Was it something I said? Conversation is like playing tennis with a ball made of Krazy Putty that keeps coming back over the net in a different shape. Small World, David Lodge

Was it something I said? Does conducting their own transcript analysis help the Geography PGCE students to understand the significance of classroom discourse to subject pedagogy? Rachel Lofthouse Newcastle University

Developing my understanding ‘the video gave me confidence, as I looked and sounded much more sure of myself and “like a teacher” than I thought I would before watching it.’ [2005/6 Student] Are there any specific outcomes of the transcription process?

Context 06/07 5 week Diagnostic Placement in Term 1; Video a lesson; Transcribe short section (explanation or questioning to develop pupils’ understanding); Annotate transcript; Write reflective commentary: What do methods of evaluative practice, and critical engagement with relevant research and theory, teach you about the complexities of effective subject pedagogy?

Research 06/07 Data collected across 7 subject areas; Geography as case study group (19 students); Analysis of annotated transcripts and reflective commentaries: Questionnaires following construction of transcript (all); Geog case study group semi-structured interview / discussion audio-taped for analysis; ?

PGCE cohort survey (before placement) Predict the most beneficial outcome of transcribing part of a lesson you teach; 140 student responses from 7 subjects Responses categorised (post hoc) a. Reviewing and evaluating the lesson in general (21%) b. Considering the effectiveness of my explanations (20%) c. Focussing on the language I use (17%) d. Improving my teaching (15%) Survey data

Lesson extracts (14 Geog) No. of students Questionnaire data

General types of pedagogic characteristics identified by students in their own transcript annotation (19 Geog) Analysis of annotated transcript data

Specific pedagogic characteristics most frequently identified in students’ annotations of their own transcripts (19 Geog) Characteristic No. of comments Behaviour management41 Types of teacher Qs (higher / lower order) 29 Management of Q/A sessions28 Use or lack of praise by teacher22 Teacher’s use of follow-up Qs to probe understanding 20 Connections made to prior learning14 Impact of pace on pupil motivation14 How the clarity of Qs impacts on responses 13 Characteristic % of students making the comment Use or lack of praise by teacher89 Management of Q/A sessions79 Types of teacher Qs (higher / lower order) 74 Behaviour management63 Connections made to prior learning58 Teacher’s use of follow-up Qs to probe understanding 58 Significance of subject vocabulary53 How the clarity of Qs impacts on responses 47 Analysis of annotated transcript data

How well the geographers felt the outcomes of the transcription & its analysis met the expectations stated in PGCE cohort survey No. of students Questionnaire data

How far the geographers agreed that the processes of transcription & its analysis were valuable tools in developing their understanding of pedagogy a) Teacher focus No. of students Questionnaire data

On (written) reflection … a) Teacher focus ‘The quality of my explanation was not brilliant to start with – I was using unfamiliar terms such as ‘quality of life’ to explain sustainable development and consequently confused the pupils.’ (Male Geog PGCE student, 06/07) ‘Throughout the transcript I noticed that the most common type of question I personally use are ‘what’ questions, these are very rarely higher order thinking questions so I have identified a way I can make my teaching more effective.’ (Male Geog PGCE student, 06/07) ‘I need to look at ways to improve by thinking of strategies for pupils to pose questions, provide more open questions to promote higher order pupils thinking (Moguel, 2003) and to use Blooms taxonomy of questions to help prepare these more complex open ended questions.’ (Female Geog PGCE student, 06/07) Excerpts from reflective commentaries

How far the geographers agreed that the processes of transcription & its analysis were valuable tools in developing their understanding of pedagogy b) Pupil focus No. of students Questionnaire data

On (written) reflection … b) Pupil focus ‘ Had I given them the opportunity to learn about sustainable development, rather than be told about it, I probably would have had more success. On this occasion the pupils were passive recipients of the information rather than being actively engaged with it, which I think is directly linked to me talking for approximately 90 percent of the time.’ (Male Geog PGCE student, 06/07) ‘Transcripts also highlight large chunks of text where teachers dominate a discussion and talk too much, not allowing the pupils to do as they are asked. ‘If teachers totally dominate the classroom, forcing the process of oral communication to become one-way then the learning experience for many students becomes restricted’ (Butt 2002).’ (Female Geog PGCE student, 06/07) Excerpts from reflective commentaries

How far the geographers agreed that the processes of transcription & its analysis were valuable tools in developing their understanding of pedagogy c) Overview of discourse No. of students Questionnaire data

On (written) reflection … c) Overview of discourse I did not listen fully to pupils’ answers to questions and didn’t interact with what was occurring during the lesson. I can see that I am attempting to develop pupils’ answers but I have not been fully successful. Through this question and answer session I feel I didn’t fully engage pupils with the new topic and thus they didn’t get everything out of the lesson that I had intended them to achieve,’ (Female Geog PGCE student, 06/07) ‘In our subject, questioning needs to encourage creative thinking, reasoning and analysis regardless of the topic. I feel that Geography perhaps lends itself better to these types of thinking. Reflecting on my videoed lesson I realized that this was certainly something that I was not doing enough to achieve.’ (Female Geog PGCE student, 06/07) Excerpts from reflective commentaries

Questions emerging … To what extent does our pedagogic emphasis influence students’ recognition of T& L qualities – does this matter? What data analysis opportunities are the students missing from this rich practice evidence? Are students using transcript analysis to distinguish subject pedagogy as a particular practice? Will different subject areas….? Does the actuality of annotation match the characteristics of reflection? Is this exercise a good way to model the practitioner enquiry approach and does it encourage reflective approach? To what extent has this exercise enabled novice teachers to engage in substantive professional dialogue?

I will let this conclude … ‘However, there should be little place for IRE in a subject as vibrant and varied as geography. The subject so easily lends itself to being enquiry-based, where the pupils can seek out and discover knowledge for themselves, that I need to step back, relinquish control and allow my lessons to become pupil focussed and pupil led (as appropriate). I do not imagine that this surrender would be easy, undoubtedly inducing the fear, uncertainty and most probably chaos that Larrivee (2000) incorporates in stage two of the model for evaluative practice. However, I would be hopeful of eventually arriving at stage 3 and emerging with more fluid, engaging, productive and successful geography lessons.’ (Male Geog PGCE student, 06/07)