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The first part of this article argued that to fully implement the Project Approach, it is necessary for teachers to develop an understanding of the underlying dynamics of the processes of project work. When teachers begin to experience a change in their basic understandings of the effects of their practices from a traditional, transmission approach to teaching toward a progressive approach of facilitating learning, they can begin to fully appreciate these processes (e.g., having students make predictions; negotiating with students). The second part of the article reviews research related to teacher learning that may account for the difficulties experienced by teacher educators when helping teachers change their practices to include the processes of project work. Changing Pedagogical Knowledge and Understandings Extensive experience in helping teachers who wish to adopt the Project Approach suggests that even with a desire and intention to change practices to include the approach, many teachers continue to use traditional formal instruction. What are some possible explanations for this pedagogical choice, even though it is contrary to that of the Project Approach? Research on teacher learning may yield some insights into this phenomenon. The Traditional Approach to Teaching The traditional approach to teaching is based on the concept of a transmission model of instruction in which basic skills and facts are taught through direct instruction. In this approach, knowledge is transferred from the expert to the novice primarily through lecture or print. In addition to a description of Borko and Putnam's three domains of teacher knowledge and the transmission model of instruction, the discussion below includes the concepts of (1) the strength of the effects of preexisting understandings while attempting to change practices, (2) the notion of false clarity, and (3) the resistance to change in beliefs about practice. Three Domains of Teacher Knowledge. Borko and Putnam (1996) organize their investigation of research on learning to teach around "three domains of knowledge that are particularly relevant to teachers' instructional practices: (a) general pedagogical knowledge and beliefs, (b) subject matter knowledge and beliefs, and (c) pedagogical content knowledge" (p. 675). The first domain forms the focus of this discussion. It encompasses a teacher's knowledge and understandings of teaching, learning, and learners that transcend particular subject matter domains: It includes knowledge of various strategies and arrangements for effective classroom management, instructional strategies of conducting lessons and creating learning environments, and more fundamental knowledge and beliefs about learners, how they learn and how that learning can be fostered by teaching. (Borko & Putnam, 1996, p. 675) The Transmission Model. Literature on teacher change and educational reform (Fullan, 1982; Borko & Putnam, 1996; Raths, 2001) points to the difficulties inherent in teachers' reflecting critically on their current (traditional) views of teaching and learning. Often their existing views are based on a transmission model of education in which pedagogy is based on traditional beliefs: Instructional theories are grounded in behaviorist and early information-processing perspectives, which assume that learning is facilitated by breaking complex tasks into component parts that can be taught and practiced in isolation.... Students acquire the component parts one by one, ultimately putting them together in complex performances [so that curricula consists] of discrete facts and skills removed from any meaningful context or sense of purpose. (Borko & Putnam, 1996, p. 674) As Lortie (1975) explains, prospective teachers have experienced more than 10,000 hours of observation of teaching from their own experience as students, and most were within a traditional setting. These experiences form a perspective (filter) that determines how they interpret their experiences in teacher education programs. This filter is further developed in practice teaching and through inservice experiences. Preexisting Beliefs. In a review of educational change, Fullan (1982) claims that inservice teachers often embrace newly recommended practices in terms of what they believe already works for them. He posits that because their preexisting beliefs, based on their direct experiences, serve as a filter to new information, they tend to adopt a hybrid form of the innovation that they are required to use in order to fit it into their present scheme of teaching. The teachers may assume that they are making the changes required because on the surface the product or content of the instruction conforms to the new mandate. False Clarity. The processes of instruction, however, based on teachers' preexisting pedagogical knowledge and beliefs, may not change. Fullan (1982) refers to this phenomenon as false clarity. In these cases, the teachers do not understand
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