ERIC EJ659479: Client Analysis in Teacher Education: What Some Canadian and South African Teachers Identity as Their Professional Development Needs.

19 Pages·2001·0.8 MB·English

by  ERIC

Client Analysis in Teacher Education:
What Some Canadian and South African
Teachers Identify as their Professional
Development Needs
Ruth Epstein
Theclientanalysisconductedinthisstudyexplorestheprofessionaldevelopment
needsof11 language teachers,five in SouthAfricaandsixinCanada. Thestudy
employs a questionnaire and interviews to discover how each teacher's back
groundand contextaffects his orherperceived professionaldevelopment needs.
Interviews show that teacher educators cannot necessarily predict teachers'
professionaldevelopmentneedsbasedontheirbackgroundsandcontextsalone.A
variety ofinputsfrom recipients overan extended time is desirable and would
yield more accurate predictability ofan individual's professional development
needs. This would result in teacher education programs that more accurately
meetateacher'srealneeds.
L'analyseeffectueedans Iecadredela presenteetudevisaitaexplorerles besoins
en perfectionnement professionnel de 11 enseignants de langue dont cinq en
a
Afriquedu Sudetsixau Canada. Un questionnaireetdesentrevuesontrevele
quel pointlesantecedentsdesenseignantsetleurcontexteaffectentleur percep
tion de leurs besoins en perfectionnement professionnel. Les entrevues ont
indique que les formateurs d'enseignants ne peuvent pas toujours predire les
a
besoins en perfectionnement professionneldes enseignants uniquement partir
deleursantecedentsetleurcontexte. Diversrenseignementsrecueillisdesenseig
nantssuruneperiodeprolongeepermettraientde mieuxpredireleurs besoinsen
perfectionnement professionnel. Le resultat en serait que les programmes de
formation desenseignantssatisferaientmieuxlesbesoinsreelsdesenseignants.
Background
Partofmy 1999 sabbatical leave involved an analysis oflanguage teachers'
professional development (PD) needs. I was particularly interested in how
teachers'personalandeducationalbackgrounds,institutionalandclassroom
contexts, and the sociopolitical environments in which they lived and
worked might affect their perceived PD needs. As a teacher educator I
wanted toensure thatIwas attending to the opinions ofpracticingteachers
in clientanalysis, bywhichI mean one part ofthe needs analysis ineduca
tionalprogramming.Thepurpose ofclientanalysisis to obtainbackground
78 RUTHEPSTEIN
information from potential program participants such as the potential
participants' age,sex,learningstyle,educationalbackground,experiencein
thecontentarea,contextin whichtheyare involved, learningsupports,and
other factors that will affect the content and design of the educational pro
gram toensurethatthe program addressestheirgoalsandneeds. Myobjec
tive was to adapt client analysis to gather information from practicing
teachers.
TothisendIsetoutthefollowingobjectives:
tolearnwhatpracticingteachershad tosayabouttheirpersonaland
educationalbackgrounds,teachingcontexts,andsociopolitical
environments;
toconductaclientanalysisthatgathereddataprovidedbypracticing
teachers;
toexplorelinksbetweentheaboveinformationandperceived
professionaldevelopmentneeds.
Myinterestinteachers'backgroundsand contextswaspartlyfueledbya
TESOL Quarterly article by Freeman and Johnson (1998) that stressed the
importance of taking a broad view of a teacher's knowledge base when
developingprogramsforteachers.Thisbroadviewiscomplex,andaccounts
for teaching as it is practiced as well as how it is learned. Freeman and
Johnsonnotethatteachereducatorsmusttakeaholistic,long-term,construc
tivist view that includes the sum of teachers' experiences and how they
interpretwhatthey learnin teachereducationaccordingtotheirownteach
ingcontexts. The authors highlight the following three domains "in which
teachers learn and practice theircraft .., the teacher-learner, the social con
text [this also includes the socialand politicalclimate], and the pedagogical
process"(p.406).Iwasinterestedinusingthisframeworktohelpinformthe
language teacher education curriculum, and especially in ensuring that
teachers' identified needs reflected these domains. Although Freeman and
Johnson do not provide sample questions for teachereducators that would
helpgatherthisinformation,thequestionnairethatIdevelopedinthissmall
scale study was designed to gather some of the information suggested by
queryingtheactualexperiencesofteachers.
Although I did not develop a formal hypothesis, I predicted that when
asked to determine their PD needs, language teachers' most urgent needs
would be based on immediate pressures such as their current classroom
situations,theneedsoftheirstudents,andpressurestoincorporatethelatest
pedagogicaltrends. Forexample, ifteachingEnglishfor academic purposes
(EAP), teachers' expressed PD needs might focus on teaching academic
reading and writing skills. If they were teaching elementary students, the
teachersmightfocusontheneedtoknowmoreabouttopicssuchascoopera
tivelearningand materialsdevelopment.Ifcommunicativelanguageteach
ing was the pedagogical trend, they would want to learn more about it.
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Freeman and Johnson (1998) concur, stating that the content of language
teaching programs "must be understood against the backdrop of teachers'
professional lives, within the settings where they work, and within the
circumstancesofthatwork"(p.405).Ialsoanticipatedthatlevelofeducation
mightplaya role in teachers' expressed PDneeds. Forexample, those with
master'sdegreeswouldbemoreinterestedinlanguageteachingtheorythan
thosewithundergraduatedegreesorteachingdiplomas.Manyofmypredic
tions were borne out in this study. However, I believe it is important that
othersseektheinputofteachersontheirPDneeds toverifymyconclusions.
ResearcherBias
Boyle (1981) states that programmers such as teacher educators must be
aware of the values they bring to client analysis and state these values up
front.Moreover,itisimportantthateducatorsandeducationalprogrammers
beanswerabletotherecipientsofeducationasmuchasisfeasible, obtaining
fromthemahighdegreeofinputandinvolvementinprogramdevelopment.
It is for this reason that I interviewed practicing teachers to obtain their
feelings ontheirPDneeds.
I conducted part of this study when I was in South Africa between
JanuaryandMarch1999.Becausefiveofthe11respondentswerefromSouth
Africa,itislikelythatthisstudyincludesmyownculturalbias.SouthAfrica
hasacomplexmixofcultures.DuringmystayItookeachteacher'sresponse
atfacevalueanddidmybesttospeaktoawidevarietyofpeopletoreachan
understandingofthepast,present,andfuture ofthecountryand itspeople.
Althoughthisstudyfocuses onclientanalysis,notcross-culturaldifferences,
I am nonetheless concerned that my own culture and my judgments about
what is happening in South Africa are reflected. Again, it is importantthat
South Africans themselves conduct this kind of study as they have the
deepest understanding of their cultures and the current dynamics in that
nation.
ClientAnalysis
Clientanalysisorunderstandingisamajorcomponentofneedsassessment.
The established adult education literature states that the purpose ofneeds
assessment is to identify the gap between the present situation and what
shouldbe (Boyle, 1981;Devlin,1996).Fieldtheoryofmotivation(Boyle)has
beenusedas away toexplainhowclients orthe potentialparticipantsinan
educational program, such as a teacher education program, identify their
learning needs. Field theory of motivation suggests that when potential
clients are in a state of disequilibrium (e.g., regarding what they need to
know in the workplace), they may seek learning opportunities to regain
homeostasis. Others agree that one's sense ofcompetence is related to this
theory.
80 RUTHEPSTEIN
Thewidelyacceptedviewalsopresentssimilarformalandinformalways
of conducting client analyses (Boyle, 1981; Caffarella, 1994; Devlin, 1996;
Percival, 1993), stating that combining types of needs analysis helps over
come the strengths and limitations of each (Boyle; Percival). Caffarella's
strategies for client analysis are similartoherstrategies for generating pro
gramming ideas that include how much participant involvement the
programmer, orin this case the teacher-educator, desires. Thiselicits ahigh
degreeofteacherinputregardingtheirPDneeds.
Cervero and Wilson (1994) take a critical view of programming, asking
the question "To whom is the adult educator ethically and politically
answerable?" (p. 5). They see educational programming as a social activity
that involves the democratic and humanistic process of negotiation. This
process suggests the necessity ofdialoguebetween adulteducators and the
recipients of an educational program (Boyle, 1981). This view is intriguing
because itis connected much more closely to the direct input ofthose who
willbeinvolved inreceivingtheprogram. Thisviewalsoimpliesthatclient
input is sought and the curriculum revised as clients participate in the
learningevent(Cranton,1989).
Methodology and Sample
This is a qualitative study using a questionnaire administered to volunteer
respondents. Thequestionnaire wasdesigned, assuggested inthearticleby
FreemanandJohnson(1998),togainasmuchknowledgeaspossibleonhow
teachers "learn and practice their craft," that is, about teacher-learner rela
tionships,abouteachrespondent'steachingandsocialcontext,andaboutthe
pedagogical process by which each learned and now practices his or her
profession.Theinitialgoalwastodevelopindividualteacherprofilesaswell
as each teacher's perceptions of his or her current PD needs. It was not
designed to elicit quantitative or comparative data. However, interesting
patternsexistintherelationshipsbetweeneachteacher'sexpressedPDneeds
atthetimeresponseswerereceivedandhisorherbackground,teaching,and
sociopoliticalcontext.
Themainpurposeofthestudywastoobtainteacherprofilesandtorelate
eachteacher'spersonalandeducationalbackgrounds,teachingcontexts,and
sociopolitical contexts to their thoughts on their current PD needs. The
samplewasnotintendedtobestatisticallyrepresentativeorlargeenoughto
draw generalizations. The responses have, therefore, not been subjected to
formal cross-case analysis. Rather, interview responses for each participant
areexploredanddiscussedintheDiscussionandConclusionssection.
I pilot-tested the questionnaire with six English-language teachers in
Western Canadawho agreed to participate. Ihoped eventually to use their
responses in my findings. I asked English for EAP teachers to participate
because Iknew Iwould be meeting with EAP teachers inSouthAfrica and
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wantedsometeachers withsimilarbackgrounds.Ialsoapproached teachers
inaWesternCanadiansettlementagencysimplybecauseIknewtheteachers
in that setting. Because these teachers were selected on the basis of their
willingness to participate, they could not be considered a representative
sample. Three Canadianrespondents were teachingin university EAP pro
grams that comprised young adults primarily from Southeast Asian coun
tries. The EAP students were hoping to improve their English so that they
could gain admission to academic study at the university level. The three
other Canadian teachers were working with adult newcomers to Canada.
Theirstudentswerefromavarietyofnationsandhadavarietyofeducation
albackgrounds.Thestudents'goalsweregenerallytoparticipatesuccessful
lyinCanadiansociety.
Teacherswereaskedtocompletethequestionnaireinwriting.Theywere
alsoasked to give suggestions thatwould improvethe designand wording
ofthequestionnaireforusewithotherteachers. Minorrevisionsweremade
to the questionnaire for use in South Africa, eliminating redundancies and
clarifyingand reorderingsomeofthe questions. Thequestionnairecontains
55 questions designed to obtain a teacher profile and to identify teachers'
perceived currentPDneeds. The questions weresubdividedintofivebroad
areas: About your education; About your PD; About your teaching; About
yourcontext;andAboutyourstudents.
The questionnaire was constructed so thatSouthAfrican teachers could
choosetorespondinwritingorinaninterview.IdidthisbecauseIknewthat
teachers would not necessarily be available for interviews when I was in
their region. One elementaryschool language teacherand one EAP teacher
chosetorespondinwriting,and threechosetorespondviainterviews.
FiveSouthAfricanteachers volunteered. AswiththeCanadianteachers,
theywereasked iftheywereavailableand willingtoparticipateand, there
fore, again, are not representative of all South African teachers. Two were
Blackand three were whiteSouthAfricans.Twowere teachersoftheXhosa
languageworkingintheelementaryschoolsysteminthe EasternCapewith
students aged 8to 12.Imetthese two teachers throughmyassociationwith
a teacher educator and thought their experiences and perceptions would
enrich the study. The other three were EAP teachers in university settings,
two from Eastern Cape and one from Kwazulu-Natal. The EAP teachers
were working with students who spoke traditional African languages and
hadobtainedseniormatriculation.
Findings
This section highlights responses according to the major sections of the
questionnaire. I summarize responses in paragraph and table form. To en
sureanonymity,theteachersareidentifiedasfollows:SAlandSA2=teachers
ofXhosainelementaryschools;SA3,SA4,SA5=SouthAfricanEAPteachers
82 RUTHEPSTEIN
in universities; C6, C7, C8=Canadian EAP teachers in universities; C9, CIa,
CII=CanadiansteachingadultnewcomerstoCanada.
About Your Education
This setofquestions asked teachers about the contexts in which they grew
up,theschoolstheyattended,languagestheystudied,andhowtheystudied
languages.
Theteachersgrewupinavarietyoflocalesfrom rural, tosmallurban,to
largeurban.AllattendedschoolsinthepublicorCatholicsystem.OnlySAl
and SA2, teachers of Xhosa, had attended disadvantaged schools, that is,
schools with few resources (Le., few supplies and little equipment, inade
quatebuildings,classesofover40students,etc.)andteacherswithlowlevels
ofteachereducation.ThethreeSouthAfricanEAPteachersallsaidthatthey
had attended schools with well-trained teachers, class sizes under 35, and
resourcessimilartothosewewouldfind inamiddle-classschoolinCanada.
Canadian respondents uniformly said the schools they attended were
average in terms of resources. An average school in Canada would be one
found inanymiddle-classneighborhood withadequatesuppliesandequip
mentand qualifiedteachers.
All teachers had studied languages in school or as adults. All Canadian
teachers had studied French, a school requirement, although only one said
shehad achieved an advanced level. All butone Canadian respondenthad
studied other languages. Methods used to teach these languages included
structural approaches, grammar translation, audiolingualism, communica
tive and experiential approaches, and immersion. Only one respondentex
pressed dissatisfaction with language teaching approaches and methods,
althoughthreestatedthattheyhadachievedlowlevelsofcompetencegiven
thelengthoflanguagestudy.
SouthAfrican teachers similarlystudied avarietyoflanguages. SAl and
SA2 spoke English as an additional language. SAl had studied English,
Sotho, and AfrikaansandspokeallbutSothoatanadvancedlevel. SA2had
studied all those languages plus Zulu and achieved advanced levels in all.
Both these teachers described approaches used as structural or grammar
translation. Although both disliked structural approaches, they admitted
that they had learned from them. Thosewho spoke Englishas theirmother
tongue (SA3,4,and5)hadallstudiedAfrikaans.Onlyonesaidthatshehad
achievedanadvancedlevel;allotherssaidtheyachievedeitherintermediate
or beginner levels of competency. Two had also studied Latin, and one
French. Methods used were usually grammar translation, but in one case
audiolingualism. SA3, 4, and 5 all expressed dissatisfaction with their lan
guage-learningexperiences.
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AboutYour Professional Development
This sectionqueried teachers' formal and informallanguage teachereduca
tionexperiencesaswellasemploymentaslanguageteachers.Teacherswere
asked whatmotivated them to enterthe field, about their long-term profes
sionalgoals,whattheywouldstillliketolearnaboutlanguageteaching,and
theirpreferred ways of participatinginPD. Teacherswere also asked what
theyhad learned aboutthemselves and their teachingthroughouttheirlan
guageteachingcareers.
All EAP teachers in both countries held master's degrees in TESL or
appliedlinguistics. Canadianteachersinsettlementagencieshadbachelor's
degrees plus a certificate in TESL, whereas the South African elementary
schoollanguageteachersheldpre-degree-Ievelteachingdiplomas.
Teacherswereaskedtolisttheirreasonsforenteringthefieldoflanguage
teaching, their currentprofessional goals, and what they would still like to
learnaboutlanguageteaching(seeTable1).
When asked why they chose particular areas for further learning about
language teaching, four of the five South African teachers said that these
were directly related to their current work (one did not respond to the
question). Canadian teachers were not asked on the pilot survey why they
chose particular topics for PD. Several respondents, C7, C9, ClO, and SA2
expressedthedesiretopursueafurtherdegreerelatedtolanguageteaching.
Teachers selected a variety of ways of participating in PD including
formal education, experiential learning, video self-observation, reading,
learning from colleagues (in workshops and seminars, working with men
tors), observing and being observed by others, research, learningfrom stu
dents,andstudentfeedback.Teachersalsotalkedabouttheirparticipationin
informal learning activities, which included attendance at conferences and
PDworkshops, reading books and journals, taking short courses, member
ship in professional organizations, creatingmaterials, giving presentations,
observing and being observed by others, exploring Web sites, participating
in computer listservs, traveling, and working in a variety of teaching con
texts. Teachersallnotedthattheirinformallearningwasusuallyrelated toa
specificinterestinTESLortheircurrentteachingsituation.AsoneCanadian
teacher said, "Right now I am very interested in Web-based teaching and
wouldlike toread more aboutthatand incorporateitin my teaching" (C6).
TeacherstendedtoselectpracticalPDopportunities.Anothersaid,
ThekindsofbooksIfindhelpfulvarygreatlydependingonmyneeds
ortypeofcontractIamworkingon. Forexample,recentlyIhavebeen
coachingnewT's [teachers],soforthisIlooktodiff[erent] resources
thanfor dealingwithmyownclassroomissues. (C7)
84 RUTHEPSTEIN
Table1
Respondents' ReasonsforEnteringTESL, ProfessionalGoals,andWhatTheyWouldLike
toLearnAboutLanguageTeaching
Reasonforbecomingalanguage Professionalgoals Whatrespondentswouldstilllike
teacher tolearnaboutlanguageteaching
SA1 likedreadingstories; continueteachingESL;perhaps cross-culturalorientation,teaching
encouragedbyateacher developinterestinphotography listening
SA2 wantedtobeanurse,but furtherstudy(BEd) cross-culturalorientation,skills
encouragedbymothertobea integration,materials
teacher;inspiredbyvolunteer development,communicative
workandpossibilitiesof languageteaching,syllabus
communicativelanguage planning,programplanningand
teaching evaluation,experientialactivities,
cooperativelearning,experiential
learning;practicalskills
empoweringteachersinthe
classroom
SA3 enjoymentofEnglishand continueteachingESL;doctoral teachinglistening,teaching
workingwithpeople study speaking,teachingwriting,CALL
SM circumstances;primaryschool moreresearch;possiblydoctoral teachingreading,teaching
teachertrainingand study grammar,vocabulary
employmentfinallyledtoEAP development,materials
development
SA5 throughemploymentin continueteachingESL;research materialsdevelopment,testingand
academicliteracy evaluation,content-based
languageteaching
C6 discomfortteachingFrench continueteachingESL computeruse
becausenotfluent,soIbegan
teachingEnglish
C7 neededmoreinteractionat lessclassroomteachingandmore languageacquisitionresearch
work;languageteaching teachertrainingoradministration focusingongrammarand
relatedtoprevious pronunciation
employment;hadpositive
experienceteachingoverseas
C8 arevelation;became continueteaching;maybranchout languageacquisition(especially
interestedwhenbrowsingin intheareaandlookforESLwork vocabulary),computerassisted
thelibrary;topulltogethermy beyondtheclassroom languagelearning(CALL)
universitystudy,interests,
personality,andstrengths
C9 careerchangeduetojob movingfromteachingintoprogram courseandprogramdesign,
dissatisfaction;ESLvolunteer development,particularlyinCALL; effectiveuseandintegrationof
workledtorealizationthatit careermaybeatajuncture. technoiogy,computerprogram
wasamorefulfillingcareer selection,CALL
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Table1(continued)
Reasonforbecomingalanguage Professionalgoals Whatrespondentswouldstifflike
teacher tolearnaboutlanguageteaching
C10 helpedarelativelearnEnglish; furtherstudyatmaster'slevel learningalanguageusingone
enjoyedcross-culturalsharing approach
C11 loveoflanguage,drama,work continueteachingESLandworking teachinginmultilevelclasses,
withpeople,multicultural inthearts encouraginggroupwork
experiences.andvolunteering
ledtoTESLoverseasand
TESLstudyinCanada
Several Canadian teachers said that they had little time for reading the
professional literature when teachingfull time, butmightconsultbooks on
pedagogy.
Whenaskedaboutwhattheyhadlearnedaboutthemselvesthroughtheir
PDactivitiesduringtheirteachingcareers,theteachersansweredasfollows:
SAl: Imustvarymyteachingactivities;Ineedcollegiality;Ineed
feedbackfromcolleagues,students,andparents.
SA2: patienceandempathy;noteveryoneisanaturallanguage
learner;I'minspiredtolearnlanguagestorelatebetterwithmy
students.
SA3: I'vehad tobecomemoreoutgoing,morepatient,andmorestu
dent-centered.
SA4: I'velearnedtohearwhatstudentshavetosayandnotspoon
feed themsomuch;Ivaluestudentinputmoreandtry tomake
educationempowering;Ibalancecommunicativeand
structuralapproachesnowasbotharenecessary;Inowsee
teachingandlearningasaprocess.
SA5: I'magoodfacilitator; I'mgoodatkeepingsilent;Icanbeobjec
tivewithmystudents;studentssayIhaveasenseofhumor;
I'mmorerealisticaboutwhatIcando;eachtimeIteach,Ihave
toactlikeI'mteachingcontentforthefirsttime.
C6: teachingisenergy-enhancing;Iampassionateaboutteaching;I
amconstantlylearningfrommyowninvestigation,colleagues
andstudents.
C9: I'velearned:I'maperfectionistandawork-a-holic;Ihave
learnedtobelessso;Ineed tolearnandbechallenged;Iliketo
create,designnewthings; Ialsoneedtoseethingsthroughso
thatIcanseetheresults;Iliketofocus onstudents'specific
learninggoalsmorethancounselingthem.
86 RUTHEPSTEIN
CIO: Ilikesharingwithstudentsinaninterestinglearningenviron
ment.
Cll: Iloveworkingwithpeople,butneed tobreakfromitto
regroupmyenergy;myculturalsensitivityisuseful.
C6, C7, and C8 stated that this question was too involved for them to
answer adequately. This question was answered more adequately in inter
viewsastheinterviewercouldproberesponses.
About Your Teaching
Questions in this section related to respondents' teaching philosophies,
teaching strategies, materials used, and self-perceptions of teaching
strengthsand limitations. Table2listshow respondents sawtheirroles and
classroompractice.
Respondents generally said their teaching differed from how they were
taught,butthattheysometimesusedstructuralactivities toaddressstudent
needs. Teachers said that they had developed their teaching based on a
combinationofpersonal factors (e.g., personality, their ownlearningstyle),
teachereducation, andstudentneeds. As one teachersaid, "Iwantlearning
to be active, fun, dynamic, useful, hands-on, successful, interactive, and I
strivetomake thismyteachingstyle" (C6).
Although six of the respondents used textbooks in their teaching, all
madeuseofsupplementaryandself-madematerials.OneCanadianandfour
South African teachers used entirely self-made materials tailored for the
specificcourseandstudentneeds.
In discussing their teaching strengths and limitations and challenges as
teachers,respondentsansweredasshowninTable3.
About Your Context
Inthissectionteacherswereaskeddetailsabouttheirteachingsituationsand
responsibilities,institutionalsupport,andaboutstrengthsandlimitationsof
the teaching context. They were also asked about sociopolitical challenges
experiencedbylanguageteachers.
Respondents'teachingsituationsarediscussedabove.Inaddition,allhad
the necessary qualifications for teaching in their institutions, and all felt
highly responsible to their students and their institution. The Canadian
institutions inwhich these teachers worked tended to favor primarily com
municativelanguageteaching, as did the teachingcontextsofSA3andSA5.
The Canadian institutions also favored content-based teaching. A single
preferred teachingapproach was not necessarily specified inSouthAfrican
elementarylanguageprograms.
Teachers' responsibilities included teaching; program, curriculum, and
materials development; and keeping student records. Many were also in
volved in placement testing, textbook selection,computerlab maintenance,
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