Does a discussion by any other name sound the same? Teaching discussion in three ELA methods courses
Abstract
Facilitating discussions in English Language Arts can develop students’ skills as speakers and listeners and their ability to engage with diverse perspectives. However, classroom observations often demonstrate a lack of student talk, raising questions about the complexity of facilitating discussion and teachers’ opportunities to learn and hone the practice. In this article, we discuss how teacher educators leveraged a collaboratively designed specification of the practice of facilitating discussions to attempt some alignment across three programs. The teacher educators reached what we call alignment amid variation. There was consistency in the stances regarding the role of children in classrooms and understanding of the purposes for and key aspects of the practice that allowed for alignment amid variation in their work with novice teachers across programs. Our findings have implications for considering the work of cross-institutional collaborations to improve teacher preparation and K-12 student learning.
Reference
Alston, C. L., Danielson, K. A., Dutro, E., & Cartun, A. (2018). Does a discussion by any other name sound the same? Teaching discussion in three ELA methods courses. Journal of Teacher Education, 69(3), 225-238. DOI: 10.1177/0022487117715227.
Journal
Journal of Teacher Education
Analysis
Is this article part of a larger project or series of studies?
no
Does this study draw on a large, preexisting data set?
no
Research Approach
Geographic Setting
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
- ELA methods course
- Elementary Methods Course
- writing methods course
Preservice Participants
Preservice Sample Size
0
Other Participant Data
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
- artifacts
- fieldnotes
- Interviews
- Video
Data Analysis Tools
- Deductive analysis
- Inductive coding
Researcher Positionality
Research Questions
1. When beginning with a common specification of a practice, what variations emerge in implementation?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes
What factors account for variation across sites?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes
What aspects of the practice are foregrounded or backgrounded in each site?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes