The (in)visibility of pedagogical practices: Illustrations from three Asian-Pacific countries

ABSTRACT

This paper reports the findings of a meta-synthesis of studies which investigated the ways in which teachers described their pedagogical practices in three different contexts: the Maldives, Australia and Nepal. Each of the studies was focused on making teachers’ classroom practices visible in an effort to establish a shared language and understanding of practices relevant to context. We were interested in what teachers say about their teaching practice and the ideas they hold that underpin these acts of teaching. Our analysis, across our respective studies, revealed insights to the questions: how teachers name their practices; how teachers articulate their understanding of these practices; and, how teachers identify priorities for their practice. Insights drawn from our meta-synthesis explore the implications of naming practices and the importance of considering teacher voice in determining visions of effective teaching. What teachers believe and do needs to be taken into account if professional development and reform initiatives are to be enacted in ways that are relevant and sustainable. The findings have implications for improving the quality of education and approaches to teachers’ professional development.

KEYWORDS:

• Pedagogy
• teacher practices
• meta-synthesis
• professional development
• professional vocabulary

Disclosure of potential conflicts of interest

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rhonda Di Biase

Rhonda Di Biase is a senior lecturer at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne. She has previously worked at the Faculty of Education, Maldives National University as part of a post-tsunami aid project focusing on student-centred learning and through an Endeavour Executive Fellowship. Her research interests include pedagogical reform, teachers’ professional learning and education reform in small states.

Carmel Mesiti

Carmel Mesiti is a research fellow and lecturer in Mathematics Education in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne. Her research has centred on exploring, through international video-based research, the nature of teaching and learning in mathematics classrooms. Carmel leads an international project across eleven countries that examines the nature of differences in the pedagogical lexicons of education communities worldwide.

Miriam Ham

Miriam Ham is a lecturer of Education on the Cairns campus of the CQ University (Cairns, Queensland). Her PhD research investigated Nepali teachers’ beliefs about education and their classroom practice. In addition to teaching in Queensland secondary schools, Miriam has a passion for teacher training. Her training projects have included teachers in Australia, Zambia, Thailand and of course, Nepal. These projects focus on empowering and equipping teachers with the skills to tailor their practice to meet the needs of the learners and the communities with whom they are working.

David Clarke

David Clarke was Professor in the Melbourne Graduate School of Education at the University of Melbourne and Director of the International Centre for Classroom Research (ICCR). The ICCR provided the focus for collaborative activities among researchers from more than 20 countries. Professor Clarke worked with school systems and teachers throughout Australia and in the USA, Canada, Sweden, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Korea, Singapore, China, Japan, Malaysia, and the Federated States of Micronesia. His research addressed teacher professional learning, metacognition, problem-based learning, and assessment.