The ethical dimension of teacher practical knowledge: a narrative inquiry into Chinese teachers’ thinking and actions in dilemmatic spaces

Previous research concerning teacher practical knowledge has revealed its epistemological foundations, content structure and research methodology, but little research examines its ethical dimension. Based on a four-year project in China, this study probes the ethical dimension of an experienced teacher’s practical knowledge, explicated in a dilemmatic but teachable moment. Narrative inquiry is used as both a research method and a representational form to reveal the teacher’s ethical decisions and actions in the nested macro–meso–micro dilemmatic spaces. It is found that the teacher’s practical knowledge is embedded in a complicated web of meanings, and tapestried by her compromise to the national policies, her negotiation with the school governance and her caring for her students with diverse backgrounds. The ethical dimension of her practical knowledge provides her a vital power to carry out her educational practice. It is advocated that an ‘ethical turn’ for research and practice in teacher professional development is needed, so as to authorize teachers’ professionality reflected in their roles as humanity cultivators and transformative intellectuals. Moreover, under the global educational reform context since late 1990s, this article can be seen not only as a case from China, but also has implications for other countries in the world.     

Stories of self,stories of practice: enacting a vision of socially just pedagogy for Latino youth

This narrative inquiry examines how one Latina novice teacher articulates and implements a vision of teaching for social justice within the contexts of her teacher education program and her practice as a bilingual resource teacher. Informed by Latino/a critical race (LatCrit) theory, the analysis traces connections between stories of self and practice, focusing on her development of an innovative middle school literacy course for Spanish speakers. This article highlights the ways in which she recruits her experiences as a member of a marginalized group and brings them to bear on practice in the crafting of a critical pedagogy that takes learners’ interests and concerns as central while encouraging social action. Findings are discussed in light of the following themes: critical questioning and resistance; analysis of systems of oppression and positioning; and encouraging social action and practicing democracy. This study has implications for teacher preparation committed to socially just pedagogies for all children, but especially for Latino/a youth.     

Reification of instructional materials as part of the process of developing problem‐based practices in mathematics education

This teacher development study closely examined a teacher's practice for the purpose of understanding how she selected and implemented instructional materials, and correspondingly how these processes changed as she developed her problem‐based practice throughout a school year. Data sources included over 20 hours of planning and analysis meetings with the teacher and 27 video‐taped lessons with discussions before and after each lesson. Through qualitative analysis we examined the data for: students' cognitive demand for curricular materials the teacher selected and implemented; teacher's beliefs and practices for students' engagement in mathematical thinking; and teacher's and students' communication about mathematics during instruction. We found that the teacher shifted her views and use of instructional materials as she changed her practice towards more problem‐based approaches. The teacher moved from closely following her traditional, district‐adopted textbook to selecting problem‐based tasks from outside resources to build a curriculum. Simultaneously, she changed her practice to focus more on students' engagement in mathematical thinking and their communication about mathematics as part of learning. During this shift in practice, the teacher began to reify instructional materials, viewing them as instruments of her practice to meet students' needs. The process of shifting her views was gradual over the school year and involved substantial analysis and reflection on practice from the teacher. Implications include that teachers and teacher educators may need to devote more attention and support for teachers to use instructional materials to support instruction, rather than materials to prescribe instruction. This use of instructional materials may be an important part of transforming practice overall.     

Beyond the ‘good teacher’: guiding pre-service teacher reflections on culturally diverse students

This article explores how reflective practice may be facilitated among pre-service teachers preparing to teach in culturally diverse classrooms. The significance of the mentor teacher’s ability to reveal her/himself as a reflective practitioner in order to promote student reflection is well documented. The article specifically addresses one teacher educator’s approach to offering mentor support with a focus on reflective practices related to cultural diversity. She explores how her ethnographic doctoral study on the classroom participation of adult South Sudanese students in different Australian learning environments has informed her own practice as a teacher, and ways in which her teaching philosophy and values were influenced by the sustained reflection needed to complete the study. By making explicit an aspect of her reflective practice, she aims to add to the growing body of literature on how to engage pre-service teachers meaningfully in reflection on their own classroom practice, especially in relation to teaching to diversity.     

Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices and Critical Pedagogy: The Fifth Moment in a Teacher Educator's Journey

In order to research and improve her practice, a teacher educator examined her life history and its relation to the ethical and moral discourses of society using autobiography as a self-study methodology. This critical reflection provided the basis for contextualizing praxis-oriented teacher education in an urban school. Based on the transformative framework of critical pedagogy coupled with a self-study of teacher education practices, this article explores how a teacher educator engages in research relating to the self, professional practice, and the analysis of the tensions surrounding otherness and oppression. Critical pedagogy provided the means and the methods to facilitate reflection upon her own earned and unearned privilege in society and paved the way for an agency of change in her practice.     

“Everything goes smoothly”: A case study of an immigrant Chinese language teacher's personal practical knowledge

Much of teacher knowledge research in teacher education has focused on Western views of teacher knowledge. By reporting on a case study of an immigrant Chinese language teacher's personal practical knowledge in teaching secondary school students, this paper presents an Eastern view of teacher knowledge, and illustrates how knowledge and identity are entwined. The study found that an immigrant teacher's awareness of her identity and her cultural heritage had a profound influence on shaping her personal practical knowledge and teaching practice. The paper suggests that more cross-cultural studies be undertaken to further our understanding of teacher knowledge.     

An expert EFL reading teacher’s readers club: reader identity and teacher professional development

This study unveils a tertiary EFL reading teacher’s reader identity and its interconnectedness with her pedagogical decisions through narrative inquiry. Community of Practice was employed to elucidate the sources of this reading teacher’s reader identity and the interplay between that and her teaching practice. Findings from the categorical content analysis show that this reading teacher’s reader identity was projected through her strong passion towards reading. An interactive reading process that results in a better self-understanding is experienced through the reader’s reflection on her readings. She reified her reader identity in her teaching practice by forming a readers club. Reader (teacher)-text- reader (student) interaction is thus the most salient feature of this readers club and serves as a mediator that connects the members. Along with this feature, her competence of synchronicity with students was observed in this experienced reading teacher. Pedagogical implications concerning teacher education are discussed.     

Linking reform-oriented experiences to teacher identity: The case of an elementary mathematics teacher

Novice teachers often have difficulty transferring what they learn in teacher education programs to classroom practice. This is especially true for elementary school teachers who are expected to teach mathematics with reform-oriented methods. The purpose of this longitudinal case study was to examine the experience of one novice elementary school teacher over a 3-year period, and understand the factors that supported her to enact a reform-oriented practice in mathematics as she transitioned from being a preservice to inservice teacher. Influential mathematics education models, her commitment to learning, and school-based contexts affected her teaching identity and practices. To conclude, an argument is made for teacher education experiences to explicitly address mathematics teacher identity to support the enactment of reform-oriented practices.     

Listening to the Language of Constructing Science Knowledge

The study explores students' use of language in the process of making sense of genetics concepts. It aims to analyze primary and secondary discourses, and examine the relationship between social practices and discourses. Sixth-grade students were interviewed before and during four weeks instruction on genetics. General trends were detected regarding border crossing between discourse communities and the difficulties and ease of moving among informal experience, social practices, primary discourse of family, friends and community, and secondary discourse of science and school instruction. Two comprehensive case summaries – Debbie and Sam – are presented in the paper. Debbie took what she experienced in her social life as criteria to discuss how people resembled one another. However, the language practiced in the classroom was different from Debbie's familiar language. Debbie thus experienced a conflict between primary and secondary discourses. Sam's school education and home environment provided an aligned social context with rich scientific ties that nurtured his use of secondary discourse practices in thinking and learning science. We recommend that science instruction needs to build a learning community where students' discourses will be recognized and border crossings between discourses facilitated in the process of learning science. An erratum to this article can be found at     

Negotiating contradictions in developing teacher identity during the EAL practicum in Australia

This paper reports on how Maria (pseudonym), a non-native English speaker (NNES) and preservice teacher (PST) of English as an additional language (EAL), developed her professional identity during the practicum in an Australian secondary school. Drawing on activity theory, the study identified contradictions in Maria’s practicum activity and examined how Maria’s professional identity developed through her negotiation of the contradictions. Data included interviews with Maria before, during and after the practicum, her reflections, an interview with her school mentor (Ms Davies, pseudonym), and relevant documents. The findings reveal that Maria experienced contradictions between her multiple identities of NNES, student, becoming teacher, and classroom teacher, between her mentor’s teaching approach and that of her own, and between her practice and rules. The findings provide implications for researching teacher identity and supporting preservice EAL teachers in developing productive teacher identities during the practicum.     

In the Name of Teaching: The Embodied Journey of a Different Kind of Educator

The use of autobiography in the development of teacher identity can lead to a deeper critical examination of how issues of race, social class, gender, and gender identity affect experience and worldview. This path can helps future teachers become more attuned to the issues they will confront in their classrooms. In this speech, the author shares her own personal experiences to illustrate this aforementioned point. She shares her educational autobiography and highlights those educators who helped shape her educational practice and the relationship she has with her students.     

Examining the Tasks of Teaching When Using Students' Mathematical Thinking

Recent research suggests that the examination of students' work may lead to changes in teaching practice that are more effective in terms of students' mathematical learning. However, the link between the examination of students' work and the teachers' actions in the classroom is largely unexamined, particularly at the secondary level. In this paper, I present the results of a study in which teachers had extensive opportunities to examine the development of students' conceptual models of exponential growth in the context of their own classrooms. I describe two related aspects of the practice of one teacher: (a) how she listened to students' alternative solution strategies and (b) how she responded to these strategies in her practice. The results of the analysis suggest that as the teacher listened to her students, she developed a sophisticated schema for understanding the diversity of student thinking. The actions of the teacher supported extensive student engagement with the task and led the students to revise and refine their own mathematical thinking. This latter action reflects a significant shift in classroom practice from the role of the teacher as evaluator of student ideas to the role of students as self-evaluators of their emerging ideas.     

班主任与学生谈话的语言技巧刍议

班主任是学生的主要管理者,对学生的学习、生活和思想等方面都有极大的影响作用。特别是班主任的语言沟通会对学生产生较大影响,所以班主任应该积极与学生通过语言进行思想上的交流,促进学生身心健康发展,帮助学生顺利度过青春期。文章结合教育实践,对班主任与学生谈话的语言技巧进行探讨。     

Closing the Circle: Action research partnerships towards better learning and teaching in schools

This paper addresses the call for evidence-based practice by describing an initiative in school-university partnership that has led to the establishment of a community of teacher researchers whose investigations provide the evidence upon which they make decisions to improve their teaching. This is a new way of approaching the idea of evidence-based practice, where the evidence comes through personal testimony that 'rings true'. In this mode of research the processes of research are shared so that the outcomes of the research may be disseminated through 'transferability' rather than 'generalisability'. The first part describes the partnership, which involved the adaptation of existing structures in the school (staff development) and the university (accreditation) to create a new more democratic, more productive relationship. The second part of the paper describes the work of one teacher who applied the principles from her own learning within the teacher group to her management of her students' learning in such a way that the excitement of independent learning that had been a feature of the teacher group was transferred to the students. The third part of the paper addresses the politics of such research and makes a case for including teachers' and students' knowledge of their own practice as evidence to inform policy development.     

教师形象的内源性考察

教师的教学实践具有情境性、复杂性和价值性,从教学实践的特性来探查教师形象可知,教师是在复杂情境中不断探究问题的反思性实践者,其特征可以描述为:视育人为己任、对教学持探究立场、沟通儿童与课程、富有临场智慧。     

Mathematical biography and key rhetoric

The intention of this article is to consider the use of narrative and rhetorical inquiry as research methods. I construct a mathematical biography of one elementary teacher trainee, Sirpa, who had performed well in her advanced mathematics course in upper secondary school. I describe her development as a mathematics teacher during teacher education from her second-year methods course and teaching practice to fourth-year teaching practice. Narrative inquiry is more than a case study: Sirpa’s mathematical biography is a story that describes how she constructs her mathematical identity. I also analysed the key rhetoric that Sirpa used in her talk, key rhetoric here referring to the strategy by which she constructed continuity and coherence.     

Development of professional knowledge in learning to teach elementary science

The purpose of this research was to understand how preservice elementary teacher experiences within the context of reflective science teacher education influence the development of professional knowledge. We conducted a case analysis to investigate one preservice teacher's beliefs about science teaching and learning, identify the tensions with which she grappled in learning to teach elementary science, understand the frames from which she identified problems of practice, and discern how her experiences played a role in framing and reframing problems of practice. The teacher, Barbara, encountered tensions in thinking about science teaching and learning as a result of inconsistencies between her vision of science teaching and her practice. Confronting these tensions between ideals and realities prompted Barbara to rethink the connections between her classroom actions and students' learning and create new perspectives for viewing her practice. Through reframing, she was able to consider and begin implementing alternative practices more resonant with her beliefs. Barbara's case illustrates the value of understanding prospective teachers' beliefs, their experiences, and the relationship between beliefs and classroom actions. Furthermore, the findings underscore the significance of offering reflective experience as professionals early in the careers of prospective teachers. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 36: 121–139, 1999     

大学英语教师教学改革实践性知识形成的叙事探究

文章以某大学英语教学改革示范点高校的一位大学英语教师为研究个案,采用教育叙事探究与个案研究的方法阐释了其7年的教改经历与心路历程,并对其教改实践性知识的形成与变化进行了反思。研究结果显示,教师的实践性知识直接支配着教师的教改行为,并最终决定其教改的方向与成效。受前期实践性知识、持续的教学反思、职业追求、改革政策和同行教改实践等五个方面内外部因素的影响与制约,教师教改实践性知识的构建大致会经历三个特征迥异的发展阶段。     

Understanding the Development of a Hybrid Practice of Inquiry-Based Science Instruction and Language Development: A Case Study of One Teacher’s Journey Through Reflections on Classroom Practice

This qualitative case study looks closely at an elementary teacher who participated in professional development experiences that helped her develop a hybrid practice of using inquiry-based science to teach both science content and English language development (ELD) to her students, many of whom are English language learners (ELLs). This case study examines the teacher’s reflections on her teaching and her students’ learning as she engaged her students in science learning and supported their developing language skills. It explicates the professional learning experiences that supported the development of this hybrid practice. Closely examining the pedagogical practice and reflections of a teacher who is developing an inquiry-based approach to both science learning and language development can provide insights into how teachers come to integrate their professional development experiences with their classroom expertise in order to create a hybrid inquiry-based science ELD practice. This qualitative case study contributes to the emerging scholarship on the development of teacher practice of inquiry-based science instruction as a vehicle for both science instruction and ELD for ELLs. This study demonstrates how an effective teaching practice that supports both the science and language learning of students can develop from ongoing professional learning experiences that are grounded in current perspectives about language development and that immerse teachers in an inquiry-based approach to learning and instruction. Additionally, this case study also underscores the important role that professional learning opportunities can play in supporting teachers in developing a deeper understanding of the affordances that inquiry-based science can provide for language development.