Linking various approaches teachers' pedagogical mindset and moral perspectives

STEFAN RATHERT

LINKING VARIOUS APPROACHES:

TEACHERS’ PEDAGOGICAL MIND

SET

and

MORAL PERSPECTIVES IN

TEACHER THINKING

ÇUKUROVA UNIVERSITY ADANA, ELT DEPARTMENT, NOVEMBER 4, 2014

ELT 825 Exploring Teacher Thinking

Teachers’ pedagogical mind set:

Overview

teachers’ professional landscapes

research on teacher thinking:

conceptions of teachers

conceptions of students

conceptions of context

knowledge teachers live by

the matter of the practical

teachers’ mind sets: where are they set andwhat is their setting


Teachers’ professional landscapes

Since the 1990s teachers’ professionallandscapes have changed:

shift towards team-based pedogogical action

shaping school-centered curricula has becomea teachers’ task

shift of administrative power from superiors toschools

teachers responsible for classroom practices andplanning

teachers no more passive curriculum users but active curriculum makers


Teachers’ professional landscapes

teachers are“more

responsible forthe totality of

the instructionalprocess”

(Kansanen et. al, 2000, p. 36)

practicalcapacities

theoreticalcapacities

institutionalcontext

culturaland social

context

teacher practice

and teacher thinking

are essential for

education delivered

to learners


Research on teacher thinking

formerly exclusive research focus on teacher

behaviour (external competencies): “What is

effective and good teaching?”

re-definition of teaching practice (including the

knowledge base, school context, planning,

etc.):

now focus on teacher thinking as well


Conceptions of teachers

3 phases in the conceptual development in research on teacher thinking

1. teachers as decision-makers addressinglearning problems through instruction

2. teachers as sense-makers: reflectiveprofessionals who interpret and apply theirextensive knowledge to create meaning forlearners and themselves

3. teachers as constructivists building andelaborating their personal theories of teaching and education


Conceptions of teachers

decision-maker sense-maker constructivist

•mechanical

paradigms

• internally

consistent way

of teacher

thinking

•teacher

thinking

directed to

classroom

interaction

• inconsiste

nt and

incomplet

e ways of

thinking

•teacher

thinking

directed to

classroom

and wider

context

•critique of cognitive-constructivist approach: mind regarded as information

processor, not as meaning maker

•shift towards mindful orientation? I.e. focus on teachers’ moral and ethical sense

that “aims at shaping and influencing what students become as persons when

living through pedagogical situations in schools and classrooms” (Kansanen et al.,

2000: 39)


Conceptions of students

Change of the cultural image of schooling:

students seen as thinkers, planners, decision

makers

use own cognitive strategies and previous

knowledge base

make sense of their own studying by

constructing knowledge in interaction with

peers

active members of the instructional process


Conceptions of context

Change in understanding of context:

teachers and learners do not act in fixed and

predetermined classroom environment

teachers and learners construct school context

through mutual negotiation, i.e. context is

practice-based

context is

actual: place were actions are taken

symbolic: symbolises participants’ understanding of

school

open to change (e.g. virtual classrooms)

displays continuity as setting with a history


Knowledge teachers live by

teacherknowledge common

knowledge/common

sense• acquired in

cultural patterns, e.g. schooling

specialised/professionalknowledge:

• acquired in teachereducation andteacherdevelopment

teachers use both common sense and specialised

knowledge



Relational knowing:

teaching embedded in social action between teacherand students; i.e. there is a pedagogical relation

pedagogical relation depends on teachers’ pedagogical minds

pedagogical minds are concerned with everything thatcontributes to students upbringing from an internal perspective (directly related to pedagogical

practice)

an external perspective (not directly related to pedagogicalpractice but addressing educational matters)

internal and external perspective must be taken intoaccount to explore teacher thinking



Interrelating cultures:

cognitive perspectives in research limited:

ignore the interpersonal side of teacher thinking

neglect the influence of the social and cultural contexton teacher thinking

however teachers’ reports on their teachinginclude reflection of their own context and culturebecause teacher thinking and knowing involve

attaching meaning to the own context/culture

acting the mind to deal with the challenges of life withmoral and intellectual strength


The matter of the practicalIs teacher knowledge a product of theoretical reflection orexamination of practice?

Is teacher knowledge conceptualised as episteme or as phronesis?

how do teachers perceive reality of their teaching practice andfeatures beyond their teaching practice?

teacher thinking outcomes are mind-mediated versions of reality and must be interpreted

episteme

• scientific understanding of problems throughanalytical rationality

• universal, abstract, invariable

• context-independent

phronesis

• understanding of concretecases and complexsituations

• context-related, concrete, variable

• based on life experience

Teachers’ pedagogical minds:

Where are they set and what are

their settings?Teachers’ pedagogical thinking, i.e. their

pedagogical minds, are linked to perception-

based and subjective knowledge

instead of relying on ready-made theories

researchers have to ask:

•What concrete situations do teachers perceive?

•What experiences do they have?

•What plans do they intend to execute?

•How do they reflect upon consequences?

Teachers’ pedagogical minds:

Where are they set and what are

their settings?Two complementary conceptualisations of the

teachers’ minds: mindset refers to…

… a rather stable mentalattitude towards perceivingobjects and events.

It informs about

• what is perceived

• the content of teacherthinking

• what teachers treat as focal.

… an integrative andinterrelated context in

teachers’ thinking.

It informs about

• how teacher thinkingoccurs

• how teachers employreasoning

• the framework of mentalconstructs (e.g. beliefs, assumptions) that attachmeaning to professionalknowledge.

Moral perspectives in teacher

thinking

Overview Moral dimension of teaching

Teachers’ professional morality

Promoting moral learning in students

Moral dimension of teaching

1990s: conceptualising of moral dimension of

teacher thinking:

morality professional ethos of teachers

teacher’s decision-making can be interpreted

from ethical point of view (moral message)

Moral dimension of teaching

morality is manifested in

formal curricula (e.g. religious schools)

within subject curricula

moral practices (classroom rules, ceremonies, classroom practices, personal qualities of teachers)

morality hidden but present in teaching andclassroom interaction

teachers good at moral reasoning and giving justsolutions; however, responsible judgements tosolve moral dilemmas require strategies, i.e. teachers’ professional morality


Oser (1991): 3 types of morality

normative morality

• reasoning abouthypotheticalactions in decision-making(with referenceto moral norms)

• insufficient toaddressconcretesituations

situationalmorality

• decision-makingin real-life situations

• decision-makinginfluenced bythe situationalcontext (social, psychological, political, economicaspects)

professionalmorality

• connected tofunctional, professional, seeminglynonmoral acting

• e.g. giving poormarks to a student mayconflict withjustice, caringand truthfulness(Vartiainen, 2007: 685)


• not facing the problem

• refusing responsibilityavoiding orientation

• accepting responsibility

• no own decision; delegating to, e.g., principal

delegatingorientation

• accepting responsibility and acting, often in authoritarian manner

• teacher assumes own expertise

single-handeddecision making

• accepting responsibility and acting

• explaining how justice, caring and truthfulness have been balanced

Discourse I(incompletediscourse)

• accepting responsibility and acting by involving students(parents, etc.)

• teacher assumes others are capable of balancing justice, caring and truthfulness

Discourse II(completediscourse)

Teachers’ decision-making strategies in solving

dilemmas: 5 orientations

Promoting moral learning in

students

by setting learning goals (e.g. Golden Rule) in national or school curricula

by negotiating rules collaboratively

by delivering moral messages in an unplannedmanner, i.e. in daily teaching

by addressing children’s needs: to be loved, tobe led, to be vulnerable, to make sense, toplease adults, to have hope, to know truth, tobe known, to be safe, to make one’s mark


students:

1. Values clarificationValues clarification focuses on process of valuing:

students are encouraged to:1. choose freely among alternatives

2. prize and affirm their values

3. act upon chosen values consistently

values are personal, not right or wrong

clarifying values is prerequisite for responsible

judgements

does not provide cognitive aspects of ethical

requiring

promotes self-regarding reasoning and

subjectivism


students:

2. Applied KohlbergKohlberg’s stages of moral development (Crain,

1985) universalprinciples

social contractorientation

maintaining the socialorder

interpersonal relationships

self-interest orientation

obedience and punishment orientation


students:

2. Applied KohlbergProcedure in ‘Applied Kohlberg’:

1. teacher presents dilemma; discussion in

class; students propose judgement

2. teacher presents moral judgement that is one

level higher than students’ judgement

effective means of inducing moral change

use of real-life dilemmas promising


students:

3. Discourse ethicsPresuppositions in discourse ethics:

norms are established intersubjectively, i.e. in

social action

universalisation: a norm is valid if all participants

know the consequences of a norm, the

consequences meet their interests and the

consequences are preferred to known

alternatives

principle of discourse ethics: a norm is valid if all

participants have approved it in a practical

discourse


students:

3. Discourse ethicsmoral discourse in educational practice has to

consider (cf. Fritzén & Tapola, 2008):

solution to a given problem is justified in

discourse, i.e. it is an outcome of negotiating

all participants are able to engage

consequences, also of alternative solutions,

are known

teacher trusts students to be able to participate

in moral discourse

References

Crain, W.C. (1985). Theories of Development. New York: Prentice-Hall.

Fritzén, L. & A. Tapola (2008). Habermas’s discourse ethics in educational practice. SIG 13 Symposium Florina Greece. Draft version. Retrieved October 28. 2014 from: http://www.eled.uowm.gr/sig13/fulltexts/Paper3.pdf

Kansanen, P., K. Tirri, M. Meri, L. Krokfors, J. Husu, & R. Jyrhämä (2000). Teachers’ pedagogical thinking. New York: Peter Lang.

Oser, F.K. (1991). Professional morality: A discourseapproach. In Kurtines, W.M. & J.L. Gewirtz (Eds.), Handbookof moral behavior and development. Volume 2: Research (pp. 191-228). Hillsday: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Vartiainen, T. (2007). Moral conflicts in teaching project work: a job burdened by role strains. Communication of theAssosiation for Information Systems 20, 681-711.

http://www.eled.uowm.gr/sig13/fulltexts/Paper3.pdf

Education

Linking various approaches teachers' pedagogical mindset and moral perspectives