Learner Characteristics: Teachers
Teachers.
They're stubborn, won't-shut-up know-it-alls. I should know. I am one.
Teaching teachers to teach writing will be a monumental task. Teaching English teachers how to teach writing might be next-to-impossible. Teachers are already short on time, according to research done by Johnson, Jacovina, Russell, & Soto (2016); Gunter & Reeves (2017); and Rizutto (2017).
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Henriksen et al., (2016) wrote, “Creative thinking is essential for 21st century success, as societal problems become more interdependent, global and complex.” (p.28), and Vongkulluksn et al. found that teachers beliefs and attitudes are highly predictive of “the quantity and quality of technology integration” (2018). So getting English teachers to invest valuable time into a PLU that's supposed to show them how to do something they think they already know will be challenging.
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BUT... teachers do want to improve their own practice. When we realize that what we're doing isn't working, we're interested in learning how to do it better. TheVongkulluksn, V. W., Xie, K., & Bowman, M. A. (2018). The role of value on teachers' internalization of external barriers and externalization of personal beliefs for classroom technology integration. Computers & Education, 118, 70-81.
best way to get teachers to "own" their own pedagogy is to gradually show them data, to offer new, data-driven, data-proven techniques that actually work.
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In her article "Teaching Writing Teachers Writing: Difficulty, Exploration, and Critical Reflection," Shelley Reid points out that "As they prepare to teach writing, new teachers should respond to writing assignments that we deliberately design to be difficult, exploratory, or critically reflective, so that they may better develop flexibility and engagement as learners, teachers, and theorists in the field of writing instruction" (p. 197). Reid's article is about teaching new teachers. What we propose to do here is to teach old teachers, akin to teaching old dogs new tricks. It's a much different challenge. After years of often-pointless professional development workshops and increasing cynicism, it's essential that this PLU begin with a successful effort to show the teachers that what they're doing now isn't working. Data and feedback coupled with new techniques that actually work is the ONLY recipe for success.
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References:
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Gunter, G. A., & Reeves, J. L. (2017). Online professional development embedded with mobile learning: An examination of teachers' attitudes, engagement and dispositions. British Journal of Educational Technology, 48(6), 1305-1317.
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Johnson, A. M., Jacovina, M. E., Russell, D. G., & Soto, C. M. (2016). Challenges and solutions when using technologies in the classroom. ERIC Clearinghouse. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED577147.pdf
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Reid E. Shelley. (2009). Teaching Writing Teachers Writing: Difficulty, Exploration, and Critical Reflection [Excerpt]. College Composition and Communication, 61(2), 376.
Rizzuto, M. (2017). Design recommendations for self-paced online faculty development courses. TechTrends, 61(1), 77-86.
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Vongkulluksn, V. W., Xie, K., & Bowman, M. A. (2018). The role of value on teachers' internalization of external barriers and externalization of personal beliefs for classroom technology integration. Computers & Education, 118, 70-81.
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