developing reflective skills among arab student teachers ruwaida abu rass july 7, 2015
TRANSCRIPT
The Influence of prior learning experiences
Memorization & Learning by heart
Transmission of material
Authoritative instructors
Students’ expectations-ready made recipes
Teacher’s guide
Living in two worlds
Exposure to the Jewish culture (Eilam, 2002)
Individualism, criticism & creative thinking (Al-Haj, 1999; Azaiza & Ben Ari, 1997; Eilam, 2002)
Society and culture-collectivism & tradition Family system- hierarchical & patriarchal Changes- opportunities for advancement(Torn & Iliyan, 2008)
Conceptual Change
A process rather than an end
A developmental process
Trial, error & inquiry
A wide variety of methods, activities, games, stories, songs…
Individual as well as co-teaching
Conceptual Change
Three dimensions: 1. Socio-psychological: Providing emotional
support
2. Professional & pedagogical support
3. Reflective- developing reflective skills for evaluating their developmental process
Definition
Developing reflective thinking means helping student teachers think about their experiences, analyze their beliefs, values or knowledge in relation to these experiences and consider options or alternatives for action (Ferraro, 2000).
Promoting Autonomy
Autonomy-supportive education is constructive and developmental in nature (Perry, 1999).
The advisor’s role: Agent for change
Helping trainees develop critical thinking skills (Emanuel, 2005).
Promoting Autonomy
Encouraging ample opportunities for practice, inquiry and reflection and challenging students to take responsibilities for making decisions and choices (Kegan, 1994; Perry, 1999)
Processes of exploration, interpretation, and negotiation through which pre-service teachers investigate the sources of their knowledge and beliefs (Mori, 2003)
Promoting Autonomy
Supervising and evaluation of teacher learning should be nonjugemental to encourage student teachers take risks (Gebhard & Oprandy, 1999)
My role as an agent for change
Empowering
Encouraging them to believe in themselves and their abilities
Trying to expand their horizons Supportive, encouraging, welcoming and
approachable
Research Questions
1. How do the employed strategies and ways of advising the students affect their perception to my role as a pedagogical adviser?
2. How does my way of advising the students including providing feedback affect their perception to themselves as independent students who grow and develop professionally?
Subjects
Third-year female Arab students Majoring in EFL The Academic Arab Teachers’ Training
Institute at College Beit Berl 2010-2011 6 students
Requirements
Teaching a lesson once a week and five lessons during the intensive practical work week
Participating in the Didactic Seminar Course Issues related to EFL theories and
methodology are discussed Discussing articles related to professional
development at the end of the school year The first day at school
Data Collection
Three portfolios: a) Lesson plans: Alternative Task & Reflection b) three reflections c) the observation notes of the student teachers
My observation notes a) notes of observed lessons b) staff meetings and individual conferences
Data Analysis
Collected data - systematically organized, coded and indexed.
Grouping and creating categories
Chronologically and thematically analyzed
Data analysis
Two types of desired change
a) Developing reflective skills
B) Experiencing trial and error
Categories and sub-categories
Developing reflective skills a) Critical self-evaluation b) Accepting comments from the pedagogical adviser
and the trainers c) Objective evaluation &
Experiencing trial and error a) Employing different strategies, techniques… b) Being exposed to different settings c) Making mistakes and learning from them
Results
Developing Reflective Skills Some improvement/ varied
Daboul & Nola- provided rationale for their choices, (D) the need to be more creative
(D) Contradictions- having enough experience
Didn’t consider the alternative task seriously
Results
Zuzu & Dobi- some improvement
At the beginning of the school year- focused more on the activities, their performance and blaming the pupils for not cooperating
By the end of the school year- focused more on the activities, students’ interaction and involvement
Results
Salim & Cool Improved the least Brevity “good”, “useful”, “helpful” Lack of consistency Conflicting messages Salim: Demanding adviser (1st questionnaire) 2nd year-enough experience
Results
Critically evaluating their performance through reasoning choices
Avoiding reporting about less pleasant experiences
Very defensive Differences Daboul provided reasoning Dobi expressed her satisfaction- employing
different strategies for teaching vocabulary
Results
Dobi & Zuzu Positive as well as negative experiences Appreciating employing different ways of
teaching including games, listening texts, video segments
Salim & Cool Their reflections and answers didn’t show
deep thinking
Results
Experiencing trial and error Hesitantly varied their ways at the beginning Felt safe to follow the teacher’s guide Frontal and traditional
Shift Eager to apply activities related to the topics
of their seminar papers
Results
Repeated calls
Started to realize the importance of varying their methods and activities at the end of the school year
Satisfied, but felt the need of having more experience to be fully competent and confident
Salim & Cool- “important”, “helpful”, “useful”
Results
Showing resistance to being exposed to different settings
Rejected the idea of accompanying different teacher trainers (educators) totally
Compromise Still reluctant Contradicting opinions
Conclusions
Shaping beliefs is a long process
One year is not sufficient to help EFL trainee make conceptual change, develop professionally and be more autonomous
Conclusions
Preparing a three-stage program A. The lesson plan in the first year should
include only two sections: Describing the lesson and providing self-evaluation
Adding the alternative task section in the second year
Adding the self-reflective section in the third year
Conclusions
More attention should be paid to the influence of the first culture, patterns of thinking and behavior in teacher education
References
Al-Haj, M. 1999. Higher education among the Arabs in Israel: Situation, needs and recommendations. Haifa, Israel: Univeristy of Haifa, Center for Multiculturalism and Educational Research. Eilam, B. 2002. 'Passing through a western-democratic teacher education: The case of Israeli Arab Teachers'. Teachers College Record, 104 (8), 1656-1701. Emmanuel, D. 2005. Role perception of the pedagogical advisor from three points of view: A renewed look at the program for specialization in pedagogical advice. Position Paper 2. Tel Aviv: MOFET (in Hebrew).Ferraro, J. M. (2000). Reflective practice and professional development. Retrieved from http://searcheric.org/digests/ed449120.html
Gebhard, J. G., Gaitan, S., & Oprandy, R. (1999). Reflecting through a teaching journal. New York: Cambridge University Press.
Kegan, R. (1994). In over our heads: The mental demands of modern life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Mori, R. (2003). Knowledge/personhood dichotomy in TESOL. The Language Teacher, 27 (4), 14-15.Perry, W. (1999). Forms of ethical and intellectual development in the college years: A scheme. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass. (Original work published 1968).
Toren, Z., & Iliyan, S. (2008). The problems of the beginning teacher in the Arab schools in Israel. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24: 1041-1056.