A social realist perspective on student learning in higher education: the morphogenesis of agency

Contemporary critiques of student learning research call for new theoretical and methodological approaches. This article proposes a social realist approach to this research, using the morphogenetic theory of sociologist Margaret Archer. The applicability of this approach is demonstrated by reference to an empirical study of engineering students at a South African university, using narrative analysis. In the article itself, two narratives are given in some detail, illustrating the key outlines of the analysis. Students’ emerging personal identities are shown to be highly dependent on their social backgrounds, yet when in the university the possibilities for the morphogenesis of student agency are very constrained. A critical interrogation of these findings proposes that a true higher education should facilitate the development of an enlarged sense of agency for students.     

An examination of the professional development needs of out-of-field mathematics teachers

This paper presents an empirical study examining the professional development needs of out-of-field mathematics teachers in the Irish context (n = 202). An online questionnaire gathered data on cohort demographics and confidence with regard to teaching mathematics. A paper-and-pencil test evaluated teachers' cognitive and conceptual proficiency with curriculum-aligned mathematical content. Low achievement levels and high occurrence of conceptual errors indicate inadequate subject content knowledge and difficulties with the content of the curriculum. Additionally, these teachers described themselves as either somewhat or very confident in teaching all content. The discrepancies which exist between confidence levels and content proficiency highlight the importance of designing appropriate professional development programs that are situated and practice based.     

障碍与超越:美国高校女教师职业发展策略解析

学术地位边缘化、不公正的奖励机制、不公平的学术发展与评价制度是美国高校女教师职业发展面临的主要障碍。特定的女性性别角色和社会角色期待、高校性别文化、女性学术组织分裂和女性职业发展心理是障碍得以形成的主要原因。为超越障碍,美国高校女教师及其职业发展组织选择以"走向联合"作为超越障碍的基本策略。     

New academics,new higher education contexts: a critical perspective on professional development

New academics entering higher education are especially vulnerable if teaching in a post-colonial classroom is not foregrounded as an explicit part of their professional induction. Drawing on a study of a professional development programme for induction to teaching, this paper explicates how six new academics confront specific challenges of exclusion, marginalisation, and alienation at institutional, faculty, departmental and classroom levels. Framed by critical and social realist theory, the study uses photo voice methodology to elicit new academics' critical insights in the ‘learning to teach’ frame. The paper asserts new academics must engage in ways that make explicit the racial, gendered and class-based constraints experienced in various university spaces. While the relevance and legitimacy of current professional development programmes depends on their ability to be responsive and socially just, the study also questions whether programmes alone can challenge deep systemic constraints that are reproduced through current university structures and culture.     

Effects of evidence-based professional development for preschool teachers in Albania

ABSTRACT

This research explores two ongoing professional development (PD) modalities for early childhood teachers and their effect to teachers’ performance. We compare training, teacher study groups and a combination of both to a control group in the Albanian preschool context. We aimed to obtain mоrе cоmplеtе understanding оf different facеts оf thе ongoing professional development оf еarly childhооd tеachеrs and its pоtеntial impact оn program quality and children’s dеvеlоpmеnt in different еarly childhооd sеttings, especially in countries of low and middle income. This study has led to policy changes in mоrе еfficiеntly planning rеsоurcеs, not only fоr еarly childhood tеachеrs’ PD, but tо tеachеrs and оthеr practitiоnеrs in thе field as well. This research has pushed for evidence-based policy reforms in teacher professionalization and career advancement in Albania.     

生态学视角下高校大学英语教师专业发展探究

针对目前地方高校大学英语教师、学生、教学环境之间的失衡问题,本文从生态学这一全新视角关注和探讨了高校大学英语教师专业发展的生态环境,指出构建和谐的教师发展的绿色生态环境是教师可持续发展的必由之路。     

Studying learning processes of student teachers with stimulated recall interviews through changes in interactive cognitions

This article describes a qualitative study into student teachers’ learning processes through changes in their interactive cognitions. First, theoretical propositions about the relation between learning to teach, professional development, and practical knowledge are defined. Next, the procedure to grasp interactive cognitions as part of practical knowledge is explained. On three moments during teaching practise, students were video-recorded while teaching and then audio-taped during a stimulated recall interview. Changes in students’ interactive cognitions are understood as indicators for learning and professional development. The results show substantial differences between students. The significance of the findings for teacher education research is illustrated.     

Novice teachers learning through participation in a teacher study group

Using Lave and Wenger’s framework of legitimate peripheral participation in communities of practice, this case study explores the experiences of three novice teachers engaged with more experienced teachers in a teacher study group during their first year of teaching. The study illustrates how, over time, the novices moved from more peripheral to more central participation as revealed through changes in their talk and feelings about participating. The study highlights the importance of legitimacy and peripherality provided by the more experienced teachers and identifies the ways in which the facilitator scaffolded and mediated the novices’ participation and learning.     

Unpacking (in)formal learning in an academic development programme: a mixed-method social network perspective

How and with whom academics develop and maintain formal and informal networks for reflecting on their teaching practice has received limited attention even though academic development (AD) programmes have become an almost ubiquitous feature of higher education. The primary goal of this mixed-method study is to unpack how 114 academics in an AD programme developed internal (within their programme) and external (outside their programme) learning and teaching relations. A secondary goal is to highlight the affordances of social network analysis (SNA) methods in conjunction with qualitative approaches for academic developers to understand the (in)formal learning processes in their AD programme. The quantitative results indicate that participants maintained 4.84 relations within their AD programme and 3.17 external ties. The qualitative results indicate that most academics developed a range of emotional, academic, and professional support links, which were mostly outside the AD context. Participants needed an outlet to share their feelings, challenges, and frustrations about their teaching and their experiences on the AD programme. These feelings were shared with people they trusted, primarily close friends and colleagues. This study provides a social perspective on the formal and informal relations of AD, and argues that SNA techniques can help academic developers to make these relationships visible.     

Learner agency and the curriculum: a critical realist perspective

Abstract

Agency, understood as the capacity to act independently and to make one’s own choices, is considered central to children’s development. Thus, education, and hence education curricula, have a role in the development of learner agency. While curriculum development is a key focus for educational theory, research, policy, and classroom practice, the potential implications of curriculum content selections for learner agency remain underexplored. Theoretically, this paper engages with critical realism, explaining how it can provide theoretical foundation for a more comprehensive view of learner agency and, by implication, more balanced curricula. Empirically, the paper draws on the findings from a content analysis of the national curriculum documents of four countries with relatively high scores in international comparative tables, England, Australia, Hong-Kong, and Canada, to develop a new typology of primary curricula. Based on the extent of emphasis placed on knowledge versus skills, values, and attitudes, three types of curricula were identified: knowledge-based, skills-oriented, and learner-centred. Due to its significant theoretical and practical influence globally, we focus on the knowledge-based model and its likely impact on students’ agency. We conclude by highlighting the importance of making learner agency a key orientation of the curriculum and suggesting directions for future research.     

The learning needs of beginning teachers in the United Arab Emirates

Beginning teachers have legitimate learning needs that cannot be grasped in advance or outside the school context. These needs are documented in Western literature, but the skills required by beginning teachers in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) have not been investigated. The present study responds to this research gap. Data were collected through a self-administered survey with multiple-choice and open-ended questions completed by beginning teachers. Then focus group meetings with selected participants were conducted. Classroom management, creating attractive learning environments, motivating pupils to learn and using different teaching strategies are the most critical learning needs of beginning teachers in the UAE. Interestingly, being responsive to the diverse cultural and social backgrounds of pupils, creating extra-curricular activities and teaching in overpopulated classrooms were considered less crucial. These findings are significant for improving pre-service teacher education programmes and in-service teacher training and mentoring programmes in the country.     

Fulfilment of the basic psychological needs of student teachers during their first teaching experiences

This study focuses on an under-researched area, namely the fulfilment of basic psychological needs of student teachers during their first teaching experiences. Based on the Self-determination Theory of Ryan and Deci [(2002). Overview of self-determination theory: An organismic dialectical perspective. In E.L. Deci, R.M. Ryan (Eds.), Handbook of self-determination research (pp. 3–33). Rochester: The University of Rochester Press] and the work of Epstein [(1998a). Cognitive-experiential self-theory: A dual-process personality theory with implications for diagnosis and psychotherapy. In R.F. Bornstein, J.M. Masling (Eds.), Empirical perspectives on the psychoanalytic unconscious (pp. 99–140). Washington, DC: APA; (1998b). Constructive thinking: The key to emotional intelligence. Westport: Praeger], it could be demonstrated that need fulfilment has a strong influence on student teachers’ teaching experiences, especially in a non-rational way, for instance through feelings and images. Thwarting of the needs appears to be correlated with images showing fight, flight, and freeze tendencies, whereas need fulfilment concurs with flow tendencies. The fulfilment of the need for competence, relatedness, and autonomy in student teachers is considerably less than in experienced teachers. We discuss the consequences for research in this field, and recommendations for teacher education.     

Mentoring beginning teachers in secondary schools: An analysis of practice

The conditions that promote best practice in the mentoring of beginning teachers in secondary schools are explored in this paper in relation to the experiential model of learning put forward by Kolb [(1984). Experiential learning: Experience as the source of learning and development. New York: Prentice-Hall]. The underpinning processes of this learning cycle include the experience, the reflection, the learning that results and (further) experimentation.We present some empirical research from a two-year funded project on The Professional Development of Subject Induction Tutors and data derived from questionnaires completed by beginning teachers in three education authorities at the start and end of induction year and from semi-structured interviews with sub-samples of beginning teachers. The questionnaire data allowed us to distinguish three broad teacher ‘types’ in terms of their experiences of induction and the associated mentoring. In relation to these types we explored differences and similarities in the extent to which mentoring functions are distributed in schools, the extent to which different mentoring relationships allow beginning teachers to be empowered in their work, and the particular uses made of review and target setting and the value placed on these processes by beginning teachers and their mentors. Overall we found that best practice for ‘developmental mentoring’ involves elements of challenge and risk-taking within supportive school environments with clear induction systems in place and strong school ethos in relation to professional development.     

Structure and agency in learning: a critical realist theory of the development of capacity to reflect on academic practice

Theories of learning typically downplay the interplay between social structure and student agency. In this article, we adapt a causal hypothesis from realist social theory and draw on wider perspectives from critical realism to account for the development of capacity to engage in reflection on professional practice in academic roles. We thereby offer a theory of professional learning that explores how social and cultural structures and personal emergent powers combine to ensure variation in the emergence of such reflective capacity. The influence of these factors on professional learning is mediated through reflexive deliberation and social interaction, with the exercise of one's personal powers specifically identified as a stratum of social reality. We consider further the role of concerns, intention and attention in professional learning, drawing together issues that are rarely considered within the same theory. We thus offer a comprehensive account of professional learning, showing how a focus on structure and agency increases the explanatory power of learning theory.     

University teachers as versatile masters: Evaluating the effectiveness of a professional development programme on student-centred teaching competencies

In the ever-changing higher education climate, university teachers often rely on traditional, teacher-centred educational practices. While universities worldwide attempt to improve teaching quality by investing in professional development, many university teachers do not receive formal teaching training – even though teaching is often the largest part of their job responsibility. This study explores the effects of an evidence-based professional development programme dealing with student-centred, active learning on the teaching competencies of university teachers. A total of 189 Polish university teachers participated in a five-day study visit at Ghent University (Belgium). The university teachers were invited to complete a pre- and post-questionnaire. The results reveal that, after the study visit, the participants do not only feel more capable in their roles as (a) educational designer, (b) classroom manager, (c) assessor, (d) educational technologist, (e) differentiator, (f) lifelong learner/innovator, and (g) quality guard, but also effectively plan to change their behaviour regarding these roles and believe significantly more in their importance. The results show that professionalisation initiatives have the potential to change university teachers’ behaviour, capabilities and beliefs concerning more student-centred teaching for the better. The article concludes, however, by implying that contextual factors, such as the institution’s professionalisation policy, too impact the success of professional development initiatives.     

Understanding (in)formal learning in an academic development programme: A social network perspective

Most professional development programmes provide teachers with formal and informal social networks, but limited empirical evidence is available to describe to what extent teachers build internal (within their programme) and external (with colleagues not involved in the programme) social learning relations. We triangulated Social Network Analysis with qualitative free exercise responses. Participants developed on average 4.00 internal and 3.63 external relations, and discussed teaching 128 times per year with externals. MRQAP modelling indicates group division, department, and friendships predicted learning ties. These findings indicate that research on impact of teacher education should widen its focus beyond the formal programme boundaries.     

Transformative learning through open listening: a professional development experience with urban high school teachers

This article relates how an English teacher in an urban high school described his efforts to listen and to perceive a seemingly disaffected student in his efforts to support her learning. He observed her responding to his efforts in positive and unexpected ways that involved her increased involvement in learning in his class. This teacher described how this student had presented many challenges to his teaching and how difficult attending to her overt anger and sullenness in his class was for him. However, by doing so, he said that his perceptions and understandings of her and subsequently, another student, shifted profoundly in ways that he believed helped him help these two students learn more meaningfully in his classes. This example of open listening on the part of a teacher toward his two students opened up new possibilities for learning for all three and may indicate a cycle of transformative listening which will be defined and discussed in this article. Stuart’s experiences in a professional development seminar, facilitated by the author, where teachers’ interpretive and evaluative ideas were listened to openly by colleagues and the facilitator may have influenced Stuart in his responses to his students. His involvement in this study group may have contributed to his learning to see his students in new, unique, and fuller ways, which he said he thought helped him help these students learn better in his classes.

New teachers,mentoring and the discursive formation of professional identity

This paper considers the implications of mentoring for the discursive formation of professional identities of newly graduated teachers. The site for this analysis is the Teacher Mentoring and Induction Program, in Victoria, Australia. The paper draws attention to the effects of mentoring as conceived in this context on the construction of new teacher identities, the close relationship between professional standards and mentoring, the relationship between mentoring and the performative culture of schools, and what it means to be ‘a good teacher’ within this culture. The aim is to reposition mentoring as a product of its contexts and times, and in so doing contribute to the development of a more theoretically informed and critical platform from which to conduct research into its effects and benefits.     

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.