Self-Study in ESL Teacher Preparation With a "Critical Friend"

• In Event: Self-Study of Language and Literacy Teacher Education Practices Across Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Contexts

Abstract

Objectives
Our M.Ed. program has only one course in applied linguistics. It is challenging to try to “cover” all the material that appears on the Praxis II exam in one course. This paper utilizes self-study to promote more culturally responsive teaching and support for non-traditional teacher candidates.
Perspectives
TESOL professionals may question whether the amount of time spent preparing students for standardized tests is at odds with the development of literacy, higher order thinking. In an era of accountability “teaching to and beyond” standardized tests is often held up as an ideal. However, the ideal is not easily realized when test items are culturally biased. In this self-study we draw from critical and socio-cultural theoretical frameworks to address the question of how to “teach to and beyond the test.”
Methods
By introducing the element of a “critical” friend as an outside researcher who was not a member of the class, the professor of the course facilitated more honest feedback, supported more systematic analysis for course and program decision-making, and gained the insights of a person who was not educated in U.S. Pre-K-Grade 12 schools.
Data
Student feedback on the course was gathered by adapting Quirk’s (2001) framework. Additionally, a focus group was conducted by the second researcher to gather feedback on the Praxis workshop components of the course. Finally, student errors on the Praxis II practice exams were analyzed. Critical friend feedback was gathered both verbally and in written format weekly.
Results
1. Collaboration between the two researchers in this self-study of teaching afforded dimensions of student feedback (positive and negative) that students might have been reluctant to provide to the professor directly. Working with “negative” feedback was challenging, and collaboration supported deeper self-reflection through “re-framing” ideologically charged and controversial issues in the curriculum involving language, race, gender, class and various constructions of difference.
2. While the “critical friend” role of the second researcher afforded “outsider” and “insider perspectives in gathering and interpreting student feedback, becoming a “critical friend” is not easy given power differentials. Collaboration in research involves a dialogic reciprocity, which emerges over a period of time through praxis.
3. Top performing Praxis II ESOL test-taking students tended to be privileged with respect to being native-speakers of English, supporting critiques of standardized tests which place monolingual English native speakers as norm.
Significance
The problem of how to “teach to and beyond the test” is of significance to teacher educators of pre and in-service teachers alike. How to prepare teacher candidates for standardized tests presents ethical as well as pragmatic dimensions. Student feedback gathered from this project informed program decision-making concerning how to support prospective ESL teachers who may not score well on Praxis II, including developing individualized study plans, multilingual portfolios and other alternative assessments, and/or supplementary evidence of knowledge of language as a system; this feedback also provided evidence concerning the use of Native-speaker of English norms to measure non-native English speaking candidates. Our study showed how collaboration can strengthen self-study in teacher education (Samaras, 2002).

Authors

• Shelley Wong, George Mason University

• Maryam Saroughi, George Mason University