The Impact of a Faculty Learning Community Approach on Pre-Service Teachers’ English Learner Pedagogy

Michael P. Alfano, John Zack, Mary E. Yakimowski,Sandra Billings, and Gina Purpura

University of Connecticut – Neag School of EducationApril 2012

Office of Assessment

Statement of Purpose

To examine the impact of the purposeful creation of a Faculty learning Community on pre-service teacher candidates’ EL pedagogy, as self reported on the Teaching English Language Learner Self Efficacy Scale (TELLSES) Neag School of Education’s

Office of Assessment

Theoretical Frameworks

Bandura TELLSES – 20 questions based on

Bandura’s (1994) theory of social learning theory that embraces self-efficacy◦ Ability to perform particular activities successfully

and thus exert control over life events.◦ Influences individual motivation, cognitive

processes, emotions and health, and life choices◦ High self-efficacy approach goals with greater

confidence, tend to maintain commitment and persistence for longer periods of time.

Theoretical Frameworks

Levine and Howard (2010)Faculty Learning Community model Project Prepare

◦ Incorporates both the Pull in and Faculty Seminar components Key components:

Professional Development Continuous reading Researching Writing on Pertinent Topics Transparent practices

Research Design andResearch Questions

Research Design◦Mixed method mode of inquiry. ◦Quantitative and Qualitative

analyses Overall Research Question

◦What is the impact of a Faculty Learning Community on pre-service teachers’ EL pedagogy?

Setting

TEACHERS CERTIFICATION PROGRAM FOR COLLEGE GRADUATES (TCPCG)

Masters in C&I with CertificationSecondary Education

Year long 45 credit program – June-April English, math, science, social studies, world language, agriculture, and special education (K-12)

Four consecutive semesters Cohort model – close community of learners

◦

ParticipantsStudents enrolled in the TCPCG during the 2010-2011 School year

◦69.2% females◦13.1% minorities

English (20.0%) Social Studies (16.9%) Mathematics (9.2%) Science or Agriculture (29.2%) World Languages (10.7%) Special Education (13.8%)

Procedures

1. Implement Faculty Learning Community

◦Instructors learn and integrate more instruction on EL instruction within their own classroom within TCPCG

2. Measuring teacher candidate performance by administering TELLSES:

◦Summer – beginning of the program◦Fall – mid-program after student

teaching◦Spring – prior to graduation

3. Analyzing and reporting improvement of candidates on each item, factor, and grand mean on TELLSES

4. Stating the lessons learned, including how this model might be adopted with modifications by other teacher education programs concerned with meeting the instructional needs of ELs.

InstrumentationPrimary Source: TELLSES

20-item instrument using 10 point Likert-scale Survey administered at three points

throughout the academic year: Prior to starting the program in the summer After completing student teaching in the fall Immediately prior to starting the program

The survey also included a section that asked students to complete an open-ended task related to how they would teach a given, specific topic within their content area to a class with several ELs

FACTORSWithin the TELLSES the

researchers identified three factors:

1. EL’s own resources2. Pedagogical Strategies3. Challenges

ANALYSISDescriptive statistics were calculated to report the

means for each item, global measure, and the three factors scores from TELLSES at each administration

Since the same measures were collected multiple times for each subject, the researchers implemented a repeated measure design to determine whether significant improvement could be observed over time in the TELLSES in the global measure or in any of the three identified factors.

In terms of the open-ended responses, a thematic analyses was performed on each statement to provide greater understanding of participants’ preparedness to teach ELs.

RESULTS

GLOBAL MEASSUREThe first RMANOVA compared the scores on the TELLSES global measure to determine if there was a significant difference in the overall TELLSES scores across time.

Summer Fall Spring0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Mean

FACTOR 1EL’s Own Resources

Dealt with making connections with the K-12 pupils’ native language, culture, and home life

Summer Fall Spring0

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2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Mean

FACTOR 2Pedagogical Strategies

Concerned the pre-service teachers’ ability to implement appropriate pedagogical strategies for assisting Els to learn content language.

Summer Spring Fall0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Mean

FACTOR 3Challenges

Related to the candidates’ awareness and ability to overcome challenges faced by pupils.

Time Summer Fall Spring0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

Mean

Qualitative Results

Teacher-centered vs. Student-centered

Specific strategies & information provided

Instructional techniquesVocabulary instruction

Significance

This study Illustrates that when a group of teacher educators is willing to move forward together, what we know can be transformed into what we can do

The positive impact on the learning and perceived ability of future educators to meet the instructional needs of English Learners was supported within the data

The pre-service teachers who participated in the study felt they were better prepared to meet the instructional needs of EL students

ConclusionsThe Faculty Learning Community at the Uconn’s TCPCG program affected positive changes in the faculty’s behavior regarding their ability to prepare pre-service teachers to meet the instructional needs of EL pupils

Teacher educators consistently integrated the four foundational elements: Understandings, Practices, Disposition, and Vision necessary in developing pre-serviced teachers’ ability to meet the needs of the underserved student population.

Conclusions

Pre-service teachers reported self-efficacy regarding the teaching of English Learners

FOR MORE INFORMATION

CONTACT Michael P. Alfano, Ph.D.

Executive Director of Teacher Education ProgramsAssociate Professor-in-ResidenceUniversity of Connecticut Neag School of EducationE-mail:  Michael.Alfano@uconn.edu