Actual Classroom Practices Research Articles

Preschool teachers’ beliefs and practices of developmentally appropriate practice (DAP)

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore preschool teachers’ beliefs and practices on developmentally appropriate practices. The study sites are a mix of public and private preschools that are located in Gondar City, Ethiopia. From these study sites, six participants were purposively selected. Date data were collected through in-depth interviews. Audio-recorded in-depth interviews were transcribed verbatim. Then the Amharic transcript was then translated into the English language and made ready for further thematic analysis. The results indicated a discrepancy between preschool teachers’ beliefs and their actual classroom practices of DAP. The participants reported strong beliefs about the importance of DAP for children’s development and learning. However, they did not follow the DAP guides when teaching children. The preschool teachers attributed this discrepancy to external factors such as shortage of inputs, large class size, lack of parental support and administrative problems. Therefore, the Ministry of Education, policy makers, teacher training colleges and school administrators should design strategies that enable preschool teachers to practice their strong beliefs in implementing DAP in the classroom.

From the historical text to the classroom session: analysing the work of teachers-as-designers.

While classical studies have highlighted the many potential benefits of using original historical sources in the classroom, few studies have documented actual classroom practices outside of research contexts. In this case study, I aim to describe and explain how five French high school teachers autonomously designed and implemented classroom sessions starting from the same document, namely an excerpt from Euler’s Elements of Algebra presenting an algorithm for square root approximation. From a methodological viewpoint, it enables me show how two general frameworks for the study of teachers’ professional practices—the Documentational Approach to Didactics and the Didactic and Ergonomic Double Approach—can be tailored to fit the specific challenges of using historical sources. The empirical results provide fresh insights into the conditions for a mathematically rich use of historical sources in the classroom, and on the connections between this use and the integration of a historical perspective in the teaching of mathematics.

PRONUNCIATION INSTRUCTION IN VIETNAMESE TERTIARY SETTINGS: INSIGHTS FROM EFL TEACHERS’ COGNITIONS AND CLASSROOM PRACTICES

This study aims at investigating teachers’ cognitions and classroom practices towards pronunciation instruction in Vietnamese tertiary EFL classrooms. Participants included 76 Vietnamese EFL teachers in some universities in the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. Data were collected through a questionnaire and classroom observations. The study findings showed that the teachers highlighted the importance of pronunciation teaching with a specific focus on communicative purposes. However, the results also indicated a mismatch between the teachers’ stated cognitions about pronunciation instruction and their actual classroom practices. Therefore, this study gives recommendations for further research on exploring situational factors influencing pronunciation instruction as well as the need for teacher training.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0584/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Exploring the tensions science teachers navigate as they enact their visions for science teaching: what their feedback can tell us

ABSTRACT This paper reports on inservice science teachers’ collaborative feedback to each other on videos of their classroom teaching during debrief sessions. We aimed to understand how the teachers’ feedback reflected their vision for science education and how they collaboratively identified and discussed the misalignments between their vision and actual classroom practices. Ten videos of debrief sessions involving 17 K-12 science teachers participating in a teacher leadership professional development program were analysed. The feedback captured the teachers’ reflections as they collaboratively identified issues that were important to them and attempted to resolve them together. Our initial analysis of the data led us to frame our study within the literature on critical reflection, democratic practices, and student agency in science education. The teachers had a deep awareness of the need for democratic practices and shared power in their classrooms. Their feedback, however, revealed the tensions that arose as they discussed enactments of each of these tenets in the classroom. This study contributes to the literature on feedback given among inservice science teachers and proposes a professional development model that supports teachers’ professional learning in a social and democratic setting.

Teacher emotion and pedagogical decision-making in ESP teaching in a Chinese University.

Teacher emotion has become an important issue in English language teaching as it is a crucial construct in understanding teachers' responses to institutional policies. The study explored teachers' emotion labor and its impact on teachers' pedagogical decision-making in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teaching in a university of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) in China. Drawing on a poststructural perspective, the study examined data from two rounds of semi-structured interviews, policy documents and teaching artifacts. The analysis of data revealed that the major emotion labor facing the participants revolved around students' disengagement in class. Teachers experienced mixed feelings of anticipation, disappointment, anger, and empathy toward students and distanced themselves from institutional feeling rules enforcing objective assessment of students' performance and punishing students for lack of engagement in class. The study found that teacher emotion labor served as the site for their pedagogical modifications. ESP teachers' beliefs in the importance of attending to students' needs become a powerful discourse in supporting teachers to strategically subvert institutional feeling rules and critically reflect on the dysfunctions of curriculum, orienting teachers' agentic actions in modifying pedagogical practices. We thus underscore this empowering discourse as the bridge to connect teachers' policy negotiation and their actual classroom practices. We also highlight teachers' pedagogical decision-making as a process of the interactions of teacher emotion, teachers' reflexive practices, and power relations. The study ended by suggesting more longitudinal research where teachers' beliefs as previously appropriated discourses could be examined comprehensively as they were both the construct of emotion labor and the potential subverting power in supporting teachers' pedagogical decision-making in policy negotiation.

A case study of EFL teachers’ practice of teaching speaking skills vis-à-vis the principles of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT)

Though revising the existing syllabus is part of the Ethiopian education system, the study of the implementations of the notions of the syllabus attracts a few researchers’ interests. Therefore, this study investigates teachers’ practices of teaching speaking and compares them with the principles of Communicative Language Teaching (CLT), the underlying approach of the new syllabus. It also explores teachers’ rationalizations of their practices and the factors that influence the teaching of speaking. To achieve the objectives, the researchers used a qualitative case study research design. The data from the four purposively selected English teachers was gathered through classroom observations and stimulated recall interviews. In analyzing the data, a qualitative content analysis method was used. The results of the study showed that 1) the major activities and teaching cycle the teachers employed were similar, 2) most of the actual classroom practices did not match with the principles of Communicative Language Teaching, and 3) there were learner-related, teaching-related, curricular, and environmental factors that influenced the teachers’ enactment of the principles of CLT and the teaching of speaking in general. The predominant influencing factors were the learner-related: Lack of basic background skills, lack of experience in practicing speaking lessons, the use of mother tongue in pair and group work activities, fear of making mistakes, lack of interest in speaking lessons, and excessive focus on standardized tests.

Actividades musicales en escuelas infantiles de Hong Kong: Análisis de contenido de los informes de Revisión de Calidad

In Hong Kong, the Education Bureau (EDB) assesses the quality of services provided to children in local kindergartens. Quality Review (QR) reports of kindergartens that pass the assessment are published on EDB’s website. We conducted a content analysis of 164 QR reports to examine the alignment between the music activities alluded to and the curriculum objectives established for music in official policies. A coding scheme was developed using both inductive and deductive approaches. High inter-reliability was obtained. MAXQDA was used to conduct word frequency, descriptive, and co-occurrence analyses. The most common terms identified in the music-related segments focused on children’s development of sensory abilities through music experiences, in relation to singing, rhythm, beat, movement, and instrumental music. However, activities intended to foster musical creativity and self-expression were seldom mentioned. We conclude that the QR reports reveal important discrepancies between official curriculum policies and actual classroom practices, which EDB assessors seemed to ignore or overlook. Implications focus on the need for kindergarten stakeholders to address curriculum/practice gaps and further prepare teachers to foster children’s musical creativity.

Pre-service language teachers’ perceptions of professional learning and development resulting from Greek as a Foreign Language teaching placements

Language teacher education research has convincingly shown that teaching placements can function as an opportunity for pre-service teachers to connect the theoretical knowledge acquired at university with actual classroom practices. Despite the extensive body of empirical research that has been generated in different foreign language education contexts, the Greek context still remains under-investigated. The purpose of the current qualitative and longitudinal study—framed within Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA)—is to explore how seven pre-service language teachers of Greek as a Foreign Language (L2) reflect on their professional learning, development and growth as a result of their teaching placement at a language school in Barcelona, Spain. Their perceptions were gathered before and after their placements through questionnaires and interviews. Results showed that participants perceived their placement as crucial for their professional learning and development. They regarded reflective practices as having played a key role in their growth as teachers and professionals. The study concludes by discussing some implications for the design and development of L2 Greek teacher education programs.

Time we do not have: The challenges of silence in an emancipatory, conversation-oriented curriculum

In this article, I explore my own classroom practices as a teacher of a university course on curriculum in order to investigate the potential emancipatory significance of a Rancièrean conversation-oriented curriculum. To provide a lived account of how emancipatory education with the premise of equality can be embraced, albeit not without challenges, in actual classroom practices, I focus on my most unsuccessful teaching experience—one in which I was routinely confronted by unusually prolonged periods of silence from my students. I first explore how I responded to the challenges which emerged from my commitment to positioning myself and my students as intellectual equals. Then, I attempt to articulate the emancipatory significances of inviting my students to aesthetically attend to the curricular materials, class conversations, and the silence itself. I also reveal how a Rancièrean reading of my practice exposed my own deep ties to an institutionalized distribution of time and helped me to re-imagine the meanings of success and failure in an emancipatory education.

Teachers’ Beliefs, the Concept of Face and Classroom Practices

Students who want to be English language teachers enter teacher preparation programs viewing, teaching and learning from their own experience as students as pointed out by many researchers (e.g., Curtner-Smith, Hastie, & Kinchin, 2008; Richardson, 1996; Russell, 2008, Schweisfurth 2015). They want to teach the way they were taught while they were at the universities. Often, they have a role model, a teacher who serves as a guide an inspiration for them. After they graduate and start working as English teachers, what they face, in reality, sometimes overlaps with the information they were given as students. So, their beliefs about teaching alter and change depending on their teaching contexts. Relating theory and practice enables pre-service teachers to transfer the necessary knowledge and skills gained at the university level on actual teaching practice (Bell & Robinson, 2004). Awareness and enhancing educational processes require an understanding of teachers' views and actions. They are closely linked to teachers’ strategies for coping with challenges and difficulties in their daily teaching routines and at the same time they influence students’ motivation about the learning process. The purpose of this paper is to address the importance of teachers’ beliefs and actual classroom practices about the importance of teaching prepositions in their classes. Also, the concept of face, loosing or saving face be it of the teachers or students is introduced in this paper. Cases when teachers’ beliefs converge or diverge with real class practices are discussed pointing out the factors that influence teaching practices. Teachers’ beliefs and current practices are important for understanding and improving the educational processes. The authors will compare the teachers’ beliefs and their actual practices in English classes and how is the concept of face employed in EFL classes. For the purpose of this paper, three English teachers out of 20 were randomly selected during a training seminar provided By British Council, Albania. The concept of face is examined through three English teachers who teach at a primary school and are observed how they provide explanation, regarding prepositions, to their students. The findings show that the concept of face is not introduced to students in any class or subject. It is recommended that students should be taught about the concept of face, types of face, how they are related to individuals and the influence that the concept of face has on teachers’ daily teaching routines. Moreover, there is no study on the concept of face in the Albanian context and especially in the EFL classes. So, in the future other studies are needed to stress the importance of the concept of face in the Albanian culture.

Of teachers and textbooks: lower secondary teachers' perceived importance and use of chemistry textbook components

According to research findings from all over the world, textbooks play an important role for teachers in the choice of methods, content and educational goals. However, the open textbook market, where the state's influence is limited, results in a significant gap between the state (written) curriculum and actual classroom practice. To understand this phenomenon in more detail, teachers’ (N = 387) conception of lower-secondary chemistry textbooks was evaluated, based on their perception and use of particular textbook components. Data obtained with an online questionnaire were subjected to a thorough analysis using CRISP-DM data mining methodology. The results showed a high consistency in chemistry teachers’ perception of textbooks and also that only a limited number of textbook components are frequently being used in teaching practice. The vast majority of teachers mentioned using textbook content to prepare lessons, which indicated textbooks’ influence over lesson content. The other most frequently used components are graphical representations, questions and tasks. Textbook components which can be used to apply a student-centred approach are considered less important by the majority of teachers, which confirms the persisting teacher-centred approach in chemistry teaching. The results also helped identify textbook components whose innovation could have the highest impact on education (educational illustrations, structured text, photographs and tasks). This study therefore sheds more light on chemistry teaching, as well as bringing important knowledge to new textbook authors. The data mining methodology proved useful in this sort of research, showing multiple relations which would not be considered in standard data analysis.

Uitdagings en implikasies vir die implementering van selfgerigte leer tydens Covid-19 Challenges and implications for the implementation of self-directed learning during Covid-19

Uitdagings en implikasies vir die implementering van selfgerigte leer tydens Covid-19 Challenges and implications for the implementation of self-directed learning during Covid-19

Language education from a post-native-speakerist perspective: The case of English as an international language

Language education has traditionally been based on native-speakerism, which is defined in the present article, by simplifying Hollidays original definition, as a belief in the authority or superiority of native speakers. With the prevalence of native-speakerism, it tends to be taken for granted that non-native speakers should strive to accommodate themselves to native speaker models. However, in todays globalized world, such a conventional attitude is quickly becoming outdated. Above all, a most serious problem with native-speakerism is that it suppresses the freedom of thought and expression as fundamental human rights. Drawing on the case of English as an international language, this study aims to analyze the need for post-native-speakerism (a term attributed to Houghton and Hashimoto) in language teaching, or the need for relativizing native speaker norms for language learners. After illustrating major issues of native-speakerism, three theoretical paradigms for post-native-speakerism in global Englishes are presented, namely EIL (English as an International Language), WE (World Englishes), and ELF (English as a Lingua Franca), along with a prospect for integrating those different frameworks especially for pedagogical purposes. Then, educational objectives are summarized in terms of language skills, followed by the authors own examples of teaching methodologies and actual classroom practices in higher education. Several key concepts for EIL education emerge from these pedagogical efforts, including authenticity and critical literacy. In view of the urge to embrace diversity in the world today, this paper argues that post-native-speakerism is of vital importance as it allows language users to express their true selves in global communication. While many of the discussions in the present article stem from linguacultural and educational situations in Japan, it is assumed that the insights should often be applicable also to other Expanding Circle, or EFL (English as a Foreign Language), countries such as Russia and China.

ESL Teachers Classroom Practices and Beliefs in Malaysian Classroom Context

This study assessed the ideologies and actual classroom and pedagogical practices of teachers. It explored the classroom talk and ideological stance of Malaysian English teachers. The findings of the study revealed there were discrepancy of ideologies and practices among the teachers. Although the divergence can be associated as a reaction to the natural occurrences of classroom context where teachers need to accommodate to the needs of the classroom, the divergence suggests teacher training should be strengthen and greater awareness should be given to avoid greater divergence between ideologies and its actual implementation. Even though the small sample of teachers involved in this study limits generalization of the findings to similar contexts, it still enables to gain an understanding into the factors that differentiate the teachers' classroom ideologies and practices. The purpose of assessing the classroom ideologies and practices teachers is not to determine the best practice or compare the teachers but to understand to what extend the training and experience of a teacher can influence their pedagogical decision that further impact the teaching and learning process.

Exploration of Omani Cycle 1 English Teachers’ Continuous Assessment Practices and Perceptions

Aim: This article presents the findings from a qualitative exploratory study conducted in Oman that sought to uncover the factors leading to the identified gap between the SAH CA assessment standards and current grades 1 and 2 teachers’ practices. The research investigated Omani grade 1 and 2 English teachers' practices and perceptions regarding the implementation of continuous assessment (CA) in teaching English as a foreign language.
 Study Design: A constructivist grounded theory method investigation was conducted to examine the influence of teachers’ beliefs, previous experience and contextual factors on their CA classroom practices and to discover the relationship between teachers’ stated beliefs and their actual classroom practices leading to the gap between CA standards and their practices. Three instruments were used namely classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and artifact analysis. Six teachers from Al Dhahirah were observed and three teachers out of the six were interviewed to seek an in-depth understanding of their beliefs. A three-stage coding process and the constant comparative method were used to analyze the data and triangulate beliefs and practices.
 Results: Even though results demonstrated that teachers believed in the importance of CA and expressed positive beliefs towards CA, the analysis showed a gap between the teachers’ actual practices and their stated beliefs regarding CA implementation in their practices. Moreover, findings highlighted the influence of the teachers’ previous experience and impeding contextual factors on the teachers’ CA practices.
 Recommendations: Therefore, it is recommended to involve teachers in consistent in-service training as well as CA discussion sessions to support CA practices directing the teachers’ attention to the bright side of the assessment, its advantages, and its importance in the teaching learning process. Providing teachers with assistant teachers may help to alleviate overcrowded classes and heavy timetables. In addition, reducing the number of textbooks in the syllabus would provide more time for assessment in daily teaching.

Assessment of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Strand of the K-12 Program among Selected Public Schools in Zone 2 Division of Zambales

The study determined the impact of the STEM Strand implementation of senior high schools in the Division of Zambales. The study was limited to fifty secondary public-school teachers in Zone II.The study revealed that majority teacher-respondents, are generally young with only a minimum number of trainings attended. STEM trends, there were more males than females and a larger are married. There were no significant differences in the success of the STEM schools in Palauig, Botolan and Iba in the following domains:college preparation;integrated and innovative technology use; STEM-rich informal experiences; connections with industry and the world of work; well-prepared STEM teachers and professionalized teaching staff and positive school community and culture of high expectations for all. Based on the summary of findings and the conclusions arrived at, the researcher has offered the following recommendations that professional learning in the form of learning action cells and lesson study should be provided to relatively novice STEM teachers in order to expose them to effective instructional strategies and impact their actual classroom practices as opposed to cascading in-service trainings. Greater involvement of these partners through planning, implementation, and review should be targeted instead of only involving them for immersion activities. A more intensive evaluation of the STEM implementation following the Context-Input-Process-Product approach should be conducted to strengthen and confirm the findings of the study. A more study that would monitor the whole system as opposed to the present investigation’s focus on teacher perception would lend greater credence to the results.

Teaching Writing in Vietnam’s Secondary and High Schools

The current study adopted features of a survey research design to examine the EFL high school teachers’ beliefs about writing and its teaching, their actual classroom practices, and the interplays between their beliefs and practices in the realm of EFL writing instruction. A sample of seventy-six EFL teachers from the eight selected high schools situated in Ho Chi Minh City was recruited for the current survey. The beliefs and practices of EFL writing instruction of these studied teachers were elicited through a thirty-nine-item questionnaire, which was qualitatively analyzed by SPSS 20.0. The study results showed that most of the participants held different views/orientations about writing skills and teaching writing, consisting of form-based, cognitive process-based, functional social-based, and interactive social-based views; nevertheless, the form-based orientation was still most dominant in their beliefs. On the contrary, in practice, most high school teachers followed the product approach, which underlies form-based orientation in lieu of different approaches, explicitly interpreting the writing section’s low results in the Vietnamese National GCSE examination in recent years.

Competence of Students in the Realm of Communication Process: A Descriptive Study

The study employed the descriptive method of research with the questionnaires as the gathering tools. This method was used to gather necessary information regarding the communication process implemented at the Mandaue City College in Mandaue City, Cebu. The research subjects of the study were the second-year college students of Bachelor of Elementary Education college students of Mandaue City College. This study utilized a researcher-made survey questionnaire as the main tool in gathering the necessary data. The indicators on the questionnaire were based on the theories and principles of communication process and understanding by Wiggins and McTighe. The researcher prepared a questionnaire for the college students and the other for the college teachers. The questionnaire determines the level of competence of the college students in the communication process. It also includes the methods and the instructional materials used by the teachers in enhancing the communication process. The validation was done by having this instrument answered by 10 or 10 percent of the final number of college student respondents. This validating group was not part of the final group who provided the answers to the questions asked. Moreover, in relation to the level of competence of the student and teacher respondents in the communication process, it is exemplified that the college students are better at explaining compared to interpreting and applying. It is also revealed that the college teachers utilize varied teaching methods and techniques to the students in tertiary education. Furthermore, the following recommendations are hereby suggested: (1) The proposals of this study are presented to the administration of Mandaue City College for implementation and application in actual classroom practice. (2) The college students' interpreting skills be strengthened through the teacher’s employment of varied and engaging strategies to develop their ability to interpret critically. (3) Teachers should employ exercises that would develop their students’ applying skills through written and oral exercises.

The revival of the process model in curriculum design: changes and challenges in the new taiwanese citizenship curriculum

ABSTRACT The new Taiwanese citizenship curriculum has converted its traditional bullet-point guidelines to hundreds of open-ended questions. Each question acts to initiate collective inquiry, to stimulate the sharing of lived experiences and to trigger within-class conversations. The previous pre-determined educational objectives and learning outcomes, in line with the Tyler Rationale, have been replaced by the process model. This Taiwanese case aims to prove that the process model, which emerged in the 1970s, remains relevant and applicable to current curriculum construction and this revived version may bring new perspectives to the scholarship on curriculum development. Based on interviews with fifteen curriculum developers, this article reveals the thinking behind the curriculum transformation and shows how the creation of such new guidelines is more attentive to students’ personal experiences and diverse views, and facilitates mutual understanding, conversations and the possible reaching of consensus. This approach also attracts less controversy or opposition while still managing to touch upon sensitive social topics in the curriculum.Meanwhile, the ‘Social Inquiry Method’ has also been integrated into Taiwan’s new curriculum to ensure question-based guidelines can bring about reforms to actual classroom practice, despite concerns regarding the required re-training of teachers and the ingrained exam-driven culture.

Design-based research approach for teacher learning: a case study from Singapore

Abstract In this article, we describe how a design-based research approach brought about teacher learning in terms of both confidence and competence to design and enact a multiliteracies lesson package. This study is situated within the efforts to grow a community of practice comprising teacher champions across schools as they work closely with researchers. Based on a single case study of a teacher, the article discusses her discernible trajectory of growth as evident from her reflections collected after each of the lesson co-design sessions, the lesson plans that she designed, and her actual classroom practices. The findings from the study suggest that the design-based research approach, given its features, can be productive in bringing about a deeper and more reflective teacher learning and as a platform to strengthen the nexus between research and practice.