Thought and Action in Education: The Relationship Between Theory and Practice in Professional and Training Experiences of Novice Teachers.

Author(s):

Amalia Creus(presenting / submitting)Patricia Hermosilla(presenting)

Conference:

ECER 2016

Network:

10. Teacher Education Research

Format:

Paper

Session Information

10 SES 02 B, Research and Practice in Teacher Education

Paper Session

Time:

2016-08-23

15:15-16:45

Room:

NM-Theatre N

Chair:

Milosh Raykov

Contribution

The paper presents and discusses the preliminary results of a research focused on the professional knowledge of novice teachers. The study is being developed in two countries, Chile and Spain, through the construction of autobiographical stories that gather the values, expectations and traditions which guide the education and the professional practice of teachers in both contexts.

The process of construction of teachers' professional knowledge is explored through the following specific objectives: 1) to understand and contextualize the links between personal biography and the decision to become a teacher 2) to analyse the meaning that novice teachers give to their training, examining its impacts on educational practice and 3) to understand the relationship established by novice teachers between theory and practice and its impact on the curriculum.

Some influential approaches to teacher training have contributed to establishing a conventional idea of a teacher as someone who simply applies in their school the knowledge created and developed in other institutional contexts. This results in a decontextualisation and an over-simplification of their knowledge, where teachers' practice is reduced to following given guidelines or applying preset strategies. Greene (1987) stated that this kind of simplistic and reductionist vision of teachers' practice promotes the formation of encompassing systems of thought in which all questions have answers and all uncertainties are resolved.

Seeking to overcome this limited vision, our research gives us the opportunity to explore in depth a more subjective and cultural dimension of teaching, approaching it as a thoughtful and complex profession that has moral, emotional and political implications (Arnaus, 1999).

Method

Recognizing the biographic nature of teachers' knowledge (Goodson, 2005), this study follows a biographic narrative methodology. Two main data collection methods were combined during the fieldwork: semi-structured interviews and focus groups. Both methods were conducted from a narrative approach with the aim of understanding the meaning that teachers give to their experiences from a personal and social-situated standpoint (Bolivar, Domingo & Fernández, 2001). We interviewed six teachers, three of whom were Chilean high-school teachers and the other three were from Spanish elementary schools. Each interview lasted between one and two hours and was conducted by one researcher of our team. Moreover, concerning our aim of grasping how participants make sense of their own experience as a novice teacher, interviews followed an open structure in which the respondent was free to propose alternative questions and suggest related topics. In addition to the 12 interviews conducted (two with each of the six teachers) we held two discussion groups which involved the participation of 12 other teachers and four researchers. In both interviews and focus groups the questions posed were mostly about the respondents' trajectory, taking as its starting point the decision to become a teacher. This approach, we believe, facilitated the narrative flow of their stories, enhancing reflection towards the key themes addressed in our study. Regarding the analysis of the evidence collected, it was structured along two main dimensions: key themes identified during the literature review, and emergent themes proposed by teachers themselves during the interviews and the discussion groups.

Expected Outcomes

We will discuss the results of our study around three major questions: Being a teacher involves a polyphony of paths and subjectivities: The study highlight the difficulty of separating teachers’ professional decisions and choices from their personal life story, such as their previous educational experiences or their social and cultural origin. While it seems clear that it could happen in any professional field, evidence tells us that this aspect has a particular preponderance regarding the motivation and enthusiasm that move novice teachers forward, despite facing adverse professional conditions. Lights and shadows of teacher training: University training emerges in the interviews and focus groups as a place of contradictions. Although understood as a necessary conceptual framework of the profession, there seems to be an unsolved distance between what teachers learn at university and what they really need in their profession. While a lack of connection between training and ‘classroom reality’ is often mentioned, practice is frequently connected to intuition, improvisation, and emotion, instead of other ways of more analytical and structured thinking. This apparent dichotomy between theory and practice has important consequences in the way teachers articulate their professional knowledge. The importance of building a relationship with the students, beyond teaching content and context: A prominent question that emerged in the interviews and focus groups was the importance of building a personal relationship with the students. This relational aspect should not be understood as complementary or as an accessory to the learning process, but as the medium in which learning can emerge. Moreover, the school context seems to have a fundamental role in the construction of this educational relationship. Teachers recognize the diversity of expectations and values that make a school a quite complex environment, where values, beliefs and intentions need to be constantly negotiated with colleagues and superiors.

References

Arnau, R. (1999). “La formación del profesorado: un encuentro comprometido con la complejidad educativa” en: PÉREZ GÓMEZ, Angel; BARQUÍN RUIZ, Javier y ANGULO RASCO, Félix [Eds.]. Desarrollo profesional del docente: política, investigación y práctica. Madrid: Akal Arnaus, R. y Pérez de Lara, N. (1994). Discursos crítics practiques etiques. Repensant la funció docent a la universitat. Revista Temps d’Educació, N°12, pp.277-293. Bolívar, A., Domingo J. y Fernández M. (2001). La investigación biográfico-narrativa en educación. Enfoque y metodología. Madrid: Muralla. Day, C. (2004) International handbook on the continuing professional development of teachers. Maidenhead: Open University Press. Goodson, I. [Ed.]. (2005). Historias de vida del profesorado. Barcelona: Octaedro. Gimeno, J. (1993). Conciencia y acción sobre la práctica como liberación profesional de los profesores. En Imbernón, F. (coord.). La formación permanente del profesorado en los países de la CEE. Barcelona: ICE Universitat de Barcelona. Horsori. Pp.53-92 Greene. M. (1987). Teaching as project, in: F. Bolin & J. McConnell (Eds) Teacher renewal: professional issues, personal choices (New York, Teachers College Press). Sancho Gil & Hernandez (coord.) (2014) Maestros al vaivén. Aprender la profesión docente en el mundo actual. Barcelona: Octaedro.

Author Information

Amalia Creus (presenting / submitting)

Universitat Oberta de Catalunya

Information and Communication

Barcelona

Patricia Hermosilla (presenting)

UNIVERSIDAD DE CHILE

DEPARTAMENTO DE ESTUDIOS PEDAGÓGICOS

SANTIAGO

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