The Socialization of a Novice Teacher of English: Becoming an Agent of Change http://dx.doi.org/10.19183/how.24.1.318 The Socialization of a Novice Teacher of English: Becoming an Agent of Change La socialización de un docente novato de inglés: convirtiéndose en agente de cambio* Claudia Patricia Mesa Villa [email protected] Universidad de Antioquia, Medellín, Colombia This case study reports the analysis of the induction as a socialization process of a Colombian novice teacher of English. Since critical approaches to socialization highlight the role of novice teachers in critical school transformation during their induction stage, this study aims to disclose the teacher’s possibilities of becoming an agent of change. The data collection procedures included interviews, class observations and document analysis. The findings revealed that the teacher’s socialization was not a gradual transition and his possibilities to contribute to school transformation differed in accordance with the interplay among his professional interests and school factors. Key words: Agent of change, induction, novice teacher, socialization. Este estudio de caso reporta el análisis de la inducción como socialización de un profesor de inglés novato en Colombia. Como los enfoques críticos de la socialización resaltan el papel activo de los profesores en la transformación crítica de la escuela durante su etapa de inducción, este estudio pretende dar a conocer sus posibilidades para convertirse en un agente de cambio. Los datos recolecta- dos incluyen entrevistas, observaciones de clase y análisis documental. Los hallazgos revelaron que su * Received: June 15, 2016. Accepted: November 6, 2016. How to cite this article (APA 6th ed.): Mesa Villa, C. P. (2017). The socialization of a novice teacher of English: Becoming an agent of change. HOW, 24(1), 83-100. http://dx.doi.org/10.19183/how.24.1.318. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internatio- nal License. License Deed can be consulted at http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. HOW Vol. 24, No. 1, January/June 2017, ISSN 0120-5927. Bogotá, Colombia. Pages: 83-100 83 HOW 24-1 ENERO 2017.indd 83 10/02/2017 01:58:09 p.m. Claudia Patricia Mesa Villa socialización no fue una transición gradual y su participación en la transformación de la escuela variaba de acuerdo con la interacción entre sus intereses profesionales y los factores contextuales de la escuela. Palabras clave: Agente de cambio, inducción, profesor novato, socialización. Introduction The shift from teacher education to professional practice is described as a “struggle to address an array of professional expectations while simultaneously being forced to make sense of the moral and often ethical friction that threatens the fragile identities formulated during their [novice teachers] time in teacher preparation programs” (Cherubini, 2009, p. 93). Due to the complexity of this phase, the analysis of teacher induction as a socialization process becomes essential to contribute to the improvement of teaching. This is how countries such as the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom have a tradition in supporting novice teachers (Cherubini, 2009). In contrast to this trend, Calvo (2004) states that the teacher induction in Colombia has not been studied yet. Although there is a growing tradition on exploring the professional development of EFL (English as a foreign language) teachers in Colombia, only one study has explored the experience of a novice teacher but in light of teacher autonomy (Pineda & Frodden, 2008) and no studies have analyzed the teacher induction stage. Rather, some studies, among others, include strategies for English in-service teachers professional development (Álvarez & Sánchez, 2005; Cárdenas, 2002; Cárdenas & Nieto, 2010; Orrego, Quinchía Ortiz, & Restrepo Pérez, 2005; Sierra Piedrahita, 2007a, 2007b), EFL in-service teachers development of autonomy and innovations in the classrooms (Usma & Frodden, 2003), the needs of EFL in-service teachers (González, Montoya, & Sierra, 2002; González & Quinchía Ortiz, 2003) and the work of elementary EFL teachers (Cadavid Múnera, McNulty, & Quinchía Ortiz, 2004; Cadavid Múnera, Quinchía Ortiz, & Díaz Mosquera, 2009). Despite the lack of studies on teacher induction in Colombia, Calvo (2004) nonetheless claims that this stage is either a lonely journey or an informal process. Besides, due to the powerful influence of school conditions on novice teachers’ work (Feiman-Nemser, 2010); it becomes significant to understand how they navigate school cultures. Thus, I conducted an exploratory case study to analyze the socialization of a novice EFL teacher in an urban public school and explore his possibilities and challenges to become an agent of change. That is, his capacity of understanding political problems and working in collaboration to critically transform schools (Achinstein & Athanases, 2010; Zeichner & Gore, 1990). I posed the following research question: How does the interplay between school contextual factors and the professional interests of a novice English teacher in the induction stage affect his possibilities of becoming an agent of change? 84 HOW HOW 24-1 ENERO 2017.indd 84 10/02/2017 01:58:10 p.m. The Socialization of a Novice Teacher of English: Becoming an Agent of Change Conceptual Framework Teacher Induction Induction comprises the early years of in-service teaching experience (Feiman- Nemser, 2010; Flores, 2010). In the area of TESOL (Teaching English to Students of Other Languages), induction has been conceptualized both in terms of years of experience and teachers’ encounters with new cultural contexts (Farrell, 2012). To understand this phase, researchers and policy makers have used three conceptualizations: a formal program, a phase in learning to teach, and a socialization process (Feiman-Nemser, 2010). Regarding induction as a formal program, there is a deliberate plan to assist beginning teachers. In induction as a phase in learning to teach, emphasis is given to new teachers as situated learners. Regarding induction as a socialization process, the focus is on the interplay between teacher professional interests and school factors. Teacher Socialization The process in which teachers become members of an organization has been conceptualized as teacher socialization as explained next. In this phase, teachers learn the necessary knowledge, norms, and skills to participate in a particular school culture (Kelchtermans & Ballet, 2002; Nasser-Abu Alhija & Fresko, 2010; Zeichner & Gore, 1990). Given the broad connotations of school culture and its central role in conceptualizing teacher socialization, several authors have defined it as a unique integration of both formal and informal schooling norms, values, accepted modes of practice and expectations in relation to behavior, relationships, and professional performance (Brunton, 2007; Cherubini, 2009; Joiner & Edwards, 2008). Therefore, socialization involves a critical transition in which teachers may reject, accept, or adapt to the school culture, and its outcomes permeate teachers’ feelings and determine their decision of staying in an organization or in the profession (Fletcher, Chang, & Kong, 2008; Joiner & Edwards, 2008; Nasser-Abu Alhija & Fresko, 2010). To comprehend socialization, Zeichner and Gore (1990) proposed three main paradigms: functionalist, interpretative, and critical. Whereas functionalist studies conceptualize socialization as a reproduction of existing structures, interpretative approaches view socialization as a process in which individuals carry out autonomous actions. The critical approach focuses on issues of power and explores individual actions that resist or negotiate structural limitations (Zeichner & Gore, 1990). HOW Vol. 24, No. 1, January/June 2017, ISSN 0120-5927. Bogotá, Colombia. Pages: 83-100 85 HOW 24-1 ENERO 2017.indd 85 10/02/2017 01:58:10 p.m. Claudia Patricia Mesa Villa Induction as a Socialization Process The vision of induction as a socialization process conceives teaching as a cultural learning practice. Several authors highlight the importance of regarding induction as a complex interplay of personal characteristics and contextual factors (Brunton, 2007; Cherubini, 2009; Feiman-Nemser, 2010; Kelchtermans & Ballet, 2002; Nasser-Abu Alhija & Fresko, 2010). Besides, analyzing new teachers’ induction as a socialization process entails understanding how new teachers enter the profession in a particular school setting (Feiman-Nemser, 2010). In such analysis, Nasser- Abu Alhija and Fresko (2010) recommend conceiving schools as professional organizations in which new teachers not only acquire their practical knowledge in terms of students, colleagues, curriculum, and policies but also construct or transform their beliefs towards the profession and the institution. Cherubini (2009) highlights the conflictive nature of novice teachers’ entrance to the profession since they assume proactive attitudes whereas schools function within an industrial model which demands individuals to comply with accepted professional practices. Brunton (2007) and Nasser-Abu Alhija and Fresko (2010) draw attention to the support beginning teachers should receive. These authors claim that facing school institutional structures constitutes one of the challenges beginning teachers encounter in any organization. For this reason, induction research should address such a support, especially when school contextual factors are challenging (Curry, Jaxon, Russell, Callahan, & Bicais, 2008). Feiman-Nemser (2010) explains that a large number of studies confirm the power of school environment on beginning teachers’ actions and learning. She identifies three factors as the most influential on novice teachers’ experiences: teaching assignment, access to curriculum, and relations with colleagues. As to the relation with colleagues, several authors (Kardos & Moore Johnson, 2007; Kardos, Moore Johnson, Peske, Kauffman, & Liu, 2001) claim that the professional cultures they encounter constitute one of the school factors with major influence on a new teacher’s performance, satisfaction, and commitment. To better understand the nature of professional cultures in schools, Kardos et al. (2001) propose three types of cultures: the veteran-oriented, the novice-oriented, and the integrated professional cultures. In the first one, novice teachers are disregarded and the priority is senior teachers’ autonomy. In the second one, enthusiasm and idealism are valued, but no expert guidance is provided. Finally, in the integrated one, exchanges among novices and seniors are fostered. Setting The teacher participant, Andrés Salazar,1 is a Colombian secondary English teacher in his mid-twenties who graduated as a foreign language teacher in English and French from a 1 A pseudonym was used to protect the identity of the participant. 86 HOW HOW 24-1 ENERO 2017.indd 86 10/02/2017 01:58:10 p.m. The Socialization of a Novice Teacher of English: Becoming an Agent of Change public university. My role in this case study was that of an outsider who visited the school to conduct interviews and observe the teacher and the institution. Andrés’s school is a K-11 coeducational urban public institution located in a low-to- upper middle class neighborhood in Medellin, the second most important city of Colombia. Authority and observance of discipline regulations are of paramount importance. For that reason, administrators and teachers are very strict in relation to regulatory compliance. Concerning the administration, the school is led by one principal, one academic coordinator, and one discipline coordinator. Teachers are grouped into academic disciplines under the supervision of department heads. Regarding teachers, there are 37 and most have more than ten years’ experience. All hold a college degree; around half hold a postgraduate certification (Especialización) and four have a master’s degree. As to the English department, it is comprised of five English teachers and is led by a senior female. This department holds monthly meetings to discuss topics suggested by administrators and rarely meets outside those meetings because teachers do not have common agendas and prefer to work individually. The majority draw on traditional teaching methods such as the grammar-translation method and the teacher-centered approach. The student body is roughly comprised of 1,400 students, 75% boys, 25 % girls, and each class is made up of about 30-40 students. The majority of them are very respectful with each other and teachers. According to observations and interviews, it was possible to conclude that, in general, students comply with school behavioral regulations such as punctuality, dressing code, and sitting arrangements but most of them hold low academic expectations. As for the English classes, kindergarten and primary students attend two classes per week. In high school, sixth through ninth graders receive three classes, and tenth and eleventh graders are taught two weekly classes. In terms of English teaching materials, each teacher is provided with English-Spanish dictionaries and textbooks. However, the use of this textbook is not mandatory and teachers have the freedom to adapt and work around it. In relation to the English curriculum, although teachers can make adjustments, the administrative leaders usually revise students’ notebooks to monitor their implementation. The syllabus of elementary school revolves around themes such as family, classroom, and food, among others, whereas the syllabus for sixth through eleventh grades focuses on grammar. There is a strong emphasis on testing because the results serve as criteria to receive financial resources from the government. Regarding Andrés’s background, his teaching experience started when, for two years, he assisted a blind English teacher weekly in a school for disabled children and taught private English classes to adolescents. Right after college graduation, he started working as a high school English HOW Vol. 24, No. 1, January/June 2017, ISSN 0120-5927. Bogotá, Colombia. Pages: 83-100 87 HOW 24-1 ENERO 2017.indd 87 10/02/2017 01:58:10 p.m. Claudia Patricia Mesa Villa teacher in a private Catholic school for girls. Although he considered that his students’ high academic level became a satisfying professional factor, he was not completely content with the working conditions and decided to apply for a teaching job in the public school sector. Andrés’s entrance to the public school was three months after the beginning of the school year. Despite this delay, he did not receive a formal process of induction and started teaching right away. The orientation he received consisted of two meetings with the principal and the academic coordinator, and some basic school information informally provided by a colleague who volunteered to help him. Andrés’s first teaching assignment consisted of teaching a reading comprehension course in Spanish and English to six-graders and English to tenth grade groups. In total, his load was 24 hours of class per week plus homeroom duties in a very challenging class in terms of discipline. In an interview, the principal explained that the 24 hours corresponded to the assignment of the teacher he replaced and that public school teachers are normally assigned 21 hours in addition to homeroom duties. Regarding Andrés’s views of teaching, he used to draw on a large number of teaching strategies and adapt the syllabus according to students’ needs. Besides, he held liberal views on student behavior and the student-teacher relationship which contradicted the strict disciplinary and authoritarian view the school held. Method I developed an explanatory case study design (Yin, 2009) because it would allow me to deeply investigate Andrés’s induction process as a real-life phenomenon within its context using a variety of data sources (Stake, 1995; Yin, 2009). Accordingly, I drew on interviews, observations, and documentary analysis. Data Collection I gained access and permission from teachers and the school administrators through consent letters and talks in which I informed them about my research procedures, information management, their role, protection of identities mechanisms, the voluntary nature of their participation; their right to refuse to answer any questions and to withdraw from the project at any time (Creswell, 2005). Direct observations. Direct observations offer the possibility of understanding significant behaviors and typical circumstances of the case within its context (Yin, 2009). Hence, I conducted ten weekly non-participant class observations for three months to gather descriptive data about aspects such as student-teacher relationships, teachers’ roles, 88 HOW HOW 24-1 ENERO 2017.indd 88 10/02/2017 01:58:10 p.m. The Socialization of a Novice Teacher of English: Becoming an Agent of Change classroom management skills, and teaching methodology among other school factors that play a central role during teacher induction (Feiman-Nemser, 2010). Additionally, after class observations and interviews, I used to spend a significant amount of time in the school to better understand the whole context (Toma, 2006). Interviews. I conducted individual interviews with the participant teacher, the head of the department, one of his closest colleagues, the academic coordinator, the principal, and four group interviews with students. Concerning the teacher, I carried out four 55-65 minute in-depth interviews. The first two interviews explored his initial teaching experiences before and after graduation and his first months in the public sector. Then, after weekly observing two of his classes for two months and interviewing the principal, the academic coordinator, and the head of the department, I designed two focused interviews (Yin, 2009) with the purpose of exploring in detail certain topics about his induction that had emerged from an initial data analysis. Regarding his colleague, the head of the department, the academic coordinator, and the principal, I conducted one in-depth individual interview with each of them. These interviews aimed to gather information about formal and informal induction processes provided to the participant up to that time. As to students, I purposefully formed four groups of students (Patton, 1990) and conducted four group interviews to explore the teacher-student relationships, teaching methodology, and teachers’ roles. Documentary analysis. I analyzed school documents such as the English syllabus, the pedagogical model, the employee handbook, the institutional evaluation system, and the quality assurance system. This document analysis aimed to gain an understanding of the school official regulations, organizational structure, and academic and administrative procedures. Data Analysis To analyze data, I conducted a thematic analysis following an inductive-deductive approach (Boyatzis, 1998). In addition, I used some of the procedures illustrated in Miles and Huberman (1994), Freeman (1998), and Richards (2003) such as data reduction through descriptive codes, categorization, memoing, and pattern coding. Simultaneously, I transcribed the audio-recorded interviews, formatted observations and school documents and entered them into the NVivo data management software. The next stage consisted of reducing the data by using descriptive and interpretative codes. The last analysis phase comprised pattern coding that aimed to display similarities among categories and construct interpretations by connecting the parts into a whole (Freeman, 1998). Finally, I grouped all categories under emergent themes and concurrently built some interpretations. HOW Vol. 24, No. 1, January/June 2017, ISSN 0120-5927. Bogotá, Colombia. Pages: 83-100 89 HOW 24-1 ENERO 2017.indd 89 10/02/2017 01:58:10 p.m. Claudia Patricia Mesa Villa Research Trustworthiness I followed several strategies to enhance credibility, transferability, dependability, and confirmability (Krefting, 1991; Toma, 2006). First, I triangulated the data from all sources. Second, I conducted peer examination as I shared my data analysis procedures and interpretations with my research advisor (Merriam, 1998). Third, I used member checking by taking initial and final interpretations back to the teacher participant (Merriam, 1998; Toma, 2006). Findings Andrés’s socialization encompassed a reciprocal action among his professional interests and school contextual factors. He either ended up complying with the given school conditions, or managed to carry out some actions and make decisions that evidenced his role as an agent of change at a classroom level. In the following paragraphs, I explain such an interaction by means of two tendencies: a reactive struggle with school factors and a proactive encounter with these. Reactive Struggle With School Factors This tendency comprises four school factors: lack of formal induction, distant relation with administrators, lack of collaborative work among teachers, and an inappropriate teaching assignment. The existence of these factors revealed a notable disregard of Andrés’s novice teacher condition on the part of the school, hindered his opportunities to make well informed decisions, and reduced his level of satisfaction, commitment, and sense of belonging to the school. Consequently, his socialization became a reactive struggle since he had to resort to either unofficial support or to devise his own solutions when trying to deal with his initial encounters with school. Lack of induction. Data suggest that Andrés’s school did not offer him any systematic induction support. School documents, informal mentorship, and newcomers themselves were the available opportunities instead. The following extract from an interview with the principal illustrates how the school leaders completely relied on school documents to guide newcomers. with them [new teachers] an induction meeting is held, in that induction meeting, the development plan is shown, the one that is being implemented each year, the policies, criteria and the rules the school has for their performance are emphasized. . . . They are encouraged to use the site… eh the website the institution has, so by drawing on it, they analyze the curriculum and begin its implementation.2 2 Translated from Spanish by the author. 90 HOW HOW 24-1 ENERO 2017.indd 90 10/02/2017 01:58:10 p.m. The Socialization of a Novice Teacher of English: Becoming an Agent of Change Moreover, data indicate that a continuous and systematic support to ease newcomers’ insertion into the specific realities of the particular school culture did not exist. Rather, informal support occurs as long as newcomers ask for help. In the following excerpt, the head of the English department describes their view about this process: I: It means that [the induction process] is not like a program that lasts some months, but it is at the beginning? K: Yes, it is done at the beginning, during about the first fifteen days. I: And later, as the teacher goes along? K: Yes, as he goes along…yes, he begins, and as he goes along, he asks in case he needs something. I: It is like, as he goes along and he has doubts, he asks questions and you all help him? K: Yes, exactly. Although the school documents contained useful procedures about general administrative functioning, they did not include any practical teaching knowledge such as students’ behavior and academic performance, discipline approaches, and other similar knowledge that would have helped Andrés to understand his school culture. Rather, to comprehend and learn that situated knowledge, a senior colleague played the role of an informal mentor: She [Angie]3 approached and explained to me everything, she showed me the school, told me how classrooms were managed because there were rotations, that is, each teacher has her/his classroom, the students were the ones who went to each classroom. She told me to visit the school website to read the syllabi to see what topics my groups were working on. (Interview, Andrés) Relation with administrators. The inexistent ongoing assistance on the part of school administrators and the lack of any organizational procedures to favor healthy relations with administrators represented the starting point of a distant relation between Andrés and his school leaders. Moreover, since his academic coordinator constantly criticized his abilities and decisions, the interaction with this leader became problematic as explained by her colleague: When newcomers arrive, they feel disoriented because the school is very strict, the academic coordinator has a tough character and his way of approaching new teachers is sometimes very unfriendly . . . Andrés got bored because of the way the coordinator addressed him, if the ad- ministrators are giving a speech through the school intercom, you are expected to keep students completely quiet no matter how, you must shut everyone’s mouth in a large group and if by chance an administrator gets to your classroom and see students speaking, you are yelled in front of the whole class. That happened to Andrés several times and that situation discouraged him a lot. (Interview, Angie) 3 A pseudonym was used to protect the identity of the participant. HOW Vol. 24, No. 1, January/June 2017, ISSN 0120-5927. Bogotá, Colombia. Pages: 83-100 91 HOW 24-1 ENERO 2017.indd 91 10/02/2017 01:58:10 p.m. Claudia Patricia Mesa Villa As to the academic coordinator’s attitude toward Andrés’s decisions and abilities to follow institutional norms, data indicated a constant disapproval and lack of assistance. Instead of recognizing his novice teacher status by providing him with ideas to harmonize his decisions with the school standards, this administrator resorted to strong criticisms. One example of this situation is described below: [The principal was giving a speech on TV]. I turned the TV off because it was broken, they [students] could not hear anything. I said: “I’d better start teaching now and later on I’ll ask what information she [the principal] was broadcasting so that I can inform my students.” I thought it was a correct decision. But no, he [the academic coordinator] arrived in and strongly yelled at students and also yelled at me saying: “What a lack of respect with the principal, she is talking!” (Interview, Andrés) As a result, this unhealthy relation discouraged Andrés and led him to consider the possibility of quitting his job and thereby limiting his chances of gradually and formally negotiating his own interests in relation to institutional norms and procedures. In this sense, Andres’s experience is contrary to what Joiner and Edwards (2008) claim about the positive impact principals may have on novice teachers’ growth. Principals can create learning opportunities such as formative observations and permanent feedback. Lack of collaborative work among teachers. Most of Andrés’s colleagues were seniors who prefer to work in isolation and thus permanent collaborative work activities such as planning or exchanging materials seemed to be disregarded by teachers and the school agenda. Angie recalled in an interview how she and Andrés once led the organization of a school cultural event and the other English teachers left them alone: I: So, as you just said there are many senior teachers at the school. A: Yes, and they are lazy . . . and Andrés joined us and he did not find like a response, a reaction. . . . Many ideas do come up, last year, he and I worked alone to prepare the English day, and we worked hard, very hard. I: And the others? A: No just us, because the others left. So you see? If teachers are not willing to participate, we are doing nothing. This lack of collaboration led Andrés to assimilate his coworkers’ individualistic style. Besides, this environment reduced his interest to continue working on new projects as he explains in one interview: Right now, they [English faculty] must be thinking on what they are doing for the English day this year because I have not done anything. I have many things to do and I will not do anything else because it is not fair that some of us work hard and others don’t. Although I think it would be 92 HOW HOW 24-1 ENERO 2017.indd 92 10/02/2017 01:58:10 p.m.