Opening The Classroom Door

Teacher, Researcher, Learner

John Loughran, Jeffrey Northfield

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2003
• Print ISBN: 9781138419711
• eBook ISBN: 9781135715694
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

This account tracks the return to teaching of John Loughran, a teacher educator and educational researcher. After years of educating student teachers, he went back into the classroom for a year to practice what he himself had been teaching, but was often met with difficult pupil behaviour and unforeseen problems.

Split into three sections, this book covers:

* a teacher's perspective on teaching
* the students' perspective on teaching and learning
* learning from experience – the implications for teaching and learning.

Using Loughran's extensive teaching experience, this book describes how the classroom situations were played out and lessons to be learned.

Section 1

A Teacher’s Perspective on Teaching

The first section of this book is drawn from the journal that Jeff maintained throughout his year of teaching. At the end of each day he would devote time to reflecting on his experiences and documenting his thoughts, actions and reactions in detail in a journal. Section 1 offers an overview of the teaching year based on the descriptions in the journal. Analysis of the journal is designed to help unravel the nature of the events as they unfolded during the year and to illustrate these within the context of the ongoing struggles associated with attempting to teach in a manner that might encourage students to be more active and responsible learners.

Chapter 1

Seeking Acceptance

Overview

In this chapter Jeff’s desire to add a school teaching allotment to his existing academic commitments becomes a reality. However, the level of confidence, hopes, ideas and aspirations for the venture are challenged by the reality of the daily teaching responsibilities. The classroom situation somehow limits the opportunities for the teaching ideas which were a major impetus for his return to classroom teaching and evidence of progress towards achieving his teaching and learning goals is limited. The first weeks of teaching are marked by highs and lows in students’ classroom responses to his efforts.

Why Return to School

Everyone has some experience of schooling and so feels familiar with the requirements of the teaching role. The functions of teaching, and the settings in which it occurs are apparently well known. However, there are a number of reasons for suggesting that the teaching role is not widely understood. New teachers consistently comment on the difficulty in moving from the role of successful student to the unexpected demands of teaching. Public debates and media commentaries about education are based on simple stereotyped views of teaching and learning which few teachers can take seriously. Pressure groups propose that the school curriculum should include material dealing with a wide variety of social issues (drug education, nutrition, driver education, AIDS education, career education, etc.). In most cases a ‘Show and Tell’ approach is presented as the way of transmitting the message, despite life experiences which clearly demonstrate the limited connection between knowing about an issue and behaving in responsible ways. Most people who reflect on the impact of formal education on their lives rarely refer to the particular content they were taught. Schools and teachers have a broader agenda than the delivery of content, but there is little evidence of any appreciation or understanding of the range of purposes for schooling.

The experiences documented in this book will hopefully contribute to a wider understanding of the teachers’ roles and aspirations and some of the factors which influence their students’ learning. As education continues to go through changes and restructuring, often implemented by those without an understanding of the complexity of roles associated with teachers and students, it seems important to us that there be a clearer understanding of what is happening in our schools. The book therefore has, as a first purpose, the description of school activities in ways that contribute to a wider understanding of what is being attempted in our schools. There may not be total acceptance of all that is being attempted, but at least any debate should be based on a clearer understanding of what is happening. A second purpose is to prepare an account of teaching for a teacher audience. Teachers often feel undervalued, unappreciated, isolated and uncertain of their role. Some teachers (such as Carol Jones) have been prepared to describe their experiences as they tried to adjust their teaching to encourage more active learning among their students through the Project to Enhance Effective Learning (PEEL) project (Baird and Mitchell, 1986; Baird and Northfield, 1992). The PEEL project documented teachers’ day-today struggles in helping students become more responsible learners. The effort had positive effects on their work, on their morale, and also helped in increasing understanding of classrooms for other teachers. Their descriptions of teaching and learning experiences were relevant and accessible to other teachers who identified with the issues and difficulties being discussed. It affirmed the work of teachers and provided encouragement and ideas for those who were concerned about improving their teaching and their students’ learning outcomes.

The PEEL project experience has therefore encouraged us to think that descriptions of teaching and learning efforts may contribute to the professional development of other teachers. If aspects of this book stimulate discussion among teachers, in ways that some of the data and anecdotes have already promoted interest, the authors will be very satisfied. Similarly, the understanding of the complex nature of teaching and learning that is possible through such documentation should be equally beneficial to the educational research community as the themes and issues which emerge from this study are drawn from the very heart of classroom practice.

Returning to School

Having been involved in the PEEL project since its inception, Jeff clearly had a view of teaching and learning that directed his attention to analysing his own teaching practice. In his teacher education classes at university he commonly used PEEL-type activities to encourage his students to take more responsibility for their own learning and to develop their understanding in ways that lectures and other forms of transmissive teaching do not. Therefore, returning to secondary school to teach could in one sense be regarded as simply making the transition from teaching (using the same underlying principles) in one context to another. It could also offer Jeff an opportunity to pursue teaching for understanding with younger students in the very way he advocated at the tertiary level. For some, his move back into high school teaching could be seen as a challenge in which he could truly ‘practice what he preached’, but for others the move was less well understood.

This perceived lack of understanding by some was to be an important concern as he considered the approaching year of secondary teaching. The following extract is the first entry in his journal and outlines some of the reasons he undertook the teaching allotment.

1st January

Why is returning to school regarded as so strange (even stupid) by almost everyone. If we [teacher educators] are concerned with educating teachers and understanding teaching and learning we must have first-hand contact with schools and classrooms in a sustained way. I continue to be astounded by the number of people in the Faculty who regard schools as places to be avoided. How can we be advocates of a profession we are not willing to work alongside? How can we expect education issues to be part of policy and management decisions when we do not understand and appreciate what happens in schools? It is comfortable for many responsible for education to keep the detail of schooling at a distance—maintaining simple stereotyped views of what happens so that decisions can be easily made and justified. The closer we get to what happens in school the more we get close to people and the more difficult and complex are the decisions that have to be made.

The teaching load provides great opportunities—a Year 7 class for science, maths and home group. A lot of contact with one group of students…

At the same time, though, his understanding of educational research was also influencing his thinking about his return to school teaching. He was juggling the personal concerns (demonstrated above) with his ongoing professional concerns which were closely related to his involvement in, and understanding of, educational theory and research.

11th January

Bob Stake’s (1992) article raises a persistent issue—the relationship between the teacher priorities in planning and understanding teaching and the objectives and approaches of course designs and text books designed to influence the classroom process. If teachers are concerned with activities and student interests and abilities, how do course guidelines and materials connect with teachers’ needs? Attention is focused on the potential of the activities rather than the rationale and overall framework. The study that very few teachers understood the inquiry/discovery concepts basic to BSCS is not surprising. Teachers were searching for other features of the materials. Without intensive inservice programs why would any teacher need to know about the underlying rationale? What are the characteristics of resources that teachers find useful? Perhaps guidelines and curriculum statements have other purposes than contributing to classroom practice?

On p. 62 Stephen Gordon (1992) describes basic paradigms explaining the way teachers are ‘supervised’ or treated as professionals. What are the underlying assumptions explaining the way teachers are treated? Why do traditional paradigms exist in practice where all the rhetoric argues for encouraging a more independent professional? Perhaps the way teachers have undertaken their role has contributed to conditions which limit functioning as true professionals.

Two relevant pieces of writing.

These journal extracts offer an insight into the thinking that was influential in shaping the beliefs which underpinned his view of teachers’ work; perhaps not so different to that of many teachers. Jeff’s concerns for both the professional life of teachers as well as how it is perceived and shaped impact on his thinking about his return to teaching. However, beyond these concerns there were also those related to his own pedagogy and how that should progress. Holding to the principles of PEEL meant that Jeff would strive to teach for understanding and encourage his students to make sense of their own learning and to be actively involved in ways which would be more demanding on the teacher than simply teaching for recall. In essence, he was hoping to teach his students in ways that involved them in their learning rather than having them attempt to digest large chunks of (sometimes seemingly irrelevant) information. Therefore, his thinking about doing this in his teaching is quite revealing when considering his upcoming return to the high school classroom.

20th January

…Must not set high expectations about the intensity of student thinking and learning. Gradual progress towards independence rather than burnout. Danger of trying too many ideas and gaining a stimulating but superficial response without fundamental changes and development in learning…

26th January

Met the class for the first time. 25 keen but nervous kids—hard to identify the problems at this stage. Really needed a couple of days to settle into the school. Still a lot of loose ends and not giving the teaching task sufficient attention at the moment. Need to find opportunities to develop ideas but conscious of trying to juggle many tasks at the moment. Perhaps I am impatient to get things underway and see what happens. The students will have to settle down before introducing new ideas. Need to develop some introductory activities for science.

29th January

Big question. How does one make a start with ‘PEEL-type’ activities with a new Year 7 group? The idea of going into the yard to measure a hectare did not go very well. Too long to make the measurement with too few students involved. Nothing exciting yet as we get to know each other. Need a big and satisfying activity to get us going. I am not sure it will be a planned activity. Everyone (especially me) is ‘playing safe’. They are getting used to their new school and wish to feel comfortable.

So with these thoughts underpinning his initial contact with the class it is interesting to see what he recognized as important elements of learning which he linked to the nature of teaching a group of students in a secondary school.

4th February

Two reflections emerge from today’s experience. Firstly, an interest in learning does not provide a useful focus in the everyday demands of the classroom. I am genuinely trying to understand the language and thinking of students in maths but the management demands of 25 students ‘swamps’ everything. They appear to be coping very well but it will take a lot longer to address the learning development of kids. How does one make a classroom a place driven by learning demands? I can now see why teachers are interested in activities. Perhaps they set a situation which allows other priorities to gain some attention. Secondly, the second lesson showed how much flexibility is required. I took on board a totally different lesson from what I had planned because of what I sensed was an interest and needed to be followed up.

Everything is going well but not exciting yet—will it ever be? Am I just a person who has good ideas but will never establish the conditions to make them work in practice? I have really set myself a task. If I cannot experience some success and personal satisfaction, I have no right to interact with teachers about teaching and learning ideas. This is not easy—I need to succeed with a ‘high risk’ activity. They are still searching for security—the camp next week may be crucial.

It is not difficult to see how the ‘return to teaching concerns’ that were raised at the start of the year begin to resurface as the reality of teaching the students day by day develops. Despite the intentions associated with a PEEL-type approach to teaching, other issues inevitably influence what happens in the classroom. Teaching that is responsive to students’ learning needs requires a lot of the teacher.

As Jeff started to face up to the demands of the four ten-week terms that made up the school year, this first term would prove to be crucial in shaping his view of his students and what the real challenges of teaching for understanding would entail. At the end of his second week he noted that some of the things that he thought would interest the students did not seem to ‘catch on’. The students appeared to be more concerned to develop their social relationships and they worked very hard to maintain their position in the peer group.

By the end of the third week of the first term his major teaching approach revolved around lessons designed to offer students opportunities to accept responsibility for their actions. These included estimation activities in science, problem-solving tasks in mathematics and completion of a mathematics trail in the school grounds. In each case, students had to organize themselves and work at their own pace. Preparation was proving to be extensive and time consuming and he was finding it difficult to accept that this was an important limit to what could be done in the classroom. Considerable amounts of time were involved in the considerations and planning associated with the ideas for lessons and he soon recognized how much easier it would be to stick to the routine textbook presentation. Maths was particularly susceptible to the routine show, tell and practice approach. Although things were ‘going OK’, in his mind, it was still not yet exciting and caused him to question whether it was really possible to practice what he preached. Also, like many teachers, the realization that some feedback on his work would be both helpful and supportive was becoming apparent. He did not feel comfortable being isolated in the profession, he wanted to talk about his teaching with others, and a little feedback from the students would not go astray.

After four weeks of teaching, the limitations of the classroom (in no small part related to the constant concerns about classroom management and the influence of two or three students on the rest of the class) brought recognition of the ‘low lights’ of a teacher’s professional life. Despite this, there was a continual struggle to shift his classroom practice to a new level supported by the ever present hope that there would soon be a breakthrough. Also, concerns from the start of the year began to return as the dailiness of teaching started to influence his understanding of his role. Even though he was an experienced and well-regarded educational researcher, and the learning from the PEEL project was an important component of that knowledge, he still wrote that, ‘In the classroom, the research seems so irrelevant’. The nature of teachers’ professional work was obviously more complex and difficult to understand than some research ‘findings’ recognized, understood, or displayed; what had happened to his own prior warnings about the clues suggested by Stake (1992) and Gordon (1992)? His efforts in the weeks until the end of term were (perhaps subconsciously) related to this matter.

22nd March

Ordinary best describes today’s lesson. A hot day and we entered a science room filled with gas. So the revision sheet was completed outside. Students worked well but it is another example of contextual ...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgments
• Foreword
• Section 1 A Teacher’s Perspective on Teaching
• Section 2 The Student’s Perspective on Teaching and Learning
• Section 3 Learning from Experience
• Bibliography
• Author Index
• Subject Index