Como Aprende Un Experto de Un Novato
Transcript of Como Aprende Un Experto de Un Novato
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Teaching and Teacher Education 24 (2008) 204–215
Novices and veterans journeying into real-world teaching: How
a veteran learns from novices
Shosh Leshema,b,Ã
aOranim Academic College of Education, Tivon 36006, Israel bFaculty of Education, The University of Haifa, Haifa 31905, Israel
Received 29 December 2005; received in revised form 30 June 2006; accepted 27 July 2006
Abstract
This paper illustrates the experiences of novice teachers through self-reflection by a teacher trainer. It shows how novice
teachers recognize deficiencies in their professional capacity, the coping strategies they adopt and implications for teacher
training. As teacher trainers we should know why novice teachers say ‘I wish they had taught me abouty’ or ‘how lucky I
am to have been taught this.’ The paper accounts for the initial experiences of novice teachers in their first school and
clarifies how they address their own self-improvement. It shows how novice teachers engage in meaning making as they
connect theory and practice in the classroom. It also illustrates how within one component of a teacher training
programme a veteran teacher-trainer learnt from novices whose experiences enabled practical theories to be recognised.
The evidence highlights potential areas of criticality in teacher education programmes in the real-world of teaching.
r 2006 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Teacher training; Novice teachers; Teacher-trainer reflections
1. Prelude
What am I using that I have been taught?
How useful is it?
What else do I need?
What was lacking in my training?
These questions are central to novice teachers’
experiences as they move from support by teacher
trainers to their isolation in classrooms where they
teach English as a foreign language. As teacher
trainers, we need to know why they may think ‘I
wish they had taught me about ...’ or ‘y how lucky I
am to have been previously exposed to this.’
This paper illustrates how novice teachers recog-
nize deficiencies in their professional capacity in
three domains:
how they learn what they need as they enter the
real world of teaching;
how they interpret what they encounter in the
field;
what meanings they make from what they see
and experience.
From these three issues implications are drawn
for teacher trainers. Their significance is then
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explored, as they illustrate my learning through self-
reviewing one aspect of my professional role. Thus,
this paper has two themes. Firstly, it provides an
account of the initial experiences of novice teachers
in their first school. Secondly, undertaking that
research was a lens upon my own perceptionsregarding those initial experiences and it renewed
my contact, as a teacher trainer, with this important
stage of entering the educational profession.
2. Motives for this study
This investigation emerged from reflecting on my
own professional practice as a veteran teacher
trainer. I asked myself: how much do I really know
about my student teachers’ needs, are their real
needs being catered for in the training courses, or,are we (teacher trainers) maintaining what Eraut
(1994) calls a ‘routinized behaviour’ which might
not always be relevant to their school reality? I also
pondered on our effectiveness in helping them make
sense of the complexities of classroom life. Eraut
suggests that for experts to maintain their expertise
they should engage in reflection and self-evaluation,
and to learn from colleagues. This observation
captured exactly my thoughts and the reality in
which I found myself. It was apparent then that ‘My
Colleagues’ were in fact my own students.The relationship between teacher and students is
conventionally seen as one in which learning occurs
in and by the students. However, by emphasizing
the primary direction of learning in this way may
overlook the potential for learning by teachers from
their students. Senese (2005) emphasizes the itera-
tive pattern of learning and teaching for every
participant in a class. His assertion is based on
Wheatley (1992) who maintains that roles and
people are not fixed entities. They are relationships
that involve one another. Further thinking about
Eraut’s suggestion plus the assertions from Senese
and Wheatley made me realize that over the years I
had indeed learnt from my students. But I then
concluded that this learning manifested itself in the
extensive tacit knowledge that I had accumulated
about how students develop. This realization
prompted me to give particular attention to one of
my courses. Its major assignment was designed to
help students realize that their own knowledge-
building evolved from everyday-simple-classroom-
and-school-events. As they undertook this task,
inevitably they would discover how their pro-
gramme had prepared them for initial entry to their
first school.
3. My students
The students follow a 4-year national teachertraining programme in education. During years 1–3,
they attend lectures in the various fields of educa-
tion and also undertake practice teaching in schools.
In year 4, they are allocated to a school where they
become part-time salaried teachers. They also take
additional courses at the college to complete their
studies. Most of my students were in their early 20s
during their final year.
I became aware of a phenomenon that appeared
regularly in my Teacher as Researcher courses
which had a defined pre-planned syllabus. At times
I found myself yielding the control over the lessonplan to my students. I realized that considerable
lesson time was being devoted to a spontaneous flow
of stories that emerged from my students’ weekly
experiences. These experiences, in practice teaching,
had exposed them to the real world of teaching.
In this course, I wanted them to be aware of the
micro-events both in the classroom and in the
school itself. Furthermore, these experiences would
expose them to ‘making-meaning’ from these events
in a sensitive way. The effect of this was that the
students mirrored their feelings about, and experi-ences in, their respective schools. As a result, I
started to ask myself whether I was providing what
they wanted. This pattern appeared every year in
the same course even when I presented it to different
students, and reinforced my belief that beginning-
teachers needed some space for their voices (Carter,
1993; Golombek, 1998; Richards, 1996) and my
immediate support.
Thus, two assumptions prompted this study:
Firstly, it had been a long time since I myself was
a ‘novice teacher’ and my mental pictures of the
experience might have lost their ‘vitality’; Secondly,
every beginner’s experience is unique as each school
offers its own individual ethos (Goodman, 1987;
Zeichner & Gore, 1990). As my students came from
different cultural backgrounds and were allocated
to different schools, their experiences could be seen
as an interaction between the teacher’s own psyche
and the school (Fullan, 1982). This made me realize
that providing generic prescriptions of do’s and
don’ts would not accommodate individual teachers’
specific needs. A micro-approach to school events
was needed for me to help my teachers in their first
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steps into real-world teaching. Finally, adapting
Robson’s (1993, p. Xii) acknowledgement I too
appreciate that the ‘real-world’ is something of a
questionable concept. It is a metaphor used to
express my intentions. As the article suggests, it is
more of a state of mind than a real ‘real-world.’These notions guide my belief that it is imperative
to get as close as possible to my teachers’ realities
and learn how they use their repertoire of knowl-
edge to interpret their experiences: What is it that
they ‘see,’ how do they ‘ perceive’ it and, what
‘meaning’ do they ascribe to it?
4. Approaching the issue
Thirty accounts of critical incidents were written
by a selected sample of 5 novice teachers (3 Jews, 1
Arab and 1 Druze) during their first year of teaching. The incidents were recorded on a weekly
basis during their first term in school, as part of
their assignment in the Teacher as Researcher
course at the college. Narrative accounts were
supported by open interviews and weekly discus-
sions with the respondents.
The student teachers were introduced to the
components of critical incidents which were used
as an instructional tool (Tripp, 1993). This involved
practice writing while going through phases of peer
questioning to fill in gaps of information, followedby rewriting to provide a thicker description
(Geertz, 1973). Students then discussed possible
solutions in order to elucidate different definitions
of the situations (Eraut, 1994) and to examine all
possibilities before reaching a conclusion (Dewey,
1933). These four processes helped them to produce
rich linguistic accounts of classroom events, think
critically and reflectively upon their practices, whilst
surfacing beliefs and emotions about their immedi-
ate needs and professional expectations. This
approach is grounded in the assumption cited by
Hunter and Hatton (1998) that guided mentoring of
a writing process enhances reflection. Rodriquez
and Syostrom (1998, p. 209) support this view
claiming that ‘Writing is a critical level of learning
that provides a springboard from which students
can move from the specific to the general as well as
develop a habit of reflection.’ This finding is
supported by more recent research which shows
that writing can become ‘a catalyst to raise levels of
reflection where interpretations become more intro-
spective’ and less descriptive (Leshem & Trafford,
2006, p. 11).
After 2 months of practicing the writing of critical
incidents, students had to compile a portfolio of
incidents from their daily teaching. These were
analysed through repeated sorting and coding for
dominant themes. Special attention was given to the
type of incidents teachers chose as critical and to thelanguage they used to unravel beliefs, levels of
interpretation and insights.
5. Teachers’ experiences
Drawing on teachers’ critical incidents, I illustrate
the experiences and insights that indicate significant
turning points in the teachers’ journey. The analysis
of the data revealed three distinct phases in the
teachers’ journey into real-world teaching.
5.1. The transitional phase: looking forward
A transition from the known to the unknown, the
anticipated and the unanticipated, the familiar and
the unfamiliar, the change from observers to active
participants, are all descriptors of first steps into
teaching. What is it that constitutes this transitional
phase? I was interested to discover what my teachers
thought and felt at the threshold of real-world
teaching. What is it they expect? The school venue
was not new to them since they had played both
roles of audience and actor throughout theirpractice teaching.
A common feature in the teachers’ voices is that
they were all aware of the notion of transition from
one phase into another and they all expressed a
certain level of expectation. Lena is trying not to be
too idealistic. She has met ‘the youth of today’ ‘the
system’ and ‘the world. However, she still hopes
that when she moves to the other side of the fence
she will have the opportunity to make some change.
I have no delusion of saving the world, the
system or the youth of today. I do have theintentions to make a positive impact on some of
the lives that I come into contact with. I want to
make a difference in my own way.
Ana looks forward to ownership. She can hardly
wait to move from the phase of dependence to
autonomy.
When I have my own classroom, things will be
different. I can hardly wait.
Rana feels the same. She enters the field full of
energy and good intentions.
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I am keen on giving of myself. I am anxious to
start already and feel the ownership of my own
class.
During their practicum teachers feel constrained
by their cooperating teachers’ methodologies and
educational philosophies. Many expressed theirdismay at being told how to perform in their
classroom to fit into their cooperating teachers’
pedagogical practices. They claimed to have no
freedom to display their personal enthusiasm and
creativity.
Similarly, Sue has it all on the tip of her tongue:
ideas, tips, theories textbooks—all the scaffolding
that she needs to get through the threshold into the
real world of teaching. She is excited to put it into
practice—is it the harmony between theory and
practice that she expects?
I begin my teaching career in a flurry of
excitement and confusion. I have all these
wonderful theories, ideas, tips and experiences
from my practice teaching. I have done all the
reading from last year and still have my textbook
to refer toy’
The common feature in these teachers’ expecta-
tions is their avid desire to make a contribution in
their own way.
5.2. The socialization phase: encountering reality
I entered the classroom. There was perfect
silence. A bunch of sweet little faces looked up
at me with a puzzled look on their faces: Who is
she? What is she doing here? Where is Rachel? I
proceeded with my lesson plan. The children
cooperated and everything was so relaxed and
peaceful. How wonderful, I thought to myself. It
is exactly as I imagined it in my dreams.
Suddenly, just out of the blue, one of the children
started running around the class, as if in a race. I
couldn’t believe my eyes. I was paralyzed, I
became speechless. The other children seemed to
enjoy the show, as they giggled and made all sorts
of encouraging sounds. I was so miserable and
completely lost. I couldn’t remember any song or
activity that I had learned to use as a savior in
such unexpected situations. My mind went
completely blank. As I turned around, I saw
the principal at the door. He was quite annoyed
with me for not being able to control the class.
Once the bell rang, I was relieved and very
disappointed. It was after all my first day in a
new school and hey, what a start!
This is how Ana was welcomed into her real
world of teaching. On the surface Ana’s story is not
unique. It typifies the experiences of most novice
teachers’ first encounters with teaching. Someobservers would see this process as an emotional
roller-coaster during which the beginning teachers
learn about their emotional makeup (Ryan, 1970).
This process for novice teachers could be called
experimenting and testing while hesitating at class-
room doors ‘to prepare a face to meet the faces that
you meet.’ Corcoran (1981) describes it as ‘reality
shock’ which is characterized by a gap between the
protected status of the student and the independent
teacher. The consequence of this for the ex-student
teacher is that they now have to accept professionalresponsibility for their actions.
However, what makes Ana’s story unique is what
Lave and Wenger (1991) call ‘situated knowledge’,
how people respond to the specific context in which
they operate. They claim that people learn through
social practice, and that knowledge is constituted by
the whole person in action, acting with the settings
of that activity. In the same vein, Leinhardt (1988,
p. 147) argues that ‘we can learn much about the art
of teaching if we seriously consider the nature of the
environment in which teachers work and reason.’
These notions have guided my conception of the
novice teachers’ experiences. What each teacher
found in their world of teaching was therefore
unique to themselves but not to others. How they
make sense of events is context-specific and
influenced by their personal beliefs, values and life
histories.
5.3. The learning phase: gaining insights
This phase affords us six reflective insights on the
teachers’ entry into the real world of teaching.
5.3.1. Insight 1: mismatches and gaps
I am so thick!
Today I learnt one of the biggest lessons ever,
and it was from one of my pupils. Dana in my
6th grade class is a non-reader. She has learning
disabilities that are connected to her short-term
memory, which makes it very difficult for her to
remember the sounds and names of the letters.
When she copies from the board, by the time her
pen reaches the paper, she has already lost what
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she was trying to copy. Along with this, she has
had some social problems which haven’t made
her life among her peers easy. I have tried to give
her some extra help but it is like trying to fill up a
sieve with water. Admittedly, I have given up
trying and just let her go her merry way in mylessons. I was inevitably thinking about all my
pupils and what I still need to do with them until
the end of the year. However, I decided to give
Dana another try and see if I could get her to
read. Today, at the end of the lesson I called
Dana to me and discussed this with her. She
didn’t say a word but gave me a note that she had
written to me asking to please include her in my
lessons!!! I was totally blown away when I read
the note. I realized that I had not been helping
her by allowing her to go her own merry way; in
fact, I had actually given the impression that shewas not even worth my time or effort.
When will I be able to balance out my reactions?
Do I get the choice to decide who is worthy of the
extra push? All she asked for is for me to ask her
easy questions and to have her participate in the
lesson. I should have thought of that!
In another instance with another pupil the same
teacher reflected:
Two things hit me like a ton of rocks: the first
was that he had been trying for ME and not forhimself. The second was that, that was HIS
definition of trying. There was this huge chasm
between HIS reality and MY expectations.
These accounts illustrate a two-folded realization.
The teacher had to make a decision concerning
Dana’s learning difficulties. She was faced with a
dilemma; extra time devoted to Dana will be at the
expense of time for other pupils. She might even do
Dana a favour by leaving her alone. However,
Dana’s interpretation of the event was different.
The teacher is suddenly aware of the mismatch
between her intentions and Dana’s interpretation
and in the second instance between the pupil’s
reality and the teacher’s expectations. Kumarava-
divelu (1991, p. 106) argues that ‘the narrower the
gap between teacher intentions and learner inter-
pretations, the greater are the chances of achieving
desired learning outcomes.’ He also observes that
though mismatches may be inevitable they need not
be totally negative. They can be sources of knowl-
edge construction for both teachers and learners.
These behavioural gaps created learning opportu-
nities for the teacher. They illuminated her dual role
as teacher and learner, sensitized her to the complex
unpredictable nature of classroom events and to the
language lesson being ‘a very tricky balancing act
between the competing pedagogic and social pres-
sures of life’ (Allwright, 2005, p. 21).
5.3.2. Insight 2: quests for professional identity
Lakoff and Johnson (1980) suggest that meta-
phors are a powerful tool to describe our percep-
tions and understanding of experiences. Clandinin
(1986) offers a similar view using the notion of
image as a personal, meta-level, organizing concept
in personal practical knowledge, and a perspective
from which new experience is taken. In both, oral
and written discourse teachers tended to use visual
images to describe their feelings and experiences.The concept of role identity was very strongly
expressed and was mainly concerned with two
principal dimensions: role ambiguity and the multi-
plicity of roles that teaching entails (Handy, 1999,
pp. 63–67).
Hawkins (2005, p. 61) describes identity forma-
tion as an ‘on going negotiation between the
individual and the social context or environment,
with particular attention paid to operant cultural
and power relations’ She contends that ‘newcomers
to these communities (schools, classrooms) enter
into a complicated dance in which identities arenegotiated and constructed through social interac-
tions.’ Having to face different people and unique
situations, the teachers suddenly realize the dynamic
nature of their identity and the impact of these
encounters on their perceptions of self. They are
now officially defined as teachers and they are no
longer student teachers. Within this role re-defini-
tion their employers expect them to perform
professionally and competently, when actually they
feel quite insecure as ‘knowers.’ Handy (1999, p. 64)
maintains that ‘one of the crucial expectations thatshape the role definition is that of the individual
yif his or her conception of the role is unclear-
ythere will be a degree of role ambiguity’. He
argues that this feeling is not necessarily bad as the
ability to shape one’s own role is a freedom that
many people desire, but it may lead to role stress.
Let’s listen to some of their voices:
I am still trying to find who I am as a teacher. I
feel like an imposter. I am new and still unsure of
things, but I am teachingy and I don’t even
have my certificate. Am I faking?
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I am playing the role of the ‘knower’ when in fact
I am still a student. I feel quite uncomfortable
with the ambiguity of my role.
I am ‘the new teacher’ I wonder how long will I
be called like that.
I am first of all an educator and then and Englishteacher. I am responsible and obligated to guide,
nurture and educate the kids in my care. I
sometimes feel like a thermometer, feeling when
they need me and always being there.
I feel like God—creating a new something out of
nothing and being responsible for the conse-
quences.
I feel like a spy. I have to use all my senses to
crack the unresolved and on top of it to sense
what is happening around me! I thought that my
job was to teach, but I very quickly learned that I
had to become ‘one of the club’ and socialize,whether I wanted it or not.
I feel like I am in a maze, going on a journey and
not knowing where I will end up. I feel like a
giant question mark.
The teachers believed that clarifying the issue of
role and stress were due to suddenly realizing the
complex and multidimensional nature of teaching:
‘There is much more to being a teacher than just
teaching, it is educating, creating, manipulating,
socializing and navigating.’ These aspects have been
dealt with in their preparation courses, however,
only when they encountered them in the real world
of teaching, did they fully understand the meaning
of the enormity of the job and the pressure of
accountability. This was often expressed in such
questions as: Am I doing the right thing? Are they
learning?
5.3.3. Insight 3: power and status conflicts
The following examples depict the micro-politics
of the school environment. The insight that the
teachers have gained was that socialization is not aneasy process and that they sometimes have to
comply with the school ethos which is against their
own beliefs (Lacey, 1977). Their enthusiasm to
‘make a change’ has been challenged by maintaining
stability. During conversations in course sessions
some expressed their frustration and even anger at
having to conform to the established norms.
Ana said. I had no chance in implementing my
strategy of dealing with the trouble makes. I truly
believed in my way but I felt a sort of resistance
from both the homeroom teacher and the
principal. They were not very much in favour
of challenging the school norms.
(Homeroom teacher: a teacher responsible for the
teaching and social events of a particular class for a
whole year).
Others displayed a much more resilient attitudeand preferred to take an adaptive stance to avoid
confrontation. This is illustrated in a teachers’
advice to her colleague: ‘When you are new, you
have to take a deep breath and suppress your feelings,
even if it is against your principles.’ Similarly, Sue
and Lena describe their resilient stance when they
had to comply with implicit power struggles that
resulted in feelings of loss of face and insecurity.
Ana refers to her pupils:
The message that has been conveyed by the 6th
graders was: we are the veterans around here.
They knew their way around the school; I was
the one who needed their help. It really made me
feel quite insecure and they might have sensed it
While Sue complains about her superior:
The homeroom teacher argued with me in front
of the pupils. They immediately knew who the
authority was. She crushed my self-image right
there and then.
5.3.4. Insight 4: contradicting rationalities and delusions of myths
The realities described by the teachers destabi-
lized some of the set beliefs and values that framed
their expectations about school agendas. This
knowledge base is often derived from their past
experiences and influence the way they interpret
how things are and should be. They somehow felt
that they were at a loss in reconciling the two
conflicting ends.
Lena was ‘flabbergasted’ because she ‘ had
received two conflicting pieces of advice from thesame authority’. And Sue was ‘completely confused’
at the mixed messages she was given by the staff.
I am completely confused. I was told that the
45 min of a lesson are precious and should be
wisely exploited. Now I am reprimanded for
being strict and self-centered. ‘Let go’, said the
Homeroom teacher, ‘your lesson is not the most
important lesson, so what if the sports-teacher
took 30 min of your lesson.
The following day when I took an extended
break with one of my problematic pupils, I was
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reprimanded for being late to my class. I was
speechless. Am I naive?
In another incident that Ana had with the parents
of one of her pupils, she concludes:
Now I really know that we don’t know a damnthing!!! We are not equipped to deal with children
and the parents of today.
Ana is confronted with different norms of
behaviour that shake her moral and ethical beliefs
about what constitutes a ‘wisely exploited’ lesson
and a caring teacher. She interprets the educational
event in an assertion that:
The policy changes hourly and we are just trying
to keep our heads above water and keep our
names out of the newspaper.
Sue identifies the social schemes within the school
system:
I thought I had to concentrate on my teaching
and the pupils. I realized that there is more to it.
She articulates her own understanding of the
situation and asserts that:
You have to become one of the club and smile,
mingle, even if you don’t feel like it. This is the
name of the game—the hidden curriculum that
nobody teaches you but you have to discoveryourself, sometimes in the hard way, like me.
5.3.5. Insight 5: the rat-race syndrome
Teachers did not anticipate how long they had to
devote to administrative tasks, apart from also
coping with cumulative teaching responsibilities
plus emotional or physical consequences of ‘the
day’s teaching.’ This schedule was outside their
experience of practice teaching as observers, having
to teach only a few hours in each school.
I can’t keep up with this pace of running from
one lesson to the other. I don’t have a minute to
myself.
Every ‘homeroom teacher’ has different require-
ment. Each one of them wants me to follow her
way of doing things. I am going mad.
5.3.6. Insight 6: cultural differences
The cultural aspect of inducting novice teachers
into school was not given much attention in the
class sessions, despite the students’ cultural diver-
sity. This alerted my attention to the issue and
prompted further introspection. It was illuminating
to observe the non-verbal astonished gestures of my
two Arab teachers in one session when the Jewish
teacher shared a recent experience from school life.
They could sympathize with the pedagogical un-
certainties and dilemmas; however, they were quitesurprised to learn about the feelings of loneliness,
estrangement, and even the animosity that this
teacher experienced. Their social route into the real
world of teaching seemed to be less bumpy
according to their perceptions.
I am shocked, said F (Arab teacher). I just can’t
believe the stories you are telling. In my school, I
immediately felt at home. I was introduced to the
teachers on the first day, they all tried to help. It
seemed as if the teachers’ room is one big family.
I felt more or less the same, said the Druzeteacher, we always find somebody we know in the
school. They are either from the same village,
family related or know somebody from my
village.
6. Conceptualizing the mutual journey
Accompanying my teachers through their journey
of real-world teaching, I realized that my teachers
had led me through their trail of knowledge
construction. This fed into my own reshaping of existing knowledge and belief systems.
Jacoby and Gonzales (1991) assume that expert
knowledge is shifting and temporal. They claim that
‘Viewing expert–novice as a bipolar dichotomy
yfails to capture both the complexity of what it
means to ‘‘know things’’ and the dynamic fluidity of
expert–novice relations as they are constituted in
unfolding interaction.’ Extending this view, Rogoff
(1994) argues that when no one has all the
responsibility for knowing and expertise is not
static, opportunities for learning seem enhanced.
Cochran-Smith and Lytle (1999) support these
views by claiming that teacher research blurs the
separation ‘between teachers and researchers,
knowers and doers, and experts and novices’. I
now recognise those views.
My journey with my teachers reinforces these
notions. I sensed that we were a community of
practice (Lave & Wenger, 1991) where we learned
from each other. There was obvious interplay
between their reflections and interpretations and
my continual self-examination of my own practices
and conceptions of teaching. These iterations
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became critical features in my learning as they
provided both theoretical (assumptions about tea-
cher training) and practical (users’ evaluative
judgements) feedback. This can be illustrated in
three cameos.
When Ana asks ‘How do I build that bridgebetween what I know and what I am able to do in the
classroom? I was intrigued to know what is it that
she knows and what does she think she is able to do
in class; what is the gap between the two and how
was it created; and, what theoretical basis underlies
her final statement of the reflective account that:
‘teaching has a life of its own.
These were typical of the insights that my teachers
arrived at, and they became the raw material for me
to pursue through my own self exploration as I
pondered on this question: Am I providing my
student-teachers in my preparatory courses sufficienttools to help them in their self-study? We were all
journeying into our respective professional worlds
from different starting points. I was looking back
and surveying the repertoire of paths making-up my
professional journey whilst my teachers were taking
initial steps to create their repertoire of personal
experiential knowledge. On a practical level the
critical incidents, the discussions and the random
conversations provided me with vivid opportunities
to understand my teachers’ experiences and rekindle
my own memories of being a novice teacher.
7. My insights
Looking back at my teachers’ critical incidents, I
realized that some of their questions and assertions
represented introspective interpretations that re-
quired a critical analysis of the event.
Ana’s speculative question ‘How do I build a
bridge between what I know and what I am able to do
in class,’ challenged my own perspective on novice
teacher’s practical knowledge. For me this was
evidence of what Daudelin (1996, p. 39) describes as
‘a highly personal cognitive process which happens
in the mental self’. She argues that ‘when a person
engages in reflection, he or she takes an experience
from the outside world brings it inside the mind,
turns it over and makes connectionsy’ Ana not
only shows ‘signs of deliberation in setting the
problem’ (LaBoskey, 1994) but is also able to form
a hypothesis which is implicit in her questions: ‘If I
bridge the gap, I might be able to solve the problem.’
The same accounts for Sue’s question: ‘When will I
be able to balance out my reactions?’ Balancing her
reaction might help her cope with pupils like Dana.
Similarly, Lena explores her own feelings about
parent–teacher relationships by asking: ‘Why do I
see a parent– teacher conference as threatening?’ and
‘Why do I feel that I have to arrive with ammunition?’
Following these questions is a search for possibleexplanations: ‘Is it the responsibility for the children
that threatens me?’ ‘Is it because I am new and still
unsure of what I am teaching them?’ ‘Am I being
naı ¨ve?’
The questions that my teachers asked themselves
challenged my own appreciation of their experi-
ences. My students demonstrated what Daudelin
(1996) describes as ‘the stages of reflection’ leading
to learning e.g. articulation of a problem, analysis of
the problem, formulation and testing of a tentative
theory to explain the problem. Or they may have
been ‘developing a generality of knowing’ (Greeno,1997) to develop ways of seeing and interpreting
classrooms that are applicable to other situations
(Edwards & Protheroe, 2003). Their assumptions
about the micro politics of the school system and its
effect on teaching (Zeichner & Gore, 1990) might
also display moral concern. Their exhibitions of
sensitivity to the uniqueness of situations seemed to
acknowledge cultural differences. Perhaps all these
realizations were reconstructing their understand-
ings of what it means to be a teacher.
These were the questions that challenged mybelief system about ‘novice teachers’ and extended
my insights about my role in guiding my students
into the real world of teaching.
8. A bird’s eye view: conceptualizing the process
When the students stand at the gate of the real
world of teaching they are at a transitional point in
both their career and their learning (Bridges, 1991).
They are leaving an institutional context which
provided their professional training. This was
preparatory for them as teachers; it was of a generic
and collectivist nature with a primary purpose to
develop their professional characteristics. Schools
and colleges both expected students to gain appro-
priate skills and knowledge. From the trainees’
perspective they required basic knowledge in order
to overcome their inexperience as semi-professionals
and they recognized that they were dependant
learners. For them the outcomes of institutional
training should be gaining insights upon the
profession and becoming aware of the multiple
roles that they would fulfil in a school.
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When novice teachers enter the world of teaching,
they are faced with ‘instant’ and ‘immediate’
situations that turn into need-driven and continuous
professional development. It is inescapable. This
process is also irreversible. However, the school-
based provision of induction and mentoring repre-sents on-the-job, individualistic, remedial assistance
for each student. This is professional guidance
provided by schools for newly appointed novice
teachers. However, for the student who is now a
novice teacher they are faced with personal inde-
pendence, evolving professional autonomy and a
constant necessity to reflect in and on practice
(Scho ¨ n, 1983). For them pragmatism in handling
new situations, applying previously learnt theory to
the reality of teaching and actively learning about
their new roles become their day-to-day life.
Bridges presents through a three-componentmodel of change, the relationship between ending/
neutral zone/beginning that form a continuous
change from the old to the new. The practical
significance of Bridges’ model is his inclusion of a
neutral zone. This, he argues, is an in-between state
full of uncertainty and confusion where people
might rush forward or retreat to the past. He
suggests that change need not be a sudden alteration
from one phase to the other; transition and its
duration will vary depending upon the individual
and their respective change context. Thus, heproposes, that time in the neutral zone should not
be rushed, for this is where change takes place.
Bridges’ model explains the situation that the
novice teachers were experiencing. The students
were passing through three phases of transition.
Firstly, they recognized an end to their total
dependence upon a teacher training institution for
guidance through each working day. Secondly,
initial days and weeks in their new school con-
fronted them with passing through a ‘neutral zone’.
Here they had to cope with sets of roles, relation-
ships and purposes as novices in a new school
experience. Thirdly, they were entering a new
beginning as accepted teachers within the profes-
sional community of their new school when they
will inevitably take stock of both.
This notion of change emphasizes the transitional
stages through which the processes of altered states
move. It portrays change as one in which previous
states are carried over into the subsequent stage.
This was evident in my students who carried
forward their teacher-training experiences into their
initial novice-teacher time in their new school.
Similarly, the experiences which they encou-
ntered in those early days influenced how they
proceeded and perceived their new professional
environment.
The practical implication of the neutral zone for
teacher education calls for the need to acknowledgethe notion that transition from one phase to another
is developmental thereby teachers’ knowledge is
shaped and reshaped by new insights emerging at
different stages in their personal experiences. This
has to be nurtured during the neutral zone.
Equipping students with sets of skills is not
sufficient to help them in the transition process.
What is required from both trainers and trainees is
to adopt an enquiring and a more conceptual stance
to puzzling situations and allow space for students
to make connections and derive meanings from their
experiences. This is when real and effective trans-formation takes place.
Using Bridges’ construct also allowed me to
recognise my own transitional process of change.
My ‘traditional’ view was that my students were
adequately prepared to cope with ‘novice days’ in
their first teaching appointment. This was my
ending stage. My neutral zone combined collecting
this data and reflecting upon it through my
professional lens as a teacher trainer. Here, I had
moved from a relatively unquestioning and accept-
ing view of my role to a new realization of thecoping strategies needed by contemporary novice
teachers (my students). The outcome of this
investigation—my new beginning—are the insights
that I have gained and the components which can
now be included in my future teacher-training
programmes. Thus, appreciating these three stages
of change enabled me to realize that at times in the
past I had not really recognised that different
demands were latent in my students. These were
determined by their own passing through the three
stages that Bridges outlined.
This bird’s eye view used my students’ experiences
during their initial time in a new school as the
vehicle to conduct my own self-review. In this
respect my investigation contained multiple levels of
analysis and interpretation. The evidence showed a
variety of met and unmet expectations by my
students of their initial time in schools. It is the
presenting issue in this investigation, and provides
an illuminative and evaluative perspective (Parlett &
Hamilton, 1972) on my assumptions regarding the
suitability and efficacy of one component in my
professional role.
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9. Conclusions
My interest in discovering what my student
teachers experienced in their initial weeks of
teaching stemmed from wanting to evaluate the
relevance of their training. This was a regular partof my teacher-training role over many years.
However, the specific focus for this investigation
was prompted by my re-acquaintance with Eraut’s
(1994) ideas. As a consequence, in researching my
own work it was ‘impossible for me to be detached,
and so the examination of my involvement shaped
the way in which my data was interpreted’ (Hollo-
way & Jefferson, 2000, p. 33). In this way, two
complementary themes emerged from the evidence.
Firstly, there were insights on how the teachers
coped in their new working context, and secondly,
those insights then provided the foundation for myown learning.
Although seeking to understand the emotional
experiences of student teachers as they took on the
role of teachers is potentially complex, the evidence
that was collected simplified that task. The com-
ments from my students represent very direct, real-
time and practical feedback to my colleagues, and I,
on the questions that initiated this investigation. It
showed that teachers should be prepared to
acknowledge gaps and dissonances between their
‘college learning’ as opportunities for personaldevelopment on-the-job. Furthermore, they should
be willing to engage constantly in exploring their
own classroom events discourses and patterns of
interaction. Their comments also confirmed that
they drew upon ‘taught programmes’ for guidance
and clues to coping with emergent problems. This
suggested that retaining ideas, or searching for
potential solutions, were significant parts of their
coping strategy.
Identifying how novice teachers make sense of
events by entering their new world of teaching, can
help to build a repertoire of cases. My investigation
generated such cases as cameos and vignettes and
they were critical incidents of professional experi-
ence. These can be used as teaching tools and
guiding aids by teacher trainers to help subsequent
trainee teachers appreciate the experiences of join-
ing a new school. Teacher trainers can use such
critical incidents as instructional tools to raise
awareness of novice teachers towards their own
teaching processes. This will help them combine
‘self-critical subjective perspectives’ (McIntyre,
2005, p. 367) and Bridges (1991) three stages
through problematising (Orland-Barak, 2002) for
discussion the practical issues that confront trainees
teachers prior to, and on entry to, first teaching
positions.
Real-world critical incidents provide opportu-
nities for teachers and learners to reflect onauthentic teaching experiences. This, in turn,
enhances peer discussions that help to overcome
feelings of novice teacher isolation by recognizing
that ‘your own emotional experiences are not
unique’ (Wincup, 2001, p. 29). This is a practical
outcome from my investigation, and it applies to the
work of my colleague teacher trainers as well as to
me.
The evidence from this study suggests, though it is
difficult to prove, that these novice teachers were
faced with six dilemmas as they took up their first
post in a school. Firstly, the relative significance andorder in which these dilemmas appeared was
personal to each student. Secondly, the excitement
of the first post and the first lesson seemed to be met
by various levels of frustration. Thirdly, their need
to survive both in the school and in their classroom
offset the fulfillment of becoming and independent
teacher. This also reflected the dilemmas of wishing
to be creative within the regularity of the school day
which itself may have been simply mundane. These
three dilemmas are personal and reflect the necessity
to cope emotionally with their new experiences.The remaining dilemmas stem from coping with
the practicalities of schools as organizations.
Fourthly, some frustration emerged when novice
teachers sought to take advantage of the opportu-
nities that they experienced whilst coping with the
challenges from pupils, colleague teachers and
administrative demands of the school. Fifthly, the
notion of personal space and ‘ownership’ then had
to be balanced against the school culture of
collective responsibility and professional flexibility.
Finally, novice teachers had to reconcile the
harmony that they anticipated in the school with
the multiple layers of discord that are found in any
organization.
The potential for learning, therefore, was directly
determined by how our students viewed their
‘preparation’ by us to cope with their first formal
teaching appointment. If teacher trainers are to
work with the notions of Donald Scho ¨ n, then
perhaps we ourselves might revisit our own earlier
professional experiences in parallel with those of
our students. The feedback that we receive from our
students takes on far greater significance when it is
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given from their real-world context of the school.
Their insights at that time can incorporate ‘the
experience of practice.’ Thus, we should perhaps
distinguish between this type of feedback and other
evaluative comments that are made before such
experience is gained by our students.My world of teaching contained a different set of
insights to those of the students. This study shows
how within one component of a teacher training
programme a veteran expert teacher learnt from
novices whose experiences enabled practical theories
(Kroath, 2002, p. 49) to be made more relevant to
their immediate needs. Kroath argues that ‘yprac-
tical theories guide, monitor, and justify profes-
sionals’ action and are functionally equal to
scientific theories.’ He suggests that everyone guides
their life through theories that are on the ‘virtual
epistemological level and on the real-practical level(Kroath, 2002, p. 55).’ He implies that practitioners
who are also researchers possess a duality of
outlook—giving conceptual meanings to events
and seeking concrete ways to cope with present
situations. This notion provided a deeper under-
standing of my educative and developmental role as
a teacher trainer.
I have learnt the importance of alerting students to
the great variety, complexity and richness of the
teacher’s life by ‘sophisticating the beholding’ of their
own classrooms (Stake, 1995) and as a result, helpingthem to underpin the theories within their practice and
conceptualize their experiences. The real world of
teaching is both unreal and surreal having its
delightful absurdities and pleasures as well as its
difficulties and problems. These absurdities, pleasures
and difficulties as depicted in their critical incidents
can be developed into what Orland-Barak (2002)
describes as ‘occasions for learning.’ She argues that
these moments of crisis then help novice teachers to
make sense of the world of teaching. I believe that the
more rounded and educated they are the better they
will be able to navigate their own ways through the
messy labyrinth of education and teaching. This
means that they have to be helped to see themselves
as people with their own points of view and sets of
values which then become lenses, prisms or crystals
with which they reflect and refract the teaching world
they experience.
I felt that the engagement in a self-examination of
my professional experience by ‘making the familiar
strange’ (Erickson, 1984) had enriched my under-
standing of educational phenomena that I had taken
for granted. It is in this last conclusion that the real
value of this self-review account has value for me.
Deciding to challenge the assumption that ‘one
knows’ or ‘I understand’ need not be a high risk issue
(Parlett & Dearden, 1977). However, it can provide a
simple and fairly immediate immersion in the value
systems that have previously been unscrutinised. In awider sense, this implies the continuous need for
teacher educators to reassess their practice through
introspection of their own sources of information
(Freiberg & Waxman, 1990) and accept reflection
about the pedagogy of a teacher education course as a
worthwhile exercise (Moguel, 2004).
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