Malderez Teacher Refl Practice

Teachers’ ways of knowing Margit Szesztay

Teachers’ ways of knowing tend to be understood through academic ways of thinking and writing. This article sets out to take a closer look at the way seven school teachers understand and describe how they know, re?ect, and act in the midst of teaching. In particular, through the combined voices of these teachers I aim to take a closer look at the nature of re?ection-in-action, what can trigger it, and the ways in which it can in?uence on-the-spot decision making. I will also consider the way experienced teachers’ re?ective accounts, such as the ones given in this article, can be used in teacher education. None of the seven teachers in this study teach languages. However, it is my belief that the nature of teacher knowledge and re?ection-in-action cut across subject-matter boundaries.

Background

I am a Hungarian teacher and teacher educator in ELT . In 2001 I went to the USA to teach and do research at the School for International Training (SIT ). Before going there I had just completed a four-year Ph.D. investigation into the learning potential of group discussions (Szesztay 2001). During these years I engaged in an intense form of re?ective professional development. My immediate aim was to understand, and ultimately to improve, my own practice. The experience of doing research with a strong practitioner orientation pushed me to think about the nature of teacher knowledge. I became particularly interested in the kind of knowledge which guides the invisible process of classroom decision-making. As a teacher educator, I also wanted to understand better how to help beginner teachers make split second decisions about when to stop an activity, or how to respond to disruptive behaviour, for example. This article gives an account of what I learnt by listening to experienced non-EFL teachers talk about classroom decision-making, and about the implications of this for teacher education.

Setting up the frame

I want to start out by outlining the frame within which the teacher descriptions are set. This involves making explicit a basic assumption about the nature of teacher knowledge, and introducing the key concepts that map out the territory of classroom decision-making. [It] is a holistic skill. In an important sense, one must grasp it as a whole in order to grasp it at all. Therefore, one cannot learn it in a molecular way, by learning >rst to carry out smaller units of activity and then to string those units together in a [teaching] process; for the ELT Journal Volume 58/2 April 2004 © Oxford University Press

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pieces tend to interact with one another and to derive their meanings and characters from the whole process in which they are embedded. (Schön 1987:158) Schön here is referring to architectural design, but I think the quotation is relevant to teaching, as well. It captures the holistic nature of the competence that enables teachers to act as professionals in the classroom. In this quotation Schön uses the word skill, and elsewhere talks about professional artistry. The teacher in the midst of practice is akin to an artist relying on intuition and sensitivity as much as on knowledge. The main message of the quotation for me is that, in the act of teaching, the building blocks of professional competence blend together seamlessly; knowledge, skills, and qualities as separate categories, are only abstractions. And this has serious implications for the ways in which such seamless and holistic competence can best be captured, understood, and developed. In addition, the concepts of knowing-in-action and re?ection-in-action (ibid.) can serve as useful signposts in the attempt to understand the way teachers know and act in the classroom. Knowing-in-action draws attention to the immediate link between knowing and doing. In the midst of teaching we need to make split-second decisions; there is little time to ponder and analyze. However, knowing and doing do not always blend into one. Re?ection-in-action captures the moments following and preceding a classroom decision made by a teacher. In a sense, re?ectionin-action also takes place in real classroom time; a teacher rarely has the luxury to sit down and think the next move through. None the less, it is qualitatively di=erent from the uninterrupted ?ow of knowing-in-action. I have come to think of re?ecting in the act of teaching as a movement of the mind. The word ‘re?ect’ might be somewhat misleading, as it refers to a process which often does not happen in the medium of words (ibid.: 28). Perhaps it is more accurate to say that you sense or notice something about what is really going on in your classroom, rather than think about it. In fact, the actual processes of re?ection involve intuition, and observation skills (Barrett 1983; Allison and Pissanos 1993). What is more, Schön says that in order for re?ection-in-action to be triggered, there needs to be an element of surprise, something unexpected which catches and moves our attention (Schön: 26–7). What is referred to in Neurolinguistic Programming as the three positions of the mind (Bee and Bee 1998: 38–9) has helped me to get closer to understanding the movement of attention which I believe is at the heart of re?ection-in-action. Position 1 is described as being focused on yourself, Position 2 as being focused on others, and Position 3 refers to having a helicopter view. In a classroom situation this might correspond to focusing on your next teaching point (Position 1), being sensitive to the way the learners are responding (Position 2), and having an overview, being an external observer of classroom events, as it were (Position 3). To sum up, I believe that in the act of teaching we draw on skills, knowledge, and intuition all at the same time. In other words, knowing130

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in-action is holistic. This holistic process is steered by re?ection-inaction, which is an intelligent and sensitive response to what is going on in the classroom. I hope that the examples and descriptions provided by seven US public school teachers will help bring to life and further re>ne the fairly abstract concepts of knowing and re?ecting in action. I now turn to introducing the teachers and the project through which I have come to know them.

The teachers and the teacher knowledge project (TKP )

The seven teachers whose ideas form the central part of this article live and work in Vermont, and all of them have been teaching for at least ten years. Lyle, David, and Ellen1 teach all subjects in di=erent elementary schools. Andy is a music teacher, and Susan works as a school librarian; both of them are also at elementary schools. Finally, Nancy and Jane teach English literature and social studies respectively at a high school. All seven teachers took a year-long re?ective professional development seminar o=ered by the Teacher Knowledge Project at SIT . As part of the Project, all seven teachers had a series of three classes videotaped, and then engaged in a stimulated recall interview. These interviews were structured around the concepts of re?ective practice which were introduced and clari>ed during monthly seminar meetings. In practical terms, each teacher chose 3 from a list of 14–16 concepts and then stopped the tape to make comments whenever they wanted. For example, if one of the concepts selected was ‘student-centred learning’, the teacher would stop the tape every time they saw an instance of learning which was—or was not— student-centred, and say what they saw happening, and why.

Building up the picture

When going over the interview transcripts, I looked for ways in which the seven teachers described the immediacy of teaching. As they had all participated in a re?ective professional development seminar they were familiar with the concept of re?ection-in-action, though they were calling it di=erent names, e.g. ‘step back’, ‘gain perspective’, ‘re?ect on student learning’. I chose quotations which I felt drew attention to the di=erent aspects of re?ection-in-action, and then organized them around three themes: 1. What is re?ection-in-action? 2. What can trigger it? 3. How does it a=ect practice? In addition, I gave each quotation a label which I felt highlighted what for me was its main message. Each of the three sets of quotations is followed by my interpretative commentary, relating what the teachers are saying to the concepts introduced at the beginning of this article. However, I o=er my interpretations as one among many possible ways of making sense of what the teachers are saying. Tapping into the illuminative potential of qualitative research (Reason and Rowan 1981), I intend to provide the reader with a clear and rich picture of the phenomenon under study so that they can examine and interpret it themselves (Chenail 1995). As I will show in the last section of this article, asking beginner teachers to come up with their own interpretations of re?ective accounts, such as the

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ones given below, can start a process of learning about classroom decision-making.

What is re?ection-inaction?

The super ego watching (Quotation 1) That’s a lot of re?ection in action, what’s happening is this other personality, this super ego is sort of watching the whole thing some distance so you don’t get wrapped up in control, . . . and I think this has also got some compassion in it. (Andy) A pause in the act of teaching (Quotation 2) Sometimes in the act of teaching, there is a moment of ‘Hmmm. What is the best way of dealing with this right now?’ And other times I just >le it away and think about it later. (Nancy) Feeling overwhelmed and getting perspective (Quotation 3) Sometimes this class is so overwhelming that I can’t get any perspective on it because there are so many kids and they are so needy. [. . .] It’s very hard for me sometimes not to be overwhelmed by this class and get perspective on it and keep my sense of humour about it. (Jane) Stepping back (Quotation 4) That’s stepping back. Trying to look at what was going on in front of me, trying to re?ect in action to make a thoughtful decision that would allow them to, that would foster as much success as I could out of what was going on. . . . [. . . .] I wasn’t sure about this girl. She um, often is looking elsewhere, and doing other things, but she gets things. And this guy who is back there is very, very bright and often physically elsewhere also, but doesn’t miss a trick. So that’s another interesting piece of re?ection in action. What you see is not necessarily what’s happening. [. . .] This is just a very complex group. (Susan) To me the above quotations seem to bear out that re?ecting in the midst of action is a movement of the mind that may or may not be accompanied by verbal thought. ‘A super ego watching’ (Quotation 1) seems to echo having a ‘helicopter view’ of classroom events (Bee and Bee 1998: 38–9). Andy’s comment that it ‘also has some compassion in it’ seems to illustrate that we draw on sensitivity as much as on knowledge in the act of teaching—this goes back to Schön’s concept of professional artistry. In Quotation 2 Nancy likens re?ection-in-action to a pause—another way of saying that there are moments when knowing and doing in the classroom are not seamlessly united. In addition, ‘getting perspective’ (Quotation 3) and ‘stepping back’ (Quotation 4) also seem to describe a change in perception, rather than a process of rational thinking. In the last quotation Susan o=ers a possible purpose for what she calls ‘stepping back’. In her own words the aim is to help the teacher ‘make a thoughtful decision’, one that would ‘foster as much success’ as possible ‘out of what is going on’. This backs up the view set out in the introduction that re?ection-in-action is a tool for responding to what is going on in the classroom in an intelligent and sensitive way. The second

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part of the quotation illustrates the complex nature of what Schön refers to as professional artistry. As Susan says, ‘what you see is not necessarily what’s happening’. Drawing on intuition and observation skills, teachers need to learn about each student as an individual in order to understand what their behaviour really means.

What triggers re?ection-in-action?

Hitting against di;cult work (Quotation 1) You learn a lot about a kid by paying attention to what is hard for them. These are things that I have been noticing over the years. So when a kid gets confused I ask myself ‘What kind of work did he hit against that got him confused?’ For some kids it can be something like cleaning the desk. Not just not wanting to do it, but not knowing how to do it. And then the same kid might >nd it hard to do a math problem which involves sorting of a more abstract level. And then you notice that as a teacher. So you’re really forming knowledge of the students through the feedback you’re getting. . . . Getting to know them as individuals. (Ellen) Responding to a novel situation (Quotation 2) Now this is an example of re?ection because I’ve not seen this [painting]. This is the >rst time that I’ve seen these images. So I’m, in a sense, I’m looking at it and thinking about the kinds of things I’d like to talk about. What exactly I’m going to say and how we’re going to proceed, at least in the beginning, this is sort of what I’m trying to >gure out now. (David) Teaching a new grade level (Quotation 3) This is the >rst year that I’ve taught this grade level after 20 years of teaching another level. So I feel like I’m constantly re?ecting on what they are capable of doing and if I’m expecting enough or too much from them. (Lyle) How am I going to correct him and help everyone else? (Quotation 4) So that’s an example of me really having to re?ect on, you know, say, ‘Hold it. What was the mistake that he made? What is he thinking? How am I going to correct him and help everyone else?’ Yet at the same time, going back and establishing rapport, making sure that he’s not feeling absolutely stupid, cause you know, it’s a risk whenever you say anything out loud in a group of people. (Lyle) The >rst three quotations describe two kinds of triggers for re?ecting in the midst of teaching; noticing that students have ‘hit against di;cult work’ (Quotations 1) and being confronted by a novel situation (Quotations 2 and 3). Both triggers seem to support Schön’s idea that re?ection-in-action is set into motion by some new, unexpected element. In the case of the >rst quote the new element originates in the way the students respond, whereas in the last two cases it originates in the way the teacher sees the class, or in David’s case, the picture that the class discussion seems to revolve around. Ellen comments that the knowledge derived from noticing separate instances of what children >nd di;cult can accumulate over time, and Teachers’ ways of knowing

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this way, on-the-spot re?ection can help in ‘getting to know [children] as individuals’ (Quotation 1). This seems to echo the point raised by Nancy in the previous set of quotations that on-the-spot re?ection can at times lead on to further re?ection—‘sometimes I just >le it away and think about it later’. Perhaps such re?ective moments in and out of the classroom in?uence the teacher’s overall approach and teaching strategies, as well. Finally, Quotation 5 highlights the complexity of knowing and re?ecting in action. As Lyle points out, she needs to >gure out why a student made a particular mistake so that she can ‘correct him and help everyone else’ at the same time. In addition, she needs to >nd a way of correcting him which will not make him feel ‘absolutely stupid’ and which can help to maintain rapport between teacher and students. This quotation takes me back to Schön’s idea of professionals requiring ‘holistic skills’; in this case, error analysis, error correction, establishing rapport, and paying attention to the whole group are happening all at the same time.

How does observation and re?ection a=ect practice?

Acting on the ‘feelings I pick up’ (Quotation 1) I’m actively changing what I’m doing because of information that I’m getting either from what they’re telling me, from what I ask them or from what I see or sense. It’s not always some concrete thing. It can be a feeling that I pick up. Actually, a lot of my teaching is based on feelings that I have. And then I act based on that. (Nancy) Feedback can really feed back. (Quotation 2) Feedback can also mean observing in a way that I learn about teaching. It is paying attention very closely to what it is that the students are doing, not just what I am doing. So that this way feedback can really feed back, inform my teaching. (Ellen) Describing what comes out of the mood (Quotation 3) I don’t detail my lesson plans like, then sing one verse and chorus one time, now stand. These decisions just happen right there and then, like asking them to stand up in order to change the dynamic so that we don’t end a song on a sort of low key. It’s reading the mood and deciding what comes right out of it, what needs to happen. (Andy) Losing focus because of frustration (Quotation 4) Just before I said, ‘OK, you can drop this task’, I could tell that they were becoming frustrated and that they were losing their focus because of the frustration. [. . .] I think it’s important for kids to struggle with stu=, in order to get to know it, but at some point, if the challenge is too high, I like to give them the option of either struggling on, or dropping it. (David) The last set of quotations relates to the outcomes of re?ection-in-action. For example, Nancy sees a direct link between what she picks up from the students and the on-the-spot decisions she makes (Quotation 1). Going back to Schön’s de>nition, this kind of responsive teaching may or may not involve re?ection-in-action. ‘Reading the mood and deciding what comes right out of it’ (Quotation 3) might at times be a seamless

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process of knowing-in-action. However, as the previous sets of quotations seem to suggest, re?ection-in-action might play an important part in building an experienced teacher’s knowledge base. In addition, the quotations bear out that the way teachers know and re?ect in action is very closely related to their values and beliefs (Richards 1998; Borg 1999). For example, Andy’s belief about the need for spontaneity in?uences the way he plans his lessons, as well as the way he makes decisions in the classroom (Quotation 3). Also, David’s belief that struggle is an integral part of learning seems to play a key role in the decisions he makes in the classroom. Finding the optimal amount of challenge seems to be one of the main principles informing his teaching. During an interview, he described this as ‘pushing [learners] as far as you can without breaking them’. For Nancy, sensitivity and being open to the feelings of the learners is a central part of teaching; therefore it in?uences the way she knows and acts in the classroom.

Implications for teacher education

I have used the descriptions of the immediacy of teaching given in this article on a number of teacher training seminars. We usually listen to the quotations one by one, with participants taking turns reading them out. This is followed by a re?ective writing or a group discussion stage when participants are asked to respond to the quotations. The three extracts which follow are taken from such written re?ections. I include them here to illustrate the way experienced teachers’ descriptive accounts can lead to further re?ection on the part of professionals within a training context. The extracts were written by course participants on SIT ’s one-year Master’s program for language teachers in the academic year 2001–2. All three participants are teachers of English. I have been teaching for a few years, and I can sense that my interest in developing as a teacher is shifting in the direction of noticing ‘feelings’ that I pick up on in the class. Reading Nancy’s statement, I marvelled at the fact that I went through an entire teaching credential program without ever being encouraged to pay attention to the ‘feelings I pick up’ in the classroom. [. . .] I now know that being able to observe the spoken and unspoken dynamic in the classroom, and to react to that feedback, is really at the heart of teaching. (Sarah) Often feelings in the classroom are more powerful than thinking. At >rst, I feel something, then I think and analyse it. And sometimes I just feel, I cannot explain why I have that feeling. These feelings are nearly always correct and reliable. (Hyosun) For beginner teachers like myself everything can trigger re?ectionin-action, because everything is new. For example, noticing the extent to which a student is being challenged or how students are responding is important. But it’s also important to develop a kind of routine, so that a lot of this noticing becomes automatic and the lesson can go on smoothly. (Katy) I included the above three responses to illustrate the way that multiple descriptions on—in this case, teacher decision-making—can trigger re?ection in fellow professionals. Responding to experienced teachers’ Teachers’ ways of knowing

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descriptions can help someone to formulate their own beliefs about teaching, as Sarah’s example shows: ‘I now know that being able to observe the spoken and unspoken dynamic in the classroom, and to react to that feedback, is really at the heart of teaching’. In addition, by working through such responses, aspects of the classroom decision-making process can begin to take shape, as Hyosun’s insightful comments about the importance of feelings illustrate. Finally, Katy’s remarks show that she is aware of the need to be alert to classroom processes, while at the same time recognizing the need to develop a routine which ensures the smooth running of the class. What she formulates here, I think, is one of the central dilemmas facing beginner teachers.

Conclusion

I hope that this article triggered a process of re?ection in the reader, as well. My intention was to paint a picture which draws attention to the process of classroom decision-making. My aim was to go beyond mere illustration to capture the >ne nuances of the way teachers know and make decisions in the classroom. Each teacher’s description is like a snapshot, and the multiple snapshots create a rich and detailed picture. However, as with a work of art, it is up to the reader to take a close look and interpret what they see. Final version received May 2003

Notes 1 All the names used here are real, and permission has been given to use them in this article. References Allison, P. C. and B. W. Pissanos. 1993. ‘The teacher as observer’. Action in Teacher Education XV/4: 47–54. Barrett, K. R. 1983. ‘A hypothetical model of observing as a teaching skill’. Journal of Teaching in Physical Education 3/1: 22–31. Bee, F. and R. Bee. 1998. Facilitation Skills. Wimbledon: Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. Borg, S. 1999. ‘Teachers’ theories in grammar teaching’. ELT Journal 53/3: 157–67. Chenail, R. J. 1995. ‘Presenting qualitative data’. The Qualitative Report 2/3. (On-line Journal) Reason, P. and J. Rowan (eds.). 1981. Human Inquiry: A Sourcebook of New Paradigm Research. Chichester: Wiley.

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Richards, J. C. 1998. ‘Teacher beliefs and decision making’ in Beyond Training. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Schön, D. A. 1987. Educating the Re?ective Practitioner. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Szesztay, M. 2001. ‘Professional development through research: a case study’. Unpublished Ph.D. thesis, University of Exeter. The author Margit Szesztay is a trainer at the Centre for English Teacher Training, Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest. Her main professional commitments include supporting beginner teachers after graduation, building meaningful professional networks, learning to facilitate group discussion, and >nding out more about energy management for teachers. Email: [email protected]