10. Teacher Education Research
Paper
SEL in Teacher Education - Self-Study of Emotional-Support in Teacher-Education During COVID
Orit Schwarz-Franco
Beit Ber Academic College, Israel
Presenting Author: Schwarz-Franco, Orit
The self-study described here was inspired by an event during the COVID-19 pandemic, involving a high school student, a preservice teacher, the preservice teacher’s pedagogical instructor (PI), and a school counselor. This is how it unfolded: Lian (pseudo name) , a 10th-grade student, sent a WhatsApp text to Amy, her philosophy teacher, after a lesson taught via Zoom during the first COVID-19 lockdown. The lesson’s contents had aroused her anxiety. The teacher recognized suicidal hints in the text and sent me (her PI) a message, asking for advice. In turn, I called Rona, a senior educational counselor. She supported me over the phone and made suggestions. I passed these on to the teacher and guided her response to the child, we also involved the school’s counselor. This chain of support was empowering and hopeful despite its remote, non-face-to-face interaction.
In this self-study, I reflect critically on my response to the situation, the professional choices involved (prior and during the event), and the interpersonal contexts in which the situation occurred. With the help of a critical friend, I examine the particular challenges and new opportunities granted to this professional and personal chain of response and responsibility under the conditions of remote learning.
The theoretical background of the study is based on the growing awareness of social emotional learning (SEL) as central to teaching and learning (Walker & Weidenbenner, 2019).SEL has developed substantially in recent decades and is advocated by leading organizations (MGIEP, 2020). Additionally we hear of the importance of investing in the SEL competence of teachers during teacher training (Jennings & Frank 2015), however, it was found that SEL is still not getting enough attention in teacher education programs.
The COVID-19 crisis has deepened the need for emotional support for children and youths, with a worrying growth of depression, anxiety, and other expressions of emotional distress (Racine et al., 2021). At the same time, the educational circumstances have magnified educators’ challenge to express their own social emotional skills in class and to cultivate those skills among their students (Hadar et al., 2020). Yet this new reality has also created new opportunities to meet old objectives, as I show herein.
The school counselor is responsible mainly for students’ emotional well-being in school. A main duty is indirect support through guidance of “significant others” in students’ lives, mostly parents and teachers. Teachers and counselors see collaboration as an essential aspect of a counselor’s work (Gibbons et al., 2010, Slijepčević,& Zuković, 2021). However, cooperation is a complex issue, even in normal school routines (LaBoskey, 2004ewa et. Al. 2016) In the case studied here, I examine this challenge in light of two additional obstacles: remote learning and the work of a preservice teacher.
My research questions are: What can I learn from this case about my work and about the is and the ought of teacher-educators’ work, in guiding teacher-students during their practical training? How are these tasks affected by remote learning? What adjustments must be made to meet challenges and to enjoy opportunities under these conditions?
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedSelf-study enables teacher-educators to learn by critically reflecting on their practical experience (Samaras, 2002; LaBoskey, 2004; Kitchen et al., 2020). Therefore, this approach was appropriate, given my wish to retrospectively examine the choices I made in the case under discussion, and thus improve my work (Kitchen, 2020). A self-study based on a single case (Poyas, 2016) allows the practitioner to focus the reflective gaze on a unique educational situation and to attempt to encompass its total complexity.
To enhance the study’s trustworthiness (LaBoskey, 2004), I consulted formal documents, including the school-counselor's role description and instructions for educators concerning recognition of warning signs from teenagers. I also used personal texts written during the event: WhatsApp messages from Lian to Amy and from Amy to me. I requested and received IRB approval to use these (under pseudonyms of course) and to interview the adult participants. To enhance the study’s interactivity (LaBoskey, 2004), I interviewed the two figures who shared my experience: Amy, the preservice teacher, and Rona, the school counselor. Due to the lockdown, interviews were performed via Zoom, recorded, and transcribed. Both interviews lasted approximately one hour. The interview with the student helped me to include her point of view in my analysis, and the counselor taught me about counselors' role in guiding teachers to recognize signs of dangerous behaviors.
The interviews were semi-structured. The pre-planned questions for Amy were:
1. Please tell me about your experience with Lian.
2. Please tell me about your relationship with Lian before the case.
3. In your opinion, what made Lian choose you as the teacher to turn to for help?
4. What made you recognize Lian's message as requiring special care?
5. What did you learn from the case?
The pre-planned questions for Rona were:
1. What are the ‘red’ signs of danger from teenage students?
2.What guidance do subject-matter teachers receive around this subject?
3. How are all these issues affected by social distancing?
Additional questions came up during both interviews.
To analyze the data, I conducted open and preliminary coding. Across these three relationships (teacher – high-school student, teacher – counselor, and preservice teacher–PI)., I spotted two dimensions: working in normal conditions and working in the unique situation of remote learning. The three relationships on two dimensions gave me six categories. Finally, I turned to a critical friend who could offer an alternative point of view on the data.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe chain of support that was activated in the event included three dyadic relations: teacher–pupil, teacher–counselor, and preservice teacher–PI. Analysis of the three relationships led me to highlight two objectives of teacher-education: integration of SEL within subject-matter contents to guide and support teacher-students in their relationships with their pupils; and good integration of preservice teachers into team relations with school staff during practical training. The two issues are one: good handling of team relations is one of the conditions that allows SEL to be integrated into regular work and during periods of high risk.
Remote learning was recognized as a loss of opportunity to establish a supportive teacher–pupil relationship. However, the pandemic also gave teachers and teacher educators new opportunities for social communication in digital channels that are sometimes more intimate and safer.
we need further research to establish a solid foundation for these insights. First, there should be an evaluation of how PCK, SEL, and team relations are treated in teacher education programs. Second, we must try to integrate them into holistic programs and then accompany these trials with research. In both cases, there should be a focus not only on the experiences of the lecturers and PIs but also on the learning experiences and impressions of the teacher-students.
Concerning remote learning I suggest that teacher-educators, as other educators, should recognize three aspects of teaching in conditions of social distancing: the greater need for emotional support, the unique obstacles to giving support, and the new ways to overcome these obstacles. Finally, we should embrace the new possibilities that digital channels offer us for creating intimacy and accessibility in our relationships with our students.
ReferencesCholewa, B., Goodman-Scott, E., Thomas, A., & Cook, J. (2016). Teachers’ perceptions and experiences consulting with school counselors: A qualitative study. Professional School Counseling, 20(1), 1096–2409. https://doi.org/10.5330/1096-2409-20.1.77
Flores, M.A., & Swennen, A. (2020). The COVID-19 pandemic and its effects on teacher education. European Journal of Teacher Education, 43(4), 453-456.
Gibson, M.M., Diambra, J.F., & Buchanan, D.K. (2010). School counselors’ perceptions and attitudes about collaboration. Journal of School Counseling, 8(34), 1-28.
Hadar, L., Ergas, O., Alpert, B., & Ariav, T. (2020). Rethinking teacher education in a VUCA world: Student teachers’ social-emotional competencies during the COVID-19 crisis. European Journal of Teacher Education, 43(4), 573–586. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2020.1807513
Jennings, P.A., & Frank, J.L. (2015). In-service preparation for educators. In J.A. Durlak, C.E. Domitrovich, R.P. Weissberg, & T.P. Gullotta (Eds.), Handbook of social and emotional learning: Research and practice (pp. 422-437). The Guilford Press.
Kitchen, J. (2020). Self-study in teacher education and beyond. In J. Kitchen, A. Berry, S. Bullock, A. Crowe, M. Taylor, H. Guðjónsdóttir, & L. Thomas (Eds.), International handbook of self-study of teaching and teacher education practices (pp. 1023–1044). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6880-6_34
LaBoskey, V.K. (2004). The methodology of self-study and its theoretical underpinnings. In J.J. Loughran, M.L. Hamilton, V.L. LaBoskey, & T. Russell (Eds.), International handbook of self-study of teaching and teacher education practices (pp. 817-870). Kluwer.
MGIEP. 2020. Rethinking learning: A review of social and emotional learning for educational systems. https://rethinkinglearning.paperform.co/
Poyas, Y. (2016). ’Don’t sell me the enemy’s literature’: A self-study of teaching literature in politically fraught contexts. Studying Teacher Education, 12(3), 267-283.
Racine, N., McArthur, B.A., Cooke, J.E., Eirich, R., Zhu, J., & Madigan, S. (2021). Global prevalence of depressive and anxiety symptoms in children and adolescents during COVID-19: A meta-analysis. JAMA Pediatrics, 175(11), 1142–1150. doi:10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.2482
Samaras, A.P. (2002). Self-study for teacher educators: Crafting a pedagogy for educational change. Counterpoints. Peter Lang.
Shulman, L.S. (1986). Those who understand: Knowledge growth in teaching. Educational researcher, 15(2), 4-14.
Slijepčević, S.D., & Zuković, S.N. (2021). School counsellor-teacher collaboration in student counselling. The New Educational Review, 63, 237-247.
Walker, G., & Weidenbenner, J.V. (2019). Social and emotional learning in the age of virtual play: technology, empathy, and learning. Journal of Research in Innovative Teaching & Learning, 12(2). https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JRIT-03-2019-0046/full/html
10. Teacher Education Research
Paper
Teachers‘ Social Media Support Network During COVID-19 Pandemic
Zuzana Terry
Faculty of Humanities,Charles University, Czech Republic
Presenting Author: Terry, Zuzana
Digital platforms in education have experienced a considerable rise of interest in many different types of studies about distance learning and teaching; studies on the impact on teachers (Klapprofth et al. 2020; Yao 2021; Stachteas, Stachteas 2020; Marek et al. 2021), educational and digital inequalities (Oliviera et al. 2021; Gillis, Krull 2020; Dudová 2021), but also teachers’ work conditions (Mouralová, Hejzlarová 2022; Pirro et al. 2021). The COVID-19 pandemic drew the attention of social researchers as it caused sudden and, in the European context, unprecedented measures of protection against it. The conditions of social life changed from day to day, and individuals, groups, organisations and institutions had to change. This includes how teachers used social networks and how they functioned in virtual environments. Yet, little attention has been paid to the role of digital platforms in providing space for self-support/self-help for teachers´ communities (see Mouralová, Hejzlarová 2022).
The paper aims to fill in the blind spot and describe the dynamics of one particular (but immensely popular) Facebook public group gathering teachers in the Czech Republic called Ucitele + (Teachers +) and analyze the topics raised there in the first phase of the pandemic, in the period 2/2020 - 6/2020, in order to answer the following research questions: What sort of issues did the teachers raise in the Facebook group? How can we understand the selection of the issues in terms of particular roles a virtual platform can play - i. e., peer support, self-help, empowerment, micropolitics? Answering the questions enriches the scholarship focusing on teachers´ needs and the ways of covering their needs, not just during the times of pandemic.
Social media use increased enormously all over the world during COVID-19 as people searched for ‘just-in-time’ news, information, social connections, and support in their daily lives (Greenhow et al. 2021). Teachers’ professional peer grouping was no exception. Teachers needed the support of one another during the unprecedented change in their teaching lives. This was not possible anymore in the space of school staff rooms. A more instant, open and comprehensive source was searched. The teachers reached out for teaching support in the online ‘teaching staff room’. Facebook public peer group for teachers Ucitelé + was established in 2017, a few years before COVID-19 spread, but enlarged enormously during it. The more people reached out and joined, the more valuable the network was. The group gained prominence and power during COVID-19 and created micro-politics that managed to put a force on the policymakers. I draw upon Greenhow et al. (2021, p 1451), who researched teachers’ tweets in the US and Canada during that time and who argue that during the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers reached to social media for personal “just-in-time” professional development like other times; however, the importance of the utility of teachers’ questioning discourse in emerging situations as is the COVID-19 is crucial.
In my paper, I show the research in the specific situation of the Czech Republic. The schools in Czechia are very decentralised and separated. There is no professional chamber to unite all schools and teachers, although there are many small professional social networks which have limited support. Town councils govern Czech primary and lower secondary schools (in the Czech Republic, one institution). Still, upper secondary schools are governed by a county, making connections and cooperation across the school levels even more difficult. Social media networking is a logical consequence of the lack of support and networking across schools in the Czech Republic.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedTo address the above research questions, I use mixed design research, which is based on a qualitative approach with some partial quantitative elements. I obtained the data from the administrators of the Facebook group Ucitele+ who downloaded a dataset of entries in a particular Facebook public peer group for teachers, the download was for the period starting February 2020, during which the Czech schools were closed up to June 2020, when they were reopened and running in special after first phase’ mode. The created data was analysed focusing on entries issues, their frequency, the volume of the reactions on it, and their patterns. I also conducted semi-structured interviews with the five administrators of the group, tracing the dynamic of the group during the COVID-19 lockdown and its micropolitics. I used the methods of digital ethnography (Pink et al. 2016).
Theoretically, I draw upon the concept of the micropolitics of educational change as in Blasé (1998) or Kalchtermans, Ballet (2002) and Švaříček (2009). I also build on the literature about the COVID-19 pandemic Klapprofth et al. (2020); Yao (2021); Stachteas, Stachteas 2020; Marek et al. (2021); Oliviera et al. (2021); Gillis, Krull (2020); Dudová (2021); Mouralová, Hejzlarová (2022); Pirro et al. (2021) and use of the internet as a source of teachers professional development Greenhow et al. (2021), Alwafi (2021) or Cavanaugh, DeWeese (2020).
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe research is still in progress, and final analyses are not available at present. However, the significant increase in membership and intensity of communication in the Facebook public group Ucitele + during the COVID-19 pandemic was clearly fulfilling an essential function of just-in-time answers (Greenhow et al. 2021) that the teachers needed and had not been saturated elsewhere. The preliminary analyses of the data revealed four categories of the entries in the group: 1) asking for help with a specific teaching task, asking for ideas, tips, and experiences of others; 2) sharing specific materials and tips, trying to help others; 3) responding to and dealing with school or higher politics, both personally and in a systemic/organized way; 4) psycho-hygiene - sharing difficulties, relieving oneself. The issue of responding to and dealing with school and higher politics is reviling micropolitics issued of the group. The other categories show the increasing need for just-in-time tools for the professional development of the teachers and school staff currently during the COVID-19 pandemic but perhaps more permanently as well.
ReferencesBlase J. 1998. „The Micropolitics of Educational Change.“ Pp. 544-557 in International Handbook of Educational Change. Dordrecht: Springer.
Dudová, R. (2021). Péče jako individuální odpovědnost a prohloubení ekonomického znevýhodnění sólo matek v pandemii covid-19. Gender a výzkum, 22(2), 110-138.
Gillis, A., & Krull, L. M. (2020). <? covid19?> COVID-19 remote learning transition in spring 2020: class structures, student perceptions, and inequality in college courses. Teaching Sociology, 48(4), 283-299.
Greenhow, C., Staudt Willet, K. B., & Galvin, S. (2021). Inquiring tweets want to know:# Edchat supports for# RemoteTeaching during COVID‐19. British Journal of Educational Technology, 52(4), 1434-1454.
Kelchtermans G., K. Ballet 2002. „The micropolitics of teacher induction. A narrative biographical study on teacher socialisation.“ Teaching and Teacher Education 18 (1): 105–120.
Klapproth, F., Federkeil, L., Heinschke, F., & Jungmann, T. (2020). Teachers' Experiences of Stress and Their Coping Strategies during COVID-19 Induced Distance Teaching. Journal of Pedagogical Research, 4(4), 444-452.
Marek, M. W., Chew, C. S., & Wu, W. C. V. (2021). Teacher experiences in converting classes to distance learning in the COVID-19 pandemic. International Journal of Distance Education Technologies (IJDET), 19(1), 89-109.
Mouralová, M., & Hejzlarová, E. M. (2022). Proč učitelky nechodí na ošetřovačku? Emoční strategie, mikropolitiky a sebepojetí učitelek s malými dětmi v době pandemie. Sociologický časopis/Czech Sociological Review, 58(5), 477-507.
Oliveira, G., Grenha Teixeira, J., Torres, A., & Morais, C. (2021). An exploratory study on the emergency remote education experience of higher education students and teachers during the COVID‐19 pandemic. British Journal of Educational Technology, 52(4), 1357-1376.
Pink, S. (2016). Digital ethnography. Innovative methods in media and communication research, 161-165.
Pirro, F., Toscano, E., Di Nunzio, D., & Pedaci, M. (2022). When school ‘stayed home’. A sociology of work approach on the remote work of teachers during the lockdown for the COVID-19 pandemic: the case of Italy. International Review of Sociology, 1-12.
Stachteas, P., & Stachteas, C. (2020). The psychological impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on secondary school teachers. Psychiatrike= Psychiatriki, 31(4), 293-301.
Švaříček R. 2009. „Pomluvy jako mikropolitická strategie učitelů základní školy.“ Studia paedagogica 14 (1): 87-108
Yao, S., Li, D., Yohannes, A., & Song, H. (2021). Exploration for network distance teaching and resource sharing system for higher education in the epidemic situation of COVID-19. Procedia Computer Science, 183, 807-813.
10. Teacher Education Research
Paper
Humanizing Teacher education: Exploring Praxis for Care, Resistance, and Agency in Performative Times.
Filipa Soares1,2, Amélia Lopes1, Carla Serrão2, Elisabete Ferreira1
1Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto Portugal; 2inED, School of Education, Polytechnic of Porto, Portugal
Presenting Author: Soares, Filipa
Teacher education is a place of tension: political, epistemological, pedagogical, relational, and personal. Successive reforms in teacher education bring new accommodation, to these tensions, changing not only what people do in educational institutions, but also who people are (Ball, 2015). The tensions in education are lived at an internal level: sensed in the body and felt in the heart of the teachers, influencing their practices and the meanings given to their experiences (Palmer, 2007). Mental health issues, professional dissatisfaction and turnover, erosion of democracy in schools, are ripple effects of unaddressed tensions (Lopes, 2001). Avoiding the tensions with rush, the need to get things fixed, elaborated spreadsheets, and by blaming the unnamed other, are the strategies of a performative culture. Bringing awareness and allowing time to turn toward, to go deep and to become closer is the call of a human culture. Humanization of education is not only a utopia. It is a call for agency in performative times. It is a call for silence in loud times. It is a call for collective care and freedom. Humanizing teacher education is a form of resisting education reform toward performativity and managerialism. This instrumental approach risks turning teacher education into a list of competence and knowledge achievements to be accomplished in the shortest time possible, losing sight of the depth and complexity of educational aims and purpose (Biesta, 2008) and compromising the development of professional agency (Biesta, 2015). Humanizing teacher education is about addressing the depth and complexity of becoming a teacher, including the emotional, relational, and ethical dimensions of teaching, as an explicit experiential and reflexive process that is part of the pathway of teacher education. Humanization refers to the process of awareness and reflexion toward becoming some(one) with some(body), as Esquirol (2021) suggests in his essay “Human more human”. It is an act of integrity and 'intimate resistance' (Esquirol, 2015) to the instrumental tendencies of neoliberalism, inviting the time and space to feel and find the who of teacher education. Humanization would be, in this sense, the movement of approaching, through awareness and reflection, the depth of the experience of becoming someone who is also a teacher. It recognises the need for teachers to become authors of their profession and citizens in their practices. To develop “good teachers” (Korthagen, 2004), there is a need to go beyond teacher performance and competence, addressing deeper dimensions of teacher identity and ethical purpose in a virtue-based approach to teacher education (Biesta, 2015), to develop educationally wise professionals. A mindfulness-based approach is a promising pathway to support teachers in this path. Firstly, as a strategy for social-emotional development, promoting teacher skills for emotional regulation and stress reduction (Emerson et al., 2017; Lomas et al., 2017); secondly, as means to bring teacher self as an object of education (Ergas, 2017), addressing the subjectivity and inner dispositions of the teacher as an explicit part of the curriculum; and thirdly, as an in-depth reflective process, supporting educational judgment and teacher agency (Ergas & Hadar, 2021).
This communication proposal is part of larger research project about humanizing teacher education. Exploring ways to develop a praxis for humanization in teacher education is the social and scientific contribution expected with this research. Approaching subjectivity as a place of care, struggle, and resistance in teachers’ daily life is the challenge that lies ahead.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedThe exploratory study that will be presented, intends to understand the contributions of a mindfulness-based reflective community of practice to teachers' training and professional development. It aims at a) recognizing contributions and tensions in the integration of a mindfulness-based approach in the context of teacher education; b) exploring teachers’ experience of mindfulness-based approach in its personal, relational, and ethical dimensions. This study is part of an emancipatory and participatory action-research (Elliot, 1991; Fals-Borda, 1991; Kemmis & McTarggart, 2005; Lopes, 2001) with in-service teachers. Fifteen teachers voluntarily enrolled in a mindfulness-based program (MBCT-L) developed by the Oxford Mindfulness Centre and delivered by a qualified teacher. This Program included 9 weekly sessions of 2 hours and an intensive session of 4 hours. The Program was delivered online via zoom. With this Program it is intended the development of mindfulness-based reflective skills that will support the development of the mindfulness-based reflective community of practice. The participants (N=12) voluntarily enrolled the community of practice after the MBCT-L Program ended. It included a weekly meditation session of 30 minutes and a monthly 2-hour session following the methodology of participatory action-research where the areas of research/reflection on professional practice in school contexts, were continuously redefined, remembered and dialogically explored in its multiplicity and depth. The data collection includes the self-narrative of the researcher, teachers’ reflexive reports (N=8), the recording of the community of practice sessions and focus group in the end of the mindfulness program (N=8) and after 5 sessions of the community of practice.
A rhizomatic narrative approach, inspired by Deleuze and Guattari (2007) and Polkinghorne (1995) will support data analysis. The aim is to address the emerging cartography of teachers’ subjectivity, experienced in the process of a mindfulness-based community of practice.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsExploring the person of the teacher, his/her subjectivity and its relations is like diving into the depth of the ocean. From the ever-changing weather in the surface, the invitation is to move into the depth, into the stillness, where no light can guide us, and spacious emptiness may become the space for knowledge. The mindfulness-based approach allowed teachers to inhabit the unknown, the uncertain, the unsure and to explore resisting the temptation to rush to the surface, to the doing and fixing of a daily life. It provided a time and space to welcome the body and emotion as wisdom, finding the (he)art of the teacher in this process. The sessions of the community of practice are just in the beginning. A first narrative analysis of the reflective journal and focus group after the mindfulness program reflects the role of the mindfulness-based approach in triggering awareness, attention, presence, and self-knowledge. There is the sense of releasing unnecessary tension and regaining inner space to meet the present moment with acceptance, empathy, and tolerance. The group found a new kind of place to be among other teachers: a place of both individual and collective intimacy where there is time to stop, to share experiences in a new depth and for reflexive insights. The role of the body, emotion, and the quality of attention and acceptance that is developed throughout the 9 weeks is transformational at personal and professional level. Resources to deal with stress and reactivity are developed. Reperceiving experience from a different perspective becomes more common. This is path of struggle and resistance: with expectations, with self-judgment, with the time, with the discomfort, with habits. It requires courage, discipline, and a friendly group of peers to keep moving into the depth of being and becoming a teacher.
ReferencesBall, S. (2015). Subjectivity as a site of struggle: refusing neoliberalism? British Journal of Sociology of Education, 37(8), 1129-1146.
Deleuze, G. & Guattari, F. (2007). Mil planaltos: capitalismo e esquizofrenia 2. Assírio e Alvim
Biesta, G. (2008). Good education in an age of measurement: On the need to reconnect with the question of purpose in education. Educational Assessment, Evaluation and Accountability, 21(1), 33-46. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-008-9064-9
Biesta, G. (2015). How does a competent teacher become a good teacher? On judgement, wisdom and virtuosity in teaching and teacher education. In R. Heilbronn & L. Foreman-Peck (Eds.), Philosophical perspectives on the future of teacher education (pp. 3-22). Wiley Blackwell.
Elliott, J. (1991). El cambio educativo desde la investigación-acción. Ediciones Morata.
Emerson, L. M., Leyland, A., Hudson, K., Rowse, G., Hanley, P., & Hugh-Jones, S. (2017). Teaching Mindfulness to Teachers: a Systematic Review and Narrative Synthesis. Mindfulness (N Y), 8(5), 1136-1149. doi:10.1007/s12671-017-0691-4
Ergas, O. (2017). Reclaiming “self” in teachers’ images of “education” through mindfulness as contemplative inquiry. Journal of Curriculum & Pedagogy, 14(3), 218-235. https://doi.org/10.1080/15505170.2017.1398698
Esquirol, J. (2015). A Resistência íntima: ensaio de uma filosofia da proximidade. Almedina.
Esquirol, J. (2021). Humano, más humano. Acantilado.
Fals-Borda, Orlando e Rahman, Muhammad (1991). A self-review of PAR. In Fals-Borda, Orlando e Rahman, Muhammad (eds). Action Knoweldge: breaking the monopoly with participatory action-research. The Apex Press.
Kemmis, Stephen e McTaggart, Robin. (2005) Participatory Action Research: comunicative action in the public sphere. In: Denzin, Norman K., and Lincoln, Yvonna S., (eds.) The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Research. Sage Publications, Thousand Oaks, California, USA, pp. 559-603.
Korthagen, F. (2014). Promoting core reflection in teacher education: Deepening professional growth. In L. Orland-Barak & C. J. Craig (Eds.), International Teacher Education: Promising pedagogies (Part A), (pp. 73-89). Emerald.
Lopes, A. (2001). Libertar o Desejo, Resgatar a Inovação: a construção de identidades profissionais docentes. Instituto de Inovação Educacional.
Lomas, T., Medina, J. C., Ivtzan, I., Rupprecht, S., & Eiroa-Orosa, F. J. (2017). The impact of mindfulness on the wellbeing and performance of educators: A systematic review of the empirical literature. Teaching and Teacher Education, 61, 132-141. doi:10.1016/j.tate.2016.10.008
Palmer, P. (2007). The courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life (10th Edition). Jossey-Bass.
10. Teacher Education Research
Paper
Exploring the ITE, Induction and Post-Induction Experiences of Scottish Physical Education Teachers: A Phenomenological Inquiry
Denise McGee-Dewar
Edinburgh University, United Kingdom
Presenting Author: McGee-Dewar, Denise
Teacher effectiveness has become an increasing concern as education is viewed politically as a measure of social and economic capital, therefore, teacher effectiveness and by extension teacher education have become key areas of focus for policymakers worldwide (Rauschenberger et al. 2017). Despite career-long professional learning being a well-established feature in Scottish education, ITE programmes are still under pressure to produce “classroom ready teachers” (MacDonald and Rae, 2018 p841). Furthermore, they are criticised for failing to adequately prepare new teachers for the rigors of an increasingly complex teaching profession (ibid).
The transition from ITE into the teaching profession is acknowledged as a challenging and precarious time for new teachers. Faced with issues relating to workload, role conflict and behaviour management (Loughran et al., 2001), new teachers can experience what Veenman (1984) terms “reality shock” (p143). All new teachers in Scotland are supported during this transition through the Teacher Induction Scheme (TIS). This guarantees one year of paid employment for graduating teachers and provides structured support. Despite these features, concerns have been raised about the variability of support available during induction (Shanks, 2020).
A gap exists in the literature for qualitative research that brings together the learning experienced during the ITE, induction and post-induction phases. This study focussed on graduates of a physical education teacher education (PETE) programme within Scotland. The aim of this study was to explore the lived experiences of new teachers during the early career phase and was guided by the question:
What are the lived experiences of PE teachers during ITE, induction and post-induction?
Phenomenology seeks to gain a deeper understanding of the nature of experience (Van Manen, 2001), by gathering and interpreting accounts of lived experiences of a phenomenon (Vagle, 2018). This study employed hermeneutic phenomenology which focuses on concrete lived experiences and the meanings that we make of these experiences (Van Manen, 2014). The phenomenological principles of intentionality and the hermeneutic circle underpinned the design of this study.
Intentionality denotes the essential relationship between the conscious subject and the world (ibid). In this relationship between the subject and the object of consciousness is an active relationship in which consciousness is shaped by the object and the object is also shaped by consciousness (ibid). The purpose is to orient the participants to their lived experiences as they experienced them rather than how they have conceptualised them (Adams and Van Manen, 2017). During data collection, questions were asked in a way that engaged the participants with their pre-reflective experiences. Therefore, four existentials or phenomenological themes underpinned the data collection and analysis process. These principles are considered to belong to the fundamental structure of the lifeworld: lived space (spatiality), lived body (corporeality), lived time (temporality), and lived human relation (relationality) (Van Manen, 2014). To ensure that the data was experiential in nature, any data that did not relate to at least one of the existentials was disregarded during analysis (Sloan and Bowe, 2013).
The hermeneutic circle explains that individuals do not come to a phenomenon blankly, but start with vague preunderstandings and prejudices, and these are historically and culturally shaped (Gadamer, 1987). As a phenomenon is encountered, some of these preunderstandings will be challenged and others reinforced. Through the engagement with the phenomenon, the experiencer is transformed and will approach future engagements with new preunderstandings in an ongoing cycle (ibid). Therefore, understandings are dynamic and temporal (Dall 'Alba, 2004). As data was collected at two key stages, I acknowledged that the participants’ interpretations of their experiences would be dynamic, and this would be reflected in their new understandings of their ITE and induction experiences when they were revisited post-induction.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedPurposeful sampling was utilised to recruit seven graduates of a four-year undergraduate PETE programme. Phenomenology starts with first-hand, lived experience therefore phenomenological interviews should produce rich lived experience descriptions and should be conducted to facilitate participant’s recollections of these experiences (Van Manen 2014). Therefore, the conversation was kept open and flexible to allow the participants to raise and discuss the experiences most meaningful to. However, a loose structure was planned to ensure that elements of interest were covered so the interviews may be deemed to be semi-structured, but towards the unstructured end of that continuum (Kvale, 1996).
This study had a longitudinal design, interviews took place at two key stages: during induction and post-induction. In phase 1 each participant was interviewed individually towards the end of their induction year. The aim was to gain a deep understanding of the participants’ experiences of PE as a pupil, their experiences of ITE as a student teacher and then as a new teacher during induction. Individual interviews were deemed most appropriate as the intention was to gather a deep insight into each participant’s experiences. In phase 2, three focus groups were conducted one year later, during the post-induction phase. The aim of this phase was to explore the post-induction experiences of the participants, but also to revisit their ITE and induction experiences to explore ongoing impact. Focus groups were deemed most appropriate as having collected in-depth experiential data in the first phase, I felt that interactions between the participants may deepen the discussions around the issues raised (Cohen et al, 2018). The focus groups began with an overview of the main findings from the initial interviews before engaging in the group discussion.
The process of data analysis or phenomenological reduction requires the researcher to enter the hermeneutic circle, cycling between ‘thinking in terms of part to whole’ (Vagle, 2018). Writing and rewriting are crucial steps to gain a fuller understanding of the phenomenon (Van Manen, 2014). Within this study, moving from ‘part to whole’ meant both: engaging with the whole text for each participant (whole) and undertaking detailed line-by-line readings of each transcript (part) as well as circling between the account of each individual (part) and what was shared by the participants (whole) (Vagle, 2018).
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsIt was apparent from the individual interviews and focus groups that the participants had encountered a wide range of experiences across the ITE, induction and post-induction stages. Though a number of themes were generated the theme of relationships and support was most prominent and recurrent across the three phases. Using a longitudinal approach allowed for connections to be made between the learning that occurred at each stage. There was evidence that learning experienced during ITE and induction continued to impact upon practice post-induction however this was often subtle and by revisiting their previous learning experiences, participants were able to recognise these connections. The research design also captured the non-linear nature of teacher learning as the participants’ highlighted breakthroughs in their learning at different stages.
The main finding of this study is that early career teacher learning in all settings is highly dependent on relational factors. The importance of sustained connections within school settings in fostering strong, supportive relationships was highlighted across all phases. This has implications for how placements and induction are organised. This suggests that by allowing students to experience a sustained connection with a department may allow more supportive relationships to be developed and a greater sense of belonging. This could be achieved through extended placements or linked placements which allowed students to build on pre-established relationships with staff, pupils and university tutors. Similarly, a longer induction period may allow new teachers time to develop stronger relationships with pupils and staff. It could also allow new teachers to experience tapering support and gradual increases in responsibility (Dewhurst and McMurty, 2006). This could mitigate the impact of reality shock which was intensified by the simultaneous increase of demands at the same time as induction supports were withdrawn.
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