Upload
others
View
1
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
PedagogicalBeliefs,InstructionalPracticesandOpportunitiesforProfessionalDevelopmentofTeachersinEstonia
Äli LeijenProfessorofTeacherEducation
UniversityofTartu
• Thispresentationisbasedonachapterco-writtenwithmygoodcolleagueMargus Pedaste.
Leijen,Ä.&Pedaste,M.(inpress).Pedagogicalbeliefs,instructionalpracticesandopportunitiesforprofessionaldevelopmentofteachersinEstonia.InA.Toom,H. Niemi,Arto Kallioniemi andJari Lavonen (Eds.)Teachersroleinaglobalchangingworld.
Introduction
• Averageageofteachers– 47,9(42,9OECDaverage)• Workexperience– 21,6(16,2OECDaverage)
• Historically,subject-orientation ininitialteachereducation,studentsidentitieswererelatedtotheirsubjectfields• PISAresultsverygoodbutmanystudentsdonotenjoygoingtoschool.Thus,theperformanceofEstonianstudentsisquitegood,buttheirpsychologicalwell-beingisofconcern.Thelattercouldbelinkedtoteachers’pedagogicalbeliefsandinstructionalpractices.
Pedagogicalbeliefs
• Change inteachers’pedagogicalbeliefsfromsubject focustodidactics andpedagogicalfocus(seePoom-Valickis,2003;Poom-Valickis &Oder,2013).• Confirmedbyotherse.g.Lepik etal,2013.Theaveragescoresofdifferentgroupsofteacherswerehigherontheconstructivismscale(closetomaximumscores)thanonthetraditionalismscale(closetotheaveragescore).• Theacceptanceofsocial-constructivismbeliefsbyEstonianteacherswasalsovisibleintheTALISstudy(TALISsurvey,2013)
Instructionalpractices• Teachers’pedagogicalbeliefsarenotnecessarilyrelatedtotheirinstructionalpractices.• InTALISstudy(2013),Estonianteachersreportedthattheirmostcommonpracticeswerepresentingasummaryofrecentlylearnedcontent(80%diditfrequentlyorinallornearlyalllessons),followedbycheckingstudents’exercisebooks(71%)andlettingstudentspractisesimilartasks,68%).• Uibu etal(2013)– instructionalpracticesaimingatcomprehension,application,andindividualization(relatedmainlytocognitiveconstructivism)morethansupportingstudents’independence(socialconstructivismscale)andtraditionalrotelearningpractices• Uibu etal(2016)– languagemodelling,teachersuseddialogueintheirclasses,itsmainpurposewastochecktheirstudents’knowledgeortosimplytransferknowledgetostudents.Itwasrarelythatdialoguewasusedtosupportclassroomdiscussionandsharedmeaningmaking.
Pedagogicalbeliefsandinstructionalpractices
• Teachers’beliefshavechangedtowardsstudent-centredviewsovertheyearsinEstonia.Theactualteachingpracticesseemtobemoretraditional andarechangingmoreslowly.• FollowingIpresentsomepossibleexplanationsastowhythesedevelopments havetakensomuchtime• Describesomerecentstate-levelinterventionsthataimatfosteringthestudent-centered turninEstonianschools(seealsoEstonianLifelongLearningStrategy2020– Eesti elukestva õppe…,2014).
Teachers’autonomy
• Estonia’seducationalsystemhasbeenradicallyreformedsince1991,afterthere-establishmentoftheindependentrepublic.In1996,thenewnationalcurriculumwaslaunched.Ithadbeendevelopedonthebasisofmanywesterncurriculabutwasstillmainlysubject-oriented.• In1997,newnationalstateexamswereintroducedattheendofuppersecondaryschooltotesttheachievementoftheobjectivessetoutinthenationalcurriculum.• Introductionofsuchhigh-stakesstandardizedtestsdecreasedteachers’autonomyindecidingwhatandhowtoteachtheirstudents.
Teachers’autonomy
• Duringthelastdecade,boththenationalcurriculum andstateexamshavebeenchanged.Teachers wereinvolvedinthisprocess– someofthemintheworkgroupsdesigningchangesandseveralothersingivingfeedback.• Viirpalu,Krull andMikser (2014)- teachersarenowexpectedtoactascurriculumleaders and43%ofthemhavebeeninvolvedincurriculumdevelopment.• Today,thecurriculumisstillrathersubject-orientedindefiningsubject-specificexpectedoutcomes,butthegeneralcompetencieshavegainedmuchmoreimportanceandteachershavemorefreedomtodecidewhatandhowtoteach.Startingfrom2014,studentshavetotakethree(insteadoffive)nationalstateexams– mathematics,mothertongue,andforeignlanguage.• Schools,teachersandstudentshavemorefreedom.
Teachers’professionaldevelopment
• Anotherchangeintroducedinthemid-1990swastheteachers’attestationsystem,whichwasimportantforthegoalsofthattimebuthadtobeadjustedtonewsocietalneeds.• Pedaste (2012)hasconcludedthattheoldsystemdidnotsupportteachers’autonomyandprofessionaldevelopmenttowardusinginnovativeteachingandlearningapproaches,e.g.noposition-specificormorecomplexworkwasexpectedfromteachersmovedtoahigherlevelthroughattestation.• In2013thenewprofessionalstandardsofteacherswereintroducedandthesedistinguishbetweenteachers,seniorteachersandmasterteachers.Research-orientedcompetencies.Moreattentiontoreflection.Portfolio/basedassessment.Universityteachered programsdesignedaccordingly.• AsofSeptember2013,theminimumormaximumnumberoflessonsateacherhastoteachweeklyisnotspecified.• Thus,moreautonomyhasbeengrantedtoschoolsandteachersindesigningtheschool’scurriculumanddecidingwhattypeofworkshouldbedonebywhichteachers
Challengesrelatedtoimplementationofchanges• Resources,schoolsshouldhaveenoughmoneytodifferentiateteachers’workandsalariesaswellassupporttheirprofessionaldevelopmentandresearch.
• Itisnotalwayseasyforschoolleaderstoimplementtheseideasgiventhelimitedresources (salariesonthelowerside).
Challengesrelatedtoimplementationofchanges• Theresourcesarenotenoughifschoolleadersandteachers’willingnesstoadoptchangesandself-efficacy orcouragetotakeresponsibilityarenotinaccordancewiththeincreasedautonomytheyhave.• Teachersshouldfeelcompetentaccordingtotheexpectationsspecifiedintheprofessionalstandardsandotherrelevantdocuments.• Theneedforrelatedness shouldalsobesatisfied– inthiscontext,teachersshouldsharethenewpedagogicalaimswithmanyotherteachers.• Whenthethreebasicpsychologicalneedshavebeenachieved,teachersareabletoself-regulatetheirprofessionaldevelopment.
Challengesrelatedtoimplementationofchanges• Unfortunately,therearesomeworryingresearch results relatedtoEstonianteachers’self-efficacyandwillingnesstoadopteducationalreforms.• IntheanalysisoftheTALISdata,fourclustersofEstonianteachershavebeenspecified(basedonthesampleteachinginlowersecondaryschool,seeLoogma &Nemeržitski,2013).Twoclusterscontainedteacherswithratherlowself-efficacy(71%).However,amongtheteacherswithhighself-efficacy,onlyonecluster(17%ofteachers)ofteacherswassatisfiedwiththeirworkandsocietalposition.Theotherclusterwithhighself-efficacycontainedteacherswhodidnotfeelthattheyasteacherswerelovedandappreciatedbythesociety.• Thus,onlyasmallgroupofteachershasbeenshowntobepreparedforadoptingneweducationalapproaches.
Challengesrelatedtoimplementationofchanges• Lepik,Loogma andTalts (2014) - conducted interviewswith25teachersandidentifiedsevenreactionsthatcharacterizedtheteachers’acceptanceofchangesinthecurriculumreformthatwasneededtochangetheirteachingpractice.• Enthusiasticacceptanceofchangesappearedwhenteachersfeltthattheirautonomyincreasedandnewopportunitieswereopened.• All otherbehaviouralstrategiesresultedinunacceptanceormerelyformalacceptance.Someoftheteachers(i)changedtheirpracticebecauseoftheformalrequirements,(ii)adapted thenewexpectationstotheirownneeds,(iii)didnotseethechangesorfeltthatthechangesshouldbeimplementedbyotherteachers,(iv)ignored thechangesandfollowedtheirownpedagogicalapproachor(v)ignored thechangesbecausetheyfeltthatapplyingthemwasdifficultorunnecessary,and(vi)forsomeoftheteachers,thechangeswerenotinaccordance withtheirownpersonalvaluesandmoralunderstanding.
• implementingchangesintheeducationalsystemisquitedifficultifthereisascarcityofresources,ifhighself-efficacyandrelatednessarecharacteristicoflessthanonefifthoftheteachersandifmanystrategiesteachersusearerelatedtonotacceptingthechangesintroducedthrougheducationalreforms.• Oneoftheactionstakentoachievethenecessarychangesischangingtheteachereducationprogrammes.
Teachereducation
• Several studieshavebeencarriedoutinrecentyearsaimingatunderstanding• (1)whatarethemotivesofcandidatestostartteachereducation,• (2)howtoprovideteachereducationthatprepares studentssufficientlyforrealwork,• (3)howtointroducethemadequatetoolsforfurtherprofessionaldevelopment(e.g.,Krull etal.,2013).
TeachereducationinUniversityofTartu
• Several Europeanresearchanddevelopmentprojectshaveresultedinnewmethodsandproductsthatareintegratedintoteachereducation.• IntheACTTEA project(http://acttea.ut.ee/),avideo-supportedguidedreflectionmethodwasdevelopedforsupportingaction-orientedknowledgeconstruction;• intheWatchMe project(http://www.project-watchme.eu/),aframeworkforsupportingthedevelopmentandassessmentofcorepracticesofteachingduringstudentteachers’schoolpracticumperiodwasdeveloped;• intheGo-Lab(http://www.go-lab-project.eu)andArkofInquiry(http://www.arkofinquiry.eu)projects,aframeworkforapplyingandsupportingcollaborativeinquiry-basedlearninghasbeendesignedwhereteachershaveanewrolewithincreasedautonomyandstudentsmoreresponsibilityforsettingtheirlearninggoalsandchoosingtheirlearningmethods.
TeachereducationinUniversityofTartu
• Largereformsin2013,tobetterconnecttheoreticalstudieswiththepracticalworkofteachers• Firstly,thetraditionaldividebetweenfoundationsandmethodscourseswaschallengedbydevelopinglargercoursestaughtbyteamsofdifferentteachereducators.Theseteamsincludeteachingstafffromdifferentfacultiesandinstitutes.• Secondly,thecommongapbetweentheoreticalcoursesandschoolpracticumwasbridgedbychangingthewholeconceptofschoolpracticum.
Commun
ica)o
n*
Curriculum*
interpreta)o
ns*
Evalu
a)on
*and*
feed
back*
Learne
r’s*sp
ecial*
need
s*
*Instruc)on
al*theo
ries*
Mod
ern*learning*
envir
onmen
t*and
*curriculum*
Learne
r’s*
developm
ent*
Research*m
etho
ds*
Professional*ethics,*iden)ty,*evidenceAbasedness,*mo)va)on*of*learning*
Communica)on*and*Feedback*in*School*
Designing*Learning*and*Instruc)on*
Teaching*and*Reflec)on*
Teacher’s*Iden)ty*and*Leadership*
Topics*
TEAC
HERS’*COR
E*PEDA
GOGICA
L*CO
URSES*(24*CP)*
PRAC
TICE
*(24*CP
)*
Teache
r’s*iden
)ty*
and*dilemmas*
COURSES*IN*SUBJECT*AND*SUBJECT*AREA*DIDACTICS*(12*CP)*
Didac)cs*of*subject*area*
Subject*didac)cs*
Con)nuous*pedagogical*traineeship*in*innova)on*schools*(related*to*main*module/didac)cs’*modue)*
Main*pedagogical*traineeship*in*a*prac)ce*school*
Pedagogical*prac)ce*in*univeristy’s*labs*
TeachereducationinUniversityofTartu
• Malva (2015)circulatedaCATEquestionnaire(Hammerness,Klette &Bergem,2014).• …intendedchangeshavebeenrealizedtoalargeextent(e.g.sharedvision,opportunitiestopractice).Wecanalsoseethatcollaborationbetweentheteachingstaffneedstobefurthersupportedandtheartefactsofeverydayinstructionalpracticesmorereadilyincorporatedintothecorepedagogicalcourses.Furthermore,weneedtohelpourstudentteachersseethepracticalvalueoftheoreticalframeworksandbetterguidetheminmakingthebestuseofthesefortheirownlearning.
Thankyou!