This study aims to analyze how selected student and school factors may affect teacher job satisfaction, in addition to teacher factors, through multilevel regression and commonality analysis of U.S. data from the Teaching and Learning International Surveys (TALIS) 2013. In the overall model of teacher job satisfaction, the factors of low achievers, behavioral problems, SES, classroom discipline climate, school location, principal job satisfaction, school autonomy for instruction, participation among stakeholders, experience, teacher self-efficacy, teacher-student relationship, teacher cooperation, and effective professional development are important predictors for teacher job satisfaction based on the values of beta weights and structure coefficients. Furthermore, the commonality analysis reveals that student, school, and teacher factors uniquely contribute 4.19%, 7.07%, and 6.41% of variance, respictively. Findings provide significant implications for educational policies on teacher job satisfaction and retention.

Background: Teacher emotions are sometimes underplayed in the research field of teaching and teacher education. Also, teachers often undergo transformations in their professional identities during education reforms. However, very few studies explore the connections between teacher emotions and their professional identities against the background of education reforms, especially in Asian contexts. There is an increasing emphasis on STEM as an education reform in China and the world, and a deep understanding of STEM teacher emotions and professional identities is necessary in the fast development of STEM education. This study examined how a STEM teacher emotionally constructed her professional identities under the STEM education reform. Methods: This is a 3-year longitudinal case study employing a narrative inquiry approach with one STEM teacher in China. Data collection included one in-depth, semi-structured interview, three conversations, personal emotional diaries, and correspondence records. A four-step data analysis was conducted. Results: Three major themes reflecting the participant’s emotional professional identities emerged, including “an interested but confused learner”, “an enthusiastic but nervous explorer”, and “an excited but unsatisfied mentor”. In the participant’s experiences as a learner, explorer, and mentor, positive and negative emotions were always intertwined. These helped construct and shape her professional identities and encouraged her to be the best STEM teacher that she could be. Conclusion: This study provides a series of vivid and dynamic pictures of a STEM teacher’s emotions and professional identities against the background of STEM education reform in China from a 3-year longitudinal perspective. It also indicates the personal, social, cultural, and contextual factors that could have strong effects on teachers’ emotional experiences and the construction of professional identities. Furthermore, this study reveals that three processes (i.e., the process of education changes, the process of creating new or multiple professional identities, and the generation process of teacher emotions) could be intertwined and developed together.

This paper examines how Chinese (n = 11) and Spanish (n = 11) preservice teachers reflect on their learning-to-teach experiences during the teaching practicum period through the lenses of transformative learning theory and third space conceptualisation. Specifically, the authors adopted the five-stage transformative learning model and collected reflective journals from the participants. Framed by this model, the authors traced the Chinese and Spanish preservice teachers’ transformative professional learning experiences evidenced by (1) disorienting dilemma, (2) reflection and exploration of assumptions, (3) gaining confidence in a new role, (4) behaviour changes, and (5) integration of new perspectives. Implications for fostering a third space, namely hybridity and boundary-crossing between university and schools, during teaching practicum are discussed in this paper.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how students’ disabilities impacted their learning at the university and to measure their perceptions of universal design for learning (UDL). An online survey was administered at a large public research university in the south-central United States; 160 students with disabilities completed the survey. These students with disabilities described how their disabilities influenced their learning in the following aspects: attention issues, slow processing, absence, accessibility issues, reading and writing challenges, mental health challenges, and social interaction challenges. The results also revealed that some UDL teaching practices were not being fully utilized by instructors based on the perceptions of students with disabilities. We discussed those UDL practices which were not being used by instructors and highlighted the impact of using the practices on students’ learning. These practices include effective teaching methods such as helping students organize and summarize learning content, using technology to increase accessibility, providing flexibility in assessments and assignments, providing meaningful feedback, and recruiting students’ attention and engagement.