Page 44 - The SpeakTeach method - Esther de Vrind

Chapter 3. Perspective of the teachers - practicality
2015). The Bridging Model has been used with a number of reforms, such as developing practical approaches for open-inquiry labs (Janssen et al., 2014a); the concept-context approach (Dam, Janssen, Van Driel, 2013); guided discovery learning (Janssen, Westbroek, Doyle, Van Driel, 2014b); and whole-task-first teaching (Janssen, Hulshof & Van Veen, 2016).
This chapter reports on research using the Bridging Model to develop a practical adaptive approach to teaching speaking skills in modern foreign languages: the SpeakTeach method. The key question addressed in this chapter is: How can we make an adaptive approach to teaching speaking skills in modern foreign languages practical for teachers so that they can actively use it in their teaching while retaining the essence of the method? The conclusion also examines whether the findings could be applicable to other components of the curriculum and to other subjects.
3.2 Theoretical framework
3.2.1 Making education reforms practical
Many education reforms have little impact on practice because teachers find them impractical (Janssen et al., 2013). According to Janssen et al. (2013), teachers will only adopt a curriculum reform if they regard it as an improvement on their current teaching practice. The authors base this conclusion on research into boundedly rational or ecologically rational decision- making (Todd & Gigerenzer, 2012). In complex situations where several goals have to be achieved at the same time and time, knowledge and resources are limited, the way people take decisions differs in fact from what is often seen as the norm: generate a large number of alternatives, examine the consequences of each of these alternatives and then choose the best one (Todd & Gigerenzer, 2012). First of all, in complex situations people are often not in pursuit of an unachievable optimum, but striving to improve the current situation (Pollock, 2006). In other words, people are aiming to increase the expected value of their choices. The expected value of an alternative is determined by the product of two factors: (1) considered desirability of expected outcome; (2) expected probability that the person in the specific context and with the time and resources available will be able to realise the outcome by using the approach (Janssen et al., 2013). Furthermore, people in complex situations do not generate a large number of new alternatives, they adapt existing designs. An existing design is often considered to be made up of components, modules, and new designs come about through recombining and making small adaptations to existing modules (Holland, 2012). It
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