Storylines in the physics teaching content of an upper secondary school classroom

ABSTRACT

Background: Physics is often seen as a discipline with difficult content, and one that is difficult to identify with. Socialisation processes at the upper secondary school level are of particular interest as these may be linked to the subsequent low and uneven participation in university physics. Focusing on how norms are construed in physics classrooms in upper secondary school is therefore relevant.

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to identify discursive patterns in teacher–student interactions in physics classrooms.

Design and methods: Three different physics lessons with one class of students taught by three different teachers in upper secondary school were video-recorded. Positioning theory was used to analyse classroom interaction with a specific focus on how physics was positioned.

Results: We identified seven different storylines. Four of them (‘reaching a solution to textbook problems’, ‘discussing physics concepts in order to gain better understanding’, ‘doing empirical enquiry’ and ‘preparing for the upcoming exam’) represent what teaching physics in an upper secondary school classroom can be. The last three storylines (‘mastering physics’, ‘appreciating physics’ and ‘having a feeling for physics’) all concern how students are supposed to relate to physics and, thus, become ‘insiders’ in the discipline.

Conclusions: The identification and analysis of storylines raises awareness of the choices teachers make in physics education and their potential consequences for students. For example, in the storyline of mastering physics a good physics student is associated with ‘smartness’, which might make the classroom a less secure place in general. Variation and diversity in the storylines construed in teaching can potentially contribute to a more inclusive physics education.     

In‐school Experience Designed to Meet Individual Needs

Current policies at both the state and national levels emphasise the need for increased attention to teaching children with special needs and more extensive school‐based experience in teacher education courses. This paper reports an in‐school experience which was an integral part of an on‐campus subject that focused upon teaching children with special needs. It also addressed a range of issues currently of concern in pre‐service teacher education, including the nature of the in‐school experience, managing the needs of children with learning difficulties in an integrated classroom, overcoming the socialising effect of block practice teaching, reinforcing the relevance of campus‐based subjects, maintaining a balance between the formal teaching expectations and the nurturing roles of teachers, providing teacher educators with recent and relevant in‐school experience, and producing reflective teachers with an understanding and appreciation of the ‘art’ and the ‘science’ of teaching.     

The ‘Hidden Pedagogy’ and its Implications for Teacher Training

Despite the diversity of training they receive and the diversity of subjects and schools in which they work, teachers tend to share a vision of their work in which ‘classroom control’ and ‘classroom privacy’ figure prominently. This common element in their understanding of the work can be explained by the fact that they share one overriding influence on their attitudes and approaches to the job — assroom experience. Because this experience itself is shaped by some characteristic features of the material and social organisation of classrooms, teachers tend to share certain problems, dilemmas, frustrations and opportunities that come as normal parts of classroom experience and which present the teachers with some practical imperatives they cannot afford to ignore. Classroom experience, for this reason, fosters a set of pragmatic beliefs about the job which, by way of contrast with formal educational theory, can be regarded as a ‘hidden pedagogy’. This generally involves a belief in the need to establish classroom control and to maintain the privacy of the situation as absoute prerequisites for successful teaching — a belief that gets carried through from generation to generation of teachers and which remains remarkably unchanged despite superficial alterations to pedagogy, curriculum and school organisation because the basic structural features of classroom experience have remained unaltered. Any attempt to innovate and alter the work of teachers needs to take into account this hidden dimension of the job and consider carefully the repercussions of pedagogic proposals for the deep‐rooted vision of competent teaching it contains.     

Evolution in the Caribbean Classroom: A critical analysis of the role of biology teachers and science standards in shaping evolution instruction in Belize

A survey of the literature on evolution instruction provides evidence that teachers’ personal views and understandings can shape instructional approaches and content delivered in science classrooms regardless of established science standards. This study is the first to quantify evolutionary worldviews of in-service teachers in the Caribbean, specifically in Belize, an English-speaking nation with a high school system guided by a regional biology syllabus and strict standardized tests. Using the Measure of Acceptance of the Theory of Evolution (MATE) instrument and knowledge test, we investigated (1) the current level of acceptance and understanding of evolution as given by 97% of high school biology teachers in Belize; (2) the factors associated with acceptance and understanding of evolutionary theory. With an average MATE score of 64.4 and a mean knowledge score of 47.9%, Belizean teachers were classified as having both ‘Low Acceptance’ and ‘Low Understanding’ of evolutionary theory. A positive correlation was found between teacher acceptance and understanding of evolution. A review of the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate biology syllabus suggests that evolution plays a minimal role in the high school biology classroom. We believe that Belize presents a unique opening for future training on evolution instruction since 57% of the biology teachers self-proclaim to be unprepared to teach evolution. The results of this study have implications for policy, practice and research with teachers’ acceptance, understanding and confidence in teaching evolution serving as important predictors for instructional approaches used in the biology classroom.     

叶澜课堂教学改革思想及实践述要

叶澜先生的课堂教学改革思想萌发于她对教育基本理论相关问题的独特认识,对时代精神与学校教育使命的把握及一系列“入地”工程的冲击。她执着于教育的生命性,由“书斋”走向“田野”,从教育理论研究转向教育实践变革,主动深度介入课堂,开始致力于课堂教学的问题诊断与改革的路径探寻,呼吁“生命焕发”,阐发了重建课堂教学价值观、过程观及评价观的思想。她以语、数、外这三门升学考试最看重的学科为重点进行课堂教学改革,将基于生命价值取向的教育学研究与基于生命动态生成的教育实验探索有机地融合在一起,探索出了当代中国课堂教学变革的一条独特的实践路径,在教育理论界和实践界均产生了巨大而深远的影响。     

Causal connections in beginning reading: the importance of rhyme

Profound misunderstandings of the implications of rhyme and analogy research (sometimes called ‘new phonics’) for classroom teaching still appear regularly in the reading literature. It has been argued that ‘rhyme and analogy’ researchers do not believe in teaching children grapheme-phoneme correspondences (Chew, 1997). Rhyme and analogy has also been branded as ‘analytic phonics’, which is argued to be inferior to ‘synthetic’ phonics (Watson and Johnston, 1999). Such misconceptions are confusing the debate over how best to teach ‘phonics’, following the publication of the National Literacy Framework (DfEE, 1998). For example, some authors are suggesting that teachers should replace an emphasis on phonological awareness and onset-rime with a teaching programme based on ‘synthetic’ phonics (Deavers and Solity, 1998; Watson and Johnston, 1999). This paper discusses the implications of Goswami and Bryant’s (1990) theory about important causal connections in reading for classroom teaching, and reviews more recent ‘rhyme and analogy’ research within this framework. New research on the nature of the English spelling system and the representation of linguistic knowledge is also discussed. The importance of taking a balanced approach to phonics instruction and teaching children correspondences between letters and phonemes and letter sequences and rimes is emphasised.     

Seeing,grasping and constructing: pre-service teachers’ metaphors for ‘understanding’ in religious education

ABSTRACT

Despite its centrality to most, if not all educational endeavours, what is meant by understanding is highly contested. Using Religious Education (RE) in England as a case subject this paper examines pre-service secondary school teachers’ construals of understanding. It does so by employing conceptual metaphor theory to analyse their linguistic discourse. Specifically, it examines the metaphors employed by participants in a series of focus group discussions (FGD) and provides important insights into how understanding is conceptualised by these pre-service teachers who are preparing to enter the RE profession. The metaphors employed by these pre-service teachers (‘understanding is SEEING’; ‘understanding is CONSTRUCTING’; ‘understanding is GRASPING’), focus on the dynamic and developmental nature of understanding (rather than on the outcomes) and reveal subject specific ways of thinking and practicing. This paper argues that each of the three conceptual metaphors employed by participants suggest particular ways of acting towards understanding with significant implications for teaching and learning in RE.     

‘If you’re wrong for the place you just don’t survive’: examining the work of early career teachers in context

ABSTRACT

This article presents evidence from across the segregated secondary school system in NSW, Australia, through the close analysis of three cases of teachers’ work in contrasting schooling contexts. Through this comparative approach, the relationship between school context and the work of the early career teacher is foregrounded, troubling views of teaching as reflecting a certain kind of life cycle in which early career teachers in particular are seen to be subject to pressures such as stress and burnout. In contrast, I argue that specificities of context, exacerbated by a market-based policy approach which has driven greater levels of differentiation between schools, have particular consequences for teachers, both in the nature and scale of the challenges with which they are faced. In demonstrating how teachers’ work is affected by context, I also speak back against recent, often ill-defined discourses of ‘classroom readiness’ and ‘teacher quality’, which emphasise the roles of teachers and teacher educators rather the systems within which they work.     

关联理论在翻译教学中的应用

关联理论认为语言交际是明示—推理的过程,而翻译活动中原文作者、译者和译文读者间的关系也同样如此。翻译教学中,关联理论对学生的理解、表达、校对三步骤以及课程设计、教师行为和教学环境等方面都有重要指导作用。     

A comparison of childrens’ statements about social relations and teaching in the classroom and in the outdoor environment

Two teachers from a school in Copenhagen were allowed to move their third grade teaching into a forest every Thursday for three years. Thus 20% of the class's regular teaching took place in an outdoor environment. The purpose of the present study was to ask the children how they experienced lessons in the classroom and the forest settings. Therefore, two almost identical questionnaires including a total of 26 statements adjusted to each context were completed by the children four times from 2000 to 2003. Further, in the forest questionnaire three specific statements were added about the outdoor environment plus one question about their choice of playmates during breaks at school and breaks in the forest. Ten statements were categorized as ‘social relations’, 14 statements as ‘teaching’ and finally two related to ‘self-perceived physical activity’. A significant difference (p < 0.001) was found between the school/classroom and the outdoor environment when scores from all four questionnaires (2000–2003) were summed. The categories ‘social relations’ (p < 0.001), ‘teaching’ (p < 0.001) and ‘self-perceived physical activity’ (p < 0.001) all showed significant differences. It is concluded from the present case study that the combination of classroom and outdoor teaching, over a three-year period had a positive effect on the children's social relations, experience with teaching and self-perceived physical activity level.     

Philosophy and Educational Research: a reply to David Bridges et al.

It is argued that, contrary to much contemporary opinion, ‘conceptual analysis’ is not to be seen as a particular ‘school’ of philosophical thought beyond which we have now passed. It is, rather, a practice: an inter‐personal engagement which seeks to clarify meaning without making any ‘assumptions’ and without the benefit of ‘theory’. The necessity of this practice for educational research, indeed for any sharing of minds between people, is obvious: the difficulty lies rather in our own impatience and reluctance to engage in it.     

The ‘outdoor school’ as a school improvement process: empirical results from the perspective of teachers in Germany

This paper focuses on school improvement processes in the context of weekly curricular-based teaching and learning activities outside the classroom – known as Draußenschule or ‘outdoor school’ – in three German primary schools. Qualitative interviews were conducted with three teachers two years after implementing the ‘outdoor school’. The teachers’ experiences show that the implementation and (ongoing) development of an outdoor school affects (1) teaching as such; (2) the school staff, and (3) the entire school as an organisation. The three areas are interlinked in different ways and the school improvement process cannot be approached from the perspective of any one area alone.     

完形理论与EST翻译

认知语言学的心理学基础是完形心理学。完形心理学家们认为整体的意义大于各部分相加之和,对部分的分析不能解释整体的某些特性。文章从此原理出发,探讨英语汉译中译者可能遇到的部分困难及解决方法,拟为译者提供一个全新的视角来看待翻译过程。翻译是语言转换的过程,当把完形理论运用到翻译的实践中时,一篇英语的翻译文章才能更好地体现出原文作者的思想。     

关联翻译理论视域下外贸函电翻译探索

论文以关联翻译理论为指导原则,在分析外贸函电语言特点的基础上探讨如何结合关联翻译理论做好外贸函电翻译工作.根据关联翻译理论,外贸函电的译者应重视以下三点:(1)根据文本的字面信息意图来揣摩原文作者的交际意图(原文的内在交际意图);(2)对译文读者的认知语境和期望做出准确的判断;(3)灵活运用适当的翻译方法将源语文本译入目的语,以最小的处理努力获取最大的语境效果.     

An inquiry into the delivering of a British curriculum in China

This paper reports a qualitative inquiry on teaching a British undergraduate management programme to Chinese students in China. The research objectives were to develop a deeper understanding of challenges students face in their academic learning within an English speaking and study environment, and to enhance organisational learning through developing practical pedagogical techniques to improve classroom interactions. A longitudinal participatory action research strategy was employed. The subjects were second and third year undergraduate students who were studying for dual-degrees in international tourism management at a Sino-Foreign educational institute. The inquiry found that various instructional techniques could help the students engage with fellow students and the lecturer in the classroom setting. We conclude that, in addition to linguistic factors, normative values of education in Chinese culture ought to be appreciated so that Chinese students’ learning needs can be better served.     

Teaching for enjoyment: David Manson and his ‘play school’ of Belfast

The school operated by David Manson in 18th century Belfast was a centre of learning which represented a critical approach to traditional forms of education. Choice instead of coercion; encouragement rather than ridicule; achievement and recognition for all learners were the hallmarks of his method. Enjoyment in teaching and in learning was not just an aspiration but a reality. Play was not seen as mere diversion or leisure but as purposeful, enjoyable work imbued with creativity and success. An exploration of the role of play and enjoyment as a pedagogical philosophy presents interesting parallels with David Manson's experiments. This paper argues that teachers who provide engaging opportunities for collaborative learning and who place priority in developing a classroom culture where success and self-esteem take precedence over curriculum delivery discover that the delineation between ‘work’ and ‘play’ becomes less sharply defined. Manson's vision of a pedagogy of enjoyment has a timely relevance for the challenges and concerns of the teacher of the 21st century.     

Teaching and Assessing Writing: an Australian Perspective

This article examines issues of writing instruction and assessment as they relate to an approach to English language education that has been developed in Australia. The approach, put forward by proponents of genre theory, is underpinned by the argument that it is essential for all teachers, and especially English teachers, to have a ‘metalanguage’ about language education. The expectation is that such a metalanguage makes it possible for teachers and students to develop shared understandings of how written and spoken language works in their various forms. The related argument is that the teacher represents an authoritative (as distinct from authoritarian) language user in the classroom and is responsible for teaching the linguistic characteristics of texts as well as the relationship between texts and the cultural and social contexts in which they are produced and received. In this article I examine the ‘genre’ position and consider its relevance to the business of teaching, learning and assessing in the English classroom.     

完形理论与EST翻译

认知语言学的心理学基础是完形心理学。完形心理学家们认为整体的意义大于各部分相加之和,对部分的分析不能解释整体的某些特性。文章从此原理出发,探讨英语汉译中译者可能遇到的部分困难及解决方法,拟为译者提供一个全新的视角来看待翻译过程。翻译是语言转换的过程,当把完形理论运用到翻译的实践中时,一篇英语的翻译文章才能更好地体现出原文作者的思想。     

‘The world must stop when I’m talking’: gender and power relations in primary teachers’ classroom talk

The present paper examines male and female teachers’ language practices in relation to ‘censuring’ talk in the primary classroom, in the context of the debate around boys’ ‘underachievement’ and the ‘feminisation’ of primary school culture. Through an analysis of classroom observations with 51 men and women teachers, it looks to see whether gender differences could be found in the ways individual men and women teachers communicated in terms of their ‘censuring’ comments of pupils’ work or behaviour. Secondly, the paper takes issue with the notion that teachers operate within a ‘feminised’ educational culture, by looking at the ways in which teachers’ classroom talk can be seen to be constrained by two contrasting discourses relating to the power relation between teacher and pupil: a ‘traditional’ disciplinarian discourse, and a more ‘progressive’ liberal discourse. Both discourses have complex gendered and class dimensions, challenging the conception of a ‘feminised’ primary school culture.