Teachers’ role in curriculum design in Portuguese schools

Teachers’ role in curriculum design is a broad question that inspires political educational reforms among European countries, a trend that even extends to higher education politics. The perspective on teachers’ role in curriculum, both at the level of the policies and of the practices, shapes recent educational reforms in Portugal. These are the concerns underlying our research that intends to substantiate school teachers’ involvement in curriculum development as it is experienced by them, and while comparing their views to the roles they are attributed in the political and academic dominant discourses. To reach teachers’ perceptions, we distributed questionnaires which were completed by 214 teachers in primary and secondary schools. We could conclude that the enactment of a professional identity on the basis of teacher assumption of their role as real curriculum designers is still far from being achieved.     

Teacher agency and school-based curriculum in China’s non-elite schools

Mainland China has been embarking on a nation-wide education reform as part of its modernisation project for the past few decades. A relatively under-researched topic is teacher agency in non-elite schools where educators critically shape their reactions to new situations brought about by the reform. Focussing on the introduction of school-based curriculum in China, this article discusses how some educators from non-elite schools respond strategically to new opportunities and resources by promoting indigenous knowledge via engaging teaching methods. The essay illustrates, through two examples, how non-elite schools seek to provide the best kind of education available to their students by integrating Confucian and ethnic cultures into the formal curriculum. China’s experience demonstrates the exercise of teacher agency that arises from the interplay of human efforts, available capital and contingent factors. It also highlights the potential of utilising indigenous sources and synthesising them with non-local sources as part of implementing education reform.     

Teachers’ agency: Do their values make a difference?

This research explored antecedents and outcomes of teachers’ agency. Study 1 (n = 767) tested whether teachers’ values relate to an agentic capacity. Study 2 (n = 430) tested the relations between teachers’ values, their agentic capacity and their agentic behaviours. The findings show that attributing importance to promoting the self and being open to new experiences, whilst maintaining self-independence, is positively related to agentic capacity. Further, agentic capacity mediates the relations between values and agentic behaviour. These findings start to explain the broad motivations for teachers’ agency and its translation into behaviour.     

Teachers’ beliefs and intentions concerning teaching in higher education

A questionnaire measuring nine different aspects of teachers’ beliefs and intentions concerning teaching in higher education was distributed to teachers at four institutions in the United Kingdom, yielding 638 complete sets of responses. There was a high degree of overlap between the participants’ scores on the subscales measuring beliefs and intentions, and analyses of both sets of scores yielded two factors reflecting an orientation towards learning facilitation and an orientation towards knowledge transmission. However, teachers’ intentions were more orientated towards knowledge transmission than were their beliefs, and problem solving was associated with beliefs based on learning facilitation but with intentions based on knowledge transmission. Differences in teachers’ intentions across different disciplines and between men and women seemed to result from different conceptions of teaching, whereas differences in teachers’ intentions across different institutions and between teachers with different levels of teaching experience seemed to result from contextual factors. Teaching intentions thus reflect a compromise between teachers’ conceptions of teaching and their academic and social contexts     

The role of teaching experience in language teachers’ perceptions of a top-down curriculum change

The current study aimed to investigate the role of teaching experience in language teachers’ perceptions of a top-down curriculum change. One hundred twenty-seven language teachers who have been experiencing the change for three years participated in the study. Their perceptions of change were quantitatively assessed by perceptions of change survey with three main components: new curriculum, teacher practices, and administrative support of change. Analysis of the quantitative data analysis indicates that experience is associated with more cautious perceptions of change and explains 9% of the variance in the results. To triangulate the findings of the quantitative data analysis, 10 experienced and 8 novice teachers took part in a structured interview and answered 10 questions regarding the old curriculum and the change, their role in the reform, and the administrator's support of the change. The result showed that both experienced and novice teachers are optimistic about the new syllabus. However, experienced teachers are more concerned about the practical issues of change such as time and lack of audiovisual aids. Further, they think that their agency and experiential professionalism are neglected in this change and the problems of implementing change have not been appropriately addressed by the administrators during the last three years.     

Teachers’ conceptions of effective teaching and their teaching practices: a mixed-method approach

This study investigated Iranian high school teachers’ conceptions of effective teaching and examined the relationship of those conceptions to their teaching practices. The authors tried to achieve the purpose through questionnaires, observation, and interview. These teachers identified ‘being student-focused’ and ‘being exam-oriented’ as the most important indicators of effectiveness. ‘Encouraging the students’ involvement in learning,’ ‘being exam-oriented,’ and ‘using the novelty of methods’ were identified as the most common teaching practices. A high consistency between the teachers’ conception of effective teaching and their corresponding teaching practices was observed. Interview and observation confirmed the results of the survey. Implications for teacher professional development, teaching standards, and teacher improvement are discussed.     

Teachers’ learning in a learning study

The point of departure in this study is the question: do teachers who develop theoretical knowledge of the variation theory change the way(s) they offer their pupils the object of learning due to the theoretical framework. The aim of the study is to describe this development, i.e. to find if and how teachers developed theoretical knowledge when planning instruction, and in what way(s) this has an impact on the pupils’ learning outcome when using contrasts in the instruction. The theoretical framework is strongly content related, and by analysing the learning object’s critical aspects the teachers are guided to focus on the content in this particular way. The question “what does it take to develop knowledge about the object of learning?” has to be answered by the teachers before choice of teaching method is made. The research method used is Learning Study, a fusion between lesson study and design experiment. The teachers (6) have carried out nine research lessons in three Learning Study cycles (containing three lessons each). The pupils belong to three different classes and are between 9 and 11 years old. The result shows how the teachers gradually use the variation theory when planning instruction and how the learning outcomes shown by the pupils improve. The developed theoretical insight seems to affect the teachers’ ways of seeing the object of learning, such as subtle changes of how to organize the critical features of the learning object, are discerned. In every learning study cycle contrasts are used in one lesson, and in the analysis of the effect of the contrasts, the two remaining lessons are used as control groups. The results show the impact of contrasts in the pupils’ learning outcomes. The need to complement a lesson study with a theoretical perspective on learning is that the teachers are then given the opportunity to make use of the theory when planning instruction individually, not only in a lesson study. There again, the Learning Study model seems to be a powerful model with which to develop teachers’ understanding of the theoretical framework.     

Teachers’ use of their mathematical knowledge for teaching in learning a mathematics learning trajectory

In the past decade, research on learning trajectories has progressed from an agenda for research on student learning to include an agenda for research on teaching. In this paper, we use a design experiment to examine a professional development program created to support teacher learning of one learning trajectory. Using a re-interpretation of Ball and colleagues’ mathematics knowledge for teaching framework, we conducted a retrospective analysis to examine how a purposefully selected sample of three teachers used their knowledge to participate in discussions of the professional learning tasks designed to support teacher learning of the trajectory. Findings indicate that professional learning tasks focusing on pedagogical content knowledge present in learning trajectories also allow for teacher learning of subject matter knowledge; this learning is mediated by teachers’ prior mathematics knowledge for teaching. We conclude with considerations for researchers and professional developers seeking to support teachers in learning about learning trajectories.     

Teachers’ professional learning goals in relation to teaching experience*

In this study, we explored the relationships between teachers’ self-articulated professional learning goals and their teaching experience. Although those relationships seem self-evident, in programmes for teachers’ professional development years of teaching experience are hardly taken into account. Sixteen teachers with varying years of experience and subjects were interviewed. The results show different learning goals, related to communication and organisation, curriculum and instruction, innovation, responsibilities, and themselves as professional. Various relationships between learning goals and teaching experience emerged, which clearly reflect the development from early- to mid- and late-career teachers. Issues related to curriculum and instruction appeared to be learning goals for early- and mid-career teachers. This implies that regardless of increasing teaching expertise, curriculum and instruction remain central to teachers’ continuous learning. Late-career teachers were interested in learning about extra-curricular tasks and innovations. Models of professional life phases have been used to interpret these results.     

Teachers’ collaborative learning – development of teaching in group discussions

Teacher learning and the development of in-service education for teachers are both an active area of research and a broad challenge. In working as teachers, theory and practice are often seen as divided, or problems in teaching and the requirements of development are solved on the basis of experience. This study focuses on collaborative teacher learning as part of an in-service education course that supports teachers in connecting learning theories with practical knowledge and that aims to create new knowledge and practices for teaching. The starting points for the study are the changes of the curriculum and theories of learning. The aim is to analyse developing of teaching in teachers’ collaborative group discussions and how the theoretical knowledge of learning theories is connected with developing teaching practices. The research method of the study was data driven, systematic and qualitative analysis of the content of the discussion. The research data consist of video recorded group discussions of two teacher teams from the in-service education course meeting. The analysis focused on developing talk and further, on finding interconnections between the developing talk and the theories of learning. The analysis shows three different ways how the learning theories emerged in method developing talk. The findings indicate that theoretical knowledge can be used or left unused and imply that creating and changing teaching practices is challenging. However, the findings show that theoretical, research-based knowledge on learning theories can be applied to developing teaching practices in the teachers’ collaborative knowledge creation process. Long-term in-service education based on collaborative knowledge creation and supporting the interconnection of theoretical knowledge of learning and experience knowledge of teaching is a promising way to arrange and develop in-service education.     

On Teachers’ Roles in Internet English teaching Based on Constructivism

The characteristics of Internet English teaching happens to conform to the principles of constructivism.So a new teaching mode comes into being.Here Teachers’ roles in the new mode is to be discussed,which is advanced combined with experence and theoretical analysis.     

Teachers’ learning experiences in relation to their ownership,sense-making and agency

The aim of this study was to gain understanding of how teachers familiarise themselves with a new pedagogy during their everyday practice, in this case the implementation of the coaching role in vocational education. For this purpose, 11 teachers reported their learning experiences in a digital log. An identity perspective was used as a lens to reflect and interpret these learning experiences. More specifically, it was looked at the extent to which teachers expressed ownership in their learning experiences with this new pedagogy, the ways they made sense of their learning experiences, and the extent to which they expressed agency in their learning experiences. On the basis of their initial positioning in terms of their ownership, sense-making and agency, these teachers were divided into an engaged and a reserved group. Differences were found in the learning experiences both between and within these groups. The digital logs of the engaged teachers showed more ownership than those of the reserved group and their sense-making was more active and explicit. Agency was present in the digital logs of both groups. Within the two groups, differences were found, particularly between teachers in the reserved group.     

Teachers’ perceptions of student evaluations of teaching

Evaluation of teaching in higher education has drawn much attention due to the need for greater accountability and improvement in student learning. Our review of literature on Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) surveys suggests that considerable controversy and criticism have surrounded its use, fairness, and validity. Yet, many universities in Hong Kong are depending primarily on student feedback in SET surveys to provide evidence for their improvement of teaching and learning, and for their decisions made on teachers' pay-rise and tenure. If universities are to continue to use SET surveys as the main source of mechanism for measuring teaching effectiveness, teachers will have to understand and be aware of its purposes. But how much do we know about teachers' perceptions of teaching and learning and, consequently, their opinions of using SET surveys as the primary standardized evaluation mechanism of teaching for promotion and tenure and for teaching effectiveness?     

Teachers’ responses to curriculum policy implementation: colonial constraints for curriculum reform

A new approach to curriculum and implementation in a new era normally requires schools and teachers to take more responsibility for student learning. This might present a challenge at any time, particularly when teachers have been used to more directives and less professional approaches to curriculum implementation. In order to meet such a challenge, a new approach to curriculum policy, namely “soft” policy, was used by policy-makers to implement curriculum reform. With the provision of substantial resources, it was expected by the policy-makers that schools and teachers would have better opportunities to develop themselves professionally and manage the new changes effectively. However, such a view misread the situation because the historical trend and present situation of teachers’ professional development were overlooked. This paper uses case studies of schools and teachers involved in the current reforms to show how teachers and schools implemented the reform process. The cases demonstrate how reforms were understood at the local level and the extent to which it could be claimed that implementation had taken place.     

Mentors’ Roles in a Primary Articled Teachers’ Scheme

As school‐based initial teacher training is the preferred government route to teaching, even in primary education, research which examines the role of the teacher mentor is especially pertinent. This study is based on semi‐structured interviews with nine mentors about how they spend their time when mentoring. The findings revealed that a major part of their time is taken up as channels of communication between the various partners in the scheme and on the practicalities of working with their Articled Teachers (ATs). Functions requiring developing ATs’ curriculum knowledge and expertise and assessment of ATs’ teaching competence appear to be two important aspects on which they spend time but do not relish. Whether practising primary teachers are the most suitable people to deliver all aspects of ITT is questioned.     

Teachers’ perceptions towards using Web 2.0 in language learning and teaching

This paper aims at exploring the perceptions of teachers towards using Web 2.0 in language learning and teaching. To this end, a study was carried out among language teachers serving in different Moroccan higher education institutions. The result of the research study demonstrated that just like students, instructors are also immersed in these web-based applications and have recourse to them for both personal and educational reasons. However, it has been noticed that though the vast majority of the surveyed teachers claimed that Web 2.0 technologies have a positive impact on language teaching and learning, many of them are still reluctant in effectively incorporating them in education settings. Indeed, it was found out that less than 15% of the respondents use these platforms to interact with students and no more than 2.4% of the subjects are actively involved in creating educational content and uploading it on Web 2.0 applications. However, given the various benefits of these online communities, we recommend that more teachers should embrace them as fully as possible to support classroom goals.     

Teachers’ use of educative curriculum materials to engage students in science practices

New reform documents underscore the importance of integrating science practices into the learning of science. This integration requires sophisticated teaching that does not often happen. Educative curriculum materials – materials explicitly designed to support teacher and student learning – have been posited as a way to support teachers to achieve these ambitious goals, yet little is known about how elementary teachers actually use educative curriculum materials to support student engagement in science practices. To address this gap, this study investigated how five upper elementary teachers supported students to engage in science practices during an enactment of two curriculum units. Three of the teachers had units enhanced with educative features, informed by current research and reforms, while two of the teachers had units without these features. The teachers varied in how they supported students in the science practices of justifying predictions, constructing evidence-based claims, recording observations, and planning investigations. For example, some of the teachers with the educative features supported students in constructing evidence-based claims and justifying predictions in ways called for by the educative features. Implications for curriculum developers and teacher educators are discussed based on the patterns found in the teachers’ use of the educative curriculum materials.