Teaching literature following loss: teachers’ adherence to emotional rules

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mandie Bevels Dunn
Keyword(s):  
Emotional Response ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Literature Instruction ◽  
Relational Dynamics ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Reader Responses ◽  
Personal Loss ◽  
Teachers And Students

Purpose This study aims to explore how teachers changed literature instruction in English language arts (ELA) classrooms following personal loss, and identifies factors influencing those changes. The author argues teachers regulated their responses to literature according to emotional rules they perceived to be associated with the teaching profession. Understanding teachers’ responses helps educators, teacher educators and educational researchers consider what conditions and supports may be required for teachers and students to share emotions related to loss in authentic ways in ELA classrooms. Design/methodology/approach To examine changes teachers made in literature instruction following personal loss, the author conducted a thematic analysis of 80 questionnaire responses. Findings The author found teachers changed literature instruction related to three areas: teachers’ relationship to students, teachers’ instruction surrounding texts and teachers’ reader responses. Responses highlighted how teachers adhered to emotional rules, including a perception of teachers as authorities and caretakers of children. Teachers considered literature instruction to require maintaining focus on texts, and avoided emotional response unless it aided textual comprehension. Originality/value Scholars have argued for literature instruction inclusive of both loss experiences and also emotional response, with particular focus on students’ loss experiences. This study focuses on teachers’ experiences and responses to literature following loss, highlighting factors that influence, and at times inhibit, teachers’ authentic sharing of experiences and emotions. The author argues teachers require support to bring loss experiences into literature instruction as they navigate emotional response within the relational dynamics of the classroom.

Career advancement or teacher development? Teachers’ perceptions of writing publications in China

2014 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 306-318
Author(s):  
Jocelyn L.N. Wong
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Development ◽  
Career Advancement ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Daily Practice ◽  
Teaching Profession ◽  
Contributing Factors ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Teachers Perceptions ◽  
Systematic Training

Purpose – Studies in teacher research have seldom discussed the effects of writing publications and teachers’ views on it. This paper aims to examine how teachers in China regard the purpose of writing up research papers and its impact on their professional practice. It also investigates facilitating factors in preparing and writing publications. Design/methodology/approach – This is a qualitative study which mainly analyses interview data gathered from 14 teachers, who have experience in writing publications, from three schools in Shanghai, China. Documentary analysis includes selected published journal papers and book chapters of the interviewees. Findings – Findings show that teachers perceive producing publications as serving both an instrumental purpose of career advancement and a developmental purpose of enhancing their individual professional competency which in turn improves the quality of the teaching profession through knowledge transfer and knowledge transportation. Research limitations/implications – Contributing factors to help teachers to write include the provision of systematic training courses for teachers and the development of network and research partners. Originality/value – Findings of this study help school leaders and teacher educators better their understanding of improving the quality of practice of teachers through equipping them with a “stance of inquiry”. Findings suggest ways to provide relevant support to enhance the writing capacity of teachers. More importantly, a revision of the existing teacher promotion system may make the practice of writing publications of more direct value to teachers’ daily practice.

Creating “them” and “us”

2019 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-60
Author(s):  
Mary Tomsic ◽  
Claire Marika Deery
Keyword(s):  
Picture Books ◽  
English Language ◽  
Refugee Crisis ◽  
Forced Displacement ◽  
Teaching Materials ◽  
Teaching Resources ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Forced Movement

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine how the contemporary “refugee crisis” is being presented to children through picture books and teaching materials. It uses the concept of refugeedom as an approach that takes into account the multiple facets involved in the forced movement of people in the past and present and seeks to show the value of historical understandings in educational contexts when framing resources for teachers and students. Design/methodology/approach The paper examines a sample of high-profile English language picture books about children’s stories of forced displacement and the most prominent freely available teaching materials connected to the books. A critical discursive analysis of the books and educative guides considers the ways in which ideas and information about forced displacement is framed for child readers and children in primary school classrooms. The context for the authors’ interest in exploring these books and educational resources is that in response to the numbers of children who are part of the current “refugee crisis” alongside a public call for the “crisis” to be explained to children. Findings The paper argues that picture books open up spaces for children to explore refugeedom through experiences of forced movement and various factors involved in the contemporary “refugee crisis”. In contrast, in the teaching resources and some peritextual materials, the child in the classroom is addressed as entirely disconnected from children who are forcibly displaced, students in classrooms are positioned to learn from the refugee “other”. When links are made between students in classroom and children who have been forcibly displaced it is through activities that position students in classrooms to imagine themselves as forcibly displaced, or to suggest they act within a humanitarian framework of welcoming or helping refugees. The authors believe that if teaching resources were more directly informed by discipline specific tools of historical concepts, more nuanced approaches to past and present histories of forced movement could be considered and from that more fruitful learning opportunities created for all students. Practical implications This research provides ideas about how materials to support the use of picture books in educational settings could be developed to promote historical thinking and contextualisation around key social and political issues in the world today. It also makes the case for historians to be involved in the creation of teaching materials in a collaborative way so that academic insights can be brought to teachers and students at all levels of education. Originality/value The value of this research is to understand how children are positioned in reading and learning about forced displacement and query the impact of decontextualised approaches to learning. It argues for the critical interpretative value that historical understanding can bring to present day issues which are history in the making.

Anti-racist, anti-gay: a white Evangelical English teacher’s negotiations of her faith and critical inquiry

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 108-123
Author(s):  
Christopher Alan Olshefski
Keyword(s):  
Religious Identity ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
English Education ◽  
Religious Faith ◽  
English Teacher ◽  
Critical Inquiry ◽  
Structural Racism ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
English Classroom

Purpose The purpose of this study is to examine how the religious beliefs and experiences of a white Evangelical English teacher, Amy, shaped her enactment of critical inquiry pedagogy in her English classroom. Design/methodology/approach This study drew on three in-depth interviews focused on a white Evangelical English teacher’s negotiation of her faith and understanding of critical inquiry issues in her teaching. Findings The teacher embraced anti-racist pedagogy by aligning definitions of structural racism with her understanding of the inherent sinfulness of humankind. She did so at the risk of her standing within her Evangelical community that largely rejected anti-racism. On the other hand, the teacher struggled with embracing LGBTQ+ advocacy, believing that affirmation of LGBTQ+ identities ran counter to her beliefs in “the gospel.” Her theological beliefs created complications for her when students brought the issue up in her class. Practical implications This study illustrates the way an English teacher incorporated anti-racism into both her teaching and religious identity, demonstrating that for some, the main concepts promoted in teacher education programs are held against a theological standard. It suggests that more work must be made by English teacher educators to provide space for religious pre-service teachers to find religious justification for engaging in LGBTQ+ advocacy. Originality/value One of the goals of English education is to encourage students to read texts and the world critically. However, the critical inquiry may be seen by Evangelical teachers and students as value-laden, too political and hostile to religious faith. This study examines the tensions that arise for an English teacher who is a white Evangelical. It contributes to possible strategies for the field to address these tensions.

The relationship between novice and experienced EFL teachers’ reflective teaching and their burnout

2017 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 169-187
Author(s):  
Soha Kalantari ◽  
Shole Kolahi
Keyword(s):  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Negative Relationship ◽  
Teaching Experience ◽  
Maslach Burnout Inventory ◽  
Reflective Teaching ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Significant Negative Relationship ◽  
Efl Teachers ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between novice and experienced English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ reflective teaching, and their burnout. Design/methodology/approach Participants who took part in this study included 158 (78 novice/80 experienced) EFL teachers of different ages (22-50) and teaching experience (1-25) from Tehran and Hamedan. They completed the English Language Teacher Reflective Inventory developed by Akbari et al. (2010), and the Maslach Burnout Inventory-Educator’s Survey developed by Maslach et al. (1996). The participants were selected via convenience sampling. Findings The results of two separate Pearson product-moment coefficients revealed that reflective teaching had a significant negative relationship with both novice and experienced EFL teachers’ burnout. Furthermore, the results of two separate regressions indicated that reflective teaching was a significant predictor of both novice and experienced EFL teachers’ burnout. Originality/value The findings of this study can help teacher educators and curriculum developers grasp a better picture of novice and experienced EFL instructors’ means of professional development (i.e. reflective teaching) and its relationship with educational and practical aspects of their career (i.e. burnout).

Expanding repertoires of resistance

2019 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 188-203 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kara Michelle Taylor ◽  
Evan M. Taylor ◽  
Paul Hartman ◽  
Rebecca Woodard ◽  
Andrea Vaughan ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Narrative Inquiry ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Inquiry Group ◽  
Grade Levels ◽  
Personal Experiences ◽  
Open Coding ◽  
Critical Pedagogies ◽  
Problematic Situations

Purpose This paper aims to examine how a collaborative narrative inquiry focused on cultivating critical English Language Arts (ELA) pedagogies supported teacher agency, or “the capacity of actors to critically shape their own responsiveness to problematic situations” (Emirbayer and Mische, 1998, p. 971). Design/methodology/approach Situated in a semester-long inquiry group, eight k-16 educators used narrative inquiry processes (Clandinin, 1992) to write and collectively analyze (Ezzy, 2002) stories describing personal experiences that brought them to critical ELA pedagogies. They engaged in three levels of analysis across the eight narratives, including open coding, thematic identification, and identification of how the narrative inquiry impacted their classroom practices. Findings Across the narratives, the authors identify what aspects of the ELA reading, writing and languaging curriculum emerged as problematic; situate themselves in systems of oppression and privilege; and examine how processes of critical narrative inquiry contributed to their capacities to respond to these issues. Research limitations/implications Collaborative narrative inquiry between teachers and teacher educators (Sjostrom and McCoyne, 2017) can be a powerful method to cultivate critical pedagogies. Practical implications Teachers across grade levels, schools, disciplines and backgrounds can collectively organize to cultivate critical ELA pedagogies. Originality/value Although coordinated opportunities to engage in critical inquiry work across k-16 contexts are rare, the authors believe that the knowledge, skills and confidence they gained through this professional inquiry sensitized them to oppressive curricular norms and expanded their repertoires of resistance.

Revisiting native speaking teachers of English in Hong Kong

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 53-68
Author(s):  
Darren A. Bryant
Keyword(s):  
Hong Kong ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Policy Makers ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Post Colonial ◽  
English Language Teachers ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Native Speaking Teachers

Purpose – In 1997, Joseph Boyle critiqued the Hong Kong Government’s policy of recruiting native-speaking teachers (NSTs) of English into secondary schools. Boyle examined NSTs from a post-colonial and socio-linguistic stance. He concluded that the scheme was “largely ineffective” and that efforts to expand the scheme would likely fail due to the government’s implicit lack of trust in the capacities of non-native-speaking teachers’ (NNSTs) of English. However, almost two decades later the scheme has expanded across the primary and secondary sectors. The purpose of this paper is to explore how changing educational contexts and reform efforts have influenced conceptions of NSTs as articulated in Hong Kong policy. Design/methodology/approach – The research is approached retrospectively through an interpretivist paradigm, analysing policy documents, implementation materials, evaluation reports, and interview transcripts. Over 41 scheme stakeholders participated in the interviews, inclusive of policy makers, government officials, academics, teacher educators, principals and teachers, who were active over different phases of the scheme. Findings – The intended role and perceived competencies of the NSTs have been impacted by imported education reforms leading to new rationales for maintaining and expanding NST deployment. These shifts, however, lead to new tensions among idealised images of NSTs, their capacities, and the aims of policy makers and scheme implementers. Originality/value – The value of this paper lies in its reconsideration of the role of NSTs in light of educational reform efforts influenced by global change. This perspective varies from conventional critiques that focus on NSTs’ and NNSTs’ differing capacities as English language teachers by considering the impact of historic developments on later policies, and the tendency of policy makers to legitimise reform by importing international innovations. Second, it demonstrates how idealised images of NSTs simultaneously justify policies and pose challenges to effective implementation.

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.

scholarly journals Qualities of a Good English Language Teacher from the Perspectives of Textbook Authors in the Field of Language Teaching, Teachers, and Learners

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammad Mohammaditabar ◽  
Mohammad Sadegh Bagheri ◽  
Mortaza Yamini ◽  
Ehsan Rassaei
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
English Language ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Language Teaching ◽  
Qualitative Content Analysis ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Chi Square ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Physical Attributes

Researchers in the field of language teaching have long been fascinated by the qualities of good teachers. Such qualities have rarely been approached qualitatively from different angles in a single study. Thus, this research aimed to unearth the qualities in question by employing a qualitative multimethod approach. To this end, 23 randomly selected standard language teaching textbooks were analyzed by two coders using qualitative content analysis. The judiciously adopted codes from the analysis were employed to design and carry out semi-structured interviews with nine effective language teachers as well as ten good learners nominated via purposeful sampling. The data gleaned from the semi-interviews were once again analyzed through qualitative content analysis. The collective initial coding of the three datasets resulted in thirteen themes: knowledge of pedagogy, rapport, critical thinking, empathy, rhetoric, knowledge of subject matter, enthusiasm, respect, humor, consciousness, fairness, authenticity, and physical attributes. Conducting a second-level coding, we uncovered two broad themes, namely personality and professionalism with the former being significantly weightier collectively. The application of Chi-Square at this point showed that the associations between the three datasets were meaningful. The findings of the semi-structured interviews of participant teachers and students corroborated those of authors in the field of language teaching. Also, rapport and pedagogy were respectively viewed as the most salient attributes associated with good language teachers by the interviewed informants. The study holds clear implications for interested researchers, language teachers, and teacher educators.

scholarly journals The creative chain of activities towards educational management transformation

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (7) ◽  
pp. 1718-1732 ◽  
Author(s):  
Monica Lemos ◽  
Fernanda Liberali
Keyword(s):  
Educational System ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Educational Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Guides ◽  
Community Needs ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Educational Management Organization ◽  
The City

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore a formative intervention project that was developed for the Municipal Secretariat of Education in São Paulo, Brazil for the broad development of all levels of educational management (teacher educators, coordinators, principals, teachers and students). Thus, the creative chain of activities is a key theoretical framework for promoting critical collaboration in order to cross the boundaries of educational management organization. Design/methodology/approach The authors use data from the Management in Creative Chains Project (Liberali, 2012), as a way to enable the wide development of all levels of educational management. Data comprise formative meetings in which different educational managers system take part in two settings, the regional board with 25 schools and one of the participating schools. The analysis is based on thematic content and argumentative organization, and on critical situations and the potentials they entailed. Findings The study guides to the conclusions of the process of creative chain as a possibility to expand management in the educational system and its community. Research limitations/implications Every time there is a change in the mayors, there are changes in the way of addressing school management in the city. However, after the project, considerations about the needs of the communities became part of the public policy regardless of who is in charge of the city and its educational system. Practical implications This study can be used for transformation in the management and teaching and learning activities and improvement of the school-community relation. Social implications Socially this study can lead to improvement in the quality of life in the community and at school. Originality/value Differently from a top down educational management, which enables a reproductive chain, educational management in a creative chain, considering the community needs, enables subjects to become interdependent to expand and transform the activities in the educational system and hence the communities’ reality.

scholarly journals Lesson study as a vehicle for improving SEND teachers’ teaching skills

2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 193-202
Author(s):  
Mona Holmqvist
Keyword(s):  
Professional Development ◽  
Lesson Study ◽  
Teacher Educators ◽  
Limited Area ◽  
Special Educational Needs ◽  
Content Type ◽  
System Leaders ◽  
Teachers And Students ◽  
Service Training ◽  
Collaborative Professional Development

PurposeCollaborative professional development for inclusive teaching is a limited area of research, although there is an extensive need for special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) teachers. Research findings of how teachers’ professional development can contribute to support the development of powerful learning situations for all students are presented in this special issue. The aim is to contribute to the knowledge of how the use of lesson study can develop teachers’ capabilities to offer high-quality education for students with SEND.Design/methodology/approachThe guest editor presents each of the papers and introduces key themes and concepts.FindingsThe collection of papers is divided into two themes; the first has a focus on lesson study used by teacher educators during SEND in-service training. In this theme, the teachers are the students who are studying different fields of SEND, supported by teacher educators. The second theme studies different forms of lesson studies carried out by researchers and teachers in the collaboration focused aspects of content that are of importance for students in SEND.Research limitations/implicationsThe papers focus on areas of education with a limited research tradition, and as a result, the studies may be seen as starting points for further research. The results so far lack generalisability. Therefore, the researchers have to test the findings further under different conditions and with wider groups of teachers and students.Practical implicationsThe results of the papers can be used to develop both SEND teacher education, and collaborative professional development for in-service SEND teachers. This issue will, therefore, be of interest to school and system leaders.Originality/valueThe papers contribute initial findings from an under-researched area and also combine lesson study with methods and designs not previously explored.

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