The problem scenario ..

This image was created by midjourneyai.ai using the prompt: a male teacher in his 40s standing in a classroom in front of his students; he feels desperate looking at some of the students who are disengaged using their smartphones.

This scenario was created by Chrissi Nerantzi, a professor at the School of Education of the University of Leeds, using ChatGPT with some proposed prompts (February 2024).

The problem scenario ..

Not so long ago, there was a veteran history teacher named Mr. Smith who had been teaching at a secondary school for over a decade. Despite his passion for history, he had grown increasingly bored with his lessons and was feeling uninspired. He was using the same Powerpoint slides, notes that he got from a colleague who retired years ago and the same textbooks. His students were becoming increasingly disengaged, using their phones and being on social media during class. And others moved to a different class even. 

One day, Mr. Smith received some bad news. The headteacher was not happy with the recent results of his classes and warned him that he needed to find a way to make history become alive for his students. Alive? In class and out of class. For the last 10 years students had to write essays in exam conditions. That is how they are assessed. The reality is that many felt stressed and some really struggled despite the fact that they were studying really hard. The brightest did well. They always do! To most the feedback on the assignments didn’t make sense. Pages and pages of words. Nobody asked for clarification and nobody ever said that they don’t understand what is required. 

Something needed to change. Mr. Smith recognised this. He felt overwhelmed and uncertain about how to proceed. He had always been a traditional teacher and was not confident in his ability to incorporate new teaching methods or technology in his lessons. He felt stuck and out of touch with the times. Despite the headteacher’s warning, Mr. Smith struggled to find a solution. He felt stuck in his old ways and unsure about how to bring history to life for his students. He felt like he was failing both his students and his profession, and he began to feel the weight of his own insecurities. 

One day, as he was marking essays after school, he received a phone call from the headteacher. The headteacher informed him that there had been a major budget cut and that the school would no longer have the resources to keep him as a full-time teacher. Mr. Smith was devastated. He had been teaching at the school for over a decade and had dedicated his life to educating the next generation. 

As he packed up his things and said goodbye to his students, Mr. Smith felt like he had hit rock bottom. But, just when he thought all was lost, a glimmer of hope appeared. 

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FISh model (Nerantzi & Uhlin 2012) 

We have used the FISh problem-based learning (PBL) model by Nerantzi and Uhlin (2012) to go through the process and be able to collectively propose evidence-informed solutions to the scenario of the problem.

Step 1: Focus 

What do we see? 

  • A passionate but bored history teacher working in a secondary school using outdated and ineffective teaching materials, he begins to see the results of being a traditional teacher as his students become bored, disengaged, and flee.  
  • Years of teaching with the same textbook and changeless ways gradually resulted in job burnout in Mr. Smith. His struggle and difficulty in finding innovative ways to make history alive for his students also upset him a lot and resulted in a sense of insecurity and self-doubt. 
  • This sense of insecurity and self-doubt begins to weigh heavily on him, making him feel inadequate in his teaching role and even questioning his professional competence. He cannot reach professional happiness. 

How do we understand what do we see? 

  • The teacher recognises that being a traditional teacher leads to not-so-good results as his students become bored and disengaged and that conventional teaching methods are no longer effective in engaging students. 
  • He needs to build his self-confidence and get a chance to enhance his self-efficacy. 
  • Burnout naturally happens if you work for a long time in the same job, which is acceptable and understandable. What troubles Mr Smith more is that he has not made any change and has always stayed in his comfort zone for the past ten years, gradually weakening his ability to teach history interestingly and lowering his job satisfaction. 

What do we need to find out more about? 

  • How can a history teacher like Mr. Smith, in this case, understand the specific interests of their students to find new methodologies that make his lessons creative and exciting (Experiencing new teaching and learning methods, integrating audio, video and online gamification, and exposing students to real-world experiences as much as possible like trips to historical sites). 
  • Where does the sense of professional honour as a teacher come from? How to improve teachers’ happiness, professional confidence and achievements. 
  • Strong determination to change and courage to brave something new are keys to Mr Smith. We need to dig out why Mr Smith is so afraid to innovate his teaching method? Lack of confidence and ability, or lack of teachers’ support system. 

Specify learning issues/intended learning outcomes. 

Learning issues: 

  • Issue 1: The potential reasons behind students’ lack of engagement inside the classroom.
  • Issue 2: Mr Smith does not know how to proceed and how to use new methodologies or technology.
  • Issue 3: Ways to improve Mr Smith’s confidence and find his sense of professional value.
  • Issue 4: Decreasing job burnout and increasing job satisfaction.

Intended learning outcomes: 

  • ILO 1: Apply teaching methodologies that integrate technology and interactive learning.
  • ILO 2: Develop training and time management plans.
  • ILO 3: Network and seek support from colleagues on how to integrate technology into the classroom.
  • ILO 4: Set clear teaching goals and regularly evaluate teaching effectiveness.

Step 2: Investigate 

How and where are we going to find answers? 

Each one of the group considered ideas for our focus, and we looked for at least 2 relevant articles to support our research into the ideas that could help Mr Smith.  

Relevant ideas/research questions: 

  • What are the most useful methodologies or appropriate instructional materials to employ in teaching social sciences’ curriculums (e.g. History) to make it interesting?  
  • How can educational technologies (edtech) enhance student engagement in secondary-level education, particularly in learning social sciences (e.g. History)? Does audio and video play a role here (i.e. streaming audio-visual documentaries inside the classroom, listening to podcasts outside the classroom, organizing one-day trips to local history museum)? 
  • What factors can decrease job burnout and increase job satisfaction in teaching History? 

Who will do what and by when? 

Each one of the group has a specific role in completing this task. We did research according to our focus and have links to those articles and a summary of the article for others in the group to review. 

Here are the articles that we found relevant to our focus: 

  • Azor, R.O., Asogwa, U.D., Ogwu, E.N., and Apeh, A.A. 2020. YouTube audio-visual documentaries: Effect on Nigeria students’ achievement and interest in history curriculum. The Journal of Educational Research. 113(5), pp.317-326.  
  • Chen, B., Ren, G. and Liu, Y. 2022. Assessing the determinants of teachers’ job happiness in the private universities. Frontiers in psychology. 13, p.1018517.  
  • Eseadi, C., Ardi, Z., Victor-Aigbodion, V., Ndille, R., Obasuyi, H.U. and Ogbuabor, S.E. 2023. Intervention for job burnout reduction among a sample of Nigerian lecturers. Medicine. 102(15), p.e33425.  
  • Hangen, T. 2015. Historical Digital Literacy, One Classroom at a Time. The Journal of American History. 101(4), pp.1192–1203.  
  • Madigan, D.J. and Kim, L.E. 2021. Towards an understanding of teacher attrition: A meta-analysis of burnout, job satisfaction, and teachers’ intentions to quit. Teaching and teacher education. 105(103425), p.103425.  
  • Orakcı, Ş., Yüreğilli Göksu, D. and Karagöz, S. 2022. A mixed methods study of the teachers’ self-efficacy views and their ability to improve self-efficacy beliefs during teaching. Frontiers in psychology. 13, p.1035829.  
  • Robin, B. R. 2008. Digital Storytelling: A Powerful Technology Tool for the 21st Century Classroom. Theory Into Practice. 47(3), pp. 220–228.  
  • Schleicher, A. 2018. Valuing Our Teachers and Raising Their Status: How Communities Can Help. OECD Publishing.  
  • Vadahi, F. and Lesha, J. 2015. Enhancing teachers self-efficacy: Theoretical and research considerations. European Scientific Journal. 11(19), pp.82-89. 

What main findings and solutions do we propose? 

  • This is a presentation of the summary of our findings. 
understanding-mr-smiths-challengesDownload

  • This diagram illustrates the interrelation between four key strategies aimed at enhancing history teaching and learning.
Fig 1 highlights the interrelation among four key strategies aimed at enhancing history teaching and learning. 
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References

Azor, R.O., Asogwa, U.D., Ogwu, E.N., and Apeh, A.A. 2020. YouTube audio-visual documentaries: Effect on Nigeria students’ achievement and interest in history curriculum. The Journal of Educational Research. 113(5), pp.317-326.  

Chen, B., Ren, G. and Liu, Y. 2022. Assessing the determinants of teachers’ job happiness in the private universities. Frontiers in psychology. 13, p.1018517.  

Eseadi, C., Ardi, Z., Victor-Aigbodion, V., Ndille, R., Obasuyi, H.U. and Ogbuabor, S.E. 2023. Intervention for job burnout reduction among a sample of Nigerian lecturers. Medicine. 102(15), p.e33425.  

Hangen, T. 2015. Historical Digital Literacy, One Classroom at a Time. The Journal of American History. 101(4), pp.1192–1203.  

Madigan, D.J. and Kim, L.E. 2021. Towards an understanding of teacher attrition: A meta-analysis of burnout, job satisfaction, and teachers’ intentions to quit. Teaching and teacher education. 105(103425), p.103425.  

Orakcı, Ş., Yüreğilli Göksu, D. and Karagöz, S. 2022. A mixed methods study of the teachers’ self-efficacy views and their ability to improve self-efficacy beliefs during teaching. Frontiers in psychology. 13, p.1035829.  

Robin, B. R. 2008. Digital Storytelling: A Powerful Technology Tool for the 21st Century Classroom. Theory Into Practice. 47(3), pp. 220–228.  

Schleicher, A. 2018. Valuing Our Teachers and Raising Their Status : How Communities Can Help. OECD Publishing.  

Vadahi, F. and Lesha, J. 2015. Enhancing teachers self-efficacy: Theoretical and research considerations. European Scientific Journal. 11(19), pp.82-89. 

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Who we are ..

We are a group of four postgraduate students currently studying the EDUC5265M Digital Education in Practice module at the School of Education of the University of Leeds. We originally created this blog to share, with our learning community, our findings and evidence-based solutions to one problem that we have been exposed to during one study session. 

Andrea De Lusignan

Ali Elhalaby

Yan An

Juan Liao