Teacher Research Research Articles

Drama in the dream factory: a teacher’s experience and understanding of promoting social and affective learning in physical education

ABSTRACT Background and purpose The purpose of this accidental autoethnography was to create a performative script to help better present and understand the array of class-by-class experiences and associated emotions I, the first author, encountered as a teacher–researcher in my efforts to evolve my pedagogy to promote social and affective learning in Physical Education (PE). Research design An accidental ethnographic case study design was implemented focusing on four lessons I taught with 16 ninth-grade students which served as critical turning points in my experience and understandings of promoting social and affective learning. Three data sources were utilized: a teacher–researcher journal, post-teaching reflective analyses and field notes conducted by the second author, who served as a critical friend. Data analysed were drafted into a performative script produced in the form of a traditional drama; my experience of teaching the four lessons brought to life in four acts entitled Drama in the Dream Factory. External audits were conducted by the additional authors. Findings/Discussion My concerted efforts to promote social and affective learning led me to experience an array of intended and unintended consequences across these four lessons, both professionally and personally. I found myself repeatedly conflicted as I strayed out of my comfort zone and away from my professional, pedagogical and content preferences to teach for social and affective learning. I was slowly learning to embrace vulnerability when faced with charged scenes directly and indirectly emerging. Conclusion In utilizing this approach for research and self-reflection, I came to performatively unpack and understand the rich array of emotional experiences I encountered while pivoting in the moment to try and meet the learning situation at hand. This creative approach offered one such way to meet Armour et al. calls for more effective professional development involving a ‘mix of embodiment, individual experience, culture and power that are at the heart of everyday practices’ in PE (Armour et al. 2017, 804). A creative approach such as this can subjectively challenge teachers to stray out of their comfort zones and better wrap their heads around the experience of doing so.

Upaya Meningkatkan Kecerdasan Visual Spasial Anak Usia Dini melalui Bermain Tebak Gambar

Visual-spatial intelligence is something that children possess. With this intelligence, young children can visualize various activities through activities that can sharpen their minds. This study aims to determine whether playing with guessing pictures can improve the development of visual-spatial intelligence in early childhood at Tk. Citra Mandiri Batang Kuis by knowing how playing guessing pictures can improve the development of visual-spatial intelligence in early childhood group B at Tk. Citra Mandiri Batang Kuis. Based on teacher research in a learning process lacking the method of playing guessing pictures in improving the development of children's spatial-visual intelligence, a class action research method (PTK) was used in the research. Data sources, namely observation and interviews, were used. From the results of the data obtained, it is concluded that in an effort to improve the visual-spatial intelligence of early childhood through playing guess the picture in the pretest, an average of 30% of the criteria is starting to develop (MB). The protest reached an average of 80%, with the criteria developing as expected (BSH). From the results of research on visual-spatial intelligence of early childhood through playing, the picture has increased to reach the criteria for visual indicators of child development.

Mathematics teachers and learners as collective agents of change

In this article, we report on findings from the Primary Maths and Social Justice research project, a recent collaboration between the three authors and six teacher researchers from two culturally diverse primary schools in London, UK. The project aimed to develop strategies for addressing issues of social justice in the mathematics classroom, and operationalising the recently developed theoretical concept of socio-mathematical agency, defined as learners’ capacity to apply mathematics in arguing collectively for social change. The teacher researchers’ experiences, as captured through audio recordings of research team meetings and interviews, form the basis of our data analysis. Our findings highlight the processes that enabled teachers to reflect critically on existing practice, prompting them to adopt more collaborative, discursive and inclusive problem-solving approaches that resulted in significantly higher levels of student engagement in mathematical activities. The teacher researchers found that cross-curricular projects provided more opportunities to apply mathematical knowledge in tackling social justice issues than the prescriptive and content-focused mastery-style mathematics schemes of work in place. They reported how students embraced opportunities to use mathematics in more meaningful contexts and in presenting arguments for change. We argue that a focus on developing socio-mathematical agency has the potential to enhance the role of teachers and learners as agents of change, an important element that is often underdeveloped in culturally responsive teaching.

A Review of Interdisciplinary Teaching Research for Primary and Secondary School Teachers

This paper reviews the current situation of interdisciplinary teaching for primary and secondary school teachers, as well as the cultivation and enhancement pathways of teachers' interdisciplinary literacy and abilities, presenting a focused view of interdisciplinary teaching research. The review finds that existing literature covers a wide range of topics but lacks depth; it mostly consists of speculative discussions or personal reflections, with a scarcity of empirical research. While attention has been given to how pre-service teacher education can enhance teachers' interdisciplinary teaching literacy, there is a neglect of issues regarding the enhancement of interdisciplinary teaching literacy for in-service teachers. Future research in this field should focus on in-depth exploration of "small issues" and prioritize empirical research, emphasizing how to help in-service teachers enhance their interdisciplinary teaching literacy.

Mechanisms and technologies for fostering the research and innovative capability in university teachers

This study aims to examine the effects of the “Unlocking Research & Innovative Capability” program for university teachers. A total of 80 teachers from the [BLINDED] University were enrolled. All participants were divided into groups based on their age and teaching experience. Data were collected via surveys. The proposed program was found to have different effects across groups. Young university teachers (28 to 35 years; teaching experience, 3 to 5 years) exhibited improvement in all research and innovative capability variables, ranging from 0.84 in Interdisciplinary Cooperation to 2.63 in Innovative Teaching. The same is true for early middle-aged university teachers (36 to 45 years; teaching experience, 5 to 10 years) who showed improvement ranging from 1.52 in Interdisciplinary Cooperation to 3.00 in Integration of Technology. Older middle-aged university teachers (46 to 55 years; teaching experience, 10 to 20 years) exhibited improvement in their Innovative Teaching, Research Practice, and Integration of Technology; yet, it did not exceed 1.85 points. Older university teachers (older than 56 years; teaching experience, 20 years) demonstrated minimal improvement in all dimensions. This study was conducted as part of governmental research on "Managing the Development of Research & Innovative Capability in the Research University Staff under the Participatory Management Model" launched by the RK Ministry of Education and Science (Project number: AR14872123). The study emphasizes the importance of empowering university teachers as key drivers of research, knowledge generation, and innovative teaching. The present findings can be used to cultivate a culture of innovation and research in academic institutions.

Deconstructing the Richness of Understanding the Nature of Language, Learning, and Social Change: A Journey Through SFL Action Research for Teachers in Pursuit of a Multilingual Equity Agenda

This essential volume, edited by Meg Gebhard, illustrates how K-12 teachers use Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and action research to support the development of disciplinary literacy among diverse learners in high-stakes school reform contexts. With contributions from teachers, teacher educators, and researchers, this book empowers teachers to be agents of change in their schools by designing and implementing of curricula, instruction, and assessment that build on students' cultural and linguistic knowledge. This book provides a framework, tools and resources for teaching and supporting multilingual students and ELLs through case studies and contexts. This book aims to improve teachers' professional practice through critical SFL pedagogy and to support teachers in combating racist and xenophobic (anti-immigrant) rhetoric by contributing to their schools' equality agenda.

Theoretical Frameworks and Empirical Evidences of Tactile Learning Style as a Veritable Tool for Improving Biology Performance among Secondary School Students

This position paper explored the theoretical frameworks and empirical evidence supporting the use of tactile learning style as an effective tool for improving biology performance among secondary school students. It highlighted the significance of biology education and the advantages of considering tactile learning style, such as hands-on activities and manipulatives, during instructions to improve student engagement, motivation, and understanding of complex concepts. The methodology involved review of existing theoretical frameworks and empirical studies from peer-reviewed journals, books, and educational reports, focusing on the impact of tactile learning style. The paper reviewed key theories, including Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory and Gardner's Multiple Intelligence Theory, and presented findings from various studies proving the impacts of tactile learning on academic performance. The study concluded that the tactile learning style plays an important role in improving biology instruction in secondary schools. Some of the suggestions made include given due consideration to tactile learners during instruction, further research and professional development for biology teachers.

Who Are Bilinguals? Surfacing Teacher Candidates’ Conceptions of Bilingualism

This qualitative study delved into the perceptions of “bilingualism” among 60 students in a teacher education program, drawing on survey responses at the outset of their training. Informed by the translanguaging framework, we analyzed teacher candidates’ responses to identify a range of views spanning from minimalist to maximalist and from monoglossic to heteroglossic perspectives of bilingualism. Our analysis revealed many teacher candidates had a strict and narrow definition of bilingualism based on minimalist and monoglossic standards, especially when considering their own bilingual identities, legitimizing only speakers with native-like proficiency in all language domains in two languages as true bilinguals. Interestingly, their conceptions of bilingualism, as future educators, tended to be more maximalist and heteroglossic when they considered the bilingual potential of their future students. These findings will contribute and challenge the discourses that favor and idealize perfect balanced bilingualism. Implications for research and practice for teachers and teacher educators in bilingual settings are discussed.

The Other Side: Preschool Children’s Experience of a Read-Aloud Focused on Social Justice

AbstractThe purpose of this article is to detail preschool age students’ exploration of social justice as they cocreated with their teacher an interactive read-aloud approach, named Picturebooks for Social Justice. Over the three phases, the teacher researcher studied her own preschool teaching as she read and explored 12 picturebooks with the 3-5-year-old children in her preschool class. Guided by relational and critical theoretical perspectives, findings demonstrate and detail examples of the children’s learning across the social justice standards of identity, diversity, justice, and action. These standards, which functioned both as the content and the goals of Picturebooks for Social Justice, were explored through books in the context of the strong bond between the children and teacher. The insights gained in this study can guide educators and researchers in understanding young children’s capacity to explore and understand social justice.

Perceived level of understanding in writing action research of clarin south district elementary teachers: Basis for capacity building

Writing action research has become central for effective and productive learning to happen. This research aimed to determine the perceived level of understanding in writing action research among the 124 public elementary teachers from the 14 schools in Clarin South District, Division of Misamis Occidental. Frequency Count and Percentage, Weighted Mean, Standard Deviation, Kruskal-Wallis H test, and Mann-Whitney U Test were used to quantify data on the perceived level of understanding in writing action research and its significant differences when grouped according to profile. Results revealed that most of the teachers were female, 41 to 50 years old, had earned master’s degree units, and had been working as Teacher I for less than 10 years. The perceived level of understanding on writing action research among teachers of Clarin South District was generally very high (GWAM=3.37) and did not significantly differ when grouped according to their profile. Therefore, teachers were committed to ongoing professional development and had the skills and knowledge required to conduct action research. Thus, it is suggested encouragement and support for professional development, and implementation of action research training and support for collaborative research.

Variation in the Quality of Teacher–Child Interactions in Chinese Toddler Classrooms

ABSTRACT A growing number of toddlers are attending childcare institutions as part of China’s establishment of its infant – toddler childcare service system. However, there is limited empirical evidence available regarding the quality of these childcare services. The purpose of this study is to investigate the quality of teacher – child interactions in Chinese toddler classrooms. Eighty-eight childcare institutions were assessed using the Classroom Assessment Scoring System, Toddler Version (CLASS – Toddler). The findings indicated that, on average, teacher – child interactions were rated as being of moderate quality. The Emotional and Behavioral Support (EBS) domain scored higher quality levels compared to the Engaged Support for Learning (ESL) domain. Multilevel models revealed significant variations in teacher – child interactions across different types of activities. Free play activities demonstrated the highest EBS quality, while whole-group activities ranked the highest in terms of the ESL quality. Moreover, the children-to-teacher ratio was found to predict both the EBS and ESL quality, whereas group size was only associated with the EBS quality. The results from this study have important implications for future research and professional development of Chinese toddler teachers.

Reproduction of higher education personnel: motives for entry and retention measures

Introduction. The trends in the reproduction of intellectual resources have a significant development potential worldwide towards the realisation of a proper strategy for increasing the countries’ competitiveness. The stimulating programmes for the development of national universities set a due benchmark for the elaboration and testing of new ways to attract young people to the scientific and educational environment, as well as the formation of professional commitment. The accumulated practice of implementing federal programmes to support science and education raises a question of the outcome and efficiency of measures funded by the state. The aim of the study is to identify the dominant motives of the teaching staff belonging to the “young personnel” category for long-term work in the profession and at the university, as a consequence of the managerial measures applied by the administration. Materials and methods. To diagnose the priorities in the structure of young people’s motives to work in the system of higher education, the data obtained from a survey of young university specialists were used. The survey involved 140 people with different lengths of work experience in higher education. To assess the effectiveness of managerial practices aimed at retaining young specialists, a semi-structured interview with managers who realise the tasks of searching for, attracting, and retaining young people at universities was held. A total of 25 professionals took part in the interviewing: heads of departments, deans and vice-rectors of three Siberian universities. The methods of statistical data processing and assessment of the experts’ opinions coherence (Kendall’s coefficient of concordance) were applied. Results. The dominant motivations for young people to stay in higher education are: the system’s resource and readiness to support initiatives of young teachers–researchers (3.9 p.); regular self-education and professional growth (3.9), lucrative compensation (3.6), and the opportunity to work in priority branches of science (3.4). The higher school associates the transformation of all basic activity processes with staff rejuvenation: change in the format of communicating with stakeholders; intensification of work performance methods, as well as strengthening of intellectual, emotional, and professional resilience of work teams. The output and impact of the measures to stimulate due professional commitment were assessed. A major instrument contributing to high efficiency is represented by communication support measures based on regular feedback and included in individual adaptation and professional development programmes. Conclusion. The management system has to solve the staff rejuvenation problem at two levels: operational and strategic. It is necessary today to seek due options for the implementation of policy decisions and target indicators, and simultaneously to lay the foundations for involving specialists in the future scientific and educational environment. The application of different meaningful content actions in solving a particular task entails the manager’s professional deformation and blurring of the rules of interaction with the subject of labour.

생성형 인공지능과 교육에 관한 언론보도 토픽 분석

Objectives The purpose of this study is to analyze topics of media reports regarding generative artificial intellignece and education. Methods For this purpose, topic model, one of the text mining techniques, was used. First, we collected newspaper article data on ‘Generative Artificial Intelligence and Education’ through the Big Kinds service and then performed pre-processing and morphological analysis. Based on this, 30 keywords were analyzed. By measuring the number of topics and deriving the top 10 words for each topic, 13 topics were presented and explained. Results The 13 topics presented through the research results are as follows. Researchers focus on education that fosters artificial intelligence leadership, Gyeonggi GPT and fair art education, digital finance professional training, problems and responses to digital democracy, reliability and ethical use of artificial intelligence, artificial intelligence used in creation in various fields, training programs between Gyeonggi-do and State University of New York, regional cooperation model for artificial intelligence convergence education, artificial intelligence edutech support project and core talent training, Metaverse Lab support project, strengthening employee artificial intelligence capabilities for use in local government administrative work, Busan Metropolitan Office of Education's digital program attracting attention from overseas and changes in cultural arts education methods in the era of artificial intelligence were presented. Conclusions Based on the topics presented in this study, we proposed ways to apply and activate generative artificial intelligence in education. The five measures are strengthening teacher capacity for generative artificial intelligence, establishing guidelines for the development and use of artificial intelligence, learner capacity to use generative artificial intelligence correctly, developing and disseminating generative artificial intelligence teaching cases, and based on spontaneity. This is support from the Artificial Intelligence Teacher Research Group.

Co-teaching literacy strategies for the inclusion of second-language learners: possibilities for professional development

This narrative study, set in lower-secondary school (grades 7–9) in Finland, explores a co-teaching initiative aimed at developing inclusive education for second-language students by integrating literacy strategies in content-area teaching. The co-teaching was realized by three experienced content-area teachers working in dyads with a resource teacher with competence in literacy strategies. Co-teaching among experienced teachers at higher grade-levels and with the purpose of including second-language students is a relatively under-researched field. Data was collected through seven teacher–researcher conversations over two school-years. Word images were constructed from the field texts to represent four narrative themes, depicting the teachers’ narration of their knowledge construction and role formation: daring to share, extended expertise, fine-tuning roles and increased well-being. Results suggest benefits such as well-being through shared responsibilities along with increased expertise to support all students’ learning of both language and content in the co-taught classroom and beyond. Trust, being open to change and daring to share one’s knowledge landscapes and classroom space were seen as crucial in the negotiation of educational priorities and teacher roles. Co-teaching is suggested to be a viable option for the professional development of inclusive practices in the form of integration of literacy strategies across the curriculum.

Tapping into the Pedagogical Potential of infinigoChatIC: Evidence from iWrite Scoring and Comments and Lu & Ai’s Linguistic Complexity Analyzer

ChatGPT has drawn rapid interest among linguists and language teachers, with academics and industries rushing to tap into its potential. Yet the pedagogical potential of ChatGPT for L2 English writing remains to be further explored academically. This study aims to examine the effects of ChatGPT, or one of its Chinese versions called infinigoChatIC, in improving the quality of L2 writing and in facilitating the development of L2 proficiency among some postgraduate students learning an English reading and writing course in a prestigious university in Southwest China. Specifically, the main research questions focus on how infinigoChatIC-polished L2 English writings perform in comparison to L2 learner writings, and how the improvement of English writing is reflected in the changes of lexical and syntactic complexity, as evidenced by measured data and its pedagogical significance. A set of 24 English writings are collected as part of regular homework assignments, then this set of English writing is polished by the teacher researcher in the infinigoChatIC dialogue box with the prompt “please correct grammatical errors in the following English text so that it is grammatically accurate.” These two sets of writings are scored in iWrite automatic scoring system and then analyzed in Lu & Ai’s web-interfaced linguistic complexity analyzer. The study finds that infinigoChatIC can effectively improve the quality of L2 English writing, with lexical complexity vastly improved and yet surprisingly overall syntactic complexity slightly reduced. Pedagogical implications are discussed.

Moving Beyond Practical Wisdom: Teacher Research in Secondary Education

Teaching in secondary education is mostly grounded in the practical wisdom of teachers. In general, teachers have limited knowledge of, access to, and interest in insights from scholarly work. Teacher research might be a way to move beyond practical wisdom as the only basis for good teaching. This study aimed to explore whether teacher research can encourage teachers’ learning process as professionals, improve teaching practices, and generate knowledge about these practices. Participants were 44 experienced secondary school teachers in the Netherlands following a 2-year Master of Science professional development program on teaching and learning. Data was gathered using questionnaires, learner reports, a group interview, and participants’ master theses. Data analyses showed that the teachers report significant changes in the way they teach and think about teaching: on the one hand, they reported being more focused on what they want to change in their teaching, but on the other hand, they mentioned that they take different perspectives when they are confronted with problems in teaching. In addition, they mentioned challenges that are common for starting researchers such as how to formulate a researchable question, how to select relevant literature, how to deal with peer review, and how to perform situated generalization. We discuss what kind of educational research is valuable for teachers as learning professionals in secondary schools.

All the better for it: Exploring one teacher-researcher's evolving efforts to promote meaningful physical education

Drawing on social constructivist learning theory and a conceptual framework for meaningful physical education (MPE), the purpose of this self-study was to present and explore how one teacher-researcher (TR) evolved their approach to implementing pedagogy promoting MPE in an alternative secondary/high school education setting. Utilizing self-study, data were collected before, during, and after twenty 75-minute lessons over 15 weeks. One critical friend interview, 20 post-teaching reflections, 18 observations, and 22 journal entries were conducted. A deductive and inductive approach utilizing the Miles, Huberman and Saldana Framework for Qualitative Data Analysis (2014) was implemented, with thematic analysis then applied. The following themes were constructed: bringing the fun; steering between sparkling and sensitive social interactions; co-creating and reconsidering challenge; monitoring movements toward motor competence; and pursuing personal relevance in physical activity. Findings demonstrate the TR's explicit and intentional efforts to better implement the concept of MPE within their planning and pedagogy to develop a better understanding of what this looked like in practice and the role each feature played in teaching and learning. Utilizing and promoting democratic and reflective practices led the TR to consider and apply these features more frequently and readily to better teach knowledge, attitudes, and skills to their students through the conceptual lens of MPE. The experiences presented and discussed demonstrate the benefit of doing so not just for the TR's evolving approach to teaching and learning in physical education, but indeed for the learning of their students, researchers, and other practitioners too.

Teacher Research for Professional Development: The Tales of Two Teachers

Teacher research (TR) has become popular as a transformative continuing professional development (CPD) activity for in-service teachers. In Vietnam, English as a foreign language teachers carry out TR through a top-down national scheme called ‘ Sang kien kinh nghiem’ (‘initiatives–experiences’ (I-E)) to explore and attempt to resolve classroom issues through the application of ‘innovative solutions.’ This paper reports a part of a larger study which examines I-E scheme implementation. It focuses on the narratives of two teachers who engaged with the I-E scheme. The narratives, constructed through narrative analysis from narrative frames, semi-structured interviews, and the teachers’ I-E reports, reveal the affordances and hindrances in the experience of the teachers when engaging with the I-E scheme. The paper offers insights into TR for teachers’ CPD in Vietnam and has implications for effective implementation of TR for teachers’ CPD elsewhere.

A Comparative Case Study of GELT Implementation in U.S.‐Based University English Language Programs

AbstractThe increased global use of English has brought calls for a reconceptualization of English language teaching (ELT). Despite several frameworks for implementing Global Englishes (GE) into ELT, little research considers the effects of curriculum intervention or how such intervention varies across contexts. Addressing this gap, this comparative case study examines two graduate‐level English language instructors who completed a ‘GE Pedagogies’ course in fall 2022 and implemented the skills gained in their spring 2023 teaching. Data was elicited through teacher research, with an analytical emphasis on the teachers' reflection journals. We present a narrative for each teacher that describes their processes for implementing GE into their courses. Comparative analysis of the two narratives indicated that despite a shared goal to raise students' awareness of GE and develop intercultural communication skills, one teacher's practices were more limited due to the specific needs of her course. As such, she had to pursue GE goals through somewhat different means. Our findings indicate that while implementing GE into ELT is indeed possible, flexibility in reference to how this is done is required.

Do Traditionally Certified Teachers Really Have Better Curriculum Leadership Than Alternatively Certified Teachers? Based on an Empirical Study in China

With the gradual improvement of open teacher selection mechanisms, the comparison of traditionally and alternatively certified teachers has become one of the international focuses in teacher research. Current studies have compared teachers of different certification pathways from multidimensional perspectives; however, no study has yet compared the differences in curriculum leadership between the two types of teachers. Teacher curriculum leadership is the ability of teachers to collaborate with stakeholders in the curriculum area to promote curriculum optimization and the development of students and teachers, and it includes three dimensions: teachers’ curriculum leadership views, practices and identity. This study conducted a comparative analysis of the curriculum leadership of traditionally and alternatively certified teachers based on data from 9,068 teachers of 20 provinces in China. Independent samples t-test and multiple linear regression analysis revealed no significant differences between traditionally and alternatively certified teachers on the overall level of curriculum leadership and the three sub-dimensions of curriculum leadership views, practices, and identity. Theoretically, it provides new evidence for the debate about whether there are differences between the two types of teachers by further corroborating the conclusion that there is no significant difference in the educational effectiveness of traditionally and alternatively certified teachers. Practically, it justifies the rationality of an open teacher selection mechanism and points the way to further reforms in university teacher education.