High School English Teachers’ Professional Life Cycle: A Study in an EFL Context

Background Numerous reports have highlighted problems with writing instruction in American schools, yet few examine the interplay of teachers’ preparation to teach writing, the instructional policies they must navigate, and the writing development of the students in their classrooms. Purpose This study examines high school English teachers’ instruction of writing while taking into account their preparation for teaching writing—both preservice and inservice, the instructional policies in place, and the learners in their classrooms. Setting Data used come from public high school English teachers teaching in Northern California. These data were collected in 2011–2012, when teachers were sill complying with the mandates of the No Child Left Behind legislation. Research Design I use year-long qualitative case studies of five high school English teachers to highlight various ways teachers used their knowledge of writing instruction to negotiate the pressures of accountability policies and their students’ needs as writers to teach writing. Data collected include beginning- and end-of-year interviews with each teacher, four sets of 1- to 2-day observations of each teacher's instruction of writing, and instructional documents related to each teacher's writing instruction. These data were analyzed using the constant comparative method to look for themes within the data collected from each teacher and then make comparisons across teachers. Findings from the case studies are supported by findings from a survey of 171 high school teachers who taught a representative sample of California high school students at 21 schools in 20 districts. The survey included 41 multiple-choice items that asked about teachers’ instructional practices and their perceptions of high-stakes accountability pressures and their students as writers. Survey data were analyzed quantitatively using descriptive statistics and principal components analysis. Findings Findings illustrate that significant differences existed in how the five teachers approached their writing instruction. These differences were due to both the teachers’ varied preparations to teach writing and the contextual factors in place where each taught. Those teachers with more developed knowledge of writing instruction were better able to navigate the policies in place at their sites and more equipped to plan appropriate instruction to develop their students as writers. Recommendations Findings indicate teachers would be better served by opportunities to develop their knowledge of writing instruction both prior to and once they begin their teaching careers. Additionally, the findings add to an existing body of research that demonstrates the limiting effect high-stakes assessments can have on teachers’ instruction of writing.

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What is Effective Literature Instruction? a Study of Experienced High School English Teachers in Differing Grade- and Ability-Level Classes

Journal of Literacy Research ◽

10.1080/10862960009548084 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 32 (3) ◽

pp. 303-348 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Jane Agee

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

English Teachers ◽

Ability Level ◽

Student Needs ◽

Literature Instruction ◽

High School English ◽

Student Centered ◽

Literature Curriculum ◽

Teacher Centered

This study examined how experienced high school English teachers defined and gauged effective literature instruction as well as how their perspectives affected their students' experiences with literature. The research focused on 3 questions: (a) How did these teachers define effective literature instruction? (b) What kinds of evidence did they look for to gauge their effectiveness? and (c) How did their perceptions of effective literature instruction inform their decisions about texts and ways of reading them with students in different grade- and ability-level classes? Profiles of 5 teachers showed that they used differing models for literature instruction against which they gauged their effectiveness. Flexible, student-centered models allowed teachers to address differences among students. Inflexible, teacher-centered models often limited teachers' ability to address student needs effectively. The kinds of models the teachers used determined whether or not they were willing to listen to feedback from students and to use it to make changes in their literature curriculum.

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Teacher Research and Collaborative Inquiry: Teacher Educators and High School English Teachers

Journal of Teacher Education ◽

10.1177/0022487198049004003 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 49 (4) ◽

pp. 255-265 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Peg Graham

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Teacher Research ◽

Teacher Educators ◽

Collaborative Inquiry ◽

English Teachers ◽

High School English

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English Pragmatics in Ecuador

Theory and Practice in Language Studies ◽

10.17507/tpls.0709.03 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 7 (9) ◽

pp. 723

Author(s):

Gerardo E. Heras Urgilés ◽

Jean-Paul Jara Villacreces

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Foreign Language ◽

Teaching And Learning ◽

English Teachers ◽

Language Learner ◽

Public High School ◽

Research Project ◽

High School English ◽

English Teaching ◽

English Curriculum

Research has revealed that developing the pragmatic ability is a key element for any second or foreign language learner. The present paper aims to shed some light on the issue of pragmatics as part of English teaching and learning in the context of Ecuador. This paper is part of a research project that will involve public high school English teachers of Cuenca, Ecuador. After extensive research, it has been found that even though pragmatics is now part of the new English curriculum in this country, research in this field of linguistics is almost nonexistent.

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A Dialogue: Our Selves, Our Students, and Obama

Harvard Educational Review ◽

10.17763/haer.79.2.15248101585n002k ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 79 (2) ◽

pp. 199-206

Author(s):

Jennifer Mclaughlin ◽

Kim Kelly

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

Public School ◽

English Teachers ◽

Lower East Side ◽

East Side ◽

High School English ◽

President Obama ◽

Plain Text ◽

Real Change

The following essay is a dialogue between two high school English teachers at a small,progressive public school on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Throughout their dialogue, Jen, whose voice appears in italics, and Kim, whose voice appears in plain text, discuss the factors that motivated their decisions to become teachers, tell of the distinct impact that Obama's election has had on their practice and their students,and suggest that many students feel ambivalent about the extent to which President Obama could effect real change in their lives. The article concludes with an anecdote,suggesting that educators can engage in a process of inquiry with students to help them make connections between Obama's election and their lives.

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A critical view of urban literacy: A case study of successful high school english teachers

The Urban Review ◽

10.1007/bf02354957 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 26 (3) ◽

pp. 173-185 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Theresa Rogers ◽

Mari M. McLean

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

English Teachers ◽

High School English ◽

Critical View

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High School teachers' Experiences in classroom Ecology of Language Teaching: A Study from the Phenomenological Perspective

Journal of English Education and Teaching ◽

10.33369/jeet.4.4.466-482 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 4 (4) ◽

pp. 466-482

Author(s):

Mani Ram Sharma

Keyword(s):

High School ◽

English Language ◽

Language Teaching ◽

English Teachers ◽

English Language Teaching ◽

High School English ◽

Classroom Ecology ◽

Teachers Experiences ◽

Phenomenological Perspective ◽

Ecology Of Language

The present study aims to look into ecological classroom practices adopted by teachers while teaching English language courses at colleges in Kathmandu, Nepal. The study specifically explains how three high school English teachers in the class felt about ecology of language teaching, how they experienced teaching, and how they provided meaning to it. Three high school English teachers’ experiences were recalled through an in-depth phenomenological interview. The results revealed that the need of classroom ecology was not emphasized. The teachers' experiences in the form of narratives, collected, transcribed, coded, thematic analyses and presented in the notion of emerging themes that English language teaching helped to explore the effective classroom ecological practices in detail. The study is expected to contribute in making EFL teaching successful in linguistic landscapes of Nepal.

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