Individual differences

The specific focus in this section will be describing which characteristics seem to distinguish the teachers. Both subgroups of teachers “with own learning goals” were examined according to the following aspects that resulted from the analysis of the interviews: they produced evidence of differences in terms of attitudes, awareness and motivation169.

4.4.1 Attitudes towards learning

In this section the focus will be on both teachers’ attitudes, first towards their own learning for professional development and then on the way they view their students’ learning.

The aim is to detect what characterises the differences in the learning behaviour in the two subgroups that have emerged so far.

4.4.1.1 Attitude towards one’s own professional learning

During the interviews, some tendencies became evident with regard to the attitude of the teachers towards their own learning. In general, the teachers in both subgroups seemed to be sensitive to the epistemological pressure to professionalise, in other words, for the need of lifelong learning, which has been increasingly advocated in the educational field over the last decades. The difference between the groups is a matter of degree.

The salient characteristics are summarised and illustrated in this section through examples from the interviews:

1. openness vs learning with reservations 2. self-responsibility vs delegating behaviour

Openness, “lifelong learning” vs learning with reservations

A striking feature of the attitude of the subgroup 1 (teachers P73, A54, and N51) is their openness. Teacher P73 is exemplary in this respect, being characterised by a critical stance towards learning:

169

Contextual factors are important in any learning situation. They were addressed in Chapter 4.2.1.1 in the context of the support the teachers receive from their institutions. This did not yield results, as there was no or minimal support received by the teachers from their institutions, although the programme KommUNIkation was indeed a supporting professionalising initiative for teachers at Bavarian universities.

[Interview P73: 31] … nicht nur lernen und das war’s, wir können nicht bleiben …das ist auch persönlich, (short pause) in jedem Moment denkt man, wir machen das Beste, aber dann kommen andere Leute, die anders denken, anders sehen, und wir müssen es hören, es sehen, und dann vielleicht „ok“, und dann ein bisschen … , man muss immer skeptisch bleiben im eigenen Beruf, oder?

Man kann nicht sagen: „ok, das habe ich gelernt, das ist gut, das bleibt immer so“, also … (laughs; Mimik, gestures: indicating it is not conceivable for her)

This sounds like a manifesto, a very pronounced personal theory of professional learning. Her openness is emblematic in her willingness to accommodate new and foreign perspectives, which are explicitly mentioned in the way “andere Leute …. die anders sehen”.

In line with her tendency to draw parallels between her private and professional life170, teacher P73 then compares teachers with mothers in order to exemplify her stance towards learning and at the end provide the maxime of “skeptisch bleiben” that summarises her thinking:

[Interview P73: 31] …und dann sage ich: „Ok“, und dann überlege ich mir. Es gibt solche Mütter, die fünf Kinder haben, und sagen: „Wer kann mir etwas sagen? Ich habe schon fünf Kinder erzogen.“ Ich sage: „Ja, aber vielleicht hast du es nicht richtig gemacht!“ [laughs] Oder für das erste war okay, für das fünfte ist es zwanzig Jahre später, das Leben hat sich verändert und du bist immer mit der gleichen Methode!“ Skeptisch sein ist für mich wichtig, [interrupts herself] natürlich überzeugt, aber man muss immer sagen: „Nie vergessen. Hey [warning tone], vielleicht machst du es nicht richtig! Oder es gibt etwas zu verändern, hör dir eine andere Meinung“ [in a sort of dialog with herself].

For teacher P73 ‘skeptisch bleiben’ is an indispensable characteristic of professional thinking. Her professional ethics does not permit that a teacher remains the same over the years. In unison with her deontological credo, her attitude of continuing to question her own beliefs seems to function as a sort of built-in self-renewal device that allows for innovation and further professional learning. Teacher P73’s attitude, as revealed here, seems to correspond to the necessary prerequisite for teachers if lifelong learning is to be pursued. It also corresponds to the “’what’ of teacher knowledge”, as claimed by Wilson & Berne (1999: 194), when they state that only when teachers re-conceptualise their professional development can they redirect their practices.

Interestingly, one of teacher P73’s early entries in the questionnaires actually attests to a development in her teaching. The answer to question 19, referring to a workshop about the use of the L2 in the language classroom, shows teacher P73 doubting that she would be able to use the L2 exclusively:

[Entry P73, Q73: 14] 19. Was werde ich sehr wahrscheinlich nicht umsetzen können? Woran liegt es? Überhaupt kein Wort Deutsch benutzen171_.

However, when I met her about two years later, she spoke of using only the L2 in her teaching, which by this time seemed an obvious procedure for her. Her attitude of being open to different perspectives (different in the very sense of divergent) and presumably her strategy of “SELF TALK” to remind herself not to miss other perspectives could be an explanation for this change in her teaching172.

A similar attitude characterises teacher A54 as well, who expresses her “lifelong learning”- orientation and her professionalisation concern in sentences such as: “the more I learn, the more I realise that I need to learn”:

[Interview A54: 48-9] Q.: And do you think you need more support for your professional development as a language teacher?

I think so, yes, … the more I learn, the more I realise that I need to learn. It's this ..., it is like opening the door and then suddenly you realise how much more there is. And that's just this experience, so it doesn't matter where I go, whether it's in comparative linguistics, if I just discover some things, I suddenly realise “Oh my God, there is a huge field out there that is dedicated to it,” or if I say; I've got my own Moodle site, and I'd like to learn how to write better, I start to practice writing online and I realise, oh my gosh, how much you have to know about writing properly and how readers learn online. That's a huge field!

“Opening the door” is just a significant metaphor for her attitude towards professional learning as a disposition for discovering new aspects. The term ‘realising’ reoccurs very often in her answers, suggesting her constantly becoming aware of new or deeper aspects and indicating the disposition for doing so. This specific attitude recalls Freeman’ (1989: 36) model of teaching, whereby attitude and especially awareness are crucial for development. Similarly to teacher P73, teacher A54 thinks being a teacher is a matter of development. When she evaluates the contribution of the workshops to her development, she displays a critical attitude, but towards herself:

[Interview A54: 99-100]

Q.: To what extent do you think the “KommUNIkation”-workshops helped you in your development as a