Thesis

Perceptions of Vietnamese teachers towards incorporating dialectical thinking: A transformational model of curriculum and pedagogy By Thi Ngoc Linh Bui A thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education School of Education Faculty of Education and Arts The University of Newcastle March, 2019 i Statement of Originality I, Thi Ngoc Linh Bui, hereby certify that the work embodied in the thesis is my own work, conducted under normal supervision The thesis contains no material which has been accepted, or is being examined, for the award of any other degree or diploma in any university or other tertiary institution and, to the best of my knowledge and belief, contains no material previously published or written by another person, except where due reference has been made in the text I give consent to the final version of my thesis being made available worldwide when deposited in the University’s Digital Repository, subject to the provisions of the Copyright Act 1968 and any approved embargo Signature Name: Thi Ngoc Linh Bui Date : 14/03/2019 ii Statement of Authorship I hereby certify that the work embodied in this thesis contains a published paper work of which I am a joint author I have included as part of the thesis a written declaration endorsed in writing by my supervisor, attesting to my contribution to the joint publication By signing below I confirm that Thi Ngoc Linh Bui contributed a scenario of critical thinking in the Vietnamese educational context to the paper entitled “Conversations on Critical Thinking: Can Critical Thinking Find Its Way Forward as the Skill Set and Mindset of the Century?” [Sellars et al (2018) Conversations on Critical Thinking: Can Critical Thinking Find Its Way Forward as the Skill Set and Mindset of the Century? Educ Sci 2018, 8, 205] Signature of Supervisor Name Prof John Fischetti iii Acknowledgements I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to my supervisors Prof John Fischetti and Dr Maura Sellars Thank you to both of you for your encouragement, support, and expertise during my journey, for your patience towards my “scientific mind” and mentoring me how to conduct research in social science, especially for accepting to meet me weekly over the last two years Thank you very much to both of you for involving me in the collaborative work with the Aga Khan University and giving me a valued chance to contribute to our publication I am deeply grateful to the Ministry of Educational and Training (MOET) for generously awarding me a postgraduate scholarship which benefited me in undertaking this PhD without having to worry about any financial assistance so I could concentrate fully on my research A big thank you must also be accorded to the 18 principals and over 673 schoolteachers in Binh Dinh province who agreed to participate in this study and gave me their invaluable voices on the potential implementation of dialectical teaching I also want to express my gratitude to my current employer – the Quy Nhon University and my colleagues for all support for my studying My sincere thanks goes to Ms Ruth for being a great editor and giving me valuable help on presenting my thesis Finally, I want to express my love and profound thanks to my family: my husband Nguyen Duc Thien and my beloved little TP, without their love and endless encouragement, this study would not have been completed Special thanks to my parents, my sisters, and brothers for their encouraging calls during the time I was alone in Australia Also, big thanks to my friends in Newcastle for their friendship and support iv Abstract The globalisation of the world and the pervasion of emerging technologies in society has resulted in a challenge to the traditional didactic forms of teaching and learning Scholars around the world are proposing that education prepares students with cognitive capacities to be reflective, creative, and effective in their thinking and problem solving In the Vietnamese context, dialectical thinking has a potential to be a way to enhance people’s cognitive capacities necessary for their success in life Dialectical thinking has evolved in Vietnam’s culture and embraces cognitive processes globally identified as critical thinking However, the challenge of this new way of engaging learners or “dialectical teaching” is that its success or failure depends on the ways current and future teachers embrace or resist the philosophical and pedagogical emphases of learner-centred approaches In order to understand teachers’ perceptions of embedding dialectical teaching, I conducted a survey research to investigate the perceptions of schoolteachers from 18 schools in Binh Dinh, Vietnam My analysis of the results of my study revealed that Vietnamese teachers had three main perspectives towards the potential implementation of dialectical teaching in their contexts: receptivity, ambivalence, and reluctance In general, most of the participant teachers recognised the opportunity of the new pedagogical approach and were willing to incorporate it; however, they were not necessarily convinced about students’ capacities to learn in new ways, due to their traditionally held beliefs about learning and measuring students’ cognitive capacities They also did not feel confident to carry out new forms of teaching because of their lack of preparation for innovative teaching and the challenges of the realities of teaching in their schools The results of my study have implications for the evolution of dialectical teaching in Vietnam and around the world, with recommendations for the teacher education, professional development, and leadership sectors v Table of Contents Statement of Originality i Statement of Authorship ii Acknowledgements iii Abstract iv Table of Contents v List of Tables xi List of Figures xii Chapter One: Introduction 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Background of the Study 1.2.1 Vietnamese historic, social, and cultural contexts 1.2.2 Vietnamese educational development 1.2.3 Vietnamese education in the globalisation age 1.3 Research Purposes 11 1.4 Significance of Research 14 1.5 Research Design 15 1.6 Analytical Framework 16 1.7 Organisation of the Thesis 19 1.8 Chapter Summary 21 Chapter Two: Dialectical Thinking as a Way Forward 23 2.1 Dialectical Thinking - A Vietnamese Mindset 24 2.1.1 The dialectical mind in Vietnamese Society 24 2.1.2 Dialectical thinking in Vietnamese education 28 2.1.3 Dialectical thinking: cognitive capacities 30 2.1.4 Summary 34 2.2 Vietnam and Critical Thinking 35 2.2.1 Critical thinking in tertiary education 35 vi 2.2.2 Critical thinking in general education 37 2.2.3 Summary 39 2.3 A Discussion of the Impacts of Culture and Society 39 2.3.1 The statement of geography of thought 40 2.3.2 Rational thinking and human adaptation 43 2.3.3 Summary 45 2.4 Child Development, Dialectical Thinking, and Vietnamese Students 46 2.4.1 The global potential of enhancing cognition 47 2.4.2 Evidence for Vietnamese student’s potential to develop their thinking capacities 49 2.4.3 Pedagogy to develop global cognitive capacities 49 2.4.4 Summary 51 2.5 Dialectical Teaching - a Vietnamese Pedagogical Framework 52 2.5.1 Vietnamese educational philosophy and Dewey 52 2.5.2 Dialectical teaching: a culturally appropriate pedagogical approach 54 2.6 Chapter Summary 58 Chapter Three: Teachers and Pedagogical Change 60 3.1 Teachers’ Perceptions of Their Professional Work 60 3.1.1 Teachers’ perceptions of teaching and their roles 61 3.1.2 Teachers’ beliefs about students’ abilities to learn 75 3.1.3 Summary 81 3.2 Vietnamese Teachers and Their Current Teaching Practice 82 3.2.1 Innovation in educational and teacher change 82 3.2.2 Teachers’ perceptions of barriers to change 85 3.3 Reflection and Teacher Conceptual Change 90 3.4 Chapter Summary 96 Chapter Four: Research Methods 98 4.1 Purpose of the Study 98 vii 4.2 Research Design 99 4.2.1 Rationales for survey research 99 4.2.2 Instrument 99 4.2.3 Sample 103 4.2.4 Ethics considerations 104 4.3 Data Collection 104 4.4 Data Analysis 106 4.4.1 Analysing closed-ended questions 106 4.4.2 Analysing responses to open-ended questions 106 4.5 Research Reliability and Validity 109 4.6 Limitations 111 4.7 Chapter Summary 112 Chapter Five: Teachers’ Perspectives of Implementing Dialectical Teaching 113 5.1 Description of participants’ demographic information 113 5.1.1 Gender of participants 113 5.1.2 Ages of participants 114 5.1.3 Teaching experience of participants 114 5.1.4 Levels of teaching 115 5.1.5 Qualifications of participants 115 5.1.6 Location of participants’ schools 116 5.1.7 Number of students working with this year 116 5.1.8 Teaching subjects of participants 117 5.2 Teachers’ Understandings of the Appropriateness of Dialectical Teaching 118 5.2.1 Teachers’ receptivity to dialectical teaching 120 5.2.2 Teachers’ ambivalence about dialectical teaching 125 5.2.3 Teachers’ reluctance to implement dialectical teaching 127 5.2.4 Summary 129 viii 5.3 Teachers’ Beliefs about Students’ Capacities to Learn with Dialectical Teaching 130 5.3.1 Dialectical teaching is for all students 131 5.3.2 Dialectical teaching is not for my students 135 5.3.3 Dialectical teaching is only for good or excellent students 138 5.3.4 Summary 140 5.4 Teachers’ Opinions about the Implementation of Dialectical teaching 141 5.4.1 Teachers’ receptivity for dialectical teaching 141 5.4.2 Teachers’ reluctance to implement to dialectical teaching 146 5.4.3 Summary 148 5.5 Teachers’ Enthusiasm to Implement Dialectical Teaching 148 5.5.1 Teachers’ enthusiasm 148 5.5.2 Teachers’ reluctance to implement dialectical teaching 152 5.5.3 Summary 154 5.6 Teachers’ Feelings of Preparedness for Change and Their Learning Needs 154 5.6.1 Teachers’ professional knowledge 155 5.6.2 Teachers’ recommendations for implementing dialectical teaching 159 5.6.3 Summary 161 5.7 Teachers’ Anticipations of Opportunities and Challenges of Implementing Dialectical Teaching 162 5.7.1 Advantages of the implementation of dialectical teaching 163 5.7.2 Disadvantages of the implementation of dialectical teaching 167 5.7.3 Summary 171 5.8 Chapter Summary 172 Chapter Six: Teachers’ Professional Identities and Dialectical Teaching 174 6.1 Receptive Teachers 175 6.1.1 Teachers’ perceptions of the appropriateness of dialectical teaching 175 6.1.2 Teachers’ beliefs about students’ capacities to learn successfully 179 ix 6.1.3 Teachers’ perceptions of their own motivation to implement dialectical teaching 182 6.1.4 Teachers’ self-confidence to implement dialectical teaching 184 6.1.5 Summary of receptive teachers 190 6.2 Ambivalent Teachers 190 6.2.1 Teachers’ perceptions of the appropriateness of dialectical teaching 191 6.2.2 Teachers’ beliefs about students’ capacities to learn successfully 197 6.2.3 Teachers’ own motivations to implement dialectical teaching 206 6.2.4 Teachers’ self-confidence to implement dialectical teaching 211 6.2.5 Summary of ambivalent teachers 235 6.3 Reluctant Teachers 236 6.4 Chapter Summary 240 Chapter Seven: Discussions, Recommendations, and Conclusions 247 7.1 Introduction 247 7.2 Discussions of the Findings 248 7.3 Recommendations 253 7.3.1 In-service teacher professional development 254 7.3.2 Pre-service teacher preparation 262 7.3.3 Recommendations for ministerial and school leadership 265 7.4 Suggestions for Further Studies 271 7.5 Contributions of the Study to Existing Knowledge 271 7.5.1 Dialectical thinking – a praxis thinking model for a vibrant Vietnam 272 7.5.2 Teachers’ perceptions of implementing dialectical teaching 275 7.6 Contributions of the Study to Researcher’s Understanding 277 7.7 Conclusion 281 References 283 Appendix A Evidence of Child Cognitive Capacities 330 Appendix B Results of Statistical Tests 345 ... Thi Ngoc Linh Bui, hereby certify that the work embodied in the thesis is my own work, conducted under normal supervision The thesis contains no material which has been accepted, or is being... hereby certify that the work embodied in this thesis contains a published paper work of which I am a joint author I have included as part of the thesis a written declaration endorsed in writing... except where due reference has been made in the text I give consent to the final version of my thesis being made available worldwide when deposited in the University’s Digital Repository, subject