Teaching practices in Grade 5 mathematics classrooms with high-achieving English learner students

Teachers need more clarity about effective teaching practices as they strive to help their low-achieving students understand mathematics. Our study describes the instructional practices used by two teachers who, by value-added metrics, would be considered “highly effective teachers” in classrooms with a majority of students who were English learners. We used quantitative data to select two fifth-grade classrooms where students, on average, made large gains on a mathematics achievement test, and then examined teaching practices and contextual factors present in each classroom. Participants included two teachers from a mid-Atlantic district and their students who were 67% English learners and 68% economically disadvantaged. We found that the use of multiple representations of mathematics concepts, attention to vocabulary building, individual and group checks for understanding and error analysis were prevalent practices in both high gains classrooms. Also, class sizes ranged from 12–19 students. Discussion focuses on whether observed practices are aligned with recommended teaching practices for English learner students.     

Teaching English language learner students in US mainstream schools: intersections of language,pedagogy, and power

This study explored to what extent two groups of mainstream teachers in the Midwestern region of the USA with differing degrees of English language learner‐specific university preparation reportedly engaged in practices that incorporated the native languages of English language learner students in instruction. The study further examined specific strategies reported by mainstream teachers in promoting native language use in instruction as well as challenges identified in implementing this practice. The study used a mixed‐method design that included analyses of survey data from a quantitative study (n = 227) and qualitative analyses of teacher discourse from course documents and open‐ended survey questions. Findings indicated that while both groups of teachers reportedly engaged in practices that promoted native language use in instruction to some extent, teachers with at least three courses of English language learner‐specific university preparation appeared to engage in these practices to a much greater extent than those without such preparation. This paper explores the implications of results from this study for teacher education programmes in the USA with the responsibility of preparing teachers effectively to serve growing numbers of culturally and linguistically diverse student populations.     

Motor processing difficulties: guidance for teachers in mainstream classrooms

Difficulties in motor processing are often seen in children with specific literacy difficulties. Indeed many children with dyslexia may also have a diagnosis of dyspraxia. This article seeks to increase understanding of difficulties in motor processing and to provide practical advice to teachers to assist in identification of such difficulties. It will examine a range of presenting issues in the classroom, but with a primary focus on handwriting. Drawing on the experience of the authors and literature in this area, practical strategies are offered that may be implemented by teachers in mainstream classrooms.     

Understanding collaborative language learning in novice-level foreign language classrooms: perceptions of teachers and students

This study explored the congruence and disparities among three groups of foreign language (Chinese, French, and German) students’ and teachers’ perceptions of collaborative/cooperative language learning (CLL) strategies in novice-level classroom contexts. A total of 168 participants from a university in the USA took part in this mixed-method study. The quantitative findings from a 10-item CLL questionnaire suggested that while the students’ and teachers’ perceptions of CLL strategies were generally consistent and positive, some disparities emerged in terms of their perceptions towards pair work, 3–6 as a group work, interview, and role playing. The qualitative findings from interviews and classroom observations provided some possible explanations to the differences discovered. The quantitative findings also revealed that foreign language type was not a factor differentiating students’ and teachers’ perceptions of CLL strategies. Some practical implications are provided for the effective implementation of CLL strategies in novice-level foreign language classrooms.     

Teaching students with Down syndrome in regular classrooms in Ghana: views of secondary school mathematics teachers

ABSTRACT

The recent development of making secondary school education free in Ghana has raised concerns about the level of preparedness of teachers to teach students with diverse needs in one classroom. Significantly, mathematics is one of the core areas that the Ghanaian government has prioritised, and it has institutionalised mechanisms to encourage participation by many students. Accordingly, this qualitative study aimed to document the level of preparedness of mathematics teachers to support the teaching of students with Down syndrome in secondary school classrooms. Twenty-seven mathematics teachers from 14 schools, made up of 18 males and nine females, took part in the study. We found that participants were in favour of implementation of inclusive education. However, regarding the prospect of teaching students with Down syndrome, most of the participants thought that the regular secondary school classroom is not a suitable environment for these students to access education, especially due to a number of challenges. The need for the government to support schools with appropriate teaching materials and facilities is discussed extensively.     

Facilitating professional development for teachers of English language learners

The study explores the process of facilitation in professional development for educators. The study relies on discourse analysis of interaction among K-12 teachers and administrators in a Midwestern U.S. state during a semester-long professional development program especially designed for educators working with English language learners (ELLs). The study examines the facilitation practices employed by the lead facilitator of the professional development program from three analytical lenses: context as participation, context as ideology, and content. The paper provides an empirical illustration of how recommendations in the literature about professional development for educators of ELLs can be put in practice.     

Linking critical pedagogy practice to higher education in Malaysia: insights from English language teachers

This study explores whether critical pedagogy is viable for meeting the goals of the Malaysia Education Blueprint (MEB) 2015–2025. The MEB has a particular focus on societal improvement and the authors suggest that critical pedagogy should be considered as a way of teaching as it specifically aligns with the aims of government policy. However, there is uncertainty about how critical pedagogy might be enacted in the Malaysian higher education context because it is difficult to understand and practise. The authors interviewed English language critical pedagogues from various countries about their experiences and found four common themes across all cultures. These were: co-construction of knowledge between teacher and student; new levels of trust; the use of problem-posing techniques; and evaluation of teaching and the student experience. These findings provide a guide to practice and the authors conclude that for critical pedagogy to gain acceptance across Malaysia, consideration needs to be given to changing prevailing cultural norms, the strict social order, as well as the political landscape of the country.     

From pre-service to in-service teachers: a longitudinal investigation of the professional development of English language teachers in secondary schools

This study reports on a longitudinal inquiry into professional identity construction among six novice cross-border English language teachers from mainland China, who completed their pre-service teacher education in Hong Kong (HK) and began their teaching practice in local HK schools. The findings indicate that the participants navigated obstacles in teaching by deploying their own multiple languages as a cultural and linguistic repertoire. The findings also show that the teachers experienced difficulty legitimising their professional identity in the teaching community, where contextual issues and power interplays mediated the process. Furthermore, it is found that the participants’ commitment to teaching was negatively influenced by their non-legitimate position in the teaching community and the discordance between their teaching beliefs and the norms and values of their workplace. This study suggests that complex inter-relationships between marginal status in and legitimate membership of the community, between historical and cultural background, present practice, and future expectations, between social discourse and personal location, are involved in the process of identity construction. Measures to legitimate these teachers’ position and to transform the linguistic and cultural repertories of these teachers into valuable resources of the local schools are suggested. Implications for future research are outlined.     

Factors related to professional development of English language university teachers in Thailand

Professional development is deemed necessary for university teachers at all levels, as it helps to enhance teaching quality. However, the extent of English language university teachers’ professional development might depend on a number of factors. This paper reports on a study investigating English language university teachers’ professional development in Thailand, the factors related to their development, the activities they used and the obstacles they encountered. The study was conducted through the use of a questionnaire to collect data from 217 full-time English language university teachers at 14 universities in Bangkok metropolis, selected through the multi-stage sampling technique. The results indicate that the overall mean score of Thai university teachers’ professional development was at a moderate level, and the factors of gender, academic title, degree and job responsibility were not related to professional development. Only one factor, university type, was found to be related to their development. This means that private university teachers had more professional development than those in Rajabhat and government universities. Discussing or sharing knowledge with colleagues was the activity they used to develop themselves most, with heavy teaching loads being the main obstacle. In addition, students’ background knowledge was the main obstacle to implementation of the received knowledge in teaching.     

Preparing student teachers to use computers in mathematics classrooms through a long-term pre-service course in Turkey

Recent studies have found short in-service teacher education programs are not providing adequate technology experiences to prepare their participants for teaching mathematics with computers. As an alternative to the short-term courses the author has been teaching a two-term mandatory undergraduate course within a mathematics teacher education program since 1995 to train student teachers and to investigate their perceptions on their preparation to use computers in their own teaching. This article describes issues that emerged from the analysis of this undergraduate course. Data were gathered through questionnaires and students' writings about the course activities. Findings indicated that computer literacy appeared to be an important key factor in utilising the course activities successfully. Students who felt prepared made the link between computer-based mathematical activities and school mathematics, and had more experience of using instructional software during the course than others. Findings of this nature can also assist teacher educators as they incorporate information technology into existing pre-service programs. The implications of these results for the designing and implementing of computer-based undergraduate courses and for further research in this field are discussed.     

Professional development for teachers: a world of change

As the industrialised world shifted to an interdependent and global society, formal schooling was quickly recognised as a major factor in achieving a knowledge society of lifelong learners capable of transforming and revitalising organisations. Teachers were encouraged to engage in learning together to improve teaching and, by extension, improve learning for the children in their care. This article identifies three emerging trends intended to broaden teachers' learning and enhance their practices through continuous professional development: glocalisation, mentoring, and re‐thinking teacher evaluation. The body of the article indicates how these three trends are unfolding in Australia, England, Latvia, the Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Taiwan, and the USA.

However, teachers cannot bring about necessary changes without organisational and systemic change; namely, collaboration with governmental agencies and other institutions. The authors suggest that transforming schooling in the twenty‐first century depends on education policies being supported by expanded teacher participation in education policy‐making, more coherent governmental policies across agencies, and collaborative, differentiated models for career‐long continuing professional development.     

Comparing the behavioural differences of teachers and students in learner-centred classrooms between China and the USA

European Journal of Psychology of Education - This research was designed to examine how teachers and students from various cultures (China vs. USA) might present distinct behavioural features in...     

Instructions for students with special educational needs in Chinese mainstream classrooms: modifications and barriers

“Learning in Regular Classrooms” (LRC) has been the main strategy to universalize compulsory education for children with special educational needs in China after 1980s. Methods such as whole-class teaching combined with individual tutoring, differentiated teaching, and cooperative learning have been widely practiced in general classrooms for students with special educational needs. However, high instructional quality for students with special educational needs in mainstream classrooms is far from being realized, and this is due to the lack of expertise, support and resources, and effective assessment measures. The authors conclude that efforts are needed to change the education system from the current rigidity toward a more flexible system to better accommodate diverse needs in general classrooms.     

Recognising students and teachers: difference and identity in international classrooms

ABSTRACT

This article argues that representations of teacher and student identity obscure the complexity of individuals as becomings. Evidence from interviews and observations with Western teachers in international schools in Vietnam suggests that these representations posit the existence of stable teacher and student identities and derive the difference between them from static images of Western and Asian cultures. I argue that thinking through Deleuze’s concepts of becoming, difference, and faciality offers possibilities for different kinds of encounters between teachers and students as individuals.     

A professional development program for primary school English language teachers in Turkey: designing a materials bank

This paper presents and discusses an in-service teacher development program that focussed on establishing a materials bank for English language teachers at a private primary school in Ankara, Turkey, and teachers’ evaluations of the program. The program aimed to lead to teacher change as growth and learning, to address school-based needs, and to provide overall quality improvement. Feedback obtained during the professional development program and after its completion demonstrates that teachers improved their knowledge and skills on materials design and curriculum related issues as well as improving the overall quality of instruction and developing a positive attitude towards professional development.     

Making the pedagogic relay inclusive for indigenous Australian students in mathematics classrooms

Many students are unsuccessful in the study of school mathematics, not because of some innate ability, but because of pedagogical practices. Bernstein () has argued that pedagogy serves as a mechanism for cultural reproduction, so that for those students whose cultures are different from that represented in and through pedagogy, the task of constructing school mathematics is made more difficult. The paper explores the ways in which a teacher changes the pedagogic relay in order to be more inclusive of her students. Her practice is informed by understanding the ways in which pedagogy is a subtle tool for marginalization in mathematics.     

Professional development of teachers in the implementation of a strategy-focused writing intervention program for elementary students

In this study we examined the effectiveness of Tekster [Texter], a comprehensive program for writing for the upper elementary grades, combining strategy instruction, text structure instruction, and the teaching of self-regulation skills with observational learning, explicit instruction, and (guided) practice to address both the focus of instruction (what is taught) and the mode of instruction (how it is taught). Further, we investigated the added value of a professional development program for teachers on the effectiveness and implementation of the intervention in the classroom, by adopting a teachers-training-teachers approach. One group of teachers (N = 31) was trained by experts, and subsequently trained their colleagues (N = 37). Quasi-experimental results showed that students’ writing performance improved after the intervention (ES = 0.55), while generalizing over tasks, students, and teachers. Further, teachers became more positive and felt more efficacious about teaching writing after the intervention. There were no differences between trainers and trainees, which provides evidence for the spillover effect of professional development. To get more insight in how teachers implemented the intervention in their classroom and in the social validity of the intervention and the teachers-training-teachers approach, we triangulated post-intervention questionnaires with classroom observations and interviews. This mixed methods approach revealed that both trainers and trainees were highly satisfied with the program and easily adapted their focus of instruction. However, for adjusting the mode of instruction more teacher support seems to be needed.     

Data-based individualization in mathematics to support middleschool teachers and their students with mathematics learning difficulty

Project STAIR (Supporting Teaching of Algebra: Individual Readiness) aims to develop and iteratively refine a framework for using data-based individualization (DBI) to support the readiness for algebra of middle-school students with mathematics learning difficulty. Project STAIR was tested in four middle schools in the United States to assess the impact of intensive professional development, ongoing coaching, and frequent student progress monitoring on teachers’ DBI practices, school-level culture and climate, and students’ algebra readiness. Findings from this exploratory research point to the promise of Project STAIR for improving teacher perceptions of school culture and climate related to support of students experiencing mathematics learning difficulty as well as increasing specific DBI practices, including teachers’ ratings of importance, understanding, and confidence with assessment practices. Students’ mathematics outcomes improved on several algebra-readiness progress monitoring measures, along with a diagnostic measure, but not on a more distal measure of mathematics performance.     

Constructivist pedagogy in strategic reading instruction: exploring pathways to learner development in the English as a second language (ESL) classroom

The study explored English as a Second Language (ESL) learner development. In particular, it focused on investigating learners’ understanding of reading and their willingness to be engaged in strategic reading in participatory classroom activities. It also examined possible effects of such pedagogy on reading performance. The context was a two-month strategy-based reading instruction program, set within a constructivist framework. The program emphasized developing students’ academic reading proficiency. The study, quasi-experimental in design, involved a control group and an experimental group, both of whom were ESL students from the People’s Republic of China (PRC). The students were expected to satisfy an intensive English communication skills requirement in order to be successfully matriculated into English-medium universities in Singapore. The results showed that the teacher’s strategy-based instructional intervention evolving around participatory activities affected changes in the ESL students’ use of reading strategies and improvement in comprehension. These findings are discussed in relation to PRC students in study-abroad contexts, especially the cultures of learning that they bring along with them. Recommendations for further research are also made. I have been granted permission to use all the materials presented in this article and I declare that the participants’ names that are referred to in this study are not their real names.