Developing Research Competence of Pre-Service EFL Teachers
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.34142/2709-7986.2022.27.2.15Keywords:
Action Research, Enquiry Stance, Pre-Service Teacher Education, Pedagogical Reflection, Research CompetenceAbstract
Action research has become an integral part of a teaching practitioner’s professional activity improving the quality of teaching and contributing to innovations in the educational system. To be able to conduct action research efficiently, a graduate from a teacher training university should not only realize the significance of action research for their personal and professional development but also be equipped with the necessary methods and techniques and have an enquiry stance.
The purpose of the article is to highlight the features of the process of developing students' research competence while their studying for a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree at the Department of Foreign Philology of H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University. The described model appeared as a result of the implementation of the new national curriculum in methods of teaching English as a foreign language.
The methodology of the study involves both a critical analysis of the models of action research currently employed in teacher education and empirical methods investigating our own daily activities as educators (observation and the participants’ structured interviews). Structured interviews of 20 student teachers were taped, transcribed and analysed by the research educators engaged in the study.
Results. The authors described the principles and stages of developing students’ research competence at the Department of Foreign Philology of H.S. Skovoroda Kharkiv National Pedagogical University. The results of the structured interviews prove the significant role of action research in teacher education. In the course of their training, the students gradually become aware of the challenges of action research, ways to overcome them and the relevance of it for teachers’ professional and personal growth.
Conclusions. The suggested system of developing pre-service teachers’ research competence proved its obvious benefits for educating reflective practitioners able to become agents of change.
Downloads
References
Andriessen, D. (2014). Praktisch Relevant én Methodisch Grondig? Dimensies van onderzoek in het HBO [Practically Revelant and Methodically Thorough? Dimensions of research in higher professional education]. Utrecht: Hogeschool van Utrecht.
Ax, J., Ponte, P., & Brouwer, N. (2008). Action Research in Initial Teacher Education: An Explorative Study. Educational Action Research, 16(1), 55–72. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650790701833105
Bissonnette, J.D., & Caprino, K. (2014). A Call to Action Research: Action Research as an Effective Professional Development Model. Mid-Atlantic Education Review, 2(1), 11-22.
Burns, A. (2009). Doing Action Research in English Language Teaching: A Guide for Practitioners. Routledge.
Cochran-Smith, M., Barnatt, J., Friedman, A., & Pine, G. (2009). Inquiry on Inquiry: Practitioner Research and Student Learning. Action in Teacher Education, 31(2), 17–32. https://doi.org/10.1080/01626620.2009.10463515
Dewey, J. (1933). How we think. Buffalo, NY: Prometheus Books.
Holovan, M.S., & Yatsenko, V.V. (2012) Sutnis’t ta zmist ponyattia “doslidnytska kompetentnist” [The Essence and the Content of the Notion “Research Competence”]. Теоrіia ta metodyka navchnnia fundamentalnykh dystsyplin u vyshchii shkoli: zbirnyk naukovkyh prats, VII, 55-62. [in Ukrainian]
Kemmis, S. (2009). Action research as a practice‐based practice. Educational Action Research, 17(3), 463-474. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650790903093284
Kirkwood, M., & Christie, D. (2006). The role of teacher research in continuing
professional development. British Journal of Educational Studies, 54, 429–448. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8527.2006.00355.x
Lattimer, H. (2012). Action Research in Pre-Service Teacher Education: Is There Value-Added? Inquiry in Education, 3(1), 1-25. http://digitalcommons.nl.edu/ie/vol3/iss1/5
Leung, C. (2009). Second language teacher professionalism. In A. Burns & J. C. Richards (Eds.), The Cambridge guide to second language teacher education (pp. 49-58). New York: Cambridge University Press.
Nebytova, I. (2022). Scientific and Pedagogical Support for Future Primary School Teachers during Teaching Practice. Educational Challenges, 27(1), 80-91. https://doi.org/10.34142/2709-7986.2022.27.1.07
Oolbekkink-Marchand, H.W., Oosterheert, I., Lubberink, L.S., & Denessen, E. (2022). The Position of Student Teacher Practitioner Research in Teacher Education: Teacher Educators’ Perspectives. Educational Action Research, 30(3), 445-461. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2020.1857811
Oolbekkink-Marchand, H.W., van der Steen, J., & Nijveldt, M. (2014). A Study of the Quality of Practitioner Research in Secondary Education: Impact on Teacher and School Development. Educational Action Research, 22(1), 122–139. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2013.854175
Typova Prohrama “Metodyka navchannia angliiskoyi movy”. Osvitnii stupin bakalavra [Core Curriculum “English Language Teaching Methodology”. Bachelor’s Level] (2020). Ivano-Frankivsk: NAIP. [in Ukrainian]
Ulvik, M., & Riese, H. (2016). Action Research in Pre-service Teacher Education – A Never-ending Story Promoting Professional Development. Professional Development in Education, 42(3), 441–457. https://doi.org/10.1080/19415257.2014.1003089
Vaughan, M., & Burnaford, G. (2016). Action Research in Graduate Teacher Education: A Review of the Literature 2000–2015. Educational Action Research, 24(2), 280–299. https://doi.org/10.1080/09650792.2015.1062408
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Nataliia Tuchyna, Ihor Kamynin
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
