Large‐scale interventions in science education: The road to utopia?

This article provides commentary on the five articles in this issue on large‐scale interventions in science education for diverse student groups in varied educational settings. Using these articles as a point of departure, I discuss three challenges to science education research and practice. The first concerns the changed meaning of science education reform over the past two decades. The science education research and development community must be aware of the shifting policy and public awareness context of their work and react accordingly if it wishes for its work to make a difference in the lives of teachers and students. The second addresses the importance of teacher professional development and the role that well‐designed and internally valid research plays in developing knowledge in this area. The third discusses the chaotic and contradictory nature of educational policy in this country and argues that our field needs to align our research work with the ways in which real and impactful decisions are made about education in general and science education in particular. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 420–427, 2012     

Understanding the co‐construction of inquiry practices: A case study of a responsive teaching environment

We set out to understand how different instantiations of inquiry emerged in two different years of one elementary teacher's classroom. Longitudinal observations from Mrs. Charles' 5th grade science classroom forced us to carefully and deliberately consider who exactly was responsible for the change in the class activities and norms. We provide empirical evidence to show how a focus on the teacher can easily overlook the complex dynamics of the classroom. The data reveal that students had a substantive and generative role in the class's arrival at the different instantiations of scientific inquiry—the nature and form of inquiry—that were constructed each year. We argue that, in an environment where a teacher carefully attends and responds to student thinking, the nascent resources students have for reasoning about phenomena can affect not only the conceptual ideas that emerge, but also influence what inquiry activities or practices become established as normative and productive over time. Our work with Mrs. Charles illuminates an important methodological concern with research on teacher development as well as the construct of teacher learning progressions; research accounts that focus primarily on the teacher may overlook the classroom norms that are negotiated between teacher and student, and thereby provide an incomplete portrayal of the teacher's activity within one classroom and the teacher's progress across multiple years. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 49: 429–464, 2012     

当前我国高等院校特殊教育专业人才培养现状分析及其启示

教师专业化是世界教师教育的大趋势。从事特殊教育的教师,因其教育对象的复杂性,需要有更多的专业知识及专业训练技能,因此其专业发展的要求更加强烈。高校特殊教育专业学生的培养,是密切影响特殊教育教师专业发展的决定性因素。本文采用文献法,对北京师范大学等12所高校具有代表性的特殊教育专业培养方案进行文本分析。通过对我国特殊教育师资培养目标、培养方式及课程设置的研究,分析其特点,提供经验及启示,以期助推我国特殊教师教育改革及特殊教育教师的专业化发展。     

特殊教育教师职业认同现状调查研究

教师职业认同是从积极心理学角度来探讨教师对其职业的适应状态。提高教师职业认同,有利于促进教师师资队伍稳定发展。在此目的下,通过自编问卷调查了江苏、天津、广州、成都等地区特殊教育教师的职业认同水平,发现性别、教龄、任课年级、收入状况、学校类型等因素上教师职业认同水平都有一定的差异。根据研究结果提出建议：把职业认同作为教师教育的主要内容,关注教师心理健康教育,加大对特殊教育教师的支持与保障。     

Elementary teachers’ science subject matter knowledge across the teacher career cycle

Although widely touted as important, there is little evidence regarding the influence of teaching experience on elementary teachers' science subject matter knowledge (SMK). To better understand this phenomenon, we administered an assessment of science topics taught in the fifth and sixth grades to 169 preservice teachers, 231 fifth-grade teachers, and 208 sixth-grade teachers. We then compared the mean scores of teachers at different stages in the career cycle using one-way and two-way ANOVA and explored the relationship between SMK scores and years of teaching experience using regression analysis. Findings indicate that (i) being assigned to a specific grade level had an impact on teachers' SMK for topics included in the grade level, (ii) teachers' SMK scores were lower later in their careers for both science topics they had never taught and for science topics they were responsible for teaching, and (iii) results differed for fifth and sixth grades. This study adds to the existing literature through the examination of a large sample of elementary teachers, with teachers of varying years of experience, while focusing on the science topics these teachers are responsible for teaching. The results of this study provide strong evidence that (i) years of experience teaching specific science topics is associated with the development of teachers' knowledge of these topics, and (ii) teaching experience, what teachers do in the context of their everyday practice, can be an effective means of self-directed learning for teachers. There is also evidence that this influence is not uniform across years of teaching experience or science topics taught. These findings raise important implications about future research into the mechanism of SMK development through teaching experience and teacher grade-level assignments.     

特殊教育师资专业化培养的问题与对策

在教师专业化思潮的推动下,特殊教育教师专业化问题不容回避。本文在综合教师专业化一般概念和特殊教育特点的基础上,提出特殊教育教师专业化内涵:包括掌握科学系统的知识,有效解决实际问题,有充分的专业自主权、恪守职业道德四个方面。从专业化的角度审视当今我国特教师资培养的目标、模式和课程设置存在的问题,并提出相应的对策:完善培养目标,实行课程分层和分流,增强课程实用性,力求课程综合化,加强行动研究能力的培养等。     

Transitioning to the classroom: reflections of second‐career teachers during the induction year

In recent years teacher educators have witnessed an increase in the number of alternative pathways to university‐based teacher education for prospective teachers. One option is for second‐career teachers to enter post‐baccalaureate programs in education; however, the experiences of second‐career teachers are largely unexplored in the international literature. The purpose of this study was to investigate the teaching beliefs that post‐baccalaureate students brought into a graduate level teacher certification program, and the extent to which those beliefs persevered or changed during their first year of teaching. Written philosophy statements and semi‐structured interviews from the three participants were analyzed to identify emerging themes. Outcomes, presented in the form of vignettes, suggested that second‐career teachers experienced many of the same contextual pressures as baccalaureate teachers and struggled adapting to the teaching profession and implementing their stated teaching beliefs. Implications include continued research on second‐career teachers as they represent a distinct population entering the teaching profession.