Date of Award

5-1-2024

Language

English

Document Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

College/School/Department

Department of Education Theory and Practice

Dissertation/Thesis Chair

Carol Rodgers

Committee Members

Kelly Wissman, Arthur Powell, Theodore Swartz

Keywords

Adaptive Teaching, Awareness, Reflection, Subordination of Teaching to Learning, Teacher Education

Subject Categories

Teacher Education and Professional Development

Abstract

ABSTRACT In today’s context of schooling, most teaching is aimed at output, coverage, and high scores which is in direct contrast to what pre-service teachers are taught to cherish — differentiation, academic choice, and student autonomy. However, there is an approach that shows promise in counteracting the tendency to over stress scores and undermine a humanizing approach to teaching and learning. Called the Subordination of Teaching to Learning (SubTLe), this approach potentially alleviates the tension between long established, highly valued learning outcomes and the unavoidable pressures of high stakes testing but has yet to be studied in this context. Founded by Caleb Gattegno (1911-1988) SubTLe, as a practice, is defined in this study as teaching that is guided by learning. As a theory, the Subordination of Teaching to Learning derives from Gattegno’s assertion that “only awareness is educable” (defined later) in humans (Gattegno, 1987). Using that assertion as its foundation, this dissertation explores what happens when teachers pay attention to – and carefully reflect on – their own learning and its implications for responding to and being guided by their students’ learning and, through reflective practices, thereby educate their own awareness of themselves as learners. The results of the study indicate that, while it is challenging to attend to one’s own learning in the act of teaching, it is nevertheless possible, through structured reflection, to gain insight into one’s own inner movements, habits, and inclinations. Evidence shows that disciplined, structured conversations about what they can learn about themselves in the act of teaching increases teachers’ awareness of themselves as learners, which in turn increases their capacity to more skillfully adapt to and be guided by the learning of their students. Key words: awareness, adaptive teaching, reflection, subordination of teaching to learning, teacher education

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