1. HOW TEACHERS’ ADAPTIVE EXPERTISE IS ILLUSTRATED BY REFLECTING THEIR PERSONAL PRACTICAL THEORIES
Iina Männikkö & Jukka Husu, Department of Teacher Education, University of Turku
INTRODUCTION AND THEORETICAL MAIN POINTS
PRELIMINARY RESULTS
The results indicated that teachers’ reflections of their PPTs are linked and built from the routinized manners to the theoretical arguments in four different stages.
In addition, the stages can be interpreted as representing innovativeness or efficiency.
T-L: Inferences and assessments
T-B: Facts and aims
E-B: Visions and noticings
E-L: Beliefs and routines
The adaptive expertise can be determined through how teachers are able to connect the features of efficient dimension with the features of innovative dimension.
Teachers’ reflections of their PPTs are very crucial for effective teaching practices and on-going professional development –especially teacher education programs shape and create student teachers’ PPTs by focusing on experiencing practical teaching situations (Levin & He, 2008).
Reflective awareness demands teachers’ cognitive flexibility and the abilities to reason and restructure interactive thoughts during decision making process (Bohle Carbonell, Stalmeijer, Könings, Segers, and van Meriënboer, 2014; Hammerness et al., 2005).
Teachers’ adaptability for effective teaching involve innovations and efficacy but also the development of both routines and knowledge (Bransford et al., 2005).
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
How teachers reflect their personal practical theories (PPTs) during the interactive teaching?
How teachers’ reflections of their personal practical theories (PPTs) illustrate their adaptive expertise for effective teaching actions?
CONCLUSIONS
METHODOLOGY
Teachers should more practice smooth connections between reflecting and acting during their teaching. For example the results suggest that video-enhanced reflections during work in classrooms/practicums or reflective group discussions based on simulated examples of teaching practice should be more exploited in teacher learning programs and beyond. By using these kinds of multiple reflective techniques, more attention could be paid not only to effective instructional teaching behaviors but also to teachers’ self-reflection and their abilities to reflect on their practical experiences of teaching context and their personal learning background.
PARTICIPANTS:
- 17 qualified, primary school teachers from Southern Finland
DATA GATHERING METHOD:
- STR- interviews:
1) one math lesson (45 minutes) was video-recorded
2) the video data were analyzed deductively by the researcher
3) the interview was carried out
3.1) the video clips were showed for the teacher
3.2) the teacher reflected his/her thoughts during the situation (semi-structured questions)
DATA ANALYSIS:
- Content analysis with both inductive and deductive coding scheme
REFERENCES
Bransford, J., Derry, S., Berliner, D. C., Hammerness, K., & Beckett, K. L. (2005). Theories of learning and their roles in teaching. In L. Darling-Hammond, J. Bransford, P. LePage, K. Hammerness, & H. Duffy (Eds.), Preparing teachers for a changing world: What teachers should learn and be able to do (pp ). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Bohle Carbonell, K., Stalmeijer, R. E., Könings, K. D., Segers, M., & van Merriënboer J. J. G. (2014). How experts deal with novel situations: A review of adaptive expertise. Educational Research Review, 12: 14–29.
Hammerness, K., Darling-Hammond, L., & Shulman, L. (2002). Toward Expert Thinking: How curriculum case writing prompts the development of theory-based professional knowledge in student teachers. Teaching Education, 13(2),
Levin, B.B., and Y. He. (2008). Investigating the content and sources of pre-service teachers’
personal practical theories (PPTs). Journal of Teacher Education, 59: 55–68.