Oppilaiden kanssa vastuuta jakamassa : peruskoulun kahdeksannen luokan oppilaiden autonomian vahvistaminen englannin oppitunneilla samanaikaisopetuksen tuella

Abstract

The aim of this ethnographic and autoethnographic research was to explore what kind of a learning culture existed in an 8th grade English class in a Finnish basic education school in the 2011-2012 academic year. The class was taught jointly by a subject teacher and a special education teacher. A teaching experiment was implemented with the support of co-teaching during which teachers aimed to strengthen students' learning autonomy: to support their active learning and help them act as responsible learners. The research data included participant observation notes, interviews of a subject teacher and students, and different kinds of documents produced by teachers and students during the implementation of the teaching experiment. Students also wrote their comments about the teaching experiment in the autumn of 2012. During the lessons students were given guidance in setting their own goals and offered chances to make personal choices. Elements of inquiry-based learning were added to the teaching and the instruction was developed by talking more about learning. The aim was to build students’ learning autonomy but also to develop co-operation between the subject teacher and special education teacher and improve their skills to work as reflective professionals so that they could more easily meet both current and future challenges of teaching. The research suggests that the strengthening of students’ autonomy as a separate element was not meaningful. There were issues of competence and relatedness which were also experienced as important elements. The teachers had to learn how to give students real power to influence their learning: a shift in the structure of classroom power was practiced. The teachers' positive perceptions and expectations of every student’s achievement were relevant. The research revealed that the increased possibilities for choices were fairly easy to organize compared to how relevant they were in developing an expanded culture of learning. The researcher encountered for herself the differences between espoused theory and theory-in-use. Co-teaching was a valuable tool for improving both students’ learning and teachers' acting as reflective practitioners. The development of teaching and learning brought some elements of care and humanity into renewing teacherhood and evolving school culture.