Positioning participation in the NGSS era: What counts as success?

The Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) strives to shift science learning from the teacher as a single cognitive agent, to a classroom community in which participants are working together in directing the classroom's communal knowledge to figure out questions about how phenomena occur, and building, testing, and refining their ideas to address those questions. To achieve this type of classroom environment, teachers should attend to students' knowledge and ideas and pay attention to how students are located within teacher-led interactions, such as being positioned as active discussants or designated listeners. In this study, we explore if and how this is occurring in the NGSS era. We used a naturalistic inquiry to explore how an experienced first-grade teacher used a new NGSS-aligned unit that called for students to use the science and engineering practices (SEP) to build content knowledge. We used a macro-analytic lens to answer the research question “how are class discussions shaped to address the SEP”? We used a micro-analytic lens to answer the research question “how are students positioned during these science discussions in this classroom?” Evidence suggests that the teachers' whole class discussions incorporated and involved the SEP which were specified in the unit lessons for content learning. However, on a micro-analytic level, we found that few students were positioned as active discussants. The teacher heavily relied on those students who could provide succinct and clearly relevant answers while positioning the remainder of the students as silent spectators. Implications from this research suggest that not only new NGSS curriculum materials need to focus on what students should know and do but they also need to address heuristics for teachers that show them how to position all of their students as active doers of science so all students have opportunities to build deeper, core science knowledge.     

试论小学科学教师培养的多样化

我国小学科学教师主要由科学教育专业和小学教育专业科学方向培养,在专业挂靠院系、课程设置、教材使用等层次上呈多样化态势,这是全民科学素养问题受到重视的体现,也是高等教育改革和小学科学课程实施现状的必然产物。针对目前小学科学教师培养呈多样化的客观现实,从不同层面入手,提出了培养高质量小学科学教师的建议。     

Stories of self and science: preservice elementary teachers’ identity work through time and across contexts

Grounded in theoretical and empirical underpinnings related to identity work and figured worlds, this case study explores the nature of two preservice elementary teachers’ identities for science teaching and the experiences that impacted their development through time and across contexts. The participants in this study portray a range of competencies, interests and orientations to science and science teaching, and hence provide two different kinds of, almost contradicting, identity works. Various data were collected in a period of 3 years with the use of life history methods in order to trace the participants’ identity work over time and across contexts. The analysis of the data showed prevalent differences between the participants’ identity works and identified critical events and experiences in the context of various figured worlds: (a) figured world of family; (b) figured world of childhood; (c) figured world of schooling; (d) outside of school figured worlds; (e) figured world of university and (f) figured world of science. These findings are offered alongside implications for future research and teacher preparation.     

配备专职科学教师是开齐开好科学课程最基本的保证——小学科学教育现状调研报告

小学科学课程承担着培养小学生科学素质的重任,早期科学教育对每个人科学素质的形成具有十分重要的影响。然而在调研中发现,小学科学课程实施情况不尽人意：专职科学教师数量极其缺乏;科学课程开设严重不齐不足,兼职教师挪课现象相当严重;设施设备投入不足,科学专用教室和设备严重缺乏。这些问题严重影响小学科学教育正常开展。因此,必须提高对科学课程开设重要性认识,配备专职科学教师,保证开齐开好科学课程,促进学生创新意识和实践能力的提高。     

初等学校教师教育：问题和忧虑

在印度,对6-14岁儿童实行免费义务教育。随着初等教育的普及,教育质量的提高迫在眉睫,因此必须加强初等学校教师教育。文中探讨了初等学校教师教育中存在的一系列问题和忧虑,主要包括：教师的收入、地位和工作条件,课程及课程质量和内容,社区取向的教育,训练的持久,教师训练的过程,语言和教学媒介,在职培训,训练机构,教师培训者,远程教育和现代教育技术等等。     

基础教育改革背景下的教师教育策略

基础教育课程改革对中小学教师提出了新的要求,也给高师教育带来了巨大的挑战。培养和造就一大批理解新课程、实施新课程的教师,是基础教育改革顺利推进的关键。在教师持续培养和终身发展的过程中,高师院校是基础,中小学校是关键,高师院校与中小学的合作是实现这一目标的有效途径。     

Supports and Concerns for Teacher Professional Growth During the Implementation of a Science Curriculum Innovation

Internationally, considerable reform in science education is occurring which promotes constructivist philosophies and advocates constructivist-inspired pedagogical strategies that are new to many teachers. This paper reports on the supporting factors necessary for teacher professional growth and the issues of concern that were evident during one primary teacher's successful implementation of a unit of work based on a draft of a new state-wide science syllabus which proposes such approaches. One researcher (CEP) provided guidance during the writing and implementation of the unit through professional development workshops complemented by ongoing collegial support. The analysis of the teacher's practice reveals that professional growth required a willingness of the teacher to engage with change and modify his professional practice. The support factors for teacher growth consisted of an appropriate program of professional development, teacher understanding of the elements of the curriculum innovation, and successful experiences in implementing new approaches. In contrast, the issues of concern were: the adequacy of support for planning including the time required to understand the innovation and make changes to teaching practice; science equipment; teacher knowledge; classroom management strategies; and ways to cope with change. Understanding of these support factors and issues of concern is vital for the successful implementation of science curriculum innovations.     

Chinese elementary school teachers’ perceptions of students’ classroom behaviour problems

This study examined teachers’ perceptions of classroom behaviour problems in five provinces of the People’s Republic of China. Researchers surveyed 527 Chinese teachers from 27 elementary schools. Consistent with previous studies in China, teachers perceived non‐attention to be the most frequent and troublesome behaviour problem. Teachers’ perceptions of which behaviour problems were most difficult to tolerate and most negative in their effects on student development were also investigated. Approximately 45% of the teachers reported spending too much time on behaviour problems. Significant differences were found in the prevalence of teachers’ perceptions of student misbehaviour and of the time spent on classroom management; there were also differences in these perceptions according to students’ gender, type of school, classroom subject taught, and teachers’ level of experience. The implications of these findings for researchers and practitioners are addressed.