Addressing English teachers’ concerns about decentering Standard English

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 363-374 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Metz
Keyword(s):  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Standard English ◽  
Content Type ◽  
English Classrooms ◽  
The Usa

Purpose This paper aims to address concerns of English teachers considering opening up their classrooms to multiple varieties of English. Design/methodology/approach Drawing on the author’s experience as a teacher educator and professional developer in different regions of the USA, this narrative paper groups teachers’ concerns into general categories and offers responses to the most common questions. Findings Teachers want to know why they should make room in their classrooms for multiple Englishes; what they should teach differently; how they learn about English variation; how to balance Standardized English and other Englishes; and how these apply to English Learners and/or White speakers of Standardized English. Practical implications The study describes the author’s approach to teaching about language as a way to promote social justice and equality, the value of increasing students’ linguistic repertoires and why it is necessary to address listeners as well as speakers. As teachers attempt to adopt and adapt new approaches to teaching English language suggested in the research literature, they need to know their challenges and concerns are heard and addressed. Teacher educators working to support these teachers need ways to address teachers’ concerns. Social implications This paper emphasizes the importance of teaching mainstream, White, Standard English-speaking students about English language variation. By emphasizing the role of the listener and teaching students to hear language through an expanded language repertoire, English teachers can reduce the prejudice attached to historically stigmatized dialects of English. Originality/value This paper provides a needed perspective on how to work with teachers who express legitimate concerns about what it means to decenter Standardized English in English classrooms.

The morphing assessment terrain for English learners in US schools

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 110-126
Author(s):  
Mary Hutchinson ◽  
Xenia Hadjioannou
Keyword(s):  
No Child Left Behind ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
English Learners ◽  
English Language ◽  
Proficiency Tests ◽  
Content Type ◽  
State Tests ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Key Policy ◽  
Every Student Succeeds Act

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of the public policy reshaping the assessment terrain for English learners (ELs) across the USA and to consider the implications and impact of these practices on sustaining and supporting a diverse student population in today’s schools. Design/methodology/approach The authors review the literature and publicly available policy documents to trace key policy trends over the past 15 years that have shaped the current educational landscape and assessment practices for ELs in the USA. Findings In the USA, the 2015 Common Core State Standards (CCSSs) assessments generated worrisome results for ELs, as significant numbers had failing scores in English language arts and math. These results are juxtaposed to public policies that impact the educational experience of ELs, including No Child Left Behind and the CCSS, and which, despite their stated intentions to ameliorate the achievement gap, are found to be assimilationist in nature. Indeed, a review of the initiatives of developing common EL standards and English language proficiency tests and the recommendations for EL accommodations in state tests suggests several areas of concern. The recently passed Every Student Succeeds Act focuses on this vulnerable population, but there are concerns that the continued focus on accountability and testing will do little to facilitate academic progress for these students. Practical implications The paper recommends a need to reevaluate the support and testing process for ELs to stem widespread failure and ascertain the sustenance of democratic and diversified schools. Originality/value The study provides an overview of key policy trends, outlines and critiques recent changes in the assessment of ELs and draws implications for practice.

Accessible tourism: a bibliometric review (2008–2020)

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Guanghui Qiao ◽  
Liu Ding ◽  
Linlin Zhang ◽  
Huili Yan
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Sampling Frame ◽  
Multiple Sources ◽  
Knowledge Maps ◽  
Tourism Research ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Bibliometric Review

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to reveal the knowledge evolution process, research hotspots and future trends in the accessible tourism research literature from 2008 to 2020. Design/methodology/approach A total of 213 articles on accessible tourism were selected from the core collection database of Web of Science (WoS) and analyzed using CiteSpace. Findings Over the 13-year period between 2008 and 2020, an increasing number of studies have been published concerning accessible tourism, but the overall base is still small. The research content mainly includes six modules. Among institutions, the University of Technology Sydney has published the largest number of papers. Cooperation among countries involves the USA, the United Kingdom, Australia, Portugal and China. Tourism Management is the leading journal for disseminating research on accessible tourism. Definition of “Accessible tourism” and the different scope of this phenomenon are re-discussed. In recent years, “experience” and “participation” have become the “new favorites” in accessible tourism research, which could reveal insights into future research directions. Research limitations/implications The sampling frame was defined in terms of the WoS database and even though this is an important database for global academic information, in the big data era, the authors may have to integrate information from multiple sources to comprehensively reveal and understand knowledge maps. Second, because of the operational constraints of the CiteSpace software, the authors only selected outputs published in peer-reviewed journals, excluding other published works, such as books and conference papers. Finally, because of the language restrictions of the authors, this research is limited to journals published in the English language. Practical implications Practically, the results of this study made a conclusion of accessible tourism research so that the researchers can easily know what has currently been done and what future research can do. Tourism managers can also understand the demands and the constraints of tourism for the people who have barriers to travel. They can supply more specific products for the accessible tourism and further promote the construction of barrier-free travel environments. Originality/value This paper unifies the literature on senior tourism and people with disabilities tourism, and uses CiteSpace to construct data and network visualizations, including a burst and dynamic analysis for the period covered by the sample. Furthermore, this paper proposed a more diversified accessible tourism.

One educator, four perspectives

2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 260-269 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Stearns-Pfeiffer
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
English Education ◽  
Teacher Education Program ◽  
Classroom Teacher ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Strong Support ◽  
Secondary English ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Standards Implementation ◽  
The Usa

Purpose – The author of this paper aims to reflect on the past 14 years of English education in the USA and the resulting effects of state standards and standards implementation on secondary English teachers. Design/methodology/approach – Controversy surrounding standards implementation often includes balancing the struggle between teacher autonomy and district-mandated curriculum. The journey described here includes four roles in education: first, an undergraduate in a teacher education program at a state university; second, a classroom teacher learning to create pacing guides based on the standards; third, a graduate student writing a dissertation about standards implementation; and, fourth, a teacher educator who works with pre-service and practicing teachers. Findings – Educators at all levels must determine how to best navigate standards to help students succeed in the classroom, and what teaching practices must endure even in the face of increased standardization. Originality/value – Lack of curricular autonomy and few teacher-centered professional development opportunities during early standards implementation experiences led the author to understand the importance of a workshop model of standards implementation for teachers. In addition, strong support for reading and writing workshops in the secondary English Language Arts classroom is also provided, including the specific Common Core Standards met during these classroom activities.

Accommodating linguistic prejudice? Examining English teachers’ language ideologies

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mike Metz
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Language Use ◽  
Language Ideologies ◽  
Belief Systems ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Linguistic Knowledge ◽  
High School English ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Linguistic Prejudice

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to support the integration of scientifically grounded linguistic knowledge into language teaching in English Language Arts (ELA) classrooms through building an understanding of what teachers currently know and believe about language.Design/methodology/approachIn total, 310 high school English teachers in the USA responded to a survey about their language beliefs. Statistical analysis of responses identified four distinct constructs within their belief systems. Sub-scales were created for each construct, and hierarchical regressions helped identify key characteristics that predicted beliefs along a continuum from traditional/hegemonic to linguistically informed/counter-hegemonic.FindingsKey findings include the identification of four belief constructs: beliefs about how language reveals speaker characteristics, beliefs about how society perceives language use, beliefs about how language should be treated in schools and beliefs about the English teacher’s role in addressing language use. In general, teachers expressed counter-hegemonic beliefs for their own role and their view of speaker characteristics. They expressed hegemonic beliefs for societal perceptions and the dominant school language narrative. Taking a linguistics class was associated with counter-hegemonic beliefs, and teaching longer was associated with more hegemonic beliefs.Practical implicationsThe findings of this study suggest that the longer teachers teach within a system that promotes hegemonic language practices, the more they will align their own beliefs with those practices, despite having learned linguistic facts that contradict pervasive societal beliefs about language. The Dominant School Language Narrative currently accommodates, rather that disrupting, linguistic prejudice.Originality/valueA current understanding of teachers’ language ideologies is a key step in designing teacher professional development to help align teaching practices with established linguistic knowledge and to break down a socially constructed linguistic hierarchy based on subjective, and frequently prejudicial, beliefs.

Making room for discomfort

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 290-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Betina Hsieh
Keyword(s):  
Preservice Teacher ◽  
Critical Literacy ◽  
Teacher Candidates ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Secondary Literacy ◽  
Self Reflection ◽  
The Usa ◽  
Literacy Course

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to relay and discuss the experiences of a teacher educator teaching critical literacy to preservice teacher candidates immediately following the US presidential election in 2016. In a time of increasing polarization in the USA, teachers and teacher educators have unique opportunities to create honest spaces for dialogue, but developing classrooms that can serve as these spaces is not an easy task. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a self-study practitioner narrative of a teacher educator teaching a secondary literacy course. Findings The paper discusses the importance of addressing critical literacy in the context of particular historical moments and as more sustained, engaged work that makes room for minority voices that may not be heard across particular settings. The findings prompt teachers and teacher educators to consider whose voices are present, absent and valued during difficult conversations. Originality/value Making room for uncomfortable dialogues in preservice teacher education classrooms can transform the ways in which teacher candidates (and their future students) engage with written and non-traditional texts in the world around them. Promoting spaces for critical, authentic and honest dialogue requires teacher educators to model the willingness to move beyond their own comfort zones and interrogate their own deeply help beliefs. This paper is evidence of engaged self-reflection, a necessary part of transformative practice related to critical literacy.

Mindfulness for teachers: notes toward a discursive cartography

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 91-108
Author(s):  
Remy Low
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Design Methodology ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Entry Point ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Educational Researcher ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Discursive Formation ◽  
Heuristic Device

Purpose For the interested teacher, teacher educator and educational researcher seeking an entry point into how mindfulness relates to teachers’ work, the burgeoning and divergent appeals for the relevance of mindfulness to teachers can be bewildering. The purpose of this paper is to offer teachers, teacher educators and educational researchers a conceptual framework for understanding the different orientations and sources of mindfulness as it has been recommended to teachers. Design/methodology/approach Using Foucault’s (1972) concept of “discursive formations” as a heuristic device, this paper argues that mindfulness as pitched to teachers can be helpfully understood as arising from three distinct orientations. Findings Statements about mindfulness and its relevance to teachers emerge from three distinct discursive formations – traditional, psychological and engaged – that each constitute the “problem” faced by teachers respectively as suffering, stress or alienation. Specific conceptions of mindfulness are then advanced as a solution to these problems by certain authoritative subjects and institutions in ways that are taken as legitimate within each discursive formation. Originality/value Apart from offering a historical and discursive mapping of the different discursive formations from which mindfulness is pitched to teachers, this paper also highlights how each of these orientations impies a normative view of what a teacher should be. Suggestions for further historical research are also offered along the lines of genealogy, epistemology and ontology.

Equity and justice for all

2017 ◽  
Vol 16 (3) ◽  
pp. 331-346 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valerie Kinloch ◽  
Kerry Dixon
Keyword(s):  
Critical Race Theory ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Political Climate ◽  
Critical Whiteness Studies ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Urban Teacher

Purpose This paper aims to examine the cultivation of anti-racist practices with pre- and in-service teachers in post-secondary contexts, and the tensions of engaging in this work for equity and justice in urban teacher education. Design/methodology/approach The paper relies on critical race theory (CRT) and critical whiteness studies (CWS), as well as auto-ethnographic and storytelling methods to examine how black in-service teachers working with a black teacher educator and white pre-service teachers working with a white teacher educator enacted strategies for cultivating anti-racist practices. Findings Findings indicate that for black and white educators alike, developing critical consciousness and anti-racist pedagogical practices requires naming racism as the central construct of oppression. Moreover, teachers and teacher educators demonstrated the importance of explicitly naming racism and centralizing (rather than de-centralizing) the political project of anti-racism within the current socio-political climate. Research limitations/implications In addition to racism, educators’ racialized identities must be centralized to support individual anti-racist pedagogical practices. Storying racism provides a context for this individualized work and provides a framework for disrupting master narratives embedded in educational institutions. Originality/value Much has been written about the importance of teachers connecting to students’ out-of-school lives to increase academic achievement and advance educational justice. Strategies for forging those connections include using assets-based practices and linking school curricula to students’ community and cultural identities. While these connections are important, this paper focuses on teachers’ explicit anti-racist practices in urban education.

scholarly journals Challenges and possibilities in educating EFL reading teachers

2018 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 6
Author(s):  
Juliet Hilary Munden
Keyword(s):  
Student Teachers ◽  
Short Story ◽  
Reading Strategies ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Reading Teachers ◽  
Learning Sequence ◽  
Making Sense ◽  
Core Practices

AbstractExperiencing literature is part of the English as a foreign language (EFL) subject in Norway. It is both challenging and possible to educate competent reading teachers who can foster this experience. The present article is a thematic exploration of some of these challenges and possibilities. The challenges are discussed under four headings: the profession of the teacher educator; the complaint that student teachers do not read enough; the role of national tests in forming how reading in English is taught in school; and the challenge of making sense of the concept of reading strategies. The second part of the article considers possibilities. These are grounded in the principle that teacher educators should not primarily lecture. Instead, they should alternate systematically between enactment and metacognition. The article describes scenarios in which students try out a sequence of pre-, during- and post-reading activities related to the short story “The Demon Lover” by Elizabeth Bowen. After engaging with each activity, the students take part in a reflection led by the teacher educator on their experience as readers, the learning potential of the activity, and questions related to its adaptation and organisation in a diverse school classroom. This operationalisation of a pedagogy of enactment (Grossman et al., 2009) allows student teachers to gain experience of and reflect on core practices. In the present case, the core practice is the planning and teaching of coherent and motivating learning sequences that promote increased reading motivation and proficiency in the English language classroom.Keywords: teacher education, subject English, reading strategies, learning sequence, metacognitionUtfordringer og muligheter i utdanningen av leselærere i engelskfagetSammendragLitteraturopplevelser hører til i engelskfaget i norsk skole. Det er både ut-fordrende og mulig å utdanne kompetente leselærere som kan fremme slike opplevelser. Denne artikkelen er en tematisk utforskning av noen av disse utfordringene og mulighetene. Utfordringene diskuteres under fire overskrifter: lærerutdanneren som profesjonsutøver; misnøyen med at studenter ikke leser nok; betydningen av nasjonale prøver for hvordan lesing i engelsk er undervist i skolen; og utfordringen med å forstå lesestrategier som konsept. Den andre delen av artikkelen tar for seg mulighetene som ligger i prinsippet om at lærer-utdannere ikke primært skal forelese. Isteden bør de veksle systematisk mellom utøvelse og metakognisjon. Artikkelen beskriver en sekvens hvor studenter prøver ut før-, under- og etter-lesningsaktiviteter tilknyttet Elizabeth Bowens novelle “The Demon Lover”. Etter å ha engasjert seg i hver aktivitet, deltar studentene i en refleksjon ledet av lærerutdanneren, hvor de drøfter sine opplevelser som lesere, aktivitetens læringspotensial, og spørsmål om tilpasning og organisering av aktiviteten i et mangfoldig klasserom. Denne operasjonaliseringen av en enactment-pedagogikk (Grossman et al., 2009) gir lærerstudenter anledning til å skaffe seg erfaring med og reflektere over kjerne-praksiser. I dette tilfellet er kjernepraksisen det å planlegge koherente og moti-verende læringssekvenser som fører til økt lesemotivasjon og kompetanse i det engelske klasserommet.Nøkkelord: lærerutdanning, engelskfaget, lesestrategier, læringsøkt, metakogni¬sjon

scholarly journals Re-imagining mentoring as a dynamic hub in the transformation of initial teacher education

2018 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 248-260 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rachel M. Lofthouse
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Professional Learning ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Practical Experience ◽  
Initial Teacher Education ◽  
Experienced Teacher ◽  
Content Type ◽  
School Based

Purpose Teacher education in many countries is under reform with growing differences in its form and function. This is indicative of the ongoing negotiations around the place of theory, research and practice in teachers’ professional learning. However, the demand for mentoring of trainee teachers during often extended and multiple school-based placements is a relative constant. Indeed, with the trend towards greater school-based professional experience mentoring practices become ever more critical. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach This is a conceptual paper written from the perspective of an experienced teacher educator in England, drawing on both practical experience and a body of associated research. It can be conceptualised as related to cases of practice, linked to episodes of practitioner research grounded in the ethics of the improvability of practice, the desire to meet the needs of the professional communities and a deep understanding of the demands and cultures of their workplaces. Findings Mentoring can be re-imagined as a dynamic hub within a practice development-led model for individual professional learning and institutional growth. Acting on this conceptualisation would allow mentors, trainees and other supporting teacher educators to contribute to the transformation of professional learning practices and educational contexts. Originality/value This paper goes beyond offering merely helpful guidance to participants and stakeholders in mentoring, or stipulating standards to be achieved, to considering what might be described as a hopeful or transformational stance in relation to mentoring. Teacher educators can continue to bring value to the transformation of teacher education through a focus on mentoring as an educative process.

scholarly journals Investigating and critiquing teacher educators’ mobile learning practices

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. 110-125 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kevin John Burden ◽  
Matthew Kearney
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Mobile Learning ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Teacher Educator ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Learning Practices ◽  
Creative Media ◽  
The Uk

Purpose This study aims to investigate contemporary mobile learning practices in teacher education, exploring the following research question: how are teacher educators exploiting the pedagogical features of mobile learning? Design/methodology/approach The study uses data from an online survey that elicited information about how 46 teacher educator participants were using distinctive mobile pedagogical features (Personalisation, Authenticity and Collaboration) in their mobile learning practices. It uses the iPAC theoretical framework to analyse the data collected. Findings Findings indicated high self-ratings of authenticity, and positive perceptions of collaborative sharing (Collaboration construct), often involving generative tasks that required use of creative, media production mobile applications. There were weaker perceptions of personalisation and online conversation (Collaboration construct). In light of these findings, we discuss implications for teacher education and recommend future directions for research and development. Research limitations/implications This study underlines our contention that teacher educators struggle to exploit the entire range of mobile pedagogical approaches. The findings suggest that teacher educators are cautiously exploring the potential for online collaboration mediated through mobile devices, but have not yet fully grasped the opportunities to design tasks which exploit (and model) the personalised nature of m-learning. The limitations of the study include the size of the sample (46), its self-selected nature and its bias towards Australian and the UK respondents. Practical implications In response to the issues raised in this paper, the authors are developing a mobile learning toolkit (www.mobilelearningtoolkit.com) for teacher educators. Originality/value There is a scarcity of m-learning studies in teacher education exploring pedagogical insights, and the views of teacher educators themselves are often absent.

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