Walter Doyle

4: Paradigms for Research on Teacher Effectiveness:

Teacher effectiveness research has occupied a conspicuous place within the spectrum of scientific inquiry in education. Interest in the question of what distinguishes superior from inferior teachers has flourished since the early 1920s and by midcentury had stimulated an impressive number of studies (Domas & Tiedeman, 1950). The quest was rejuvenated in the 1950s with the formation of the AERA Committee on Criteria of Teacher Effectiveness

Learning the Classroom Environment: An Ecological Analysis

Naturalistic method was used in the present study to obtain descriptive records on relationships between environmental events and teacher behavior in student teachers’ classrooms (on this method, see Tinbergen, 1972). Analysis of these records was structured in terms of an ecological model which postulates that environmental demands moderate performance and establish limits on the range of response options (see Doyle, 1977a, 1977b). From this perspective, learning to teach involves learning the &dquo;texture of the classroom&dquo; and a set of behaviors congruent with the demands of that setting. Two features of the ecological approach as used in this study merit comment. First, the analysis involved a search for evidence concerning the function of teacher behaviors in classroom settings. The fundamental question, in other words, was naturalistic: Why do these behaviors occur? The emphasis, was clearly on explanation, on &dquo;fashioning&dquo; hypotheses in terms of environment-behavior relationships to account for recurring patterns of classroom activity (see Overholt & Stallings, 1976). Such an approach is, of course, more appropriate for generating hypotheses than for testing hypotheses in a formal manner. Second, the analysis was conducted at a level that emphasized similarities &dquo;... space is not merely a background for events... &dquo;

How Can We Improve School Discipline

School discipline addresses schoolwide, classroom, and individual student needs through broad prevention, targeted intervention, and development of self-discipline. Schools often respond to disruptive students with exclusionary and punitive approaches that have limited value. This article surveys three approaches to improving school discipline practices and student behavior: ecological approaches to classroom management; schoolwide positive behavioral supports; and social and emotional learning. The article examines their epistemological and empirical roots and supporting research, suggesting ways to combine approaches.

Narrative and Learning to Teach: Implications for Teacher-Education Curriculum.

The use of narrative as a perspective within which to understand teacher development has gained considerable momentum in the last decade (Carter 1993, Carter and Doyle 1996, Doyle 1997, Munby et al. 2001), and this perspective has led to several important innovations in the pedagogy of teacher education: the study of cases, the writing of personal narratives, and the like. But few have pushed the narrative perspective beyond pedagogy to examine the assumptions and interpretations that underlie the contents, activities, and arrangements of preservice teacher preparation, i.e. to explore the curriculum of teacher education.

Heard Any Really Good Stories Lately? A Critique of the Critics of Narrative in Educational Research.

Abstract In this paper I examine the problems of “truth” in the use of narratives to study teaching. The analysis focuses on the themes of universality and control that have dominated the study of teaching and conceptions of the relationship between research and social policy. I argue (1) that teaching can only be known through story; (2) that story gives rise to provisional models that teachers can use to address local situations; and (3) that policy is a storied process grounded in the cherished narratives of a society and, thus, story is central to fostering school improvement.

Content representation in teachers definitions of academic work

(1986). Content representation in teachers’ definitions of academic work. Journal of Curriculum Studies: Vol. 18, No. 4, pp. 365-379.

Recent Research on Classroom Management: Implications for Teacher Education

Few problems associated with teaching receive more attention than classroom management and discipline. In particular, many critics of teacher education claim that the preservice curriculum does not adequately stress the requisite concepts and skills needed for helping prospective teachers prevent and deal with the discipline problems evidenced in classrooms. In this article, Doyle synthesizes the research on classroom management and suggests possible directions for revising preparation experiences to accommodate an emerging knowledge base.

The Practical Turn in Teacher Education: Designing a Preparation Sequence for Core Practice Frames

Amid calls for more practice-based teacher education, this article presents a concrete illustration of a practice-based bridging strategy for preparing high school biology teachers to enact open-inquiry labs. Open-inquiry labs were considered a core practice frame that served as a context for identifying core practices and for giving coherence to separate components of the approach to labs. A bridging model was developed in which the teaching practices, understandings, and intentions of 31 biology student teachers were elicited with respect to their current lab segments, and these were compared with the concrete segments of the core practice frame. From this analysis, a progression was developed to support prospective teachers in moving from existing conceptions of appropriate practice to a realization of the new practice frame as a better way to achieve valued goals.

Learning to Teach: An Emerging Direction in Research on Preservice Teacher Education.

Doyle provides an overview of the research on learning to teach. He describes how theoretical characteristics of the professional curriculum often con flict with survival needs of prospective and practicing teachers. He further discusses voids in the induction and inservice research literature and notes emerging research directions.

Situated Practice: A Reflection on Person-Centered Classroom Management

This article provides a situated perspective on the person-centered classroom management practices described in this issue, in order to highlight the special contribution these practices make to sustaining meaningful student engagement in classroom activity. Building on Paul Gumps efforts to conceptualize the classroom environment, the discussion focuses especially on understanding the programs of action embedded in activities as central elements in establishing and sustaining productive classroom order. Because these action systems are jointly constructed by teachers and students, person-centered practices have enormous power for engaging students in classroom events.