Novice teachers’ learning and knowledge building during the induction programme

This paper explores the Estonian novice teachers’ learning and knowledge building (LKB) practices in the extended professional community during the induction programme using well-known knowledge conversion model. The assumption in this study is that a teachers’ participation in the extended professional community facilitates their professional development. The survey was conducted with 101 novices after their induction programme. The patterns of novices’ LKB practices in the professional learning community during the induction programme were explored. The analysis showed to what extent extended professional community may be formed during the induction year. LKB practice patterns among the novices were identified. We discovered that many novices felt that there was insufficient support from other teachers and from university experts. It appears that it is challenging to develop a coherent induction programme as the extended professional community of educators, where different partners collaborate and share professional knowledge is challenging.     

Towards accomplished practice in learning skills for science (LSS): the synergy between design and evaluation methodology in a reflective CPD programme

This study was carried out in the framework of continuous professional development (CPD) programmes following a CPD model aimed at promoting ‘accomplished practice’ involving: pedagogical knowledge, content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and scholarship of teaching. Teachers were asked to bring evidence about their practice. The context was related to the ‘Learning Skills for Science’ (LSS) programme, which advocates the explicit incorporation of high‐order learning skills into science school curricula. The main goal of the study was to test the evidence‐based LSS CPD model by investigating the impact of its related CPD programmes on participating teachers. The impact relates to teachers’ perceptions about teaching learning skills, teachers’ LSS practice, and their professional influence in the educational system. As part of the evaluation method, we developed a criterion‐based diagnostic tool and a visual representation, designed to assess a teacher’s professional profile and progression according to dimensions of ‘accomplished practice’. The diagnostic tool can be adjusted and tailored to different CPD domains. Results indicated that requiring teachers to bring evidence from practice and students’ learning enabled us to follow teachers’ progress and succeeded to improve their performances towards accomplished LSS practice. The results exemplify a synergy between CPD designed activities and the ongoing evaluation of its impact.     

Opportunities for Teacher Learning During Enactment of Inquiry Science Curriculum Materials: Exploring the Potential for Teacher Educative Materials

The development of curriculum materials that are also educative for teachers has been proposed as a strategy to support teachers learning to teach inquiry science. In this study, one seventh-grade teacher used five inquiry science units with varying support for teachers over a two-year period. Teacher journals, interviews, and classroom videotape were collected. Analysis focused on engagement in planning and teaching, pedagogical content knowledge, and the match to teacher learning needs. Findings indicate that this teacher’s ideas developed as she interacted with materials and her students. Information about student ideas, task- and idea-specific support, and model teacher language was most helpful. Supports for understanding goals, assessment, and the teacher’s role, particularly during discussions and group work, were most needed.     

Exploring Biology Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge in the Teaching of Genetics in Swaziland Science Classrooms

This study explored the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) and its development of four experienced biology teachers in the context of teaching school genetics. PCK was defined in terms of teacher content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and knowledge of students’ preconceptions and learning difficulties. Data sources of teacher knowledge base included teacher-constructed concept maps, pre- and post-lesson teacher interviews, video-recorded genetics lessons, post-lesson teacher questionnaire and document analysis of teacher's reflective journals and students’ work samples. The results showed that the teachers’ individual PCK profiles consisted predominantly of declarative and procedural content knowledge in teaching basic genetics concepts. Conditional knowledge, which is a type of meta-knowledge for blending together declarative and procedural knowledge, was also demonstrated by some teachers. Furthermore, the teachers used topic-specific instructional strategies such as context-based teaching, illustrations, peer teaching, and analogies in diverse forms but failed to use physical models and individual or group student experimental activities to assist students’ internalization of the concepts. The finding that all four teachers lacked knowledge of students’ genetics-related preconceptions was equally significant. Formal university education, school context, journal reflection and professional development programmes were considered as contributing to the teachers’ continuing PCK development. Implications of the findings for biology teacher education are briefly discussed.     

Developing Timorese early years teachers’ pedagogy through an Australian mentoring programme

This paper explores the successful mentoring of Timor-Leste early years teachers by Australian teachers to expand their knowledge and practice of child-centred play-based pedagogy. The mentoring programme for the Timorese teachers occurred through an extended visit to a school in Victoria, Australia, for eight weeks to work with mentor teachers in their early years classrooms. Data were collected to explore the effectiveness of the programme through classroom observations and participant interviews. Observations were conducted in the classrooms of the mentees before the programme to provide context for the interviews and after the programme for indications of pedagogical change. The mentoring programme supported the Timorese teachers to reflect and review early years pedagogy. It led to changes in their teaching philosophy, design of learning activities and the inclusion of assessment practices. After two years the Timor-Leste teachers were using a child-centred play-based model of teaching and learning to guide the development, organisation and facilitation of learning activities at their kindergarten. The foundation of the mentor programme’s success was the trusted and equitable relationships between the teachers and the organisations involved. Understanding of cultural differences was acknowledged and supported the robust discussions and reflections that empowered teachers to take action.     

School Teachers’ Experiences of Science Curriculum Reform

We examine teachers’ experiences of a major reform of the school science curriculum for 14–16-year olds in England. This statutory reform enhances the range of available science courses and emphasises the teaching of socio-scientific issues and the nature of science, alongside the teaching of canonical science knowledge. This paper examines teachers’ experiences of the reform and the factors that condition these experiences. A designed sample of 22 teachers discussed their experiences of the reform within a semi-structured interview. Our analysis considers how the external and internal structures within which teachers work interact with the personal characteristics of teachers to condition their experiences of the curriculum reform. In many cases, personal/internal/external contexts of teachers’ work align, resulting in an overall working context that is supportive of teacher change. However, in other cases, tensions within these contexts result in barriers to change. We also explore cases in which external curriculum reform has stimulated the development of new contexts for teachers’ work. We argue that curriculum reformers need to recognise the inevitability of multiple teaching goals within a highly differentiated department and school workplace. We also show how experiences of curriculum reform can extend beyond the learning of new knowledge and associated pedagogies to involve challenges to teachers’ professional identities. We argue for the extended use of teacher role models within local communities of practice to support such ‘identity work’.     

Understanding a High School Physics Teacher’s Pedagogical Content Knowledge of Argumentation

Scientific argumentation is an important learning objective in science education. It is also an effective instructional approach to constructivist science learning. The implementation of argumentation in school settings requires science teachers, who are pivotal agents of transforming classroom practices, to develop sophisticated knowledge of argumentation. However, there is a lack of understanding about science teachers’ knowledge of argumentation, especially the dialogic meaning of argumentation. In this case study, we closely examine a high school physics teacher’s argumentation-related pedagogic content knowledge (PCK) in the context of dialogic argumentation. We synthesize the teacher’s performed PCK from his argumentation practices and narrated PCK from his reflection on the argumentation practices, from which we summarize his PCK of argumentation from the perspectives of orientation, instructional strategies, students, curriculum, and assessment. Finally, we describe the teacher’s perception and adaption of argumentation in his class. We also identity the barriers to argumentation implementation in this particular case and suggest solutions to overcome these barriers.     

How does writing for publication help professional development of teachers? A case study in China

Publications by teachers reporting results or case studies of school-based teacher inquiry activities benchmark their professional development by indicating they have a ‘stance of inquiry’. Such papers also disseminate valuable knowledge to the education community for sharing. Essay or case writing has always been a part of school-based teacher learning in China. The small-scale qualitative study reported here examines the impact of producing publications on the professional development of teachers within the context of educational reform. Findings show that producing publications contributes to teacher development in three ways. First, an expanded knowledge base gives the teachers new understandings of student-based learning. Second, teachers obtain insight into their practices by making their tacit knowledge explicit. Third, teachers have a sense of achievement by theorising personal experience. Publications serve as ‘boundary objects’ which can potentially help teachers achieve and develop their professionalism by disseminating individual knowledge into the public knowledge domain with transformative learning. Such developments, however, normally tend to focus on expanding local pedagogical practice. More emphasis on the notion of ‘teachers as researchers’ through critical reflection may help teachers perform as transformative intellectuals whilst searching for ways to retain teachers’ voices in their written publications.     

Facebook as a mechanism for informal teacher professional learning in Indonesia

This study investigated the use of Facebook as a medium for, and process of, teachers’ informal professional learning regarding mathematical and pedagogical knowledge. Facebook responses to four inter-related posts about mathematics examples from Facebook users (N = 117) were captured and systematically analysed using content analysis. The data were examined through the lens of the five characteristics of the Effective Professional Development framework. The results identified different types of responses to the four Facebook posts including the opening of learning opportunities, rich mathematical and pedagogical discussions, respondents’ appreciations and direct impacts of the posts, as well as the acknowledgement of the misalignment between the proposed ideas and current teaching practices in Indonesia. These responses provided evidence that all five characteristics of the framework were apparent and highlighted the role of Facebook in supporting teacher informal professional learning within the Indonesian context. The limitations of such social networking-based research and implications for teacher professional development are provided.     

Redefining professional identity: the voice of a language teacher in a context of collaborative learning

Following a narrative and biographic approach, in this study, we present the case of an in-service language teacher and her professional learning trajectory in the context of the project ‘Languages and education: constructing and sharing training’. This project aimed at the construction of a collaborative teacher education context for learning and transformation of experiences, views and practices in language education, and involved teachers, teacher educators and researchers. Based on a single case study, the analysis tries to disclose the teacher’s discursive displacements as hints of professional transformation while she reinterprets the learning taking place in the collaborative education process. The signs of change are visible in the way she constructs meanings regarding her professional identity, re-identifies her mission as a language teacher and reconsiders her professional identity. Finally, we reflect upon how collaborative teacher education scenarios may foster teachers’ personal professional learning and renewed self-images.     

The psychological dimension of transformation in teacher learning

Against a background which recognises pedagogical content knowledge as the distinctive element of teacher competence/expertise, this theoretical essay argues for its central construct – that of transformation – to be understood by teachers and teacher educators in psychological terms (as was originally proposed by Dewey). Transformation requires teachers to fashion disciplinary knowledge such that it is accessible to the learner. It is argued that for transformation to happen, teacher thinking must include a sophisticated grasp of cognition and metacognition if teachers are to be characterised as competent, let alone expert. This article is written within a context of considerable social and academic scrutiny in the UK of the form and content of professional teacher preparation and development. In recent years, the contribution of psychological knowledge to teacher education has been filtered through procedural lenses of how best to ‘manage classrooms’, ‘assess learning’, ‘build confidence’ or whatever without a matched concern for psychological constructs through which such issues might be interpreted; thus, leaving teachers vulnerable in their professional understandings of learning and its complexities. That society now requires high-level cognitive engagement amongst its participants places cognitive and metacognitive demands on teachers which can only be met if they themselves are conceptually equipped.     

Argumentation in Science Teacher Education: The simulated jury as a resource for teaching and learning

In this article, we focus on the contributions that a simulated jury-based activity might have for pre-service teachers, especially for their active participation and learning in teacher education. We observed a teacher educator using a series of simulated juries as teaching resources to help pre-service teachers develop their pedagogical knowledge and their argumentation abilities in a physics teacher methods course. For the purposes of this article, we have selected one simulated jury-based activity, comprising two opposed groups of pre-service teachers that presented aspects that hinder the teachers' development of professional knowledge (against group) and aspects that allow this development (favor group). After the groups’ presentations, a group of judges was formed to evaluate the discussion. We applied a multi-level method for discourse analysis and the results showed that (1) the simulated jury afforded the pre-service teachers to position themselves as active knowledge producers; (2) the teacher acted as ‘animator' of the pre-service teachers' actions, showing responsiveness to the emergence of circumstantial teaching and learning opportunities and (3) the simulated jury culminated in the judges’ identification of the pattern ‘concrete/obstacles–ideological/possibilities' in the groups’ responses, which was elaborated by the teacher for the whole class. Implications from this study include using simulated juries for teaching and learning and for the development of the pre-service teachers’ argumentative abilities. The potential of simulated juries to improve teaching and learning needs to be further explored in order to inform the uses and reflections of this resource in science education.     

Interrupting situated practices: critical incidents in international partnerships

This paper examines the initial steps of an internationally funded project focused on enhancing teachers’ conceptual and pedagogical knowledge of literacy development in the Western Cape of South Africa. We asked what are the tensions and breakthroughs when engaged in international teacher professional development? Four lines of inquiry support this work: internationalization and production of knowledge, professional development structures, communities of practice, and ethic of care. Resulting themes included initial barriers, localized professional development, and enhancing teacher capacity for change. To explain the themes, we identified four critical incidents. This study has potential to inform the international community of new directions for teacher learning.     

Expansion of Biology Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) During a Long-Term Professional Development Program

Experienced teachers possess a unique teaching knowledge comprised of an inter-related set of knowledge and beliefs that gives direction and justification to a teacher’s actions. This study examined the expansion of two components of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of three in-service teachers in the course of a professional development program aimed at designing new teaching and learning materials suggested by the teachers themselves. The research presents an enlargement of previous PCK representations by focusing on a detailed representation of two main PCK domains: teaching and learning, including ten PCK components that emerged in the course of data analysis. This representation enabled revealing the unique PCK held by each teacher and to characterize the expansion of the two components of the participating teachers’ PCK during the long-term professional development program. Retention of major parts of the expanded PCK a year after termination of the program implies that designing and implementing new teaching and learning materials based on the teachers’ experiences, needs, and knowledge in a workshop format accompanied by biology and science education courses might provide a powerful means for PCK expansion. We recommend that designers of professional development programs be aware of the unique PCK held by each teacher in order to promote meaningful professional development of each teacher. Moreover, the PCK representations that were identified in the course of this study enabled clarifying the “orientation toward teaching science” category of PCK which appears to be unclear in current literature.     

Developing different identity trajectories: lessons from the Chinese teachers

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this study was to investigate how three Chinese teachers developed their teacher identities in a reform context. Drawing upon data from a larger social historical study, the work-life narratives of the three teachers at different stages of their careers were used as case studies to showcase three types of teacher identity development trajectories, namely, learning to be both professional educator and subject teaching expert，learning to be subject teaching expert, and navigating to balance between educator and subject teacher. This study also investigated the factors that influence identity development trajectories of teachers and develops a conceptual framework for understanding teacher identity development in China. The framework shows that Chinese teachers’ exertion of their individual agency is embedded in the institutional context. Meanwhile, interpersonal relationships can work as a buffer to alleviate the tension between the institution and individual teachers. The study also shows the ways in which Chinese teachers’ exert their agency when developing their identities. The findings have significant implications for teacher education in terms of how to develop positive teacher identity over the course of a teacher’s career.     

The role of pupil voice as a trigger for teacher learning in Lesson Study professional groups

This paper focuses on the role of pupil voice as a trigger for teacher learning and for improving teaching quality. This is investigated in the context of Lesson Study (LS), a professional development model that can incorporate pupil voice into teachers’ collaborative reflections on lessons. Data are from two LS groups of mathematics teachers in London (one primary and one secondary school). Video-recorded pupil interviews and teacher discussions were transcribed. Episodes of teacher discussions were coded for reference to pupil input and subsequent impact on future plans. Qualitative analysis of discussions examined whether some pupils’ input was favoured over others’. Results are significant in pointing to LS as a mechanism for attending to pupil voice. In so doing, it is suggested that pupil input provided a challenge for teachers in their interpretations of pupil learning, evaluating lessons and planning, and in contributing to teacher learning from LS.     

The content and implementation of shared professional knowledge in early childhood education

Drawing on the sociocultural view, shared knowledge is regarded as a basis for interdependent working and multi-professional learning in early childhood education. Shared professional knowledge can be seen as a central element in successful collaboration facilitating individual and collaborative professional learning. This study aims to investigate the content and implementation of shared professional knowledge in an early childhood context. Video-taped data were collected using a stimulated recall method from the two participating teachers. The results show that the content of shared professional knowledge was related to two areas in the teachers’ professional knowledge: professional self and professional tasks. In addition, the shared professional knowledge varied according to the teachers’ work contexts. This study offers new knowledge on early childhood education practices and teacher education, considering multi-professional collaboration, and shared learning.     

Blurring the boundaries: connecting research,practice and professional learning

Educational researchers can incorporate benefits for themselves and teacher participants by planning for interactions between research, practice and teachers’ professional learning from the outset of a project. However, the dual role of a researcher as a professional learning partner has rarely been explicated and theorised in studies of teacher–researcher relationships. The study described in this paper occurred in the context of early childhood education. The notion of a critical friend was extended and validated as a useful theorisation of the relationship. Four ways that I acted as a critical friend are described. The expertise, roles, boundaries and hybridity of a co‐constructed approach to research are discussed. The importance of a researcher as critical friend having research and theoretical knowledge to shift teacher knowledge and practice is argued. Implications for teacher–researcher partnerships in terms of strengthening coherence between research, practice and professional learning are suggested.     

Teachers’ Practice a Decade After an Extensive Professional Development Program in Science Education

Science teachers are expected to teach in innovative ways that are different from their long experience as students. Professional development programs are planned to help teachers’ development, yet, there is little knowledge of the long-term effects of professional development programs (PDPs), and especially on actual practice. The purpose of this study is to gain a long-term perspective of the ways in which the process and outcomes of a reform-oriented, extended PDP are expressed in science teachers’ practice. Data sources included interviews and documents. The study presents four case studies of the practices of junior high school science teachers (grades 7–9) in Israel, with respect to a past PDP in which they took part a decade ago. The cases are presented in pairs of a leader and a follower. Each case details the teacher’s work context, sustained implementation, coherence of tools and approaches, and adaptations. All four teachers shared the view that scientific skills are important to their students as learners in a changing world. All four teachers adopted one or two major approaches, which were the PDP’s main focus. In addition, the two leaders adopted two more approaches. The teachers were still using many strategies associated with the major foci of the PDP. The level of enactment and modifications of the strategies varied. Usability of innovations is discussed in relation to the teachers’ context. We suggest that science teachers’ professional development include the ability to adapt the innovation to their teaching context in order to sustain the changes for a long period of time.