Page 150 - The SpeakTeach method - Esther de Vrind

Chapter 6. General conclusions and discussion
progressed and to put into practice what they have learned. A new cycle of monitoring and
improving can then begin (repetition of principles 1 to 3).
Design principles related to the practicality for teachers and the associated learning of the teachers
The design principles regarding practicality were twofold. First, the design principles for practicality for teachers related to the representation of the adaptive teaching approach for students’ self-regulated learning of speaking skills. Second, they related to a professional development trajectory which enabled teachers to expand their teaching repertoire by explicitly building on what they already do and value.
In order to make the teaching approach practical, we drew on the Bridging Model (Janssen, Westbroek, Doyle & Van Driel, 2013; Janssen et al., 2015) which contains the design principle of modularity. The design principle of self-evaluation by the teacher was added to the Bridging Model. The interrelated design principles of modularity and self-evaluation allowed teachers to gradually adapt the approach to and integrate it into their teaching practice in a flexible manner.
1. Use modularity for representing the regular and the new teaching approach
Use modularity to parse the current teaching practice and the desired innovative teaching practice into similar modules or building blocks. A building block is a recognizable lesson segment of a regular language lesson series. By recombining these existing building blocks in accordance with a number of guidelines, teachers can take advantage of the flexibility of the design principles to adapt the approach to their own teaching.
2. Start a professional development trajectory with self-evaluation by the teacher of the current teaching practice and the innovative teaching practice
Modularity facilitates targeted self-evaluation by representing the current teaching practice and the innovation in similar building blocks of the same level of description. On the basis of the teachers’ self-evaluations of the existing and their desired situations, the teachers formulate goals and intentions for improvement and chose how, in which steps, they integrate the building blocks of the innovation (the new teaching approach) into their teaching practice.
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