Breaking out of the grips of dichotomous discourse in teacher post-observation debrief conversations

Adam Lefstein*, Rotem Trachtenberg-Maslaton, Itay Pollak

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

13 Scopus citations

Abstract

Educational discourse is dominated by problematic dichotomies, for example, between teacher- and learner-centred pedagogies, and between teacher control and pupil autonomy. Such dichotomies impede attempts to understand and address complex educational problems, and thwart productive discussion among practitioners and the public. This article examines how teachers in one Israeli school addressed dichotomous discourse around classroom management in video-based post-observation debrief conversations. Three ways of coping with dichotomies are conceptualized: either/or, synthesis and both/and. Factors contributing to the emergence of non-dichotomous discourse are discussed, including ambivalent leadership, the use of video representations, flattened hierarchies, and a focus on issues and dilemmas.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)418-428
Number of pages11
JournalTeaching and Teacher Education
Volume67
DOIs
StatePublished - Oct 2017
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2017 Elsevier Ltd

Keywords

  • Dichotomous discourse
  • Feedback conversations
  • Linguistic ethnography
  • Teacher professional discourse
  • Video representations of teaching practice

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