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Researching Teacher Education Practices
Abstract
This article explores the nature of self-study of teacher education practices by examining what self-study is and how it might be conducted and reported. In working through these ideas, the article makes an argument for the need for learning through self-study to be documented in ways that might not only be accessible to others but also meaningful for their practice in teaching about teaching. Although the term self-study suggests a singular and individual approach to researching practice, the reality is that self-studies are dramatically strengthened by drawing on alternative perspectives and reframing of situations, thus data, ideas, and input that necessitate moving beyond the self. Moving beyond the self also matters because a central purpose in self-study is uncovering deeper understandings of the relationship between teaching about teaching and learning about teaching. This article argues a need for these deeper understandings to be developed in ways that enhance an articulation of a pedagogy of teacher education.
... In the fall of 2021, I (Alex, a faculty member at Indiana University) taught J700, Teaching and Teacher Education, one of four courses in our doctoral minor in teacher education at Indiana University. Students in J700 read scholarship on topics such as becoming a teacher educator (e.g., Murray & Male, 2005;Williams, Ritter, & Bullock, 2012); the diverse identities of teacher educators (e.g., Kitchen, 2014;Vellanki & Prince, 2018); what it means to enact a pedagogy of teacher education (e.g., Korthagen, 2016;Loughran, 2006); the practices and routines teacher educators use in university-based (e.g., Forzani, 2014;Loughran & Berry, 2005) and fieldbased settings (e.g., Cuenca, 2010;Oliver & Oesterreich, 2013); and ways to research teacher education (e.g., Loughran, 2007;Ritter & Quiñones, 2020). Each week, students were asked to write short reflections that considered how course readings influenced their professional development as teacher educators. ...
... Being a teacher educator also meant that I should try to conceptualize a theory of teaching. Loughran (2007) contrasted a Theory (episteme) with a theory (phronesis). The former describes objective knowledge that can apply to many situations and problems while the latter describes practical wisdom and experiences. ...
... I wrote earlier in the course about how people encouraged my decision to pursue teacher education: "Wow, that is perfect for you with your accolades! Future teachers will learn so much from you!" I felt this would help me get rid of the feelings Loughran (2007) describes as "tag of ex-school teacher" (p. 13). ...
In this chapter, we explore a doctoral-level course at Indiana University dedicated to developing the pedagogy of teacher educators. Our chapter highlights the challenges of preparing prospective teacher educators for the various specialized roles that teacher educators occupy in an educator preparation program. We provide an overview of the seminar, followed by vignettes highlighting three doctoral students’ experience with the course. Finally, we conclude with a series of questions that trouble how the conception of “pedagogy” in teacher education fails to account for the specialized work that exists in teacher education.
... This investigation is situated in qualitative research and adopted a self-study approach (Loughran 2007). Using a qualitative method, the research focused on enhancing the educator's professional practice through collaborative interactions with others. ...
In the context of the COVID-19 restrictions and the pivot to online teaching and learning, teacher educators were forced to consider new spaces for School Placement and the assessment of these new sites of practice. This paper explores the process of the redesigning of the assessment of school placement components from the perspective of ten teacher educators across five teacher education programmes in one university. Hybridity theory, 'third space', and figurational sociology allowed us to understand who and what influenced the redesigning of assessment practices. The three themes relating to assessment included: (i) A network of interdependent relationships influencing teacher educators' reimagining of assessment processes; (ii) The influence of external interdependent relationships and context(s); and (iii) The role(s) of assessor for the teacher educator. We explicitly argue for the need to continue to advocate and advance these practices to 'build Initial Teacher Education back better'.
... Initial teacher education can affect quality teaching practices (Darling-Hammond, 2000, 2006b and change beliefs that teachers have about students and learning (Loughran, 2007). However, to date, there is not a full research-based description of how programs, teacher educators, and field experiences may contribute to building teacher candidates' AfL mindsets and skills. ...
Teachers’ approaches and mindsets for assessment affect student learning, motivation, and social-emotional well-being. This systematic review examines how initial teacher education programs prepare teachers to enact one core purpose of classroom assessment—assessment for learning (AfL). AfL (also known as formative assessment) is a planned process of instructionally embedded assessment wherein students and teachers collaborate within goal-driven activity, monitor and communicate around evidence of learning, and reflect on evidence of learning to strategize actions to improve. We examined how teacher candidates learned to enact AfL within 70 studies published between 1998 and May 2022. Results illuminate how teacher candidates can learn to enact AfL through a combination of explicit instruction, modeling of AfL, and cyclical opportunities to enact AfL; get feedback; and attune instruction/assessment during their teacher preparation. However, we also uncovered contexts, structures, and practical considerations within teacher education that limit teacher candidates’ learning and enactment of AfL.
... Para mejorar la práctica docente es imprescindible que esta sea evaluada, ya que esto supone ser y estar consciente de la realidad para transformarla en una mejora común. De ahí que una bibliometría beneficia el conocimiento de las líneas temáticas vanguardistas en esta área de estudio (Loughran, 2007). Por otro lado, cuando se evalúa se promueve un mejor conocimiento de la práctica docente con el objetivo de impulsar iniciativas que contribuyan a una enseñanza de mejor calidad (Jons, 2019). ...
RESUMEN Este artículo presenta los resultados de un análisis bibliométrico en la base de datos Scopus sobre la observación por pares en el aula. Para ello, se utilizan palabras clave extraídas de la literatura y del Tesauro de la UNESCO: observación entre pares, evaluación formativa, retroalimentación, evaluación, aprendizaje de estudiantes y profesores, retroalimentación, evaluación por pares. Se analiza un total de 308 documentos, con apoyo de los softwares Biliometrix y VOSviewer. Entre los resultados se destacan dos etapas de desarrollo; una en 2018 como momento inicial y de fuerte productividad, y otra en 2021 compuesta de dos grandes nodos relacionados con otros menores, entre los que destacan conceptos como: humans, human y education; las áreas de estudio más intensas en producción son ciencias sociales (280), psicología (42), artes y humanidades (30). Al analizar el área geográfica en donde se produce el mayor número de trabajos investigados, Estados Unidos y Europa mantienen una clara predominancia en productividad
... Core to this process is the idea that turning the critical gaze on oneself enacts a disposition of desire, particularly in the sense that it "reflects a desire to be more, to improve, to better understand" (OVENS; FLETCHER, 2014, p.7). In other words, the underlying common purpose in self-studies is to become more fully informed about our teaching practices and to explore and build on these "learnings" in public ways (LOUGHRAN, 2007). Self-study researchers primarily focus attention on their own practice and assume the position of being both the researcher and the researched. ...
... Dentro das várias conceções de autoestudo, o que desenvolvi enfatiza o entendimento de autoestudo como indagação teórica do self e que dialoga com a prática à procura da sua transformação consciente (LOUGHRAN, 2007;SAMARAS;FREESE, 2009;MARCONDES;FLORES, 2014). Incidiu no modelo curricular que sustentava a minha prática. ...
Este artigo procura contribuir para o entendimento dos processos de desenvolvimento profissional de educadores de infância. A investigação visou conhecer a relevância da abordagem teórica da multimodalidade na (re)construção do modelo curricular de uma educadora de infância e compreender o processo inerente a esse desenvolvimento profissional. A investigação assumiu a modalidade autossupervisiva, utilizando o auto-estudo como abordagem metodológica. Os dados recolhidos, de natureza qualitativa, foram submetidos a análise de conteúdo, que evidenciou não só as dimensões do modelo curricular reconstruídas à luz da abordagem teórica, como também aspetos destacados do processo dessa reconstrução. Estas conclusões, assim como as principais limitações do estudo, são discutidas.
... To this, Costa and Kallick (1993) advocate for interaction with a critical friend which can assist the teacher to understand the way they interpret and view their own experiences through another lens and can be a valuable tool to help expand one's thoughts around how they may view their experiences. Self-study invites you to share your learning and understanding with your critical friend which can cause some distress for some people, even though it is imperative for improvement and growth in the profession (Loughran, 2007). ...
In physical education, assessment is a fundamental component of purposeful and meaningful learning experiences for students, with the predominant goal to support and enhance student learning. Implementing the use of digital technologies in physical education can also contribute to improved engagement, motivation and student learning. While there is a substantial amount of research around digital technology and physical education within secondary school, less research exists around using digital technology to support quality assessment practices, particularly in a lower primary
physical education setting. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to explore one physical educators’ experience using digital technology to support assessment implementation in an Australian primary physical education setting. Three themes were
identified through analysis: shifting assumptions of practice, building comprehension and application, and challenges and opportunities in attempting to implement quality assessment using digital technology. We highlight the value of self-study research as professional learning for practising teachers and the importance of assessment literacy.
... Videre har vi i analyseprosessen prøvd å skape distanse til materialet ved at alle involverte forskere har lest og diskutert alle analysene. Forskning på egen praksis er relativt vanlig i utdanningsfeltet (Vanassche & Kelchtermans, 2015) og kan bidra til forbedring av egen praksis og til deling av kunnskap med andre på feltet (Hoel, 2000;Loughran, 2007). Vi støtter oss altså til tidligere forskningserfaringer som sier at det ligger muligheter så vel som utfordringer i denne typen forskning. ...
I denne artikkelen presenteres en studie av skriveprosessen knyttet til et utvalg av lærerstudenters arbeid med semesteroppgaver. Studien fokuserer hovedsakelig på lærerresponsen, men trekker også inn studentenes tekstrevisjoner og refleksjoner. Nærmere bestemt undersøkes hvilke responshandlinger faglærerne utfører for å veilede studentene, samt hvilke revisjonshandlinger studentene utfører. Dette er altså en tekststudie som avdekker språklige virkemidler og handlinger anvendt i den skriftlige interaksjonen mellom lærer og student. Tekstmaterialet består av studentenes to versjoner av semesteroppgaven, lærerresponser samt studentsvar på et enkelt spørreskjema. Analysene viser at lærerresponsene er komplekse, og enkelte tilbakemeldinger kan ha flere lag språkhandlinger. Lærerresponsene omfatter både anerkjennende og kritiske ytringer, de viser på ulike måter en respektfull tilnærming og de avdekker at lærerne forsøker å balansere mellom faglige og relasjonelle hensyn. Det kommer imidlertid fram at lærerne har en tendens til å innta en mer styrende holdning overfor svake tekster, mens de har mer dialogpregede og spørrende tilbakemeldinger til sterke tekster. Når det gjelder hva lærerne påpeker i tekstenes innhold, er det flere likheter, og deres vektlegging av selvstendighet i studenttekstene framstår som spesielt interessant. Dette er en selvstudie, da tre av forskerne er studentenes lærere. Dette innebærer at det også har vært et mål å utvikle egen profesjonskompetanse. Studien konkluderer med at lærere innenfor høyere utdanning trenger å utvikle responskompetansen og metaspråket om responspraksiser. Blant annet understrekes behovet for en bevisstgjøring av potensialet i, men også utfordringene ved, bruken av ulike språkhandlinger og språklige virkemidler. Ikke minst trenger studenter veiledning i å kunne tolke lærerens respons.
... We supported PTs' mathematics teaching using "children's mathematics" (i.e., mathematics children develop; Steffe, 1994, p. 132). Models of PTs using children's mathematics and our cultures, knowledge, and experiences inform our teaching of mathematics teaching (Loughran, 2007). Sue-Ellen and Signe are white Americans and long-time collaborators, with experience teaching post-secondary mathematics. ...
Mathematics teacher educators (MTEs) use of knowledge in teaching has been described categorically, yet scholars using self-study in mathematics education have called for additional study of use of knowledge in practice. We focused on MTE debriefing with preservice teachers (PTs) following early field teaching. Using self-study methodology and D’Ambrosio’s voices construct we analyzed transcripts of MTEs’ debriefing with PTs. Findings include three ways the MTE used voice of mathematics teacher education as a discipline in debriefing: bridging, exploring, and telling. Findings underscore how teacher educators use knowledge in the moment of teaching about teaching and how teacher educators struggle to maintain an interpretive stance.
... Given our relationship to the teacher education short course, we also draw on methodologies that focus on the experiences of tutors. These are teacher educator self-study (Kitchen et al., 2020;Loughran, 2007), autoethnography (Denzin, 2014), collective biography (Davies and Gannon, 2006) and the interplay between these different forms (Hamilton et al., 2008). These reflective and interpretivist methods, and the resulting data analysis, form a backdrop to the focus on mechanisms and barriers that is more usual in realist evaluation and theory of change approaches (Coldwell and Maxwell, 2018). ...
Trauma-informed practice in education is an area of growing interest in England and internationally. Embracing trauma-informed practice in schools requires trauma and related content to be included in teacher education. Over a period of eight years, a short course was developed and incorporated into the teacher preparation programmes at a large university in England. Through methods of teacher educator self-study and autoethnography, we examine the process of the course’s development and identify mechanisms, enablers and barriers to change in the current policy context of teacher education in England. Important factors that supported change were the gradual development, external collaboration, positive outcomes as a warrant and source of motivation, the development of champions and enthusiasts for trauma-informed practice, and departmental leadership support. Barriers to the development were the constraints of prescribed content on initial teacher education courses, prevailing practices in some schools and settings, challenges in adapting material suitably for all education phases, and some beginning teachers’ responses to personally relevant course content. The successful introduction of the short course demonstrates that inclusion of trauma-informed content in initial teacher education is possible even in an unfavourable policy environment.
... This section explains the underlying methodological principles and methods used in the study. Self-study methodology (Loughran, 2004(Loughran, , 2007Samaras, 2011) is grounded in educators' systematic analysis of their own practice, in dialogue with critical friends. This framework has been used previously by researchers to produce useful professional knowledge about blended online learning approaches (Yamagata-Lynch, 2014). ...
Blended Synchronous Learning (BSL) refers to when students located in physical classrooms learn together with peers who attend remotely, via networked digital technologies. The Covid-19 pandemic, along with ambitions to increase flexibility in learning delivery mode for students, has led to the increased implementation of BSL in tertiary education. The current evidence-base around BSL provides important principles for its use, but relatively little research has examined the experiences of teaching staff in depth. This article uses a self-study methodology to explore educators’ experiences of BSL implementation in a post-graduate Initial Teacher Education course in Australia. Six teaching staff, all co-researchers for the study, contributed reflective data, and engaged in analysis and interpretation of the data via structured critical friendships. Insights related to four key themes were derived from the analysis: institutional and pedagogical factors; educator wellbeing, self-efficacy and professional identity; staffing support; and collegial professional learning. The implementation of BSL, while aligned with existing recommendations, produced significant challenges for educators in relation to institutional support and training, pedagogical practices, operation of BSL technologies, professional identity and self-efficacy. Cognitive overload was a prominent feature of the BSL teaching experience. On the whole, while drawing on existing skills and teaching experience, educators held significant concerns with the overall quality of student learning in BSL—especially for remote students. Training, practice, technical and co-teaching support, as well as collegial relationships, were important mediators of educator experience. The findings suggest that the implementation of BSL requires substantial investment in staffing, training, skill development, and opportunities for authentic, meaningful practice and prototyping. The findings also affirm the value of timely, organisationally supported and collaborative professional learning as part of BSL implementation.
... Also, the study results explored that there was a significant difference between the perceptions of teachers from primary and upper primary level schools whereas there was no significant difference between the perceptions of teachers with reference to their school management on the perception of teachers on inclusive education in-service training program. Further, the study result on gender analysis revealed that there was a gender impact on perception of teachers on in-service training programmes and it is contradictory to the research findings of Loughran (2007) and Corey Ray Gardenhour (2008) who found that there was no statistically significant difference between male and female teachers and gender did not play a part in the relevance. ...
The study themed to explore the growth mindset theory from the pedagogical perspective and its viability for inclusion in the classroom. To reach the theme, the study focused on three questions: What are the growth mindset pedagogical practices? How do these practices assist in creating a growth mindset classroom culture? What kind of attitude develops among learners? A qualitative approach was employed to fulfil these concerns. A field survey in an inclusive school was undertaken, and data was collected using observation and interview
schedules on 30 participants. The study identified various growth mindset pedagogical practices and found that those practices assist in creating a growth mindset classroom culture and develop the growth mindset of the teachers and learners, which leads to the attitude among the learners to push them for learning in all circumstances. It is recognised from the growth mindset theory, which produces the specific pedagogical practice mentioned in the analysis part of the paper, named growth mindset pedagogy, that is viable for inclusion in the classroom.
Keywords: Growth Mindset Pedagogy, Inclusive Classroom, Growth Mindset Pedagogical Practices.
... Lauriala (2013) underscored this by saying that in Finland, a two-year master's degree programme was added to the three-year primary school teacher diploma in 1979. For Loughran (2007), this strongly suggested that teacher education in Finland is based on the prospective teacher as researcher approach, which involves researching practice and constructing personal, principled knowledge, and strategies. Taylor's (2014) report also revealed that in some institutions, the focus appears to be on quantity (more teachers) rather than quality (better teachers). ...
The rationale for this study was to investigate the affordances of ethnomathematical perspectives
in pre-service mathematics teacher education at selected universities in South Africa. Over the
past decades, researchers have shown that mathematics teachers lack awareness of
ethnomathematics approaches and how they can be integrated into the classroom. Among the
possible reasons for the teachers’ insufficient pedagogical knowledge in ethnomathematics is that
pre-service mathematics teacher education is not adequately preparing student teachers in
ethnomathematics. Consequently, the study sought to answer the research question: What are
the affordances of ethnomathematical perspectives in pre-service mathematics teacher
education? Through this question, the study explored, among others, teacher educators’, an
expert’s and student teachers’ understanding and perceptions of ethnomathematics, and how
mathematics education modules prepare student teachers for ethnomathematics. Furthermore, the ethnomathematics intervention was conducted to scaffold, and enhance student teachers’
professional development through practical ways in which they can integrate ethnomathematics
in their prospective classrooms.
The study adopted a multiple case study, which involved a total of 24 participants (6 teacher
educators, an ethnomathematics expert, and 17 student teachers) in pre-service mathematics
teacher education from three selected universities in South Africa. Semi-structured interviews
were employed to collect data from teacher educators, the ethnomathematics expert and student
teachers. In addition, a pre-intervention questionnaire and focus group interviews were adopted
to collect data from student teachers’ participants. Document analysis also served as a data
collection method. Ethnomathematics intervention was used to scaffold student teachers’
professional development on ethnomathematics pedagogies. As a result of COVID-19 and time
constraints, the intervention was conducted in one of the three selected universities. Engeström's
(1987) third-generation Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) was adopted in the second
stage of data analysis to provide insight on challenges that either promote or prevent the
integration of ethnomathematics.
The findings of this study revealed, amongst others, that ethnomathematics may enhance
learners’ understanding of abstract mathematics concepts; there is a lack of focus on ethnomathematics in pre-service mathematics education; and the need to prepare student
teachers in ethnomathematics to change their mindset about the nature of mathematics. Further
findings revealed that a lack of contextualised mathematics textbooks, technology approaches,
and time constraints are some of the factors that could hinder effective integration of
ethnomathematical perspectives in mathematics classrooms. With regard to technology approaches, it was found that the 21st century classrooms are characterised by learners who are
technologically driven and, as such, using ethnomathematics may possibly be irrelevant to them.
Recommendations for curriculum material development, pre-service and in-service mathematics
teacher education; and future research in terms of intervention workshops and student teachers’
actual classroom practices were suggested.
... The methodology of self-study, in which both the student and supervisor participate as the researchers and the subjects (Loughran, 2007), is immensely appreciated in investigating the supervisory relationship (Li & Seale, 2007;Hu et al., 2016;Chapman & Sork, 2001;Diacopoulos & Butler, 2020). The methodological strengths are that the participants are thus able to observe their interactions more longitudinally and deeply, especially the changes over time (Li & Seale, 2007); they are better capable of examining and exposing the problems they experience (e.g., misunderstandings, Hu et al., 2016;Hamilton, 2005 With the proliferation of audio and video recording for social research, addressing the limitations mentioned above has become possible. ...
... This entails problematising one's practice in a public fashion along with a self-scrutiny of learned, taken-for-granted perspectives, with a view to thinking anew and finding ways to advance both teaching and learning (Berry, 2015). While self-study focuses on self-improvement of practice, it should also offer insights for research and teaching to fellow members of the teacher education fraternity (Loughran, 2007). I attempt to offer tentative insights here. ...
Acquiring a basic knowledge of philosophy is usually a deprioritised choice for students in undergraduate programmes. Even a basic philosophy course is seldom mandatory in the hard sciences, although it may be an option in the social sciences. While many undergraduate teacher education programmes have stand-alone courses in the philosophy of education in general educational studies courses, philosophical inspiration is largely drawn from continental philosophy. The extent to which preservice teachers see the wider relevance and application of philosophy of education to the school subjects they teach is uncertain. Also, contemporary philosophy of education courses in the (South) African context may still be paying homage to Western, Eurocentric philosophical canons, despite calls by the student collective in South Africa for African contextual relevance. I present an account of a curriculum initiative in a teacher education course that attempts a disruption of traditional western canons that underpin economics and economic education. I argue that disciplines such as economics are fertile spaces for engaging teacher trainees in a philosophical exposé, with a view to contesting the universality of the philosophies of (economic) sciences to explain contemporary societal crises. I present insights into how the philosophy of education might be conceptualised as an across curriculum competence as opposed to an insular, stand-alone offering.
... Reflective practices enable teachers to reflect on their current experiences, analyze them in detail, and develop their future teaching practices with the inferences they have made from these (Sari, Drajati, So & Sumardi, 2021). Therefore, such practices are seen as an important component of teacher training (Loughran, 2007;Vermunt & Endedijk, 2010). One of the primary prerequisites of successful mentorship practices which support the development of mentors and their partnering mentees is to support the mentee through reflective practices with a view to transforming them into independent and high-level thinker professionals (Barnett, 1995;Sundli, 2007). ...
The aim of this study is to determine the impact of mentorship program on professional development of the mentees. This study is guided by case study. The case, in this study, is each of four chemistry teachers who took part in mentorship program as mentees in order to better understand the mentorship program. The data collection tool employed in this study is the reflective journals kept by the mentees throughout the mentorship practice (for eight weeks). Participants filled out reflective journals for evaluation after they completed the lessons (material, lesson plan, etc.) they prepared in the group mentoring sessions held every week. These forms have five questions that might lead mentees to reflect on their implementation of the plans and their professional development in the course of the mentorship program. The data obtained suggest that the mentees had qualified reflections on their current practices as well as future practices. The mentors frequently noted in their weekly reflective journals form that the mentorship program has a positive impact on their teaching methods competencies while implementing the co-designed lessons plans. On the other hand, the most important problem that the mentees uttered is the need for extra time as they could not complete the activities within the planned time frame. In light of the findings, it can be deduced that the mentorship program has improved the professional practices of the mentees.
... Not every student learns mathematics the same way, so it is important to diversify teaching strategies to promote understanding and yearning for knowledge. As I engaged in a self-study or self-reflection, the importance of aligning my pedagogical philosophy with actions (i.e., teaching strategies) in my classroom became apparent (Loughran, 2007). When one becomes more familiar with oneself and develops a multifaceted philosophy of teaching or pedagogy, one is better able to develop an understanding of others (Ellis & Bochner, 2000). ...
... Having considered the existing literature in this treatment of literature reviews, I suggested that another foregrounding metaphor for the exercise might rest in the kaleidoscope as a means of sifting through literature, capturing the elements that are essential to a proposed study. My work has often focused on the use of film or comics-based media in conveying messages and in potential applications for classroom instruction; hermeneutic phenomenology rooted in artistic expression (Merleau-Ponty, 1964) served methodologically in an initial study on the use of film, and I have recently explored autoethnography (Chang, 2016) and self-study (Loughran, 2007). In my work with comics and film, defining the parameters of study has been essentially a nodal work of relating what is most salient about particular texts in particular contexts. ...
... Students are encouraged to self-study American culture when they have completed lessons in the relevant modules. Loughran (2007) and other experts have placed high importance on selfstudy because this learning technique enables students to value themselves and realize their strengths and weaknesses. When interacting with a foreign culture, it is best for students to not put themselves under strain. ...
The purpose of this research is to analyze the knowledge of English Studies students about American culture. Quantitative research was carried out at Can Tho University (CTU), one of the most prestigious universities in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The participants are 50 English Studies students from the Faculty of Foreign Languages (Course 45) who have studied a high-quality program. The questionnaire was used to measure their understanding of American culture in everyday communication. Additionally, students learn about the influences of American culture by seeing how they use it in their speech. The findings indicated that most participants had a basic understanding of American culture, which was demonstrated by their regular queries about American culture through a variety of information sources. The use of American culture in communication is also extremely common at the same time. Based on the findings, a variety of targeted strategies have been suggested to assist students in selecting the most appropriate perspective of American culture and avert challenges or misconceptions that can result in abuse. American culture is overused to the detriment of the nation.
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... All schools and teachers remained anonymous. In addition, to ensure the self-study met the rigorous design recommendations that include transparency and credible data sources (Loughran, 2007), Jane invited a colleague (also an MLC) to participate in the investigation in the role of critical friend. Throughout the three weeks of data collection (Table 1) they both met once a week for approximately 30 minutes to discuss progress and observations gathered for each week of data collection. ...
... Core to self-study is the idea that turning the critical gaze on oneself enacts a disposition of desire, particularly in the sense that it "reflects a desire to be more, to improve, to better understand" (OVENS; FLETCHER, 2014, p. 7). In other words, the underlying common purpose in self-studies is to become more fully informed about our process(es) of enacting practice and to explore and build on these "learnings" in public ways (LOUGHRAN, 2007). The characteristics of selfstudy are that it is "self-initiated and focused; it is improvement-aimed; it is interactive; it includes multiple, mainly qualitative, methods; and it defines validity as a validation process based in trustworthiness" (LABOSKEY, 2004, p. 817). ...
There has been increasing recognition that social collectives, such as knowledge communities and professional learning networks, support teachers and enhance their practice. At the same time, there is little research on how such communities form, are sustained over time, create professional knowledge and practices, and transform the professional lives of their participants. We address these gaps in this paper by drawing on self-study methodology to structure a critical reflection of Luiz’s experiences of participating in an autonomous group of teacher-researchers that constituted their own knowledge community since 2005. Through critical friendship, a complexity thinking lens guided the shared reflection on Luiz’s experience in the knowledge community by considering the relational connections, affective forces, opportunities for action and agential capacities that are continually made and reconfigured within the collective nature of learning communities. In conclusion, we discuss both the facilitation and cultivation of long-term collaborative processes towards a complex, critical, and socially just perspective of PETE.
... teaching and learning; and the development of knowledge about these‖ (Loughran, 2004, p.9). Self-study provides a means for educators to identify and explore the complexities within their own teaching, practice, and pedagogy knowledge (Loughran, 2007). As Samara (2002, p.68) points out, the purpose and nature of self-study is the -critical examination of one's actions and the context of those actions in order to achieve a more conscious mode of professional activity, in contrast to action based on habit, tradition and impulse.‖ ...
Certainly the year 2020 will be one for the history books, as COVID-19 made its impact globally beginning in that year. While it did not hit the United States substantially until about March of 2020, other countries felt the effects sooner. Eventually it seemed that the globe essentially was shut down due to the COVID-19 outbreak. This type of shutdown was challenging for education and educators. How could we pivot to online forums and teaching methods? Would our students still learn? It was especially concerning for science teachers and science educators who were accustomed to teaching using mostly hands-on inquiry instruction. How could students manipulate materials in these virtual settings? The science educators who have contributed to this book decided to conduct research to determine answers to some of these questions. The book is divided into three sections related to science teaching--COVID-19 science teaching research that involved K-12 teachers, research that explored university science content courses, and research that explored preservice science teacher education. Following each section we include a summary of the outcomes and recommendations. We end the book with conclusions and recommendations from a synthesis of the studies included.
... Such reflective practice is built on teacher acceptance of the importance of interaction and co-construction of meaning, as opposed to being a transmitter for receivers or listeners in a transmission-dominated environment. The notion that teaching is often viewed and enacted as an act of transmission of knowledge is well documented, as is the reality that such a view puts the teacher at the centre of teaching, but not necessarily at the centre of quality learning (Concannon-Gibney, 2021;Loughran ,2007). One way of improving the range of interaction and learning in terms of uptake is to consider how much teacher talk there is, as opposed to time and space for learners' talk or learner responses. ...
Quality Assurance after CoVid as we in South East Asia emerge from the crisis>perspectives hosted by Sunway University Malaysia online. Cross disciplinary
... Furthermore, Loughran (2007) also focused on different challenges teachers face while teaching English to students having different backgrounds and cultures. Some of the prominent problems were different levels of proficiency, diversified culture, teaching grammar, lack of trainings and so on. ...
This study explored the scenario of the trainings of English teachers focusing on Secondary Bangla medium schools. It showed English teachers' perceptions of their attended trainings throughout their career. In addition, it also focused on the learning of the teachers from the trainings as well as the problems which English teachers faced in their classroom while implementing their learnt techniques from the trainings into their classrooms. The study adopted a qualitative multiple case study approach and the researcher used purposive sampling technique to collect data from ten English teachers of Secondary Bangla medium schools. The data collection procedure was completed through online platforms as there was no scope of visiting schools because of the pandemic situation. However, for establishing credibility and trustworthiness, some steps had been taken by the researcher including member checking, inter-rater reliability and so on. Moreover, teachers' perceptions on different trainings, their learning from those trainings, how they implemented those techniques in class, and also the problems they faced and the solutions they used for using those problems have been discussed in the study. The final results show that though the trainings were informative for the trainee teachers, those trainings did not have any focus on teachers' problems or following up to check whether the teachers were able to implement their learnt knowledge in their classroom or not, they were allowed to apply those techniques in the classes by the authorities or not. Nevertheless, the findings will be useful for novice teachers, policymakers, trainers, especially of English to Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) context as Bangladesh. The methodology adopted for the study is replication and will be useful for researchers.
... The study is part of a larger project focused more broadly on how SSTE programs can better prepare teacher candidates for the role of emotion in teaching and learning social studies. The study's design includes the use of multiple data collection methods and continuous dialogue with Cinthia who served as Michelle's critical friend (LaBosky, 2004;Loughran, 2007;Vanassche and Kelchtermans, 2015). ...
Purpose
The purpose of this self-study is to investigate how critically examining our emotions as social studies teacher educators (SSTEs) can inform practice and further the project of moving race from the margins of social studies curricula.
Design/methodology/approach
This self-study's design includes the use of multiple data collection methods and continuous dialogue with Chris who served as Macy's critical friend. The authors independently analyzed the data following the same procedure with each data set and then utilized a constant comparative method to reconcile our coding.
Findings
The findings point to the importance of critical emotional reflexivity in any effort to reposition race as central rather than peripheral to teaching and learning social studies content.
Originality/value
This study is not under review with another journal.
Since the 1990s, practitioner research (PR) has gained traction in language education with the goal of promoting language teachers’ reflective and exploratory practice, as well as enhancing students’ language learning. However, conducting and publishing PR is not an easy task, particularly in current higher education settings. This viewpoint paper provides a critical analysis of the challenges involved in writing and publishing PR and gives practical recommendations on how to cope with such challenges and create a symbiotic relationship between practice, research and publishing. The paper also calls for the long-term and concerted efforts of different stakeholders to foster a flexible and inclusive publishing culture, which recognizes and celebrates the nature (e.g., practice-based and context-specific), strength (e.g., a nexus between theory and practice) and rigour (e.g., ecological validity and critical self-reflexivity) of PR.
The inquiry discussed in this chapter reports on the experiences of a teacher educator during the COVID-19 pandemic. The chapter investigates how the pandemic shaped the teacher educator’s identity and pedagogical practice. The work is conceptually grounded in Deleuzo-Guattarian concepts. Methodologically the inquiry is a self-study in that it is self-initiated and aimed at improving professional practice. The results of this research focused on three emergent themes in relation to teacher educator identity: (a) the displacement of the body and the centering of the discursive; (b) the diminishment of pedagogical certainty and the expansion of pedagogical negotiation; and (c) the persistence of emotional fatigue and the requisite for self-care. This work contributes to the scholarly literature and provides an example of professional practice to support teacher educators in fully enacting a professional identity that aligns with their values and promotes their students’ success. Recommendations for research and teaching are provided.
Esta investigación se desarrolla en el contexto de la formación continua de formadores de profesores de matemáticas. El objetivo es describir y analizar un ciclo de reflexión realizado por una de las formadoras, en un taller sobre problemas profesionales. La investigación tiene un enfoque cualitativo-interpretativo. A través de un análisis de contenido se examinan datos de la participación en el taller. El análisis se enfoca en dos dimensiones: tipo de problemas profesionales y tipo de interés en que se centra la reflexión. Como resultado, se encuentra que el problema planteado inicialmente evoluciona a medida que avanza el taller. Las reflexiones parten con un interés técnico, pero evolucionan hacia un interés práctico y emancipador. Se concluye que un taller de este tipo puede contribuir al desarrollo profesional de los formadores de profesores y que el análisis realizado puede contribuir a la sistematización del estudio de este tipo de experiencias.
“Bireysel araştırma”, eğitimcilerin kendi mesleki uygulamalarını eleştirel, derinlemesine ve sistematik bir biçimde incelemeleri ve bu sayede de kendilerini mesleki açıdan geliştirmeleri, değiştirmeleri veya dönüştürmeleri üzerine odaklanmaktadır. Eğitimcilerin uygulamada yaşadıkları ikilemler, endişeler ve gerilimler ya da sahip oldukları öğretim anlayışları, inançları ve idealleri, bireysel araştırmanın başlatılmasına neden olan temel unsurları simgelemektedir. Bu yönüyle bireysel araştırma, eğitimcilerin kendi uygulamalarına ilişkin “pedagojik sorgulama” yapmaları olarak ele alınmaktadır. Bu çalışmanın temel amacı, bireysel araştırma hakkında kapsamlı bir sistematik alanyazın incelemesi gerçekleştirerek bu araştırma yaklaşımının daha iyi anlaşılmasına katkı sunmaktır. Bu genel amaç doğrultusunda, bireysel araştırmaya ilişkin güncel alanyazın aşağıdaki sekiz soru çerçevesinde derinlemesine analiz edilmiştir: (1) Bireysel araştırma nasıl kavramsallaştırılmaktadır? (2) Bireysel araştırma tarihsel süreç içinde nasıl ortaya çıkmıştır? (3) Bireysel araştırmanın doğuşuna ve kavramsallaştırılmasına katkı getiren eğitimciler kimlerdir? (4) Bireysel araştırmanın tanımlayıcı özellikleri nelerdir? (5) Bireysel araştırma nasıl öğretilebilir ve öğrenilebilir? (6) Bireysel araştırmayı diğer nitel araştırma yaklaşımlarından farklı kılan nedir? (7) Bireysel araştırmanın en büyük zorluğu nedir? (8) Bireysel araştırmaya getirilen temel eleştiriler nelerdir? Bu çalışmanın, bireysel araştırmada yeni olan araştırmacılara, bireysel araştırmayı öğrencilerine öğretmek isteyen eğitimcilere ve bireysel araştırmanın uygulanmasında meslektaşlarına destek sunan deneyimli bireysel araştırmacılara faydalı olacağı düşünülmektedir.
Educators have been called to follow the tide of advancing research that upholds Indigenous voices. In the spring 2019, we embarked on a cross-cultural exchange that profoundly changed our lives. We wanted to document this deep and personal learning through a collaborative self-study, detailing our unique journeys of relationship-building, informed by Indigenous Knowledge paradigms. Told through a relational approach, our self-study is grounded in our conversations about the interweaving of our experiences. A holistic approach was at the heart of making meaning through our experience by following the teachings within the Nēhiyawak (people of the land) Medicine Wheel framework. This self-study has invited us to learn more about educational possibilities, at both personal and professional levels, and has the potential to inform practicing and pre-service educators about the impact of intra-community engagement between Indigenous and settler groups.
The purpose of this Self-Study of Teacher Education Practice (S-STEP) was to examine faculty and student perceptions of co-curricular experiences between an undergraduate instrumental conducting and a junior-level music education course. To help students develop their conducting and pedagogical skills simultaneously, music education and conducting faculty co-taught their courses and developed and implemented co-curricular assignments for 14 co-enrolled participants. Data were collected from faculty journals, meeting transcriptions, participant surveys, and interviews. Findings indicate that the collaboration and co-curricular experiences promoted student and faculty growth. Increased podium time and peer teaching opportunities during which students are given feedback greatly improved students’ perceived level of comfort and confidence in front of an ensemble. In addition, the co-teaching and co-curricular assignments between conducting and music education courses promoted substantial growth in students’ conducting and pedagogical skills and their ability to connect the two. Implications for music teacher education, future research, and further revision of these collaborative practices are discussed.
This chapter describes the journey of a duoethnographic and co/autobiographic, phenomenological study undertaken by two university colleagues. This research outlines engagement in a series of explicit conversations, centered on critical incident analysis, about the roles and experiences of mentoring-while-teaching between university teacher-researchers and graduate students. Research into mentoring in the field of English education focuses largely on beginning and early-career PK-12 teachers. However, this work focuses on the mentoring and teaching of graduate students engaged in English education studies. Connecting seminal research in the field, this project illuminates three findings that inform professional practice related to concepts of self-awareness, content and pedagogical-content knowledge, and the development of a shared commitment to collaboration within and across multiple roles in higher education.
The purpose of this self-study was to explore how a college-level vernacular music course might have played a part in shaping inservice music educators’ teaching practices. Nineteen music teachers who graduated from the same teacher preparation program completed a 23-item researcher-constructed questionnaire that identified how they viewed, incorporated, and negotiated vernacular music practices in their classrooms. Overall, participants indicated that incorporating vernacular approaches in school music programs was important and that the vernacular music course positively impacted how they conceptualized music teaching. Participants reported including a wide variety of informal learning activities that involved technology, aural learning, and student-directed music projects. Conversely, participants identified time limitations, lack of resources, classroom management, and performance tensions as distinct challenges. Future directions include documenting turning points in students’ vernacular learning, monitoring curricular changes in PK–12 music programs, and fortifying preservice music teachers’ preparation in multimusical learning.
Teaching is a form of academic inquiry where the ‘data’ emerges from the creation, delivery, experience, and reflection of fostering learning. Moreover, while Boyer called this the Scholarship of Teaching, something that occurs in all learning delivery environments where an educator is actively participating in the discipline, something becomes ‘real’ scholarship when it is disseminated. Transformative peace pedagogy is about changing world views, shifting violent or apathetic behaviour, and re: rendering one’s consciousness of purpose. This chapter aims to provide a container to encapsulate a peace education praxis that emerged from coursework on Human Rights and Social Justice (HR & SJ) delivered to third-year medical students in Aotearoa/New Zealand.
Future mathematics teachers must integrate their knowledge of mathematics, pedagogy, and learners to effectively teach mathematics. Historically, these different forms of knowledge were taught separately in teacher preparation and left to the preservice teacher to integrate on their own. This raises the question; what resources can be leveraged to promote knowledge integration in mathematics courses for teachers? In this study, we identified six instructional actions that were associated with potential knowledge integration when implemented within the environment of a mathematics course for preservice teachers. We posit these instructional actions can be implemented in concise and minimally invasive ways in a variety of mathematics content courses. Further unpacking of these instructional actions and considerations for implementation are provided.
COVID-19 as a global pandemic has greatly disrupted research, not only in terms of the practicality of research activities such as data collection, but also in data quality. Using self-study in form of duoethnography method for reflecting on research practice, this article reviews and reflects on the practices of remote data collection during the pandemic and further revisits additional issues brought about by these practices and concerns. One key observation from this self-study is the prevalence of practical challenges, particularly those related to participant access, that overshadows the potential advantages of remote data collection as well as other challenges. This challenge results in researchers’ reduced control of the research process and also a requirement for more flexibility, greater sensitivity toward the participants and research skills for the researchers. We also observe greater conflation of quantitative and qualitative data collection and the emergence of triangulation as the main strategy to offset potential threats to data quality. This article concludes by calling for more discussions on several areas that feature scarce discussion in literature, including potential rhetoric importance assigned to data collection, adequacy of triangulation to safeguard data quality, and the potential difference between COVID-19’s impact on quantitative and qualitative research.
Since its inclusion as a qualitative research approach in 1993, self-study has offered an opportunity for faculty members to merge two components of their position involved in tenure and promotion decisions: scholarship and teaching. This paper portrays a yearlong
self-study of four probationary faculty members, in the same college of education department at a comprehensive regional university, all completed during the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings include the incorporation of engaging pedagogy in coursework, the impacts of COVID-19 on faculty and students, the importance of relationships with faculty colleagues and students, the incorporation of observation, feedback, and reflection as an avenue to improve faculty confidence and practice, and the frustrations and
excitement around the tenure and promotion process. Finally, the authors offer pedagogical practices discovered and utilized during the self-study, in addition to recommendations for those who wish to undertake their own self-study.
This article describes the journey of two teacher educators to reconstruct our knowledge about grading and shift justice from ornamental to fundamental in our teacher preparation methods courses. This work attempts to answer the call from scholars, who have been advocating for educators to be more prepared to meet the needs of a diverse student population. Despite these long-standing calls from scholars, teacher education programs, including the use of traditional grading methods, continue to uphold whiteness. We utilize a self-study methodology to document how we reimagined our grading practices in teacher preparation methods courses from perpetuating whiteness to centering justice. Drawing on principles of liberatory education, we designed a new accountability measure to invoke action and hold pre-service teachers accountable for growth toward anti-oppressive dispositions by taking ownership of their learning through the documentation of their learning and self-assessment of their continued progress. We discuss shifts in our own pedagogy, practices, and beliefs as a result. We also analyze the tensions of engaging in our efforts to adopt an alternative, justice-oriented grading method as white teacher educators and in teacher preparation classrooms that are predominately white, middle-class female pre-service teachers.
This study reports the findings of a three-year investigation, which documented the learning experiences of former offenders. My research is informed by a concern about different perceptions of what counts as appropriate provision for Education, Training and Employment (ETE hereafter) offender initiatives that show a tendency to treat ex-offenders in an unhelpful and unproductive manner. Drawing on my own experiences as a former offender, and in later years as a practitioner, mentor and teacher working in numerous provisions since 2004, I contend that the current system of ETE initiatives are, in the main, failing to address the complex and non-conventional learning requirements of those who struggle to adapt to traditional modes of learning. My inspiration for this thesis was grounded in the belief that
for some offenders, including those with substance misuse problems, education can help support and foster a more contented and fulfilled way of living.
My aim was to explore with the men other ways of teaching, learning and service user engagement. I describe how my complicated life history became a valuable pedagogical resource, which enabled me to work in ways that were shown to enrich the life chances and perspectives of other former offenders. My research explores the educational benefits of working in a more caring, compassionate and trusting manner, freed from traditional time restraints. During the previous fourteen years, the people with whom I have worked have highlighted my capacity to connect through authentic communication, as perhaps the most fundamentally compelling aspect of my pedagogy. Rogers (1961) theorised that when positive
regards between persons is unconditional, the human condition is more likely to flourish, as is client growth and development through the quality of relationships. However, the magnitude of this change, if any, cannot be predicted; personal growth and achievement are unique to the person.
As a teacher educator of literature methodology in Mauritius, this arts-based self-study is rooted in the need to improve my professional practice. It emanated from a critical incident during the COVID pandemic when I used blackout poetry during an online synchronous session with in-service teachers for a Postgraduate Certificate in Education. The data production tools for this self-study include my own blackout poem, a reflection on the critical incident and an autobiographical resume. In addition, I engaged in dialogic discussion with the in-service teachers who served as critical friends. These tools empowered me to reflect on how I use blackout poetry as a creative writing activity and as a form of poetic inquiry with in-service teachers as andragogic learners. It also provided me with the opportunity to learn how I could become more empathetic to the learning experiences of in-service teachers. The thematic analysis revealed that the blackout poetry activity had not been fully optimized for creative and reflective purposes. First, there was the misassumption that this activity would interest the in-service teachers and intrinsically motivate them to engage in deep reflection and dialogic discussion. Second, I had overlooked temporal and technological challenges faced by in-service teachers. Lastly, the inability to align andragogic (adult learning) theory and practice and renegotiate learning expectations impeded the in-service teachers’ learning experiences. This study thus valorizes how reflexive blackout poems, alongside other data production tools, can contribute to the unlearning and relearning of teacher educators to better teach adult learners.
This narrative study aimed at exploring how one pre-service English teacher linked theories into practice through reflective practice. To record the teacher’s reflection, we gathered the teacher’s video-based reflective diaries. The data were thematically analysed using Farrell’s framework for foreign language teachers’ self-reflection: theories and practice. The results revealed two significant points from the teacher’s reflection: (1) the pre-service teacher had a conscious raise on the affordance of theories-in-use (i.e. experience-based knowledge); and (2) the pre-service teacher realized that technology is a tool and a teacher has a crucial role in teaching to achieve the learning goals. It implied that reflective practice stimulated teachers to make sense of their experiences, leading them to the development of their teaching knowledge and performance. The implications of the present study are discussed.
Teaching for equity with bilingual learners means building on students’ linguistic strengths. This critical qualitative self-study explored how pre-service bilingual teachers developed ideology and pedagogy through a structured, holistic approach to writing instruction. Seven bilingual teacher candidates implemented a strategic Transliteracy approach to writing instruction, observing student assets and teaching cross-linguistically. Data includes semi-structured interviews and coursework. Findings showed teachers’ ideological and pedagogical clarity co-developed as they implemented a holistic biliteracy practice. Implications for bilingual teacher education include (1) providing opportunities for teacher candidates to practice assets-based formative assessment and instruction; (2) employing a holistic biliteracy orientation; and (3) creating spaces to develop ideology and pedagogy that dismantles harmful monolingual paradigms, practices, and norms.
This research aims to determine how prospective preschool teachers' epistemological beliefs and nature of science (NoS) views predict their science teaching attitudes, and to interpret which sub-dimensions of NoS views and epistemological beliefs are more influence science teaching attitudes using the Topological Analysis of Correlations (TACO) model proposed in this study. The research was conducted with 388 (310 females, 78 males) prospective preschool teachers in the 2018/2019 academic year. Analysis results revealed that preservice preschool teachers' epistemological beliefs and NoS views predicted the variation in science teaching attitudes by 47% (F = 169.681, p = .000). It was determined that the "methodological approach" and "scientific attitude" sub-dimensions of epistemological beliefs and the "characteristics of science" sub-dimension of NoS have strong correlations with the science teaching attitudes. The TACO model showed that epistemological beliefs are a lowered altitude that begins from the nature of scientific knowledge and continues across all dimensions of NoS. Findings of this study could be significant to develop educational materials in prospective preschool teacher education and we believe that TACO, with its holistic assessment structure that includes all the variables in the study, has the potential to be an alternative analysis method for further research on teacher views on the NOS and their epistemological beliefs that impact on their science teaching in pre-schools.
As critical friends, we participated in a longitudinal collaborative self-study to explore and
challenge our assumptions and beliefs for purposes of improving our understanding and practice (Bullough & Pinnegar, 2001). During this process, we became critical friends as co-authors-- that is, dynamic meaning-makers whose critical friendship surpassed our expectation to act as “a sounding board” (Schuck & Russell, 2005 p. 107), challenge one another, support the reframing of events, and join in the professional learning experience (Loughran & Northfield, 1996). As co-authors, we pushed the boundaries of what we expected of a critical friend through dialogue and collaborative meaning-making. Valuing our whole selves in pursuit of our self-study, we crossed the borders of professional practices to include the silent and unspoken stories from our complex individual identities (Hostetler, Mills, & Hawley, 2014) beyond that of teacher educator researchers. We also invited the knowledge, experience, tensions, and life narratives stemming from our identities as mothers, wives, women of faith, and as minorities in our institutions. In this paper, we describe the process of being and becoming critical friends as co-authors by answering the following questions: How do these recursive processes--meaning-making transactions/ dialogic interactions-- generate our critical friendship? How do these processes evoke and/or sustain critical friends as co-authors? Our discoveries make visible how self-study guided us to: (1) disarm the boundaries of our individual selves by disrupting our existing understanding of self in relationship to our past lived experiences; (2) cross into a collaborative space where we are able to co-author our narrative lives through a collaborative conference protocol; and (3) push the boundaries of our present work as teacher educator researchers by transforming our professional inquiries through co-authoring.
In this paper we examine the nature of our self-study practices in an elementary teacher education cohort called CITE (Community and Inquiry in Teacher Education). We argue that self-study is not only important to our continued work in CITE but also a critical feature of professional practice in general. Two general questions frame our analysis: (1) What is significant about cohorts in teacher education? (2) How might complexity science inform our understanding of cohorts in particular and of teacher education programs in general? We argue in the paper that the use of a cohort-type structure in a teacher education program provided us with flexibility and potential for improvisation to address the perennial problems of program fragmentation. To better understand our own teaching and learning practices in this community setting, we sought an analytic framework that emphasized the importance of the learning potential of the collective as opposed to just the learning potential of the individual. We argue that complexity science, with its ecological emphasis on learning systems, is such an analytical framework. We generate six propositions about the role and value of cohorts in teacher education that arise from self-study of our own practice.
This paper reports a study of two beginning teacher educators making the transition from classroom teacher to university-based teacher educator. A hybrid qualitative methodology, combining case study and self-study of teacher education practices, was used to investigate features of the institutional context they encountered, the knowledge bases they employed in their decision making, and the merging of their former identities as classroom teachers with their new identities as teacher educators. The paper reports on the questions that guided the study, its research frames and methodology, and the first two categories of results--institutional context and shifting role identification. These findings offer insights into the ways in which both beginning teacher educators managed to recast their teaching identities. A subsequent paper builds on these insights by addressing the frames of understanding and knowledge employed in this transition and by describing how these frames informed decisions made in the arena of teacher education practice. (Contains 1 table.)
For a growing number of teacher educators, Self-study of Teacher Education Practices (S-STEP) has become an empowering way
of examining and learning about practice while simultaneously developing opportunities for exploring scholarship in, and through,
teaching. Offer the past decade, the work in self-study has been increasingly shared, scrutinized and extended so that emerging
understandings of some of the issues in self-study might be further encouraged and debated. This chapter is designed to Offer
insights into some of the factors that have led to the development of self-study of teaching and teacher education practices
and to begin to describe and articulate some of the distinguishing aspects of this work that appear important in defining
this field of study.
In this article Elliot Mishler reformulates validation as a process through which a com-munity oj researchers evaluatesthe "trustworthiness"oj a particular study as the basisJor their own work. Rather than relyingJor their assessments on an investigator's adherence to Jormal rules or standardized procedures, skilled researchers, Mishler argues, depend on their tacit understanding oj actual, situated practices in a Jield oj inquiry. Validity claims are tested through the ongoing discourse among researchers and, in this sense, scientific knowl-edge is socially constructed. Within this perspective, Mishler proposes an approach to the problem oj validation in inquiry-guided studies that relies on Kuhn's concept oj exemplars -concrete models oj researchpractice. He then examines three studies oj narrative, suggest-ing them as candidate exemplars Jar this area oj research since they provide reasonable grounds Jar evaluating their trustworthiness. The reason why only the right predicates happen so luckily to have become well entrenched is just that the well entrenched predicates thereby become the right ones. (p. 98) . . . The line between valid and invalid predictions (or inductions or projections) is drawn upon how the world is and has been described and an-ticipated in words. (Goodman, 1979/1983, p. 121) . . . rules are only rules by virtue of social conventions: they are .social conven-tions. . . . That is the sociological resolution of th~ problem of inductive in-ference. . . . It is not the regularity of the world that imposes itself on our senses"; but the regularity of our institutionalized beliefs that imposes itself on the world.
As a faculty member teaching in an innovative, two-year Master's of Teaching program, I found myself reexamining my beliefs and assumptions about the role of reflection in preparing preservice teachers to become reflective practitioners. In the first semester of a four semester program, I introduced a three-part reflective framework (Loughran, 1995,Windows into the thinking of an experienced teacher. A paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, San Francisco, April.) designed to guide the preservice teachers in systematically reflecting on their lessons before, during and after teaching. The preservice teachers, mentors and I practiced and used the reflective framework for three semesters. In the fourth semester, during which preservice teachers taught in a paid internship position, I conducted individual interviews with the preservice teachers (interns) to explore their understanding and use of reflection. The results of the study suggest that use of the framework helps develop preservice teachers who actively think about their practice to improve their teaching and their students’ learning. Implications for using the reflective process in teacher education programs, particularly in professional development school contexts, are discussed.
This paper is an account of one aspect of a self-study—the ‘roundtable reflections’—conducted over two semesters with two cohorts of Bachelor of Education preservice teachers at the University of Ballarat. An innovative approach to learning and teaching mathematics based on negotiation, ‘commuting’ teaching experience, and systematic reflection was introduced with each cohort and roundtable sessions provided the reflective space for the systematic ‘unpacking’ of the learning. Analysis of these roundtable sessions has developed understandings of the impact and effectiveness of this approach in redefining the role of both the pre-service teacher and the teacher educator as ‘co-learners’. The implications for those involved in teacher education are explored as a means of further understanding the nature of teaching and learning about teaching.
This paper explores teacher education through a self-study approach to researching practice. The development of the notion of tensions—in this case, the tension between confidence and uncertainty—is used as a way of understanding the complex nature of teaching and learning about teaching with a focus on teacher education practice. The paper is organised so that each section illustrates a particular concern or issue arising from an examination of practice by posing questions about the particular aspect of practice under consideration. The paper illustrates how the results of self-study research can help to build confidence both individually and collectively among the teacher educator profession, so that genuine change in teacher education practices might be enacted in teacher education programs.
This is the first of two self-studies of my first five years as a teacher educator attempting to prepare preservice teachers for the practical realities of the classroom while being respectful of their personal professional knowledge. I coined the term “relational teacher education” to convey my approach, which is informed by Rogers' (1961) helping relationships and Hollingsworth et al.'s (1993) “relational knowing.” In this paper, I explore my developing self-understanding by examining my experiences as a preservice and classroom teacher, my development as a teacher educator, and my understanding of the educational landscape.
While teacher educators may encourage their students to reflect deeply on their teaching, the teachers of teachers rarely seem to examine their own teaching practices. Yet a study of one's own practice can generate profound insights into one's own teaching, can model good teaching to our students, and can serve as the foundation for research about teaching. One teacher–researcher–scholar, Jeff Northfield, developed a powerful set of insights into the value of exploring personal practice while contributing to our general knowledge of teaching. Within the context of the current paradigm wars concerning “best” research in the reform of teaching and teacher education, this paper demonstrates that the work of researchers like Northfield stands as a valuable exemplar of good research of teaching. The paper also explores critical points from Northfield's work that can guide future research into our own teaching.
This paper reports a study of preservice teachers who investigated their own teaching during a field-based component of a mathematics education methods course. The course was designed to engage the preservice teachers in both mathematical and pedagogical inquiry. Analysis of video recordings of course discussions, audiotaped interviews with preservice teachers, audiotaped discussions of instructor's planning meetings, and copies of the instructor's and preservice teachers' journals identified two critical incidents that depict students' resistance to the course directions. Analysis of these critical incidents suggests that prospective teachers' interactions with their students can become the mirror through which we can investigate their interactions with us, as teacher educators, and with our course activities. In this way we might reframe the problem of resistance to one of listening—listening to the students, to each other, and to ourselves.
This study examines how student teachers in a 2-year graduate program used inquiry to examine the day-to-day issues that arose in their student teaching placements. Through systematic questioning, collection of data and controlled experimenting with solutions, student teachers learned to apply the technical and theoretical knowledge they were learning in education classes to their individual student teaching situations. Essential to the success of this process was collaboration with colleagues for clarifying their questions and for understanding and analyzing the data they collected. Analysis of the data shows that student teachers learned to help one another so that their teaching was focused and successful in many different ways. Confirmation of this success was noted in the supervisor evaluations and observation notes for each student teacher. Student teachers did learn to make inquiry a habit of mind, thereby initiating a long-term commitment to professional self-study.
This chapter has specifically been written to Offer the perspective of critical friends on the issues raised in the first
section of this Handbook. As a crucial aspect of self-study, there is an ongoing need to mOffe beyond oneself and to grasp
alternative viewpoints on situations. Attending to alternative perspectives is important in self-study so that the development
of ideas and actions and, the resultant learning, might be informed by careful consideration of perspectives beyond the self
in line with the ideas of framing and reframing described by Schön (1983, 1987). However, framing and refram-ing is itself
problematic and this chapter explores how, through a careful analysis of the first eight chapters of the Handbook, critical
friends are able to question and critique the work of others in meaningful ways. This chapter is illustrative of the underlying
approach to self-study whereby honest and professional critique is sought to enhance learning and to better inform the subsequent
claims derived from such learning.
In this chapter I summarize the epistemological, pedagogical, and moral/ethical/political underpinnings of self-study, which
serve as the conceptual framework for the field. I then offer a characterization of the methodology of self-study in relationship
to those theoretical foundations by encapsulating the predominant pedagogical strategies, research methods, and research representations
in the literature to date. I conceptualize self-study as “a methodology for studying professional practice settings” (Pinnegar,
1998) that has the following characteristics: it is self-initiated and focused; it is improvement-aimed; it is interactive;
it includes multiple, mainly qualitative, methods; and, it defines validity as a validation process based in trustworthiness
(Mishler, 1990). The chapter thus serves as an introduction to this section on the methodology of self-study.
Growing interest in the development of preservice teacher educators’ professional knowledge has been accompanied by increasing
activity by teacher educators as researchers of their own professional practices. Self-study of teacher education practices
has emerged as one important way of understanding this work, helping teacher educators explore questions about how knowledge
of teaching about teaching develops, what informs approaches taken to examine and develop such knowledge, and how teacher
educators’ choices affect their students’ learning about practice. This chapter addresses the motivations of teacher educators
engaged in self-study of their own practices and the growth of knowledge of teaching about teaching that has developed through
such work. The chapter illustrates how the nature of the knowledge developed by teacher educators about their practices is
often rich in complexity and ambiguity. Within the problematic world of teaching about teaching, one way of conceptualizing
this knowledge is as a series of tensions that influence teacher educators’ learning about practice developed through self-study.
This chapter explores the relationship between professional knowledge and teacher education and the ways self-study research
might strengthen that relationship. To do this, using a cartography metaphor, a series of questions are asked and answered
with the Offerarching question of, "What counts as knowledge in the research on the self-study of teaching practices?" Topics
in this chapter include: a discussion about the nature of knowledge; a review of the professional knowledge base as it relates
to teacher education including political, moral, and ethical issues; and, an examination of how self-study can-should influence
these considerations. In the last section of the chapter, the third space is explored as a place where alternative perspectives
can challenge the traditional framework for approaching research.