Pre-service teachers often have unrealistic expectations of teaching. They often create an inspiration/content dichotomy in which they expect relational activities to trump content delivery. Unchecked, these misaligned expectations can lead to practice shock, the disorienting and sometimes traumatic identity crisis that often occurs during the first year of teaching. Teacher preparation programs can use course-based reflective activities to provide structure and impetus for reevaluating expectations. This article studies the effects of these activities on two undergraduate pre-service teachers. Popular Hollywood teacher films were used to confront and challenge candidates' expectations of teaching. An analytical framework based on Baudrillard's (1995) simulacra provided an interpretive structure for revising expectations, and structured reflections and course assignments were used to assess candidates' changing beliefs. Results suggest that the combination of teacher movies, an interpretive framework, and structured reflection has the potential to change candidates' expectations of teaching.

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The school shutdowns necessitated by the 2020 COVID pandemic have highlighted the importance of “located” education. A located education is not determined by medium or physical proximity. Instead, a located education acknowledges the limits of human understanding and sustains mutually beneficial relationships. Recent neoliberal reform efforts have sought to dis-locate education – to strip it of both spatial limitation and the obligations of interdependent care. However, the COVID-related shutdowns have highlight the brokenness of a dis-located education. Drawing from the work of activist Wendell Berry and philosopher Nel Noddings, this article makes the case for located education – an education that recognizes the importance of both place and people.

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