Conceptual Framework

At UVEI, when we use the term "conceptual framework," we usually mean the established research, theories, ideas or concepts used to inform or understand the choices a teacher or leader makes.

We draw this concept from the world of research, in which a conceptual framework is prior research or theories used to explain or suggest a relationship between concepts or ideas (this is sometimes called a "theoretical framework"). Conceptual frameworks are often used in qualitative research to define the scope or focus of a study.

For example, a teacher may say that they are using Wiggins and McTighe's Understanding by Design approach as a conceptual framework for planning and evaluating a backwards designed unit.

OR, more broadly, a teacher may say they are using National Research Council's framework for how people learn to organize their approach to teaching, in which cays you would expect them to attend to students' pre-existing knowledge, building students' knowledge and understanding, fostering students' control over their own learning, and to be concerned about students' transfer of knowledge to other contexts.

Conceptual frameworks contrast with the idea of mental models or schema, which are more the result of a person's intuitive or internalized understandings. Ideally, through study and application, conceptual frameworks become internalized, and build the practitioner's schema in sound ways. For example, a teacher may have a mental model of student participation ("all students have the opportunity to participate in my class"). By applying this mental model to instruction, the teacher may come to see student non-participation as a flaw in the student. Through applied study, the teacher begins to apply the National Research Council's framework for student engagement as a conceptual framework for understanding student participation. As a result, the teacher begins to use "participation strategies" to draw more students into classroom discussion. New actions leading to different results eventually changes the teachers schema, leading them to view student participation as a function of classroom environments and teacher expectations rather than inherent student traits.

Source: Qualitative Research: An Introduction to Methods and Designs (Research Methods for the Social Sciences) (p. 250). Wiley.