Ministry of Education Chile / British Council Chile Initial Teacher Education Seminar on Teacher-research 22-23 March 2016, Santiago EXPLORATORY PRACTICE Inés K. de Miller (PUC-Rio, Brasil)
Exploratory Practice: ‘work for understanding’ - diverse contexts and multiple agents ( Language) teaching-learning contexts – (language) teaching and learning as ‘work for understanding’ done by learners, teachers , coordinators, supervisors, (school) psychologists, etc. (Language) teacher education contexts – initial or continuing professional development as ‘work for understanding’ done by teacher-learners or in-service teachers and teacher educators. Academic research contexts – academic research as ‘ work for understanding’ done by all those participating in the research: those who are being ‘researched’ together with novice and/or expert researchers.
Exploratory Practice: ‘puzzles’ and ‘puzzlement’ For EP, the term ‘puzzle’ represents our concern for developing understandings in relation to issues of immediate interest, whether or not they are ‘problematic’ and whether or not we connect them to theory. (Allwright & Hanks, 2009, p. 146).
Exploratory Practice: ‘integrating’ work for understanding into regular practices To harness practitioners ’ ‘ puzzlement ’... Pedagogic contexts at any level: ‘ puzzle-driven ’ lessons, course modules, entire courses, group discussions, debates, readings, written assignments, journals, grammar exercises, tests, seminar presentations, lesson planning, classroom observation, micro-teaching. Academic research contexts : research participation, research meetings, research interviews, research writing, information gathering, social exchanges with other research participants, research supervision sessions...
Exploratory Practice: the principles The ‘what’ issues Put quality of life first. Work primarily to understand life , in the language-classroom or in other contexts. The ‘who’ issues Involve everybody . Work to bring people together . Work also for mutual development. The ‘how’ issues Integrate the work for understanding into classroom or other professional practices. Make the work for understanding and for integration continuous .
Exploratory Practice: learner propositions 1: Learners are unique individuals who learn and develop best in their own idiosyncratic ways. 2: Learners are social beings who learn and develop best in a mutually supportive environment. 3: Learners are capable of taking learning seriously. 4: Learners are capable of independent decision-making. 5: Learners are capable of developing as practitioners of learning. (Allwright and Hanks, 2009:7)
Exploratory Practice: A professionally viable research paradigm for professional development “ Exploratory Practice is thus conceived as a way of getting teaching and learning [or any work] done, not as a way of getting research done. But it is a way of getting teaching and learning [or any work] done so that the teachers and the learners [or other practitioners] simultaneously develop their own understandings of what they are doing as learners and teachers [as practitioners ]” (Allwright, 2006: 15).
Exploratory Practice: An inclusive and ethical practitioner research paradigm Exploratory Practice is a form of inclusive and ethical practitioner research which offers opportunities for teachers, learners, teacher educators as well as other professionals to enhance their understandings of their own practices through the principled and integrated use of potentially exploitable pedagogic or professional activities. As they do their work and attempt to express their lived understandings , exploratory practitioners generate pedagogical, professional and reflexive genres. (Gieve & Miller, 2006; Allwright & Hanks, 2009; Miller, 2012; Miller 2013).
Practitioners: Rosa Maria Rodrigues / Ilma Debellian/ Mixed group Public school: ELT/Teacher Education+ Master’s/PhD + social involvement Puzzles: Why are we happy in our 7 th grade class?/ Why are we happy?/Why work to understand? PEPAs: Describing classes +Letter writing+ Reflective drawings + Play writing Sharing: Poster presentations; Master’s Dissertation, Academic integration
Practitioners: Regina Gomes Public school: ELT + Continuing Teacher Education Puzzles: What do my students think of our classes? Do they like me? PEPAs: Describing classes +Revision True /False Exercise+ Collective Reflection Sharing: (Poster) presentations on several occasions ESCOLA MUNICIPAL SAKURÁ 8th Grade 1997 Teacher: Ms. Gomes Class: .................... REVIEW # 1 - 1ST SEMESTER Answer the following questions according to what you think happens in the classroom. A. Mark true (T) or false (F): ( ) We usually have fun in our English classes. ( ) Students enjoy making posters and drawings. ( ) We like copying a lot of exercises from the blackboard. ( ) Ms. Gomes shouldn't talk so much during the class. ( ) Students need to memorize vocabulary lists. ( ) Some students talk a lot in class. ( ) The teacher always smiles as she walks in the classroom. ( ) Students should study more English. ( ) We like many activities, such as singing and watching videos. ( ) When class starts, students should open their notebooks.
Practitioners: Aline Santiago Public school: ELT/Teacher Education + Continuing Teacher Education Puzzle: Why am I so irritated when I have to face the 807 group ?’ PEPAs: Composition + Continuing Teacher Education + Collective Reflection Sharing: Poster presentations In the beginning of this year I was in a quite difficult situation because I had to face an eighth grade group that has been seen as the worst at school, principally in relation to discipline. After some bad moments together, I was quite irritated and could not stand the situation. So I decided to start some work based on an Exploratory Principle using the subject I was dealing with according to the course plan (‘must’ X ‘should’). The starting point was a brainstorming considering ‘Quality of Life’ immediately linked to ‘Quality of Life in class’ – one of the EP principles. The following moment was to write sentences using ‘should’ or ‘must’, regarding the role of students and teachers in class. I collected the sentences made in groups and, in the following class, the sentences were shared with the whole group. On that day, they had the chance to write their comments about our work and future life in class, taking into consideration the sentences made by them. In addition, they could try to guess what my initial puzzle was: ‘Why am I so irritated when I have to face the 807 group?’ To my surprise, my terrible group was able to understand that it was necessary to improve our life in class and really took part in the talk and process of understanding what was happening. They realised that the responsibility of having a pleasant class needed to be shared, it was not only my own concern. Also, they helped me realise that I was partially responsible for our bad relationship, because I was unable to listen to them. After three classes sharing ideas, we could understand that respect from both parts was necessary. Also listening was part of our life in class, although we were not exercising this ability. I can say that we have grown with this simple way of understanding something that has made us so uncomfortable in class. Now, we really are a group! Our life in class is much better! (Santiago, 2006, in: Allwright & Hanks, 2009: 191)
Practitioners: Walewska Braga, Thelma Côrtes, Ana Flora Oliveira Public school: English Language Teaching + Teacher Education Puzzle: Why do some 7 th grade students disrespect longtime friends? PEPAs: Nicknames + Reading/Discussion + Monitoring + Poster Sharing: Poster presentations; Co-authored text in Smith & Bullock (2015).
Practitioners: 2nd year high-school students, future teachers and teacher educators Private schools: Mixed classes + Teacher Education Puzzle: Why/how do we suffer at school? PEPA: Brainstorming + Drawing + Debate
Practitioners: Teachers, coordinators, activists, educational psychologists, etc. PUC-Rio: Continuing Teacher Education + Master’s; PhD (2002 -2016). Puzzles: Classroom or work-oriented puzzles PEPAs: Reflexive Activities, Exploratory Interviews, Exploratory Conversations, Exploratory Dynamics. Life in the classroom: where Exploratory Practice and Psychoanalysis meet (Sette, 2006). Doing, being academic supervision. Exploring the backstage of a community of practice (Borges, 2007). How many threads to weave a reflection? Narrative and argumentation in the loom of interaction (Moraes Bezerra, 2007). The notion of understanding in Exploratory Practice: a Wittgensteinean approach (Cerdera, 2009). Members of the Exploratory Practice group working to understand their own narratives of experience (Santiago, 2009). Who am I? Who were we?: (The Story of) a research on teacher identities (Reis, 2014). “I’m not just participating. I’m also benefitting from it all” : Exploratory Practice in teacher research development (Ewald, 2015). Exploratory Dynamics: Psychologist and teachers working collaboratively to understand socio-affective suffering at school (Souza,2015). A PhD thesis as a potentially exploitable pedagogic activity: working to understand textualisation of academic knowledge (Moura, April 1 st !).
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