ERIC Number: EJ1411364
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 30
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0039-8322
EISSN: EISSN-1545-7249
Making "Small Waves of Change": Dual Language and General Education Teacher Transformation through Instructional Coaching
TESOL Quarterly: A Journal for Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages and of Standard English as a Second Dialect, v58 n1 p138-167 2024
This multisite qualitative case study explores ways in which instructional coaching focused on English language development (content) and teachers' individual beliefs (process) can help general education and dual language bilingual education elementary teachers work within and through perceived institutional barriers to improve their language and literacy instruction for designated English language learners (ELLs). In practice, much literacy coaching in schools is often finite and fidelity-oriented yet coaching grounded in constructivism empowers and emboldens teachers to become agents of change. Using the Vygotsky Space theoretical framework, we draw on multiple data sources generated during classroom observations, sessions with an instructional coach, and postprogram interviews to examine how 12 teachers moved through the stages of "appropriation", "transformation", "publication", and "conventionalization" over the course of a 2-year period. Results show that teachers exhibited meaningful shifts in their beliefs and teaching practices for ELLs during their coaching experience, but that sharing and internalizing those changes are protracted processes. We also identified two additional phases in the Vygotsky Space cycle: "prepublication", where teachers expressed desires and plans to share new ideas, and scale-up, where teachers began to reach individuals and institutions beyond their initial context.
Descriptors: Coaching (Performance), Instructional Effectiveness, Bilingualism, General Education, Regular and Special Education Relationship, Second Language Learning, English Language Learners, Elementary School Teachers, Change Agents, Faculty Development, Teacher Attitudes, Attitude Change, Teaching Methods
Wiley. Available from: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030. Tel: 800-835-6770; e-mail: cs-journals@wiley.com; Web site: https://www.wiley.com/en-us
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: Office of English Language Acquisition (OELA) (ED)
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: T365Z170072; T365Z170213