Search results

11 – 20 of over 2000
Book part
Publication date: 3 February 2015

Brendan H. O’Connor and Layne J. Crawford

While bilinguals frequently mix languages in everyday conversation, these hybrid language practices have often been viewed from a deficit perspective, particularly in classroom…

Abstract

While bilinguals frequently mix languages in everyday conversation, these hybrid language practices have often been viewed from a deficit perspective, particularly in classroom contexts. However, an emerging literature documents the complexity of hybrid language practices and their usefulness as an academic and social resource for bilingual students. This chapter examines hybrid language practices among English- and Spanish-speaking high school students in an astronomy/oceanography classroom in southern Arizona. Microethnography, or fine-grained analysis of video recordings from long-term ethnographic observation, is used to reveal what bilingual students accomplished with hybrid language practices in the classroom and to outline implications for teachers who want to engage their students’ hybrid repertoires. Specifically, the analyses reveal that careful attention to hybrid language practices can provide teachers with insights into students’ academic learning across linguistic codes, their use of language mixing for particular functions, and their beliefs about language and identity. The research is necessarily limited in scope because such in-depth analysis can only be done with a very small amount of data. Nevertheless, the findings affirm that hybrid language practices can enrich classroom discourse, academic learning, and social interaction for emergent bilinguals. The chapter highlights a teacher’s story in order to offer practical guidance to other teachers who seek to capitalize on the promise of hybrid language practices in their own classrooms.

Details

Research on Preparing Inservice Teachers to Work Effectively with Emergent Bilinguals
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78441-494-8

Keywords

Content available
Book part
Publication date: 21 December 2017

Abstract

Details

Teaching Excellence in Higher Education
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-761-4

Article
Publication date: 13 May 2022

Erin Nerlino

The pandemic has presented many new challenges tasking teachers with meeting the various social-emotional, academic and logistical needs of students in the midst of an…

Abstract

Purpose

The pandemic has presented many new challenges tasking teachers with meeting the various social-emotional, academic and logistical needs of students in the midst of an ever-changing landscape. The onset of COVID-19 has drastically impacted schools and inevitably raised questions about nearly all aspects of teaching including but not limited to: how to deliver instruction, grade students, engage students, deliver materials to students, create equitable access to curriculum and assess students' mental and social health in the context of remote, hybrid and in-person instructional models. As such, this paper examines the role that the pandemic plays in deeply complexifying the already intricate decision-making processes that teachers undergo on a daily basis.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses a participant research design (Wagner, 1993) to conduct a ground-level analysis of what two high school English Language arts teachers consider as they adapt curriculum and instruction during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Findings

This study set out to fulfill two aims: (1) to examine teacher considerations during the process of adapting curriculum and instruction and (2) to document the challenges and opportunities teachers face during this process. Findings related to the first aim revolve around teacher considerations of dilemmas such as: individual conferences vs whole class curriculum progress, depth vs breadth in relation to academic progress, social emotional concerns for student well-being vs curricular progress, creating meaningful learning activities and assessments vs COVID-19 limitations, and flexibility and accountability. In addition to navigating these dilemmas, the extreme uncertainty of the situation also prompted findings related to the second aim: opportunities to experiment with new curricular ideas and the challenge of traversing a wide range of teacher emotions.

Originality/value

This paper's qualitative research design that draws on my identities of classroom teacher and doctoral student to provide an original perspective into what teachers experienced in terms of adapting curriculum and instruction during an unprecedented time. While much research, news and media, and policy has discussed the pandemic's impact on education, there is an urgent need for more teacher voices to inform understanding of what occurs on the ground level of classrooms.

Details

Qualitative Research Journal, vol. 22 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1443-9883

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 September 2017

Daniel Carpenter

The purpose of this paper is to explore educator collaborative inquiry in the shared workspace in professional learning communities (PLCs). Specifically, this investigation was…

1421

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to explore educator collaborative inquiry in the shared workspace in professional learning communities (PLCs). Specifically, this investigation was part of an ongoing investigation of well-established PLC collaborative interactions and self-directed learning of educators as part of the shared workspace as a component of school improvement.

Design/methodology/approach

A qualitative design was used for this investigation. Participants were purposefully selected to provide qualitative data on existent, well-established PLCs and their practice as educators in the shared workspace. Qualitative data were collected about participant perception. Data were collected from each participant by conducting semi-structured interviews, observations, and the collection of document and artifacts.

Findings

Findings from this ongoing investigation point to positive collaborative physical interactions and intellectual discourse that lead to educator learning through the collaborative inquiry process.

Originality/value

Theories on PLCs and educator job-embedded professional learning are unique in this paper. The concepts of PLCs and the collaborative inquiry process have been well developed but not in the context of the shared workspace. Recent literature on effective collaborative inquiry educators undergo in PLCs as a continuing professional development model provides a foundation for the work done in this ongoing case study. Sustained collaboration and continued professional development of teaching innovations as a product of the collaborative inquiry process in the shared workspace are underdeveloped as yet but further developed in this paper.

Details

International Journal of Educational Management, vol. 31 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0951-354X

Keywords

Open Access
Article
Publication date: 18 October 2022

Eseta Tualaulelei and Nicole Catherine Green

In the research literature relevant to open educational practices (OEP), the terms “students” or “learners” often refer to individuals engaging in formal study. This study aims to…

1153

Abstract

Purpose

In the research literature relevant to open educational practices (OEP), the terms “students” or “learners” often refer to individuals engaging in formal study. This study aims to broaden the conception of learners to include those who engage with continuing professional development or professional learning. The study focussed on one intersection of OEP with equity pedagogy for these learners.

Design/methodology/approach

Guided by transformative approaches to knowledge, the research is qualitative and draws upon nine focus group interviews about multicultural education professional learning needs conducted in November 2019 and July 2020 with 74 early years educators and staff. Data were analysed with theoretical thematic analysis to provide a rich overall description of the data set.

Findings

Early years educators and teachers aim to centre equity pedagogy in their practices but are constrained by a lack of opportunity to engage in professional development, and fragmented approaches to professional learning, issues which may potentially be addressed through OEP.

Originality/value

This paper extends understandings of OEP as a means of helping learners, broadly interpreted, to promote equity pedagogy. Specifically, it highlights the promise of OEP for addressing early years educators’ professional development and learning about reconciliation and multicultural education.

Details

Journal for Multicultural Education, vol. 16 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2053-535X

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 December 2019

Lina Trigos-Carrillo

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the literacy practices of the families and communities of first-generation college students in Latin America, and how community and…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the literacy practices of the families and communities of first-generation college students in Latin America, and how community and family literacies can inform the understanding of first-generation college students’ identity and cultural values.

Design/methodology/approach

This transnational ethnography was conducted in local communities around three public universities in Mexico, Colombia and Costa Rica. Participants included nine fist-generation college students and more than 50 people in their families and communities (i.e. relatives, parents and friends). Data gathering occurred at the university outside the formal space of the classroom, at home, and in the community. Data were interpreted through the lens of the community cultural wealth framework.

Findings

The author found that first-generation college students and their families and communities engaged in rich literacy practices that have been overlooked in policy, research, and media. It is argued that the concept literacy capital is necessary to acknowledge the critical literacy practices communities engage in. Literacy capital was manifested in these communities to preserve cultural traditions, to sponsor literacy practices and to question and resist unjust sociopolitical circumstances.

Practical implications

The findings of this study should inform a culturally sustaining pedagogy of academic literacies in higher education. Beyond asset-based approaches to academic literacies in Latin America, critical perspectives to academic literacies teaching and learning are needed that acknowledge the Latin American complexities.

Originality/value

These findings are significant because they unveiled how people in local communities were informed about the sociopolitical dynamics at the national and international scale that affected or even threatened their local culture, and how they used their literacy capital to react critically to those situations.

Details

English Teaching: Practice & Critique, vol. 19 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1175-8708

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 28 August 2020

Carol Thompson and Michael Kleine

Here, the authors present a case study of how two professors from different disciplines at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, managed to interweave dialogic components of…

Abstract

Here, the authors present a case study of how two professors from different disciplines at the University of Arkansas, Little Rock, managed to interweave dialogic components of Paulo Freire’s pedagogy into an institutional context full of requirements and demands that restrict pedagogical choices. Enacting Freire’s ideal of a liberatory epistemology, as Freire calls it, is extremely difficult, because institutional constraints increase the psychological and emotional distance between our students and instructors. In spite of this, the instructors devised ways to create a classroom based on Freire’s dialogic approach to education. Using Martin Buber’s terminology, the authors work to establish their students as “Thous” rather than as “Its.” Together with their students, the authors explore their texts, and generate free discussions based on the notion of co-constructing our classroom and co-constructing what knowledge is and means to us. Establishing this “open space” of inquiry and acceptance involves practicing Freire’s strategies producing authentic dialogue. Here, instructors participate actively with students. They engage in classroom exercises and even write with the students. The atmosphere in the classroom is relational and inter-subjective. Instructors also enact behaviors explained in Julien Mirivel’s Positive Communication model that bridge the gulf of separateness that work to decipher the unknown.

Details

Improving Classroom Engagement and International Development Programs: International Perspectives on Humanizing Higher Education
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-83909-473-6

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 3 November 2017

Sarah Catto

To gain a better understanding of the impact of students’ home languages and cultural experiences on reading and writing instruction, the instructional methods and materials that…

Abstract

To gain a better understanding of the impact of students’ home languages and cultural experiences on reading and writing instruction, the instructional methods and materials that best supported these students’ emerging bilingualism, and the contributions of their families in their utilization of their home languages and cultural experiences in a school setting. Mixed methods provided data on the literacy development in both home and school languages of three first-grade Latino students who were non-native English speakers enrolled in a school literacy intervention program for 12 to 20 weeks. The students’ confidence and motivation within their reading and writing instruction improved greatly with the encouragement of the use of their home languages and cultural experiences. All three students showed gains in speaking, reading, and writing in both their home and school languages. They made solid and useful connections between the languages and the texts, and drew upon their cultural experiences, which strengthened their reading and writing strategies in both languages. Involving the children’s families in lessons and in activities at school, and supporting their use of reading and writing at home, helped build relationships among the participants, families, and school faculty. This contributed to the beginnings of new understandings on the part of the school’s teachers and administration. Students need to have the space to use their home languages and cultural experiences in school, and I describe how educators in varied educational settings can replicate the same kinds of methods, materials, and support I offered to these students. I also describe suggested ways that teachers and administrators could include the knowledge of emergent bilingual families within the life of the school to further expand all students’ learning and promote social justice in the classroom setting.

Details

Addressing Diversity in Literacy Instruction
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78714-048-6

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 6 August 2020

Brendan Bartram

Taken at face value, it may initially seem difficult to argue with the sentiments enshrined in the rhetoric that surrounds the TEF – raising the status of teaching in Higher…

Abstract

Taken at face value, it may initially seem difficult to argue with the sentiments enshrined in the rhetoric that surrounds the TEF – raising the status of teaching in Higher Education (HE), rebalancing its relationship with research, incentivising institutions to focus on the quality of teaching and making them more accountable for ‘how well they ensure excellent outcomes for their students in terms of graduate-level employment or further study’ (OfS, 2018, p. 1). Clearly, these are laudable aspirations that will chime with anyone who believes in the importance of students experiencing an education that enriches and transforms them and their potential. Drawing on Fraser and Lamble's (2014/2015) use of queer theory in relation to pedagogy, however, this chapter aims to expose the TEF not just ‘as a landmark initiative that is designed to further embed a neoliberal audit and monitoring culture into Higher Education’ (Rudd, 2017, p. 59) but as a constraining exercise that restrains diversity and limits potential. Although queer theory is more usually linked with gender and sexuality studies, Fraser and Lamble show us that it can be used ‘in its broader political project of questioning norms, opening desires and creating possibilities’ (p. 64). In this way, the queer theoretical lens used here helps us to question, disrupt and contest the essentialising hegemonic logics behind the nature and purposes of the TEF and its effects in HE classrooms. Using the slantwise position of the homosexual (Foucault, 1996), this queer analysis of the TEF can thus be helpful as a politically generative exercise in opening up space for new possibilities.

Details

Challenging the Teaching Excellence Framework
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78769-536-8

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 6 July 2021

Kate Noble and Nicola Wallis

The authors draw on Howard and Thomas-Hughes' (2020) framework for quality assessment of co-produced research, to interrogate our assumptions and processes and to reflect on our…

Abstract

Purpose

The authors draw on Howard and Thomas-Hughes' (2020) framework for quality assessment of co-produced research, to interrogate our assumptions and processes and to reflect on our project. They consider if they achieved our planned outcomes around developing practice, enabling a range of voices and perspectives within their research, and enacting change within the university museum.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors’ early years residency programme explores the potential of collaborations with community groups to transform knowledge and practice through action research. As museum educators, the authors find synergy between the participatory pedagogies underpinning their practice and the co-construction of knowledge within action research. Both are committed to enabling diverse interpretations within a collective and supportive framework. Within their project, practitioners from the museum and playgroup worked collaboratively to collect video footage, photos, children's artwork and reflective journals and memos.

Findings

The process of action, observation and reflection revealed much about the authors’ different perspectives and they found variations in both pedagogy and practice. Although the authors had a shared commitment to providing high quality, memorable, exciting opportunities for the children, the exploratory nature of the project meant that they did not agree what these experiences might look like in advance, and so they had different understandings of what they saw.

Research limitations/implications

Although the authors’ methodological framework was designed to make their research collaborative, structural challenges and the contexts of the art museum and university reinforced long established hierarchies. While some felt supported by the research process and the prestige of working with a university museum to gain legitimacy for their practice, others were disempowered by these same structures. The authors consider their obligations as practitioner-researchers to become aware of the role they play in maintaining, as well as challenging, hierarchies and assumptions.

Originality/value

Young children in museums is a growing area of study and this practitioner-led action research project develop a new strand of enquiry within this field. Through this research the authors can collaborate with community partners to record, analyse and make visible the many different ways in which young children experience the museum. As research led institutions, university museums are ideally placed to develop research in partnership with local public bodies and community groups. However, future work in this area would benefit from a more explicit consideration of the constraints implicit within the institutions within which they all operate.

Details

Qualitative Research Journal, vol. 22 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1443-9883

Keywords

11 – 20 of over 2000