Curriculum mapping and instructional affordances: Sources of transformation for student teachers

Abstract

As an inquiry process, semiotics integrates the human dimension in its analysis of logical reasoning. This article is an attempt at interpreting the transformative meaning-making—or trans-semiosis—of student teachers mapping their curriculum knowledge through personal and shared educational inquiry. The authors use Shank & Cunningham’s Peircean model of reasoning to understand the process of curriculum formation that is, how curriculum meanings are organized and become conscious and transformative in postulant teachers. The inquiry process explores the modeling ability of student teachers in their discipline—English Language Teaching—and the growth of their professional identity. Their capacity of reflection, their intuiting and reasoning, their values and beliefs about the subject-matter, are all aspects of meaning emergence, which have been elicited through observations as well as oral and written interviews. The article provides indications of the benefits of curriculum mapping in terms of logical, social and political reasoning about the subject-matter and as a process of eliciting constructive and transformational semiosis. Ozet – Bir arastirma sureci olan gostergebilim, mantiksal iliskilendirmede insan boyutuyla birlesir. Bu makale, ogretmen adaylarinin ogrenim bilgilerini, kisisel calisma ve gordukleri egitimle tasarlarken nasil donusumsel olarak anlam urettiklerini veya baska bir deyisle anlam uretme surecinin nasil bir donusume ugradigini ele alir. Yazarlar, ogretmen adaylarinda ogrenimin nasil anlamlanip, bilincli bir hale gelerek duzenlendigini ve donusturuldugunu, Shank ve Cunningham’in ogrenim bilgisi olusumunu anlamada kullandiklari, Peirce’un iliskilendirme modeli ile inceler. Arastirma sureci, Ingiliz Dili Ogretmenligi adaylarinin, ogrenimlerini modelleme yeteneklerini ve alanlarinda kendi yetkin kimliklerini ortaya cikarmaya calisir. Yazili ve sozlu gorusmelerde gozlemlenen kavrayislari, yansitici dusunceleri, sezgileri ve iliskilendirmeleri, alan hakkindaki inanclari ve degerleri, ozetle hepsi anlamin cesitli sekillerde ortaya cikisidir. Bu makale, hem alan hakkindaki mantiksal, sosyal ve siyasi iliskilendirmede hem de anlamin yapisal uretim surecinde ogrenimi detayli tasarlamanin yararlarini gostermeyi amaclar. Resume – La semiotique implique des processus de recherche qui integrent la dimension humaine dans l’analyse du raisonnement logique. Cet article est une tentative d’interpreter la “trans-semiose” ou production transformatrice du sens que les professeurs stagiaires mettent en oeuvre lorsqu’ils etablissent, soit personnellement soit en commun, la carte de leurs connaissances de la discipline enseignee. Les auteurs de l’article utilisent le modele de raisonnement propose par Shank et Cunningham dans la ligne des travaux de Charles S. Peirce pour comprendre le processus de formation disciplinaire, c’est a dire la maniere dont le savoir est organise dans la didactique de la discipline, dont il devient conscient et transforme les enseignants prospectifs. La recherche explore la competence des stagiaires a modeliser leur discipline, qui est l’anglais langue etrangere, et investigue la croissance de leur identite professionnelle. Leur capacite de reflexion, leur intuition, leurs valeurs, representations et convictions relatives a la discipline sont tous des aspects a travers lesquels emerge le sens didactique, au fils d’observations qui ont ete associees a des interviews ecrites et orales. L’article apporte des indications sur les apports de la cartographie didactique de la discipline enseignee, en termes du raisonnement logique, social et politique sur la matiere enseignee dont l’explicitation s’inscrit dans une semiose constructive et transformatrice.