Who’s the teacher? What Tony Danza taught ss about English education.
Abstract
This study examines the reality TV series Teach: Tony Danza and argues for its value as a teaching tool in the secondary English methods class. Drawing on television studies, in particular, theories surrounding reality television, the authors suggest that their students’ knowledge of the conventions and practices of reality television shows open up a space for them to focus on the “real, but not quite real” representations of Danza’s experiences teaching. His celebrity status creates a distance between him and our preservice teachers that allows them to feel comfortable analyzing and critiquing his often-problematic practices. The authors, having used excerpts from this series in methods courses with undergraduate and graduate preservice English teachers, find that the series, along with its accompanying, interactive website, provide opportunities for students to interrogate questions of classroom management, assessment, student teacher relationships, and course content.
Reference
Bach, J., & Weinstein, S. (2014). Who's the teacher? What Tony Danza taught us about English education. English Education, 46(4), 300.
Journal
English 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
- Louisiana State University
Institutional Context
Certification Level
Programatic Focus
Research Location Context
Preservice Participants
- alternative master’s degree in reading, language, and literacy education
- graduate students (alt certification)
Preservice Sample Size
16
Duration of Data Collection
Data Sources
- assignments
- Audio recordings
- Classroom Discussion
- fieldnotes
- Questionnaire
- Transcriptions
Data Analysis Tools
- coding (open to axial to selective
Researcher Positionality
- inside (staying their own students)
- Inside (studying their own practices)
Research Questions
How does the reality show genre structure Tony Danza’s teaching narrative in a way that makes it compelling to us as teachers and teacher educators?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes
(2) Might this series about a brand-new high school English teacher be useful as well as compelling, in terms of posing critical issues to preservice English teachers?
Is this research question explicit from the manuscript? Yes