Teacher feedback to student oral presentations in EFL classrooms: a case study

Whilst much research has been conducted on teacher feedback in various teaching and learning contexts, little is known about how teachers give feedback on student oral presentations to enhance students’ oral communicative skills in second-language (L2) education. Drawing on data from semi-structured interviews, this case study investigated the methods used by an experienced Chinese teacher of English as a Foreign Language to provide feedback on student oral presentation tasks. Data analysis revealed that the teacher gave oral comments mainly on pronunciation, content and logical thinking, and focused on PowerPoint design in his written commentary. The analysis also revealed that the teacher used the specific pattern of ‘praise-criticism-suggestion’ to comment on the students’ oral presentations. Relevant pedagogical implications for L2 teacher feedback practices and teacher-education programmes are discussed in the paper.     

Differences in pedagogical understanding among student–teachers in a four-year initial teacher education programme

As teacher educators, preparing student–teachers who are able to address diverse student needs is our main concern. It has been suggested in the literature that teachers who are adaptive to students’ needs are those who possess adequate pedagogical content knowledge or pedagogical understanding. However, it is not uncommon for teacher educators to find student–teachers with diverse pedagogical understandings even at the point of graduation from the teacher education programme. This paper aims to explain and analyse the development of pedagogical understanding among student–teachers in an initial teacher education programme. The findings are drawn from a study conducted at the Hong Kong Institute of Education where in-depth interviews were carried out during the four-year programme. The findings from the three selected cases provide an explanation for why some individual student–teachers show continuous development, whereas others remain confused in their pedagogical understanding throughout the teacher education programme. While acknowledging individual differences in pedagogical understanding, we attempt to explain such differences by investigating the relationship between different dimensions of the student–teachers’ learning such as the integration of pedagogical understanding with the teaching contexts, integration of feedback from lecturers and supporting teachers, and their focus of concern. The findings reveal that the three cases demonstrate different levels of pedagogical understanding and possess varying ‘senses of agency’. Of the three cases, the first one, Peggy has the strongest sense of agency. Despite influences related to classroom management, diverse learning ability among pupils, and the teaching methods which pupils were accustomed to previously, she actively introduced rhythmic movements into her lessons, developed pupils’ ability to learn gradually and achieved an impact on pupils’ learning which was also recognized by her supporting teacher. The analysis suggests that the second case, Lilian has a weaker sense of agency as she was severely limited by influences in the teaching context in her first teaching practice and resorted to teacher-centered teaching strategies. She improved later on in the programme and started to plan her own learning, drawing on the feedback she received as well as learning from other taught modules, from feedback from various sources, and from her pupils’ responses to her teaching and her own evaluation of her teaching. The third case, Stephanie remained confused throughout the programme and struggled with the implementation of student-centered teaching strategies. The ability to practice one’s own convictions and demonstrate an active sense of agency distinguishes the student–teacher who achieves better pedagogical understanding. Drawing on the findings, the paper concludes that it is crucial for teacher educators to identify ways to nurture a sense of agency among student–teachers. Implications for teacher education programmes are discussed, including providing opportunities for student–teachers to be able to articulate and integrate their pedagogical understandings, as well as negotiate how to accomplish their learning and teaching targets despite complex classroom situations.     

Pedagogy,empowerment and discipline: comparative perspectives of novice teachers in England and Turkey reflecting on ‘the other’

This article discusses the views of Turkish and British novice teachers on pedagogy and pedagogical relationships with school students when confronted with the pedagogical practices of the ‘Other’ in particular policy contexts. Experiences of those practices were gained by novice teachers during an exchange visit for British and Turkish university students in the period 2008–2009. Data was collected through questionnaires and focus group interviews. Findings suggest that Turkish and British novice teachers initially constructed the ‘Other’ as very different from themselves. The views of members of both groups were heavily influenced by the cultural contexts in which they trained and worked. British novice teachers tended to take as axiomatic constructivist and inclusive approaches to pedagogy and the relevance to successful pedagogy of listening to students’ voices. Turkish novice teachers questioned both, many seeing control and dissemination of knowledge as central to pedagogy and student teacher relationships.     

The identification of a value-based pedagogical pattern promoting ‘development of the person’ in higher education

The promotion of student development through engagement with a course of study in higher education (HE) is an area in need of urgent research. This study of college-based HE identified that teachers working with development in mind possessed a nexus of core values which were expressed in practice through an integrated pedagogical pattern (i) the development of trust, (ii) developing roles, relationships and a sense of community (iii) active confrontation and challenge and (iv) using pedagogical time and space. A naturalistic, ethnographic methodology and case study approach was used to answer the question ‘what is going on here?’ in contexts where ‘development of the person’ was a key aim. A sociocultural perspective on learning and development was adopted which supported an integrated approach to research design, analysis and interpretation.     

Becoming a secondary school teacher in England and France: contextualising career ‘choice’

This article explores the circumstances in which individuals become secondary school teachers in England and France. Using a social constructivist theoretical framework, it specifically considers how national contexts play out in this decision. The findings presented in this paper draw on a corpus of 60 interviews with a sample of teachers based in English and French secondary schools. They show that national frameworks remain relevant to an exploration of teachers’ identities and cultures, as French and English interviewees draw on distinctive reasons to explain why they became secondary school teachers. While becoming a teacher is often thought of as a ‘vocation’ or as the result of ‘intrinsic’ factors, this paper highlights the role of national contexts, as well as of gender and social class, in this process.     

Understanding mainland Chinese students' motivations for choosing teacher education programmes in Hong Kong

In this paper, we report on an inquiry exploring the experiences of 10 mainland Chinese student teachers of English so as to understand why they came to Hong Kong for a teacher education programme. The study revealed that these students were largely attracted to teaching in Hong Kong because of its extrinsic benefits such as professional stability, the prestige associated with the English language teaching profession and the opportunities to acquire valued skills transferable to other professions including English competence. Facing challenges as non‐local students, they were also uncertain of becoming teachers in the new context. As ‘elite’ Chinese students were often unwilling to become teachers, we found it strategic to attract a large number of talented non‐local students to the teaching profession and retain them. We conclude the paper with recommendations for various stakeholders to support these non‐local students' adaptation and development as committed and competent teachers in local schools.     

Who is the ideal teacher? Am I? Similarity and difference in perception of students of education regarding the qualities of a good teacher and of their own qualities as teachers

This research examines two images of teachers as seen by students of education: the ideal teacher and their own self‐image as teachers. The research compares the students’ perceptions of these two images using two sub‐groups of students of education: students at an academic teachers’ college who will be referred to as student teachers and beginning teachers, who, while teaching, are completing their academic degrees at teachers’ colleges or regional academic colleges. Data were collected from 89 students at the two colleges by means of a questionnaire that included open‐ended questions which were analyzed qualitatively. The findings of the research indicate that there are two major categories that comprise perceptions of the ideal teacher: first, personal qualities; and second, knowledge of the subject taught as well as didactic knowledge. Both groups of students similarly attributed great importance to the personal qualities of the ideal teacher, but there is a difference in their perception of the importance of knowledge: the beginning teachers attributed great importance to knowledge and perceived it as a quality similar in importance to personal characteristics, while the student teachers, who had not begun their teaching careers, attributed less importance to knowledge as a characteristic of the ideal teacher. A quality which was less prominent when profiling the ideal teacher is general education and wide perspectives. The teacher as a socializing agent, a person who promotes social goals, was not mentioned at all. Students maintained that, during their studies, they had improved their qualities as ‘empathetic and attentive’ teachers, ‘knowledgeable in teaching methods’, and in ‘leadership’. But they had hardly improved their knowledge of the subject they taught or their level of general knowledge. The discussion of knowledge and the desirable personal qualities of a teacher is relevant to the current debate regarding the relative merits of disciplinary education in contrast to pedagogical education in preparation for teaching as a profession. The clear preference for disciplinary education by policy makers in Israel and elsewhere in the field of teacher education is contradictory to the emphasis placed on the personal development of future teachers and their pedagogical education by the students of education who participated in this research.     

Becoming a coach: reform,identity, and the pedagogy of negation

This article examines one US high school teacher's attempt to become a coach by enacting what I call ‘a pedagogy of negation’. For this teacher, the challenge of becoming a coach is nested within a wider agenda of social and personal transformation. That agenda is symbolized first in words as she constructs ‘a language of coaching’ to inform her interactions with students and content as well her conception of herself as a teacher. Second, talk is transformed into pedagogical action through, as described by Driver, the ‘playful work’ of ritualized negation. I argue that the phenomenon of negation is a logical sense-making strategy for teachers attempting to realise transformed pedagogical identities. Negation also reveals a range of uncertainties involved in enacting the practice of coaching. As this case reveals, the pedagogy of negation is constructed as a corrective to restrictive and oppressive forms of schooling. It serves as a mechanism for ‘becoming’ a different, presumably better, kind of teacher. And though the results are mixed, this portrait of practice in the midst of change illuminates the complex and reciprocal links between identity and practice entailed in becoming a coach.     

Feeling voice: The emotional politics of ‘student voice’ for teachers

In recent years, student voice has become a popular school reform strategy, with the promise of generating relations of trust, respect, belonging and student empowerment. However, when student voice practices are taken up by schools, student voice may also be associated with less affirmative feelings: it is often accounted for in terms of teacher ‘fear’, ‘resistance’ or ‘uncertainty’ about altered power relations. Such explanations risk individualising and pathologising teachers’ responses, rather than recognising the complexities of the institutional conditions of student voice. This article considers the affective politics of student voice: that is, the contestations that attend who gets to name how student voice feels in schools. Working with data from an evaluation study of three Australian primary schools who engage in ‘exemplary’ student voice practices, we listen to school leaders and facilitating teachers’ accounts about the responses of other teachers at their schools to student voice. Parallels are drawn between the construction of some teachers as reluctant, and previous analyses of ‘silenced’ student voices in schools. We argue that, in order to analyse the enactment of student voice in more nuanced tones, it is necessary to consider the profoundly emotional experience of teaching and learning, the ambivalences of teachers’ experiences of student voice and contemporary reconstitutions of teacher subjectivities.     

Teaching teachers to teach Boris: a framework for mathematics teacher educator pedagogical content knowledge

The notion of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) was posited in the context of school teaching and the knowledge used by teachers teaching school students. It has been examined for a number of discipline areas, notably mathematics. There are, however, other teaching contexts, including those of teacher educators, whose students are pre-service teachers (PSTs). The content these teacher educators teach is not subject discipline knowledge (or not solely), but the PCK for teaching a subject discipline. What knowledge do teacher educators use as they teach PCK? This paper presents a framework for the PCK required of mathematics teacher educators as they work to develop PSTs’ PCK for teaching mathematics. The framework builds on existing research into PCK and categorises aspects of the work of teacher education. The framework’s usefulness is examined by studying the PCK used by the first author in building PSTs’ understanding of mathematics teacher PCK.     

Consistencies and Inconsistencies Between Science Teachers’ Beliefs and Practices

To gain a better understanding of teachers’ beliefs about teaching, as compared with their in-reality classroom practices, case studies were constructed with four science teachers in different schools in Egypt. The main aims of this article were to provide an answer to the research question, ‘To what extent do science teachers’ beliefs correspond to their practices?’ and to explore the contextual factors that can explain the difference, the consistency or inconsistency, between teachers' beliefs and practices. The study collected data for each teacher using semi-structured interviews, notes taken while observing classes, and teachers’ notes, journals, and lesson plans concerned with STS lessons. The data were analysed using the constant comparative method around common themes, which were identified as distinctive features of teachers’ beliefs; these same themes were then compared with their practices. Results showed that a few of the in-service science teachers’ pedagogical beliefs aligned with constructivist philosophy. Some of the teachers’ beliefs were consistent with their practices, especially the traditional beliefs, while some of teachers’ practices were conflicted with their beliefs in different contexts.     

Assessment for learning: Why assessment does not always support student teachers’ learning

Numerous studies have dealt with the importance of assessment for learning (AfL) in higher education, arguing that AfL helps to promote students’ learning and supports them in becoming self-directed learners. The majority of the recent literature focuses mainly on the role of individual aspects of AfL. Less attention has been paid to the interrelation of different aspects of AfL. The current study argues that AfL combines authentic assessment tasks given to students, feedback from teacher educators, peer assessment and self-assessment. The aim of the current study is to understand student teachers’ experiences of AfL practices in higher education, focusing on the reasons why student teachers do not always find the practices supportive. The study conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 student teachers and analysed them using an inductive content analysis method. The findings indicate that student teachers have had some experiences with individual aspects of AfL. A critical finding is that, when teacher educators continually dominate in the assessment process, summative assessment remains the principal way of assessing student teachers, thus hindering the supportive role of other AfL practices. The current study also finds that learning in higher education is still quite grade-centred, which affects student teachers’ learning.     

The same yet different? Teaching quality differs across a teacher’s classes,but teachers with higher knowledge make teaching quality more similar

Teachers usually teach different classes. We examined the extent to which teaching quality varied across a teacher’s classes and the extent to which it was influenced by a teacher’s knowledge. We applied three-level models (levels: student, class, and teacher) to our data on 210 beginning teachers. Students from up to five classes per teacher rated the teaching quality with regard to cognitive activation, student support, classroom disturbances, and monitoring. We found that teaching quality varied substantially across a teacher’s classes. Furthermore, teachers with higher pedagogical/psychological knowledge exhibited higher teaching quality and, to some extent, lower variability in teaching quality across their classes. Thus, teachers’ pedagogical/psychological knowledge seems to be important for achieving high average teaching quality and for adopting to different classroom contexts. As a substantial proportion of the variance across a teacher’s classes cannot be explained by teachers’ knowledge, we discuss the need for research on other influencing factors.     

The influence of student teachers on the perspectives of early childhood cooperating teachers regarding early reading instruction

Much attention has been given to the impact of cooperative teachers on the pedagogical behaviour of student teachers. In many cases, however, cooperating teachers gain as much from the student teacher as the student teacher acquires from them. This study was designed to elicit answers to the following two questions: (1) What are the perspectives of early childhood cooperating teachers regarding early reading instruction in the Jordanian context? and (2) Does the perspectives of early childhood cooperating teachers engaging in early reading instruction change as a result of working with student teachers? The study targeted a sample of 25 cooperating teachers and 28 student teachers who participated in the study by completing a questionnaire, and follow-up interviews were also conducted with 13 cooperating teachers. Results of this study indicate that cooperating teachers endorse the phonics method more than the whole language (WL) approach. Unlike past research, the results of this study revealed that (1) the student teaching experience had no effect on the perspective of cooperating teachers regarding early reading instruction and (b) the perspectives of cooperating teachers do not become similar to those of their student teachers who were WL-oriented. The results have implications for early childhood teacher education programmes and professional development for kindergarten teachers.     

Exploring practicum: student teachers’ social capital relations in schools with high numbers of pupils living in poverty

The complexity of practicum in initial teacher education, in terms of the range of diverse social relations and differing school contexts, provides a challenge for teacher educators worldwide, aiming to guide and shape opportunities for student teachers learning to teach. This challenge is further compounded by societal problems linked to child poverty. Drawing from social capital theory, this paper explores the kinds of social relations that are currently associated with student teachers’ practicum experience in schools located in areas of social and economic deprivation or with significant proportions of pupils living in poverty. The paper brings to the surface types of social relations that are beneficial to mitigating the effects of poverty on educational outcomes. The case is made that practicum does not currently support the principles of social capital theory by enabling student teachers to develop an understanding of how to make connections, and develop the social relationships required to support positive educational outcomes for the children and young people in such contexts. Findings indicate that more effective ‘joint practice’ is required to better support student teachers’ professional learning.     

More than canons: teacher knowledge and the literary domain of the secondary English curriculum

Background:?The matter of teacher knowledge in the curriculum subject of English is not simple. Certainly it is not easy to delineate what its ‘content knowledge’ should be and how this relates to other aspects of teacher knowledge. In the context of education policy in England, at a time of change when the nature of the subject and its pedagogy are under scrutiny, the issue acquires heightened relevance from an initial teacher preparation perspective.

Purpose:?This paper sets out to consider the following questions: how do teachers of English acquire their teacher knowledge? What is known about the nuanced process of teacher knowledge development in English? Curriculum content is one element of teacher knowledge, but in the literary domain of English it does not suffice to specify what and how much should be read. The questions are discussed from the perspective of the knowledge development of postgraduate English teachers during initial teacher preparation.

Sources of evidence:?Literature concerning the development of teacher knowledge and expertise both generally and in the curriculum subject of English is critically discussed. Within the literature, the notion of the mentor–novice dialogue is identified as an important way of developing teacher knowledge. Alongside the literature, three illustrative mentor accounts are presented, drawn from the experience of postgraduate students learning to teach English to secondary school pupils.

Main argument:?The mentor accounts suggest that the boundaries of English are not easily demarcated. They indicate that the knowledge developed is other than the ‘content’ knowledge that might be acquired through initial degree studies. It is argued that teacher education demands a conception of teaching that takes full account of this knowledge development. At the same time, specific dispositions that do not automatically follow from prior academic attainment appear to be relevant. It is suggested that how these are cultivated, and how they are distinctive to the subject discipline are important questions for initial teacher preparation.

Conclusions:?Whatever the new contexts for initial teacher preparation, understanding how teachers acquire and apply ‘teacherly’ knowledge deserves as much attention as the content of a subject or the prior attainment of entrants to the profession. Initial teacher preparation arrangements need to acknowledge the complexity of learning to teach English as a curriculum subject. Learning to teach is a nuanced process, requiring engagement with a dedicated pedagogical content knowledge. In literary English teaching, this comprises attention to micro and macro aspects concurrently, for example through attention to individual texts concurrent with consideration of conceptions of readers and reading.     

A Community of Learners: promoting teachers to become learners

Abstract

This paper describes how the use of video helped us create dialogic intersub‐jective educational spaces in which transformative learning can take place. Focusing simultaneously on two learning contexts: action research and teacher‐student conferencing, it shows how the development of a dialogical space between researchers and teachers in action research enhances the development of such a space between teachers and students in classrooms. In addition, it describes how the participatory research relationship helped illuminate both for teachers and for students what they implicitly know is important to change, as they become aware of new possibilities for pedagogical improvement. Most of all, dialogic video viewing helped them step outside of themselves in order to see each other and return to look at themselves as others’.

     

Australian teachers voice their perceptions of the influences of stereotypes,mindsets and school structure on teachers’ expectations of Indigenous students

Research demonstrates that teachers’ expectations of students have long-term effects on students’ educational, occupational, health and well-being outcomes. In this Australian-based study, teachers were invited to explore the questions Do teachers have different expectations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students? Why/why not? The findings provide insight into how teachers perceive the expectations of other teachers in relation to Indigenous learners and highlight the underlying assumptions of those perceptions. Teachers also provide valuable insight into what they feel is needed to address these issues. Recommendations are made to enhance pre-service teacher education and professional development to better support those working with Indigenous learners.