| The original problem posed by this study was the following: if some teachers talk too much, how can we get them to see this and change their practice? This formulation of the problem ignored student talk and lacked adequate theoretical conceptions of teacher talk and practice, learning and teaching. Sociocultural theory provides a better the conceptual framework for this study, principally through the idea that learning is change in participation over the history of engagement in practice. The case study consists of a sample of six teacher candidates in a teacher education course, with the course instructor in the role of participant-observer---both teacher and researcher. The candidates are asked about their own participation in college classes, and how teachers and students should participate in classrooms. Three videotaped small-group discussions provide the primary data for the dissertation and are analyzed to address two research questions. First, how do the discursive consciousness of the candidates on the issue of teacher and student classroom participation, and their actual participation, change over the course of the three conversations? Second, how does this learning compare to what the instructor intended the candidates to learn about participation, particularly the conduct of class discussions through questions? The study findings have a number of implications for the instructional design and pedagogy of teacher education. First is the idea that the way a course is taught, beyond its subject matter content, has much to do with what the students learn. Second, a willingness on the part of an instructor to open oneself to self-study and critique, and the modeling of good teaching strategies, holds intriguing possibilities for those who would participate in the education of teachers. Finally, comparing what new teachers say and what they do can tell us a great deal about the development of democratic environments in classrooms. |
