Browsing by Subject "Teacher development"
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Item A meta-study of teaching practitioner's conceptions of their work(2014-12) Conroy, Anne L.It has been posited that meaning making around occupation both fuels pursuit, and guides vocational development as conceptions form. This dissertation investigates post-secondary teaching professionals conceptions of their vocation with the goal of highlighting possible occupational developmental pathways. Through a meta-study of several phenomenographys a holistic view of the profession emerged. Utilizing existing findings from twelve contributing phenomenographic studies, sixty-one categories of description were gathered. These past findings provided the underpinning work conceptions of post secondary teaching professionals. These categories upon deconstruction into conceptions reveal different ways teaching practitioners could understand their vocation. Through an iterative process patterns of work meaning were sought by deconstructing, interpreting and synthesizing. A dynamic activity context of the vocation of post-secondary teaching emerged.Patterns of interaction appear to link with the professional's teaching intention. This suggests that interactions can be a dynamic meditational tool utilized for promoting learning, yet flexible to support teaching practices in often changing circumstances.Item On Water: Journey of an Indigenous Researcher Guiding Professional Development as Teachers Navigate Native American Curriculum(2018-07) Quigley, DawnBecause only 0.4% of teachers in Minnesota are Native American, nonNative educators must also learn how to teach this content in ways that increase the engagement and achievement of all our state’s students. Yet most teachers are not equipped to teach these standards effectively and confidently. This study offers an emerging Native American female researcher’s analysis of ways to conduct Professional Development (PD) for non-Native K-12 teachers. This study asked: What are nonNative teachers’ experience in PD regarding MN Native American curricular content of history, language, and culture? And: What supports and structures in (PD) add to non-Native American teachers’ experiences as they create culturally relevant curriculum on Minnesota Native American history, language, and culture? I used a theoretical framework of indigenous epistemologies by creating a bridge between the story of the empirical literature reviewed and my own stories as an emerging researcher. Indigenous Methodologies (IM) were employed in this study including a connection or relationship between knowledge and nature theoretical stance on identity seen through water and story as method. The case study focused on three K-12 teachers who participated in PD focused on Native American history, language and culture. Data were analyzed using my new data analyzing technique of *Indigenous Storalyzing* which synthesizes IM and uses understanding through embodiment and conceptual thought; story as an indigenous research method used to work through, interpret, and make sense of the data; and analyzing the data and scholarship sources in storytelling. I also place myself in the analysis as the PD facilitator as I conceptualize myself as a guide in the teachers’ PD journey. I tell the stories on water of the three teachers and how I, as an emerging indigenous researcher, navigated ways to see the difference between creating professional relationships versus personal ones; how to protect my Native identity and personal stories from the “gaze” of some nonNative PD participants; along with disrupting assumptions of how transformational learning.Item Professional learning across contexts for LESLLA teachers: the unlikely meeting of adult educators in kindergarten to explore early literacy instruction(2013-03) Vinogradov, Patricia EganIn this case study of adult English as a Second Language (ESL) educators, the researcher facilitated a six-week professional development activity around the topic of early literacy instruction. The four participants in the study circle were all LESLLA (low-educated second language and literacy acquisition) teachers whose students are adult immigrants and refugees who do not read and write in their primary languages. Working in collaborative inquiry, they sought to improve the teaching and learning of this unique and neglected group of ESL learners. Now living in the U.S., such learners face a double challenge: acquiring English while learning to read an alphabetic print language for the first time. Their teachers must be reading specialists, language experts, and resettlement workers all rolled into one. This population of adult ESL learners is largely neglected by both researchers and materials developers. However, within our communities, early elementary teachers are teaching literacy and language to young new readers every day. Kindergarteners, first, and second graders are discovering the alphabetic principle, acquiring the components of reading, and building their identities as readers and writers as they prepare for academic success. While these two contexts are strikingly different, there is much overlap. To explore early literacy and enhance their classroom practice, the participants investigated early literacy instruction for young new readers. They observed K-2 instruction, worked individually with young learners, completed assigned readings and tasks, and engaged in discussions and reflective journaling. By tapping into a new teaching context, they uncovered key literacy practices in early elementary grades and transformed and applied their learnings to LESLLA learners. Findings show that they began organizing literacy instruction differently, such as implementing morning messages and sign-ins. Establishing sound routines was a key outcome of their experience. An extended definition of literacy also emerged, one that includes math and integrates numeracy instruction into literacy focused time. They learned about responding to literature and began reading aloud to their LESLLA classes and teaching about text connections. Another main finding was a heightened priority of independent learning and ways they might offer more choices and independent, individualized instruction. This case study offers a model for teacher professional development as an intellectual activity that embraces collaboration, inquiry, and exploring new contexts as powerful ways to grow as educators.