Developing reflective skills among Arab student teachers

Ruwaida Abu Rass

July 7, 2015

The Influence of prior learning experiences

Memorization & Learning by heart

Transmission of material

Authoritative instructors

Students’ expectations-ready made recipes

Teacher’s guide

Living in two worlds

Exposure to the Jewish culture (Eilam, 2002)

Individualism, criticism & creative thinking (Al-Haj, 1999; Azaiza & Ben Ari, 1997; Eilam, 2002)

Society and culture-collectivism & tradition Family system- hierarchical & patriarchal Changes- opportunities for advancement(Torn & Iliyan, 2008)

Conceptual Change

A process rather than an end

A developmental process

Trial, error & inquiry

A wide variety of methods, activities, games, stories, songs…

Individual as well as co-teaching

Conceptual Change

Three dimensions: 1. Socio-psychological: Providing emotional

support

2. Professional & pedagogical support

3. Reflective- developing reflective skills for evaluating their developmental process

Definition

Developing reflective thinking means helping student teachers think about their experiences, analyze their beliefs, values or knowledge in relation to these experiences and consider options or alternatives for action (Ferraro, 2000).

Promoting Autonomy

Autonomy-supportive education is constructive and developmental in nature (Perry, 1999).

The advisor’s role: Agent for change

Helping trainees develop critical thinking skills (Emanuel, 2005).

Promoting Autonomy

Encouraging ample opportunities for practice, inquiry and reflection and challenging students to take responsibilities for making decisions and choices (Kegan, 1994; Perry, 1999)

Processes of exploration, interpretation, and negotiation through which pre-service teachers investigate the sources of their knowledge and beliefs (Mori, 2003)

Promoting Autonomy

Supervising and evaluation of teacher learning should be nonjugemental to encourage student teachers take risks (Gebhard & Oprandy, 1999)

My role as an agent for change

Empowering

Encouraging them to believe in themselves and their abilities

Trying to expand their horizons Supportive, encouraging, welcoming and

approachable

Research Questions

1. How do the employed strategies and ways of advising the students affect their perception to my role as a pedagogical adviser?

2. How does my way of advising the students including providing feedback affect their perception to themselves as independent students who grow and develop professionally?

Subjects

Third-year female Arab students Majoring in EFL The Academic Arab Teachers’ Training

Institute at College Beit Berl 2010-2011 6 students

Requirements

Teaching a lesson once a week and five lessons during the intensive practical work week

Participating in the Didactic Seminar Course Issues related to EFL theories and

methodology are discussed Discussing articles related to professional

development at the end of the school year The first day at school

Data Collection

Three portfolios: a) Lesson plans: Alternative Task & Reflection b) three reflections c) the observation notes of the student teachers

My observation notes a) notes of observed lessons b) staff meetings and individual conferences

Data Collection

Two questionnaires

Interviews

Video taped lessons

Data Analysis

Collected data - systematically organized, coded and indexed.

Grouping and creating categories

Chronologically and thematically analyzed

Data analysis

Two types of desired change

a) Developing reflective skills

B) Experiencing trial and error

Categories and sub-categories

Developing reflective skills a) Critical self-evaluation b) Accepting comments from the pedagogical adviser

and the trainers c) Objective evaluation &

Experiencing trial and error a) Employing different strategies, techniques… b) Being exposed to different settings c) Making mistakes and learning from them

Results

Developing Reflective Skills Some improvement/ varied

Daboul & Nola- provided rationale for their choices, (D) the need to be more creative

(D) Contradictions- having enough experience

Didn’t consider the alternative task seriously

Results

Zuzu & Dobi- some improvement

At the beginning of the school year- focused more on the activities, their performance and blaming the pupils for not cooperating

By the end of the school year- focused more on the activities, students’ interaction and involvement

Results

Salim & Cool Improved the least Brevity “good”, “useful”, “helpful” Lack of consistency Conflicting messages Salim: Demanding adviser (1st questionnaire) 2nd year-enough experience

Results

Critically evaluating their performance through reasoning choices

Avoiding reporting about less pleasant experiences

Very defensive Differences Daboul provided reasoning Dobi expressed her satisfaction- employing

different strategies for teaching vocabulary

Results

Dobi & Zuzu Positive as well as negative experiences Appreciating employing different ways of

teaching including games, listening texts, video segments

Salim & Cool Their reflections and answers didn’t show

deep thinking

Results

Experiencing trial and error Hesitantly varied their ways at the beginning Felt safe to follow the teacher’s guide Frontal and traditional

Shift Eager to apply activities related to the topics

of their seminar papers

Results

Repeated calls

Started to realize the importance of varying their methods and activities at the end of the school year

Satisfied, but felt the need of having more experience to be fully competent and confident

Salim & Cool- “important”, “helpful”, “useful”

Results

Showing resistance to being exposed to different settings

Rejected the idea of accompanying different teacher trainers (educators) totally

Compromise Still reluctant Contradicting opinions

Conclusions

Shaping beliefs is a long process

One year is not sufficient to help EFL trainee make conceptual change, develop professionally and be more autonomous

Conclusions

Preparing a three-stage program A. The lesson plan in the first year should

include only two sections: Describing the lesson and providing self-evaluation

Adding the alternative task section in the second year

Adding the self-reflective section in the third year

Conclusions

More attention should be paid to the influence of the first culture, patterns of thinking and behavior in teacher education

References

 Al-Haj, M. 1999. Higher education among the Arabs in Israel: Situation, needs and recommendations. Haifa, Israel: Univeristy of Haifa, Center for Multiculturalism and Educational Research. Eilam, B. 2002. 'Passing through a western-democratic teacher education: The case of Israeli Arab Teachers'. Teachers College Record, 104 (8), 1656-1701. Emmanuel, D. 2005. Role perception of the pedagogical advisor from three points of view: A renewed look at the program for specialization in pedagogical advice. Position Paper 2. Tel Aviv: MOFET (in Hebrew).Ferraro, J. M. (2000). Reflective practice and professional development. Retrieved from http://searcheric.org/digests/ed449120.html

Gebhard, J. G., Gaitan, S., & Oprandy, R. (1999). Reflecting through a teaching journal. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Kegan, R. (1994). In over our heads: The mental demands of modern life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Mori, R. (2003). Knowledge/personhood dichotomy in TESOL. The Language Teacher, 27 (4), 14-15.Perry, W. (1999). Forms of ethical and intellectual development in the college years: A scheme. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass. (Original work published 1968).

Toren, Z., & Iliyan, S. (2008). The problems of the beginning teacher in the Arab schools in Israel. Teaching and Teacher Education, 24: 1041-1056.