‘Thinking in a different corner of the same box’: can generalists

make an effective transition to the specialist role?

Elaine PattisonNewman University College

TEAN Conference 2012

Aims• To consider how teachers can be supported

in adapting to new specialisms through the development of self-efficacy

• To examine the theoretical applications, through a case study of six teachers delivering primary foreign languages (PML)

• To discuss the wider implications for teacher education and professional development

Understanding self-efficacy“Perceived self-efficacy refers to beliefs in one’s capabilities to organise and execute the courses of action required to produce given attainments” (Bandura, 1997, p.3). Four elements: 1. enactive mastery experiences 2. vicarious experiences3. verbal persuasion 4. physiological and affective states

Premise• Effectiveness in teacher education is of interest to all, but can

be a nebulous concept• Self- efficacy enables us to use a more targeted instrument in

specific areas BUT there are wider questions• What are primary teachers preparing children for when

considering more specialist areas? • Do we need specialists to be effective? And for whom? • Does this lower educational standards?

Literature review

• Self- efficacy (Bandura,1997)• Teacher self-efficacy scale[TSES] –research developed in

North America (Tschannen- Moran, Woolfolk -Hoy & Hoy,1998 )

• Mastery experiences in relation to professional development (Tscahnnen-Moran and McMaster, 2009)

• Studies of primary /middle school children especially in relation to maths, science(Palmer,2006)

• Very little research related to modern languages teachers but some in US relating to University language assistants (Mills and Allen, 2007)

Methodology

• Interpretivist paradigm• Phenomenological approach• Case study- small purposive sample of West

Midland schools• Qualitative data collection through semi-

structured interviews

1 St IgnatiusSmall, late 20th c suburban Catholic Primary

White British backgroundOutstanding Ofsted report: high staff morale

and strong leadershipRecent implementation of PML: Staff supported

by visiting PML specialist

2 Plains SchoolLarger than average late 20th c primary

White British background, very high proportion of free school meals and above average

proportion of learning difficulties Satisfactory Ofsted report in improving school:

teachers involve pupils in their own learning Relatively recent implementation of PML: Staff supported by same visiting PML specialist as

school one

4 St DionysiusSmall, late 20th c leafy suburban Catholic

PrimaryWhite British background

Good Ofsted report with strong improvement Longstanding language provision through

permanent staff specialist

3 Brae SchoolLarger than average Victorian inner city

primaryWide range of ethnic minority backgrounds,

proportion of school meals is high. Above average proportion of EAL speakers .

Satisfactory Ofsted report with examples of outstanding teaching within school

Language teaching embedded in school culture

Case Study Schools

Findings :Exemplification of sources of self-efficacy

mastery experiences

Using known strategies; self-evaluation; perseverance; strength of subject knowledge; perceived as positive experiences

vicarious experiences

Observing specialists and other teachers; team teaching; virtual observations

verbal persuasion

Comments from peers; feedback from children; feedback from senior management ( both positive and negative)

physiological and affective states

Enthusiasm, empathy, apprehension, frustration, stress

Evidence for Verbal Persuasion as promoter of self-efficacy

• Vincent: The whole aspect of being judged and being scrutinised it’s just, I think I just find it... I know it’s important and I know it’s valuable, but it’s just nerve-wracking

• Sophie recognised a teacher’s vulnerability: “it’s a hard thing to be judged on your teaching ... being a teacher is a big part of you isn’t it really?”

• Ursula on feedback: “I’m not saying it’s perfect, nobody ever is, but it makes you feel good about yourself, which makes your teaching better, which makes the learning better, And then again, it’s a circle isn’t it?”

Stories from effective teachers : Ursula• Mature established teacher;

evidenced enactive mastery, alluding to past success(Swanson and Huff, 2010; Tschannen-Moran and McMaster, 2009)

• Not in decline as postulated by Klassen and Chiu

• Motivated by PML teaching (Greller, 2006, cited in Klassen and Chiu, 2010, p. 749

• Blending of self-concept and self efficacy (Marsh et al,2008) reinforced by normative referencing

I do think that if you’re going to teach it well- I mean really teach it well, I think you do need background knowledge. I know that there are a lot of teachers who will have a go, fine, but if you really want to explain things to children, you do need that knowledge

Stories from effective teachers : Yvonne• Cognitive mastery (Palmer, 2006) • Evidence of “a combination of security

and insecurity in their abilities” (Mills and Allen,2007, p.221) , correlates with findings on lower self efficacy amongst novices (Tschannen-Moran and Woolfolk-Hoy, 2007)

• Strong coping strategies correlating strongly with findings for instructional self efficacy and student engagement (Atay, 2007).

• General teaching strategies overcome gaps in knowledge and satisfaction derived from this approach (Bandura, 2008).

One thing, I’m not so much lacking in confidence, teaching the French, because I feel I can teach, if you can teach you can teach anything

Potentially Effective teachers: Vincent

• Coping in school: stress• Trying to prioritise brought with

it a sense of obligation• Professional self-efficacy

discrepancy (Friedman, 2000) i.e. gap between his subject pedagogy strengths and his ability to do justice to PML teaching

• Demands of career progression, standing of PML

• Influence of self doubt ( Settlage et al, 2009)

when I do feel more confident with other things, I’ll be able to focus more on my language teaching and be able to make progress that way...

Do the practicalities of running Planning Preparation and Assessment time actually reduce teacher choice in planning own workload?

Potentially Effective teachers: Sophie• Highly qualified specialist, with

cognitive mastery, but struggles to adapt

• Isolated; regrets not being able to observe skilled peers, (Bruce et al, 2010; Tschannen-Moran and McMaster, 2009; Atay, 2007; Mills and Allen, 2007; Chacon, 2005).

• Competence undermined• Link between general teaching

stress and lower job satisfaction (Klassen and Chiu, 2010

• Negative influences of social affect override the positive aspects of mastery experiences?

They come [back] and they tell me what they’re learning; they speak to me in French and that’s great. And I know that I’ve done some good work and I did make languages fun for others and they’ve carried on. Some of them are doing 2 languages, so I know that I did have an impact. ..

Strong subject knowledge

Weak subject knowledge

Weak mastery experiences

Strong mastery experiences

*Sophie( Q: Degree) opting out-under stress

*Ursula (Q: O level) Experienced professional

* Zack ( Q: GCSE) opting for status quo

*Yvonne (Q: None in language taught) Compensator

*Will ( Q:None) Compensator

Correlation between subject knowledge and mastery experiences?

* Vincent (Q: A level) Prioritising- under stress

Q=qualification

The status of primary languages in case study schools

• At Brae, it was “an important part of the curriculum” (Ursula)

• French was often “the first to get cut” (Zack) • I think it’s overlooked in one sense, as sort of, like an add-

on”. (Yvonne)• “The priority isn’t there for French [...] I wouldn’t imagine

going to a primary school where French is as important as literacy to other aspects of the curriculum”. (Vincent)

• Sophie felt “quite despondent” and argued that “it kind of devalues you” as a PML teacher when lessons cancelled at short notice

How effective were teachers in adapting to teaching PML?

Evidence:• Seen as positive, a fresh challenge( Cable et al,2010 )• the challenge was implementing PML whilst responding

to the prevailing school culture (Kelchtermans, 2009)• Drops in self-efficacy were in line with those for

teachers learning new skills (Tschannen-Moran and McMaster, 2009)

BUT some chose• Withdrawal from process

Is the current position tenable?

Non-specialist teachers

• Adaptability, flexibility perseverance and resilience

• Viable as any other subject in the primary curriculum, especially given a supportive school culture

• Is quality of the language delivered and the progression made by the children appropriate in the long term?

Specialists

• Need recognition and acknowledgement

• Opportunities to grow

Symbiotic relationship required for effective delivery of PML in today’s curriculum

Government’s

role?

Schools’ role?

references• Atay, D. (2007) ‘Beginning teacher efficacy and the practicum

in an EFL context’, Teacher Development, 11(2), pp.203-19. • Bandura, A. (1997) Self efficacy: the exercise of control. New

York: W.H. Freeman & Co. • Bandura, A. (2008) 'Reconstrual of "free-will" from the Agentic

Perspective of Social Cognitive Theory', in Baer, J., Kaufman, J. C. & Baumeister, R. F. (eds.) Are we free? Psychology and Free Will. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.86-127. Available at: http://www.des.emory.edu/mfp/Bandura2008AgencyFreeWill.pdf (Accessed: 15 May 2012)

• Bruce, C. D., & Ross, J. A. (2008) A model for increasing reform implementation and teacher efficacy: Teacher peer coaching in grades 3 and 6 mathematics. Canadian Journal of Education, 31(2), 346-370

references• Cable, C., Driscoll, P., Mitchell, R., Sing, S., Cremin, T., Earl, J., Eyres,

I.,Holmes, B., Martin, C.with Heins, B. (2010), Languages Learning at Key Stage 2: A Longitudinal Study Final Report, Research Report DCSF-RR198 The Open University

• Chacon, C. T. (2005) 'Teachers' Perceived Efficacy among English as a Foreign Language Teachers in Middle Schools in Venezuela', Teaching and Teacher Education: An International Journal of Research and Studies, 21 (3), pp.257-272.

• Friedman, Issac A. (2000) 'Burnout in Teachers: Shattered Dreams of Impeccable Professional Performance', Journal of clinical psychology, 56 (5), pp.595-606

• Kelchtermans,G.( 2009) ‘Who I am in how I teach is the message: self-understanding, vulnerability and reflection’, Teachers' and Teaching: theory and practice, 15, pp.257-72

references• Klassen, R.M. & Chiu, M.M. (2010) 'Effects on teachers' self-efficacy

and job satisfaction: Teacher gender, years of experience, and job stress', Journal of educational psychology, 102 (3), pp.741-756.

• Marsh, H., Trautwein,U., Luedtke,O., Koeller,O. (2008) Social Comparison and Big-Fish–Little-Pond Effects on Self-Concept and Other Self-Belief Constructs: Role of Generalized and Specific Others , Journal of Educational Psychology, 100(3), pp.510-524

• Mills, N. A. & Allen, H. (2007) ‘Teacher Self-Efficacy of Graduate Teaching Assistants of French’, in Siskin, Jay (ed.) From Thought to Action: exploring beliefs and outcomes’ in the Foreign Language Program Boston: Heinle & Heinle. pp. 213-234. Available at: http://works.bepress.com/nicole_mills/9 (Accessed: 14 May 2012)

• Palmer, D. (2006) ‘Sources of Self-efficacy in a Science Methods Course for Primary Teacher Education Students’, Research in Science Education, 36, pp.337-353

references

• Settllage J., Southerland S.A., Smith L.K., Ceglie R. ( 2009) Constructing a doubt-free teaching self: Self-efficacy, teacher identity, and science instruction within diverse settings, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 46(1), pp. 102-125

• Swanson, P. & Huff, R. (2010) ‘The Relationship of Georgia's Rural Foreign Language Teachers' Sense of Efficacy to Teacher Attrition’, Rural Educator, 31(3), pp.16-29.

• Tschannen-Moran, M. & McMaster, P. (2009) 'Sources of self-efficacy: Four professional development formats and their relationship to self-efficacy and implementation of a new teaching strategy', The Elementary School Journal, 110 (2), pp.228-245.

• Tschannen-Moran, M., Woolfolk Hoy, A. & Hoy, W. K. (1998) 'Teacher efficacy: Its meaning and measure', Review of Educational Research, 68 (2), pp.202-248.