In this paper we explore how 'teaching communication' in the classroom is connected to school culture. In the age of accountability the outcome focus force to the forefront a 'blame game' which either blame students' achievements on the teachers and teacher education, or the students and their socioeconomic background. We argue that to succeed with teaching and learning is dependent on the school culture more than the single teacher or the students' background. School culture is understood as attitudes, communication, student focus and engagement. Teaching communication in this paper is studied as teachers' and students' talk about subject matter in whole-class teaching. We explore how different school cultures give students different opportunities to experience meaning from teaching communication. The perspective on meaning is derived from Bildung-centred didactics. By using qualitative comparative case method in Norwegian Lower Secondary schools we find three different types of 'teaching communication' typical for different school cultures: 'Dialogic teaching communication', 'storytelling teaching communication' and 'reproducing teaching communication'. The school culture with the 'dialogic' variant is characterised by trust and reciprocity, making students' experiencing meaning a possibility.
This article presents findings from a qualitative case study focusing on teachers’ communication concerning expectations and responsibilities in different schools. The study indicates the following: (1) the connection between structural expectations and responsibility is important, (2) different expectation structures provide different opportunities for collective responsibility, and (3) expectations from others and towards others in a learning community can limit or expand opportunities to learn from each other. These findings enable a discussion on how teachers’ responsibility depends on schools’ expectations and also raise questions about teachers’ expectations towards themselves and the quality of the schools’ expectations towards the teachers.
This article presents findings from an innovation research project titled School-In, focusing on school staff’s reflection. Teachers in four schools participated in focus group discussions in the beginning and at the end of the innovation. Wackerhausen’s theory is used to understand reflection and how it develops in professional learning communities. Findings from the study indicate: (1) in the beginning of the innovation, reflection mainly of first order – focusing on how things are or should have been, and (2) at the end of the innovation, reflection mainly of second order – critical reflection on the school’s practices. Change is promoted by use of different reflective work forms in mixed groups, focusing on collective capacity and common expectations. The innovation releases teachers’ knowledge and experiences, enabling them to carry out second-order reflection and to critically analyzing their personal and the school’s practice.
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