Student teacher as researcher: accepting greater responsibility for learning about teaching.

Student teachers' learning about teaching can be substantially enhanced through teacher preparation if a student teacher as researcher stance is adopted. Through this approach, student teachers can develop more meaningful and sustained ways of focusing on their learning about teaching by extending reflection into more systematic inquiries into practice. In so doing, the value and intent of student teachers as researchers can be a most empowering outcome. However, such an approach requires teacher educators to trust that student teachers can (and should) accept more responsibility for their own learning about teaching. This paper examines one way of developing a student teacher as researcher approach in teacher education that (hopefully) helps to challenge the more traditional role of teacher educators directing student teachers' learning about teaching.

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Reflective practice has been a cornerstone of many teacher preparation programs for a considerable period of time (e.g. Calderhead & Gates, 1993; Clift, Houston, & Pugach, 1992; Loughran, 1996; Richert, 1990; Tom, 1985; Zeichner, 1983). However, the intention and value of reflection can easily become diluted if the practice is seen as being 'routinised'. For example: ever-present journaling tasks can quickly lead to student teachers complaining of being 'reflected out'; assessing/grading reflection is counter-productive; and specifying a structure for reflection may quickly lead to the process simply being viewed as a task in need of completion. Hence developing appropriate ways for student teachers to learn about their teaching through reflection clearly requires ownership of, and responsibility by, individuals for their learning about teaching needs. The notion of effective reflective practice (Loughran, 2002) is one way of attempting to resolve these difficulties; this paper pushes these ideas further in the evolution of a student teacher as researcher stance in teacher education.

Student teacher as researcher is a natural consequence of the development of teacher as researcher (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 1999; Flack & Osier, 2000; Huberman, 1996; Loughran, Mitchell, & Mitchell, 2002; Lytle & Cochran-Smith, 1992) whereby recognition that the questions, issues and concerns that teachers choose to research are qualitatively different from those not in the privileged position of classroom teacher. In a similar manner, student teachers themselves are best placed to know what it is that they want to know and better understand about practice, and should therefore be encouraged to develop ways of dealing with their concerns in their practice. Yet this view is at odds with traditional teacher education practice that can be characterised as pursuing the 'sacred story' (Clandinin, 1995). It could well be argued that teacher education struggles with the contradiction in practice between imposing (perhaps unintentionally) solutions on student teachers and assisting them to develop their own responses to their own situation themselves.

Despite this contradiction, there is little doubt that many teacher educators have a deep concern for their student teachers' learning about teaching (see, for example, Guilfoyle, Hamilton, & Pinnegar, 1997; He, Walker, Bodycott, & Crew, 2000; Hobart, 1997; Kuzmic, 2002; Kwo, 1998; Russell & Bullock, 1999). Finding ways to help student teachers see in their own teaching what they may not be sufficiently experienced or ready to see for themselves can lead to teacher educators telling student teachers what they should know and do--the sacred story. This can lead to a paradox in practice, one which student teachers often bemoan, of a transmissive approach to teaching for understanding. So the question arises, how might student teachers be encouraged to learn about their own practice and not approach it as another imposed task? One possibility is through the development of student teacher as researcher and this can be encouraged through the use of anecdotes (van Manen, 1999).

Anecdotes: A catalyst for student teacher as researcher

In a teacher as researcher fourth year elective in the double degree (e.g. B.Sc./B.Ed., B.A./B.Ed) at Monash University, student teachers are encouraged to find ways to apprehend (what to them are) critical incidents in their own teaching. There are no rules for what comprises a critical incident however; viewing teaching as problematic (Berry, 2004) is an important starting point. Van Manen (1999) developed the use of anecdotes with high school students:

   Think back to one teacher and describe ... a particular experience
   with this teacher. In your anecdote refer to how the teacher talked,
   acted, behaved, or used certain gestures. Describe the kinds of
   things that were said, showed, taught or learned in this lesson or
   school situation. (pp. 19-20)

Drawing on these guidelines, student teachers, when reflecting on their experiences of learning about teaching, have demonstrated that they too can develop very powerful anecdotes about their learning about teaching.

   'Oh no! They know I don't know'

   Like an eagle circling, waiting to swoop on its prey she would watch
   me. She always sat in the front; right in the centre. Her eyes would
   follow me as I moved, waiting, waiting for the mistake that would
   catapult her hand into the air. 'But Miss ... how ... why?' So far
   her attacks had been fended off with tenuous links and dubious
   explanations that had managed to satisfy her curiosity, but I was
   beginning to think it was only a matter of time.

   Today's class was about Antarctica and I was halfway through an
   explanation about the freezing and melting of Antarctica with the
   seasons, when out of the corner of my eye I saw that hand shoot into
   the air. I started to move to the back of the room in the hope that
   my travelling time with my back to her would be enough to see her
   give up, but, alas, when I turned around, the hand was still in the
   air. I had no choice.

   Mary, I began. Do you have a question?

   Miss, how can Antarctica be 100 per cent fresh water if it melts and
   freezes?

   When it refreezes, wouldn't the surrounding salt water be added?

   I think I tuned out halfway through the question when I realised
   that my time had come. My teaching career was over before it had
   even begun. I was a complete phoney, standing in front of a class
   pretending to know it all while being shown up by a 14-year-old. I
   was still standing at the back of the room when I felt the other 24
   pairs of eyes turn around in judgement of me. Some even worsened my
   plight with cries of yea , yeah'. I racked my brain for an answer as
   the sweat started to pour down the back of my neck. I felt like a
   convicted criminal about to face the firing squad. She had finally
   caught me. I stuttered enough to alert the entire class to my plight
   and they seemed to lean forward in eager anticipation of my
   downfall. I took a deep breath, faced the jury and said it.

   'I don't know.'

   I waited for the explosion, for the cries of disgust as they
   realised that I was no teacher. Would they throw things at me like a
   disappointed crowd at a concert or would it just be a verbal
   barrage? I guess that it was lucky that my supervisor was here as
   she could just take over the lesson straightaway while the principal
   led me off the grounds. Would I have a chance to collect my things?
   Oh well, it had been fun while it lasted and there were other things
   that I was good at. Maybe I could pursue a career in hospitality or
   I could re-enter the exciting world of fast food full time. This
   wouldn't be the end of me completely. That would be a bit of an
   over-reaction to the situation surely!

   After what seemed like an eternity, I managed to calm down the
   noises in my head and I realised that the class was in fact silent
   and, as I glanced around, many were in fact looking as if they were
   deep in thought about this question. A girl actually called out her
   answer which led a few others to put forward their ideas. As the
   ideas continued to bounce around the room, I regained consciousness
   and realised that nay inability to answer the question had
   apparently gone completely unnoticed.

   The discussion continued as I began to regain the feeling in my body
   and when the bell rang I was lucid enough to be able to thank the
   students for their participation and to dismiss them in an orderly
   fashion.

   I walked over to nay supervisor to receive my sentence. She looked
   up at me with a smile.

   'Fantastic, great to see a student teacher who isn't afraid to say
   that she doesn't know and uses it to draw out such thoughtful
   discussion. Well done!' (Student teacher, October 2003)

I would argue that the use of anecdotes not only allows student teachers to begin to reconsider their teaching in ways that encourage ownership and understanding, but that, in so doing, they begin to learn to frame and reframe practice in ways that are central to what Schon (1983) highlighted in his description of reflective practice. Further to this, in documenting learning about teaching through anecdotes, another resultant value is in the way that such personal accounts of practice speak to other student teachers in ways that teacher educators cannot.

Anecdotes written by those who have recently been confronted by, or experiencing, particular student teacher situations, ring true in meaningful ways for others facing similar situations. Such anecdotes explain and develop ideas about which student teachers readily identify and relate to in ways that are qualitatively different from similar explanations of similar situations from a teacher educators perspective. Crucial to the value of these anecdotes is that the authors portray the episodes in ways that carry genuine learning that encourages others in similar situations to reflect in meaningful ways on their own practice. They neither carry the expert-novice connotations that can detract from learning about teaching, nor the perceived implication of 'do as I say. Rather they lay bare the situation in ways that make sense for other student teachers--as if they were there, experiencing and responding themselves.

The use of anecdotes can be a catalyst for more sustained approaches to a student teacher as researcher approach to learning about teaching, as they offer new ways in to viewing the problematic nature of teaching. This point is well illustrated by the unsolicited reaction of one student teacher when reconsidering his learning through writing an anecdote.

   This process of personal research although simple has illustrated
   to me the benefits of writing anecdotes. Not only did this serve
   to get things off my chest, but also to think through the
   subtleties of what occurred in a particular situation. This piece
   also allowed me to evaluate nay response and attitudes. In
   this situation ... question[s] arising from the research [were]:
   Had I actually solved the problem? [Did I have a] recurring problem?
   Is there a problem with being too idealistic? What other way is
   there to be? (Student teacher, September 2002)

As noted earlier, a central issue in reflection is the notion of framing and refraining, which is important in influencing future practice. In many instances in teacher education, the teacher educator may well recognise aspects of student teachers' practice that they know need to be corrected; yet responding appropriately can create a difficult challenge; invoking the contradiction inherent in the sacred story approach. Clearly then, teacher educators knowing and pointing out areas for development and student teachers seeing these themselves are two very different things. Seeing something for oneself can be a most powerful shaping factor in understanding one's own practice.

   In just 8 seconds

   As they worked quietly through the worksheet, I leaned against my
   desk thinking to myself, 'not too bad for a first lesson'. I
   looked at each student one by one in an attempt to label them:
   Mark, enthusiastic, usually the first to put up his hand; Beth,
   quiet, she's hardly said a thing; the curly, red-haired kid, noisy,
   I should really learn his name; Luke, he must be a good student.
   Just as I thought that, his hand went up.

   'Yes Luke?' I confidently enquired.

   'Mr. Smith, can I go to my trumpet lesson now?' he asked.

   I thought about it briefly. Everything was going well, I really did
   have these kids knowing who was boss and I felt in complete control.
   Luke sat there looking at me as if I was the most powerful man in
   the world.

   'Sure Luke," l responded confidently.

   Luke slowly packed up his books, stood up and left the room.

   As the door closed behind him, the class broke into a chorus of
   laughter.

   I was suddenly much less confident, what was happening? I caught
   Mark's eye and stammered, 'Mark. What is it? What's going on?'

   'Umm, Mr Smith. Luke doesn't play trumpet!'

   I went from the most powerful man in the world to the most
   gullible in just eight seconds. (Student teacher, October 2003)

The way this student teacher explains the situation illustrates issues and understandings that may not be so readily recognised and responded to if a teacher educator was attempting to draw attention to them--or attempting to correct them. From a student teacher's perspective, seeing and responding to one's own situations is more personally meaningful than feelings associated with being corrected (or criticised) by others for what, in some instances, may appear to be simple aspects of learning to teach. Hence anecdotes can be a very powerful mechanism for focusing attention on issues in learning to teach. Anecdotes have the capacity to do so across a vast array of situations--from technical through to the moral, ethical and political aspects of practice. And, as such, they can be a catalyst for more sustained inquiry.

Student teacher as researcher projects

Over the past four years, the research projects conducted in the teacher as researcher elective at Monash University have highlighted an interesting range of issues and concerns that have captured participants' attention. Despite the diversity of topics (see Table 1), central to most has been the search to understand issues of learning about teaching.

Almost all of these projects portray a personal perspective, driven by the way in which the concern impacted on the individual's understanding of teaching and learning in ways that are perhaps not so common in their more traditional teacher education projects and assignments. In fact, because of the personal commitment to learning, refining the research focus/question itself has often been a catalyst for enhancing a sense of strong personal value and impact. For example, consider the introduction to one particular project.

   I didn't start three research assignments in the last teaching round
   because I had a burning desire to do triple the work of everyone
   else. Rather, like the three little pigs, my first two ideas turned
   out to be not made of strong enough material to last the three
   weeks. I feel the reasons for this are interesting and relevant,
   so rather than just describing my 'house made of brick' assignment,
   I would like to explore the less successful attempts as well.
   (Student teacher, 2000)

This student teacher, like many others, developed her research over time as she came to refine her understanding not only of what she was doing, but also of the data and evidence on which her conclusions were being drawn. Interestingly, instead of simply producing the final polished paper that might convey to a reader how well everything went, it was important to her to illustrate the problematic nature of teaching and the subsequent complexities created when researching one's own practice--a most powerful insight in itself. Further to this, through a student teacher as researcher approach to learning about one's own teaching, it is immediately apparent that many of the issues teacher educators know student teachers need to be confronted by are apprehended and developed in ways that would not be so fruitful if simply pointed out by an experienced other. The following excerpt illustrates this point.

   'Good afternoon, my name is tour guide Rick and today we're going
   to be visiting some caves. I have x number of tourists with me
   and--oh no! The stalactites are falling down and 3 of the tourists
   have been killed. Now I have x-3 number of tourists. Oh, now Mrs
   Brown has gone into labour and given birth to quadruplets. Now we
   have x+ 1 number of tourists.' As Rick read this out, the rest of
   his group acted the story out dramatically.

   I found that most of my lessons were 'chalk and talk' lessons on
   the first [teaching] round. I think that it can be hard to think
   of different ways to do things, particularly when the vast majority
   of lessons that I observed were chalk and talk. In fact, during the
   six weeks of observations we did in the first three years
   [of the degree], the lessons I observed were basically all chalk and
   talk.

   On my first round, I did a few standard chalk and talk lessons and
   one lesson with a difference. Another teacher suggested that I ask
   the students to write 'algebra stories'. I was a bit nervous about
   trying Something different but thought I'd give it a go anyway. The
   students got right into it, probably because it was something they
   could all work on. It catered for those with mathematical
   abilities, those who were good at English and those who were good at
   art (they decorated their stories with crayon drawings). When the
   time came to present them, then those who were good at drama or
   public speaking had a chance to shine. It was the first time I had
   tried something different and I was so happy that it had worked.
   It was the lesson I enjoyed the most and the lesson the students
   enjoyed the most too. Interestingly enough it was the lesson
   that I found the least stressful because the lesson wasn't as
   focused on me as others had been.

   This round I have been trying to vary the lessons a bit and have
   used a number of different strategies, some with more success than
   others. It has been a real bonus having the dream Year seven class
   because I am able to experiment with them a bit more. Even if
   something doesn't go quite as expected, it is still possible
   to rescue the class from complete disaster and get some work done.
   Also I have found group work with them has been reasonably
   successful. When I eavesdrop on the groups, most of the
   conversations are about the topic we are currently studying.
   (Student teacher, 2000)

This report goes on to explore how this student teacher learnt to take the risks necessary to teach in ways that were more in line with her expectations for good practice. More than this, it also illustrates one way in which a student teacher can come to challenge Lortie's (1975) 'apprenticeship of observation' and begin to 'teach against the grain' (Cochran-Smith, 1991).

It would not be difficult to analyse all of the reports for the past four years in order to develop a strong data set to support the argument being developed here. However, the purpose of this paper is to highlight the inherent value in trusting student teachers to be capable of accepting responsibility for directing their own learning about teaching; and, at the same time, encouraging teacher educators to consider carefully their own teaching about teaching so that real alternatives to the teacher-centred practice student teachers so often criticise in teacher preparation programs might be examined. The brief excerpts and ideas offered here, I trust, will encourage such a response. However responding requires a recognition that, for student teachers to take real responsibility for their own learning about teaching, they need to recognise problems of practice in their practice themselves before they are likely to respond in meaningful ways. This is commensurate with the notion of reflection and the need to frame a problem in order to test ways of solving the problem.

In the case of a student teacher as researcher approach, this framing and reframing is encouraged when student teachers pursue their own problems of practice. As the anecdotes and excerpts in this paper illustrate, the manner of portrayal cannot be prescribed and the student teacher researcher, in many ways, continues this framing and refraining through the manner in which the research is presented to others. I have come to see that, for many student teachers, these portrayals offer real access to the learning of others and are most engaging ways of confronting the practice of teacher educators recognising problems for student teachers and then imposing solutions on them, in contrast to assisting them to recognise their own problems and to develop their own responses in their own situations.

Conclusion

Deeply embedded in the purpose of teacher education is the desire for beginning teachers to develop their students as active, responsible learners. It has been well demonstrated for a considerable period of time (Zeichner & Gore, 1990) that many beginning teachers become socialised into teaching in ways that make such practice difficult to achieve. Sadly the possibilities for student teachers to be active responsible learners of teaching is often diminished through the nature of teacher education, whereby that which they experience is not always in accord with the espoused expectations for learning. A student teacher as researcher stance is one way of beginning to deal with this problem. Maybe then more beginning teachers would feel empowered in their learning about teaching.

   Although sceptical of teacher-research at first, I now understand
   that it is an invaluable opportunity to better one's self as a
   teacher, both personally and professionally. Now that I have
   researched an essential part of my approach to teaching, I look
   forward to carrying these discoveries and new-found techniques into
   my professional teaching career. (Student teacher, 2002)

Keywords

inquiry learning reflective teaching student teachers teacher education teaching process

Table 1 Student teacher as researcher topics (200-2003)

research topics                                        Number
                                                     completed

Questioning one's teaching/The role of the teacher       16
Using new teaching procedures                            11
Teaching for learning about learning/metacognition        7
Student motivation/relationships                          7
Teaching using learning theory (e.g. Multipke
  intelligences)                                          6
Classroom management                                      6
The nature of schooling                                   5
Computers as a teaching tool                              3
Developing an understanding of research                   3
Assessment                                                3
Supervising Teachers                                      1
Total                                                    68

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J. John Loughran is the Foundation Chair in Curriculum and Professional Practice in the Faculty of Education, Monash University, Wellington Road, Clayton, Victoria 3800. E-mail: [e-mail]