Distance,dialogue and reflection: Interpersonal reflective equilibrium as method for professional ethics education

The method of reflective equilibrium (RE) is well known within the domain of moral philosophy, but hardly discussed as a method in professional ethics education. We argue that an interpersonal version of RE is very promising for professional ethics education. We offer several arguments to support this claim. The first group of arguments focus on a changed practice that is more team-oriented, inter-professional and aims at shared decision-making with patients and clients. The second group of arguments relate to the core aim of professional ethics education, namely to stimulate critical moral reflection. This central aim is a core professional moral competence that entails both a dialogical approach to practice and one’s own moral beliefs as well as a more detached viewpoint on practice, reflection on types of cases and one’s attitude as a professional in practice.     

Becoming a teacher: encouraging development of teacher identity through reflective practice

Models of learning to teach recognize the important relationship between university and school settings. The roles that educators in each setting play in the development of effective beginning teachers are not discrete. Rather they complement and support one another. Building upon existing literature, and utilizing recent data, this paper challenges teacher educators to consider how pre‐service teacher core beliefs and perceptions affect the dynamics of learning to teach and the establishment of a teacher identity. To facilitate these, it is argued that a consultative mentoring model that acknowledges individuality is more effective in the growth of teacher identity than the more traditional supervision model that focuses mainly on socialization. Reflective practice is promoted as crucial and its development is the responsibility of all teacher educators—both at university and in the schools.     

Learning through participation. The potential of school-based teacher education for developing a professional identity

This article deals with the potential of school-based teacher education for creating a professional community of learners. Learning to participate in the social and cultural practices with regard to education is assumed to be crucial for developing a professional identity as a teacher. From the perspective of socio-cultural theory, we have made a retrospective analysis of a project for collaborative school-based teacher education. The main research question was whether there was a stimulating context for student teachers to develop their own professional identity. To what extent were students able to function as ‘legitimate peripheral participants’ in the school, and to what extent has a ‘professional community of learners’ been realized? Finally, we reflect on the conditions in which teacher education can be centred on a specific school innovation project.     

Facilitating teachers as action researchers and reflective practitioners: new issues and proposals

ABSTRACT

In this article I reflect on my experiences facilitating teachers as researchers and reflective practitioners and the importance of enhancing the dynamic and complementary relationship between theory, research, practice and reflection at every step of action research. Given the complexity of teachers’ participation in action research, I drew on a reflexive research-based account within a second-order process of action research to support a group of teacher-researchers to rethink their understanding of participatory education and transform their own practices. This research-based account describes the challenges faced, the decisions made, and the actions taken, all shaped by ongoing dialogues with teachers’ beliefs and practices, with the goals of action research, and with the processes of gradual transformations observed in both the teachers’ thinking and practice and in my own as a facilitator. The present study adds to the discussion of the interrelationships between theory, research, practice and reflection by providing an example of their enactment at every step of action research in order to support participatory education.     

Learning from dilemmas: teacher professional development through collaborative action and reflection

This article aims at describing and analysing the interpersonal and intrapersonal dilemmas experienced by a group of five university teachers as they engaged in collaborative inquiry, including the ways in which teachers managed these dilemmas and how this contributed to their professional development. The results are based on qualitative data collected through in-depth interviews, working sessions, participant observation and teacher narratives. Our findings illustrate how interpersonal and intrapersonal dilemmas co-occur when teachers engage in collaborative inquiry. Working together towards shared goals brought to the surface differences in beliefs and expectations that generated conflict and tension, which sometimes interfered with teachers’ willingness to work together. At the same time, introducing changes to their teaching practice – a major goal of inquiry communities – challenged teachers to question and revise their personal beliefs about teaching and learning, thereby triggering intrapersonal dilemmas. Our findings also confirm the key role of critical reflection for bringing these dilemmas to the surface and benefiting from the opportunities they provide for learning and change. Areas that warrant further exploration to better understand the dilemmas within inquiry communities and how to support teachers in handling them are discussed.     

Mathematics pedagogical change: rethinking identity and reflective practice

This article deals with issues that are central to changed mathematics pedagogical practice. It engages general debates about teaching reflexivity and within that, more specific debates in relation to identity. It uses theoretical concepts derived from Lacanian psychoanalysis as a way of understanding what structures a teacher’s narrative about his practice. Thus, the article is both a study of one teacher’s reflections on a sequence of algebra lessons at the secondary school level, and an exploration into a range of theoretical issues about identity construction, about knowing, and about effective practice.     

Field-based preservice teacher research: Facilitating reflective professional practice

Preservice teachers enrolled in a middle level endorsement block provided evidence of their professional, affective, and collaborative dispositions as they reflected upon their conception of early adolescents, appropriate instruction practice, and the empowerment of teachers and students. Research indicates that empowering future teachers as reflective professionals requires teacher education programmes to structure learning experiences that model reflective practice and facilitate the development of engaged learning communities. Through case study research this group of preservice teachers was able to gain a contextual understanding of early adolescents that not only impacted their perception and understanding of the target age group but also allowed them to negotiate their preconceptions, the theoretical understanding presented in their course work, and the authentic observations in the middle school classroom.     

Personally driven professional development: reflective self-study as a way for teachers to take control of their own professional development

This article is about personally driven professional development through the use of reflective self-study. The argument that teachers need to take responsibility for their own learning while also taking decisions on how and in what areas to develop is strongly made throughout the article. Data for this article were gathered over a 10-year period where the author engaged in several studies using self-study as methodology. Between studies, the author kept using reflective self-study as a professional development tool, and it is these data between various studies that were analysed using thematic and reflective analysis. Such analysis resulted in various overarching themes that show how reflective self-study can be of benefit if used by teachers researching their own classrooms. Benefits include teachers taking full ownership of their learning, relevance of learning, learning that is ongoing and not restricted to specific times and places, taking problematic situations as learning opportunities and how other sources take on new relevance through reflective self-study. Some implications for teacher-education programmes and current school structures are also discussed.     

Understanding classroom practice: ethnographic reflection as a methodological tool for professional development

To identify the possibilities for collaborative professional development; a research-driven model was adopted to assist an English First Additional Language teacher to appreciate how he could teach effectively by using an approach that takes into account the students' culture. Using critical observation and stimulated recall discussion, this study examined how his teaching addressed the requirements of the curriculum policy. Evidence points to a reluctance to consider this policy. The teacher's disposition posed challenges to the research process. We suggest that such research could be used effectively if policy were to clarify how a ‘new field’ could contribute to the public good and teachers' development of a ‘new habitus’. In conclusion, we explain how the envisaged outcomes of policy are underpinned by a notion of cultural harmony that has to inform teaching.     

Beyond reflective practice: new approaches to professional lifelong learning

This article investigates the innovation concept in two key welfare areas where the demands for innovation are substantial, namely vocational education and elder care. On the basis of ethnographic fieldwork and interviews on the collaboration between an educational institution and elder care services, the article develops a tripartite empirical model of innovation. The model suggests that innovation requires levers (understood as methods and management contexts) as well as craft (understood as professional skills and rootedness), if it is to be integrated into the core services of a specific context. The article also discusses how innovation's value-creating aspects should be understood in a public sector context. The proposed innovation model yields recommendations on issues that should be considered in establishing successful innovation in a public, cross-organizational context.     

The reflection integration model: A process for facilitating reflective learning

Abstract

One of the goals of teacher education is to develop each preservice teacher into a reflective educator. A reflective educator is a lifelong learner who perceives every experience as an opportunity for growth, change, and development of understanding. As a result of our teaching experiences in the College of Education, we have developed a process that helps students become reflective learners. In this article we discuss this process, the Reflection Integration Model (RIM). The four components of the model are (a) pre‐experience, (b) experience, (c) reflection, and (d) integration. While the model is germane to any experiential‐based learning, in this article it is applied to a field experience for preservice teachers.     

From professor to colleague: Creating a professional identity as collaborator in elementary science

This self‐study of collaboration examines the lived experiences of a university researcher and a classroom teacher who shared the work of teaching 6th grade science. Sharing teaching involved planning, enacting, assessing, and reflecting upon instruction, and became the context for telling stories of collaboration. I interpreted these stories using models of social identity that employ performance metaphors in the construction/deconstruction of multiple identities. The analysis uncovered several tensions in building a collaborative relationship: a) The tension created by my assumption of multiple roles including new teacher, researcher, and collaborator; b) the tension between my desired role of collaborator and the role of professor ascribed to me by the classroom teacher; and c) the tension of an outsider searching for a comfort zone in an established classroom community. The meanings of collaboration that emerged from this study have implications for others who embark upon university/school partnerships. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 37: 548–562, 2000     

Advanced skills teachers: professional identity and status

The teaching profession continues to struggle with defining itself in relation to other professions. Even though public opinion positions teachers second only to doctors and nurses in terms of their professional status and prestige research in the UK suggests that teachers still believe that they have much lower status than other professions. With teacher job satisfaction considerably lower today than the past and on-going issues with teacher recruitment and retention, new government policies have set out to enhance the status of teachers both within and outside of the profession. The Advanced Skills Teacher (AST) grade was introduced in 1998 as a means to recognise and reward teaching expertise and was framed as a way of also raising the status of the teaching profession. As to what a teaching professional should look like, the AST was in many ways positioned as the embodiment. Using survey data from 849 ASTs and in depth interviews with 31, this paper seeks to explores the ways that the AST designation impacts or not on teachers’ perceptions of their professional identity. In particular, the paper considers whether such awards contribute in positive ways to a teacher’s sense of professional identity and status. The results from the research suggest that teaching grades that recognise and reward teaching excellence do contribute in important ways to a teachers’ professional identity via an increased sense of recognition, reward and job satisfaction. The results from this research also suggest that recognising the skills and expertise of teachers is clearly important in supporting teacher retention. This is because as it allows highly accomplished teachers to remain where they want to be and that is the classroom.     

The psychosocial benefits of oral storytelling in school: developing identity and empathy through narrative

The oral re-telling of traditional tales, modelled by a storyteller and taught to children in school, can be understood as ‘non-instrumental’ practice in speaking and listening that emphasises oral language over the reading and writing of stories. While oral storytelling has significant benefits to children’s education and development, it is under-utilised within Primary Education in the UK. This interview and library-based study explores participant perceptions of oral storytelling in relation to its psychosocial effects and benefits. In addition, observation of an oral storytelling initiative provides a research context through which such perceptions are understood. The findings highlight the benefits of oral storytelling to children in relation to a complex of processes tied to the opportunities afforded by oral storytelling for self-expression, identification with story characters, empathic understanding of self and others and bi-directional communication. It is suggested that the oral retelling of pre-existing stories offers children a parsimonious yet psycho-socially complex form of Speaking and Listening practice which is as rare within the classroom as it is native to human thought and interaction. It is upon the basis of the importance of talk to learning and development that its use within education needs to be viewed, to allow more opportunities for oral language practice that supports the psychosocial development of young people in school to be encouraged and actively pursued.     

Transforming an education system through professional learning: developing educational change at scale in Ontario

There has been increased attention to the importance of teachers and teacher quality in developing and sustaining successful education systems for some time now (Barber and Mourshed in How the world’s best performing school systems come out on top, McKinsey & Company, New York, 2007; Darling-Hammond et al. in Empowered educators: how high-performing systems shape teaching quality around the world, Jossey Bass, San Francisco, 2017). Germaine to the issue of teacher quality, however, is an acknowledgement of the value of supporting educator’s ongoing professional learning (PL). Drawing on findings from a large-scale case study of Ontario, Canada, this paper attempts to shed light on the question of how systems of PL can be developed and scaled? The research was conducted in several phases, including an extensive document analysis, followed by interviews with key respondents across the sector. The paper is framed within the notion of large-scale system change, with a focus on the importance of inter-professional relationships and joint work in establishing shared goals for educational improvement. As we noted in the larger study, a theory of action linked to knowledge of educational change and professional capacity building has informed the mindset, values, and strategies developed and implemented. This paper specifically illustrates Ontario’s whole-system’s focus on professional learning as part of this wider theory of action.