Diálogos sobre Política Educativa INGLÉS PARA EL FUTURO Cartagena de Indias 1-3 Oct ,2012
English and Teacher Education: Continuing Professional Development�
• Continuing Professional Development: the Colombian fractal
Students’ learning/ teachers’ learning Studies of students’ learning have been conducted as a totally different research
field disconnected from teachers’ learning . (Cadavid, Díaz, & Quinchía, 2009; Cadavid, McNulty, & Quinchía, 2004; Clavijo, 2000; Cárdenas & Chaves, 2010; González, Montoya, & Sierra, 2001, González, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2008; Gonzalez & Sierra, 2005; Quintero, 2007; Usma, 2007;
Usma & Frodden, 2003)
Students’ learning Teachers’ Learning
Teachers’ learning Incipient studies of teachers’ learning focused on
initial training.
(Cadavid, Díaz, & Quinchía, 2011; Fandiño, 2008; Gonzalez, 2006; Gonzalez, 2008; Insuasty & Zambrano, 2010; Mendieta, 2011; Prada & Zuleta, 2006; Rojas, 2008; Viáfara, 2006, 2011)
In 2009 - MEN & ASOCOPI Report Initial teacher education
Teachers’ Learning
Most in-service offer is … • Teacher training = short term / related to teachers’ immediate needs. • Teachers as instructors, users of methodologies and strategies. • Neglected from their initial education programs (DiazMaggioli, 2003). • Externally defined /learning needs? One-fit-all tendency • Top-down approach. The Framework
Most in-service offer is … • Greater emphasis towards an instrumental view of EFL teachers’ learning and professional development. • A growing perception of teacher learning and professional development as the source and result of teacher-and-classroomgenerated research. • A tendency to comply with the National Bilingual Program. • Insufficient human resources to implement professional development programs with the quality and in the times required to comply with teachers needs and with the National Bilingual Program goals.
Teachers’ learning & students’ learning: complex systems
(Davis & Sumara,2012)
Complex systems
Two individual learning systems dialogically and recursively connected within a grander system, the socio-cultural context where they both learn. Dynamic, open, emergent, and non-linear ‌ Governed by some principles
Dialogical ,recursive, self-eco-organizing and emergent
Dialogical Mode. Yoshikawa (1987, p.321)
(Morin, 1994)
Self-eco-organization and Emergence. Duffy (2011, February 4)
Holographic Principles. Davis. J. E. (Sunday, June 12, 2011).
(Morin, 1994)
Behavioural Fuzziness. (17 October 2004)
A COMPLEXITY INFORMED STUDY
General objective
To interpret the learning processes emerging from the evolving interactions between students and their teachers in the context of Colombian EFL classrooms.
Research design
13
Data from
Lea
g n i rn
SOME FINDINGS
Students’ learning is a complex system S Strategies
is associated with
T Strategies
satisfaction with teacher's strategies is a
is associated with
is part of
Error- Error correction
is part of is part of is part of Learning activitites in class
is part of
is part of S LEARNING~ is part of Learning activities outside class
Some components of the system: a subsystem Classroom management
is part of
S classroom management
is part of
is a
S strategies
is part of is part of
is part of s nominating teacher to get her attentionis part of is part of
is part of
is part of is part of
s responding to t greeting
s volunteering
s helping in classroom management
s showing evidence of class preparation-study skills
s using L1 to confirm instructions
s using L1 to explain instructions s using L1 to confirm procedure s getting back on task
Teachers’ learning is a complex system LEARNING
TEACHING
is associated with is associated with
is associated with INTERACTION
Classroom management
is part of t classroom management
is part of S classroom management
Some components of the system: a subsystem
Classroom management t strategies
is part of opening , transition
t setting a task -giving instructions
is part of
t classroom management
is part of is part of is part of
t assigning pairs~ t setting a task: checking for understanding of instructions
is a
is part of
is part of
t closing class: leave-taking
is part of
t monitoring checking completion of task-activity
is part of is part of is part of is part of
t clarifying procedure
is part of is part of is part of is part of
is part of
t eliciting participation, engagement t accepting student participation t congratulating students on their class preparation
work environment seating arrangement
t managing the class- discipline
t rejecting student participation classroom management time-completion imperative t thanking sts for participation
•Students’ learning systems self-eco organize around the learning-generating opportunities that are made available by the teacher in class, but also by the grander context and surprisingly by themselves as learners. •Students’ learning systems are made up of different components that are inextricably and asymmetrically connected: their agency, their awareness and their motivation.
• In terms of interaction, opportunities for meaningful and contingent interaction are low. Teachers tend to follow an IRF pattern and the Feedback move is failing in promoting contingency. • Classroom management language (instructions, routines) proved the most authentic source of meaningful language in the classroom.
Some insights / implications • Students’ learning and teachers’ •
Improving teachers’ learning relates closely to learning systems unfold in a improving students’ learning . networked manner in and outside • Much of teachers’ learning happens in the classroom. interaction with students’ learning. • Teachers are learners and should become • The way a teacher structures the experts in learning. learning experience recursively reflects teachers’ own learning • We should be concerned as policy makers and administrators with learning as dynamic, system. open, emergent phenomena.
• If we want to move education to a new place the first project, the principal project to undertake is teacher education (Davis & Sumara, 2012; Cohen & Hill, 2001; Darling-Hammond & McLaughlin, 1999; Sykes, 1996) • To do so we need to better understand teachers’ and students’ learning in their systemic nature so we could make “deliberate efforts to trigger them[their learning] into being, to support their development, and to sustain their existence ( Davis & Sumara, 2012, p,31).
Some selected references • • •
• • • •
Borg, S. (2006). Teacher Cognition and Language Education. Continuum. Cresswell, J. ( 2007). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: choosing among Five Approaches. (2nd. Ed).California: Sage. Larsen-Freeman, D, Cameron, L. (2008). Research Methodology on Language Development from a Complex Systems Perspective. Modern Language Journal, 92, 200-213. Martínez, M. (1997b-2007). El paradigma emergente: hacia una nueva teoría de la racionalidad científica. 2da edic. México: Trillas. Prigogine, I., & Stengers, I (1984). Order Out of Chaos: Man's New Dialogue with Nature. New York. Bantam Books. Van Lier, L. (1996). Interaction in the language curriculum: awareness, autonomy, and authenticity. Londres-Nueva York: Longman. Vygotsky, L. V. (1962). Thought and Language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press
THANK YOUยก Comments? Questions?
nrosado@uninorte.edu.co
The Framework
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The Framework : Language
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The Framework : Learning
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The Framework : Teacher learning
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To interpret students’ and teachers’ learning as it emerges out of the interactions generated by their learning systems in and beyond the context of their EFL class in a state school in Barranquilla, Colombia.
Objectives
To
describe
generating
Participants
learning- Students opportunities school
Instruments/techniques
in
a Class observation.
EFL Interviews: semi-structured and
Focus/ purpose
Samples of: Students’ oral interaction.
instantiated by the learning context
video- generated.
Students’ written production.
systems of students in 6th and Researcher
Simplified journals.
Students’ entries in their
10th grade.
Documentary data (students’
journals.
notebooks, worksheets, quizzes). To
describe
Class observation.
Teachers’ oral interactions in
Teachers’ learning journal.
class.
instantiated by the learning
Video-generated interviews
Teachers’ responses to
systems of the 6th and 10th
Documentary data (lesson plans,
students’ written production
grade teachers.
syllabi)
Teachers’ entries in their
generating
learning- EFL Teachers opportunities Researcher
journals. Teachers’ video-generated responses.
A multi-case Study: the learners Cases
6th
8th
10th
CFR Level
<A1
A1
A2+‐B1.1
Number/ Age
35/10‐11
35/ 14‐16
29/15‐17
Attitude/ motivation
Highly motivated, Some motivation interested
Highly motivated, interested
A multi-case Study: the school Program
Respond to National policies Designed and followed by teachers
Schedule
3 hrs/ week 50‐ min lessons
Teachers
Qualified / specialists
Equipment/ resources
1 computer room, audio/ CD player Students buy books
Location, socioeconomic and sociocultural status
Low‐ medium
Status of English
Some support from principal, parents
A multi-case Study: the teachers Cases
6th
8th
10th
Qualifications
BA in languages Mentor course Technology course
BA in languages Language courses
BA in languages TEFL specialist Completing master program in TEFL
CFR Level
B2
B1
C1
Age
35
45
45
Attitude/ motivation
Highly motivated 3 years in the school
Some motivation Highly motivated, More than 15 years Highly skilled 10 years in school in school
A multi-case Study: the teachers Cases
6th
8th
10th
Use of L2 in class
80 %
40‐ 50%
80‐90 %
Methodology
Both pair work and teacher fronted classes Communicative approach
Teacher fronted classes Little pair or group activities Traditional approach
Both pair work and teacher fronted classes Traditional, Communicative approaches, moving to CLIL
Materials
Books, audio material, worksheets, games, TPR, posters, flashcards
Books, worksheets
Books, audio‐video, material, worksheets, games, songs, tasks
Evaluation/ Feedback
written test/Oral tasks Frequent correction in accuracy oriented tasks
Written tests Infrequent correction
written test/Oral tasks Frequent correction in accuracy oriented tasks