Performing the Pre-Formed - Towards a Conceptual Framework for Understanding Teaching as Curricular Transformation

Oct 15, 2026

Presentation in higher education functions as a central communication practice, and teacher education likewise teaches through observing instructors and performing presentations. This study develops an analytical framework grounded in the Learning Design Sequence (LDS) to examine how curricular items transform when student teachers move from pre-formed design to performed delivery. Transformation and representation are treated as semiotic practice, modeled through two transformation cycles spanning slide creation and audience performance.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages11

Reading Time28 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Background

Kvinge, Ø ., et al. (2018). Performing the Pre-Formed: Towards a Conceptual Framework for Understanding Teaching as Curricular Transformation. Designs for Learning, 10(1),29–39, DOI: [https://doi.org/10.16993/dfl.83](https://doi.org/10.16993/dfl.83) | RESEARCH
Performing the Pre-Formed: Towards a Conceptual Framework for Understanding Teaching as Curricular Transformation
Øystein Kvinge*, Magne Espeland* and Kari Smith† | | --- | | Presentation is the default mode of communication in higher education. Teacher education is no exception, and student teachers learn the practice of presenting by observing their subject teachers and by performing their own presentations. This study proposes an analytical framework based on the Learning Design Sequence (LDS) (Selander, 2008), which captures the design and processual aspects of presentation in the context of teacher education. Subject to observations are the student teachers’ performances of reports from their practicum placement.
The study departs from Shulman’s (1987) ideas regarding what constitute essential teaching skills. He identified the transformation and representation of subject content as two key aspects of teaching. Transformation entails didactic reasoning regarding how to make a subject matter comprehensible, whereas representation entails giving ideas a material shape.
By approaching presentation as a semiotic practice (Zhao, 2014), transformation and representation take on additional meaning; it is akin to a sign-making activity motivated by pedagogical ends. By using the LDS as an analytical tool, the students’ agentive process of sign making is modelled as two transformation cycles. The first cycle captures the students’ pre-forming activity of giving shape to knowledge by designing a semiotic artefact: a PowerPoint slide show. The second cycle captures the performance of the slides for an audience. The model reflects the dynamic multimodal interplay that occurs between the presenter and the semiotic artefact during performance.
The amended LDS supports the analysis of presentation at three levels: the semiotic, interpretative and curricular levels. | | Keywords: semiotic technology; semiotic practice; transformation; presentation; representation; learning design sequence | Introduction ‘We need to develop better techniques for discovering and describing how knowledge is implemented and instantiated in practice, and, just as importantly, how the act of doing influences the nature of knowledge itself’. (Mishra & Koehler, 2006, p. 23) The aim of this paper is to outline and discuss a conceptual model designed to analyse, describe and explain how curricular transformation may take place in 21st century teacher education programmes. The research context is a study of PowerPoint presentations performed by student teachers in response to compulsory assignments. Using the model of the Learning Design Sequence (LDS)(S. Selander, 2008; S. Selander & Kress, 2010) as an ana- * Western Norway University of Applied Sciences (HVL), NO † Norwegian University of Science and Technology, NO Corresponding author: Øystein Kvinge ([oystein.kvinge@hvl.no](oystein.kvinge@hvl.no)) lytical tool, this study explores the transformation process that curricular items undergo from the state of being preformed to the state of being performed. Background In the 21st century knowledge and information society, the practice of presenting with the visual support of PowerPoint slides has become popular for disseminating knowledge to an audience. Arguably, this practice stems from the lecture halls in higher education, where previously, overhead sheets served as a visual aid, now replaced by its digital equivalent. A recent study revealed that 92% of lecturers at Bergen University in Norway utilise presentation technology in their teaching (Kjeldsen & Guribye, 2015) . Teacher education is not exempted from the practice of teaching by presenting, and student teachers learn

FAQs

What research purpose does the paper state for its conceptual model?

It outlines and discusses a conceptual model to analyse, describe, and explain how curricular transformation may take place in 21st century teacher education programmes.

How does the paper define essential aspects of teaching?

It builds on Shulman by treating transformation and representation as two key aspects: transforming subject content to be comprehensible and representing ideas by giving them material shape.

How is presentation analysed in the proposed framework?

Presentation is approached as semiotic practice and modelled with the LDS as two transformation cycles: designing pre-formed semiotic artefacts (e.g., PowerPoint slides) and performing the slides for an audience.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by mieayamfan