Understanding change through a high school mathematics teacher’s journey to inquiry-based teaching

This article focuses on an experienced high school mathematics teacher who changed her practice without participating in planned interventions aimed at producing this change. It reports on the nature of the teacher’s change from her perspective and an interpretation and understanding of the change from the researcher’s perspective. It illustrates how meaningful change can occur when the process is initiated and rooted in the teacher’s experience based on a tension in self and/or practice that is personal and real to him or her. It discusses three types of change that are possible depending on the level of engagement of the teacher in professional development opportunities: instrumental change, conceptual change, and foundational change.     

‘And then on to the next school to mess things up’: deconstruction events in a preservice teacher’s field experience

Abstract

In this analysis, events from a preservice teacher’s internship in a seventh-grade literacy classroom are explored using theories of deconstruction. Deconstruction is activated as both a lens through which to observe and a framework for understanding moments when binaries and other linguistic structures and shortcomings are illuminated as inadequate. In the discussion of deconstruction events and new understandings, the author explains the participant’s pushback on the expectation of dividing the personal and professional, her inclusion of voices and perspectives from outside the traditional literary canon, and her rejection of the expectation that preservice teachers will maintain the predetermined limits of the classroom. The paper concludes with implications for future research and teacher education, including a reconsideration of preservice teaching as an opportunity to destabilize inequitable power structures.     

Computing in the curriculum: Challenges and strategies from a teacher’s perspective

Computing is being introduced into the curriculum in many countries. Teachers’ perspectives enable us to discover what challenges this presents, and also the strategies teachers claim to be using successfully in teaching the subject across primary and secondary education. The study described in this paper was carried out in the UK in 2014 where teachers were preparing for the mandatory inclusion of Computing into the curriculum. A survey was conducted of over 300 teachers who were currently teaching Computing to elicit their perspectives on challenges and strategies. From the analysis of the data, extrinsic and intrinsic challenges were identified for both teachers and students. In addition, a variety of pedagogical strategies were recommended by teachers from their own practice. In categorising approaches taken by teaching to support students five key themes emerged: unplugged type activities, contextualisation of tasks, collaborative learning, developing computational thinking, and scaffolding programming tasks. Further investigation could support whether these strategies can alleviate the challenges of teaching and learning of Computing for students and teachers. In particular developing student resilience in Computing is seen as a challenge while not many strategies are suggested. The results of this study will be useful for teachers who are new to the teaching of Computing.     

The relationship between school’s organizational climate and teacher’s job satisfaction: Malaysian experience

The purpose of this paper was to examine the relationship between school organizational climate and teachers’ job satisfaction. A quantitative survey method was applied, and three broadly hypothesized relationships were tested with a sample of 245 teachers from six government secondary schools in district of Penampang, Sabah, Malaysia. The instrument used in this study was the modified version for combination of two questionnaires: Organizational Climate Index and the Teachers’ Job Satisfaction Questionnaire. The findings indicated that there is a significant positive relationship between school organizational climate and teachers’ job satisfaction. The teachers in this study were found to be fairly satisfied with their job, with the responsibility factor as the biggest contributor to job satisfaction. This study found that there is no significant difference in levels of job satisfaction between the teachers’ gender (male and female). Based on the years of service in their current school, there was a statically significant difference in the level of job satisfaction among the teachers. These findings revealed that the secondary schools in Sabah have a positive and open climate, with the professional teachers’ behaviour factor as the biggest contributor. The results of this study indicate the necessity to provide positive organizational climate and up keeping teachers’ job satisfaction by policy makers and principals with hope in enhancing the quality of schools in Malaysia.     

From LSA to teacher: the value of classroom experience in shaping a ‘teacher’ identity

Routes into teacher training have expanded in recent years, accompanied by a growing interest in schools ‘growing their own’ teachers from amongst support staff. However, little attention has been paid to their transition to the role of teacher. This article investigates influences on identity development and the extent to which personal values are reconciled with professional demands and socially constructed facets of educational practice. Participants were nine staff in one secondary school for pupils with moderate learning difficulties who had undertaken the transition from LSA (learning support assistant) to teacher. Qualitative data were obtained through an online survey and focus group discussion. Findings show that extensive opportunities to experiment with provisional and possible selves, immersion in educational discourse, classroom agency and staff collaboration engender a ‘teacher’ self-concept and positive motivations for LSA career development, and that self-esteem and self-efficacy are strengthened by how an individual’s values align with those of the setting in which they work. Findings may inform school leaders as to the value of training teachers ‘in-house’ and support career development decisions of LSAs, a pathway of potential significance given the current pressures on teacher recruitment and retention.     

Using the curriculum emphasis concept to investigate teachers’ curricular beliefs in the context of educational reform

This paper reports a study on teachers’ domain‐specific beliefs about the chemistry curriculum for upper‐secondary education in The Netherlands. Teachers’ beliefs were investigated using a questionnaire focused on the goals of the chemistry curriculum. The design of the questionnaire was based on three curriculum emphases: ‘fundamental chemistry’, ‘chemistry, technology and society’, and ‘knowledge development in chemistry’. The questionnaire was administered to a sample of Dutch chemistry teachers. The results indicate that, on the whole, the curriculum emphasis ‘fundamental chemistry’ received the strongest support. This is in accordance with the content and the tradition of the Dutch chemistry curriculum. When the two types of upper‐secondary education were compared, it appeared that ‘chemistry, technology and society’ was almost equally valued for both types of education. However, the curriculum emphasis, ‘knowledge development in chemistry’, was considered much more important for pre‐university education than for senior general secondary education.     

Using climate change scenarios to assess high school students’ argumentation skills

Background: Many international science curriculum documents mandate that students should be able to participate in argument, debate and decision-making about contemporary science issues affecting society. Termed socioscientific issues, these topics provide students with opportunities to use their scientific knowledge to discuss, debate and defend their decisions and to evaluate the arguments of their peers.

Purpose: This study describes the development and trialling of scenarios based on the socioscientific issue of climate change. The scenarios required students to make and justify a decision and were designed to assess students’ argumentation skills.

Sample: A sample of 162 Year 10 students from five schools in Perth, Western Australia participated in this study.

Design and methods: Recent media articles were reviewed to identify relevant contexts for scenarios related to climate change that could be used to develop and assess students’ argumentation skills. In the first phase, students trialled scenarios about wind farms and hydrogen fuel buses using writing frames with scaffolding questions to generate as many reasons as possible to justify their decision. The responses were categorised into themes which were used to prepare a scoring rubric. In the second phase, students generated written arguments about the scenarios to support their decision. The arguments were analysed using both the scoring rubric developed from the first phase and Toulmin’s argumentation pattern of claim, data, backing, qualifier and rebuttal.

Results: Students’ responses to the scaffolded questions were categorised into themes of agriculture, economy, energy, environment, human impact and ethical factors. The themes of economy and the environment predominated with ethical justifications cited infrequently. An analysis of the arguments generated revealed a majority of students’ responses consisted of a claim and data with backings, qualifiers and rebuttals rarely provided.

Conclusions: Scenarios about climate change socioscientific issues can be used by teachers to both develop and assess students’ argumentation skills in classroom settings.     

Narrative study of a high school English teacher’s beliefs about teaching students identified as having a disability

A qualitative study probing the connection between a high school English teacher’s lived experience and beliefs about teaching students identified as having a disability using interview story method was undertaken. Struggles with family quickly emerged as a dominant storyline in the participant’s discussion of her beliefs about teaching such students. The teacher’s value of diversity in students, regardless of disability/ability status, evolved from family relations. The narrative also illuminates the importance of persistence and compromise in preserving and developing relationships that extend to colleagues and students. Lessons learned from gathering the narrative are also discussed.     

Effects of a reform high school mathematics curriculum on student achievement: whom does it benefit?

This study compared the effects of an integrated reform-based curriculum to a subject-specific curriculum on student learning of 19,526 high school algebra students. Using hierarchical linear modelling to account for variation in student achievement, the impact of the reform-based Core-Plus Mathematics curricular materials on student test scores is compared to the subject-specific curriculum. Findings from this study indicate that students enrolled in integrated mathematics outperformed subject-specific students on an Algebra I exam (highly aligned with content), and performed equally on an Algebra II exam (poorly aligned). High minority students in high-need schools demonstrated higher performance when they were enrolled in integrated mathematics.     

Leading a school through change – principals’ hands-on leadership strategies in school reform

Principal’s hands-on strategies reflecting their theories of changing have a substantial effect on the development of their schools and on how the large-scale reform takes root. The study explores five comprehensive school principals’ leadership strategies during a large-scale school reform in Finland. The principals’ strategies in the middle of reform acknowledged the process nature of leading and involved coherence-making. The inclusive and learning-oriented strategies were applied quite consistently in terms of the horizontal, but not so much in the vertical coherence-making. Exclusive strategies we used to decrease teachers’ workload. Principals’ theories of changing seem to focus on creating and protecting teachers’ opportunities for meaningful learning.     

Spaces of agency within contextual constraints: a case study of teacher’s response to EFL reform in a Chinese university

This paper draws on a case study conducted in a Chinese university in the context of national College English reform. The aim is to investigate the policy enactment of the latest College English reform in China and the interaction between national policies, institutional policy, and teacher agency in responding to this educational reform from an activity theory perspective. The analysis examines the tensions and contradictions within and between the macro policy initiation level, the university implementation level, and the teacher’s classroom level, as well as examining the power distribution between these three activity systems. Data were collected from classroom observation, interviews, and examination of reform policy documents and analysed by Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA). The findings suggest that the control-compliance model functioned as the rule for the curriculum implementation at both national policy and institution level. However, in such a restrictive context, the participant teacher’s agency was enhanced through her engagement with the research and reflection on teaching, even exceeding the expectations of the reform.     

Teachers’ responses to curriculum policy implementation: colonial constraints for curriculum reform

A new approach to curriculum and implementation in a new era normally requires schools and teachers to take more responsibility for student learning. This might present a challenge at any time, particularly when teachers have been used to more directives and less professional approaches to curriculum implementation. In order to meet such a challenge, a new approach to curriculum policy, namely “soft” policy, was used by policy-makers to implement curriculum reform. With the provision of substantial resources, it was expected by the policy-makers that schools and teachers would have better opportunities to develop themselves professionally and manage the new changes effectively. However, such a view misread the situation because the historical trend and present situation of teachers’ professional development were overlooked. This paper uses case studies of schools and teachers involved in the current reforms to show how teachers and schools implemented the reform process. The cases demonstrate how reforms were understood at the local level and the extent to which it could be claimed that implementation had taken place.     

From stories of staying to stories of leaving: a US beginning teacher’s experience

This narrative inquiry traces a beginning teacher’s unfolding career over a six-year period in a diverse middle school in the fourth largest city in the USA. The work revolves around two conceptualizations: ‘stories to live by’ and ‘stories to leave by.’ How these identity-related phenomena surface and play out in an entry-level teacher’s experiences become revealed. The stories of experience lived and told, and relived and retold, illuminate the influence of context on beginning teachers’ knowing. The interwoven nature of educators’ lives also forms a major theme. In the final analysis, the beginning teacher’s ‘stories to live by’ are no longer able to sustain her in her urban teaching milieu. Shifting occurs and ‘stories to leave by’ prevail.     

Progressing towards a model of intrinsic inclusion in a mainstream primary school: a SENCo’s experience

This article explores a Special Educational Needs Coordinator’s experience of progressing from a ‘mainstream + SEN’ approach to inclusion, defined as an extrinsically inclusive model, and perhaps more closely aligned to integration, towards a model of intrinsic inclusiveness. A three-tiered reading/spelling programme was implemented, using a structured, cumulative, individualised, multi-sensory approach for all children, with accompanying shared strategies and methods. Progress was evaluated through standardised tests, pupil questionnaires/interviews and discussion with staff. In addition to recorded progress in reading and spelling ages, the data revealed the majority of staff and children’s satisfaction with the methods/strategies used, and the shared ownership of them. The article concludes by discussing areas for development.     

The Chinese high school student’s stress in the school and academic achievement

In a sample of 466 Chinese high school students, we examined the relationships between Chinese high school students’ stress in the school and their academic achievements. Regression mixture modelling identified two different classes of the effects of Chinese high school students’ stress on their academic achievements. One class contained 87% of the students. In this class, the students’ stress negatively predicted their academic achievements. For the other 13% of the students, their stress did not predict their academic achievements. Furthermore, we found that gender did not moderate the relationships between Chinese high school students’ stress in the school and their academic achievements.     

‘Nature’ and the ‘environment’ in Jamaica’s primary school curriculum guides

In cases where environmental education is institutionalised within schools, the curriculum can affect what and how students learn about ‘nature’ and the ‘environment’. In Jamaica, schools are considered important settings for environmental education; the curriculum therefore includes environmental issues. Using content analysis, representations of ‘nature’ and the ‘environment’ in the nation’s primary level Curriculum Guides were examined. Findings indicate that although many units emphasise an anthropocentric view of nature, this is tempered by depictions of nature’s fragility and, in some instances, nature’s ‘divine’ dimensions. Several curricular units also facilitate student’s creative engagement with nature, allowing for multiple views of the natural world.     

A secondary school teacher’s experiences as a victim of learner cyberbullying

This instrumental case study reports on the unique experiences of a secondary school teacher who was a victim of learner cyberbullying. This teacher experienced severe emotional distress, family stress, anxiety, anger, intense humiliation and loss of dignity as a result of cyberbullying. On a professional level he felt unsupported by his teachers’ union, school management team and teaching authorities. Support from his family, his community and the opportunity to share his experience with other teachers influenced his resilience positively while taking action made him feel like a role model for other teachers. This study highlights the effects of aggression in schools and raises concern about school climate and the need for social emotional competence programmes for learners.     

Using activity theory as a lens to analyse interaction in a university–school initial teacher education and training partnership

The development of beginning teachers' practice during a school placement is a multiplicity of mediated interactions between university- and school-based systems. Both systems have the common aim of training effective teachers. However, day-to-day internal institution matters can cause tension between the learning goals set out for the beginning teacher by the university and the schools' drive to ensure maximum student performance in ‘high stake’ national tests. This article reports on an intervention intended to equip beginning teachers with the capacity to learn, through purposive activity, in an authentic classroom environment. The context of the learning was to address the conceptual difficulties that secondary school pupils (aged 11-16) have in understanding scientific concepts within the constraints of a ‘curriculum delivery’ lead culture. The results show that beginning teachers are able to extract principles, which might assist them in new contexts in the future. The interactions which took place during the intervention within a school University Initial Teacher Education and Training partnership were analysed using activity systems.     

Supporting the kindergarten–primary school transition in Hong Kong: reform in a teacher training programme

ABSTRACT

The conflicting education values in Hong Kong kindergartens and primary schools pose various challenges to kindergarten teachers in providing pupils with a smooth transition to primary school which requires collaboration from schools and families. This study explored these challenges as well as the benefits of a professional teacher training programme. In-service teachers (N?=?35) and tutors (N?=?2) engaged in the module ‘The Social and Emotional Aspects of Teaching and Learning’ participated in this study. The trainees’ weekly reflective journals throughout the 22-week module were subjected to documentation analysis. Group interviews with the in-service teachers and individual interviews with the tutors were conducted on completion of the module. Findings reveal a gap between teacher training and providing pastoral care for pupils through supporting the social and emotional aspects of their families in Hong Kong, and indicated that traditional beliefs associated with the teaching profession should be widened. Meanwhile, counselling knowledge and skills should be contextualised and integrated into teacher training programmes.     

How teacher and students study ‘all that matters’ in high school chemistry

This study focuses on the relationships between meanings of science constructed in classrooms and sociocultural precepts of the wider society. Research presented is part of a larger study of the negotiation of knowledge and roles in high school science classrooms. The data presented document that what goes on in classrooms reflects and recreates societal attitudes towards work, in general, and teachers’ work, in particular. The teacher in this study reduces his demands for academic work in return for students’ cooperation and as a means of coping with negative aspects of teaching. Students, in turn, are not concerned about the specific subject matter of chemistry. What matters to them are the academic credentials that lead to success in the college and employment arenas. As a result, teacher and students construct school chemistry to be what you‐get‐through‐as‐you‐get‐along. The interdependence of the roles and actions of teachers and students suggests changes in policy and practice.