Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Citation preview
School of Education
Gary Motteram
Social / Professional IdentityPennington (2002)
School of Education
Main strands in this talk
• real world research (Rogers, 2002); messy, but vital;
• the sociocutural paradigm (Roth and Lee, 2007 and many others);
• fashioning research instruments (Levy-Strauss);
• examples from my own practice (various)
School of Education
School of Education
Results from the research at Chadderton
• The pupils got a good grounding in IT with particular emphasis on skills associated with language development and when interviewed said they felt it had helped them; the teacher agreed;
• One child started to make significant improvement in other classes and eventually won a school prize;
• One child stopped truanting and came in regularly for the extra lunchtime classes;
• One child went on to do an IT degree at a local university against all expectations
(Motteram, 1999, p 209)
School of Education
However, why use theory?
Two views from Wilson (1978):
Theory provides a means of integrating and interpreting available information and influences the search for new knowledge. (p 218)
In short, the appeal is either to an organized conceptual framework or a melange of personal preference, intuition and subjective judgement. (p 218)
School of Education
Theory in the conference abstracts concerned with teacher education
reproduction of knowledge
reflective practice/ and (collaborative) action research
situated practice/ situated teacher cognition
Communities of Practice
activity theory
critical theory
School of Education
All of these fall within the general realm of sociocultural theory, which Karen Johnson in her recent book (2009) has defined in the following way:
At its core… the epistemological stance of a sociocultural perspective defines human learning as a dynamic social activity that is situated in physical and social contexts, and is distributed across persons, tools and activities (p 1)
School of Education
Genetic method (Vygotsky)
Microgenetic -- particular event
Ontogenetic -- series of events
Phylogenetic -- adding to our sum total of knowledge about CALL and its developments
See Lantolf and Thorne (2006) for a useful introduction
School of Education
Fashioning an instrument/ creating a lens (AT)/ Bricolage
School of Education
There still exists among ourselves an activity which… is what is commonly called 'bricolage' in French. In its old sense the verb 'bricoler' is applied to ball games and billiards, to hunting, shooting and riding. It was however always used with reference to some extraneous movement: a ball rebounding, a dog straying or a horse swerving from its direct course to avoid an obstacle. And in our own time the 'bricoleur' is still someone who works with his hands and uses devious means compared to those of a craftsman. The characteristic feature of mythical thought is that it expresses itself by means of a heterogeneous repertoire which, even if extensive, is nevertheless limited. It has to use this repertoire, however, whatever the task is in hand because it has nothing else at its disposal.
(Claude Levi-Strauss, 1966 [1962] The Savage Mind, Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press. p 19 [http://varenne.tc.columbia.edu/bib/info/levstcld066savamind.html])
School of Education
…someone able to perform a whole range of specialist functions or even to employ unconventional methods. It is the notion of a person who makes something new out of a range of materials that had previously made up something different. The bricoleur is a makeshift artisan, armed with a collection of bits and pieces that were once standard parts of a certain whole but which the bricoleur, as bricoleur, now reconceives as part of a new whole. Levi-Strauss provides an example. The bricoleur has a cube-shaped piece of oak. It may once have been a wardrobe. Or was it part of a grandfather clock? Whatever its earlier role, the bricoleur now has to make it serve quite a different purpose. (Crotty, 1998, p 50)
School of Education
Context Theory /ies Methodology
MA students at Manchester
Reconstructive processes/ situated practice
Narrative
Teachers in their own classrooms
Situated practice/ 3rd generation AT/ teacher beliefs
Case studies
Teacher education in 2nd Life
COP Ethnography
School of Education
Project 1: Narrative research
Reconstructive processes
20 students from various countries: 10 onsite and 10 offsite
“The teachers were invited to tell their stories about how they came to us for their professional development, their expectations, the ways in which the course impacted on their thinking and what they have done since they graduated.” (Slaouti and Motteram, 2006, p81)
Teachers showed how they had come to understand that it wasn’t simply a matter of gaining knowledge (of various types following Shulman, 1986) and skills, but of exploring these in relationship to the contexts in which they found themselves
Our course creation also relies on our own similar reflective processes and own ecology.
School of Education
Project 2: Researching teachers, technology and context (CUP)
• Teacher (370) and learner (178) surveys– Technology access and locations of use– Teacher perceptions of the roles that technology plays– Teacher perceptions of digital resources (bespoke and teacher-created)– Teacher perceptions of EFL materials (digital and print), the role of content
providers, and aspirations for the future• Case study
– 17 teachers (Asia, Europe, Middle East, North Africa, South America)– online interviews– weekly reports of technology use collected from each teacher– detailed reports from teachers on their use of technology in two chosen lessons– documents (photos taken by teachers of their use of technology, teaching
materials, links to online resources)
School of Education
Cultural history of CALL
School of Education
Third generation Activity TheoryEngeström (2001)
Plug and play
School of Education
Web pages (Web 1.0)
Hot Potatoes exercises (Web 1.5)
YouTube videos (Web 2.0)
Embedded listening
Dictionary link
UK teacher/ Japanese undergraduate learners
Teacher/ Learners/
Other teachers
Institution
Parents
Other learners
Higher education
Government policies
Teacher provides extra materials
Learners use and evaluate it
Supportive institution
Motivated teacher with particular beliefs about the role of technology in language learning
Technical infrastructure exists
Net savvy learners
Materials connected to the syllabus
Develop knowledge of the UK/ skills development
School of Education
Teacher decision-making
School of Education
Jinhe
School of Education
Project 3: AVALON
You can find more detail at: avalonlearning.eu
The project: Access to Virtual and Action Learning live ONline
School of Education
Developing a Community of Practice for teachers
The domain. A community of practice (COP) is not merely a club of friends or a network of connections between people. It has an identity defined by a shared domain of interest. Membership therefore implies a commitment to the domain, and therefore a shared competence that distinguishes members from other people.
The community. In pursuing their interest in their domain, members engage in joint activities and discussions, help each other, and share information. They build relationships that enable them to learn from each other.
The practice. A community of practice is not merely a community of interest--people who like certain kinds of movies, for instance. Members of a community of practice are practitioners. They develop a shared repertoire of resources: experiences, stories, tools, ways of addressing recurring problems—in short a shared practice. This takes time and sustained interaction.
http://www.ewenger.com/theory/
School of Education
What does a COP looks like?
Problem solving "Can we work on the design of the island and brainstorm some ideas; I need your input."
Requests for information “How can I find out more about Sloodle?"
Seeking experience "Has anyone got experience of teacher training inside 2nd Life?"
Reusing assets "I have a proposal for a reward model that we implemented with the students in our school."
Coordination and synergy "Can we work together to make sure that we do a good job on the teacher training course?"
Discussing developments "What do you think of the new Open Source holodeck? Is it going to be useful for your needs?"
Documentation projects “Let’s use a wiki to keep a track of our work packages."
Visits "Can we have a tour of z island to see how they are doing this?"
Mapping knowledge and identifying gaps "Who knows what, and what are we missing? What other groups should we connect with?"
http://www.ewenger.com/theory/
School of Education
Initial professional community
• The partners bring their own communities to the planning table and experience of previous projects both European and others
• These will include some of the associate partners
School of Education
A range of voices
• Managerial• Academic• Pedagogic• Professional• Technical• Learner• Business• MUVE community
School of Education
Partners
Associate partners and other colleagues
Already engaged
professional and
academic community
Broader professional
and academic
community
Centripetal movement
School of Education
Tools that we are using
• Ning• Twitter• Blog• Wiki• 2nd Life itself
School of Education
School of Education
School of Education
School of Education
School of Education
Teacher course
• Has been created and piloted
• Hope to encourage new teachers to join and be a part of our community
School of Education
References
Crotty, M. (1998) The foundations of social research: Meaning and perspective in the research process. London: Sage.Johnson, K. E. (2009). Second language teacher education: A sociocultural perspective. London: Routledge.Lantolf, J. P., & Thorne, S. L. (2006). Sociocultural theory and the genesis of second language development. Oxford: OUP.Levi-Strauss, C. 1966 [1962] The Savage Mind, Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press. p 19 [http://varenne.tc.columbia.edu/bib/info/levstcld066savamind.html])Motteram, G. (1999) Changing the research paradigm in Debski, R. and Levy, M. (1999) World CALL: Global perspectives on CALL. Abingdon: Swets & ZeitlingerPennington, M. (2002). Pennington, M. (2002) Teacher identity in TESOL http://www.quality-tesol ed.org.uk/downloads/Martha_P's_paper,_AGM_2002.pdf Roth, W. M., & Lee, Y.J. (2007). Vygotsky’s neglected legacy: Cultural historical activity theory. Review of Educational Research, 77 (2), 186-232.Salaberry, M. R. (2001) “The use of technology for second language learning and teaching: A retrospective.” MLJ, 85/1.Shulman, L. S. (1986) Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching, Educational Researcher, 57, pp 1-22.Slaouti, D. and Motteram, G. (2006) Reconstructing practice: Language teacher education and ICT in Hubbard, P. and Levy. M. (2006) Teacher education and CALL. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.Robson, C. (2002) Real world research. Oxford: Blackwell.Wilson, G. T. 1978 The importance of being theoretical: A commentary on Bandura’s “self-efficacy: towards a unifying theory of behavioral change.” Journal of Adv. Behav. Res. Ther. Vol. 1, pp. 217-230.
