Reconceptualizing the Complexity of Teaching: Perspectives From Preservice Teachers

• In Event: Thursday Roundtable Session 9:00 am
  In Roundtable Session: Assessment and Coherence in Teacher Education (Table 36)

Abstract

Framed within complexity theory, this study explores how preservice teachers come to understand the nature of teachers’ work through an analysis of course-based assessments and focus group interviews. Findings indicate that course assessments show a strong alignment with the tenets of complexity theory: 1) emergence of self-organization; 2) the networked nature of information and relationships; 3) feedback loops that shape behavior; and 4) working at the edge of chaos and stability. However, preservice teachers do not demonstrate a strong conceptual understanding of teaching in these terms in conversation. This study suggests that complexity theory offers conceptual language, metaphorical turns, and affirmation of intuitions, which can be used in teacher education to give shape and clarity to learning how to teach.

Author

• Mistilina D. Sato, University of Canterbury