The contribution of educational research to teachers’ professional learning: philosophical understandings

In this paper, we argue from principle that teacher education must enable a positive relationship between educational research and teaching knowledge and practice. We discuss two popular conceptions of good teaching, which conceive of the teacher as craft worker and as executive technician, and suggest that, while each of these aspects of knowing reflects something of the qualities that good teachers need, any one on its own is insufficient. In contrast to such mono-dimensional conceptions, a research-based textured notion of professional judgement encompasses a complementary and mutually enriching relationship between different aspects of professional knowledge and practice. We identify three interconnected and complementary aspects of teachers’ professional knowledge: situated understanding; technical knowledge; and critical reflection. Accordingly, teaching as professional endeavour demands of teachers practical know-how, conceptual understandings of education, teaching and learning, and the ability to interpret and form critical judgements on existing knowledge and its relevance to their particular situation. We conclude that in principle research can both enrich and be enriched by teachers’ professional knowledge and practice but that to build this relationship in a holistic way into teacher education programmes and partnership models presents considerable practical challenges.     

维果茨基社会文化视角下外语教师语言知识的建构

本文从维果茨基的社会文化理论的视角探讨外语教师的语言知识的建构,认为外语教师的语言知识,不论是关于语言的知识、运用语言的知识,还是教学的语言知识都应被视为是从社会环境的经验中产生的。外语教师的教学的语言知识至少应该涉及关于语言的知识,对外语学习过程的理解,以及批判的语言意识等几个方面。这几个方面的知识都与教师原有的生活经历和知识基础相关。外语教师的学习和教学经验决定了其教学的语言知识基础,这就意味着教师的自传应置于外语教师发展中的重要的地位。     

高中数学骨干教师专业发展情况调查研究——来自国培计划(2011)中小学骨干教师研修项目人大附中高中数学班的报告

以国培计划(2011)——中小学骨干教师研修项目人大附中高中数学班学员为研究对象,从高中数学骨干教师专业发展、有效教学行为及有效教学行为归因三方面进行研究。结果表明,被试的专业理念较为先进,但专业成长途径、专业知识还不能很好地支撑教师的专业发展;有效教学行为中数学学习、数学教育、数学情境与问题创设及教学艺术四个因子的得分均处在高位,但在实践层面是否与此相吻合,还有待进一步研究;从有效教学行为的归因看,外因得分较低,学校领导应为教师的专业发展创设良好的评价导向和团队影响。     

Talking about education: exploring the significance of teachers’ talk for teacher agency

Abstract

The interest in teachers’ discourses and vocabularies has for a long time been studied under the rubric of knowledge, most notably teachers’ professional knowledge. This interest can be traced back to Shulman’s distinction between different kinds of teacher knowledge and Schwab’s interest in the role of practical reasoning and judgement in teaching. Within the research, a distinction can be found between a more narrow approach that focuses on teachers’ propositional or theoretical knowledge and a more encompassing approach in which teachers’ knowledge is not only the knowledge for teachers generated elsewhere, but also the knowledge of teachers. This is the ‘stock of knowledge’ gained from a range of sources and experiences, including teachers’ ongoing engagement with the practice of teaching itself. In this paper, we focus on the role of teachers’ talk in their achievement of agency. We explore how, in what way and to what extent such talk helps or hinders teachers in exerting control over and giving direction to their everyday practices, bearing in mind that such practices are not just the outcome of teachers’ judgements and actions, but are also shaped by the structures and cultures within which teachers work.     

Learning the Craft: a student teacher's story

Experienced teachers’ craft knowledge could provide valuable resources for the professional development of pre‐service teachers. Through the voice of a student teacher, this article reports on a process of observing and questioning aimed at accessing the craft knowledge of experienced teachers. Learning partnerships formed during this process helped to overcome difficulties with experienced teachers articulating their knowledge, with the student teacher asking appropriate questions and with the student teacher focusing on relevant classroom events. Incorporation of a reflective component within the process provided a means for the student teacher to understand better the nature of teaching. The data revealed potential benefits for student teachers, teachers and teacher educators participating in this process.     

Inclusive pedagogy in action: getting it right for every child

A key assumption underpinning formative assessment strategies is that individual pupils must be fully involved in the process. While such engagement and attention on the individual is important, studies suggest that teachers do not always readily engage with formative assessment as a reciprocal process which involves pupils. Additionally, a focus on individual differences between pupils can be problematic if the work that is set for some is differentiated to such an extent that they are not able to participate in classroom activities with others. Inclusive pedagogy is an approach to teaching and learning that attends to individual differences between pupils but avoids the marginalisation that can occur when pedagogical responses are designed only with individual needs in mind. Using participant observation and video footage from three classrooms that captured ‘learning moments’ identified by teachers and pupils, this study documents how the professional craft knowledge of teachers develops as they learn to use what their pupils have to say about learning in the context of whole class teaching. By concentrating on the findings from one site, this paper shows how teachers can use what they learn from listening to pupils’ self-assessments of their learning in ways that meet the standard of inclusive pedagogy.     

Pedagogical reasoning: the foundation of the professional knowledge of teaching

ABSTRACT

Much of the debate about that which comprises teachers’ professional knowledge has been important in the academic literature but does not necessarily reflect the reality of how they think as they construct the knowledge that underpins their practice. Typically, teachers are not encouraged to spend time talking about teaching in ways that are theoretically robust, or to unpack their teaching in order to show others what they know, how and why. Because they are busy ‘doing teaching’ they are not commonly afforded opportunities to ‘unpack’ their practice to explore and articulate the reasoning underpinning what they do. This paper argues that the essence of teachers’ professional knowledge is bound up in the teaching procedures they employ and that knowledge is accessible and demonstrable through the pedagogical reasoning that underpins their decision-making, actions and intents; all of which come to the fore when their pedagogical reasoning is examined. If teaching is to be more highly valued, it is important to more closely examine the nature of teachers’ pedagogical reasoning as it offers a window into the complex and sophisticated knowledge of practice that influences what they do, how and why.     

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.     

高职学生英语阅读情况分析与发展策略

高职学生由于基本功不够扎实牢固,英语阅读存在一些显而易见的问题,即便花大量的时间和精力,实际运用中阅读能力仍然十分有限,利用英语直接获取专业知识更是困难重重。要改变这些问题,教师应扩大学生的英语知识输入,培养学生的自主学习能力,教师还应根据学生情况、教学内容的不同,选取合适的教学方法,才能取得理想的教学效果。     

Australian undergraduate primary school student‐teachers’ responses to child sexual abuse and its mandatory reporting

This study aims to understand how primary school teachers, as mandatory reporters of child sexual abuse, are responding to child sexual abuse and its mandatory reporting, even though many teachers do not receive a compulsory course in Child Protection and its legal requirements in their pre‐service university training. A cohort of 81 Australian final fourth‐year Bachelor of Education (Primary) student‐teachers was asked about four aspects of it. Qualitative data gathered from these student‐teachers’ questionnaires provide important insights into their knowledge of child sexual abuse; their knowledge of Department of Education policy on it; their professional competence in mandatory reporting of it; and their recommended educational and professional training in it. The results show that all of these student‐teachers feel inadequately prepared to address child sexual abuse and mandatory reporting in schools, being unaware of both knowledge of it and the Department’s policy, even though many recognise the gravity of sexual abuse for the child survivor and the need, and seriousness, of child protection. Finally, these student‐teachers all want better training about these issues during their four‐year degree. In conclusion, these results, and some recommendations, may provide a guide for curriculum planners to design compulsory and appropriate pre‐service university courses to enhance student‐teachers’ knowledge, skills and competencies about child sexual abuse and its mandatory reporting.     

Qualified Pedagogical Reflection as a Way to Improve Mathematics Education

All changes of the character of education and improvement of its quality depend, in our view, particularly on the teacher. To be able to do their work efficiently, teachers have to be equipped with professional skills and dispositions, with “teachers’ competence”. For their professional growth, we consider indispensable competence in reflection, which is aimed at the teacher’s activities with regard to aspects of pedagogy and/or subject-didactics. From the point of view of the goals and content of their teaching and the methods of work (and their realisation), the development of teachers’ conscious self-reflection on their own teaching and systematic pursuance of joint reflection with other teachers and/or researchers can promote the teacher’s professional growth. In this paper, we show how a selected group of elementary school teachers reflected on their competence in the course of preparing, carrying out and analysing several instruction experiments. The paper is based on samples of teachers’ reflections and their gradual development from mere simple conversations based on intuitive perceptions, through searching for effective teaching approaches, to the deep assessment of mathematics teaching from the point of view of topics and their didactic elaboration and to suggestions for the teachers’ own experiments.     

When Teaching Makes a Difference: Developing science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge through learning study

It is a common view that developing teachers’ competence to restructure or reframe their knowledge and beliefs is inevitably a complex challenge. This paper reports on a research project with the aim to develop science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) through their participation in a learning study. A learning study is a collegial process in which teachers work together with a researcher to explore their own teaching activities in order to identify what is critical for their students’ learning. During one semester, three secondary science teachers worked in a learning study together with a researcher in a cyclical process in order to create prerequisites and further identify conditions for students’ learning. During the learning study, data were collected from video-recorded lessons and stimulated recall sessions in which the teachers and the researcher reflected on the lessons to analyze their development of PCK, their students’ learning and the impact of that knowledge on their own teaching. The results provide an insight into how the teachers developed their self-understanding in which they questioned their own epistemological beliefs, aims and objectives of teaching and taken-for-granted assumptions about science teaching and learning. As such, the study provides an understanding of teacher professional learning through a careful investigation of how teachers’ PCK is enhanced through their participation in the learning study, and further, how students’ learning might be developed as a consequence.     

Critical Pedagogy’s Problem with Changing Teachers’ Dispositions Towards Critical Teaching

Increasing teachers’ dispositions towards critical teaching is a fundamental goal for critical pedagogy. Because critical educational change cannot occur without teachers’ “buy-in,” developing teachers’ inclination to implement critical teaching into their classrooms is a prerequisite for any successful critical pedagogy focused on change in K-12 schools. However, critical educators too often approach K-12 teachers’ dispositions in ways that are at best unproductive and at worst harmful to critical change efforts. Some critical pedagogy exists that approaches teachers’ knowledge and beliefs in “teacher friendly” ways, but most critical pedagogy suffers from the problem of totality and speaks merely to educators who already hold critical dispositions. In response to this problem, this paper identifies and examines three areas in which critical education scholars can work to better connect with a crucial, yet essentially unaddressed constituency: teachers in neighborhood schools. These three areas are critical pedagogy’s audience, teachers’ professional knowledge, and teachers’ beliefs about what constitutes ‘real schools’ and ‘real teachers.’ The paper ends by suggesting approaches to teachers’ dispositions that do not sacrifice the possible to the ideal, that value practical and eclectic change efforts, and that appreciate teachers’ already existing knowledge and beliefs as a foundational medium for developing critical education.     

Building preschool teachers’ capacity for teaching Chinese to ethnic minority children in Hong Kong: A qualitative study

ABSTRACT

Teaching Chinese to second language learners is a challenge for preschool teachers in Hong Kong so effective teacher professional development programmes are urgently needed to enhance their knowledge and skills. An Integrative Model Teacher Professional Development Programme which incorporates three theoretical underpinnings (i.e., culturally responsive teaching, meaningful and pleasurable learning, and effective teaching of Chinese as a second language) is designed to equip preschool teachers with knowledge, skills, and awareness in teaching Chinese to ethnic minority students. Through qualitative interviews with 15 in-service preschool teachers who joined the Programme, teachers’ perceptions and changes in three theoretical areas of teaching Chinese to ethnic minority students were explored. Particularly, teachers increased their awareness of ethnic minority cultures, developed empathy with ethnic minority children and their families, gained knowledge of implementing culturally responsive teaching and meaningful and pleasurable learning of Chinese. The role of teacher sharing in effective professional development was highlighted.     

Contexts which shape and reshape new teachers’ identities: A multi-perspective study

This paper presents the major findings of a longitudinal study of teachers’ professional identities in the early years of teaching. It analyzes key influences upon the ways in which new teachers’ identities are shaped and reshaped over time. Through their own perceptions, analyses of the school cultures in which they work and their pupils’ views it reveals how the interplay between contextual, cultural and biographical factors affects their teaching practices. Teachers’ personal and professional histories and pre-service training, alongside issues of school culture and leadership, emerge as stronger mediating influences (than previous literature suggests) in determining the kinds and relative stability and instability of professional identities which teachers develop in the early years of teaching and thus the kinds of teachers they become and their effectiveness.     

Professional primary school teacher identity development: a pursuit in line with an unexpressed image

The results presented in this article are taken from a case study of novice primary school mathematics teachers’ professional identity development from the perspective of the teachers themselves. The empirical material was collected through self-recordings, observations and interviews. The results show how the professional identity development of these novice teachers becomes a pursuit in line with their image of a primary school teacher. To develop a sense of themselves as primary school teachers they need to establish their own criteria - individual (including graduation and personal knowledge) and social (the ability to work in one school, have colleagues and have a class of their own for which they do the planning and teaching). These criteria are shown to be both a precondition for and a part of professional identity development. The novice teachers’ image of what it means to be a primary school teacher directs their actions and becomes the goal of their professional identity development. Because of its high impact, student and novice teachers’ image of primary school teachers ought to be made visible in both teacher education and teacher induction.     

How can a dialogue support teachers’ professional identity development? Harmonising multiple teacher I-positions

The present study uses Dialogical Self Theory to explore the extent to which a dialogue supports teachers' professional identity development. Using a narrative approach that includes interviews, observations of educational activities and collective meetings, insight is gained into teachers’ I-positions, meta-positions and promoter positions. The findings suggest that a dialogue, in which teachers talk about boundary experiences and articulate I-positions, stimulates teachers to reflect on their teaching behaviour from a meta-position and enables them to harmonise their multiple I-positions. Moreover, it stimulates teachers to develop their identity as a teacher and to change their teaching behaviour.     

Promoting early career teacher resilience: a framework for understanding and acting

In this paper, we undertake a brief review of the ‘conventional’ research into the problems of early career teachers to create a juxtaposed position from which to launch an alternative approach based on resilience theory. We outline four reasons why a new contextualised, social theory of resilience has the potential to open up the field of research into the professional lives of teachers and to produce new insights into the social, cultural and political dynamics at work within and beyond schools. We then move from these theoretical considerations to explain how we used them in a recent Australian research project that examined the experiences of 60 graduate teachers during their first year of teaching. This work led to the development of a Framework of Conditions Supporting Early Career Teacher Resilience which we outline, promote and advocate as the basis for action to better sustain our graduate teachers in their first few years of teaching. Finally, we reflect on the value of our work so far and outline our practical plans to ‘mobilise’ this knowledge in ways that will make it available to a variety of audiences concerned with the welfare of this group of teachers.     

新课程背景下语文教师专业知识探析

教师的专业知识素质是教师在专业教学中所应具备的相应的知识结构及程度。是从事教育教学工作的前提条件,也是构成教师专业素养的重要基础。语文教师就是以某种程度和类型的语文知识为标志、工具和对象,站在语文教育的立场选择与组织知识,呈现与传授知识,运用与探究知识,使学生获得基本的语文素养。在新课程背景下,作为语文教师应该具有怎样的专业知识素质？根据知识分类理论和我国语文教师知识的实际情况,从语文学科知识、语文教育理论知识和语文实践性知识三个方面探讨语文教师从事教育教学工作的专业知识结构。