This study presents the aspects of the implementation of critical reading at one of the Nazarbayev Intellectual schools. The findings of the study revealed that the teachers have different opinions and experiences with critical reading. 52 5.3 Discussion related to the research question 3 (what kind of support is available . to teach critical reading)…….
Introduction
- Background of the study
- Statement of the problem
- Purpose of the study
- Research questions
- Significance of the study
- Conclusion
The central phenomenon of the qualitative study was a personal and professional experience of Nazarbayev Intellectual School (NIS) teachers as critical reading. The purpose of the study was to explore NIS teachers' understanding of critical reading, their prior educational background, and approaches to implementing critical reading. Finally, the study was a way to investigate and describe the methods used to teach critical reading.
Literature Review
- Defining critical reading
- Teachers’ understanding of critical reading
- Teachers’ preparation for implementing critical reading
- Methods of teaching critical reading
- Summary
For example, some of the participants describe critical reading in relation to critical thinking. According to the results of studies conducted by Bosley (2008) and Wilson (2016) it was identified that teachers' understanding of critical reading varies. They defined critical reading, teachers' understanding of critical reading, teacher preparation for implementing critical reading, and methods of teaching critical reading.
Methodology
- Research Design
- Data collection methods
- Research site
- Data collection instruments
- Sampling Procedures
- Data Collection Procedures
- Interview Procedure
- Observation Procedure
- Data analysis methods
- Ethical issues
- Limitations
Yin (2003) recommends a case study when the purpose of the study is to answer the "how". The second set of interviews was conducted with school management to get answers about the training and support available to teachers in teaching critical reading. In order to study the issue of critical reading from different angles, in addition to the interviews, observations of the participants' lessons were conducted for a deeper understanding of the central phenomenon.
According to the research questions, they were grouped into three categories: 1) questions about the participants' understanding of the critical reading concept;. The common characteristics of school administrators were 1) their functions include management of the implementation of critical reading education;. In the first part of the study, two groups of participants were interviewed: teachers and school management.
At the end of the interview, participants were asked about the possibility of a member-check procedure and expressed their gratitude for their contribution to the study. Both teachers were informed of their rights during their participation in the study. The purpose and process of the study were transparent and described in the informed consent form, interview and observation protocol.
This study reflects only the views of these teachers on the influences on their experience of doing critical reading.
Findings
Characteristics of Participants
The names shown in the table were used in the survey instead of the real names of the respondents to keep their confidentiality. In total, there were ten participants in this study: seven teachers of senior classes and three representatives of the management team. As shown in Table 1, these were teachers of English and global perspectives who were selected according to several common characteristics.
The purpose of the interviews with the school leadership team was to gain their perspective in analyzing how critical reading is implemented and how teachers are supported at the school level. As can be seen from table 2, the average number of teaching years is approx. 5.7.
RQ 1: How do teachers understand the concept of critical reading?
- The majority of teachers consider critical reading in relation to
- There is no common understanding of critical reading
During the interview, the teachers were asked to define critical reading in their own words when they answered the interview questions. Critical reading is the ability to think critically, analyze, find the purpose of the text, make analogies, compare things, draw conclusions from the text" (Julia). Literature teachers around the world often define critical reading in terms of Bloom's taxonomy.
More specifically, they use words from the top three levels of the taxonomy dealing with analysis, synthesis, and evaluation to describe critical thinking and critical reading skills. This conclusion was reached by collecting all the words used by the participants in defining critical reading. The numbers in parentheses in Table 3 indicate how many out of ten participants used these words to define critical reading.
Although teachers understand critical reading as distinct from critical thinking skills, it is not clear which aspects of Bloom's taxonomy they emphasize as important to critical reading. For example: "I consider critical reading as an opportunity to compare the author's point of view with my own background and experiences" (Aigul). Others understand critical reading as a kind of recognition and seeing of what the author wants to see, or the inferences or implications he may find.
This means that their understanding of critical reading influences their choice of methods for teaching critical reading.
RQ 2: What kind of challenges do teachers face in critical reading
- Teaching related challenges in implementing critical reading
- Lack of experience
- Lack of resources
- Learning related challenges in teaching critical reading
- Insufficient language level of students
In addition, all participants complained that most of their approaches to teaching critical reading are based on intuition. The first characteristic presented by the participants as one of the students' challenges in learning critical reading was the students' insufficient level of English. Meanwhile, as mentioned in the literature review section, critical reading requires a more advanced level of language.
Based on the responses of the participants, they are not provided with any specific professional development course to teach critical reading. In addition, all participants emphasized the importance of the support they receive from other colleagues in teaching critical reading. In the previous chapter, the main findings of the study about the experience of teachers in the implementation of critical reading were presented.
In addition, some teachers define critical reading as an alternative way of reading. Two key findings reflect the challenges the study participants face in implementing critical reading. Specifically, the study participants emphasized that they are not aware of the critical reading approach.
In addition to the teaching-related challenges, teachers face learning-related challenges when implementing critical reading. During the research it became apparent that there is some support available in teaching critical reading. As a rule, some of the cases of implementing critical reading described in the literature presented individual work of teachers.
Summary
Teachers working at this research site often use graphic organizers to define an author's purpose, identify cause and effect, identify a problem, and find a solution. In addition, teachers can adapt ready-made organizers or create their own graphic organizers to support and frame their students' critical reading.
Conclusion
Summary of the study
These findings were compared with the reviewed literature and discussed, taking into account the different views of the researchers in the area of critical reading implementation and the experience of the teachers of the school in question. In summary, it can be said that the research achieved the goal stated at the beginning and found answers to all four research questions. In addition, two types of teachers' problems in implementing critical reading were described.
Some of them were teaching challenges related to lack of special experience and lack of adequate resources. These difficulties include students' insufficient language level and students' basic reading skills, which hinder the teaching of critical reading. Additionally, it was concluded that NIS teachers accumulated positive experience incorporating some effective methods of teaching critical reading and collaborative planning practice.
The findings of the study showed that regular support was available to teachers, even if this support did not fully meet teachers' professional needs. In this case, teachers began to rely on the support of their peers within their professional groups and built a culture of collaboration to support their teaching of critical reading. Furthermore, teachers were aware of the importance of their role as critical reading instructors and welcomed this challenge.
The practical experience of the participants could be studied in the future to add more relevant details to the conducted research.
Recommendations
- Recommendations for teachers
- Recommendations for school leaders
- Recommendations for the teacher training centers \ for the
- Recommendations for policy makers
Regarding the situation in the field of research that the support provided by school administrators to teachers as instructors of critical reading is limited, it can be recommended to study in detail the positive experience of this school. First, it can be additional encouragement and support for teachers to plan teaching and learning, discuss current concerns, and share effective practices for teaching critical reading collaboratively. Projects such as Action Research and Lesson Study, which are gaining popularity in schools, can focus on teaching critical reading.
First, according to the findings of the study, teachers face the challenge of lacking professional training to teach critical reading. By addressing this challenge, institutions responsible for teacher professional development may be recommended to revise, adapt, or design the curriculum for critical reading courses. It may be useful to share the most effective practices by inviting more experienced teachers to conduct trainings or workshops on critical reading across the country.
During the study, a number of problems related to curricula and textbooks were identified. Participants highlighted a lack of resources for both critical reading instructional guidance and textbook tasks for developing critical readers. In addition, policymakers could discuss the possibility of training a group of representatives from each region of Kazakhstan as critical reading instructors to further support the work of internship and professional development institutions.
It would also enable the development of our national system of teaching critical reading, taking into account local experiences and the educational needs of our students.
Implications for further study
It would also enable the development of our national system of teaching critical reading, taking into account local experiences and the educational needs of our students. training and support available in the curriculum. It would allow for the study, adaptation, and integration of best practices in teaching critical reading to develop and implement a common approach with appropriate guidelines and resources for use across the country. Karabay A., et al (2015). A survey of pre-service teachers' perceptions of critical reading self-efficacy, Eurasian Journal of Educational Research.
Moving from reader response to critical reading: Developing 10-11 year olds' ability as analytical readers of literary texts. I plan to conduct a research entitled "High school teachers' experience in the implementation of critical reading: Nazarbayev Intellectual schools, Kazakhstan". This is also another effort by our administration to help not only with critical reading skills, but with other teaching skills.
