The study examined the efficacy of an intensive form of professional development (PD) for building the knowledge of first-grade
teachers in the areas of phonological awareness and phonics. The PD featured frequent in-class support from highly knowledgeable
mentors for one school year, in addition to an introductory two-day summer institute and monthly workshops. Pre- and post-assessment
of participants on a Teacher Knowledge Survey (TKS) indicated weak knowledge of phonological awareness and phonics concepts
prior to PD and large, significant gains in each area by year-end. In addition, to investigate factors potentially associated
with teachers’ responses to training, a Teacher Attitude Survey (TAS) was administered before and after the PD. The TAS measured
teachers’ attitudes regarding PD, external and internal motivation to participate, intentions to actively engage in learning
and implementing new instructional methods, sense of self-efficacy as reading instructors, and premises about reading instruction
(e.g., about whole language). Attitudes on a subset of these factors, teachers’ initial knowledge scores on the TKS, and years
of teaching experience (estimated by age) accounted for significant portions of the variance in performance on the TKS after
training.
The literature suggests that radical changes to teacher education are common but rarely well-planned or resourced. Such changes can be detrimental to the quality of learning and it is challenging for educators to know how to respond. Joseph Schwab argued that for balanced curriculum development to occur, deliberation must take place with the four commonplaces (teachers, learners, subject matter and milieu). In this study, three teacher educators in a research intensive university in New Zealand were forced to combine three distinct courses (Health, Outdoor and Physical Education) into one course. Concerned that student learning would be compromised, we embarked on a series of deliberations informed by Schwab’s ideas. The deliberations involved meeting regularly over six months, inviting representatives from the commonplaces (program leaders, pedagogical specialists, pre-service teachers and teachers) into our deliberations and reflecting on the process. Analysis revealed that our deliberations could be characterized by phases: (1) creating the necessary conditions, (2) the problem emerges, (3) the solution emerges, (4) evaluation and (5) beyond deliberation. These phases of deliberation were distinguished by different concerns and timeframes and roughly reflected the stages of deliberation identified by Schwab. Convergence and divergence from Schwab’s stages are discussed. While much of Schwab’s work on deliberation remains relevant today, we recommend the addition of an initial phase focused on establishing a collaborative basis at the beginning of the process. We found this phase not only generated respect and care amongst the collaborators, but also helped frame the problem and enabled new solutions to emerge. 相似文献
Background: School teachers who become teacher educators (TEs) are rarely prepared for the different pedagogies that teacher education requires. One pedagogical difference is the need for TEs to make their thinking and decisions explicit to pre-service teachers (PSTs) so PSTs can see teaching as an adaptive process rather than a set of routines to be memorised.
Purpose: This research set out to analyse my learning about teaching teachers through making my decisions and thinking explicit to my PSTs.
Participants and data collection: Using a self-study of teacher education practice (S-STEP) methodology, I collected data during an outdoor education course in a physical education (PE) degree. Participants included a convenience sample of six participating PSTs (of a cohort of 24) who participated in four interviews and two group interviews. Three critical friends observed five lessons and participated in interviews. In addition, self-generated data consisted of 104 written reflective journal entries (both private and open). Lessons were video-recorded to assist with reflection.
Data analysis: Utilizing Schön’s concepts of reflection for, in and on action, I sought out contrary perspectives in order to frame and reframe my understanding of TE practice. I then presented these new understandings to other participants for further development.
Findings: My learning about teaching teachers can be represented as swinging between opposite extremes of infatuation and disillusionment. After observing my teaching, a critical friend identified that my physical position (or how I placed myself in the group) affected PST engagement in discussions. As I explored this aspect of my teaching further, I became very focused on the influence of my physical position to the point of infatuation. My infatuation stage culminated in a reflection-in-action moment when I changed my position in the act of teaching, which appeared to significantly increase PST engagement. But the PSTs challenged my interpretation and stated that inequalities of power cannot be resolved by rearranging where a teacher stands. In this second stage, I experienced a strong sense of disillusionment, even cynicism. As a TE, I felt any actions I took were pointless against the power structures of society. Later, with insights from participants, I developed a more nuanced understanding of power and position; while not a panacea, how I arranged myself and the class physically did have some influence on the flow of discussions.
Conclusions: S-STEP requires that researching practitioners challenge their assumptions. In making my own learning about my teaching explicit to my PSTs and critical friends, I was able to frame and reframe my understandings about teaching teachers. Through this research, I discovered that I learnt about my teaching by swinging between extremes. I argue that thinking about teaching informed by extreme positions, provides a fuller purview of the complexity of teaching teachers. S-STEP in conjunction with explicit teaching practices offers TEs a tangible means to understand our practices more deeply and furthermore, to advance our understanding of teacher education more broadly. 相似文献
