DEVELOPING STUDENT FIELD EXPERIENCES THROUGH UNIVERSITY‐COMMUNITY COLLABORATIONS

The political, economic, social, equity, and historical influences on the status of kindergarten education and early childhood teacher education in the United States are discussed. There are many sources of data that create a picture of the diverse programs, resources, and opportunities that kindergarten children experience, including the preparation of kindergarten teachers. This article addresses the questions: What does kindergarten curriculum look like today compared with other times? What is the status of full-day kindergarten? What are the influences of the high-stakes testing movement, school budgets, and economic status across communities? How has early childhood state teacher certification changed during the past two decades? What is worthwhile learning? This article takes an editorial position that supports an intellectually significant curriculum in which specially prepared early childhood teachers match teaching with the ways in which kindergarten children learn, and might want to learn more.     

FIRST COMES THE THEORY, THEN THE PRACTICE? ON THE ACQUISITION OF GENERAL PEDAGOGICAL KNOWLEDGE DURING INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION

Teacher education systems worldwide are confronted with the essential question of how to foster both future teachers’ theoretical and practical knowledge and to adequately enable future teachers to connect their theoretical and practical knowledge for teaching. This article investigates how future teachers acquire general pedagogical knowledge (GPK) as a central component of teacher knowledge during initial teacher education, exemplified by pre-service teachers in Germany, where initial teacher education is divided into a first phase with a heavy focus on theoretical, academic study, and a second phase where future teachers learn how to apply their theoretical knowledge in the classroom. Data from teacher knowledge studies Teacher Education and Development Study in Mathematics and Längsschnittliche Erhebung pädagogischer Kompetenzen von Lehramtsstudierenden/Longitudinal Survey of Student Teachers’ Pedagogical Competencies are used to compare future teachers’ GPK at different teacher education stages (the beginning, after 2 years, and end of training). Findings show the more advanced future teachers are in the course of their initial teacher education, the better they perform in the test measuring GPK. When analyzing subscales of the test measuring cognitive dimensions of GPK, as would be expected declarative-conceptual knowledge (measured by cognitive dimensions “recall” and “understand/analyze”) was gained predominantly during the theoretical study (first phase), whereas future teachers who had additionally passed through the practical second phase performed much better on the practical knowledge test subscale (measured by the cognitive dimension “generate”). Research findings are discussed with regard to the development of teacher expertise during initial teacher education, and recommendations for future policy directions with respect to teacher education are given.     

THE PROCESS OF PHYSICS TEACHING ASSISTANTS’ PEDAGOGICAL CONTENT KNOWLEDGE DEVELOPMENT

This study explored the process of physics teaching assistants’ (TAs) PCK development in the context of teaching a new undergraduate introductory physics course. Matter and Interactions (M&I) has recently adopted a new introductory physics course that focuses on the application of a small number of fundamental physical principles to the atomic and molecular nature of matter. The purpose of this study is to describe how the PCK of physics TAs in the M&I course was developed and enacted. Data collection began during the TA preparation workshop that was held before the semester and continued during the recitation and laboratory classes that the TAs taught during the semester. Through a qualitative, multiple case study research design, data were collected from multiple sources: non-participant observations, digitally recorded video, semi-structured interviews, TAs’ written reflections, and researchers’ field notes. Data analysis consisted of cross-case and within-case analyses. Data were analyzed using a constant comparative method. After data analysis, 2 main themes emerged related to the development of TA’s PCK: (a) TAs’ PCK developed from propositional knowledge to personal practical knowledge and (b) the process of knowledge development consisted of 3 phases: accepting, actualizing, and internalizing. The results of this study will not only contribute to the quest to identify the nature of professional knowledge of science teaching but also help guide preparation for innovative introductory physics courses and other college level science courses in the future.     

INQUIRING INTO MY SCIENCE TEACHING THROUGH ACTION RESEARCH: A CASE STUDY ON ONE PRE-SERVICE TEACHER’S INQUIRY-BASED SCIENCE TEACHING AND SELF-EFFICACY

This case study reports the effects of a cooperative learning field experience on a pre-service teacher’s views of inquiry-based science and her science teaching self-efficacy. Framed by an action research model, this study examined (a) the pre-service teacher’s developing understanding of inquiry-based science teaching and learning throughout the planning and implementation phases of the field experience and (b) the pre-service teacher’s inquiry-based science teaching self-efficacy beliefs prior to and after the field experience. The pre-service teacher’s self-reflections before and after the field experience, video reflections, and results from the Personal Science Teaching Efficacy, a subscale on the Science Teaching Expectancy Belief Instrument-form B, were analyzed in this study. The findings revealed that (a) the pre-service teacher’s understanding of inquiry-based science teaching and learning was developed and enhanced through the planning and teaching phases of the field experience and (b) the pre-service teacher’s science teaching self-efficacy beliefs were improved as a result of a stronger appreciation and understanding of inquiry-based science teaching and learning. Further, the significance of this study suggests the use of cooperative inquiry-based field experiences and pre-service teacher action research by teacher education programs as means to deepening understanding of inquiry-based science instruction and increasing self-efficacy for such teaching.     

DEVELOPING AND IMPLEMENTING SERVICE‐LEARNING IN AGING

This article focuses on the potential benefits of service‐learning in aging to students, the university, and the community. We first discuss the concept of service‐learning, clarify its parameters, and describe the types of projects that best exemplify its unique blend of service and learning. Opportunities for service‐learning are examined using examples from the current Intergenerational Service‐Learning Project of the National Council on Aging. The complexity of initiating and gaining acceptance of service‐learning in aging projects is explored, with particular attention given to supervisory and curriculum issues. Finally, the national implications of service‐learning in aging are discussed, as well as the possibilities for including service‐learning approaches in some of the new federal initiatives in aging.     

‘METHOD‐REVERSION’: THE PROBLEM OF SUSTAINING CHANGES IN TEACHER‐BEHAVIOUR

The NFER research into comprehensive education reported that around one‐third of pupils in the schools studied took no part in extra‐curricular activities, and that level of involvement was lower among certain groups. This study examines whether the interests of these pupils were being met by their schools and finds that low participation cannot be explained‐‐directly at least‐‐by school failure in providing desired activities. Nearly two‐thirds of all non‐participant pupils indicated that there was no activity which they would like to see introduced. Detailed study in three schools suggests that the ‘traditional’ school activities, though gathering a large number of participants, may be poor integrators of pupils of different abilities and that smaller activities are more successful in this respect.     

TEACHING FUTURE JEWISH LIFE THROUGH A CROSS‐GENERATION FUTURE‐ORIENTED CURRICULUM

This article describes an effort of a Hebrew school and its Jewish community to facilitate interaction among parents, teachers, and teenagers. The interaction aimed at helping the community confront communal Jewish trends in order to generate new thoughts and solutions. Prior research has shown that when people are encouraged to think and speak about their future, their thoughts become more positive and solution‐oriented. In the curriculum of this Hebrew school we have implemented a procedure to improve participants’ ability to enact change and to develop future‐images. This article describes the curricular procedure and the images that emerged.     

LEARNERS’ AND TEACHERS’ CONCEPTUAL KNOWLEDGE OF SCIENCE PROCESSES: THE CASE OF BOTSWANA

The conceptual knowledge of science processes possessed by University of Botswana science students and senior secondary school science teachers was sought through a three-part questionnaire. One part requested demographic data of subjects, the second part asked them to select their level of familiarity with the processes, and the third part probed their conceptual definitions of the science processes. The definitions were scored as incorrect, partially correct and correct on an ordinal scale. Statistical analysis was done using Spearman rho correlation and one sample t test. The findings revealed that the science teachers did not have sufficient conceptual knowledge of science processes to help their students to understand in a meaningful way; both students’ and teachers’ views of their familiarity of science processes did not corroborate their demonstrated ability to provide acceptable conceptual definitions of the processes; there was no association between students’ and teachers’ conceptions of the science processes; and if conceptual knowledge of science processes was demanded, the entering students, who were the immediate graduates of the senior secondary schools, might not have enough to pursue tertiary level science courses. It is suggested that both conceptual and operational knowledge of science processes be required at secondary and tertiary levels of science education.     

BEYOND EARLY IDENTIFICATION: DEVELOPING HEALTHY SELF‐CONCEPTS IN GIRLS WITH ADD

This article is written from the perspective of an American psychotherapist working with women with AD/HD. The article traces the effects of growing up with AD/HD on the development of self concept. It is argued that early identification, whilst necessary, is not sufficient to prevent common secondary psychological consequences. A cross cultural approach is advocated that teaches girls to be successful in the majority culture without conveying the message that they must conform to dominant cultural images in order to be ‘normal’. It is emphasized that methods for the treatment of primary AD/HD symptoms have to be evaluated for their effectiveness for the specific client, whilst the messages that accompany the method need to be examined separately for their positive or negative impact on the client's self concept.     

EXPLORING TEACHERS’ KNOWLEDGE AND PERCEPTIONS ACROSS MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE THROUGH CONTENT-RICH LEARNING EXPERIENCES IN A PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT SETTING

This paper examines upper elementary and middle school teachers’ learning of mathematics and science content, how their perceptions of their disciplines and learning of that discipline developed through content-rich learning experiences, and the differences and commonalities of the teachers’ learning experiences relative to content domain. This work was situated within a larger professional development (PD) program that had multiple, long-term components. Participants’ growth occurred in 4 primary areas: knowledge of content, perceptions of the discipline, perceptions about the learning of the discipline, and perceptions regarding how students learn content. Findings suggest that when embedded within an effective professional development context, content can be a critical vehicle through which change can be made in teachers’ understandings and perceptions of mathematics and science. When participants in our study were able to move beyond their internal conflicts and misunderstandings, they could expand their knowledge and perceptions of content and finally bridge to re-conceptualize how to teach that content. These findings further indicate that although teachers involved in both mathematics and science can benefit from similar overall PD structures, there are some unique challenges that need to be addressed for each particular discipline group. This study contributes to what we understand about teacher learning and change, as well as commonalities and differences between teachers’ learning of mathematics and science.