Teacher narratives and curricular justice : a study of teachers' work in the disadvantaged schools' program in Victorian education

Investigates teacher contributions to conversations about theory, policy and practice concerning poverty and education. The research examines patterns in teacher interpretive categories drawn from action research texts and associated documentation in the Disadvantaged School Program in Victoria over a twenty year period. Deals theoretically with the sociology of curricular theory, history and practice through the utilisation of feminist, postcolonial and poststructural approaches to society and culture.

Special Education Teachers’ Narratives on Literacy Support for Bilingual Students with Dyslexia in Swedish Compulsory Schools

The aim of the study is to investigate how special education teachers talk about their teaching in relation to bilingual students with dyslexia within Swedish compulsory schools. Data consist of transcripts from in-depth interviews with 15 special education teachers. According to the teacher narratives, the special education services appeared to be biased against bilingual students, as the support provided to bilingual students with dyslexia was revealed to be more or less the same as that provided to monolingual Swedish-speaking students with dyslexia. This bias is discussed in relation to the notion of difference blindness as well as in relation to practical constraints. Nevertheless, the teachers strongly advocated collaborative work with mother tongue teachers in order to facilitate dyslexia identification in bilingual students and to gain a more comprehensive picture of their language and literacy competencies, which is a desire that contrasts and contests a pedagogical monolingual master model within special education services.

Pellon pientareelta akateemisiin sfääreihin : Opettajuuden rakentuminen ja muuttuminen sotienjälkeisessä Suomessa opettajien omaelämäkertojen valossa

From the field to the academic sphere how teachers professional identities and roles have changed in post-war Finland This study explores teacher autobiographies. The span of the writings extends mainly from the Second World War to the new millennium. The autobiographers are mostly elementary and secondary school teachers in Finland, although there are a few who have worked in vocational schools, polytechnic institutes or one of the various adult education centres. The researcher is aware of the diversity among those educational institutions and their teachers, but wanted to concentrate on similarities rather than differences. The autobiographers have been explored with four different research questions in view. The first was to identify professional and personal elements and themes mentioned by teachers in writing about themselves. The second was to identify the factors that have affected those elements and themes. The third was to examine the kinds of literary forms teachers used in their autobiographies. The fourth was the most crucial and an endeavour to connect the previous questions: how teachers professional identities and roles have changed during the period studied. In the first five chapters the teachers voices come through clearly. Two of these chapters are organized in chronological order. The first is about childhood, youth and the time spent in school, the second deals with the years studying in university or teachers college and finally being recruited to the teachers. In these chapters the rural background of many teachers stands out, an issue that also emerged symbolically or de facto in the autobiographies. The chronological scheme changes to a thematic order, in which social matters (students, parents, colleagues) and teachers working circumstances are dealt with. Four selected autobiographies are examined closely. In these autobiographies five different types of teacher narratives can be identified. To begin with, teachers stressed their vocation, which is quite a normal work orientation for those working in the educational field. Others emphasised how they were looking for professional development; a few wrote about personal advancement as well. There are also narratives by teachers who simply drifted into the profession of teaching, while a few teachers felt unwelcome in their own schools. As for the changes that teachers have witnessed, there are also some themes that are widely shared. Most pointed out how the teacher has become more foster parent than educator, as real parents have withdrawn from their responsibilities of raising children. This theme was frequently broached, although attitude towards it and ways of handling the phenomenon differed substantially. Teachers also stressed how their profession has lost the aura and prestige it once had. At the same time teachers are being expected to collaborate more with their colleagues, which is not in line with the centuries-old tradition of working alone. Teachers seem to be in a state of flux, buffeted by elements of stability and change interacting simultaneously. Many teachers are demanding a re-examination of their working reality. Teachers long and intimate relationship with society and the state may be at a crossroads. Key words: teachers professional identity and role, autobiographical study, post-war Finland

Preparing students for a world which is global in its outlook and influences: the rhetoric, reality and response

The imperative for schools and teachers to understand and teach with a global perspective has been reiterated in Victoria recently with the release of the Victorian Curriculum Reform Consultation Paper (VCAA, 2004). This paper states that, "the purposes of schooling are to prepare students for a world which is global in its outlook and influences." (p.4).

The introductory paragraphs of selected states' and territories' Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE) curriculum statements include and reiterate 'global' in the rationale for teaching and learning. Teaching in SOSE is charged with responsibility for incorporating 'global' into classroom practice. What is the role and place of SOSE in this teaching and how can SOSE teachers be better equipped to teach in a time of internationalisation and globalisation? Are teachers prepared to meet this challenge?

This paper will position the importance of teachers' lived experiences, their capacity to reflect upon these experiences, to their preparedness and competency in teaching 'global education' both within a SOSE classroom and beyond. How can personal critical reflection sharpen the focus for teaching in and to this global world? What are the place of narrative and the lived experiences of teachers in sharpening this focus? The data for this paper is drawn from a self study of the author who is studying a Masters by Research and teaches Social Education and Education Studies at Deakin University.

The paper argues that pedagogy around teaching global education in the classroom cannot be isolated from the teacher's identities, background experiences, which influence and shape their approaches to teaching in a global education curriculum. The methodology in teaching global education needs to be further aligned to teacher narratives and the lived experiences of teachers in order to link local, national and global domains.

The paper will describe how teaching for a 'world which is global in outlook and influences' can be researched by examining a selection of personal stories and lived experiences. The paper will conclude with a draft framework of global education that acknowledges reflection on lived experiences and narratives.

Global education: past present and future

This article traces the origins and history of global education, primarily in Australia, but also within a broader, appropriately global, context. We first identify and discuss the characteristics of earlier global education programs, and gradually move towards the present day where the long-standing and highly successful program in Australian schools recently conclude due to government budgetary constraints. We close by alluding to the next Australian Declaration of Educational Goals for Young Australians.

Representações de professores de língua inglesa de Natal-RN: um estudo sistêmico-funcional

Teaching and learning representations have been more and more investigated in the Brazilian applied linguistics field, as it allows the understanding of the teachers representations and how they conceive the learning process. This practice facilitates the planning of actions to improve the educational system. This study aims at identifying, interpreting and discussing some representations related to the identity and professional view of English as a foreign language teachers in different school contexts of Natal-RN. The theoretical and methodological foundation for this research is Halliday s Systemic- Functional Linguistics (1994; HALLIDAY; MATHIESSEN, 2004; EGGINS, 1994, among others). Our goal was to reveal the teachers representations embedded in their language, mainly through the ideational metafunction, as language is the tool we use to express ourselves about the external world (events, qualities, things, etc) and the internal world (thoughts, beliefs, feelings, etc). The research corpus is made of 21 teacher narratives, generated from a questionnaire sent to the teachers, who were divided in two groups: Group 1 (public schools teachers) and Group 2 (private schools and English course teachers). Most of the participants seemed to be satisfied with their professional choice. Many of them see the job as a challenge and an opportunity to transmit knowledge. All of them affirmed that the English teacher is a professional, for different reasons; however, the low professional appreciation was a recurrent aspect among the studied narratives. When asked about where they work, the private school teachers seemed to be more satisfied with the teaching-learning process than the ones from the public schools. We believe that the data analyzed in this study is important to show how some English teachers from Natal-RN see their profession. The results might be used in continuing education courses as food-for-thought in group discussions, as it is extremely important to emphasize and stimulate this practice

Nas trincheiras do enfrentamento: um estudo de caso: percepções e práticas docente voltadas para a criança vítima de violência doméstica

O presente trabalho traz como tema a violência doméstica contra a criança, diz respeito às práticas discursivas docentes face à criança maltratada, buscando desvelar os limites e as possibilidades do enfrentamento dos maus tratos infantis domésticos no espaço escolar. Para Tanto, foi realizado um estudo de caso de práticas e vivências de um grupo de professoras da educação infantil de uma unidade escolar da rede pública municipal de Belém, o qual foi desenvolvido através de entrevistas semi estruturadas, no período compreendido entre Março e Junho de 2009. Portanto, categorias como: infância, historicidade dos maus tratos, responsabilidades, reconhecimento, ética, entre tantos outros, embasaram este estudo, caracteristicamente teórico e empírico. Tendo a hermenêutica como fio teórico-metodológico inspirada nos princípios hermenêuticos do agir humano de Paul Ricouer. As análises das narrativas docentes indicam que em determinado contextos e circunstâncias a responsabilidade civil perante a criança maltratada perde intensamente o seu sentido prático normativo e somente uma responsabilidade ética calçada no reconhecimento positivo das crianças, tem sustentado uma ação docente de enfrentamento dos maus tratos, este que como pretendemos sinalizar são imprescindíveis para a construção de uma cultura de respeito e defesa da dignidade humana das crianças.

Narratives of Variation in Teacher-Pupil Relationships Across a Career

This paper reports on the findings of a research study focused on teacher perceptions of their relationships with pupils over three phases of a career. Data collected from thirty primary school teachers using a critical event narrative approach were coded and compared across the three groups of teachers at different points in their careers; 0-7 years, 8-23 years, and over 24 years. The study, based in the United Kingdom, highlighted a complex development amongst teachers which centres on five key areas identified as differentiating between the three career phases; interaction, behaviour, expectations, proximity and control. Results indicate that teachers go through a series of relationship transitions in relation to these five areas, and that these transitions can often confront teachers with conflicting views of what positive teacher-pupil relationships are and create personal dissonance as they try to make sense of their role in these relationships. Based on empirical evidence, this paper argues that positive relationships with pupils are not necessarily associated with experience and that the transitions teachers experience through their career is of concern given the centrality of teacher-pupil relationships to effective teaching.

Teacher use of personal narratives in the Japanese university english language classroom

While storytelling in conversation has been extensively investigated, much less is known about storytelling in the English language classroom, particularly teachers telling their personal experience stories, termed teacher personal narratives in this study. Teacher personal narratives, a combination of the ancient art of human storytelling and the current practices of teaching, offer an innovative approach to language teaching and learning. This thesis examines teacher personal narrative use in Japanese university English language classrooms and is of relevance to both practicing classroom teachers and teacher educators because it explores the role, significance, and effectiveness of personal stories told by teachers. The pedagogical implications which the findings may have for language teaching and learning as well as for teacher education programs are also discussed. Four research questions were posed: 1. What are the characteristics of teacher personal narratives? 2. When, how, and why do language teachers use personal narratives in the classroom? 3. What is the reaction of learners to teacher personal narratives? 4. How do teacher personal narratives provide opportunities for student learning? A mixed methods approach using the tradition of multiple case studies provided an in-depth exploration of the personal narratives of four teachers. Data collection consisted of classroom observations and audio recordings, teacher and student semi-structured interviews, student diaries, and Japan-wide teacher questionnaires. Ninety-seven teacher personal narratives were analyzed for their structural and linguistic features. The findings showed that the narrative elements of orientation, complication, and evaluation are almost always present in these stories, and that discourse and tense markers may aid in student noticing of the input which can lead to eventual student output. The data also demonstrated that reasons for telling narratives mainly fall into two categories: affectiveoriented and pedagogical-oriented purposes. This study has shown that there are significant differences between conversational storytelling and educational storytelling.

Traveller’s Tales : The Expatriate English Language Teacher in the New Global Culture

Most of the research into ELT has focused on its linguistic and methodological aspects, which are based on Western scientific traditions. The contributions and experiences of English language teachers themselves, especially their work in overseas contexts, have frequently been overlooked. This volume aims to document the complexity of ELT as ‘work’ in new global economic and cultural conditions, and to explore how this complexity is realised in the everyday experiences of ELT teachers. The development of ELT from the colonial experience to its current status as a global commodity is explored; ELT is then situated in the discourses of globalisation, specifically within Appadurai’s theorisation of global flows of people, images, ideas, technology and money, or scapes. Within this framework, narratives are constructed from the experiences of Native-speaking English teachers. These reveal much about the personal, pedagogical and cultural dimensions of ELT work in non-Centre countries, and will contribute to a greater understanding of the intercultural dimensions of ELT for all those who work in it, and in related educational fields.

Pre-service teacher education and the development of middle school teacher identity : an exploratory study

This research study investigated the factors that influenced the development of teacher identity in a small cohort of mature-aged graduate pre-service teachers over the course of a one-year Graduate Diploma program (Middle Years). It sought to illuminate the social and relational dynamics of these pre-service teachers’ experiences as they began new ways of being and learning during a newly introduced one-year Graduate Diploma program. A relational-ontological perspective underpinned the relational-cultural framework that was applied in a workshop program as an integral part of this research. A relational-ontological perspective suggests that the development of teacher identity is to be construed more as an ontological process than an epistemological one. Its focus is more on questions surrounding the person and their ‘becoming’ a teacher than about the knowledge they have or will come to have. Hence, drawing on work by researchers such as Alsup (2006), Gilligan, (1982), Isaacs, (2007), Miller (1976), Noddings, (2005), Stout (2001), and Taylor, (1989), teacher identity was defined as an individual pre-service teacher’s unique sense of self as a teacher that included his or her beliefs about teaching and learning (Alsup, 2006; Stout, 2001; Walkington, 2005). Case-study was the preferred methodology within which this research project was framed, and narrative research was used as a method to document the way teacher identity was shaped and negotiated in discursive environments such as teacher education programs, prior experiences, classroom settings and the practicum. The data that was collected included student narratives, student email written reflections, and focus group dialogue. The narrative approach applied in this research context provided the depth of data needed to understand the nature of the mature-aged pre-service teachers’ emerging teacher identities and experiences in the graduate diploma program. Findings indicated that most of the mature-aged graduate pre-service teachers came in to the one-year graduate diploma program with a strong sense of personal and professional selves and well-established reasons why they had chosen to teach Middle Years. Their choice of program involved an expectation of support and welcome to a middle-school community and culture. Two critical issues that emerged from the pre-service teachers’ narratives were the importance they placed on the human support including the affirmation of themselves and their emerging teacher identities. Evidence from this study suggests that the lack of recognition of preservice teachers’ personal and professional selves during the graduate diploma program inhibited the development of a positive middle-school teacher identity. However, a workshop program developed for the participants in this research and addressing a range of practical concerns to beginning teachers offered them a space where they felt both a sense of belonging to a community and where their thoughts and beliefs were recognized and valued. Thus, the workshops provided participants with the positive social and relational dynamics necessary to support them in their developing teacher identities. The overall findings of this research study strongly indicate a need for a relational support structure based on a relational-ontological perspective to be built into the overall course structure of Graduate Pre-service Diplomas in Education to support the development of teacher identity. Such a support structure acknowledges that the pre-service teacher’s learning and formation is socially embedded, relational, and a continual, lifelong process.

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.

Teacher professional standards : mirage or miracle cure - an archaeology of professionalism in education

This thesis is a problematisation of the development and implementation of professional standards as the mechanism to enhance professionalism and teacher quality in the teaching force within Australia and, more specifically, Queensland. Drawing on tools from Foucauldian archaeological analysis, the dominant discourses of professionalism from the academic literature, Australian federal and state policy documents and narratives from Queensland teachers are examined. These data sets are then cross referenced, analysing the intersections and divergences between the different texts. Findings suggest that through policy, political strategy and derisory statements from various authoritative voices, the managerial discourse of professionalism through professional standards documents has been unduly privileged as a means of regulating teachers, despite the fact that teachers themselves do not share this dominant notion of professionalism. The teachers in this study proffer ‘new classical-practical professionalism’ as a counter discourse, or discourse of resistance, to managerialism. However, an application of Foucault’s theorisations on power-knowledge reveals that their spoken discourses mean they are in fact yielding to the discourse of professional standards as docile bodies.

Turning points in narratives of research design : research innovation stimulating unique responses to existing challenges for beginning rural teachers

This paper explores methodological turning points in researching narratives of early career resilience mediated by the complexities of remote teaching. Innovative, flexible and discursive research design facilitated exploration of emerging narratives using digital technologies. Data were regularly interrogated with participant-researchers to reveal the undercurrents of imbued meaning. Dialogue with participant-researchers enhanced interpretations of data plots and text-based explanations of narrative turning points, providing valuable insights throughout analysis. Reflections on the affordances and tensions in this process illustrate the significance of innovation but also the complexities associated with online collaboration. Consequently, empowering the participant-researchers throughout the life of the research was critical in understanding their narratives of teaching.