Mapping Relational Models for Online Teacher Preparation and Professional Development

Abstract

Purpose

As teacher education moves online, there is an increasing need for teacher educators who subscribe to relational stances that attend to and enact liberating pedagogies with preservice teachers preparing to teach and inservice teachers who come to online courses for professional development.

Approach

This chapter explores common frameworks for interactive relational models of teaching from John Dewey, Lev Vygotsky, and Paulo Friere and then proposes, using examples from the author’s practice, how these models translate into online contexts.

Findings

Diversity in education calls for increased awareness of individuals using a relational stance. This stance should apply both to schoolchildren as well as the teacher candidates and teachers in development that are coming to teacher education to build and improve their practice.

Research implications

More research on relationality in online learning is necessary. This research should take shape through using theories that are complex enough to provide insights that marry the pedagogical with the relational aspects of teaching as part of a comprehensive teacher education experience.

Value

This chapter makes a valuable contribution to research in teaching online through its thorough inquiry into theories of learning and teaching and they apply – or do not – online.

Citation

Rice, B.J. (2015), "Mapping Relational Models for Online Teacher Preparation and Professional Development", Exploring Pedagogies for Diverse Learners Online (Advances in Research on Teaching, Vol. 25), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 187-207. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-368720150000027010