Teacher Professionalism in a group of Mauritian state secondary schools

SABINA ALLYBOKUS

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The StudyWhy teacher professionalism?Theoretical framework – Restricted and

Extended forms of professionalism; the imaginative professional

Methodology: Social – Constructivist Approach

Findings – Initiating Phase of Teacher professionalism

Conclusion – Whose concern?

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WHY teacher professionalism?A personal searchSemi-professionals – Etzioni (1969)Quality teaching is professional teaching

(teacher professionalism according to educationists)

Unknown concept - lack of awareness, interest of the concept among teachers

Reversion to traditional practice after trained courses (Payneeandy, 2000)

No continuing professional developmentTeacher’s practice is a black box

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A professional need Contradictions in discourses

Government vision New pillars to economy: a Financial Sector and an ICT Sector. A Knowledge Economy (MOEHR, 2008).

Classroot reality

28 % of a cohort successfully completed six years of primary education and seven years of secondary education in 2006 (MOEHR, 2008:23)

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Tensions - expectations

…the culture of the education system must change. Creating a culture of achievement throughout the system requires meaningful, process-oriented change within the education system, which in turn requires a level of professionalism, accountability and devotion from teachers … (P.9)

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Tensions – Criticism

However the same Strategy Plan 2008-2020 mentioned above states that:

There is an unwillingness or incapacity of trained teachers to translate into practice what has been acquired through training – whether through parental pressure where parents fail to understand the necessity of collaborative learning to be better prepared to face the competition or the result mind ethos that tends to encourage too heavy reliance on private tuition or again the lack of motivation and absence of conditions conducive to the inclusion of innovative pedagogical practices in our schools (MOEHR, 2008: 74).

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Main Research Questions

How do teachers understand teacher professionalism?

How do teachers translate this professionalism in their classrooms?

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Theoretical frameworkThe concept of Professionalism Professionalism is a contentious and contested

term.Characteristics which are often determined by

context, time and culture (Helsby, 1995; Weems, 2003; Hilferty, 2008.)

A combination of skills based on theoretical knowledge, education and training in these skills, competence ensured by examination, ethical conduct and service orientation (Millerson 1964, cited in Whitty, 2008).

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Teacher professionalism ‘Restricted’Experience-based , subject expertise, valued individual autonomy, and classroom activities. Technicist - with a focus on learning objectives (Hoyle, 1974)

Extended professionalism - A more sociological, political, democratic or activist view of the teachers’ role (Sachs, 2000).

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The imaginative professional - Sally power (2008)

3 perspectives - The sociological Imagination’ (1970)1. The ‘therapeutic perspective’. contemporary

professionals stressed because of their own limitations, colleagues and the system’s but look for remedies to address shortcomings.

2. The ‘deterministic perspective’. No control over the structure and power of organisation.

3. The ‘imaginative’ professional. Issues from wider changes in society- performativity/ globalisation

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Common denominators of teacher professionalism

3 Fundamental components of teacher professionalism

Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK)which is at the heart of professional teaching practice (Shulman, 1987)

Reflective practice which is fundamental to learn from teaching experiences (Schon, 1983)

Professional Learning Community (PLC) (McLaughlin and Talbert, 2001).

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A schematic description of the concepts used in the study

TEACHER PROFESSIONALISM

RESTRICTED/EXTENDED

PROFESSIONALISM

(Hoyle, 1974)

PCK(Shulman,

1987)

TEACHER

REFLECTION(SCHON, 1983)

TherapeuticDeterministicImaginative

PROFESSIONALISM

(Power,2008)

PLC(MCLAUGLIN & TALBERT, 2006)

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Methodology

Qualitative study- social constructivist approach Purposive Sample 4 schools in my zone16 participants – 8 male, 8 femaleData gathering toolsInterviews, ObservationRealities of the field: semi-structured interviews-•  sometimes questions did not yield sufficient datatime was scarceinterviews during lunch break not recommended unstructured observationrectors refused observationsteachers reticent to be observedcontradiction between what teachers say and do

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Analysis

Creating text from transcripts, notes, observations...Trying coding categoriesIdentifying themes, patterns in overall data

Testing hypotheses (tentative findings checked with participants)Delineating the deep structure(synthesis of data in one explanatory framework)

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FINDINGSComponents

PCK used towards whole class ‘learning’

Reflection was considered a personal exercise and remained at a technical level

PLC- Schools never considered as a place of sharing and teacher learning by teachers.

Teachers maintain the established norms and values of their workplace

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From a ‘restricted’ to an ‘extended’’ view of teacher professionalismRestricted FormAligned with Teaching ObjectivesTeacher skills do not transcend classroom

walls. More often teachers’ worry was to enhance student learning

to respond to problematic learning situationsMost teachers perceived their

professionalism as a series of technical characteristics, of teaching duties like selecting appropriate teaching strategies, in order to achieve teaching objectives.

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Examination oriented

Teacher-centered: they plan everything from learning to revision to ensure that learners pass their examinations.

Content, approach, pace of learning are teacher controlled.

Reversion to didactic approaches

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Focus on product rather than process

Students do not want to learn for the sake of learning, they want learning as a passport to a better life, to promotion, to scholarships. (Teacher E)

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Meeting learners’ and parents’ expectations in some schools

‘They value only the Cambridge exams; I am talking of forms 5 and forms 6 students. I do not know where this exception comes from but they value only Cambridge final exams’. (Teacher S)

Teachers “maintain order to promote teaching and learning along the lines specified to achieve the objectives in time”.

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Extended form of teacher professionalismExtended form of professionalism- more democratic, more inclusive, more focused on social and affective than cognitive

process that include some philosophical, political or sociological dimensions (Hoyle, 1974).

Learner-oriented …’ when you give any kind of project work or

group work they know they are in control of some parts of their life’. (Teacher B)

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Viewing outcomes in the long term.  ‘I have been here for 6 years and recently I had a student she was in

from 4 and she was a nuisance it was very difficult to teach her literature …but now that she is in form six , one day she told me she wanted to organize an outing to ‘water parks’… I encouraged her …she did everything, planning, phoning and using very good French …she finalized things,… she phoned every where …for buses and tickets…. So I said to myself when I teach that the results are not for today but for later…’ (Teacher M)

Knowing the learner to provide emotional support

- Social and cultural background of learners for appropriate strategies (modeling, coaching, scaffolding)

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Negotiating

‘C… has the power to destabilize the class at any time so much so that it is essential for me to have a privileged relationship with him to gain his trust and achieve what I want for the students. If I do not do that I alienate one student who poisons the whole class.’ (Teacher J)

Being an ‘animateur   I think in class you have to entertain your students… they will follow the

class for 10 minutes and then their minds will wander elsewhere out of the class… you have all the time to retain their attention…look for things that would make them interested in the topic… I think you should be an actor… at any time play a role, just put yourself in another person’s skin and show them (Teacher B)

 

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Imaginative professionalismTeachers looked for remedies to address problems linked

to the system.New ways of ‘being’, ‘thinking’ and acting’ to

respond to chronic problems of the system, new categories of learners and their culture

Searching for ways to make learning meaningfulI expect that students will not do their classwork nor their

homework, that they will be rowdy in class. I equally know that many are not interested in coming to school to learn and that others are in a school they do not like, in classes they do not like and forced to study subjects they are not interested in.

… responsibility of identifying what his students need not only for learning but to be comfortable in class, with others, with teacher, with content and then to create the proper setting for that leaning to take place. (Teacher F)

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Conclusion

Today teacher professionalism is a precondition for

Successful schoolsTeacher status and recognitionWhose responsibility to professionalise

teaching?Ministry Individual teacher

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THANK YOU

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DISCUSSION POINT 1 RAISED“How can over-loaded teachers integrate all

the aspects of teacher professionalism in class?”

Presenter’s Response: Teacher professionalism and educational contexts all

over the world are in perpetual change and the challenge of teachers would be to respond to an ever-changing educational landscape. This would first demand of teachers a new mind set, a personal commitment for updating their knowledge and skills and viewing schools as professional learning community to be able to adapt to change and provide engaging learning experiences in class.

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DISCUSSION POINT 2 RAISED“What could be the contribution of rectors in the

process of teacher professionalization?”Presenter’s Response:

Presenter’s response: There is currently no provision for INSET (In-service Education and Training) in our education policies. It is thus difficult to consider in-house teacher professionalization without specific structural and organizational arrangements like protected time given to staff for this process and adequate resources for workshops. In the short term what could be envisaged is transforming monthly staff meetings into one hour developmental meetings where focus would be on addressing one issue or developing one teacher competency.