Peer-learning between pre-service teachers: embracing Lesson Study 1 AbstractPurpose: This research explored a model of Lesson Study owned entirely by preservice teachers (PSTs), conveying its potential to facilitate mutual spaces of learning between peers beyond formal hierarchical relationships with expert teachers. Fuller's (1969) conceptual framework of teacher development informed the study, consisting of self, task and impact 'phases of concern'. Methodology: Participants were Secondary Physical Education PSTs (n=17), completing a university-led Postgraduate Certificate in Education course (PGCE). Action research methodology was adopted during school placements, when PSTs engaged in Lesson Study with peers. Data obtained through a group discussion board, individual questionnaires and interviews, was subjected to inductive analysis, with key patterns compared to locate themes.Findings: All PSTs felt Lesson Study contributed positively to their training, reinforcing perceived benefits of cycles of action for planning, observing a lesson, reviewing and adapting the plan before re-teaching the revised plan. Findings reveal increased confidence in reducing self and task concerns through four emergent themes: acquiring content and pedagogical knowledge; developing the planning process; understanding individual learners' needs; and embedding reflective practice. Mutually supportive peer-learning environments created pedagogic space beyond formal mentoring processes, augmenting learning to teach and the understanding of learners' needs. Implications for practice:
Purpose – Innovation in enhancing reflective abilities of trainee teachers was explored in this small-scale qualitative study. Opportunities for active engagement in peer- and self-reflection were provided to two cohorts of British Post-Graduate Physical Education trainee teachers (n=45: male=28, female=17), aged 21-30 years. Design/methodology/approach – Trainees were assigned a peer buddy, and tasked with the dual responsibility of being and having a training buddy for a lesson observation during two school placements. They visited each other's school and recorded their buddy teaching a lesson. Immediately afterwards, they watched the recording together, engaging in reflective discussion. Trainees acted as both a critical friend and a supportive extra pair of eyes, whilst also assuming the role of reflective practitioner. Data were collected through surveys, focus group interviews and individual reflections shared through an online discussion board. Grounded theory methodology informed an emergent model of reflective practice. Findings – By being and having a training buddy, trainees created their own rules, structures and practices for implementing the process. Themes pointed to a series of mutually created spaces: safe – non-judgemental and creating a sense of solidarity; relaxed – non-pressured and conversational; equal – involving participants at the same professional stage and status; pedagogic – involving the sharing of ideas; negotiated – allowing autonomy and ownership of the process; and alternative – experiencing a different school environment. Originality/value – Trainees endorsed the peer process, illustrating benefits derived from sharing reflection, giving and receiving feedback. It is suggested that collaborative spaces created and owned by training buddies enhance reflective ability and practice.
Abstract:Purpose: A priority for initial teacher education is the development of reflection by pre-service teachers in preparation for transition towards qualified teacher status. Whilst much literature exists on the practice of reflection, little attention has been placed on understanding and developing the processes that inform this practice. Drawing upon the concepts of Strong Structuration Theory, this paper draws attention to the role Lesson Study can play in developing pre-service teachers' processes of reflexivity whilst enhancing their reflective practice.Methodology: Participants were two cohorts of Secondary Physical Education pre-service teachers (n=40), completing a Postgraduate Certificate in Education course (PGCE). Action research methodology was adopted during school placements, when pre-service teacher dyads engaged in cycles of Lesson Study. Data obtained through group discussion boards, questionnaires, group and individual interviews, was subjected to inductive analysis, comparing key patterns to locate themes.Findings: Drawing upon illustrations collated when exploring the enhancement of their reflective practice, the findings illustrate how pre-service teachers (agents-in-focus) were able to pre-reflectively and critically draw upon embodied dispositions and practices to engage with the external structural elements of their training programme. Such interactions enabled them to demonstrate enhanced forms of active agency and knowledge, developing practices beyond traditional support structures of the training programme. Originality and Implications for practice:In drawing upon these illustrations, this paper explores how the application of Strong Structuration Theory further enhances understanding of the underlying reflexive processes that shape pre-service teacher's interaction with the structures of initial teacher education. Furthermore, it draws attention to the part Lesson Study can play in developing creative, confident and reflective pedagogy by pre-service teachers. In doing so this paper contributes to the growing body of literature that illuminates how Lesson Study may enhance the experiences and professional development of preservice teachers.
The potential benefits of physical education (PE) are universal for all pupils. However, facilitating such benefits in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) requires careful planning. This paper reports on a small-scale case study at one school in eastern England, exploring physical education through the eyes of children (n = 5), aged 12-16, with autistic spectrum disorders. Photo-elicitation was adopted as the research tool to accord authority to the voices of the pupils, empowering them to share their feelings towards the subject by capturing significant aspects of physical education. The photographs provided prompts for greater exploration during unstructured interviews. Using the concepts of Bourdieu's reflexive sociology, the paper draws attention to how pupil's embodied dispositions interacted with what may be illustrated as the delimited spaces of the physical education field-physical education changing rooms, physical education corridors, the physical education teacher's office and physical education activities in the development of positive and negative positions and practices. The teacher's office was regarded positively as were activities that provided opportunities for engagement with peers. Opportunities to be heroic, such as scoring a goal for their team or being given an official role were important factors as was the opportunity to engage in some team sports. However, pupils' interaction with the changing rooms and physical education corridors were viewed with trepidation, worry and fear. The paper concludes by highlighting that both positive and negative interactions with the spaces of physical education develop forms of social and symbolic capital shaping the physical education experiences for pupils with ASD. Anticipating barriers presented within these integral fields of physical education space can help in preparing a rich and inclusive experience for pupils with ASD. Teachers may be better informed in providing strategies to facilitate communication and social interaction whilst allowing all pupils to engage positively with physical education.
This study highlights a complementary partnership between physical education and foreign language learning, endorsing the potential of an applied learning context as an alternative pedagogical platform. A pedagogic model of Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) within physical education was adopted to explore the capacity for improving students’ spontaneous speaking in French. The study’s motivation was the 2016 changes to England’s General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) French specifications, which placed an increased emphasis on responding spontaneously in spoken French and sustaining communication in different situations. Students ( n = 42) aged 13–14, soon to embark on GCSE French, were introduced to a 10-week handball scheme of work that included learning associated key French vocabulary and students communicating with each other and the teacher in French. Adopting case study methodology, data collection included student questionnaires, individual teacher interviews and student focus groups, analysed using inductive analysis and constant comparison. The physical education CLIL platform provided a learning context that appeared to support student perceptions of increased motivation and reduced anxiety, with 60% of students reporting that speaking French during physical education increased their confidence in speaking French aloud. Findings suggest the importance of an applied learning environment that emphasises working as a group, encouraging a willingness to take risks in spontaneous speaking, and decreasing sensitivity to negative judgement. A physical education-located CLIL model appears to offer learning experiences within the skill-based traditions of physical education beyond ‘learning to move’, providing a context for ‘moving to learn’ as an investment towards embodied learning.
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