education system. The practicum is also expected to support teacher retention and to help novice practitioners adjust better to the profession. This experience can serve as a crucial period of teacheridentity construction with a possible change in self-perception and professional identity and, thus, can support constructing professional identities of teachers as change agents.

In my study, the teachers who hack also shared that their mentors inspired and led meaningful learning and development experiences. Programs should structure meaningful time in the field accompanied by mentoring, support, and reflective practice. The mentoring should be well structured to provide opportunities for risk-taking and support exposure to progressive educational models [31]. Based on my study results, I highly recommend residency models that offer a full year in the field [38] or programs that take place entirely in schools.

Preparation programs should seek to place students in different schools and educational environments committed to discussing questions concerning their role in the twenty-first century public system. Experience in an array of classrooms and public, private, and independent schools can offer future teachers an opportunity to reflect about different ways to teach and practice schooling. Exposure to as many teaching styles and teaching roles as possible is a key factor. Such preservice experiences can also solve the issue of in-service teachers who, due to scheduling or workload issues, rarely find the opportunity to visit other schools and be inspired by them. In the study, three participants stated they had directed their own training by choosing different programs or selecting their practicum sites. One teacher shared that she received special approval to do a practicum with a teacher she liked but who had less than the required 3 years of experience. She explained and justified her choice: "I was like, that's the person I want to learn from." Thus, programs should allow greater freedom to student teachers who drive their own learning and development, allowing them to locate the right learning environment that fits their developmental needs.

Teacher education programs can and should serve as models, as real-life examples of the different methods of teaching and learning—teaching by using the methods they teach—as well as catalysts for reform in the K–12 educational system. The pedagogy of teacher preparation programs should model the one desired at the elementary and secondary levels—one that is relevant, engaging, and includes skills that will become germane later. Creating a teaching culture that leads the way for innovation and creativity is important in any higher education program but has an especially crucial role when preparing the next generation of educational leaders.
