Advancing principles of systemic functional linguistics in responsive graduate teacher education through design-based research

Abstract

Within current U.S. and international education contexts, teachers are challenged to support students in meeting subject-area expectations that require increasingly demanding uses of language and literacy in English. The rise of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) learners in K-12 classrooms, along with educational policies emphasizing standards, assessment, and accountability requires the preparation of all teachers to serve CLD learners. A growing body of research using Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) and Design-Based Research (DBR) to develop and engage teachers in professional learning has been effective in supporting CLD learners' language and literacy development. This paper examines how DBR supported the iterative development of instructional principles informed by SFL in a graduate program for in-service secondary teachers. Course documents, course artifacts, and programmatic data for two cohorts of secondary teachers were analyzed to respond to teachers' SFL learning needs and drive course revisions. Findings show how the DBR process supported and refined SFL-informed principles to address teachers' professional learning needs and affirm SFL's value for a meaning-based, content-focused approach. Refined principles and course revisions addressed teachers' nuanced content area differences, constrained teaching contexts, incorporation of culturally responsive teaching, and knowledge of instruction for disciplinary discourses.