Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Furnished Imagination:What new teachers take to work
Richard Kiely
IATEFL 2012 Glasgow
This presentation
• Learning in Cert TESOL course• Impact of learning in terms of
readiness for work• How the curriculum works• Furnished Imagination
TCTIS
• Trinity College London Cert TESOL Impact Study • Impact study of a four-week teacher
training programme• What is impact?
Impact – a learning focus
• Readiness and confidence• Platform for continued situated
learning• Identity formation• Varying levels of support in work• Furnished imagination
Research Process
The programme• TCL Cert TESOL• 5 assessed units• 4-5 weeks• 135 hours ‘organised’ learning time• 6 hours teaching practice (TP)
Research Process - ParticipantsTotal: 27 Background categories Pseudonyms
L1 & L2
A(n=8)
No relevant experience Amber; Amy; Anita; Adam; Annie; Alfie; Asha; Alice
B(n=5)
Some language learning, work & teaching experience
Barrie; Betty; Bernice; Ben; Biba;
C(n=7)
Some teaching, training or coaching experience
Chloe; Chris; Cathy; Cara; Connor; Costa; Charlie
D(n=4)
Extensive relevant experience (language; teaching)
Dahlia; Diane; Debra; Dilys
E(n=3)
Extensive experience in fields different from teaching or language
Eunice; Edna; Eve
Studies in ITT in TESOL
• Focus on longer programmes• Focus link between theory and practice• Apprenticeship of observation(Andrews 2007; Farrell 2006; 2008;
Johnson 2009; Lortie 1975; Johnson 2009; Ogilvie & Dunn 2010; Peacock 2009; Wright 2010);
Studies in ITT in TESOL
were the focus of training
The apprenticeship of observation: Factors which affect the transfer to work contexts of the practices which were focussed on in training
Johnson (2009) Ogilvie & Dunn (2010)
1. The nature of the mentoring2. The norms of schooling in the teaching context3. Their own language learning and schooling histories
1. Lack of support in the workplace2. Cultural norms and expectations of the workplace3. Epistemological frame – teachers’ own norms
Furnished imagination• A concept drawn from Schön’s (1983) notion of
‘repertoire’ in reflective practice, and the role of imagination in Lave and Wenger’s situated learning. Thus, furnished imagination captures what the novice teachers take from the Cert TESOL course in the form of models, techniques, performances and ideas which they admire, which guide their own first steps as professionals, and which over time lead them from ‘doing’ to analysing, understanding and owning.
Furnished imaginationImagination involves learning, which Wenger characterises as:• meaning: a way of talking about our (changing) ability […] •practice: a way of talking about the shared historical and social resources, frameworks and perspectives […] and •community: a way of talking about the social configurations in which our enterprises are defined as worth pursuing and our participation is recognizable as competence (1998:5).
Furnished imagination
• Knowledge• Procedural awareness and
skills• Dispositions • TESOL identity
Furnished imagination - Knowledge
• [language awareness] This was my weakest side […] I came through passing the test, but .. […] I’m a lot better at selecting what I want to teach and focusing on it, and anything else I want to teach I make sure it becomes second to my main point. I’ll keep it there, but I’ll always make sure I’m teaching what I want to teach […] I’m pretty much defined by what I know, so If I know it, no problem, but If I don’t know it, then I’m flawed. But the advice we were given, which I thought was very good, was if you’re ever given a question you don’t know the answer to, don’t answer it, just take it on board and come back, come back later. (Connor)
Furnished imagination - Knowledge
• The guy who was teaching us the grammar I respected, he was very good at grammar, but even so, even if he didn’t know something, he was like, OK, I’ll go and have a look, and we’ll come back to it. Which I appreciated, it was good. (Connor)
Furnished imagination
Procedural awareness and skillsYou don’t realise how much you talk in front of people especially when you get nervous […] and TTT is something I’ve noticed employers really don’t like. But you do start to realise especially with the teaching observations […] that the easiest lessons are the ones that the teacher seemingly does no work and the trick is understanding how it is so effortless, because students are learning. (Betty)
Furnished imagination
Procedural awareness and skills•And I also learnt how to become comfortable in standing back and allowing the students to work in their pairs or in their groups and being able to observe them without intruding on their conversation, take notes at the same time so I could have a clinic at the end or a revision session in the next lesson based on any mistakes that I heard. (Bernice)
Furnished imagination
Procedural awareness and skills•I’m trying my best to make this interesting and fun, but it’s not actually all about interest and fun. It’s really great if you can get students to learn something in a really fun way, but the most popular and fun teacher won’t necessarily teach the students as much. You’re not there to entertain them, but you are, so I think it’s just about finding that right balance. (Amy)
Furnished imagination
Dispositions •If I went and asked for help, I’d be pointed in the right direction, but I’m more likely to ask my peers than go upwards. [...] Sometimes it’s a bit of moral support as much as anything, [a colleague] will say, ‘oh I don’t feel I’ve taught them anything today, I don’t feel they’ve learnt anything, so it’s quite nice to say, that’s alright [...] it does sort of make you feel better. (Annie)
Furnished imagination
Dispositions •Well I think the observations are just completely due to company policy. I actually ended up getting a really good review on my observation, so I was one of those top new teachers. I actually have my second one coming up next week, and they’re going to observe because you have a follow-up observation, so it was great that I did so well the first time, but now I have to do even better. So I’ve kind of, you know, set the bar pretty high for myself. But after that, you aren’t observed for a year. So I’m basically just looking to kind of getting it over with. (Betty)
Furnished imagination
TESOL identityBlock (2007) frames identities as •socially constructed, self-conscious, ongoing narratives that individuals perform, interpret and project in dress, bodily movements, actions and language. Identity work occurs in the company of others – either face-to-face, or in an electronically mediated mode – with whom to various degrees individuals share beliefs, motives, values, activities and practices.
Block 2007:27
Furnished imagination
• Implications• A way of understanding teacher learning• A way of tracking professional learning• A way of capturing teacher learning as
professional identity formation in sociocultural terms
• A way of validating learning within Cert TESOL courses.
ReferencesAndrews, S. (2007) Teacher language awareness. Cambridge: Cambridge University PressBorg, M. (2004) Key Concept: Apprenticeship of Observation. ELT Journal 53(8): 274-6Brandt, C. (2006) Allowing for practice: a critical issue in TESOL teacher education. ELT Journal 60 (4):355-64Brandt, C. (2008) Integrating feedback and reflection in teacher preparation. ELT Journal 62 (1):37-46Burns, A. & J. Richards (2009) The Cambridge Guide to Second Language Teacher Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University PressFarrell, T. (2006) The first year of language teaching: imposing order. System 34(2): 211-21Farrell, T. (2008) Novice language teachers: insights and perspectives from the first year. London: EquinoxFerguson, G. & S. Donno (2003) One-month teacher training courses: time for a change? ELT Journal 57 (1):26-33Johnson, K. E. (1994) ‘The emerging beliefs and instructional practices of preservice English as a second language teachers’. Teaching and Teacher Education 10/4: 439–52.Johnson, K.E. (2009a). Second Language Teacher Education: A sociocultural perspective. New York: Routledge.Kiely, R & J. Askham (2012 forthcoming) Furnished imagination: the impact of pre-service teacher training on early career work in TESOL. TESOL Quarterly [Sept 2012]Lortie, D. (1975) Schoolteacher: A Sociological Study. London: University of Chicago Press.Peacock, M. (2009) The evaluation of foreign language teacher education programmes. Language Teaching Research 13(3): 259-78Richards, J. C. and M. C. Pennington (1998) ‘The first year of teaching’ in J. C. Richards (ed.). Beyond Training. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Wenger, E. (1998). Communities of Practice: Learning, meaning and identity. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.Wright, T. (2010) Second language teacher education: a review of recent research on practice. Language Teaching 43(3): 259-96
Thank youFor a copy of this presentation,
Please see IATEFL Glasgow online or email me:
