English Teachers’ Cultural Models About Technology

Abstract

Prompted by calls for research on technology-focused professional development, this ethnographic case study investigates how teachers' participation in learning communities may influence technology integration within the secondary English curriculum. In this article, I draw on educational psychology, cognitive anthropology, and sociolinguistics to build a theory of teacher learning. I then take a microethnographic approach to discourse analysis to show how teachers' use of language and contextualization cues within a learning community reflects their cultural models, or everyday beliefs, about technology. This study addresses two gaps in the literature. First, it explores the role of situated language in constructing English teachers' cultural models related to technology. Second, it examines micro-level interactions within a professional learning community to understand how teacher learning occurs in social and cultural contexts. The analysis suggests that the implementation of educational reforms, including reforms associated with technology integration and literacy education, is often dependent upon teachers' skills, values, and cultural models.

El nexo entre literacidad y cultura digital: una mirada docente en Chile

“…La literatura da cuenta de que los modelos culturales que tienen los profesores sobre el significado de la práctica pedagógica y cómo se cristaliza en la sala de clases impacta la adopción de nuevas tecnologías, en tanto las ‚nuevas‛ herramientas, entornos, y contextos desafían las creencias, mapas de creencias y haceres de los profesores (Curwood, 2014). La literatura también ha dado cuenta de cómo las prácticas están fuertemente moldeadas por los modelos culturales de la comunidad en la que los profesores se insertan; por ejemplo, Ertmer y Ottenbreit-Leftwich (2010) plantean que los profesores adoptan y usan tecnología dependiendo de sus experiencias pasadas.…”

Planning for Technology Integration in a Professional Learning Community

“…For the teachers in this group, planning for technology integration was made more complicated with the adoption of the Despite the benefits of teaching students to use technology, technology integration is happening infrequently in schools or is happening in superficial ways (Ertmer, 2005;Hutchison & Reinking, 2011;Lawless & Pellegrino, 2007). One way of approaching technology integration professional development is through learning communities (Cifuentes, Maxwell, & Bulu, 2011;Curwood, 2011Curwood, , 2014Hughes, Kerr, & Ooms, 2005). Generally, it is agreed that PLCs exist to promote and sustain professionals in schools with the goal of enhancing student learning (Bolam, McMahon, Stoll, Thomas, & Wallace, 2005).…”

“…A few studies have examined groups of teachers in which technology integration was included in a collaborative community (Cifuentes et al, 2011;Curwood, 2011Curwood, , 2014Hughes et al, 2005). This PLC framework provided teachers a space in which to engage in dialogue around content, technology, and student learning outcomes.…”

Russian Pre-Service and Young In-Service Teachers’ Views on Cultural Dimensions of Russian Education: Power Distance

“…For example, Curwood on the one hand states that cultural models "are dynamic and malleable, not static, and inflexible" (Curwood, 2014, p. 13) and on the other hand draws on Cohen (1989), Sarason (1990), and Putnam and Bortko (2000), who argue that "school-based teaching and learning have historically been resistant to fundamental change" (as cited in Curwood, 2014, p. 14). Curwood (2014) contends that "this resistance may be rooted in powerful cultural models that function to enculturate teachers into specific ways of thinking, doing and being" (p. 14).…”