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Journal of Educational Change

, Volume 13, Issue 1, pp 41–66 | Cite as

In pursuit of excellence in teaching: An ESL educator’s narrative

  • Sheldon Barr
  • M. Carolyn Clark
Article
First Online:

Abstract

This is an educator’s story about the pursuit of excellence in teaching. The narrative of an ESL teacher is examined using the analysis tool, Burke’s Pentad (Burke 1945). This qualitative examination considers contributing factors of teacher self-efficacy and agency connected with the development, implementation, and sustenance of exemplary professional practice targeted at meeting the needs of each student. Application is made from the analysis of the narrative considering educators’ self-perceptions, self-reflections, self-efficacy, and agency in their pursuit of excellence in teaching. The questions of how and why the professional practices of working ESL teachers are impacted relative to the dialogical and dynamic encounters within the teaching, working, and learning contexts are addressed.

Keywords

Excellence Efficacy Agency Teaching Reflective practice Interpretation 
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Copyright information

© Springer Science+Business Media B.V. 2011

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Teaching, Learning and Culture, College of Education and Human DevelopmentTexas A&M UniversityCollege StationUSA
  2. 2.Education Administration and Human Resource Development, College of Education and Human DevelopmentTexas A&M UniversityCollege StationUSA

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