Capturing the Complex, Situated, and Active Nature of Teaching Through Inquiry-Oriented Standards for Teaching

Abstract

Given widespread acceptance of the role of teaching in improving student outcomes, it is not surprising that policy makers have turned to teaching standards as a lever for educational improvement. There are, however, long-standing critiques of standards that suggest they are reductionist and promote a dualism between theory and practice. Our purpose here is to propose a model of Teaching for Better Learning ( TBL) that responds to those critiques and that captures the complexity of teaching rather than focusing on discrete elements. Our model foregrounds the salience of teachers’ own situations and the active nature of teachers’ practice in a way that integrates practice with relevant theory. We outline how the TBL model can be used to derive inquiry-oriented teaching standards, an alternative approach that challenges widely accepted conventions for the design of standards and, we argue, might better support the improvement of teaching and learning.

Practice-Based Initial Teacher Education: Developing Inquiring Professionals

“…As Sinnema et al (2017) note, "to teach well, and to improve their teaching, teachers need, in our view, to demonstrate their ability to inquire into that uncertainty in ways that address the particular complexities, conditions, and challenges they face" (p. 9). Informing the recommended ITE changes incorporating an inquiry stance in New Zealand, Sinnema et al propose the adoption of six inquiry-oriented standards for teaching: inquiry in learning, teaching strategies, enactment of teaching strategies, impact of teaching, professional learning, and education systems.…”

“…In looking to support PTs learn how to do the complex practices of teaching as they relate to unpredictability and improvisation, teacher education researchers are increasingly exploring ways to avoid the dualism of theory and practice (Sinnema et al 2017). In particular, ITE has witnessed a turn towards practice-based approaches that "view teaching not only as a resource for learning to teach but as a central element of learning to teach" (McDonald et al 2014, p. 500).…”

“…In reviewing the preceding exemplars, it is evident that the practice-based opportunities within rehearsal cycles involving enactment of investigation can usefully contribute to the six teaching inquiry-orientated standards proposed by Sinnema et al (2017): Learning priorities; Teaching strategies; Enactment of teaching strategies; Impact inquiry; Professional learning inquiry; and Education system.…”

“…Moreover, discussion of these experiences surfaced issues of social justice related to socio-political positioning and participatory practices that framed explorations of impact for each of the students in the school-based settings. Sinnema et al (2017) describe the Professional learning inquiry as one that requires teachers to be metacognitive and self-regulated learners, as evidenced by "teachers increasingly becoming their own teachers and demonstrating the skills to learn from practice and also to learn for practice" (p. 10). Engagement in the classroom inquiry required that PTs identify their own learning needs as teachers in relation to impact.…”

“…In New Zealand, the Ministry of Education has recently prioritised funding masters-level ITE programs that involve close collaboration between partner schools and universities and demonstrate a commitment to a teaching as inquiry stance (Aitken et al 2013;Sinnema et al 2017). In this paper, I draw on findings from a 3-year design-based study Learning the Work of Ambitious Mathematics Teaching (Anthony et al 2015c) to argue that practice-based ITE reforms can support the development of an inquiry disposition: a way of knowing and being in the world of educational practice that carries across educational contexts and various points in one's professional career and that link individuals to larger groups and social movements intended to challenge the inequities perpetuated by the educational status quo.…”