Thank you for your participation and contributions to a great Annual Meeting in Vancouver, BC! The Division K sessions offered a wide array of insightful research and theory that engaged participants in raising new questions, examining previously obscured issues, and identifying new problems for investigation and new approaches to research. The dialogue in many of the sessions resulted in new opportunities for collaboration among members across institutions and research settings. These new opportunities for collaboration are important in supporting our efforts to address complex and persistent problems of practice in the field.
Thank you to the Division K team of committee chairs, committee members, and members who volunteered to review submissions for sessions. The work was intense, tedious, and voluminous, but the team persisted in putting together an outstanding program. A very special thank you to Joyce King, the Division K Program Chair, for doing an outstanding job of coordinating the program planning effort and planning special events for the Annual Meeting, including the community forum at the Museum of Anthropology and the First Nation’s Museum, and the Division K and Division G joint reception. Special recognition goes to all of the section co-chairs for working with Joyce King in doing the meticulous and labor-intensive work of putting the Division K program together. Additionally, thank you to Jamy Stillman and Lauren Anderson for their work in coordinating the annual awards for Division K. Finally, thank you to the awards subcommittee co-chairs and committee members for reviewing the work for all of the nominations.
The Division K Business Meeting was very well attended. The Division K awards were announced. The featured speaker for the Business Meeting was Ann Lieberman, who presented a very insightful talk onDeveloping Professional Knowledge. Thank you, Ann.
The Town Hall meeting was a continuation of dialogue initiated by the NCATE Blue Ribbon Panel on clinical preparation for preservice teachers, and that was the focus of the 2011 Fall Summit on Teacher Education. Thank you to the featured speakers for the Town Hall Meeting, Nancy Zimpher and Kenneth Howey, who presented a very insightful discussion focused on A Framework for Clinically-Rich Teacher Preparation. The intent of this dialogue is to advance the field in moving beyond setting standards to developing theory-based approaches with procedures and routines that provide depth and internal consistency to the preparation of candidates within preservice teacher preparation programs. There was a related sessionStrengthening the Clinical Education of Teachers chaired by Ken Zeichner. Two related study groups were formed during the Annual Meeting. The first, Pedagogies in Teacher Education, was led by Emily Lin. The second, Studying Clinical Experiences in Teacher Education, was led by Meredith Ludwig. The second group developed an inquiry agenda and will continue to meet throughout this academic year; they will make a report at the 2013 Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
The 2012 Summit on Teacher Education will be held on September 13-14, 2012 at the AERA headquarters in Washington, DC. The participants at this meeting will include the Division K Executive Committee and representatives from constituent organizations including NCATE/TEAC, AACTE, NEA, and AFT. Participants will continue the work of developing prototypes for clinical field experiences with the intent of presenting a progress report to the membership at the 2013 Annual Meeting.
In looking forward to the 2013 AERA Annual Meeting, you should be sure to carefully read the description for each Division K program section in the Call for Submissions before deciding where your submission best fits. Keep the theme for the Annual Meeting in mind as you prepare your submission—Education and Poverty: Theory, Research, and Praxis. This theme is consistent with the issue of preparing teachers for underserved students.
At the 2012 Annual Meeting in Vancouver, we introduced a new feature of the Division K program–the development of study groups focused on persistent problems in research and practice in teaching and teacher education. We will continue this practice. If you have an idea for a study group related to teaching or teacher education, please submit your proposal directly to the Division K Vice President, Etta Hollins. Those individuals whose problem statements are selected will be the leader and organizer for the study group. Time in the program will be allocated for study group meetings at the 2013 Annual Meeting in San Francisco.
We look forward to receiving your submissions for the 2013 Annual Meeting in San Francisco!
Etta R. Hollins, Ph. D. AERA Vice President for Division K Professor and Kauffman Endowed Chair for Urban Teacher Education School of Education University of Missouri-Kansas City 615 E. 52nd St., Suite 319 Kansas City, MO 64110