Using Mursion to Explore How Teacher Noticing Affects Disciplined Improvisation in English Language Arts Discussion

• In Event: Practical and Conceptual Tools for Teacher Learning About Equitable Classroom Discussion

Abstract

Objectives
The cognitive processes used to adapt teaching are not fully understood, but are key to equitable education as teaching requires the formulation of in vivo responses to student needs. The current study explores the thought processes teachers use when they make on-the-fly adaptations during instruction in a technology-based teaching simulation in which avatar students are scripted to say things that could spur adaptation. We are particularly interested in the kinds of adaptations teachers practiced–the extent to which they diverged from planned lessons, followed lesson plans lock-step, or made micro-adaptations by slightly tweaking their plans to better achieve instructional goals.

Conceptual Framework
When teachers notice classroom interactions using an intentional, disciplined approach, their decision-making will center student needs. This inherently improvisational act is goal-driven, in-the-moment, and considers the situated contexts in which instructional adaptations are made (Erickson, 2004; Sawyer, 2004). We employ the term disciplined improvisation (DI) to describe the instructional adaptations teachers make to help all students achieve educational goals. Exploring DI helps us understand the cognition associated with teaching and the contexts in which teachers monitor their own instruction and adapt in service of students.

Methods
Ten teachers taught lessons in an augmented reality classroom where they interacted in real time with five diverse avatar students puppeteered by an actor. They engaged in concentrated, low-pressure practice (addressing classroom discourse challenges without real-world stakes) that allowed researchers to present teaching challenges specifically designed to invite DI. They taught three, 12-minute lessons centered around the poem Legal Alien on concurrent days. Teaching challenges in the form of scripted student comments were embedded in the lessons by the actor. Teachers reviewed video recordings of their teaching immediately after each session and thought aloud about it. Interactions were coded as involving DI if the teacher noted divergence from their planned lesson, researchers observed differences between the simulation and teacher-submitted lesson plans, or if the teacher considered and rejected an opportunity to change direction.

Results
Teachers made major changes to their instructional plan 31% of the time in response to student comments or because students took classroom discussion in an unplanned, but fruitful direction. Micro-adaptations (i.e., divergence from plans that did not significantly affect the focus of instruction) occurred less frequently. Most often, teachers followed their lesson plan without considering alternative options. They rarely decided to stay the course after seeing an opportunity to make a change. Examples of these different kinds of improvisations, including the contexts in which they were observed, will be discussed in the full paper.

Significance
Technology-based teaching simulations can be used to learn about and create opportunities to practice DI. Simulations provided authentic opportunities for teachers to work through opportunities to adapt to better meet the needs of their students. Like all teaching skills, DI improves with practice. Technology-based simulations provide unique opportunities for this and present low-stakes ways to work through teaching challenges, including those centered around issues of equity and justice.

Authors

• Kayce L. Mastrup, California State University - Monterey Bay

• Megan E. Welsh, University of California - Davis

• Kristen Pilner Blair, Stanford University

• Jennifer Higgs, University of California - Davis

• Alexis Patterson Williams, University of California - Davis

• Sergio L. Sanchez, University of the Pacific