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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/79989
Description
Title
Teaching Reluctant Learners
Author(s)
Snow, David R.
Issue Date
2007
Doctoral Committee Chair(s)
Witz, Klaus
Department of Study
Secondary and Continuing Education
Discipline
Secondary and Continuing Education
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Education, Mathematics
Language
eng
Abstract
This is a holistic study of teachers in classrooms with students who are reluctant to learn. The emphasis of the work is on teaching effectiveness which I tie to the specific beliefs of teachers, and to how these beliefs encourage reluctant student motivation and engagement. This study is built upon several rational concepts. First, the classroom teacher can and does have a direct impact on the effectiveness of a learning session. Second, the words and actions of a teacher are only manifestations of a deeper dynamic and are therefore not essential qualities of instruction. The third is that effective practice can be experienced, understood, and communicated. Moustakas's (1990) methodological steps are leveraged to reach a deep understanding of my own teaching experience, to cast these experiences in contrast to the accounts of others in the student intervention research and teaching literature, and to communicate the resulting understanding to the readers of this report. The results of this research include (a) a thorough communication of the nature and qualities of reluctant students and their classrooms, (b) an integrated discussion of the role of teacher within these classrooms, and (c) a discussion of teacher beliefs that encourage teaching effectiveness. These identified beliefs include the notion that teaching relationships are both personal and challenging, dialogue (internal, between students, and between teacher and student) is essential and is itself learning, quality in aims and goals must be a consideration in effective planning and practice, all students have limitless potential, and effective practitioners by nature work to improve their practice on a continuing basis.
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