Thinking through Arguments on Comparative Education Topics: Contemporary Learning Approach in Teacher Education

Abstract

This study was conducted to examine contribution of producing argument in comparative education topics to the preservice teachers’ process of constructing knowledge. Toulmin's Argument Pattern (TAP) was followed. This article is different as it is a synthesis of comparative education research interests and argumentation topics. In addition, it offers a learning way in comparative education for teacher education. The study was carried out with 22 senior university students studying at the department of English Language Teaching during 2018-2019 academic year. The data were collected via observation records and written documents of four preservice teachers who had opposite claims, selected among those students. As a conclusion, it was found that TAP guided the preservice teachers on the components of claiming an assumption, backing claims with evidence, applying scientific sources, rebuttal and generating new arguments for the topics of comparative education. The study also included implications on thinking through argument.

Keywords

• Toulmin's Argument Pattern (TAP);
• Teacher training
• Comparative education;
• Contemporary Approach

References

1. Adler, I., Zion, M., & Rimerman-Shmueli, E. (2019). Fostering teachers’ reflections on the dynamic characteristics of open inquiry through metacognitive prompts. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 30(7), 763-787. https://doi.org/10.1080/1046560X.2019.1627060
2. Afdal, H. W. (2019). The promises and limitations of international comparative research on teacher education. European Journal of Teacher Education, 42(2), 258-275. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2019.1566316
3. Awada, G., Burston, J., & Ghannage, R. (2019). Effect of student team achievement division through WebQuest on EFL students’ argumentative writing skills and their instructors’ perceptions. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 1-26. https://doi.org/10.1080/09588221.2018.1558254
4. Bakioğlu, A.(2018). Comparative education management. Education systems of successful countries in PISA. Nobel publishing. Ankara.
5. Balcı, A. (2018). Comparative education systems, Pegem Publications, Ankara.
6. Broadfoot, P. (2000). Comparative education for the 21st century: retrospect and prospect. Comparative Education, 36(3), 357-371. https://doi.org/10.1080/03050060050129036
7. Bulut, B. (2019). Argumentation-Based Learning in Social Studies Teaching. Journal of Education and Learning, 8(3), 89-94.
8. Campbell, Y. C., & Filimon, C. (2018). Supporting the argumentative writing of students in linguistically diverse classrooms: An action research study. RMLE Online, 41(1), 1-10. https://doi.org/10.1080/19404476.2017.1402408

9. Dinkelman, T. (2003). Self-study in teacher education: A means and ends tool for promoting reflective teaching. Journal of teacher education, 54(1), 6-18. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0022487102238654
10. Erdoğan, İ. (2016). Comparative education systems, Sumer Kitapevi, İstanbul.
11. Eret-Orhan, E., Ok, A., & Capa-Aydin, Y. (2018). We train, but what do they think? Preservice teachers’ perceptions of the adequacy of their teacher education in Turkey. Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education, 46(2), 183-198. https://doi.org/10.1080/1359866X.2017.1355050
12. Gholami, K., & Husu, J. (2010). How do teachers reason about their practice? Representing the epistemic nature of teachers’ practical knowledge. Teaching and Teacher Education, 26(8), 1520-1529. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2010.06.001
13. Ginsburg, M., Massón Cruz, R. M., Rodríguez Alfonso, E., & García Isaac, Y. (2019). Teaching Comparative Education in Cuba and the United States. Encyclopedia of Teacher Education. Singapore: Springer. Disponible en: https://doi. org/10.1007/978-981-13-1179-6.
14. Greenwald AR (2007) Learning how to argue: experiences teaching the toulmin model to composition students. Ph.D. thesis. Iowa State University.
15. Hegelund, S., & Kock, C. (1999, 15-17 May 1999). Macto-Toulmin: the argument model as structural guideline in academic writing. Paper presented at the Argumentation at the Century's Turn, Ontario, Canada.
16. Khakpour, A. (2012). Methodology of comparative studies in education. Contemporary Educational Researches Journal, 1, 20-26.
17. Lemley, S. M., Hart, S. M., & King, J. R. (2019). Teacher inquiry develops elementary teachers’ disciplinary literacy. Literacy Research and Instruction, 58(1), 12-30. https://doi.org/10.1080/19388071.2018.1520371
18. Love, K. (2000). The regulation of argumentative reasoning in pedagogic discourse. Discourse Studies, 2(4), 420-451. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F1461445600002004002
19. Metaxas, N., Potari, D., & Zachariades, T. (2016). Analysis of a teacher’s pedagogical arguments using Toulmin’s model and argumentation schemes. Educational Studies in Mathematics, 93(3), 383-397.
20. Nikolaos, M., Despina, P., & Theodossios, Z. (2009, July). Studying Teachers’pedagogical Argumentation. In of the 33rd conference of the International Group for the Psychology of Mathematics Education (p. 121).
21. Öztürk, A. (2017). An investigation of prospective science teachers’ socio-scientific argumentation processes in terms of metacognition: A causal-comparative study. Pegem Journal of Education and Instruction, 7(4), 547.
22. Qin, J. (2013). Applying Toulmin model in teaching L2 argumentative writing. The Journal of Language Learning and Teaching, 3(2), 21-29.
23. Richmond, G., Salazar, M. D. C., & Jones, N. (2019). Assessment and the future of teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education. 86-89. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0022487118824331
24. Schroeder, C. (1997). Knowledge and power, logic and rhetoric, and other reflections in the Toulminian mirror: A critical consideration of Stephen Toulmin's contributions to composition. JAC, 95-107.
25. Simon, S. (2008). Using Toulmin’s argument pattern in the evaluation of argumentation in school science. International Journal of Research & Method in Education, 31(3), 277-289.
26. Soodmand Afshar, H., Movassagh, H., & Radi Arbabi, H. (2017). The interrelationship among critical thinking, writing an argumentative essay in an L2 and their subskills. The Language Learning Journal, 45(4), 419-433. https://doi.org/10.1080/09571736.2017.1320420
27. Stringer, E. T. (2014). Action research. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications.
28. Thomas, M. A., & Mosselson, J. (2018). Advancing the Teaching of Comparative and International Education. Annual Review of Comparative and International Education, 89-95.
29. Türkoğlu, A. (2015). Comparative education with examples from world countries. What is comparative education ?, Anı publishing, Ankara.
30. Watson, K., & Wilson, R. (Eds.). (2018). Contemporary Issues in Comparative Education: A Festschrift in Honour of Professor Emeritus Vernon Mallinson. Routledge.
31. Wilkinson, I. A., Reznitskaya, A., Bourdage, K., Oyler, J., Glina, M., Drewry, R., & Nelson, K. (2017). Toward a more dialogic pedagogy: changing teachers’ beliefs and practices through professional development in language arts classrooms. Language and education, 31(1), 65-82. https://doi.org/10.1080/09500782.2016.1230129
32. Yeşilpınar Uyar, M., & Doğanay, A. (2018). A School-Based Curriculum Development for the Teaching Principles and Methods Course. Croatian Journal of Education: Hrvatski časopis za odgoj i obrazovanje, 20(2), 621-672.
33. Yıldırım, A., & Şimşek, H. (2016). Qualitative research methods in social sciences (10th ed.). Ankara: Seçkin Publishing.
34. Zainuddin, S. Z., & Rafik-Galea, S. (2016). Effects of training in the use of Toulmin’s model on esl students’argumentative writing and critical thinking ability. Malaysian Journal of Languages and Linguistics (MJLL), 5(2), 114-133.