Journal Articles
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://mro.massey.ac.nz/handle/10179/7915
Browse
2 results
Search Results
Item Teacher positioning of their practice for linguistically and culturally diverse learners(Taylor and Francis Group, 2025-06-05) Ashton K; Qi GYThis article draws on open-response survey data (n = 86) to qualitatively explore New Zealand language teachers’ positioning of their pedagogical practice for linguistically and culturally diverse learners. Positioning can create inequities in learning opportunities, making this an important research concern, particularly as New Zealand teachers are expected to ‘support the needs and abilities of all learners’ (Education Council 2017, 10). Drawing on positioning theory as our analytical framework, we found that teachers generally perceive language classrooms to be ‘safe’ spaces. However, alongside this, they find it challenging to teach students with different levels of target language proficiency, highlighting this as an urgent professional development need. In particular, the presence of background learners, broadly defined as learners with a linguistic and/or cultural background in the language they are learning, is positioned as a significant pedagogical challenge. We argue that this positioning stems from an education system and learning provision which, despite positive rhetoric, erodes diversity. Our study will be of relevance to others navigating these challenges in different contexts.Item Challenges and responses: A Complex Dynamic Systems approach to exploring language teacher agency in a blended classroom(Castledown Publishers, 12/04/2022) Qi GY; Wang YThis is a qualitative examination of how a Chinese language teacher responded to challenges and developed her agency in a unique teaching and learning environment, termed as the blended classroom. The uniqueness of this classroom lies in its attendance by two cohorts of students at the same time – the face-to-face and the online groups. The online group joined the face-to-face group and the teacher via a synchronous online classroom called Blackboard Collaborate. Through analysing data from the teacher’s reflection, face-to-face and email interviews and the recordings of her blended class, this research unfolds a semester-long trajectory of her agency development in the blended classroom. Guided by the Complex Dynamic Systems Theory (CDST), we conclude that teacher agency is a system composed of multi-layers of subsystems and it is a product of the constant interaction amongst these interconnected and interdependent subsystems, with certain subsystems playing a more dominant role than others at a given stage of one’s agency development. This finding led to our proposal of a framework of teacher agency system. This research advances our understanding of teacher agency as a system in the context of online and blended learning.