Teacher Moves and Knowledge in Preparing Students for General Certificate of Education Examination

Abstract

This study investigated an experienced teacher’s moves in preparing high school students for an end of year certificate examination. Six consecutive lessons taught by this teacher were observed and videotaped in the second term of the 2020/2021 academic year. These lessons were transcribed and coded for teacher moves as well as teacher knowledge deployed in any of the moves. First, the two researchers coded teacher moves independently and agreed on them. Second, interviews were used to obtain justification for teacher moves used. Third, Ball, Thames and Phelps’s (2008) categorizations of mathematical knowledge for teaching was used to determine which teacher knowledge motivated the move. Results revealed that this teacher, Ngwa, a pseudonym, deployed the following moves: reading through all the topics to identify key concepts and determine connections between and among them, connecting ideas from one topic to another, returning to previous chapters or units for review of mathematical ideas, reinforce understanding by modifying problems, adoption/adaptations and extension of problems to generate the use of more ideas, withdrawal of the teacher and creation of space for interaction, announcing or advertising what will be learned in the next lesson, and learners designing their own questions for the class to engage with. The findings also revealed that understanding the structure of an examination might be a form of specialized content knowledge as it drives teaching. In addition, teaching and learning was found to be forward and backward to review concepts and reinforce learning in learners. Furthermore, teachers must intentionally create space for student-student interaction which provide opportunities for learners to make sense of what is being taught. The findings of this study might be beneficial to teacher educators and professional development experts to focus training on productive teaching moves. Classroom teachers can also use the outcome of this study for the improvement of their practice of teaching.