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J E A N M U R RAY , V I V E L L I S , C L A R E KO S N I K , C L I V E B E C K

TEACHER EDUCATORS: MANAGING COMPLEX WORK WITH

SKILL AND COMMITMENT

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CLARE KOSNIK

A FOOT IN MANY CAMPS: LITERACY/ENGLISH TEACHER

EDUCATORS

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PARTICIPANTS

Experience as a classroom teacher

• 0 years = 1• 1-5 years = 3 • 6-10 years = 12• 11-20 years= 6• 21+ years = 6

Rank at the University

• Assistant Professor (Lecturer) = 6• Associate Professor

=5• Senior Lecturer = 7• Full Professor = 5• Other =1• Contract = 4

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DRAWING ON CLASSROOM TEACHER EXPERIENCES

More than telling stories

Continuity of Priorities• underserved

communities • subject organizations• marginalized youth • teacher activism• teacher inquiry

groups

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TURNING POINTS

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INFLUENCE OF LIFE EXPERIENCES

• Early childhood experiences (e.g., being ELL)

• Primary/Secondary school teacher

• Personal experiences (e.g., becoming a mother)

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ED’L BACKGROUND + RESEARCH ACTIVITIES

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• Yes – 6

•No – 22DURING YOUR UNDERGRAD DID YOU PLAN TO DO A PHD?

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DOCTORAL RESEARCH

• 17 on children• 5 on student teachers • 3 at the inservice level • 3 on something rather different • 8 did their doctoral research in their own

classroom

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CONTINUING RESEARCH DONE FOR THEIR THESIS

• A great extent -15• To some extent - 7• Have moved to a new area of research – 6

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Although current research broader in scope, for most a direct link with their doctoral research; e.g., doctoral research on adolescent writing, current research on use of technology for adolescent writing.

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IS A PHD NECESSARY FOR LTE?

PhD instantly provides status:

“If everyone else has a doctorate, you have to have one too.”

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Beforehand, I didn’t think it was important to do research because I thought your knowledge came from what you did [as a classroom teacher]. And I must say that now I can see what research brings to the process. You look at things differently in some ways ... you can see how what you’re seeing in one school is generalizable to schools across the board ...

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IDENTITY

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• caring • listener• reflective • team player• compassionate• flexible

QUALITIES OF AN EFFECTIVE LTE

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TERMS USED TO DESCRIBE SELF (COULD SELECT MORE THAN ONE)

• Literacy/English professor – 15• Teacher Educator – 17• Teacher – 14• Professor – 3• Other - Learn with kids – 1; Lecturer – 2;

Teacher trainer – 1; Associate Dean – 1; Researcher -1

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ACADEMIC COMMUNITIES

• Own university – 15• Teacher research group or network -4• Classroom teachers – 8• Literacy association – 22• AERA -- 6 • Other - 12 e.g., BERA, minority faculty

group • Cannot find a home – 2

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HIERARCHY IN SCHOOL OF EDUCATION/DEPARTMENT?

• Research-intensive - Yes – 15, No - 1

• Teaching-focused - Yes – 8, No- 4 

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BLURRING BOUNDARIES

• personal and early childhood experiences still influence their work • meet student teachers on both personal

and professional levels• hold multiple identities

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IMPLICATIONS

• not followed a uniform pathway• influenced by work as classroom teachers• mentor encouraged them to pursue a

doctorate• doctoral research continues to be central

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• feel underappreciated by colleagues + students

• value affective qualities of LTE• being an inquirer is a necessity• community is beyond the university

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