Towards multidimensional approaches to early childhood science education

In this forum paper, I respond to issues raised by Kristina Andersson and Annica Gullberg in their article titled What is science in preschool and what do teachers have to know to empower children? (2012). I seek to continue the discussion begun with Andersson and Gullberg’s paper, by further exploring the questions they introduce to guide their paper: “What is science in preschool?” and “What do teachers have to know to empower children?” In particular, I elaborate on the value of drawing on multiple perspectives and different epistemological frameworks, and I argue for the need for a reconceptualized notion of science as a school discipline; one that acknowledges the multifaceted ways in which young children engage in science.     

Observer, observed and observations: Initial teacher education English tutors' feedback on lessons taught by student teachers of English

We reflect here on research into the process of giving and receiving lesson‐observational feedback for student teachers. Key questions and areas are:

• ? How effective is post‐lesson observation feedback in developing student teachers’ understanding of their own teaching?
• ? Are there any issues to do with English subject knowledge?
• ? What of the language issues involved?
• ? What is the relationship between formative and evaluative aspects of such feedback?
• ? How involved are the student teachers themselves, and what are their thoughts and feelings?

     

Teacher self-evaluation: an analysis of criteria,indicators and processes used by teachers in judging their success

This paper summarises the accounts provided by some 60 experienced infants and primary teachers and 18 student teachers to the questions “How do you tell when you've taught a really good lesson?” and “How do you evaluate your success as a teacher?” These accounts were analysed both in terms of the criteria and the indicators used by teachers in evaluating their own short- and long-term success. The results contrast strongly with those reported by Jackson (1968) and by Lortie (1975) and an attempt is made to delineate and describe the constructive processes used by teachers to evaluate their success in a classroom setting of complexity and uncertainty.     

The Flipped Classroom: Primary and Secondary Teachers’ Views on an Educational Movement in Schools in Sweden Today

The aim of this study is to contribute to an increased understanding of the flipped classroom movement. A total of 7 teachers working in school years 4–9 and who both actively flipped their classrooms and had been early adopters in this movement were interviewed. Two research questions were posed: “What characterizes flipped classroom instruction according to the teachers?” and “What objectives do the flipped classroom meet according to the teachers?” Regarding the first research question, a characteristic of a flipped classroom was “the flip,” a task to be accomplished outside the classroom before class. In relation to the second research question we found three objectives: Student activity in class; Educational change; Being part of a digital learning community.     

Constructing student portfolios: A process and product that fosters communication with families

When parents pick their children up from day care or preschool, one of the first questions that is typically asked of their child is “What did you do in school today?” At an open house parents usually ask teachers, “How is my child doing in your class?” “Is my child learning new things?” “Has my child improved any since the beginning of the school year, and in what ways?” Or think of the child who turns in a product and asks, “What do you think of this, Teacher?” or “Did you like my work today?”     

Becoming creative practitioners: elementary teachers tackle artful approaches to writing instruction

The “creativity gap” is a distressing discrepancy between the ostensible value educators place on creativity and its absence in schools. How do teachers take on the attributes and skills of a creative practitioner? What struggles do they face in doing so? This case study examines the practices of six early elementary teachers who embarked on a professional development experience through which they learned arts-based strategies for prewriting activities. They purposefully practiced cultivating an environment in which student imagination would feed the generation of ideas and details in prewriting exercises. Findings indicate some teachers embraced this departure from the norm, recognizing how loosening their reigns emboldened “voice and choice” in student writing. Others experienced difficulty taking risks and developing spontaneity for accepting and responding to student ideas. Finally, teachers grappled with converging creative practice with everyday practices in the classroom.     

Science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge development during enactment of socioscientific curriculum materials

The purpose of this study is to provide insight into short-term professionalization of teachers regarding teaching socioscientific issues (SSI). The study aimed to capture the development of science teachers' pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for SSI teaching by enacting specially designed SSI curriculum materials. The study also explores indicators of stronger and weaker development of PCK for SSI teaching. Thirty teachers from four countries (Cyprus, Israel, Norway, and Spain) used one module (30–60 min lesson) of SSI materials. The data were collected through: (a) lesson preparation form (PCK-before), (b) lesson reflection form (PCK-after), (c) lesson observation table (PCK-in-action). The data analysis was based on the PCK model of Magnusson, Krajcik, and Borko (1999). Strong development of PCK for SSI teaching includes “Strong interconnections between the PCK components,” “Understanding of students' difficulties in SSI learning,” “Suggesting appropriate instructional strategies,” and “Focusing equally on science content and SSI skills.” Our findings point to the importance of these aspects of PCK development for SSI teaching. We argue that when professional development programs and curriculum materials focus on developing these aspects, they will contribute to strong PCK development for SSI teaching. The findings regarding the development in the components of PCK for SSI provide compelling evidence that science teachers can develop aspects of their PCK for SSI with the use of a single module. Most of the teachers developed their knowledge about students' understanding of science and instructional strategies. The recognition of student difficulties made the teacher consider specific teaching strategies which are in line with the learning objectives. There is an evident link between the development of PCK in instructional strategies and students' understanding of science for SSI teaching.     

Assessment Competencies of Teachers: A National Survey

What are the “Standards for Teacher Competence in Educational Assessment of Students”? In what domains do teachers have the greatest knowledge of measurement? Where are they least strong? Do teachers with measurement training show greater knowledge than teachers without such training?     

Teachers’ learning in a learning study

The point of departure in this study is the question: do teachers who develop theoretical knowledge of the variation theory change the way(s) they offer their pupils the object of learning due to the theoretical framework. The aim of the study is to describe this development, i.e. to find if and how teachers developed theoretical knowledge when planning instruction, and in what way(s) this has an impact on the pupils’ learning outcome when using contrasts in the instruction. The theoretical framework is strongly content related, and by analysing the learning object’s critical aspects the teachers are guided to focus on the content in this particular way. The question “what does it take to develop knowledge about the object of learning?” has to be answered by the teachers before choice of teaching method is made. The research method used is Learning Study, a fusion between lesson study and design experiment. The teachers (6) have carried out nine research lessons in three Learning Study cycles (containing three lessons each). The pupils belong to three different classes and are between 9 and 11 years old. The result shows how the teachers gradually use the variation theory when planning instruction and how the learning outcomes shown by the pupils improve. The developed theoretical insight seems to affect the teachers’ ways of seeing the object of learning, such as subtle changes of how to organize the critical features of the learning object, are discerned. In every learning study cycle contrasts are used in one lesson, and in the analysis of the effect of the contrasts, the two remaining lessons are used as control groups. The results show the impact of contrasts in the pupils’ learning outcomes. The need to complement a lesson study with a theoretical perspective on learning is that the teachers are then given the opportunity to make use of the theory when planning instruction individually, not only in a lesson study. There again, the Learning Study model seems to be a powerful model with which to develop teachers’ understanding of the theoretical framework.     

The Changing Corporate Mind: Organizations,Vision, Missions,Purposes, and Indicators on the Move Toward Societal Payoffs

Where are the world's organizations headed? What do they see as their primary destination and contribution? What do they commit to deliver and to whom? How rigorous are they in defining their destinations? What label do they use to describe statements of their intended future? To find the answers to these and other questions, we examined 26 of the leading organizations internationally as well as 60 leading organizations in the United States. Based on this sample of world organizations, we found indications that many organizations see some aspect of societal good as basic to their future, while many others regard their own organization's well-being as what is most important. We find no clear favorite for what organizations label their statements of purpose: most use “mission” while some use “vision,” and some use “values” or “philosophy.” Few of the organizations in our sample state their intended destination in measurable performance terms. From these data, we discuss the implications in terms of an increasing emphasis in the literature on organizations having to deliver outputs that contribute to external clients and society. We also note that purpose statements must be accompanied by appropriate actions to achieve those intentions. In addition, we discuss how this move toward socially-responsive organizations is impacting the role of the performance technologist.     

A global collage of impressions: Preschools abroad

“What do you think of European preschools?” “Do they have good schools in Yemen?” “What are Chinese child care centers like?” I am always taken aback when asked such questions. Of course, I'm always taken aback when someone asks what I think of kindergarten education in the United States; I never know how to answer that either. Does the question refer to kindergarten classes in the school near my home? Or kindergartens across the United States? Even if the inquirer expected an answer based on the schools which I visit regularly to supervise student teachers I would have to give a general statement, followed by some qualifying statements related to different teachers, different schools, and different school districts — all withinone county! The old adage that “All generalizations are dangerous, including this one” always comes to mind.     

Lesson Planning Practices of Special Education Teachers

This study reports the results of a survey of special education teachers regarding: (a) how special education teachers organize and develop their lesson plans, (b) which lesson plan components special education teachers include in their lesson planning activities and how each component is planned, and (c) what lesson plan components special education teachers recommend that beginning teachers include in written lesson plans. As indicated by the results, the majority of the special education teachers who participated in this study did not write out lesson plans for each lesson they taught. They indicated that, even though most of the planning prior to instruction was unwritten, it was often "consciously" planned, or planning was unnecessary because the component was performed by habit or instinct. A substan- tial majority indicated that they did not use any expert's lesson planning format, such as Hunter's (1984) or a format suggested in preservice teacher training. None of the 14 components regularly included in preservice lesson plans and instructional design models were written out by a majority of the teachers; only 3 of the 14components were written out by over one third of the respondents. Conversely, this study demonstrated that, although these teachers did not write out detailed lesson plans, they strongly recommended that beginning teachers do so. All 14 components were recommended by at least one third of the respondents, with 8 recommended by a majority. Limitations, questions for future investigation, and implications for teacher preparation are discussed.     

Teacher Identity: Claiming Me

This article speaks to the reality of the lived experiences of student of color in society today: navigating the structures of diversity in a white world. For many, the author’s story resonates with what they feel at their core of belonging and unbelonging. It answers the age old questions, “Who am I?” and “What is my purpose?” The article gives pre-service teachers of color the ability to claim agency about who they are and what their purpose is in life. The author’s story is one of self-authorship. With the hope that White middle class teachers will better understand their students, the author also gives insight into the struggles and realities student of color face on a daily basis.     

Towards conceptual coherence in the research on mathematics learner identity: a systematic review of the literature

We examine the case of a lesson planning session within the context of professional development for dialogic instruction, and the lesson enacted following this session, which was intended to provide opportunities to 11th and 12th grade algebra students to explore polynomial functions in terms of their roots and linear factors. Our goal was, through the close analysis of the planning and enactment of the lesson, to gain deeper understanding of how the two participants were framing mathematical learning and how such different frames may explain the disparity between the planned lesson and its outcome. The analysis and discussion point to the complexities of supporting teachers in transitioning from a “doing” frame to an “exploring” frame.     

Burrowing and becoming: teaching writing in uncertain times

What happens when teachers perceive a growing rift between their pedagogical practice and their students’ lived experiences? How do teachers respond to the uncertainty that such a “relevance gap” can create? In a climate in which literacy research is often pressed to address the achievement gap and to contribute to a sense of certainty, this study explored the relevance gap experienced by teachers in their teaching of writing and the ways that teaching with uncertainty contributed to their practice. Situated in theories of curriculum as currere, local knowledge of practice, and pedagogy as assemblage, the article focuses on the theory and practice of four educators who teach writing in very different and diverse contexts. The rhizo-textual analysis of the data inspired a process of making assemblages to explore context, positionality, and power in teachers’ identities as writers and teachers of writing. Two such assemblages are described, one exploring struggle and the other possibility. In the struggles and uncertainties they experienced, each teacher found new possibilities in different places: in the land, in slam poetry, in story, and in film. Our mappings and analyses suggest that teachers can create new pedagogies of becoming for them and their students by burrowing into uncertainty, process, and social critique.     

Calendar of the Month

Not sure how to integrate the “Early Education Curriculum Planning Guide” ideas into your lesson plans? Here's how one school uses similar ideas in planning their program.     

Speculations on qualities of difficult knowledge in teaching and learning: an experiment in psychoanalytic research

This paper explores two questions in relation to the authors' project, “Difficult Knowledge in Teaching and Learning: A Psychoanalytic Inquiry.” They describe how their original question, “What makes knowledge difficult?,” transformed into “What is it to represent ‘difficult’ knowledge?” They speculate on the resonances that this crisis of representation leaves in narration by way of three psychoanalytic concepts: deferred action, transference, and symbolization. They consider constructions of difficulties in teaching and learning from the vantage of psychoanalytic writing and their own attempts to interview university teachers and students on how they think about difficult knowledge. They offer a conceptual archeology of their project that highlights the shift from the first to the second research question, some clinical discussion on the difficulties of narrating teaching and learning, some constructions of difficulty proposed in their research protocol, and constructions of difficulty in their interviews. They conclude by discussing how the very design of their research enacted the crisis of representing teaching and learning.