PedagogicalBeliefs,InstructionalPracticesandOpportunitiesforProfessionalDevelopmentofTeachersinEstonia

Äli LeijenProfessorofTeacherEducation

UniversityofTartu

• Thispresentationisbasedonachapterco-writtenwithmygoodcolleagueMargus Pedaste.

Leijen,Ä.&Pedaste,M.(inpress).Pedagogicalbeliefs,instructionalpracticesandopportunitiesforprofessionaldevelopmentofteachersinEstonia.InA.Toom,H. Niemi,Arto Kallioniemi andJari Lavonen (Eds.)Teachersroleinaglobalchangingworld.

Introduction

• Averageageofteachers– 47,9(42,9OECDaverage)• Workexperience– 21,6(16,2OECDaverage)

• Historically,subject-orientation ininitialteachereducation,studentsidentitieswererelatedtotheirsubjectfields• PISAresultsverygoodbutmanystudentsdonotenjoygoingtoschool.Thus,theperformanceofEstonianstudentsisquitegood,buttheirpsychologicalwell-beingisofconcern.Thelattercouldbelinkedtoteachers’pedagogicalbeliefsandinstructionalpractices.

Pedagogicalbeliefs

• Change inteachers’pedagogicalbeliefsfromsubject focustodidactics andpedagogicalfocus(seePoom-Valickis,2003;Poom-Valickis &Oder,2013).• Confirmedbyotherse.g.Lepik etal,2013.Theaveragescoresofdifferentgroupsofteacherswerehigherontheconstructivismscale(closetomaximumscores)thanonthetraditionalismscale(closetotheaveragescore).• Theacceptanceofsocial-constructivismbeliefsbyEstonianteacherswasalsovisibleintheTALISstudy(TALISsurvey,2013)

Instructionalpractices• Teachers’pedagogicalbeliefsarenotnecessarilyrelatedtotheirinstructionalpractices.• InTALISstudy(2013),Estonianteachersreportedthattheirmostcommonpracticeswerepresentingasummaryofrecentlylearnedcontent(80%diditfrequentlyorinallornearlyalllessons),followedbycheckingstudents’exercisebooks(71%)andlettingstudentspractisesimilartasks,68%).• Uibu etal(2013)– instructionalpracticesaimingatcomprehension,application,andindividualization(relatedmainlytocognitiveconstructivism)morethansupportingstudents’independence(socialconstructivismscale)andtraditionalrotelearningpractices• Uibu etal(2016)– languagemodelling,teachersuseddialogueintheirclasses,itsmainpurposewastochecktheirstudents’knowledgeortosimplytransferknowledgetostudents.Itwasrarelythatdialoguewasusedtosupportclassroomdiscussionandsharedmeaningmaking.

Pedagogicalbeliefsandinstructionalpractices

• Teachers’beliefshavechangedtowardsstudent-centredviewsovertheyearsinEstonia.Theactualteachingpracticesseemtobemoretraditional andarechangingmoreslowly.• FollowingIpresentsomepossibleexplanationsastowhythesedevelopments havetakensomuchtime• Describesomerecentstate-levelinterventionsthataimatfosteringthestudent-centered turninEstonianschools(seealsoEstonianLifelongLearningStrategy2020– Eesti elukestva õppe…,2014).

Teachers’autonomy

• Estonia’seducationalsystemhasbeenradicallyreformedsince1991,afterthere-establishmentoftheindependentrepublic.In1996,thenewnationalcurriculumwaslaunched.Ithadbeendevelopedonthebasisofmanywesterncurriculabutwasstillmainlysubject-oriented.• In1997,newnationalstateexamswereintroducedattheendofuppersecondaryschooltotesttheachievementoftheobjectivessetoutinthenationalcurriculum.• Introductionofsuchhigh-stakesstandardizedtestsdecreasedteachers’autonomyindecidingwhatandhowtoteachtheirstudents.

Teachers’autonomy

• Duringthelastdecade,boththenationalcurriculum andstateexamshavebeenchanged.Teachers wereinvolvedinthisprocess– someofthemintheworkgroupsdesigningchangesandseveralothersingivingfeedback.• Viirpalu,Krull andMikser (2014)- teachersarenowexpectedtoactascurriculumleaders and43%ofthemhavebeeninvolvedincurriculumdevelopment.• Today,thecurriculumisstillrathersubject-orientedindefiningsubject-specificexpectedoutcomes,butthegeneralcompetencieshavegainedmuchmoreimportanceandteachershavemorefreedomtodecidewhatandhowtoteach.Startingfrom2014,studentshavetotakethree(insteadoffive)nationalstateexams– mathematics,mothertongue,andforeignlanguage.• Schools,teachersandstudentshavemorefreedom.

Teachers’professionaldevelopment

• Anotherchangeintroducedinthemid-1990swastheteachers’attestationsystem,whichwasimportantforthegoalsofthattimebuthadtobeadjustedtonewsocietalneeds.• Pedaste (2012)hasconcludedthattheoldsystemdidnotsupportteachers’autonomyandprofessionaldevelopmenttowardusinginnovativeteachingandlearningapproaches,e.g.noposition-specificormorecomplexworkwasexpectedfromteachersmovedtoahigherlevelthroughattestation.• In2013thenewprofessionalstandardsofteacherswereintroducedandthesedistinguishbetweenteachers,seniorteachersandmasterteachers.Research-orientedcompetencies.Moreattentiontoreflection.Portfolio/basedassessment.Universityteachered programsdesignedaccordingly.• AsofSeptember2013,theminimumormaximumnumberoflessonsateacherhastoteachweeklyisnotspecified.• Thus,moreautonomyhasbeengrantedtoschoolsandteachersindesigningtheschool’scurriculumanddecidingwhattypeofworkshouldbedonebywhichteachers

Challengesrelatedtoimplementationofchanges• Resources,schoolsshouldhaveenoughmoneytodifferentiateteachers’workandsalariesaswellassupporttheirprofessionaldevelopmentandresearch.

• Itisnotalwayseasyforschoolleaderstoimplementtheseideasgiventhelimitedresources (salariesonthelowerside).

Challengesrelatedtoimplementationofchanges• Theresourcesarenotenoughifschoolleadersandteachers’willingnesstoadoptchangesandself-efficacy orcouragetotakeresponsibilityarenotinaccordancewiththeincreasedautonomytheyhave.• Teachersshouldfeelcompetentaccordingtotheexpectationsspecifiedintheprofessionalstandardsandotherrelevantdocuments.• Theneedforrelatedness shouldalsobesatisfied– inthiscontext,teachersshouldsharethenewpedagogicalaimswithmanyotherteachers.• Whenthethreebasicpsychologicalneedshavebeenachieved,teachersareabletoself-regulatetheirprofessionaldevelopment.

Challengesrelatedtoimplementationofchanges• Unfortunately,therearesomeworryingresearch results relatedtoEstonianteachers’self-efficacyandwillingnesstoadopteducationalreforms.• IntheanalysisoftheTALISdata,fourclustersofEstonianteachershavebeenspecified(basedonthesampleteachinginlowersecondaryschool,seeLoogma &Nemeržitski,2013).Twoclusterscontainedteacherswithratherlowself-efficacy(71%).However,amongtheteacherswithhighself-efficacy,onlyonecluster(17%ofteachers)ofteacherswassatisfiedwiththeirworkandsocietalposition.Theotherclusterwithhighself-efficacycontainedteacherswhodidnotfeelthattheyasteacherswerelovedandappreciatedbythesociety.• Thus,onlyasmallgroupofteachershasbeenshowntobepreparedforadoptingneweducationalapproaches.

Challengesrelatedtoimplementationofchanges• Lepik,Loogma andTalts (2014) - conducted interviewswith25teachersandidentifiedsevenreactionsthatcharacterizedtheteachers’acceptanceofchangesinthecurriculumreformthatwasneededtochangetheirteachingpractice.• Enthusiasticacceptanceofchangesappearedwhenteachersfeltthattheirautonomyincreasedandnewopportunitieswereopened.• All otherbehaviouralstrategiesresultedinunacceptanceormerelyformalacceptance.Someoftheteachers(i)changedtheirpracticebecauseoftheformalrequirements,(ii)adapted thenewexpectationstotheirownneeds,(iii)didnotseethechangesorfeltthatthechangesshouldbeimplementedbyotherteachers,(iv)ignored thechangesandfollowedtheirownpedagogicalapproachor(v)ignored thechangesbecausetheyfeltthatapplyingthemwasdifficultorunnecessary,and(vi)forsomeoftheteachers,thechangeswerenotinaccordance withtheirownpersonalvaluesandmoralunderstanding.

• implementingchangesintheeducationalsystemisquitedifficultifthereisascarcityofresources,ifhighself-efficacyandrelatednessarecharacteristicoflessthanonefifthoftheteachersandifmanystrategiesteachersusearerelatedtonotacceptingthechangesintroducedthrougheducationalreforms.• Oneoftheactionstakentoachievethenecessarychangesischangingtheteachereducationprogrammes.

Teachereducation

• Several studieshavebeencarriedoutinrecentyearsaimingatunderstanding• (1)whatarethemotivesofcandidatestostartteachereducation,• (2)howtoprovideteachereducationthatprepares studentssufficientlyforrealwork,• (3)howtointroducethemadequatetoolsforfurtherprofessionaldevelopment(e.g.,Krull etal.,2013).

TeachereducationinUniversityofTartu

• Several Europeanresearchanddevelopmentprojectshaveresultedinnewmethodsandproductsthatareintegratedintoteachereducation.• IntheACTTEA project(http://acttea.ut.ee/),avideo-supportedguidedreflectionmethodwasdevelopedforsupportingaction-orientedknowledgeconstruction;• intheWatchMe project(http://www.project-watchme.eu/),aframeworkforsupportingthedevelopmentandassessmentofcorepracticesofteachingduringstudentteachers’schoolpracticumperiodwasdeveloped;• intheGo-Lab(http://www.go-lab-project.eu)andArkofInquiry(http://www.arkofinquiry.eu)projects,aframeworkforapplyingandsupportingcollaborativeinquiry-basedlearninghasbeendesignedwhereteachershaveanewrolewithincreasedautonomyandstudentsmoreresponsibilityforsettingtheirlearninggoalsandchoosingtheirlearningmethods.

TeachereducationinUniversityofTartu

• Largereformsin2013,tobetterconnecttheoreticalstudieswiththepracticalworkofteachers• Firstly,thetraditionaldividebetweenfoundationsandmethodscourseswaschallengedbydevelopinglargercoursestaughtbyteamsofdifferentteachereducators.Theseteamsincludeteachingstafffromdifferentfacultiesandinstitutes.• Secondly,thecommongapbetweentheoreticalcoursesandschoolpracticumwasbridgedbychangingthewholeconceptofschoolpracticum.

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Communica)on*and*Feedback*in*School*

Designing*Learning*and*Instruc)on*

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Teacher’s*Iden)ty*and*Leadership*

Topics*

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Con)nuous*pedagogical*traineeship*in*innova)on*schools*(related*to*main*module/didac)cs’*modue)*

Main*pedagogical*traineeship*in*a*prac)ce*school*

Pedagogical*prac)ce*in*univeristy’s*labs*

TeachereducationinUniversityofTartu

• Malva (2015)circulatedaCATEquestionnaire(Hammerness,Klette &Bergem,2014).• …intendedchangeshavebeenrealizedtoalargeextent(e.g.sharedvision,opportunitiestopractice).Wecanalsoseethatcollaborationbetweentheteachingstaffneedstobefurthersupportedandtheartefactsofeverydayinstructionalpracticesmorereadilyincorporatedintothecorepedagogicalcourses.Furthermore,weneedtohelpourstudentteachersseethepracticalvalueoftheoreticalframeworksandbetterguidetheminmakingthebestuseofthesefortheirownlearning.

Thankyou!

ali.leijen@ut.ee