CSI: Change Style IndicatorCLEs: Constructivist learning environments DoET : Department of Education and Training ELT: English Language TeachingEFL: English as Foreign LanguageESL: EngliĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt namĐổi mới trong dạy học kiến tạo bậc trung học phổ thông tại khu vực phía bắc việt nam
INTRODUCTION
MOTIVATION FOR CONDUCTING THE STUDY
In the past, I had never thought that one day I would become a teacher of English, even in my dreams I was born into a family of farming and grew up in a small village in northern Vietnam, where much of the population lives at the poverty line Below is a picture of my hometown as I was a child.
“Ha Nam is the motherland of the Red River The stork flies straight with its wings full of golden rice
The village has a bustling song Wishing for favorable rain and a bountiful harvest.”
(Hà Nam đất mẹ sông Hồng
Cò bay thẳng cánh trĩu bông lúa vàng Xóm thôn câu hát rộn ràng Cầu mong mưa thuận mùa màng bội thu)
Children like us who went to school in a poor village were luckier than the others because some children like us had to stay home to farm with their families We started to know of English when we entered 6th grade with a 3-year program that was poor in content English teachers at that time also had a lot of doubts when teaching us a new
“Western language” - tiếng Tây, as guys joke about With one-way knowledge transmission and grammar-translation methods, the English lessons were monotonous and tedious daily The teacher taught English to us as a way of inserting words into our innocent minds, and most of us could not remember “the rules” or “the structure of any language system in this strange subject.”
When entering 10th grade, most of the pupils in our class were not very interested in English, and most of them lost their knowledge a lot at that time; especially my Literature class mostly did not like English However, a miracle happened when we had a new English teacher in the second term of grade 10 because the previous teacher was pregnant During the teaching process, our new English teacher brought a fresh breath of teaching and interaction with pupils through each activity, and each exercise, not only in the textbook but also organized many other learning activities At first, we needed help to catch up with her new teaching method Nevertheless, she did not give up and left her poor pupils behind.
On the contrary, she regularly observed and tried to find a different way to raise each student She firmly believed that “learning a new language is difficult, but that does not mean it cannot be achieved and mastered.” She told us she believed that there were no weak pupils It is the teacher's new teaching methods that may achieve some changes Since then, she had tried to find the best ways to teach us, so we could understand well all the lessons and actively learn English In her lectures and teaching activities, we seemed to be the creators of knowledge and masters of our learning activities.
Furthermore, it is fascinating that most pupils in my class made remarkable progress at the end of the academic year, especially those who used to consider English, the enemy of their lives Primarily, I have always remembered the trust she gave me She encouraged me to participate in the provincial English proficiency exam Initially, I refused to participate because of fear and timidity Finally, however, she said to me, "I believe in you."
Moreover, I also changed from that belief My life officially turned a new page when I won third prize in English in the Provincial exam that year Moreover, as a student who used to be afraid of English, I have pursued my passion with a strong belief in constructivist teaching, which prompted me to pursue my dream of becoming anEnglish teacher I am a lecturer at the Foreign Language Teaching MethodologyDivision, Department of Foreign Languages Education at Thai Nguyen University of
Education My daily duty is to inspire our pupils at the Faculty through constructivist lessons toward student-centered orientation.
Every year, our teachers are assigned to train high school teachers at all levels concerning teaching methods However, through many training courses and field surveys at high schools, I found that many high school teachers still maintain one-way knowledge transmission methods in their actual classrooms At such times, the image of my old English teacher reappeared clearly in my mind about the journey of instilling fire and raising teachers' beliefs of constructivist teaching This motivation once again motivated and urged me to do this research.
BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE OF THE STUDY
For the last decades, teacher educators have emphasized the significance of devising more effective methods for providing classroom teachers with new teaching ideas, resulting in reforms in education According to Wilson and Ferrini (2002), these efforts encompass more successful preparation in content area knowledge, teaching methods, and classroom management Therefore, reforming teacher education in the Vietnamese context involves a range of activities related to all these aspects that constitute preparing for and improving the teaching profession (Namunga & Otunga, 2012).
Teacher education programs are crucial to the Vietnamese society because teachers in Vietnam are highly regarded They generate a significant impact on generations of pupils, who are the future of the country The Education Law states that,
“Teachers play a decisive role in ensuring the education quality, hold a vital position in society, and are honored by society.” (Law No 43/2019/QH14, Article 66 dated June 14, 2019)
Among the most primary and crucial responsibilities of teacher education programs, producing effective teachers take the first role Pedagogical studies have shown that Constructivism can assist teachers in making their classrooms more student-centered and their pupils’ learning more visible (Carlin & Ciaccio, 1997; Deeds & Allen, 2000).
“A constructivist approach to education is one in which pupils create, interpret, and reorganize knowledge in active and individual ways” ( Gordon, 2009, p 738)
Furthermore, the theory views learning as
“interpretive, recursive, building process by active learners interacting with the physical and social world”(Fosnot, 1996)
Reforms of teacher education in Vietnam have typically encouraged a change from the teacher-centered and knowledge transmission-oriented classroom to a more student- centered one Recent education reform entails teachers departing from traditional knowledge transmission to constructivist teaching (CT), where learners are motivated to construct knowledge on their own In other words, in the constructivist class, the focus shifts from teacher’s voices to pupils’ voices A classroom is no longer, where the teacher acts as a knowledge transmitter and pours information into passive pupils.
In such classes, pupils are motivated to actively join the learning activities to build their own knowledge, thus getting them involved in the lessons with enthusiasm It is believed that learners’ knowledge construction requires connecting with prior knowledge through CT techniques In such a learning environment, the teacher's primary role in constructivist classrooms is to assist learners to create meaning through relevant and active experiences Unlike traditional classrooms where teachers’ instructions are dependent on textbooks, pupils in constructivist classrooms are motivated to share their own thoughts and ideas.
Constructivism has been regarded as a practical approach to assist teachers in improving student achievement It requires teachers to
“step off the stage, relinquish some of their power, and release the textbooks to allow their pupils to be engaged and take responsibility for their learning actively.” (Fostern, 2013)
Besides, it is acknowledged that teachers are the key stakeholders in this transition; therefore, if teachers are ready to change towards the proposed new educational principles, the innovation will have a more opportunities of success Nevertheless, most reform plans and implementation are identified top-down approach and still need to create more chances for teacher support and practical training.
As Witfelt (2000) stated, the teacher’s roles in CT is a facilitator who provides guidance and encourages the pupils towards collaboration work, discovers the pupils' unique abilities, and observes the pupils' duties to give help if they need The CT approach assumes that instead of the two sides in the learning process, a teacher and pupils need effective interaction and collaboration towards achieving a common goal
In Vietnam, the need to reform teaching methods has now been highly appreciated and considered as
“one of the most concerned national strategies for education development.” (Decision No 711/2012/QĐ-Ttg, 13th June 2012, Chính Phủ, 2012)
Nevertheless, teaching methods or instructions in an actual classroom at high schools remains a teacher-centered approach even though teachers have well-acknowledged the importance and theories of modern teaching methodologies Actually, from my experience as a teacher educator of undergraduate-students in a teacher education program at a teacher training institution in Northern area of Vietnam, as well as from our training courses for English high schools teachers at my local, I recognized that the majority of the classrooms that were observed used rote memorization techniques and repeated exercises along with skill-based approaches employing grammar- translation and audio-lingual teaching models Moreover, I discovered that the teachers' actual practices can be at odds with the pedagogical theory outlined in their lesson plans and that they seemed to be at odds with top-down educational policy.
Understanding teachers' thought processes, or how they receive, analyze, and evaluate evidence, is ultimately a useful way to predict how they will behave (Kagan, 1990, p. 13) It is undoubted that acknowledging the values and guiding concepts that teachers adhere to is crucial As a result, many academics stress the significance of understanding teacher beliefs in order to implement educational change successfully (eg., Taylor, 1990; Cronin-Jones, 1991; Fang, 1996; Abdullah-Sani, 2000; Haney, et al, 2002; Basturkmen et al., 2004; Funda, 2006, Kasapoğlu, 2010 Abdul, 2014; Buehl
& Beck, 2015; Fives & Buehl, 2016; Josta, 2015; Adrienne, 2017; Kaymakamoglu,2018; etc.) In the context of Vietnam, teachers’ beliefs and their practices have recently merited enormous attention from a large number of scholars and researchers(e.g., Le, V.C, 2011; Son, V N., 2013; Phan, N T T., 2018) However, relatively few studies have been, to my best knowledge, carried out to explore high-school teachers' beliefs of constructivist teaching and their actual practices of using CT approaches in the English classroom in Thai Nguyen, a Northern mountainous province in Vietnam.
Considering the motivation for the study, the need for change in terms of teachers’ beliefs and actual practices at schools in the Vietnamese context, the researcher would like to conduct this study to examine changes in high-school teachers' beliefs of CT and their actual practices of using CT approaches in the English classroom The present case study addresses this topic from the perspective of high school teachers. Primarily, this study aims to explore why achieving change in CT in Vietnam's upper secondary education system is so challenging.
The following section depicts the research aims and questions of the study.
AIMS OF THE RESEARCH AND RESEARCH QUESTIONS
This study aims to provide an understanding of the beliefs toward constructivist teaching (CT) of a group of English high school teachers from a mountainous province in Vietnam In addition, it seeks to shed light on the nature of constructivist teaching in their English classes Constructivist theories from empirical research inform the study, and theories of educational change were considered to identify necessary conditions for achieving change in constructivist teaching in schools in Vietnam.
To fulfill these aims, the following questions were addressed:
1 What are high-school English teachers’ beliefs about constructivist teaching? How do these beliefs influence their classroom practices?
2 How do these teachers perceive the need for change in constructivist teaching practices?
3 What do these teachers believe might be the necessary conditions for promoting the constructivist practices?
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY
This body of inquiry is primarily exploratory and descriptive (Basturkmen et al.,2004); however, it is significant for several reasons Firstly, it contributes to the broad research into constructivist teaching (CT) for high-school teachers in Vietnam.Secondly, this research raises awareness of the importance of CT in maintaining a high teaching standard and retaining a high-quality teacher workforce to satisfy the higher demands for English skills in a globalized world Thirdly, the study offers more profound insights into high-school teachers' beliefs and classroom practices regarding
CT and the belief-practice relationship More importantly, positive changes in the teachers' beliefs about CT can lead to better classroom teaching practices Finally, the results of this research are a valuable reference to help policymakers make the right decisions on CT for high-school teachers.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The researcher carried out the present study to investigate seven English high-school teachers’ beliefs about constructivist teaching and their actual classroom practices at a high school in Thai Nguyen province, a Northern area of Vietnam Its aim is to illuminate these teachers’ beliefs about the conditions for promoting constructivist teaching to bring about a change for better teaching practices at their schools The present qualitative case study was utilized to achieve a detailed understanding of the issues via investigation Data collection instruments including semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and stimulated recall interviews were employed to gather data, which then were analyzed using thematic analysis, particularly ensuring the trustworthiness of the results.
STRUCTURE OF THE STUDY
There are five chapters in the current paper The first one has introduced my life history and ontological and epistemological assumptions, which illustrated how the researcher got interested in the field of constructivist teaching (CT) Then, the background and rationale of this research are discussed In addition, it showed the aims, scope of the thesis and the three research questions that were addressed Then,the significance of the current study was discussed Chapter 2 discusses a systematic literature review in terms of English teaching and learning in Vietnam, constructivist teaching (CT), and educational change (EC) First is the discussion of English teaching and learning in Vietnam, in which the tradition of embracing the value of education and English teacher education in Vietnam was outlined Then, the prevalent views of teaching in CHC (Confucius heritage culture) countries vs the constructivist views of teaching were briefly depicted Second, Constructivist teaching, including definitions and characteristics, was addressed Then, teachers’ beliefs about CT and teachers’ pedagogy behaviors in the classroom were also given out Third, this section describes Educational change along with three theories Then, it also introduces the theoretical framework of the current study The last part deals with some reviews of prior research in CT Chapter 3 introduces the research design and data collection instruments and procedures This chapter explains and justifies the approaches to address my three research questions The analysis method was discussed in the final section of this chapter Chapter 4 provides the results and discussions of the research’s findings The last chapter summarizes some essential conclusions from my research, including implications for research and educational practice, the significance of the thesis, some limitations, and suggestions for further study.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Chapter 2 depicts a review of the relevant literature in the study in terms of three parts: a brief overview of English teaching and learning in Vietnam, Constructivist teaching (CT), and Educational change (EC) The first section depicts a summary of English teaching and learning in Vietnam The second section focuses on Constructivist teaching, including History of Constructivism, Implications of Constructivism for Learning and Teaching, Principles of CT, Roles of a constructivist teacher, Teachers’ beliefs, and actual practices of CT The last section deals with Educational change and then figures out the theoretical framework for the present study and previous studies on teachers’ beliefs and teaching practices to identify the research gaps the current study attempts to address Finally, the last part sums up with a summary.
2.1.ENGLISH TEACHING AND LEARNING IN VIETNAM
Vietnam is an S-shaped strip of land, located in the center of Southeast Asia, in the east of the Indochinese peninsula, to the north by China, to the west by Laos, Cambodia and to the east The south overlooks the South China Sea and the Pacific Ocean During the long history of national construction and defense of the Vietnamese nation, education has existed and developed along with the existence and development of the government and has always played an essential role in building and cultivating the country's long-standing culture.
In Vietnam, education has a more than a thousand-year history For more than 500 years, the nation has had a structured educational system Understanding regional distinctions in education systems that arose in what is now Vietnam in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, as well as the politics of education during this time, is as, if not more, crucial to understanding education in modern Vietnam Historically, the emergence of a state-dominated market economy within a Leninist political framework, Confucian institutions, colonialism, twentieth-century conflicts, state- socialist institutions, and these factors all had a significant impact on education in Vietnam Confucian institutions had the most notable effects on Vietnamese education of all these elements.
2.1.1 Vietnamese tradition for embracing the value of education
2.1.1.1 Confucius’s ideology influence on Vietnamese education
In Vietnam, Confucian heritage culture can reinforce and represent existing understandings of the teacher's status and work as well as the teacher-student relationship Notably, cultural characteristics affect teachers' beliefs about their work, teacher-student relationships, classroom mechanisms, and environments, so they directly affect the quality of their education (Nguyen et al., 2006; Pham T.H., 2011;
Le M.H., 2018a) On the basis of this presumption, the teachers will engage in pertinent behaviors, activities, and professional judgments that are likely to have an impact on the goals of instruction and learning they want to achieve as well as the qualities of classroom quality they want to emphasize.
The geographical makeup of the nation and the way of life of the Vietnamese people had an impact on their indigenous culture This culture assimilated and modified the cultural ideals of Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism over the more than a thousand years that China ruled the region (Nguyen T.H., 2002; Tran N.T., 2008; Ngo T.H., 2015) Western ideals have also affected indigenous Vietnamese culture through French hegemony, American invasion, and globalization (Pham L.H & Fry, 2004). The section below illustrates how aspects of Vietnamese values might affect how pupils study and how teachers and pupils interact.
2.1.1.2 The “Respect” culture for knowledge and senior teachers
Since Confucian culture and teachings originated in China, the Vietnamese people have demonstrated a frequent regard for knowledge and, consequently, for those who supply it, also known as senior teachers or teachers (Nguyen et al., 2006) Knowledge is regarded more precious than wealth materials because people believe that knowledge can bring them many things (Tran Q.V., 2006) Especially, books meaning knowledge in Confucian view are highly recommended as “books of sages and saints.” In the same vein, teachers are also highly regarded as the standard “mirror” of a moral teacher At that time, the vital role of the teacher is remarkably emphasized in several Vietnamese proverbs and folklore, such as,
“Một chữ là Thầy mà nửa chữ cũng là Thầy”
[Teaching one word can make a teacher, even half of a word can still make a teacher] or
“Không Thầy, đố mày làm nên”
[Without teachers, you may do nothing]
These Vietnamese sayings mean that the role of teachers ranks the most important in children’s lives, just after parents’ birth and upbringing; or as stated by one Vietnamese leader,
“Dạy học là nghề cao quý nhất trong các nghề cao quý”
[Among noble professions, teaching is the noblest].
On the one hand, such beliefs positively affect education, especially the relationship between teachers and learners However, on the other hand, respect for knowledge and teachers motivates people to learn by all means and stimulates pupils' motivation and passion for learning.
However, according to Vygotsky (1978)’s theory of social constructivism, such relationship may hinder the development of learners’ social skills, creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking skills At the same time, being
“over-dependent” on teachers may prevent learners from learning at their own pace. Instead, they seem to be dependent on the guidance of teachers and/or textbooks and group leaders if they work in groups In such way, pupils have gradually become passive and obedient listeners who only hear and do not contribute to the cooperative and interaction task (Ta, 2012).
2.1.1.3 The prevalent views of teaching in CHC countries vs the constructivist views of teaching
Socrates and Confucius represent the roots of Western and Eastern civilizations, representing very different cultural values and educational traditions Such these cultural variations led to differences in Confucian and Socratic approaches to learning. According to Confucius, education consists of cultural transmission, charitable work, and moral uplift Learning is viewed as a process by which people's brains take in the outside world As a result, its instructional design might be referred to as a
"knowledge transfer" paradigm, in which information is supposedly passed from those who possess it to those who do not (Wang, 2016).
Conversely, one of the most significant individuals in the development of Western philosophy is the Greek philosopher Socrates He is intrigued by morality, good manners, moral truth, or higher ideals of what one should do in order to be decent (Abbs, 1993) Socrates used a technique known as the Socratic Method, which is regarded as one of the first teaching methods ever recorded in the history of education.
In his viewpoint, an individual’s knowledge is said to have been substantially reformatted, reversed, or reconfigured when new knowledge is considered to have replaced or been blended with previous knowledge or beliefs.
To track how teachers from Confucius heritage culture (CHC) differ from constructivist teachers, it is necessary to describe the essential characteristics of construction teachers and CHC teachers Table 2.1 below shows the essential elements of a constructivist teacher and a traditional CHC teacher.
Table 2.1 A constructivist teacher vs a traditional CHC teacher
Category Constructivist teacher Traditional CHC teacher
Being open-minded Tending to be closed-minded by teaching for “correct” answers Being friendly and equitable Maintaining a superior role
Encouraging pupils to engage in inquiry
Encouraging pupils to do listening - reproducing activities
Providing time and space for pupils to carry out self-regulated learning
Promoting social interactions among pupils
Adhering to one-way teacher- student interaction
Seeking elaboration of pupils’ initial responses
(Adapted from Ngo Vu Thu Hang, et al, 2017)
Teachers in CHCs are expected to be competent in addition to serving as moral role models for the pupils Classes at CHCs are frequently highly formal, and professors can be “very authoritarian if necessary in order to have absolute control over the situation” (Ho, 2001, p.112), possibly because of these expectations Ho notes that despite the fact that certain modern Chinese societies, such as Hong Kong have a long history of Western influence, “teacher-centered pedagogy and student compliance are still prevalent in many of them” (Ho, 2001, p.99).
In other words, teaching and learning may be strongly impacted by the cultural disparities between educational systems.
2.1.2 English teacher education in Vietnam
METHODOLOGY
This study aims to shed light on the nature of constructivist teaching performed by these seven teachers in the English classes at their institutions This chapter provides the issues of research methodology, including four sections Section 3.1 depicts the research design, including the research paradigm and justification for my choice of the qualitative case study Section 3.2 presents the research questions, research context, and the participants Section 3.3 describes research methods regarding data collection, data analysis, and research ethics Finally, section 3.4 sums up with concluding remarks.
Four components make up a paradigm, according to Lincoln & Guba (1985), namely ontology, methodology, epistemology, and axiology These elements make up each paradigm's fundamental presumptions, beliefs, norms, and values; hence, it is vital to have a good grasp on them.
In the present study, a research paradigm that defines my philosophical orientation on a successful research design was adapted from Lincoln & Guba (1985) and depicted in more details below (see Figure 3.1).
Figure 3.1 Paradigm components (Guba & Lincoln, 1985)
The philosophical study of reality's or being's nature is known as ontology It examines our fundamental belief system as researchers about the nature of existence and existence.
It includes our presumptions that something is legitimate or significant, or it involves the characteristics of the social phenomena It aids in conceptualizing the shape, nature, and things we think we can know about reality To know how researchers interpret the data requires knowledge of philosophical presuppositions about the nature of reality These presumptions, notions, or recommendations direct how we think about the significance of the research topic and how the researchers might approach it to help find a solution In the current study, ontology is essential to a paradigm because it helps the researcher understand more about the nature of the research problem during the investigation.
The term “epistemology” refers to the process through which scholars learn anything, including the truth or reality It is concerned with the basic foundations of knowledge, including its nature, forms, modes of acquisition, and methods for disseminating it to others Researchers might approach it in an effort to help find a solution In the current study, epistemology is crucial to a paradigm since it aids the researcher to acquire to extend, broaden and deepen understanding in the field of research.
In this study, the main streams of the Philosophy of science might be described by how they answer the four critical questions in Table 3.2.
Table 3.1 The four questions of the Philosophy of science
1 Philosophical issues What kind of thing is reality?
2 Epistemological questions What is knowledge?
What knowledge can we get?
3.1.2 Justification for Qualitative Case study
The purpose of this study is to investigate teachers' beliefs and practices about the use of
CT in real classroom (Patton, 1987; McMillan, 2008) Here are some in-depth explanations for selecting a qualitative approach.
First, a qualitative research design was used in the study to gather information on high- school teachers' opinions, expertise, and experiences with constructivist teaching (CT). Second, the qualitative research design was ideal for gaining detailed and organized understanding of high school teachers' perspectives on CT The quantitative design, which frequently entails collecting numerical data, would not give rich data to address the study objectives In contrast, a qualitative design might take the shape of a case study, the researcher opted to utilize one (Creswell, 2012) Additionally, qualitative research design were aligned with critical pedagogy, training transfer, and social constructivist perspectives, which engaged the researcher in comprehending backgrounds reflected in the interactions, social structures, and cultural influences of human behaviors represented in the study (Creswell, 1994; Grunbaum, 2007).
Below is the discussion for selecting a case study for the present research According to Anderson & Arsenaut (1998),
“a case study is a comprehensive research methodology that employs several sources of data to investigate or assess a specific occurrence or instance.”
Most case studies, in their view, are
“interpreting and finding ways to bring a situation to life It frequently, but not exclusively, occurs naturally, and may use qualitative and/or quantitative methods and measures.”
Several definitions of case study exist, and they vary in level of detail based on different lens of the researcher Stake, R (1996), an educational evaluator, succinctly stated that,
“case studies are a type of study that is defined by the interest in particular situations, not by the techniques of investigation” (p 236).
This study followed six steps of a case study designed by Anderson & Arsenaut (1998) including:
1) Selecting a case study, in which the researcher must consider whether the case is instrumental, intrinsic, or collective.
2) Identifying Sources of Data, including file data, direct observation, documentation, site visits, interviews, participant observation and physical artifacts;
3) Choosing Instruments (questionnaires/observation schedules);
4) Using Data collection (extensive fieldwork, or from new sources);
5) Identifying Data Analysis (use an analytical strategy that takes the literature as an organizational framework/ organizes the data into descriptive themes during gathering; 6) Reporting.
A case design was used in the research conducted for this study (Berg, 2009) A study design, per (Yin, 2009), is
“a methodical strategy for getting from point A to point B, where the first set of inquiries to be addressed may be followed by a series of conclusions” (p 26).
The study examined an instance of “social constructivist teaching” from which the beliefs and needs of high school English teachers were taken into account “for evaluation, deductive reasoning, and the evolution of this thesis” (Grunbaum, 2007).
When deciding upon the case study design, the researcher considered these dimensions best suited to understanding the research questions For instance, the researcher looked into the practices and views of English teachers in high schools with regard to applying
CT Additionally, these teachers were interrogated to learn more about their perspectives on and practical experiences with CT This design was selected because it best enabled the researcher to depict and interpret the meanings of teachers’ beliefs and their classroom practices.
In light of the explanation above, I believed that the case study approach was acceptable for gathering pertinent data for this study in the setting.
Below is the design of the study:
Table 3.2 The design of the study
The feature Descriptions Rationale in the study
An investigation of high-school English teachers’ beliefs and practices of constructivist teaching in Thai Nguyen province
Reveal the problem and form a base for improvements and future researches
Research approach Qualitative research Reveal beliefs and practices from the teachers’ setting
Obtain rich descriptions for understanding and interpreting the studied phenomenon
Participants selection Purposive selection of participants Participants had instructive experiences and beliefs for the study
Open semi- structured interviews, classroom observations, stimulated recall interviews
Gain rich information and triangulation - increase trustworthiness of the study and to answer the research questions
The researched aspects of the phenomenon and Employed thematic analysis
Understand and interpret the case in depth
To provide the basis for the beneficiaries to use the findings
Improve practices and to undertake further research
3.2 RESEARCH QUESTIONS, RESEARCH CONTEXT AND THE
To fulfill the current research aims, the following questions were addressed:
1 What are high-school English teachers’ beliefs about constructivist teaching? How do these beliefs influence their classroom practices?
2 How do these teachers perceive the need for change in constructivist teaching practices?
3 What do these teachers believe might be the necessary conditions for promoting the constructivist practices?
The current study was conducted at a public high school in the city center of Thai Nguyen province, the Northern mountainous area of Vietnam, referred to as School Hero, to ensure anonymity.
School Hero was the first school established in Thai Nguyen province and the Viet Bac region At first, the school only had a single class with about 40 pupils The school's facilities were still temporary and straightforward, with thatched roofs and bamboo poles, but the atmosphere and spirit of learning were very vibrant.
During the past few decades, School Hero has fostered human resources, built good facilities, and improved teaching and learning quality On August 29, 2005, the Provincial People's Committee Chairman signed Decision No 1720-QD-UBND recognizing the high school to meet the national standards for 2001-2010 These achievements made School Hero a standard unit representing the province's high schools. The high school graduation rate is always at the top, and the university-college pass rate accounts for 50%-60% (the 2011-2012 school year is 60.3%) School Hero is the first school in the province to have pupils pass the university exam with a perfect score of 30/30 points It is also a specific training and retraining unit to improve pupils' professional qualifications.
One of the crucial solutions to promote teaching quality is to improve the quality of the staff, and the school's management board has focused on fostering and training to enhance the professional qualifications of teachers At the same time, each school teacher constantly ponders, cultivates knowledge, and learns from colleagues' experiences to find effective educational and teaching methods.
The pupils in School Hero are actually the best pupils chosen from around the province.Thus, as seen by their test results, they are academically superior to the student body at a typical upper secondary school and have greater drive for further learning accomplishments The majority of these pupils came from middle-class homes The school has had a national and provincial reputation for its outstanding teaching and learning accomplishments ever since it opened For the last 10 years, it has consistently been listed among the top five specialized upper secondary schools in the whole nation, with several accolades given out for the pupils' achievements at both national and international science contests.
The average class size at the school is 45-50 pupils, despite the fact that the institution has received substantial investments in equipment and infrastructure 45-minute intervals of instruction are set aside for lessons, with bells sounding at the start and finish of each segment Monday through Saturday, there are five sessions a day for each class. According to the rules of the Ministry of Education and Training, teachers are required to teach 16 hours a week, or fewer than 3 hours a day Typically, they instruct for two periods, break for one, and then instruct for the remaining period(s) In accordance with the instructional timetable, the teachers arrive at school In other words, if they are not required to teach at any period, they are free to spend the time performing chores around the house, giving extra individual lessons, etc They quickly go for home after finishing their regular teaching routine.
Along with the usual English class time, pupils also attend two afternoon sessions each week The entire hour and a half of each session is dedicated to test-like grammar, vocabulary, and reading activities These afternoon classes are designed to get pupils ready for exams, whether they are for the General Education Diploma, the university entrance test, or both.
FINDINGS & DISCUSSION
This chapter reports the findings from data analysis of semi-structured interviews, in- class observations, and stimulated recall interviews about the teachers’ beliefs about
CT and how teachers’ beliefs about CT are reflected in their teaching practices First, 4.1 presents the analysis of high school teachers’ beliefs about constructivist teaching that teachers indicated in the interview and their actual practices in the classroom via the observational extracts These observational extracts were analyzed concerning the participants’ explanations of their responses Second, 4.2 depicts teachers’ beliefs of the need for change in constructivist teaching practices Then, 4.3 indicates opportunities for and obstacles to change via stimulated recall interviews.
4.1 RESEARCH QUESTION 1: TEACHERS’ BELIEFS AND THEIR ACTUAL PRRACTICES OF CONSTRUCTIVIST TEACHING
This section presents findings from the first of three data collection phases of the current study The main focus of the section is to identify the teachers' beliefs and their actual practice in the classroom This part aims to address the first research question:
What are high-school English teachers’ beliefs about constructivist teaching? How do these beliefs influence their classroom practices ?
The analysis of the interview and observation data in this study revealed nine main themes pertinent to Constructivist teaching in terms of (1) Knowledge construction/
Prior knowledge; (2) Collaboration learning; (3) Active learning; (4) Authentic learning; (5) Reflective activity/ Reflection & Metacognition; (6) Individual learning; (7) Motivation; (8) Teacher’s roles and (9) Learners’ roles, which were synthesized in
Table 4.1 A description of major themes in the current study
Check the homework/the previous lesson Have Ss relate to their own experiences
Collaboration Use pair work/group work activities learning Use role-play, discussion, dialogue
Get Ss to lead their own learning
Authentic learning Use real materials to teach
Use real examples, situations Use real applications
Elicit pupils’ ideas and opinions Get Ss justify and explain their own experiences Have Ss present the same idea in more than one way Demonstrate the work to the audience
Have tasks without correct answer
Individual learning Pay attention to learners’ individual differences
Give choices to pupils Provide both informational and non-controlling language
Motivation Get pupils effectively involved in the lesson
Accept Ss‘ expressions of negative affect Use compliments
Teacher’s roles Use metaphors about their oneself and role
Raise strengths and responsibility of an effective teacher
Use classroom methodologies Teach to the test/examinations
Learners’ roles Participate in selecting the learning content and form of learning activities Decide their own learning pace Have the privilege of deciding their partners Have the opportunities and tools to self-assess and obtain their level of progress
In order to understand the teachers’ beliefs regarding constructivist teaching (CT), it is important to find what they believed and regarded as the tenets of CT, how they perceived their teaching roles, especially what their actual practices were When the teachers expressed their beliefs, they revealed hidden assumptions about CT Three distinct categories of teachers emerged from the interview and observation data.Hereafter these categories were labeled: “The Traditional Conservers” (two participants), “The Neutral Pragmatists” (three participants), and “The Adaptive
Originators” (two participants) The beliefs and practices of the three parties of teachers regarding CT were discussed in more depth.
4.1.1 The Traditional Conservers’ beliefs and their practices of constructivist teaching
The first group of teachers was identified as the “ Traditional Conservers” (TCs) The
“Traditional Conservers” can be called “traditionalists.” The “Traditional Conservers” are similar to Carnall’s (1995) model of people that must often experience change when they have no choice but to confront and face it The “Traditional Conservers” in this study were people who whether they saw the need for a change in constructivist teaching or not, refused to change constructivist teaching because change threatens their beliefs In other words, TCs seem “resistant or closed to change” and tend to be negative to innovation As a result, they do not implement new ideas; if they do, it is done superficially Two Traditional Conservers, namely Teacher 1 (T1) & Teacher 2 (T2), were among the participants.
Theme 1: TCs’ Beliefs about Knowledge construction/ Prior knowledge
(TCs Believed that Ss Learn Best through Prior knowledge)
Results from the interview unfolded that the Traditional Conservers (TCs) expressed their rather favorable commitment to the tenets of constructivist teaching (CT) regarding certain aspects of recalling pupils’ prior knowledge.
Teacher 1 (T1) indicated they take into consideration learners’ previous knowledge when they plan lessons, but checking the previous lesson is not their typical habit. Such a belief was evidently illustrated in the following excerpts.
“I believe that activating pupils’ pre-existing knowledge may help them to clarify the topic and understand the concept, but I don’t have enough time to check their prior knowledge through homework because I have forty-five pupils in my class [laughing], so I often ignore this activity.” [T1.I2.01]
Teacher 2 (T2) had the same opinion with T1 in her explanation:
“Before introducing a new topic, I sometimes request learners’ previous knowledge pertinent to that topic, but actually, checking the previous lesson consumes time a lot.” [T2.I2.03]
In T1’s practice, I observed that she only gave her own ideas to her pupils There was little teacher-learner interaction in her actual classes In addition, her method was not effective in linking the pupils’ previous knowledge with new lessons I saw that pupils in her classes could not relate new lessons to what they had learned before It seems that new knowledge was transmitting from one direction - from the teacher only In other instances, a few real-world examples were employed to demonstrate brand-new concepts The majority of pupils, however, were unable to offer examples of their own.
In T2’s grammar lessons I have attended, her lesson started with an explanation for rules and then moved on to practices For instance, in one class, instead of having pupils recall what they have learned, T2 spent the fifteen minutes explaining various uses verbs Then, she gave other exercises that required learners to underline the verb and tell the form and the use of these verbs in reported speech to the hold class Below is a sample of the introduction of another lesson on reported speech.
As the extract presents above, T2 reviewed the tense changes and at the same time converted direct speech into reported speech without giving opportunities for pupils to recall prior knowledge or offer their own examples or explanation.
In brief, findings from the interviews and observation uncovered that the TraditionalConservers (TCs), generally verbalized their slightly favorable beliefs about recalling pupils’ prior knowledge However, they did not allow the learners to formulate their own ideas and remained stiff to change in practice.
Theme 2: TCs’ Beliefs about Collaboration learning (TCs Believed that Ss Learn Best through Collaboration)
The interview data revealed that the interviewed teachers were favorably supportive of the CT tenet regarding Collaboration As reported, TCs believed that interaction was an important factor to create chances for mutual understanding and generate comments and feedback:
“In my view of point, pupils can learn from their friends’ vocabulary;… and they can see their friends’ mistakes [uhm] as well as assist their friends; oh, even, I see they can overcome, maybe the gap.” [T1.I2.07]
In the same vein, T2 explained: