Primary school English teacher cognition : beliefs, assumptions and pedagogical content knowledge /

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Student Theses

2024

Kan, Lai Har Alta

Hong Kong : The Education University of Hong Kong

Thesis

This study, which investigated primary school English teachers’ cognition in English Language Teaching (ELT), was a two-year longitudinal qualitative case study with five cases. Data were collected across two years from June 2014 to June 2016 at two sites (i.e., the informants’ practicum schools and in-service schools) using different sources, including semi-structured interviews, lesson observations, post-lesson conferences and reflective journals (i.e., one retrospective text and one questionnaire) for checking the consistency and inconsistency of the informants’ claimed beliefs about ELT and their pedagogy during actual teaching practice; other artifacts collected during the lesson observation (e.g., lesson plans, learning products, etc.) were also taken into consideration.Data were gathered at three stages: (1) before the teaching practicum (2) during the teaching practicum, and (3) during the 1st year of teaching. These procedures were followed first to identify the initial beliefs, assumptions and pedagogical content knowledge the five informants held before they served in schools, and then to track the stability and changes over time from “schooling to teaching practicum” and “teaching practicum to 1st year teaching.” The analysis revealed that the five informants’ cognition, shaped by both schooling, and professional coursework would change over time when influenced by contextual factors.The perceptions the informants held about ELT were quite consistent with their fond, and negative experiences encountered during their early “schooling.” They regarded the following elements as effective: motivation, inviting learning environments, good teacher-student rapport, availability of learning resources and encouragement from knowledgeable adults, e.g., NETs, favorable teachers, etc. The following traditional teaching approaches were considered ineffective and demotivating to language learning: drilling, rote-learning, and being teacher-centred. Evidence showed that these beliefs held by the informants would change over time; the initial change occurred when the informants experienced an input of new knowledge from the teacher training program and made reflections (Borg, 2006; Levin et al., 2013; Nolen, et al., 2009), from which processes new cognition would develop and be manifested during the teaching practicum. The second change displayed during the 1st year in school teaching was due to the impact of the interplay of respective contexts encountered, personal beliefs about ELT and teaching practices, etc. Findings revealed the catalysts for the informants’ cognitive change could mainly be attributed to the following factors: 1) institutional (hierarchy of school administration, traditional teaching environment, heavy teaching loads, etc.); 2) personal (impact on teachers’ beliefs, assumptions and teaching pedagogies, teachers’ subject knowledge and efficacy); and 3) pedagogical (students limited English proficiency, needs/preferences, etc.).The five informants’ beliefs about ELT remained unchanged but their assumptions and pedagogy were adjusted to cope with situations contradictory to their beliefs; their reflections conveyed that they were determined to actualize their beliefs when opportunities were available. Therefore, members of the general public and teacher educators should support new teachers with tender care and help them develop professionally

LG51.H43 Dr 2019eb Kanlha

https://educoll.lib.eduhk.hk/records/1eSbeGT9