scholarly journals Impact of Motivational Languaging Activities on Novice English Teachers’ Motivation: An Activity Theory Perspective

2021 ◽  
pp. 139-157
Author(s):  
Hyun Soo Kim ◽  
Tae-Young Kim
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
South Korea ◽  
Activity Theory ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Teacher Motivation ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Teacher Agency ◽  
Teacher Community ◽  
Ideal Teacher

The study aims to explore the influence of languaging on novice English teachers’ motivation and to investigate the uniqueness of each English teacher’s reactions to motivational languaging activities (MLAs) from an Activity Theory (AT) perspective. Three novice English teachers at secondary schools in South Korea were interviewed using questions based on an AT framework, and they completed six sets of MLAs consisting of two parts: motivation and languaging. Our findings indicated that the two relatively motivated teachers could use MLAs to develop their ideal teacher identity and improve their teaching confidence. By participating in MLAs, a demotivated teacher can reshape her thoughts regarding teaching and motivate herself again. It has also been shown that MLAs can mediate participation in an imaginary teacher community, possibly leading to enhancement of L2 teacher motivation, but that this also might not occur depending on one’s teacher agency.

scholarly journals Artefacts, practices and pedagogies: teaching writing in English in the NAPLAN era

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susanne Gannon ◽  
Jennifer Dove
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Schools ◽  
English Teachers ◽  
Teaching Writing ◽  
Pedagogical Practices ◽  
Deep Dive ◽  
Geographically Dispersed ◽  
English Classes ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
Teaching Of Writing

AbstractIn secondary schools, English teachers are often made responsible for writing results in national testing. Yet there have been few studies that focussed on this key group, or on how pedagogical practices have been impacted in the teaching of writing in their classrooms. This study investigated practices of English teachers in four secondary schools across different states, systems and regions. It developed a novel method of case study at a distance that required no classroom presence or school visits for the researchers and allowed a multi-sited and geographically dispersed design. Teachers were invited to select classroom artefacts pertaining to the teaching of writing in their English classes, compile individualised e-portfolios and reflect on these items in writing and in digitally conducted interviews, as well as elaborating on their broader philosophies and feelings about the teaching of writing. Despite and sometimes because of NAPLAN, these teachers held strong views on explicit teaching of elements of writing, but approached these in different ways. The artefacts that they created animated their teaching practices, connected them to their students and their subject, suggested both the pressure of externally driven homogenising approaches to writing and the creative individualised responses of skilled teachers within their unique contexts. In addition to providing granular detail about pedagogical practices in the teaching of writing in the NAPLAN era, the contribution of this paper lies in its methodological adaptation of case study at a distance through teacher-curated artefact portfolios that enabled a deep dive into individual teachers’ practices.

scholarly journals Beginning Student Teachers’ Professional Identity

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 151-164
Author(s):  
Gregor STEINBEIß
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Professional Identity ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Working Environment ◽  
First Year ◽  
First Year Students ◽  
Ideal Teacher ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Teacher Students

Abstract: This article investigates teachers’ professional identity of beginning first-year students through their beliefs about being a teacher. The presented study focuses on Austrian teacher students’ (N=18) conceptions of becoming a professional; what convictions student teachers reflect on, which professional identity emerges and what synthesis of a professional teacher identity position can be portrayed at the beginning of teacher education. Through inductively driven content analysis all statements (N=401) have been combined, and a unified synthesis of a beginning student teachers’ professional identity was formed. Three main categories were found: the “ideal” teacher, “good” teaching, and the “optimal” working environment. The results showed a highly idealistic view of being a teacher. The majority of statements referred to teaching from a pupil-centered perspective by strongly emphasising personality traits, student-teacher relationships, and teachers’ professional knowledge. Based on the results, the role of professional identity in Austrian’s teacher education is discussed, and further implementations in research are recommended.

Conceptualizing Teacher Agency for Inclusive Education: A Systematic and International Review

2020 ◽  
pp. 088840642092697
Author(s):  
Lingyu Li ◽  
Andrea Ruppar
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Inclusive Education ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Professional Competence ◽  
Empirical Studies ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Active Role ◽  
Teacher Agency ◽  
Education Professional Development ◽  
Academic Search

Teachers can and should play a powerful active role in promoting societal inclusion and equity for all learners. There is an emerging interest among teacher education scholars in teacher agency and its importance; however, a theoretical and empirical understanding of teacher agency remains elusive. The purposes of this systematic review are to synthesize existing theories of teacher agency and summarize factors enhancing or constraining teacher agency for inclusive education. Implications for teacher education, professional development, and future studies were discussed. The electronic databases Academic Search Premier, Education Research Complete, ERIC, and PsycINFO were systematically searched for articles published until January 2019. Nine empirical studies were identified to inform the three-dimensional (i.e., iterational, practical-evaluative, projective) and temporal-relational nature of teacher agency, with inclusive teacher identity, professional competence, inclusive professional philosophy, autonomy, and reflexivity as its five core aspects.

scholarly journals Understanding the Professional Practice of Teachers of Chinese as an Additional Language through the Lens of Teacher Agency

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 7493
Author(s):  
Min Bao ◽  
Wei Ren ◽  
Danping Wang
Keyword(s):  
Content Knowledge ◽  
Professional Practice ◽  
Teacher Identity ◽  
Language Teachers ◽  
Teacher Agency ◽  
Teaching Materials ◽  
Materials Development ◽  
Pedagogical Content ◽  
Teachers Experiences ◽  
Teachers Beliefs

Teacher agency plays a key role in sustaining the professional practice of language teachers, including teachers of Chinese as an additional language (CAL), to ensure sustainable multilingualism in universities. This paper reports on an exploratory study that examined five CAL teachers’ experiences of using teaching materials in a leading Belarussian university. Drawing on theorization about teacher agency, the analysis of the participants’ experiences helped to reveal the manifestations of teacher agency in their engagement with teaching materials in their teaching, which emerged from interactions between individual aspirations and contextual conditions. In particular, the findings highlight that three factors, namely teachers’ beliefs, teacher identity, and relationships within their community, play significant roles in mediating the participants’ exercise of agency in using teaching materials. The findings not only contribute to the conceptualization of teacher agency, but suggest that pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and materials development of CAL teachers should be emphasized in supporting effective teaching, so that they can achieve sustainable professional practice to ensure sustainable multilingualism in universities.

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