2.3 Teacher learning theories
2.3.1 An overview of the teacher learning theories
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Teachers are being encouraged to engage in continuous learning opportunities for the purpose of improving, maintaining, reflecting and changing standards of teaching in their classroom.
This empowers them as professionals, to interpret and form critical judgements on the existing knowledge and its relevance to their specific contexts (Winch, Oancea, & Orchard, 2015).
However, traditional workshops and short course in-service activities continue to train teachers, especially on how to implement new school curricula (Bantwini, 2010). This is because of their cost-effective advantages, especially among practising teachers in the less economically developed parts of South Africa and other African countries. Similarly, some studies in the USA show a correlation between teachers’ workshops or summer institutes which emphasise research-based practices and improved learners’ performance (Guskey & Yoon, 2009). “So, while undoubtedly many workshops are poorly organised and focus on unproven ideas and strategies, as a professional development, they are not the poster child of ineffective practice they are often made out to be” (Guskey & Yoon, 2009, p. 496).
Kelly (2006), highlights two major theories of teacher learning used by most professional development programmes but which have been contested in recent times. The first one is the cognitive learning theory which is grounded in the idea of teachers’ learning being predominantly propositional knowledge (knowing what) from experts. Since the learning is not within the teacher’s working environment, contextual issues are not necessarily emphasised.
However, this theory argues that the knowledge acquired can be applied across a range of contexts. The notion here is that teachers acquire propositional knowledge from the experts’
context (such as a formal workshop or programme) and then transmit (in a linear way) this learning to their classroom context. Nonetheless, research shows that such transfer across contexts is complex and often teachers take time before they are able to comfortably apply new pedagogies in their classrooms (Adey et al., 2004; Bertram, 2011; Clarke & Hollingsworth, 2002; C Day, 2004). These studies and others propose long-term, sustained, intensive and contextually based activities from the professional development programmes, to enable teachers to effectively reconstruct the acquired knowledge to their practices (Guskey & Yoon, 2009; Meyer & Abel, 2015).
Since the issue of transfer is problematic within the cognitive theory of learning, the second major group of theories, the socio-cultural learning theories, insist that learning must take place in the situation in which it is needed (Kelly, 2006). This suggests that although cognitive
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learning is vital, teacher learning is a social and collaborative process, whereby the individual teachers construct knowledge in their different contexts, according to their needs. This confirms other international studies which advocate for the formal professional development programmes which are precisely planned and well-coordinated, with a strong school-based component integrated into the teachers’ daily work (Battey & Franke, 2008; Minor et al., 2016;
Reeves & Forde, 2004). Thus, professional development programmes should create dynamic learning opportunities in schools and even classrooms to enable teachers to build personal knowledge, formally or informally, in a social context.
In the same vein, (Gravani & John, 2004) argue that a pragmatic approach to learning advocates that either the cognitive or the socio-cultural perspective on learning can be used, depending on what works. As identified previously, both perspectives offer valuable insights into the learning processes and they are useful for understanding particular influences, but they focus on different aspects. The cognitive perspective emphasises the importance of personal conditions for learning, such as prior knowledge, while the socio-cultural learning theories stresses the importance of social and contextual conditions.
The systems thinking approach does not consist of a new theory of learning, but rather involves the interaction of the existing teacher learning theories. It emphasises the mutual relationship among elements in a learning system, which emerges when personal, social and contextual conditions for learning interact to improve each other in a way that produces collaboration.For instance actions like watching television or a guest speaker can provide insights or understanding (Gravani & John, 2004). Therefore, they argue, that any context, can be regarded as a learning system with complex relationships among people but not all function at the same time or extent. This contrasts with the idea that learning only occurs in a community of practice, which is established in the situated perspective.
There are also other unplanned learning opportunities in the work place. Two examples are when a teacher reads a newspaper or a magazine over a cup of tea in the staffroom (Borko &
Putnam, 1995; Desimone, 2009); and valuable knowledge can also be acquired through interaction with colleagues and other stakeholders, especially during the implementation of a new curriculum (Bantwini, 2011). Altogether, teacher learning theories suggest that teacher learning, not only individual, but also a socio-cultural needs and collaborative process and
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hence, takes place in different forms. According to Parise and Spillane (2010), teacher learning – formal, informal or any other opportunity in the teacher’s social context - can build their profession, improve their knowledge base and their beliefs about teaching. Similarly, empirical studies in the USA indicate that well-planned formal professional development programmes and various informal opportunities at work can significantly contribute to changes or improvement in teachers’ classroom practice (Minor et al., 2016) .
Other scholars such as S. M. Wilson and Berne (1999) advocate for teacher learning grounded within the socio-cultural perspective, where the formal programme activities incorporate community learning, partnership and self-motivation. However, the three constituents overlap with the notion of collective participation and site-based programmes in which the teacher is offered accessible opportunities by the experts to share, discuss, reflect and actively learn from peers or other educators (Guskey & Yoon, 2009). In my opinion, this view uses different words to articulate the same element or features of collaborative or professional learning communities.
There is an emerging body of literature from the socio-cultural perspective, which supports different forms of teacher learning communities. For instance, teachers learn better when they are members of communities of learning (Knight, 2002; Lieberman & Mace, 2010). Other forms of teacher learning in this category include communities of practice, peer coaching, networks and teams, as well as co-learning (Avalos, 2011). Although beyond the scope of this study, accumulative findings from this professional collaborative learning lead to effective teaching and school improvement., It also enables a better understanding of teachers’
identities, productivity of team work, commitment, practices and agency (Avalos, 2011; Battey
& Franke, 2008). Thus, effective teacher learning does not happen exclusively from a formally generated and codified body of knowledge, but also from experience for sustainable practice changes.
Teachers’ documentation and reflection on their own experiences also offer important learning practice. For instance, Tournaki, Lyublinskaya, and Carolan (2011) evaluated a professional development model where teachers, during a lesson , offered learners the opportunity to actively engage in the teachers’ scientific inquiry. Elsewhere, Roth (2007) notes that teachers who explore their own practice by observing their students’ struggles and then choosing the
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teaching approaches that can improve the students’ understanding. Although Thompson and Thompson (1996) agree with this notion, they strongly feel that the level of support the teachers need to be researchers is beyond what most professional development programmes and teacher education can offer. On the other hand, Guskey and Yoon (2009) argue that effective professional development programmes which incorporate ideas from outsiders (e.g.
programme authors and researchers) and directly offer these ideas to the teachers, enhance the enactment of new knowledge. These professional development activities articulate and also draw from the socio-cultural theory of teacher learning, with individual and collaborative participation being paramount and enhanced by a range of factors (Avalos, 2011; Guskey &
Yoon, 2009).
Having reviewed the overlapping meaning of the concepts of professional development, teacher learning and professional development activities in section 2.2 and an overview discussion on teacher learning theories in this section, it is imperative to briefly discuss the implications of these theories on the teacher learning process in South Africa, which is the context of this study. Next, I present the implication of these debates on the South African teacher learning approaches.