Seeing students differently : Tracing shifts in teachers’ conceptualizations through situated discourse
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Learning in Context |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| web | https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lecon.2025.100003 |
| Doi | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lecon.2025.100003 |
| Keywords | Teacher conceptualizations of students; Teacher professional development; Dialogic teaching; Equity in participation; Teacher agency |
| Attached files | |
| Description | Teachers’ conceptualizations of individual students shape how they interpret students’ participation, abilities, and achievement, and influence the opportunities they create for students to engage in learning. While these conceptualizations are often viewed as stable, some studies suggest they can change through reflective professional development. This study investigates how teachers’ views of individual students evolved during a yearlong teacher professional development (TPD) program focused on dialogic teaching with equitable student participation. Drawing on interviews and reflective sessions with six teachers, we analyzed 736 statements about individual students. Our analysis traced changes in teachers’ discourse over time and identified discursive features—such as agency, surprise, dilemma, and temporality—that accompanied or preceded shifts in how students were conceptualized. We found that roughly one-quarter of students were perceived more positively by the end of the program. These students were often discussed with greater teacher agency and in ways that referenced development over time. The study demonstrates that teacher learning can unfold through situated, discursive processes and highlights the importance of supporting conceptual change at the level of individual student–teacher relationships. We conclude by discussing how professional development can support such change when it is understood as a gradual and situated process—one that unfolds differently across teachers and students. |
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