View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by ResearchSPace - Bath Spa University Sorensen, N.T. (2014) Improvisation and teacher expertise: a comparative case study. PhD thesis. Bath: Bath Spa University. ResearchSPAce http://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/ This version is made available in accordance with publisher policies. Please cite only the published version using the reference above. Your access and use of this document is based on your acceptance of the ResearchSPAce Metadata and Data Policies, as well as applicable law:- https://researchspace.bathspa.ac.uk/policies.html Unless you accept the terms of these Policies in full, you do not have permission to download this document. This cover sheet may not be removed from the document. Please scroll down to view the document. IMPROVISATION AND TEACHER EXPERTISE: A COMPARATIVE CASE STUDY NICHOLAS TREVOR SORENSEN A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements of Bath Spa University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy School of Education: Bath Spa University February 2014 Nicholas Sorensen, 2014 1 Abstract This thesis reports on an enquiry into the nature of teacher expertise which pays particular attention to its improvisatory nature. The study draws on three main areas of literature and theory: critical studies in improvisation; expertise and expert practice and organisation theory. These are used to present a model of teacher expertise that is derived from grounded theory. The data is taken from a series of comparative case studies of seven experienced teachers working in secondary schools in the South West of England and who have been identified as being expert within their school setting. Constant comparative methods of analysis have been used to draw out themes from the data. This has contributed to a grounded theory that identifies the nature of teacher expertise. The findings that arise from the data are that teachers expertise is best expressed as continually evolving practice, a process as opposed to an end state. Advanced professional practice is best described as a teahe ith epetises ad this is pefeale to the te epet teahe. The data shows that teacher expertise is fundamentally improvisatory and that this has a positive impact on the quality of teaching. The improvisation nature of teacher expertise is derived from four processes: the expression of tacit knowledge, relational and interactional practice, personalisation of the learning environment and self- reflection leading to the continual adaptation of pedagogy. The resulting model of teacher expertise casts new light on how we understand advanced professional practice and this has implications for school leaders, teachers, researchers and those with responsibility for the initial training and the continuing professional development of teachers. Nicholas Sorensen, 2014 2 Acknowledgements I wish to extend my gratitude and thanks to all those who have helped and supported me to complete this thesis. To begin with I must thank the wonderful teachers and headteachers who gave so willingly of their time and allowed me to interview and observe them. It was a privilege to have met you and spent time in your company. I must also record my debt to my supervisors who have guided and supported me through this journey. My Director of Studies: Professor Steven J. Coombs; for his encouragement and inspiration which allowed my initial ideas to take flight. I valued the way in which he supported my conceptual thinking and, in particular, I attribute to him the specific contribution of the thee postulates. My External Supervisor: Dr Jill White; for making sure that my feet were on the ground. My Second Supervisor: Emeritus Professor Stephen Ward; for guiding me through the final stages and for his attention to detail. Your wisdom and critical support has been invaluable; a real team effort. I would want to thank all the staff and students at Bath Spa University who have shown an interest in this research, have asked questions, offered support, shared ideas with me and uged e to get the thig opleted. You ae too ueous to mention but you know who you are. And finally I must extend my thanks to my friends and family who have had to cope with my absence, in body and mind, as I have given my attention to my writing. In particular I wish to thank my wife, Sandra, for her understanding, tolerance and help with the proofreading. It is to you that I dedicate this thesis. Nicholas Sorensen, 2014 3 Table of Contents Abstract .............................................................................................................................. 2 Acknowledgements ............................................................................................................ 3 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................... 4 List of Tables ..................................................................................................................... 8 List of Figures .................................................................................................................. 10 Appendices ....................................................................................................................... 10 Chapter 1: Introduction ............................................................................................................ 11 1.1 The personal motivation to undertake this research ...................................................... 11 1.2 Describing advanced professional practice .................................................................... 13 1.3 Rationale and aims of the research ................................................................................ 15 1.4 Assumptions underpinning the research ........................................................................ 16 1.5 Overview of the thesis ................................................................................................... 21 Chapter 2: Improvisation: definitions and theoretical perspectives ......................................... 24 2.1 Problematising improvisation ........................................................................................ 24 2.2 The etymology of improvisation .................................................................................... 26 2.2.1 Ancient Greece........................................................................................................ 26 2.2.2 The Enlightenment and Romanticism ..................................................................... 27 2.2.3 Modernism .............................................................................................................. 27 2.2.4 Late-modernism ...................................................................................................... 29 2.2.5 Structuralism ........................................................................................................... 30 2.2.6. Postmodern and poststructuralist perspectives ...................................................... 32 2.3 A working definition of improvisation .......................................................................... 33 2.4 Theorising improvisation ............................................................................................... 37 2.4.1 Complexity theory .................................................................................................. 38 2.4.2 Critical theory ......................................................................................................... 41 2.4.3 Social constructionism ............................................................................................ 49 Nicholas Sorensen, 2014 4 2.5 Summary and conclusions ............................................................................................. 55 Chapter 3: Experts, expertise and expert performance ............................................................ 56 3.1 About expertise and the characteristics of experts ......................................................... 56 3.2 Theories of expertise ...................................................................................................... 59 3.2.1 Dreyfus and Dreyfus ............................................................................................... 59 3.2.2 Schön’s theory of ‘the Reflective Practitioner’ ...................................................... 62 3.2.3 Conscious and unconscious competences ............................................................... 63 3.2.4 Collins and Evans ................................................................................................... 64 3.2.5 Sternberg and Horvath’s Prototype View of Teaching ........................................... 66 3.2.6 Communities of Practice (Lave and Wenger, 1991) ............................................... 67 3.2.7 Winch’s critique of theories of expertise ................................................................ 69 3.3 Researching teacher expertise ........................................................................................ 70 3.4 Summary and conclusions ............................................................................................. 78 Chapter 4: Understanding teacher expertise ............................................................................ 80 4.1 Teaching as a profession ...................................................................................................