Learning to prove: enculturation or…?

Empirical evidence coming from a curriculum innovation experience that we have been implementing in the Universidad Pedagógica Nacional (Colombia), in a plane geometry course for secondary mathematics pre-service teachers, allows us to affirm that learning to prove, more than enculturation into mathematicians’ practices, is participation in proving activity within the community of mathematical discourse

Crossing borders: new teachers co-constructing professional identity in performative times

This paper draws on a range of theoretical perspectives on the construction of new teachers’ professional identity. It focuses particularly on the impact of the development in many national education systems of a performative culture of the management and regulation of teachers’ work. Whilst the role of interactions with professional colleagues and school managers in the performative school has been extensively researched, less attention has been paid to new teachers’ interactions with students. This paper highlights the need for further research focusing on the process of identity co-construction with students. A key theoretical concept employed is that of liminality, the space within which identities are in transition as teachers adjust to the culture of a new professional workplace, and the nature of the engagement of new teachers, or teachers who change schools, with students. The authors argue that an investigation into the processes of this co-construction of identity offers scope for new insights into the extent to which teachers might construct either a teacher identity at odds with their personal and professional values, or a more ‘authentic’ identity that counters performative discourses. These insights will in turn add to our understanding of the complex range of factors impacting on teacher resilience and motivation

Brave Forms of Mentoring Supported by Technology in Teacher Education

Indexación: Web of ScienceQuality education is undoubtedly a global concern, tied closely to preoccupations with economic and social development. Increasingly, the adoption and effective use of current technology tools are being recognized as visible signs of that quality. Scholars are providing increasing evidence of the kinds of empowered teacher identities that will adopt the effective use of technology tools in teaching. Less is being discussed about how technology can support the processes needed to mediate such identities. The context of Teacher Education is a strategic place to begin to initiate such processes. Our aim in this article is twofold: 1) to describe two recent examples of innovative, technology - supported mentoring processes that were conducted in the context of an EFL Teacher Education program in Chile; 2) to revisit the findings of these studies in light of new evidence from participants who have moved on in their careers. This evidence is viewed in the framework of recent scholarship on the responsibilities that Teacher Education plays in their development. The first 16-month study examined the influences of a guided reading program involving e-readers on the identities and literacy skills of pre-service teachers. The second was a student-conceived study. That inquiry sought to determine the influence of upper year students' peer mentoring, made available partly through a social media site (SMS), on the identities and investment in learning of 12 firs-year students in the pedagogy program. The initial evidence from ethnographic tools used in both studies indicated that the participants were struggling with confidence and doubting themselves as knowledgeable, effective future teachers - not predictive of a potential for quality teaching. Positive signs at the end of both studies and more recent reports from participants suggest that the mentoring had longitudinal benefits for some, although not uniformly. The potential of apprenticeship and mentoring in a technology-supported environment requires rethinking Teacher Education mandates if we are to empower emerging teachers to be quality teachers.http://www.ejel.org/issue/download.html?idArticle=48

Dialogical identities in students from cultural minorities or students categorised as presenting SEN: How do they shape learning, namely in mathematics?

Portuguese schools are multicultural. Diversity is their main characteristic. Portuguese policy documents assume inclusive principles (Ainscow & César, 2006). Students categorised as presenting Special Educational Needs (SEN) attend mainstream schools. Multiculturality and diversity are challenges to the educational system. We assume that teachers need to (re)construct the curricula, conceiving it as a mediating tool (César & Oliveira, 2005). Collaborative work facilitate students’ knowledge appropriation, the development of competencies (Elbers & de Haan, 2005), and the emergence of a learning community (Lave & Wenger, 1991). Students can be empowered and (re)construct their identities, including students whose voices are usually silenced. Identities are conceived as dialogical and conflictive (Hermans, 2001), particularly when the students’ cultures are far away from the school’s cultures, and transitions between them are difficult (César, 2003). These data are from the Interaction and Knowledge project whose main goal was to study and promote collaborative work in formal educational settings. It lasted 12 years, including classes all over the country (5th - 12th grades, 9/10 - 17/18 years old). It had two levels: (1) quasi experimental studies where different types of dyads were studied (César, 1994; Carvalho, 2001); (2) action-research studies based on interpretative/qualitative approaches, inspired in ethnographic methods; collaborative work was implemented during at least a school year (César & Santos, 2006). A ten years follow up was implemented. The cases in discussion were from two 9th grade classes, in two schools near Lisbon. Participant observation (different observers, including external evaluators; audio and/or videotaped), questionnaires, interviews, instruments inspired in projective tasks, students’ protocols and several documents were the data collecting instruments. The data analysis was a systematic and recurrent content analysis. The inductive categories and the interpretations that emerged were then discussed among the participants and by the project research group. The results illuminate that collaborative work and being part of a learning community can be powerful tools that allow students to (re)construct their identities, namely their identity as (mathematics) students. Collaborative work empowered students and had an impact in their life paths even many years after leaving the project. The participants’ accounts illuminate the role of teachers’ practices in their identities, as well as the conflicts these students had to face, namely the ones related to their cultures and to the experiences related to their categorisation as presenting SEN. Learning how to deal with these conflicts is an essential step to school achievement and to avoid exclusion

Organizational Citizenship and Teacher Evaluation: Using the T-TESS to Promote OCB and Improve Student Outcomes

Within the reach of institutional climate, organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) has received much attention in the business and psychological literature as a constructive mechanism designed to enhance group efficiency (Bateman & Organ, 1983; Organ, 1988; Podsakoff, Ahearn, & McKenzie, 1997). The essential definition indicates that organizational citizenship behavior refers to going beyond the requirements of one’s job with the understanding that taking such actions benefits the greater good (i.e., the company or school), with no expectation of reward or recognition for the action(s). Subsequent studies investigated OCB and its possible application in educational environs as a tool for improving school efficiency, climate, and student outcomes. The literature revealed that in schools where collectively high levels of faculty and administrator OCB existed, there have been improvements to school climate, school effectiveness, and student outcomes. In this paper, the researchers argue that the newly implemented teacher evaluation system used in the Texas public school system, the Texas Teacher Evaluation and Support System (T-TESS), may be leveraged as an effective planning and professional development tool to strategically and positively impact levels of OCB among the faculty, and by extension, to improve pedagogical practice, school climate, and increase student achievement

Identity performance in a TESOL classroom

Udostępnienie publikacji Wydawnictwa Uniwersytetu Łódzkiego finansowane w ramach projektu „Doskonałość naukowa kluczem do doskonałości kształcenia”. Projekt realizowany jest ze środków Europejskiego Funduszu Społecznego w ramach Programu Operacyjnego Wiedza Edukacja Rozwój; nr umowy: POWER.03.05.00-00-Z092/17-00

Ecologies of participation in school classrooms

The concept of legitimate peripheral participation was developed by considering informal learning contexts. However, its applicability to school classrooms is problematic. This is particularly so when teacher centred and decontextualised procedural practices predominate as they do in usual school mathematics classrooms. Different meanings of participation in community of practice theory are identified. The applicability of legitimate peripheral participation to school mathematics classrooms is critiqued by considering: the nature of social practice, learning relationships, power, agency, and identity. Different forms of participation in school mathematics are discussed and the concept of ecologies of participation is proposed as a means to understand the complexity and multidimensionality of participation in both formal and informal learning contexts

Charting the role of the online teacher in higher education: winds of change

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of the online teacher at the University of Southern Queensland, Australia. In this paper, it is intended to identify the issues and dilemmas facing those who are navigating the online teaching environment, to elaborate on the issues/dilemmas, and to offer some ways of addressing these issues by referring to the responses of experienced practitioners, online students, to the literature and to data collected for an Australian Government-funded educational evaluation project. Much of the data presented in this paper relates to an online course, Designing Instruction for Flexible Learning, which is part of the totally online initiative, launched at USQ in 1997. The authors of this paper have been involved in both teaching and instructional design of online courses for several years and have identified a significant shift in the role of the online teacher

Cultural Humility: A Framework for Local and Global Engagement

Many institutions of higher education have implemented local and global engagement opportunities as a way to expose both students and faculty to different cultures and further their knowledge of those cultures. One of the primary goals of these cultural experiences is for students and faculty to become more culturally competent. However, it is possible that our current way of thinking and promoting cultural competency within education specifically may not go deep enough and could be considered limiting in the ways we partner, collaborate, and interact with people groups different than ourselves. Cultural humility, a construct currently accepted in some professional preparation programs in the medical field, may be the foundation from which to shift our thinking and practices about cultural competence within education and provide a deeper meaning and understanding to our work around the globe. This article describes the experiences and reflections, as well as personal and professional applications of three faculty members from George Fox University as we have participated extensively in global engagement experiences. Each faculty member addresses three questions that we considered which directly related to our experiences and learning journeys: (1) How have we changed our perceptions or assumptions as a result of our interactions within the context of these opportunities? (2) Have we changed our practices or thinking? (3) Are we more culturally competent as a result of these experiences than before we embarked on our global engagement initiatives