Typology of the Elementary Exemplary Teachers' Perceptions of Teaching: A Phenomenographic Study

The main purpose of this research is to examine the typology of the elementary exemplary teachers' perceptions of the concept of teaching from the perspective of practical knowledge discourse. To this aim, the qualitative research approach and phenomenography research method were used. As the sample, eleven elementary teachers from all grades in Sari (Iran) were selected using criterion type purposeful sampling with maximum diversity. And the research data were collected through field notes, semi-structured interviews, and stimulated recall interviews during the academic year until data saturation was reached. The content analysis was used for data analysis at 5 levels. The findings showed that the participants adopted three content-oriented, critical-community-based, and learner-centered orientations to teaching. Among these orientations, the learner-centered orientation is a more desirable approach in terms of the concept of teaching in actual teaching practice. Also, it was concluded that the realization of teaching-learning strategies of the national curriculum document is subject to changing teachers' perceptions of teaching and reforming the culture of instruction and the social expectations of teachers.