1. Jason Jay and Stefinee Pinnegar Brigham Young University
Using I-Poems to Examine Faculty Learning After Professional Development
Jason Jay and Stefinee Pinnegar
Brigham Young University

2. Readers Theater Today’s readers, in order of appearance: Breanna Lake
Ryler Nielsen
Cady Sieter
Ellie Golliher
Jason Jay
Alyssa
Hillary Andrews
Carol Solomon

3. It All Starts Here...
English learners are the fastest growing student population
Up to 350% in some locations (NCELA, 2011)
Yet achievement in school is far below peers
29% proficient in reading compared to 79% non-ELs (NAEP, 2005)
Inadequate number of teachers are prepared to meet their needs
2.5% have qualifications
30% of all teacher have received some training (NCES, 1997)
Colleges of Education are not preparing teachers for these students
1/6th require work with ELs
Faculty have little to no knowledge of what is taught in other courses (Tagg, 2003; Woolfolk-Hoy, 1998)

4. And That Means...
Professional development in integrating attention into regular teacher education courses is necessary for higher ed faculty
--However--
There is little research on how faculty position themselves within PD and how that may affect their learning
--Therefore--
There is a need for studies that examine how faculty positioning, attitudes, backgrounds, and experience affect learning during PD
--Wherefore--
I-poems can be created to provide deeper, contextualized analysis of participants (Douchet & Mauthner, 2008; Gilligan, Spencer, Weinberg, & Bertsch, 2006)

5. Purpose and Questions
The purpose of this study was to examine how the creation of I-poems from interview transcripts could allow a deeper examination of how experience, background, and attitude affected the learning of higher education faculty within a professional development program.
Questions:
1. How do university faculty position themselves as learners within a professional development program for ESL training?
2. What types or patterns exist in university faculty’s response to professional development?

6. Methods and Data
Qualitative analysis of interview data resulting in I-poems
Based on the Listening Guide (Gilligan et al., 2006)
Responsive listenings to understand a person within their context
Participants
8 full-time university faculty from the Intermountain West Region
2 math, 2 literacy, 2 multicultural education, 1 educational philosophy, 1 social studies education
Data
Transcribed interviews
Based on 4 questions
Think about the courses you have taught preservice teachers in the past. How do you think you have attended to second language learners in your past curriculum in terms of content messages, readings, assignments, and class activities?
What do you think was the most important thing you learned in the Faculty Professional Development about learning a second language and about second language learners?
As you begin to think about preparing your course for next semester, where do you think attention to teaching preservice teachers to work with second language learners might fit in your course?
What adjustments will you make to your curriculum?
What content messages, readings, assignments, and class activities might you include that you haven’t in the past?
What questions, comments, or suggestions do you still have?

7. Data Analysis
“I statements” copied and pasted into two separate documents
Statements reviewed alongside preceding and subsequent statements as well as original transcript to maintain context
Organized into lines and stanzas that reflected meaning
Statements left in the order they appeared and only the participants words were used (except a few conjunctions)
I-poems reviewed by a second researcher to maintain fidelity to meaning
Read poems

8. Results 1.0 Participants came with particular intentions,
background knowledge, and orientations
They had an idea of what they wanted to take away from the training, and essentially, that is what they left with
They were interested in how the PD focused on their goals
This influenced not only their view of the PD but what they learned as well

9. Results 2.0 Participants fell along a continuum
between three types or attitudes
Willing to Engage:
Eager to learn
Wanted to know more
Willing to change
Validators:
Believed their content area naturally met EL needs
Learned from PD but didn’t see the need for change
Willing to learn but less open to change
Focused Elsewhere:
Already had knowledge about language acquisition
Saw training as a review
Believed training was good for other faculty
Willing to Engage
Validators
Focused Elsewhere
Breanna
Ryler
Cady
Jason
Ellie
Hillary
Carol
Alyssa
Key
Willing to
Engage

10. Discussion
What expectations might one have for how Higher Education Faculty would respond to Professional Development?
How do university faculty position themselves as learners within a professional development program for ESL training?
Central focus- background, experience, attitude
What types or patterns exist in university faculty’s response to professional development?
3 types or attitudes- Willing, Validators, Focused Elsewhere continuum

11. Conclusions New knowledge and understandings lead to new practices
Institutions will need to adjust or create programs to support these changes
Faculty will need PD that addresses their departmental and individual needs
Studies are needed that shed light on:
How faculty view themselves within PD?
How their background, experience, and attitude affect their positioning?
How these affect what they do and do not take up?
Knowing more about this could better inform the design and implementation of higher education faculty development

12. References
Douchet, A., & Mauthner, N.S. (2008). What can be known? Narrated subjects and the listening guide. Qualitative Research, 8(3),
Gilligan, C., Spencer, R., Weinberg, M. K., & Bertsch, T. (2006). On the listening guide: A voice-centered relational method (pp ). In
S. N. Hesse-Biber & P. Leavy (Eds) Emergent methods in social research. Thousand Oaks CA: Sage Publications.
National Assessment of Educational Progress. (2005). Reading and Mathematics. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Education.
Retrieved from math_2005.
National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition & Language Instruction Educational Programs. (2011). NCELA state title III
information system. Retrieved from
National Center for Education Statistics. (1997). NAEP 1996, 1992, and 1990 national mathematics results, summary data tables, data
almanacs for grade 8 student data. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Education.
Tagg, J. (2003). The learning paradigm college. Bolton, MA.: Anker Publications.
Woolfolk-Hoy, A. (1998). Educational psychology (Seventh ed.). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.