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Becoming l(IT)erate : pre-service English teachers and ICTs

One of the recommended principles for classroom practice from the Digital Rhetorics Project is ‘Teachers First’, emphasising the need to prioritise the requirements of teachers in learning new technologies and in understanding their relationship to literacy education (Lankshear, Green and Snyder 2000, p. 121). While most of my pre-service English Education students use digital technologies for their own purposes and understand the benefits of doing so, it is not always straightforward regarding how technology can be effectively utilised in their classroom and for what purposes. This article reports work conducted with pre-service English Education teachers in an elective unit that focuses upon digital technologies in secondary classrooms. Using Green’s 3D model of literacy as a way of understanding the complex interrelationships between the cultural, critical and operational aspects of literacy, the students experiment with digital technologies such as mobile phones, wikis and blogs.

English teachers' shaping of students' democratic attitudes in Taiwan

This study has several findings. English language teachers' multiple identities and 'guided democracy' educate students to be autonomous and tolerant of different cultures. A global curriculum enables students to negotiate 'Eastern' and 'Western' cultures. Communicative pedagogies have contributed to both solutions and problems. An integrated pedagogy is essential.

English teachers' choice of language for publication: Qualitative insights from Bangladesh

The aim of this small-scale research was to gain some understanding of Bangladeshi English language teachers' language preference for publication purposes & the extent of the use of Bangla (Bengali), the L1, in their professional practice. Qualitative data for the study were gathered by means of a self-produced questionnaire. Results show that about three-quarters of the teachers published or would publish entirely in English because they believed that it was, among other reasons, the usual professional practice. More importantly, a number of teachers stated that they felt more comfortable writing academic essays in English. Regarding the use of L1, all 37 respondents pointed out that they used it sparingly in the classroom, & only a small number considered it a barrier in learning English, the L2. While emphasising the study's limitations, the paper suggests that English teachers' lack of confidence in L1 academic writing may be seen as indicating the potential direction of a slowly emerging individual bilingualism among university teachers of English. However, the paper also argues that the emergence of this potential bilingualism can be seen only at the individual rather than societal level, &, within the academic context, only in the limited domain of academic writing. Figures, References. Adapted from the source document

Show me, help me, let me : supporting teachers' changing conceptions of reading assessment and reading instruction

This qualitative inquiry used case study methodology to explore the change processes of 3 primary-grade teachers throughout their participation in 7 -month professional learning initiative focused on reading assessment and instruction. Participants took part in semimonthly inquiry-based professional learning community sessions, as well as concurrent individualized classroom-based literacy coaching. Each participant's experiences were first analyzed as a single case study, followed by cross-case analyses. While their patterns of professional growth differed, findings documented how all participants altered their understandings of the roles and relevancy of individual components of reading instruction (e.g., comprehension, decoding) and instructional approaches to scaffold students' growth (e.g., levelled text, strategy instruction), and experienced some form of conceptual change. Factors identified as affecting their change processes included; motivation, professional knowledge, professional beliefs (self-efficacy and theoretical orientation), resources (e.g., time, support), differentiated professional learning with associated goal-setting, and uncontrollable influences, with the affect of each factor compounded by interaction with the others. Comparison of participants' experiences to the Cognitive-Affective Model of Conceptual Change (CAMCC) and the Interconnected Model of Teacher Professional Growth (IMTPG) demonstrated the applicability of using both conceptual models, with the IMTPG providing macrolevel insights over time and the CAMCC microlevel insights at each change intervaL Recommendations include the provision of differentiated teacher professional learning opportunities, as well as research documenting the effects of teacher mentorship programs and the professional growth of teacher educators. ii

La Relevancia de las creencias sobre diversidad cultural en la formación del docente = The significance of beliefs on cultural diversity in the training of teachers

Uno de los rasgos más característicos de los centros educativos en estos momentos lo constituye la presencia de un alumnado culturalmente diverso. Gestionar de forma adecuada tal diversidad cultural y asegurar una educación de calidad para todos/as que posibilite la construcción de una ciudadanía plural, intercultural y democrática se plantea como uno de los retos más importantes a los que se enfrenta el sistema educativo en general y el profesorado en particular

P(ICT)ures of English : teachers, learners and technology

The increasing challenges presented by information and communication technologies (ICTs) and the need for English curriculum to prepare young adults for the digital world are raised in this work. Viewed from the standpoint of current theoretical debates on the subject among educators, it draws on a wide range of classroom and real-world experiences to explore how technology affects the instruction of English. Teachers' knowledge of these technologies and their practices in assimilating them into English curriculums are celebrated and exciting scenarios for the future are presented.

Fiji pre-service primary teachers' understanding of physical science : a cultural perspective

Science and technology are promoted as major contributors to national development. Consequently, improved science education has been placed high on the agenda of tasks to be tackled in many developing countries, although progress has often been limited. In fact there have been claims that the enormous investment in teaching science in developing countries has basically failed, with many reports of how efforts to teach science in developing countries often result in rote learning of strange concepts, mere copying of factual information, and a general lack of understanding on the part of local students. These generalisations can be applied to science education in Fiji. Muralidhar (1989) has described a situation in which upper primary and middle school students in Fiji were given little opportunity to engage in practical work; an extremely didactic form of teacher exposition was the predominant method of instruction during science lessons. He concluded that amongst other things, teachers' limited understanding, particularly of aspects of physical science, resulted in their rigid adherence to the text book or the omission of certain activities or topics. Although many of the problems associated with science education in developing countries have been documented, few attempts have been made to understand how non-Western students might better learn science. This study addresses the issue of Fiji pre-service primary teachers' understanding of a key aspect of physical science, namely, matter and how it changes, and their responses to learning experiences based on a constructivist epistemology. Initial interviews were used to probe pre-service primary teachers' understanding of this domain of science. The data were analysed to identify students' alternative and scientific conceptions. These conceptions were then used to construct Concept Profile Inventories (CPI) which allowed for qualitative comparison of the concepts of the two ethnic groups who took part in the study. This phase of the study also provided some insight into the interaction of scientific information and traditional beliefs in non-Western societies. A quantitative comparison of the groups' conceptions was conducted using a Science Concept Survey instrument developed from the CPis. These data provided considerable insight into the aspects of matter where the pre-service teachers' understanding was particularly weak. On the basis of these preliminary findings, a six-week teaching program aimed at improving the students' understanding of matter was implemented in an experimental design with a group of students. The intervention involved elements of pedagogy such as the use of analogies and concept maps which were novel to most of those who took part. At the conclusion of the teaching programme, the learning outcomes of the experimental group were compared with those of a control group taught in a more traditional manner. These outcomes were assessed quantitatively by means of pre- and post-tests and a delayed post-test, and qualitatively using an interview protocol. The students' views on the various teaching strategies used with the experimental group were also sought. The findings indicate that in the domain of matter little variation exists in the alternative conceptions held by Fijian and Indian students suggesting that cultural influences may be minimal in their construction. Furthermore, the teaching strategies implemented with the experimental group of students, although largely derived from Western research, showed considerable promise in the context of Fiji, where they appeared to be effective in improving the understanding of students from different cultural backgrounds. These outcomes may be of significance to those involved in teacher education and curriculum development in other developing countries.

English Teachers at Work : Narratives, Counter Narratives and Argument

Do English teachers around the world share a common set of values, knowledge and experiences? Do they face the same kind of challenges? What can English teachers from different national settings learn by engaging with dialogue with one another? What histories shape the professional practice of English teachers? What impact have government policies and curricula had on English teachers' sense of professional identity? English Teachers at Work focuses on the professional knowledge and practice of teachers of English in a range of national settings.

Novice teachers' perceptions of the extent to which the Brock University teacher education program focused on methods of promoting responsibility in students

The purpose of this study was to determine novice t~ache~s' perceptions of th~ extent to which the Brock University teacher education program focused on strategies for promoting responsibility in students. Individual interviews were conducted with ten randomly selected teachers who were graduates of this teacher education program between the years of 1989 and 1992, and a follow-up group discussion activity, with the same teachers, was also held. Findings revealed that the topic of personal responsibility was discussed within various components of the program, including counselling group sessions, but that these discussions were often brief, indirect and inconsistent. Some of the strategies which the teachers used in their own classrooms to promote responsibility in students were ones which they had acquired from those counselling group °sessions or from associate teachers. Various strategies included: setting ~lear expectations of students with positive and negative consequences for behaviour (e.g., material rewards and detentions, respectively), cemmunic?ting'with other teachers an~ parents, and -. suspending students from school. A teacher's choice of any particular strategy seemed to be affected by his or her personality, teaching sUbject and region of employment, as well as certain aspects of the teacher education program. It was concluded that many of the teachers appeared to be controlling rude and vio~ent- behaviour, as opposed to promoting responsible behaviour. Recommendations were made for the pre-service program, as well as induction and inservice programs, to increase teacher preparedness for promoting responsible student behaviour. One of these recommendations addressed the need to help teachers learn how to effectively communicate with their students.

Women, words, and work : a study of change and reconstruction in adult TESOL

My dissertation asserts that the discourses which at the present time construct the world of work for teachers in adult TESOL, are no longer adequate to represent the field in these new and rapidly changing times. For the last forty years the discourses that have constructed the field present a totalising, gender free, liberal humanist view of TESOL, rendering women's experience invisible, no longer speaking to or for women teachers who make up more than ninety percent of the teachers in Victorian adult TESOL programs (Cope & Kalantzis 1993, Brodkey 1991, Fine 1992, Peirce 1995). I begin by exploring the work of women teachers in adult TESOL, focusing on women teaching in the fast growing de-institutionalised settings of adult TESOL programs, which remain marginalised from the central programs in terms of administrative policy and practice. I report the findings of a series of projects undertaken by the teachers and the researcher by which new insights and understandings of teachers beliefs about their work and the changes which are currently reconstructing the field of adult language and literacy education in Australia, have been gained. I questions the discourses of applied linguistics which have for the past forty years constructed the field of adult TESOL in Australia and suggests that these lack a social theory (Candlin 1989). From the research findings I questions the possibility of continuing to work in the ways of the past, in the current climate of reconstruction of the field, rapid policy change and continued erosion of resources. I suggest that the previously loose system which held this field of work together, the ways of working, the understandings of practice, have in the light of these new times, been stretched to the limit and are in real danger of collapse. For the women working in TESOL this continued incursion of the systems into their work and the changes that have taken place, the denial of their ways of working, their local knowledge and gendered experiences, can be read against Habermas' concept of the colonisation of the lifeworld of language teaching (Habermas 1987).

Improving English language teaching in Thailand

The teaching of English in Thailand is a matter of national concern. The national government believes that the ability of Thai people to use English for effective communication is very important for the continuing economic development of Thailand. However many students who have had primary, secondary and university exposure to English find it difficult to conduct a conversation with a native speaker of English. The reasons for this include lack of student motivation and contextual support, large classes, the dominating effects of assessment on what is taught, and the English language competency of the teachers. The research in this thesis focuses on the teaching of English as a foreign language in secondary schools in Khon Kaen. The research reported here consists of one major and three minor studies. In the major study some of the principles of action research were used to explore strategies that would improve the teaching of English in a number of secondary schools in Khon Kaen in Thailand. In the first phase of the major study I worked with two teachers to design and implement a series of classroom activities that encouraged lower secondary students to use English. In the second phase I worked with a group of teachers to design and deliver a professional development program for twenty school teachers interested in improving their English language teaching. In the third phase I used data from the first two phases to design five new activities that were used in classrooms by two teachers. Findings from the three phases indicated that working collaboratively with school teachers can be a mutually beneficial professional experience and can improve student interest and learning. In the first minor study I used interview-conversations to investigate the perceptions that subject co-ordinators and teachers have towards English language teaching. The conversations covered the merits of detailed curricula and curricula frameworks, professional development, assessment, resources, and integration of English language with other subjects. It was clear that the teachers were aware of the national government s policies for the improving English language teaching and accepted the need for change. It was equally clear that the preparation of teachers and the resources available were major limiting factors in schools to teacher effectiveness. In the second minor study I examined the teaching of Mandarin in an Australian school that suffered from some of the same resource problems as Thai schools. Although there was only one teacher available for all of the Mandarin classes in the school she was extremely effective. Her teaching was an example of best practice. It included thorough preparation, the ability to manage lessons at the pace of the learners, active classes and individual attention, detailed assessment records, and the integration of language and culture. Some or all of these could be used in Thai schools. The third minor study was an investigation of the professional development experiences of English language teachers in Thai schools. In most schools there are consultative and administrative mechanisms, acceptable to principals and teachers, in place to support professional development. Access to native speakers was seen as very important. However, the schools in Khon Kaen province have little or no access to native speakers of English. Even if they were available, the schools do not have the funds to employ them. Findings from the four studies indicate that it is quite possible to use interactive, participatory or student-centred pedagogies to teach English as a foreign language in Thai classrooms. However, one cannot expect teachers to adopt such pedagogies unless they are convinced of their value. This can be achieved most effectively through a systematic and sustained program of professional development.