Teaching on Purpose: Collaborative Reflection in a GTA teacher preparation course

1. Teaching on Purpose: Collaborative Reflection in a GTA teacher preparation course Dissertation Proposal Defense Tyler B. Christensen, October 12, 2011

2. What does it mean to “Teach on Purpose”? • Practice rooted in strong foundation of educational theory, content knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge • Teaching for understanding instead of “winging it” or simply covering the material • Getting feedback on teaching effectiveness during instructive period (instead of waiting for end-of-semester evaluations)

3. Problems facing GTA teaching development programs • New teachers are often uninformed, • unaccountable, and under-supported in • their teaching practice • They may lack confidence and have • difficulty balancing the demands placed • upon them • There may be a misalignment in how • they are trained and what kind of jobs they will ultimately • take upon completion of their studies.

4. A reflective practitioner is one that is conscientiously and regularly seeking to improve instruction by examining the origins, purposes, and consequences of their teaching practice. • Why reflection? • Becoming a reflective practitioner (Brookfield, 1995; Light et al, 2009; Schon, 1983, 1987) • Teachers who reflect are more intentional and effective in planning and classroom instruction (Brookfield, 1995; Scanlan et al, 2002; Zeichner & Liston, 1987)

5. Why collaborative reflection? • Reflection has traditionally been done in isolation (Potter, 1998) • Learning occurs as one participates in a community of practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991) • Collaborative reflection is participation in community of teachers • Collaboration makes reflection more consequential as it attunes the instructor to the outcomes of teaching practice (Hatton & Smith, 1995)

6. Purpose of Study • Explore GTAs’ current philosophies about and efficacy for teaching • Investigate the relationships among the elements found in reflection activities that contribute to or inhibit the GTAs’ perceptions of what is required to support effective instruction • Determine the impact and attribution of collaborative reflection activities on the quality of instruction • Determine which collaborative reflection practices might easily be integrated into existing teacher preparation programs without requiring extensive time or resources • Propose a structure for GTA teacher preparation programs that will contribute to the successful development of GTAs into effective instructors

7. The Research question • How does the use of collaborative reflection activities improve or inhibit (a) teaching effectiveness, (b) teaching efficacy, and (c) graduate student development?

8. P650 Profile • Six GTAs • Three online • Three F2F • Two male, four female • Teaching experience • range from “never taught” to “some teaching experience” • Data Collection • Pre- and Post-Surveys • Philosophy of Teaching Statement • Classroom observations • Interviews (classroom debriefings) • Reflection journals

9. Outcomes: Teaching effectiveness • Informed teaching practice (GTAs share lesson plans, course outlines, and philosophy statements) • Accountability for instruction (GTAs are observed frequently in the classroom and are given opportunities to discuss their practice with other teachers and researchers) • Participating in a community of teachers (GTAs have more opportunities to interact with other GTAs teaching similar courses)

10. Outcomes: Teaching efficacy • Feel supported (GTAs have several opportunities to plan with, be observed by, and discuss outcomes of teaching practice with other GTAs and researchers) • Increased confidence (GTAs have more opportunities in less formal settings to talk to other GTAs and researchers about what is going well in their teaching, and what is not).

11. Outcomes: Graduate Student Development • Socialization (GTAs have structured opportunities to observe, meet, and talk with peers) • Action research (GTAs examine own teaching practice) • Preparation for job market (GTAs are informed of the teaching opportunities that will be available to them upon completion of program)

12. How are changes in participation measured? • Discourse: how they talk about teaching will change before actual changes to teaching practice occurs (Gresalfi & Christensen, in progress) • Interviews (explore interaction with other GTAs and teaching resources, confidence and support in teaching) • Forum posts (examine frequency and quality of posts) • Pre- and Post-surveys

13. How is participation scaffolded? • Collaborative reflection activities are supported by an expert (P650 instructor) and facilitated by a more experienced instructor (me) • These two members of the learning community attune newcomers to the discourse, tradition, and values of the discipline in both formal (P650) and informal (interviews, hallways chats) settings

14. Multiple Case Study • “Qualitative research tries to establish an empathetic understanding for the reader, through description, sometimes thick description, conveying to the reader what the experience itself would convey” (Stake, 1995, p. 39). • Cases of individual GTAs will be compared within individual collaborative reflection activities as well as across the course as a whole. Contrasting studies examine the role of: • Teaching experience • Instructional platform (face-to-face vs. Online) • Individual philosophies

15. Multiple Case Study “Both case studies and multicase studies are usually studies of particularization more than generalization. One can use a case study or multicase study as a step toward theory… but the power of case study is its attention to the local situation, not in how it represents other cases in general.” Stake, 1995, p. 8

16. In a multicase study each case has its own “issues” that are separate and need not be explicitly tied to the quintain research question (Stake, 1995) • “Issue” questions for this study include: • How does the reflective journal activity impact intentional teaching? • Is there coherence between GTAs’ iterative teaching philosophies and the kinds of activities that they are engaging in their classrooms? • How does being observed by ‘critical friends’ impact current instructional practices and preparation for future teaching? • How does the structured observation/debriefing process impact how GTAs prepare for instruction? How important is debriefing (interviewing) to the observation process? How might the observation/debriefing sets be improved? • How does keeping a reflection journal contribute to the development of a community of teacher? • What role does participation in collaborative reflection activities play in GTAs being able to articulate a rationale for instructional decisions?

17. Bibliography Brookfield, S.D. (1995). Becoming a Critically Reflective Teacher. San Francisco, CA, Jossey-Bass. Hatton, N. & Smith, D. (1995). Reflection in Teacher Education: Towards Definition and Implementation. Teaching & Teacher Education, 11 (1), 33-49. Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge, MA: Cambridge University Press. Light, G., Cox, R. & Calkins, S. (2009). Learning and teaching in higher education: the reflective professional, 2nd edition. London: Sage publications. Potter, G. (1998). Collaborative critical reflection and interpretation in qualitative research. Paper presented at the national conference of the Australian Association for Research in Education, Adelaide, South Australia, November 28‐December 3, 1998. Scanlan, J.M., Care, W.D., & Udod, S. (2002). Unraveling the unknowns of reflection in classroom teaching. Issues and innovations in Nursing Education, 136-143. Schön, D.A. (1983). The Reflective Practitioner: How Professionals Think in Action. Basic Books, New York. Schön, D. A. (1987). Educating the Reflective Practitioner, San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Stake, R. E. (1995). Multiple Case Study Analysis. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Zeichner, K.M. & Liston, D.P. (1987). Teaching student teachers to reflect. Harvard Educational Review. 56 (1), 23-48.