| 1. |
- Edling, Silvia, 1974-, et al.
(författare)
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Doing Good? : Interpreting teachers’ given and felt responsibilities for pupils’ well-being in an age of measurement
- 2013
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Ingår i: Teachers and Teaching. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1354-0602 .- 1470-1278. ; 19:4, s. 419-432
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this paper is to theoretically discuss a specific aspect of teachers’ responsibilities: their responsibility for pupils’ or children’s well-being. We ask two interrelated questions: firstly, how might (Swedish) teachers’ sense of responsibilities for their pupils’ well-being be understood in relation to ethical theory? Secondly, what does this insight bring to the discussion of teachers’ professional responsibility within the global discourse of educational policy that increasingly stresses accountability and efficiency in an “age of measurement?´ Education can be described as an intervention in a pupil’s life, motivated by the idea that it will somehow improve it. When one implements this intervention, from a legal/political perspective it boils down to a series of responsibilities assigned to teachers, as expressed in current policy documents. However, an exploration of empirical examples in a Swedish context of teachers’ sense of responsibility for their pupils’ or children’s well-being, expressed in everyday situations, indicates that the matter is complex. In order to find tools with which to better understand such expressions, we turn to the field of SNIP ethics. A thorough inquiry into the various reasoning regarding responsibility reveals that responsibility as socially defined and given is not sufficient to capture the intimacy and relational uncertainties of the teachers’ stories, which is why we turn to the writings of Emmanuel Lévinas and his ethics of responsibility. His ethical language helps to capture relational processes that cannot be predefined and that are based on an infinite sense of responsibility for the other person. We continue by discussing and problematising the increasing importance of measurability and accountability in the field of teachers’ professionalism. Here we illuminate the risks involved with the movement towards the fixed and calculable, since they overlook the intricate ways in which teachers’ given and felt responsibilities are woven together.
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| 2. |
- Fransson, Göran, 1968-, et al.
(författare)
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Dilemmatic Spaces in Educational Contexts : Towards a conceptual framework for dilemmas in teachers work
- 2013
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Ingår i: Teachers and Teaching. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1354-0602 .- 1470-1278. ; 19:1, s. 4-17
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In this article, the concept of introducing and analytically using the concept of dilemmatic space in an educational context offers a potential to elucidate and deepen the understanding of the complexity of teachers’ everyday practise in work. Traditional ways of looking upon dilemmas is that they are related to specific situations where people react to conflicting values, obligations or commitments, ending up in situations where there often is no right way to act. However, the idea of a dilemmatic space, introduced by Honig (1996), offers a more complex understanding of dilemmas and their positioning and relations. Instead of being considered as specific events or situations, dilemmas are regarded as ever-present in peoples’ living space, as in a dilemmatic space. As seen as a relational category wherein one object is related to another(s), the spatial dimensions of dilemmatic space highlight the dynamics of dilemmas and dilemmatic spaces. These dynamics are important to recognize, for instance in relations to changeable boundaries of the space or issues dealt with that conjure up the dilemmas both on an individual and social level. These changing conditions of values, decision, responsibility and authority change the rules for relations, negotiations, and positioning, and thus the boundaries for the dilemmatic space and the dilemmas. In this article, the theoretical base for the idea of dilemmatic space is elaborated and connected to conditions for teachers’ work. Some conclusions are that new concepts force us to challenge pre-conceptions and involve us in new kinds of sense making processes. As such, the idea of dilemmatic space offers a broad theoretical framework to conceptualise dilemmas as well as the complexity of the educational contexts.
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| 3. |
- Hammar Chiriac, Eva, 1961-, et al.
(författare)
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Teachers’ leadership and students’ experience of group work.
- 2012
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Ingår i: Teachers and Teaching. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1354-0602 .- 1470-1278. ; 18:3, s. 345-363
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Group work is used as a means of learning at all levels of most educational systems. However, teachers often use group work without considering its “pros and cons.” Such a mode of non-reflected application may sometimes end up in positive experiences and learning, but the likelihood is that the outcome will be the opposite. The aim of this qualitative study is to address students’ experiences of collaborative group work, that is, when working as a group. What features do students emphasise in their experiences and descriptions of constructive and destructive group work? A prime aim is to give the students a voice in the matter. Data was collected by means of six focus groups with students aged 13-16, and a qualitative content analysis was performed. The originality of this research is three-folded. First, it discloses what students consider as important requisites for a successful group work. Their inside knowledge about classroom activities end up in a list (a taxonomy) of crucial conditions for high-quality group work. Second, the conditions mentioned by the students have all been confirmed by recent scientific research. Thus, thirdly, the present study may provide teachers with evidence-based knowledge about successful group work.
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| 4. |
- Irisdotter Aldenmyr, Sara, 1976-
(författare)
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Handling challenge and becoming a teacher : An anlysis of teachers' narration about Life Competence Education
- 2013
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Ingår i: Teachers and Teaching. - : Informa UK Limited. - 1354-0602 .- 1470-1278. ; 19:3, s. 344-357
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This article takes an interest in how teachers handle new challenges. The challenge in focus is a nonmandatory yet widespread subject in Swedish education called Livskunskap, Life Competence Education (LCE). The purposes of the present study are to identify and discuss notions of being a teacher actualized in teachers' narratives about the challenge of LCE, and to discuss how narration may help teachers to handle and reflect upon professional challenges. Seven teachers were interviewed about their experiences from teaching LCE. The analysis showed how acts of defending, exploring, presenting, or resisting LCE were performed in the teachers' narratives. LCE seems to actualize a narrative tension between two dominant aspects of teacher identity. On the one hand, there is an image of a socially committed teacher who cares about the emotional well-being of and relations to his/her students. On the other hand, there is an image of a knowledge-oriented teacher who connects with the students mainly by focusing on subject matters. Drawing upon the theoretical work, mainly by Michalinos Zembylas, I found that the teachers had opportunities to use narration as an arena for personal agency, but these opportunities were not necessarily taken in the present narratives.
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| 5. |
- Nilsson, Pernilla, 1969-
(författare)
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What do we know and where do we go? : Formative assessment in developing student teachers’ professional learning of teaching science
- 2013
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Ingår i: Teachers and Teaching. - Abingdon : Routledge. - 1354-0602 .- 1470-1278. ; 19:2, s. 188-201
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In the context of teacher education, it could well be suggested that assessment activities that build on formative interactions between student teachers and teacher educators might offer new windows into better understanding teaching and learning. This paper presents findings from a study into a primary science teacher education initiative that seeks to build the foundations on which 24 primary science student teachers, through the use of formative assessment of their science teaching and learning, can begin developing their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). In the project, formative assessment consists of activities used by teacher educators to stimulate interactions, self-and peer-assessment in order to provide insights into how student teachers develop their PCK during a semester. Content Representations (CoRes), were used as a tool to unpack the student teachers approach to teaching a science topic and the reasons for that approach. The results indicate that the use of CoRes, together with subsequent self-assessment and formative interactions with teacher educators and peers, do have the potential for PCK development for student teachers. The results further highlight the need for developing reliable and valid tools for capturing and assessing student teachers PCK in pre-service teacher education. © 2013 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
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