Intro to Act Research Sem 2 2011-3 (1)

8/6/2019 Intro to Act Research Sem 2 2011-3 (1)

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Action research


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A Historic overview on teacher learning

Johnston& Goettsch (2000) stress that a major part ofresearch in language teaching and teacher learning overthe last 15 or 20 years has involved the rediscovery ofthe basic truth that in language teaching, it is the

teaching that is most important, not the language: thatlanguage teaching is first and foremost an educationalenterprise, not a linguistic one. With sometimesagonizing slowness, the field of language pedagogy hasfinally come to understand that teachers need to knowabout motivation, interpersonal relations, classroommanagement, evaluation, and a host of other topicstraditionally found in teacher education program, butoften not in applied linguistic programs.


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Models of teacher development

Fullers (1969) approach was based on a developmentalmodel of teacher concerns beginning with new teachersexperiencing survival concerns for self then moving ontotask concerns focusing on management, and finally as theygain experience and confidence it is argued they focus on

impact concerns with the emphasis moving to their students.

Katzs (1977) descriptors for four stages

(1) Survival

(2) Consolidation(3) Renewal

(4) Maturity

Time spent in each phase will vary considerably betweenindividual early career teachers from days to months and

many teachers may never reach the latter stages.


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Models of teacher development

Berliners (1988) model of teacher development:5 stages

(1) The novice stage(2) The advanced beginner stage - teachers develop

strategic knowledge; begin to use their experiencesand understanding of context to guide behaviour.

(3) The competent stage - teacher is able to makeconscious choices based on knowledge gainedfrom many experiences

(4) The proficient stage - intuition and know-howguide actions in the classroom.

(5) The expert stage - teacher has automatedroutines to handle planning, instruction andmanagement.


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Remarks for the models of teacher development

Some of the common influences which are identified and confirmed inthese earlier frameworks outlining professional growth of teachers arethe importance of prior knowledge and beliefs, the crucial role of theimage of self as a teacher and the major impact of context (Kagan, 1992).

Research has shown that the novice teachers who remain and aresupported are more likely to use their experience and acquired

knowledge to begin to reconstruct their images of self as a teacher (Ginns, Heirdsfield, Atweh & Watters, 2001).

Schn (1987) emphasized the importance of ongoing, critical reflection inteaching, in his notion of teachers as reflective practitioners .

More recently Clarke & Hollingsworth (2002) emphazised the need to

provide opportunities for support of teacher professional growth inrealistic contexts with the view of teachers as learners within schools aslearning communities (p.949).


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Pedagogical

Knowledge Base

Instructional Thoughts(purposiveness & empirical evidence)

Classroom Behaviour

TeachersKnowledge &

Beliefs

Teachers Thoughts(purposiveness & empirical evidence)

Conceptual Framework

(Freeman, 2002; Kansanen, 1993)

Pedagogical

Knowledge Base

TeachersPractice

Professional

Status

Preparation and Certification

of TESOL Practitioners

Mid-1970s

Mid-1970s ~ 1980

1980 ~ Present

Understanding

teachers mental

cognition

Promoting

novice teachers

professional

growth


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Core Reflections


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Core Reflections

The level of (professional) identity

How we experience ourselves and our self-

concept.

The level of mission (level of spirituality, Dilts,

1990):

What inspires us, and what gives meaning and

significance to our work or our lives.

Transpersonal level: the meaning of our ownexistence in the world, and the role we see for

ourselves in relation to our fellow man (family,

social group, culture and cosmic order).10


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Core Reflections What is the ideal situation the situation

which the teacher wants to bring about?

What are the limiting factors preventing theachievement of that ideal?

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Three Levels of Reflection

(Larrivee, 2008:89-90)1. An initial level focused on teaching functions, actions or

skills, generally considering teaching episodes as

isolated events (surface reflection);

2. A more advanced level considering the theory andrationale for current practice (pedagogical reflection);

and

3. A higher order where teachers examine the ethical,

social, and political consequences of their teaching,grappling with the ultimate purposes of schooling (critical

reflection).


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The importance of teachers

Recent research indicates that the quality of teachers and

their teaching are the most important factors for student

outcomes.

The McKinsey report (Barber and Mourshed 2007, p.15): The main driver of the variation in student learning in

school is the teacher

Even in good school systems, students that do not

progress quickly during their first years at school, becausethey are not exposed to teachers of sufficient calibre,

stand very little chance of recovering the lost years.


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Important findings from this internationalreport (Barber and Mourshed 2007, p. 43)

(1) The quality of an educational system cannot

exceed the quality of its teachers.

(2) The only way to improve outcomes is to improve

instruction.

(3) Achieving universally high outcomes is only

possible by putting in place mechanisms to ensurethat schools deliver high-quality instruction to

every child.


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Other important findings

all the better school systems had integrated

practicum into their teacher training programmes;

school leadership is second only to classroom

teaching as an influence on learning;

salary is rarely stated to be one of the mostimportant reasons for becoming a teacher,

however the survey also shows that unless school

systems offer salaries which are in-line with other

graduate starting salaries, these same people donot enter teaching; and

new teachers consistently reported that the status

of the profession is one of the most important

factors in their decision to become a teacher.


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What it means to be a teacher

Essential and interrelated dimensions of

career development

The personal being

The professional becoming There has been a tendency to emphasise the becoming

at the expense of what it means to be. The person the

student teacheris becomes of the utmost relevance to

how they develop professionally. Too little attention hashitherto been paid to the importance of personal

development for professional learning.


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Teacher education needs to focus much

more on the personal processes involved in

becoming a professional teacher; that is,

teacher training programmes shouldcomprise a well-grounded balance between

the cognitive and emotional dimensions of

learning to teach.


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Hansens (2007, p. 3) proposal on teacher

training:

A professional, evidence-based track (what

works?)

An existential and normative track (how

teachers understand themselves in what they

are saying and doing)

wondering attitude


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In order to be authentic and to create an

authentic learning process, therefore, the

teacher must be able to stand in the

openness and strive for a community ofwonder with his (sic) students, and indeed

dare to question his own philosophical

assumptions and personal philosophy

which underlie his professional knowledge,

attitudes, and skills.


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The challenge in teacher training lies in

finding a balance between the instrumental

track of competence and the existential

track ofBildung (i.e. the ethical andexistential aspect of a persons character).

(Hansen, 2007, p.15),

Documents

Intro to Act Research Sem 2 2011-3 (1)