The Impact of a Faculty Learning Community Approach on Pre-Service Teachers’ English Learner Pedagogy
Michael P. Alfano, John Zack, Mary E. Yakimowski,Sandra Billings, and Gina Purpura
University of Connecticut – Neag School of EducationApril 2012
Office of Assessment
Statement of Purpose
To examine the impact of the purposeful creation of a Faculty learning Community on pre-service teacher candidates’ EL pedagogy, as self reported on the Teaching English Language Learner Self Efficacy Scale (TELLSES) Neag School of Education’s
Office of Assessment
Theoretical Frameworks
Bandura TELLSES – 20 questions based on
Bandura’s (1994) theory of social learning theory that embraces self-efficacy◦ Ability to perform particular activities successfully
and thus exert control over life events.◦ Influences individual motivation, cognitive
processes, emotions and health, and life choices◦ High self-efficacy approach goals with greater
confidence, tend to maintain commitment and persistence for longer periods of time.
Theoretical Frameworks
Levine and Howard (2010)Faculty Learning Community model Project Prepare
◦ Incorporates both the Pull in and Faculty Seminar components Key components:
Professional Development Continuous reading Researching Writing on Pertinent Topics Transparent practices
Research Design andResearch Questions
Research Design◦Mixed method mode of inquiry. ◦Quantitative and Qualitative
analyses Overall Research Question
◦What is the impact of a Faculty Learning Community on pre-service teachers’ EL pedagogy?
Setting
TEACHERS CERTIFICATION PROGRAM FOR COLLEGE GRADUATES (TCPCG)
Masters in C&I with CertificationSecondary Education
Year long 45 credit program – June-April English, math, science, social studies, world language, agriculture, and special education (K-12)
Four consecutive semesters Cohort model – close community of learners
◦
ParticipantsStudents enrolled in the TCPCG during the 2010-2011 School year
◦69.2% females◦13.1% minorities
English (20.0%) Social Studies (16.9%) Mathematics (9.2%) Science or Agriculture (29.2%) World Languages (10.7%) Special Education (13.8%)
Procedures
1. Implement Faculty Learning Community
◦Instructors learn and integrate more instruction on EL instruction within their own classroom within TCPCG
2. Measuring teacher candidate performance by administering TELLSES:
◦Summer – beginning of the program◦Fall – mid-program after student
teaching◦Spring – prior to graduation
3. Analyzing and reporting improvement of candidates on each item, factor, and grand mean on TELLSES
4. Stating the lessons learned, including how this model might be adopted with modifications by other teacher education programs concerned with meeting the instructional needs of ELs.
InstrumentationPrimary Source: TELLSES
20-item instrument using 10 point Likert-scale Survey administered at three points
throughout the academic year: Prior to starting the program in the summer After completing student teaching in the fall Immediately prior to starting the program
The survey also included a section that asked students to complete an open-ended task related to how they would teach a given, specific topic within their content area to a class with several ELs
FACTORSWithin the TELLSES the
researchers identified three factors:
1. EL’s own resources2. Pedagogical Strategies3. Challenges
ANALYSISDescriptive statistics were calculated to report the
means for each item, global measure, and the three factors scores from TELLSES at each administration
Since the same measures were collected multiple times for each subject, the researchers implemented a repeated measure design to determine whether significant improvement could be observed over time in the TELLSES in the global measure or in any of the three identified factors.
In terms of the open-ended responses, a thematic analyses was performed on each statement to provide greater understanding of participants’ preparedness to teach ELs.
RESULTS
GLOBAL MEASSUREThe first RMANOVA compared the scores on the TELLSES global measure to determine if there was a significant difference in the overall TELLSES scores across time.
Summer Fall Spring0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Mean
FACTOR 1EL’s Own Resources
Dealt with making connections with the K-12 pupils’ native language, culture, and home life
Summer Fall Spring0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Mean
FACTOR 2Pedagogical Strategies
Concerned the pre-service teachers’ ability to implement appropriate pedagogical strategies for assisting Els to learn content language.
Summer Spring Fall0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Mean
FACTOR 3Challenges
Related to the candidates’ awareness and ability to overcome challenges faced by pupils.
Time Summer Fall Spring0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
Mean
Qualitative Results
Teacher-centered vs. Student-centered
Specific strategies & information provided
Instructional techniquesVocabulary instruction
Significance
This study Illustrates that when a group of teacher educators is willing to move forward together, what we know can be transformed into what we can do
The positive impact on the learning and perceived ability of future educators to meet the instructional needs of English Learners was supported within the data
The pre-service teachers who participated in the study felt they were better prepared to meet the instructional needs of EL students
ConclusionsThe Faculty Learning Community at the Uconn’s TCPCG program affected positive changes in the faculty’s behavior regarding their ability to prepare pre-service teachers to meet the instructional needs of EL pupils
Teacher educators consistently integrated the four foundational elements: Understandings, Practices, Disposition, and Vision necessary in developing pre-serviced teachers’ ability to meet the needs of the underserved student population.
Conclusions
Pre-service teachers reported self-efficacy regarding the teaching of English Learners
FOR MORE INFORMATION
CONTACT Michael P. Alfano, Ph.D.
Executive Director of Teacher Education ProgramsAssociate Professor-in-ResidenceUniversity of Connecticut Neag School of EducationE-mail: [email protected]