Building an indigenous learning community through lesson study: challenges of secondary school science teachers

Universalists believe that indigenous knowledge should not be studied since it excludes non-indigenous people. A qualitative method was used to explore the impact of lesson study on a science teacher at a secondary school. The research indicated that lesson study has positive impacts on teachers professionally by improving their science content knowledge, developing their teaching strategy and skill, enhancing their interest in working collaboratively, and creating a sense of an indigenous paradigm. The four categories of impact are interrelated and mutually influential. Through a lesson study, a relationship of mutual trust is well established in an indigenous learning community.     

Evolution of the personal teaching models of prospective secondary school science teachers as expressed through metaphors

This study analyses the evolution of the personal metaphors of 31 science graduates enrolled in a Master’s degree course in Secondary Education Teaching during the 2012–13 academic year. The instrument used was an open questionnaire that included asking the participants to make drawings representing the roles of the teacher. Four categories of metaphor were considered: behaviourist/transmissive, cognitivist/constructivist, situative/socio-historical, and self-referential. It was found that most of the prospective teachers were indeed able to conceptualize their roles in the form of metaphors. Comparison of the results before and after the teaching practicum revealed no changes in most of the participants’ metaphors and associated models. Instead, these appeared to be firmly set already at the beginning of the Master’s course, and remained uninfluenced by either the course or the practicum. Only a minority of the participants showed changes in their metaphors—5 with progressive changes, and 5 with regressive changes.     

University science students as curriculum planners,teachers, and role models in elementary school classrooms

Project SEARCH (Science Education and Research for CHildren) is an outreach program designed to teach science and to foster positive attitudes toward science. Through the project, university science students bring activity-based learning, plus materials and content expertise, to local classrooms and after-school programs. Using observations, surveys, and interviews, we examined the experiences of these students as curriculum planners, teachers, and role models for the children. We found that teachers value the enthusiasm and the resources provided by the SEARCH students. Children were engaged in the activities and looked forward to the students' visits. They also see them as positive and diverse models for the role of scientist. But there were often problems in the areas of preparation, scheduling, and communication, and the classroom activities often replicated traditional didactic lessons. The SEARCH experience highlights both the value of providing diverse and challenging experiences for children, and the need for dialogue and reflection on those experiences. Despite several concerns, the SEARCH model is one that deserves expansion and further study as it is extended into new settings. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 34 : 69–88, 1997.     

Territory,indigenous education and cultural maintenance: The case of the Arakmbut of South-Eastern Peru

Has carried out field work at different periods over the last fifteen years with the Harakmbut of South-eastern Peru. Since 1984 she has worked with the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs in Copenhagen and Oxford, in particular with indigenous self-development projects in Latin America. In 1994 she completed a Ph.D. at the University of London on intercultural and bilingual education, and since then has been working with the Reading (UK)-based non-governmental organization, Education for Development.     

Determining the conceptions of teaching science held by experienced high school science teachers

The article describes the process of analysis for determining a teacher's conception of teaching science using an available interview task. The analytical process provides a transparent link between teachers' spoken words and the different representations of their conceptions of teaching science. Representations of a teacher's conception of teaching science include a grid for analyzing different themes in a teacher's conception, a brief summary of the themes, and a longer written interpretive summary. Because these representations are based on the fundamental components of teaching science, they allow the uniqueness of both specific and structural aspects of teachers' views to emerge, and they facilitate comparisons between teachers. The analysis and its outcomes are exemplified using interviews with several experienced high school science teachers.     

Progressive education and the case of a bilingual Palestinian-Arab and Jewish co-existence school in Israel

The purpose of this paper is to exemplify a ‘grass-roots’ change based on Dewey's experimental progressive education model employed in the ‘Bridge over the Valley’ bilingual school, a Palestinian-Arab and Jewish school in Israel. In order to identify the progressive ‘approach' underlying this change, the ‘method' that guided the implementation of a bilingual school, it's evaluation and then its dissemination to other schools, we used a qualitative case study method to understand whether John Dewey’s theory of education for peace was able to effect change in Palestinian-Arab and Jewish school education in Israel. The case findings describes the use of the progressive approach of education for peace in the ‘Bridge over the Valley’ bilingual school, as it is expressed in the school’s pedagogy, the implementation of the progressive method and in the accompanying discourse. Reciprocal teacher–child relations are considered an important factor to create fertile conditions for learning. The case findings contribute to our introduction of democratic education in a spatial reality. Underlying this approach stood a pedagogical method and conceptualization for conflict resolution and the opening of a space for empowering dialog for co-existence.     

Acceptance of learning management system: The case of secondary school teachers

There are many ICT tools that teachers can use to support teaching and learning. In recent years, Learning Management Systems (LMSs) have been present in most higher education institutions. However, the availability of LMSs in K-12 is more recent. Furthermore, we believe that LMSs are promising even for K-12 teachers in face-to-face learning contexts because they have many educational features that can support learning with students. The goal of this study is 1) to identify the factors that influence the acceptability of the LMS by teachers, 2) to see if teachers’ ICT use influences their intention to use the LMS, and finally 3) to see if teachers’ ICT use influences their perception of the affordances of LMS educational features. The LMS in our study was introduced in a school board of more than 35,000 students and approximately 2400 teachers. To study the acceptability of the LMS, we used the Technology Acceptance Model. The results obtained from the show that the perception of usefulness is a good predictor of the intent to use the LMS. As for ICT use and the affordances of LMS educational features, the results show that they are not a good predictor of the intention to use.     

The team teaching experiences of pre-service science teachers implementing PBL in elementary school

The current phenomenological-qualitative case study examined the team teaching related experiences of 17 Israeli student teachers in the context of using the project-based teaching method in the course of their pedagogical practicum module conducted in elementary schools. The focus of the study was on participants’ experiences in terms of quality and content. Data collection methods included reflective reports and in-depth interviews. Data analysis was conducted using the qualitative method for content analysis. Findings of the study indicate that during team teaching, the student teachers underwent a process of four qualitatively different experiential stages, each of which is characterised by a unique set of experiences. There was also a qualitative difference at each stage between the experiences of student teachers who emerged with an overall positive assessment and those who emerged with an overall negative assessment of team teaching. The practical implications of the findings are discussed. This research contributes to the professional literature on the team teaching of science courses, and may serve to encourage educators to implement team teaching as part of student teachers‘ practicum involving a project based, student centred methodology.     

Representations of indigenous knowledges in secondary school science textbooks in Australia and Canada

In recent years there has been a growing recognition that presenting principally western perspectives in science texts is a form of ethnocentrism, racism or cultural imperialism. In order to address this problem, a number of science texts have appeared which attempt to incorporate greater diversity of knowledge types. This paper employs discourse analysis techniques to examine the approach taken to minority group knowledges in two recently published sets of junior secondary science texts, one used in Australia and the other in Canada, with a specific focus on the incorporation of indigenous knowledges into the texts. An evaluation is provided on the kinds of indigenous knowledges incorporated in the texts and the strengths and weaknesses of the approaches used.     

Examination-type preferences of secondary school students and their teachers in the science disciplines

A specially developed questionnaire was used: Types of Preferred Examinations (TOPE) to assess examination-type preferences of secondary school students in the Science disciplines according to school type affiliate and gender.Structured interviews were employed to assess both the rationale of students towards these preferences as well as teacher awareness about the preferences – in contrast to their actual examination practice.Our findings suggest that (a) secondary school students prefer written, unlimited time examinations which, according to their perception, stress learning with understanding rather than mechanical rote learning, and in which the use of supporting material (open book exams) is permitted; and (b) secondary school Science teachers are aware of student examination-type preferences, yet they continue to use the traditional written, time-limited – class examination which is definitely not preferred (disliked) by their students.In view of the special emphasis in current science education research on students' development of higher-order cognitive skills (HOCS) and the need for consonance between the new curriculum goals and examination types used, it is proposed that provisions be made to facilitate teachers' compliance with students' examination-type preferences provided the latter are congruent with learning objectives and our educational aspirations.     

Profiles of middle school science teachers: Accounting for cognitive and motivational characteristics

Teachers play a critical role in successfully implementing science education reforms in the United States to provide high-quality science learning opportunities to all students. However, the differentiated ways in which teachers make decisions about their science teaching are not well understood. This study takes a person-centered approach by applying latent profile analysis to examine how cognitive (pedagogical content knowledge) and motivational (instructional goal orientations, self-efficacy beliefs, and reform values) characteristics combine to form science teacher profiles in middle school. Predictors of profile membership (bachelor's degree, school %FRL) and both teacher (science instructional practices) and student (science achievement, engagement, and self-efficacy) outcomes related to the teacher profiles were also examined. Five science teacher profiles were identified (severely discouraged but reform oriented, discouraged but reform oriented, conventional, confident and mastery oriented, and confident with multiple goal approaches) that represented unique configurations of cognitive and motivation characteristics. Additionally, findings showed that the teacher profiles were significantly related to three dimensions of science instructional practice including communication, discourse, and reasoning. Finally, the teacher profiles were significantly related to student science achievement and motivational outcomes. Implications for differentiated approaches to teacher professional learning and supports for science instruction are discussed.     

Inquiry-based science teaching competence of primary school teachers: A Delphi study

Earlier, extracted inquiry-based science teaching competency elements and domains from the international literature were compared to the United States' National Science Teaching Standards. The present Delphi study aimed to validate the findings for the Netherlands, where such standards are lacking. Experts (N = 33) were asked about the importance of 23 identified competencies. They confirmed the importance; proposed to add one competency and to differentiate between novice and experienced teachers. They suggested that teachers be provided with opportunities to integrate competence development regarding science knowledge, attitude and teaching skills throughout their career.     

The indigenous and the imported: The New Zealand school system

New Zealand (Aotearoa) was colonized from Britain and the colonizers imposed on the indigenous Maori people a foreign view of education. From then on tradition has vied with local adaptations to produce a school system with substantial traces of the Old Country but with many local features. The curriculum for boys continued to dominate, with that for girls struggling to make itself felt. There has been constant debate about basics and frills though these terms have not been clearly defined. More recently there has been more serious consideration of the curriculum but this has been overtaken by a market forces view of schooling. A new administration system comes into operation on 1st October 1989. The future is unclear but it is reasonable to hope that there will continue a dialectic which may one day produce a genuine synthesis suited to the multicultural nature of Aotearoa.

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Zusammenfassung Neuseeland (Aotearoa) wurde von Großbritannien kolonisiert, und die Kolonialherren zwangen dem einheimischen Volk der Maori ein fremdes Erziehungssystem auf. Von da an konkurrierten Tradition und lokale Anpassungsformen. so daß ein Schulsystem mit wesentlichen Merkmalen des Alten Landes, aber trotzdem mit vielen lokalen Grundzügen aufgebaut wurde. Das Curriculum der Jungen dominiert weiterhin das Curriculum der Mädchen, welches nur mühsam zur Geltung kommt. Es wurde ständig über Grundzüge und Extras debattiert, obwohl diese Begriffe nicht klar definiert sind. In letzter Zeit machte man sich ernsthaftere Gedanken über das Curriculum, dies wurde aber von einer marktorientierten Erziehungsauffassung überholt. Am 1. Oktober 1989 wurde ein neues Verwaltungssystem eingeführt. Die Zukunft ist unklar, aber es besteht begründete Hoffnung, daß eine Dialektik fortgeführt wird, die eines Tages eine echte Synthese hervorbringt, die der multikulturellen Kultur Aotearoas gerecht wird.

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Résumé La Nouvelle Zélande a été colonisée par la Grande Bretagne, et les colonisateurs ont imposé un système d'éducation étranger à la population indigène maori. Dès lors, la tradition et les adaptations locales rivalisèrent pour produire un système scolaire comportant des traces substantielles du vieux pays et de nombreuses caractéristiques locales. Le curriculum pour les garçons n'a pas cessé de dominer alors que celui pour les filles lutte toujours pour s'imposer. Il y a un débat permanent sur l'essentiel et le superflu, bien que ces termes n'aient pas été clairement définis. Récemment, on s'est occupé plus sérieusement du curriculum, mais cet intérêt a été dépassé par une vision de l'instruction déterminée par les forces du marché. Un nouveau système administratif entre en vigueur le l^er octobre 1989. Le futur est incertain mais il est raisonnable d'espérer que se poursuivra la dialectique qui pourrait produire un jour une véritable synthèse adaptéc à la nature multiculturelle d'Aotearoa.

     

A case study of high school teachers' decision making models for planning and teaching science

The focus of this study was to investigate the manner and the degree to which science teachers consider the nature of the subject matter in their decision making addressing the planning and the delivery of instructional tasks. An assumption of the study is that considerations for the nature of the subject matter should be a factor in a teacher's decision making about what to teach and how to teach. Relevant research literature reviewed includes (1) human decision making and the development of cognitive models of reality, (2) modern philosophies of science, and (3) philosophy of science and science education. Methods of data collection and of data analysis followed Spradley's Developmental Research Sequence guidelines for conducting ethnographic research. Validity of research findings was established from the triangulation of observations, interviews, and documents and surveys. The goal of the research was the development of grounded hypotheses about science TEACHERS' pedagogical decision making. Based on the results of this study it is hypothesized that science TEACHERS' decision-making models of reality for the selection, implementation, and development of instructional tasks are dominated by considerations for (a) student development, (b) curriculum guide objectives, and (c) pressures of accountability. Little, if any, consideration is given to the nature of the subject matter by the science teachers in decision making. Implications exist for the disenfranchisement of teachers from the task of making decisions concerning what to teach.