An introduction of robust reasoning in teachers

杨莉

Abstract ：This essay illustrates why Johnson thinks teachers need robust reasoning in terms of ，what robust reasoning is and what teachers mustdo to develop robust reasoning and how it can help teachers.

Key words ： reflection ; robust reasomng

1. Introduction

To make students enjoy as many benefits as possible from whathappens in their class， English teachers have never stopped trying outways. Besides peer observation， they read books on， discuss and shareideas with colleagues about classroom management and how to writeteaching plans， collect student feedback on their lessons and so on.Although they have been making progress in teaching. they have neverfelt satisfied and have always asked themselves how thev can and whatelse they can do to fuither facilitate their students ' learning. However，it is not very easy to find the answer to this question. The reasons areas follows. Firstly ， subject proficiency is not sufficient to ensure effec-tive teaching （ Malderez & Wedell， 2007 ：4 ） . Secondly ， what happensin class is greatly influenced by teachers ' previous learning experi-ences， teaching approaches that they employ， their perceptions ofteachers， teaching and learning， students ' backgrounds， needs andexpectations， etc. For instance. in a multi - level class where theplanning is time - consuming and the classroom management is ex-hausting （Gathy C. Shank & Lynda R. Terrill， 1995） and wherestudents come with particular profiles of talents. interests， learninghabits， and purposes that mav crucially affect how well they do in alanguage course （ Richards . 1998 ： 13 ） . what teacher.should do or notdo to encourage students " to contribute to the development of a goodclassroom atmosphere by encouraging and being willing to learn from.each other" （ Wedell. 1995 ：291 ）. Therefore， in order to address theabove question， English teachers need to have a clear and deep under-standing of their teaching context. That is， they need critical reflectionon /reasoning about their teaching.

2. Robust reasoning

2. l What is robust reasoning？

Harshbarge （2002） notes that reflection is an effective way of fine - tuning teachers ' evaluative skills to the point that thev feel confidentin their own ability to define what ' works ' in their classrooms. lts ef-fectiveness increases if it is done critically using a focused set of ques-tions". Johnson （1999 ： I） defines reflection as " reasoning... （ that）represents the complex ways in which teachers conceptualize， constructexplanations for， and respond to the social interactions and sharedmeaning that exist within and among teachers， students， parents andadministrators. both inside and outside the classroom. " Johnson（ 1999 ： 25 ） points out that teachers ' reasoning is shaped by teachers 'knowledge， which is composed of experiential knowledge （ developedfrom an apprenticeship of observation as students and through the con-struction and reconstruction of experiences as teachers） and profession-al knowledge ahout teachers ， teaching， learning and students.

Seeing that teacher reasoning is a vital element in teacher develop-ment. Johnson claims that teacher reasoning has to be further devel-oped into robust reasoning since teacher reasoning is based mainly on "beliefs ， assumptions and knowledge about what should and should nothappen in classrooms" while "robust reasoning emerges through aprocess of looking beyond what teachers do in their classrooms to explo-ring the complex nature of the reasoning that shapes what they do"（ 1999 ：11）.

Also. Johnson claims that " while all teachers engage in reason-ing， the robustness of such reasoning varies greatly among teachers，and not necessarily along the traditional lines of novice versus experi-enced teacher" （1999：2） . Novice teachers and experienced teachersmay make different decisions while teaching. Whatever their decisionsare， they all intend to reach the overall goals of their lessons. And tohalance the needs of their students with the goals of lessons ， they haveto think about their students. their teaching and continually judge theappropriateness of their teaching strategies （1999 ： 56 ） . That is ， teach-ers are responsible for starting their robust reasoning and the processbegins when teachers try to make sense of their decisions and to under-stand themselves， their teaching， their students and their classroomsand schools （1999 ：2） wbether thev are novice teachers or experiencedteachers.

2.2 What must teachers do to develop robust reasoning？

As to how teachers can develop robust reasoning ， Johnson （1999 ：lI） offers two suggestions. First， teachers must engage in critical re-flection - reflection on themselves as teachers . on the lives of otherteachers， on the teaching practices of their own as well as others . andon the schools for which teachers work. As to why professional commu-nity has a powerful impact on teachers' reasoning， Johnson explains " Like a subculture， the underlying values， norms and expectationsshared by the teachers and other professional with whom you work willshape， in part， the way in which you understand and respond to theactions and interactions that go on around you " （1999 ： 142 ） .

Second .teachers must engage in critical inquiry into teachers ' classroom prac-tices by exploring why teachers teach as they do. Simply put， teachersmust observe how teachers see and react to their students， how theymanage the dilemmas in the class and they must clearly explain the re-strictions and their reasoning so as to justify their reasoning hehaviours.

In addition. for teachers dedicated to long - term development of

robust reasoning， Johnson （1999 ：139） advises them to repeatedly askthe following guiding questions throughout their professional careers ：

* Who am I as a teacher？

* Who are my students？ How do they experience my teaching？

* What do l know about my teaching context？

* What do I know about the subject matter content that l teach？

* Why do l teach the way that l do？

* What are the consequences of my teaching practices for mystudents ？

* How do I make sense of theoretical knowledge？

* Who is my professional community？

* What sort of change do l see as fit for my own teaching？

By doing so. teachers "will develop complex， flexible conceptualunderstandings themselves， their students. their classrooms. and theirschools. and will be able to use their knowledge in different ways， fordifferent purpose ， and in different instructional contexts . enabling themto provide truly effective teaching practices" （1999 ： 12） .

2.3 Why do teachers need robust reasoning？

According to Johnson （1999 ） ， in teaching， when teachers whoare equipped with experiential knowledge and professional knowledgeplan lessons， manage dilemmas and solve various problems in theclassroom and outside the classroom . their decisions or solutions are in-fluenced by factors like their previous learning experiences， their con-ceptions of teachers. students. teaching and learning， their teachingcontext and professional community. In order to he able to evaluatetheir teaching practices， to he able to change their teaching as they seefit， be able to understand and articulate why they teach the way theydo. and to continually broaden their conceptual perception of them-selves ， their students ， classrooms and the schools for which they work ，teachers need robust reasoning.

3. Conclusion

In sum， to gain a clearer perception of how and what they shoulddo so as to achieve better teaching result and greatly benefit theirstudents. ， English teachers need robust reasoning - to keep asking，pondering， exploring， sharing with other teachers and answering ques-tions related to their teaching （context） ， to deliberately reflect on theirknowledge and teaching practices， and to update knowledge about de-velopment of foreign language teaching; as a result， they will knowmore about their students and school， their reasons for doing things inclassrooms， they will be able to adjust their teaching flexibly and theywill feel more confident in themselves as teachers 《 As Johnson（2001 ：209） clearly expresses that if a teacher doesn't understandwhat he is doing， his performance is likely to be weak and Malderez &Wedell claim （2007：5） that all teachers need to feel confidence inwhat they are doing because it has consequences for effectiveness andthat feeling knowledgeable can promote that confidence） .

[ References]

[1lCathy C. Shank & Lynda R. Terrill. 1995. Teaching Multi-level Adult ESL Classes. ERIC Digest. Adjunct ERIC Clearinghousefor ESL Literacy Education Washington DC. http ：//www. ericdigests.org/1996 - l/adult. htm.

[2lHarshbarger， L. 2002. What Works in the ELT Classmom？Lsing Robust Reasoning To Find Out. Forum， v40 n4 pl8 - 2 0ct2002.

http ：//eca. state. gov/forum/vols/vol40/no4/pl8. htm.

[3] Johnson， K. 1999. Understanding language teaching： Rea-soning in action. Boston ： Heinle and Heinle.

[4] Johnson ， K. 2001 . An introduction to foreign language learn-ing and teaching （pp.197 - 210 ） . Pearson Education Limited.

[5] Malderez ， A & Wedell， M. 2007. Teaching teachers ： Proces-ses and Practices （pp. I - 100 ） . London ： The Crormwell Press. Trow-bridge， Wiltshire.

[6] Richards. J. C. 1998. The context of language teaching（pp. l - 16 ） .

Cambridge ：Cambridge Lniversity Press.

[7] Wedell ， M.

1995. Language teaching & learning ： From theo-ry to practice （pp. 285 - 294） .

Beijing ： Higher Education Press.