What Do We Know About Teacher

Education? Rachel Hamberger

Colleen Barry

Agenda• Critical and qualitative lenses• Applying what we know• Expanding our lens• The direction of teacher research

Critical and Qualitative Research in Teacher

Education• Dr. Joyce King

“It will be argued that a crisis of knowledge in teacher education research (and practice) exists because of the absence of marginalized and oppressed people’s epistemologies as a foundation of knowledge for teacher learning and for teaching” (p. 1095).

Racism• Racism is systemic• Research on Teacher Education has not yet

adequately addressed the issue of race • Pre-service teachers need to fight racism in order

to be ready to teach all children• This requires rewriting curriculum and relearning

relationships• There is no true consensus on how to best

support the “cultural well-being” of African American students

• “Dysconsciousness”

Blues Epistemology• “The task of fighting racism, then, entails the

production of knowledge to combat this system of representation.” (p. 1098)

• Blues have become a source of knowledge about the African American culture

Blues Epistemology• Shaped in the context of social and political

oppression • Offers an epistemological vantage point through

which African Americans transmit their experiences and knowledge

• Lyrics, rhythms, and melodies are rooted in cultural values, history, and ideologies; representing “the beginnings of a method of investigation” (p. 21, Woods, 1998)

Sweet Honey in the Rock

Should we be “color-blind”?

• King argues that teachers cannot be “color- blind”

• “How do we effectively educate marginalized students in a way that addresses the impact of race yet transcends the social construction of race…and unifies rather than divides?” (Morrell, p. 1111)

Are we really “color-blind”?

• Most teacher education research is focused on the privileged white teachers

• White teachers have a narrow understanding of race and systemic racism

• But, learning about cultures of marginalized students is not a priority in an era of high-stakes testing

• Has this changed with an African American president?

In Frame (2011)• How can we explore different cultures if

there is resistance?

Statistics • Ethnic Breakdown of American Teachers

(2008):• 83% White • 6.7% African American

• Ethnic Breakdown of Students in America (2003):• 58.7% White• 17.2% African American

Critical Theories• Critical Social Theory: aimed at assessing

and altering society as a whole; “color-blind”• Critical Feminist Theory: emphasizes

women’s oppression and articulates “strategies for women’s liberation” (p. 1104).

• Critical Race Theory: focuses on the significance of race and racism

The True Story of the Three Little Pigs

LaLee’s Kin (2001)

How do we know what we know?

• Practitioner inquiry: an umbrella term that encompasses genres of research and modes of inquiry performed by inservice teachers• find ways to engage perceptions and

experiences of community members• Narrative Inquiry• Action Research • Ethnographic Method

Practitioner Inquiry• Narrative Inquiry: includes teacher

reflective writing such as journals, and autobiographical writing. Depicts teacher theories about teaching and learning through their experiences in different contexts.

Practitioner Inquiry• Action Research: reflective process of

problem solving through: planning, acting, observing, and reflecting • 1. professional action research• 2. personal • 3. political

Practitioner Inquiry• Ethnographic Method: developing

sociocultural competence in order to build meaningful relationships with students in their community• Example: Alex• “Unless our White, heterosexual students

learn to understand diversity in new ways, the children from these [underserved] groups in their classrooms will continue to have to live within the dominant culture everyday of their schooling.” (Hyland & Noffke, 2005)

Applying What We Know• Nathaniel Gage (1978)

• “The importance of teacher education is commensurate with the importance of teaching itself. We do not want our children to be influenced by persons to whom we have failed to give the best possible preparation for their task. Nor do we want our enormous investment in teaching to yield anything but the best possible returns for our society.” (p.1139)

Teacher Behavior• In teacher education, teacher behavior =

dependent variable• Focus should be on “knowing how;” teachers

may have the knowledge, but not know how to use it

Teacher Development• Teaching practice is necessary – should occur

in a self-contained environment first• Protocol Materials: films depicting real, or

almost real, situations of teacher behavior• Microteaching: teaching for 5 to 10 minutes

to 5 to 10 students focusing on only one aspect of the teaching at a time• Teachers more competent and better

attitudes toward teacher ed. programs• Developed for preservice teachers

Teacher Development• Minicourses:

• Developed for inservice teachers• 1. Review specific teaching skills • 2. Watch a film demonstrating those skills• 3. Create and practices giving a lesson

utilizing skills• 4. Self-evaluation of lesson

Teacher Development• Low correlation between years spent

teaching and student achievement• Student teachers rarely change their way of

teaching in the period of training; feedback needs to be immediate• ABCs of behavior

Teacher Centers • Began in England • Teacher governed centers in which teachers

can collaborate and take responsibility for the betterment of their practice• Behavioral• Humanistic • Developmental

Connections

•A→•B→•C→

• The goal of teacher education is to evoke

• Teacher behaviors contingent on

• Student learning and attitudes

Which comes first?• Teacher training is often put into place before

data shows that the outcome is what we desire

• Where else is this evident?• What are the impacts?

More Light • Susan Florio-Ruane (2002)• Research on teaching is applied and

responsive to the problems presented by the field; however, when we perceive “crises”, we are compelled to respond in parsimonious ways

• Because of the nature of our practice, we must expand our light to encompass the entire culture of teaching

The Answer…• What if answers to complex questions were si

mple?

Moving Forward• The advent of technology opened avenues to

studying “real classroom life”• Focused on teacher behavior from an

‘outside-in’ perspective • Could not account for the ‘hidden world of

teaching’• The human mind is not analogous to a

computer; complexity lies in the understanding of reflective human experience.

Multiple Views of Complexity

• If we focus too narrowly, we can miss the point of applied research • Purcell- Gates (2000) suggests four lenses in

which we can view educational research:• 1. experimental• 2. correlational • 3. descriptive • 4. ethnographic

• More light will come from using these in a cooperative fashion, providing the complexity research on teacher education deserves

Trust in Teacher Education

• We can do this by:• Give clear chains of reasoning • Describing methods explicitly and provide

enough information for replication and generalization

• Disclose methodology for scrutiny • Trust is undermined when researchers

become advocates- what does this mean?

Knowing Teaching• Magdalene Lampert (2000)

• American Educational Research Association (AERA) established Division K for research on Teaching and Teacher Education in June 1984• Largest division in AERA

Teacher Research• Teachers have joined the research community in

many ways• Practitioner Inquiry• Collaboration with university researchers• Professional development: summer institutes,

workshops and conferences• Faculty of colleges and universities who are also

teaching in K-12 school• In other countries (Japan & UK), research is part

of the teacher culture, here, it is a luxury

Teacher Research• If teachers were the main researchers,

everything in the field would change• “The academician solves problems that are

recognized in some universal way as being important, whereas a teacher’s problem arise because the state of affairs in the classroom is not what she wants it to be.” (Lampert, 1985)

• Where is the distinction between research and thoughtful practice?

Toward a Better Understanding of Teaching

and Learning about Teaching• John Loughran, commentary

• How does one capture, analyze and portray the intricacies of teaching?

• Lessons about teaching are often misunderstood or distorted

Pedagogy• “Teacher education therefore must be, by

definition, at the cutting edge of understandings of pedagogy as it attempts to make clear for students of teaching the value of the how, what and why of teaching for understanding.” (p. 1178)

• Pedagogy is an area of constant questioning and development

Pedagogy• As a field we need to establish a pedagogy of

teacher education to combat the problems of teacher education such as:

• theory-practice gap• complexities of teaching• “tacit nature of teaching”

CEHD Core Values• Commitment to democratic values and social

justice• Understanding systemic issues that prevent full

participation• Awareness of practices that sustain unequal

treatment or unequal voice• Advocate for practices that promote equity and

access• Respects the opinion and dignity of others• Sensitive to community and cultural norms• Appreciates and integrates multiple perspectives

Tying it Together • Education needs to be all encompassing; we

must shed ‘more light’ to include culture and societal influences

• Research on Teacher Education must include pedagogy in order to understand the field (Nathaniel Gage, John Loughran)

• Practitioner inquiry becomes an integral aspect of Teacher Research; this will produce authentic, first-hand research that may be applied in classrooms