Teacher Development in Action: Understanding Language Teachers’ Conceptual Change

237 Pages·2012·3.657 MB·

by  Magdalena Kubanyiova (auth.)

Teacher Development in Action
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Teacher Development in
Action
Understanding Language Teachers’
Conceptual Change
Magdalena Kubanyiova
University of Birmingham, UK
© Magdalena Kubanyiova 2012
Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 2012 978-0-230-23258-7
All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this
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Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence
permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency,
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Any person who does any unauthorized act in relation to this publication
may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.
The author has asserted her right to be identified as the author of this work
in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published 2012 by
PALGRAVE MACMILLAN
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registered in England, company number 785998, of Houndmills, Basingstoke,
Hampshire RG21 6XS.
Palgrave Macmillan in the US is a division of St Martin’s Press LLC,
175 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10010.
Palgrave Macmillan is the global academic imprint of the above companies
and has companies and representatives throughout the world.
Palgrave® and Macmillan® are registered trademarks in the United States,
the United Kingdom, Europe and other countries.
ISBN 978-1-349-31293-1 ISBN 978-0-230-34842-4 (eBook)
DOI 10.1057/9780230348424
This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully
managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing
processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the
country of origin.
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kubanyiova, Magdalena, 1977–
Teacher development in action : understanding language teachers’
conceptual change / Magdalena Kubanyiova.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
Summary: “Bringing together multiple sources of data and combining existing
theories across language teacher cognition, teacher education, second language
motivation and psychology, this empirically-grounded analysis of teacher
development in action offers new insights into the complex and dynamic nature
of language teachers’ conceptual change. “— Provided by publisher.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
1. Language teachers—Training of. 2. English teachers—Training
of. 3. Language and languages—Study and teaching. 4. English
language—Study and teaching—Foreign speakers. 5. Teacher-student
relationships. I. Title.
P53.85.K84 2012
401'.93—dc23 2011043794
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
21 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12
To Mirka
In memoriam
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Contents
List of Figures x
List of Tables xi
List of Boxed Textt xii
Prologue xiii
Acknowledgements xv
1 Introduction 1
1.1 Why a book on failure? 1
1.2 Aims of the book and who it is for 3
1.3 On theories, paradigms and epistemologies 4
1.4 How to read this book 5
2 Teacher Change Research: a Critical Overview 6
2.1 What constitutes teacher change 7
2.2 Challenges in researching teacher change 9
2.3 Studying change in the language teacher cognition
domain 12
2.4 Summary 29
3 Theories of Learning and Change in Psychology 30
3.1 Attitude change 30
3.2 Conceptual change 35
3.3 Possible selves theory 44
3.4 Summary 52
4 Pulling it Together: an Integrated Model of Language
Teacher Conceptual Change 54
4.1 Introduction to LTCC 54
4.2 The key features of LTCC 56
4.3 The process of language teacher conceptual change 59
4.4 Summary 65
5 The Study of Language Teachers’ Conceptual Change:
Grounded Theory Ethnography 66
5.1 Teaching and learning foreign languages in Slovakia:
a brief sketch of the territory 67
5.2 The eight EFL teachers 71
vii
viii Contents
5.3 The researcher 75
5.4 Research design and data collection methods 76
5.5 Data analysis 92
5.6 Summary 98
6 It’s Not What They Know, It’s Who They See: Ideal Selves
as Central Cognitions in Conceptual Change 101
6.1 Motivation to teach 102
6.2 Motivation to join the project 105
6.3 Emerging connection between motivation and ideal
selves 107
6.4 LTCC: ‘Nice-but-not-for-me’ route 110
6.5 Summary 121
7 Emotional Dissonance: Essential but Insufficient Catalyst
for Conceptual Change 124
7.1 Teacher development as an emotionally charged
process 125
7.2 LTCC: ‘Couldn’t-agree-more’ route 126
7.3 When dissonance does not lead to conceptual change 133
7.4 Summary 134
8 When Change Threatens the Teachers’ Sense of Self:
Emotional Battles in Balancing Ideal, Ought-to and
Feared Selves 137
8.1 Ought-to Language Teacher Selves 138
8.2 LTCC: ‘Nice-but-too-scary’ route 144
8.3 Summary 159
9 It’s not as Simple as It Sounds: Teacher Change as a
Multifaceted, Situated, Emerging and Dynamic Process 161
9.1 Monika’s developmental U-turns and reconnecting
with her ideal self 162
9.2 Traces of ‘I’ve-got-to-teach-differently’ route in Erika’s
development 177
9.3 Summary 187
10 Conclusion: New Metaphors for Researching and Educating
for Teacher Change 190
10.1 Complexity theory as a constructive metaphor for
ecological language teacher cognition research 190
10.2 Creating conditions for conceptual change: if you
want to walk on water … 195
Epilogue 197
Contents ix
References 199
Author Index 214
Subject Index 218