A Dialogic Approach to Dispositional Coaching and Assessment Within a Distributed Knowledge Community

• In Event: 14.026 - Dispositions for Teaching and Learning: Conceptualization and Enactment Across Teacher Education Contexts

Abstract

Literature in the preparation of teachers to work with students of diverse racial, gender, linguistic, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds and identities emphasizes that, “the difference between more- and less- effective urban teachers is largely dispositional” (Laine, Bauer, Johnson, Kroeger, Troup, & Meyer, 2010, p. 74). Yet, there is little shared understanding throughout the literature about methods or approaches to formatively teach or coach for dispositions (Raths, 2007; Rose, 2013). Further, conversations among teacher educators (e.g. course instructors, mentors, clinical supervisors, cooperating teachers) at our institution reiterated a need to collaboratively address dispositions across our own teacher education context. Therefore, the core purpose of this paper is to explore a three-pronged conceptualization of dispositions that illustrate the complexity and fluidity of dispositional awareness, commitment, and enactment across teaching and learning contexts.

The conceptual framework guiding this dispositions work is founded on three key elements. First, dispositions are formative in nature and can grow and develop over time. This element is grounded in the belief that teacher candidate dispositions can be cultivated, coached, and changed because they are not fixed personality traits (Murrell Jr,, Diez, Feiman-Nemser & Schussler, 2010; Salazar, Lowenstein, & Brill, 2010; Whitcomb, 2002). The second element of this conceptualization is based on a distributed knowledge framework (Hutchins, 1993) that emphasizes how dispositions should be understood, coached, and assessed by multiple stakeholders, across multiple teacher preparation contexts. Finally, this dispositional conceptualization is fundamentally about equity and social justice and is based on the notion “that dispositions and social justice are inextricably linked” (Hill-Jackson & Lewis, 2010, p. 65).

Beyond addressing specific ways of conceptualizing dispositions, this paper uses interview and focus group data from pilot participants to more thoroughly consider the usability of various methods of assessing evidence of dispositional awareness, commitment, and enactment. Such assessment processes view the candidate holistically and focus on their comprehensive experiences, recognizing the complexities of a candidate’s dispositional development across multiple contexts (e.g. school-based experiences, courses taken on campus) through the eyes of multiple teacher educators (e.g. supervisor, mentor teacher, course instructor). The authors explore challenges in defining levels of dispositional growth toward enactment throughout this work as a means of creating a more comprehensive and applicable educator disposition system.

This paper makes three contributions to understanding dispositions for teaching. First, we present a validated descriptive framework for equity-based dispositions. Second, we illustrate coaching processes across multiple contexts of teacher education. Finally, we propose a theoretically and empirically based model of teacher development that can critically shaping teachers’ dispositions.

Authors

• Jehanne Beaton, University of Minnesota

• Jenna Cushing-Leubner, University of Wisconsin - Whitewater

• Su Jung Kim, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Miranda Schornack, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Jessica Tobin, University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

• Mistilina D. Sato, University of Minnesota