Researching Teachers, Researching Myself Challenging my teacher educator pedagogy through researching beginning teachers Dr. Monica McGlynn-Stewart George Brown College

Abstract

Purpose In this self-study, the researcher explored her early literacy learning experiences and current teacher educator practices while simultaneously examining how the professional practice of six beginning elementary teachers was influenced by their own childhood literacy experiences

Research Questions How does my story of learning and teaching intersect with the beginning teachers’ stories? What can I learn about my teacher education practice from studying the successes and challenges of six beginning elementary teachers?

Theoretical Perspectives Personal history research suggests that student teachers use their own experiences as students to generalize when interpreting and making decisions about their teaching (Carter & Doyle, 1996) Feiman-Nemser (2001) considers teachers’ own schooling and early teaching to be far more influential than the typical pre-service program Loughran (2004) encourages teacher educators to examine their experiences and their assumptions in order to better understand their practice Through researching their experiences, teacher educators can explore, describe, understand, and raise awareness about the tensions embedded in teacher education (Berry, 2007)

Methods and Data Sources Participants: Six elementary teachers, one teacher educator and one critical friend All elementary teachers were graduates of post-baccalaureate teacher credential programs at a large urban university, all teaching in urban schools Teachers were Interviewed five times over the first three years of their practice and observed in their classrooms Interviews were semi-structured, lasted about one hour and were tape recorded and transcribed Researcher wrote her learning autobiography, kept a research journal and notes from meetings with a fellow teacher educator who acted as a critical friend

Results 1)The beginning teachers who had rich literacy experiences as children found it challenging to teach students who struggle with literacy learning. Conversely, beginning teachers who had been struggling literacy learners as children brought a rich perspective, engaged in more PD, and spent more time teaching students who similarly struggled.

Results 2) Through critical reflection on their own early literacy learning experiences, the beginning teachers were better able to recognize, understand and address the learning needs of students with very different learning histories.

Results 3) Reflecting on my own learning and teaching story, while investigating the stories of beginning teachers, allowed me to gain perspective on my own early learning and teaching and my current teacher education practice. I realized that I too privileged students who struggled in school literacy as I did.

Results 4) As a teacher educator, I need to provide more opportunities for autobiographical critical reflection.

Conclusion Teachers’ confidence in planning and teaching school subjects, professional development choices, understanding of struggling learners, and ability to support students were strongly influenced by their experiences as students in school. Teacher educators can also be influenced by their early learning and teaching experiences. It is clear that teachers and teacher educators need to better understand how their early experiences have informed the assumptions, beliefs, and attitudes they hold about learning and teaching. It is only through being reflective about their early learning experiences that teachers and teacher educators can come to understand and address the learning needs of all of their students.

References Berry, A. (2007). Re-conceptualizing teacher educator knowledge as tensions: Exploring the tension between valuing and reconstructing experience. Studying Teaching Education, 3(2), Carter, K. & Doyle, W. (1996). Personal narrative and life history in learning to teach. In B. Sikula & R.Geyton (Eds.).,Handbook of research in teacher education. New York: Simon & Shuster MacMillan. Feiman-Nemser, S. (2001). From preparation to practice: Designing a continuum to strengthen and sustain teaching. Teachers College Record, 103(6), Loughran, J. (2004). Learning through self-study: The influence of purpose, participants context. In Loughran, J., Hamilton, M., Kubler LaBoskey V. & Russell, T. (Eds.), International handbook of self-study of teaching and teacher education practices (pp ). Great Britain: Kluwer Academic Publishers.