Teaching English2. Challenges of the teaching profession

Nancy Grimm – Michael Meyer – Laurenz Volkmann

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0. Table of contents

1. What makes a good teacher?1.1 The reflective practice model of professional

development1.2 Personal characteristics1.3 Principles of good teaching practice1.4 New technologies, new challenges

2. What makes a good EFL teacher?2.1 Knowledge and competence regarding oneself2.2 Knowledge and competence regarding learners2.3 Knowledge and competence regarding content2.4 Knowledge and competence regarding pedagogy2.5 Knowledge and competence regarding context

3. Education in the 21st century3.1 Paradigm shift3.2 Teacher professional development and action

research

4. Recommended reading5. Acknowledgments

Chapter 2: Challenges of the teaching profession

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Discuss:

Have a look at the cartoon. Think about the challenges teachers face today and the knowledge and competences teachers should have or develop to be able to cope with these challenges.

Chapter 2: Challenges of the teaching profession

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1.1 The reflective practice model of professional development

1. What makes a good teacher?

Wallace 1991: 94

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1.1 The reflective practice model of

professional development

What one should bring to the teaching profession

Multiple perspectives: the ability to approach educational issues from a wide

range of perspectives (e. g., personal, regional, national, global, socio-economic, philosophical)

Experiential learning: the ability to reflect upon practical field experience and

integrate this teaching experience into academic discourses in lectures and seminars

Construction of knowledge: the ability to keep record of, diagnose, evaluate, and

discuss one’s personal and professional growth (e. g., portfolios, reports, presentations, general coursework, academic interaction)

Critical inquiry: the ability to reflect on the impact of one’s own teaching

practice as well as general school settings and policies on students, their families, and the school community

1. What makes a good teacher?

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1.1 The reflective practice model of

professional development

Knowledge and competences of reflective teachers

1. What makes a good teacher?

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1.2 Personal characteristics

1. What makes a good teacher?

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Discuss why these characteristics are important. Choose three that you consider most important and elaborate on your choice. Tick the characteristics that you can honestly say apply to you.

1. What makes a good teacher?

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1.3 Principles of good teaching

practice

Effective teaching is not the drilling and trilling of the

less than willing. – John Hattie

1. What makes a good teacher?

Meyer 2006: 5-8, adapted

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1.3 Principles of good teaching

practice

Effective teaching is not the drilling and trilling of the

less than willing. – John Hattie

1. What makes a good teacher?

Meyer 2006: 5-8, adapted

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Take a critical look at the table above. Discuss how easy or difficult (1 = very easy, 2 = rather easy, 3 = rather difficult, 4 = very difficult) it would be to adhere to this code of conduct.

1. What makes a good teacher?

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1.3 Principles of good teaching practice

Know thy impact. – John Hattie

Providing formative evaluation

Micro-teaching

Compre-hensive interven-tions

Teacher clarity

Reciprocal teaching

Feedback

1. What makes a good teacher?

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1.4 New technologies, new

challenges

[I]n many classrooms around the world, teachers are still standing in front of a group of students with a

piece of chalk in their hand. – Kris Van den Branden

1. What makes a good teacher?

Koehler & Mishra 2009: 63

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2.1 Knowledge and competences regarding oneself

2. What makes a good EFL teacher?

Reflection upon one’s own values and views views of teaching and inherent values of formal

education choice of methods, activities, and classroom settings

political, educational, and socio-cultural values and views teaching literature and target cultures

Sound knowledge of oneself creating a positive and productive FL learning

environment

Interpersonal skills cooperating with colleagues leadership roles: cooperating with school

administrators, curriculum planners, teacher trainers, and the parents

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2.1 Knowledge and competences regarding oneself

2. What makes a good EFL teacher?

Staying in control of the classroom is the most important thing for Frank, who describes himself as a perfectionist. In fact, he hates it when things get out of control and do not run as smoothly as he planned at home when preparing his lessons. However, reflecting upon his English lessons today made him feel very uneasy. It struck him that his obsession with staying in control had affected his relationship with his students negatively. Sure, he was in control of the classroom, his students received good test results and he got his work done. The problem was that there was no humor, no enthusiasm, and no real motivation for learning English in the classroom. It just wasn’t any fun for him or his students.

Case study

What is problematic about Frank’s code of conduct in class? What should he change about himself and his perception of teaching and learning? What could help him to add fun, motivation, and enthusiasm to his English lessons?

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2.2 Knowledge and competences

regarding learners

2. What makes a good EFL teacher?

Child and adolescent patterns and stages of development

understand student behavior and academic development adjust teaching materials, methods, classroom

instruction and interaction

Individual learning histories pre-school or primary education (different FL

instruction) transition: diagnosis of competence levels sound knowledge of language learning theories and

processes in pre-school, primary, secondary education

Social status, ethnicity, and gender Students’ views of English as a school

subject

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2.2 Knowledge and competences

regarding learners

2. What makes a good EFL teacher?

Driving home after a long day at school, Katharina was at the end of her rope. She felt that the high expectations she held for students were interfering with classroom interaction. All she had wished for her English lesson today was to have a good conversation with her students about a short story they had read the lesson before. But she ended up getting very angry at some of her students whose interpretations of the short story were totally off. Other students just would not talk at all. Instead of having a productive conversation about the short story and its meaning, conversation in class stalled.

Case study

What is problematic about Katharina’s expectations for this lesson on literature? What should she change about her approach in order to invite all students into the discussion?

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2.3 Knowledge and competences regarding content

2. What makes a good EFL teacher?

Subject-specific content and curricula proficiency in a wide range of disciplines selection & adaptation: good judgement and

pedagogical expertise

Principles of liberal education empowering learners preparing them to deal with complexity, diversity,

and change in the real world helping them to develop a sense of social

responsibility

Other subject-specific curricula initiate interdisciplinary projects bilingual instruction excursions, project weeks

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2.3 Knowledge and competences regarding content

2. What makes a good EFL teacher?

In order not to disappoint his mentor and make a good impression at the school, Mark made a point of moving through the topics exactly as they were outlined in the curriculum and scheduled in the in-school syllabus for grade eight. Recently, a couple of his students had suggested to discuss a popular song in one of his English lessons. While the students made a convincing case for discussing the song, Mark turned them down, telling them that the song did not fit in his overall plan and that there was simply no time to stray from the syllabus. The students were very disappointed, word got around, and, consequently, many of his students gave Mark the cold shoulder during the next couple of weeks.

Case study

Mark is obviously very focused on meeting what is required of him by the curriculum. This seems to interfere with his relationship with his students. How could he have handled the situation differently? Should teachers judge themselves or be judged by others solely on the basis of whether or not they manage to comply with curriculum requirements? Elaborate.

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2.4 Knowledge and competences

regarding pedagogy

2. What makes a good EFL teacher?

Sound knowledge of pedagogy reflect on classroom interaction

improvement of the general classroom atmosphere and learning environment

ways of giving oral and written feedback balance between teacher talk time (TTT) and

student talk time (STT)

Knowledge of a variety of methods Forms of assessment

appropriate transparent

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2.4 Knowledge and competences

regarding pedagogy

2. What makes a good EFL teacher?

In order to improve her students’ oral skills, Stefanie had set presentation topics for her students to prepare and present. During the presentations, Stefanie noticed that many of them lacked structure and language accuracy. Some of her students even quoted directly from Wikipedia and others just read out their notes. After the presentation days, Stefanie realized that none of her students had received a good grade. In fact, most of the grades for the presentations were average or below. What was even worse, students were angry about Stefanie’s grading and claimed that they did not know what was expected of them beforehand.

Case study

What should Stefanie have done differently? Make suggestions for improvement with regard to preparing students for presentations as well as making the grading process more transparent.

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2.5 Knowledge and competences regarding context

2. What makes a good EFL teacher?

Knowledge of school forms and their educational principles

Infrastructure, organization, management, colleagues, student populace

any special focus or field of expertisePurposes and conditions of formal

education FL teaching as intercultural endeavor advancing FL learning environments FL learning equipment

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2.5 Knowledge and competences regarding context

2. What makes a good EFL teacher?

Marie works at a school that has recently begun to put the concept of inclusion into practice. While Marie is convinced of this concept, teaching English in one of her mixed-ability classes was becoming more and more difficult. The students in this class were just so heterogeneous and Marie’s teaching methods did not reach all of them. In fact, too many students were falling behind. Sure, she did some pair and group work here and there, but in order to meet curriculum requirements most of her teaching was teacher-centered. She felt that her university education had not really prepared her for what it meant to teach mixed-ability classes; she just did not know what to do and felt completely left alone.

Case study

What could Marie do to improve her knowledge about teaching in mixed-ability classes? What should the school do to support its teachers? Which adjustments need to be made to teacher education, if teachers and schools are to meet the challenge of successfully integrating students with disabilities in mainstream schooling?

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3.1 Paradigm shift

3. Education in the 21st century

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Discuss the proposed changes and modifications to education with regard to, for example, questions of implementation, practicality, effectiveness, and long-term success.

3. Education in the 21st century

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3.2 Teacher professional

development and action research

Action research

Philosophical assumptions: people within social situations can solve problems through self-study and intervention

Purpose: to develop solutions to problems identified within one’s own social environment

Main methods: qualitative, interpretive; cases studied reflectively through cyclical observational and non-observational means

Outcome: action to effect change and improvement, and deeper understanding of one’s own social situation

Criteria for judgment: subjectivity, feasibility, trustworthiness, and resonance of research outcomes with those in the same or similar social situation

3. Education in the 21st century

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3.2 Teacher professional

development and action research

Plan of action

Burns 2000: 6, adapted

3. Education in the 21st century

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3.2 Teacher professional

development and action research

If we are to have a revolution in education, it

probably won’t come from the top down but from the

bottom up. – Sir Kenneth Robinson

Communicative teaching methods

Modern technology

Learner growth & output

3. Education in the 21st century

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Get a clearer idea of the teaching profession and assess whether your personality, experiences, and interests match a career in teaching: www.cctgermany.de.

3. Education in the 21st century

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Recommended reading

Foord, Duncan (2009). The Developing Teacher: Practical Activities for Professional Development. Surrey: Delta Publishing. Hattie, John (2009). Visible Learning: A Synthesis of Over 800 Meta-Analyses Relating to Achievement. London et al.: Routledge.Hattie, John (2011). Visible Learning for Teachers: Maximizing Impact on Learning. London et al.: Routledge.Lipowsky, Frank (2006). Auf den Lehrer kommt es an: Empirische Evidenzen für Zusammenhänge zwischen Lehrerkompetenzen, Lehrerhandeln und dem Lernen der Schüler. In: Cristina Allemann-Ghionda & Ewald Terhart, eds. Kompetenzen und Kompetenzentwicklung von Lehrerinnen und Lehrern: Ausbildung und Beruf. Weinheim et al.: Beltz, 47-70.Meyer, Hilbert (2014). Was ist guter Unterricht? 10th ed. Berlin: Cornelsen. Richards, Jack C. & Thomas S. C. Farrell (2005). Professional Development for Language Teachers: Strategies for Teacher Learning. Cambridge et al.: Cambridge University Press.

Chapter 2: Challenges of the teaching profession

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Acknowledgments

Burns, Anne (2000). Action Research. In: Michael Byram, ed. Routledge Encyclopedia of Language Teaching and Learning. London et al.: Routledge, 7-12.Koehler, Matthew J. & Punya Mishra (2009). What Is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge? In: Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education 9.1, 60-70.Meyer, Hilbert (2006). Criteria of Good Instruction: Empirical Findings and Didactic Advice. Transl. Dave Kloss. http://www.member.uni-oldenburg.de/hilbert.meyer/download/Criteria_of_Good_Instruction.pdf. Wallace, Michael J. (1991). Training Foreign Language Teachers: A Reflective Approach. Cambridge et al.: Cambridge University Press.

Chapter 2: Challenges of the teaching profession

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Acknowledgments

The cartoons at the beginning of each ppt were designed by Frollein Motte, 2014. If not otherwise indicated, the copyright of the figures lies with the authors. The complete titles of the sources can be found in the references to the units unless given below. All of the websites were checked on 10 September 2014. Slide 4: The reflective practice model of professional development, Wallace, Michael J. 1991: 94 Slides 9/10: Principles of good teaching practice, adapted from Meyer, Hilbert (2006) Slide 13: The TPACK framework and its knowledge components, Koehler, Matthew J., & Mishra, Punya

(2009). “What Is Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge?” Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education 9.1, S. 63. Available online http://tpack.org; Reproduced by permission of the publisher, © 2012 by tpack.org

Slide 24: Paradigm shift, incl. picture on the left from Onderwijsgek@nl.wikipedia, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Empty_classrooms?uselang=de#mediaviewer/File:Empty_classroom.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0 nl, on the right from Metropolitan School, https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Unterricht.jpg?uselang=de#/media/File:Unterricht.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0

Slide 28: http://k584-sportcommleadership.wikispaces.com/chapter+1+leadership+and+communication+models ; http://education-2020.wikispaces.com/Financing ; http://www.meganford.net/lifelong-learner.html

Chapter 2: Challenges of the teaching profession