Constraints on Development and Change to Science Teachers' Practice in Egyptian Classrooms

This paper addresses the general question of why teachers teach in the way they do. Data collected from Egyptian science teachers both in the UK during an in-service course and on their return to Egypt are reported. The teachers' evaluation of which in-service experiences they thought of most use is contrasted with the changes they were able to bring about in their own teaching on return to Egypt. Follow-up interviews and classroom observations in Egypt showed the teachers to be frustrated in introducing even limited changes to their practice. This paper proposes that Schön's notion of the reflective practitioner may not be suitable for modelling a mechanism of change in classroom practice for all teachers. Teachers in developing countries, with educational systems that Beeby characterises as mechanical or untrained, are more constrained than the notion of the reflective practitioner allows.     

Spanish Secondary-School Science Teachers’ Beliefs About Science-Technology-Society (STS) Issues

This study analyzes the beliefs about science-technology-society, and other Nature of Science (NOS) themes, of a large sample (613) of Spanish pre- and in-service secondary education teachers through their responses to 30 items of the Questionnaire of Opinions on Science, Technology and Society. The data were processed by means of a multiple response model to generate the belief indices used as the bases for subsequent quantitative and qualitative analyses. Other studies have reported a negative profile of teachers’ understanding in this area, but the diagnosis emerging from the present work is more complex. There was a mix of appropriate beliefs coexisting with others that are inappropriate on the topics analyzed. The overall assessment, however, is negative since clearly teachers need to have a better understanding of these questions. There were scant differences between the pre- and in-service teachers, and hence no decisive evidence that the practice of teaching contributes to improving the in-service teachers’ understanding. These results suggest there is an urgent need to bring the initial and continuing education of science teachers up to date to improve their understanding of these topics of science curricula, and thus improve the teaching of science.     

Language teachers’ conceptions of assessment: an Egyptian perspective

The current study investigates the assessment conceptions of both pre-service and in-service English teachers within a high-stakes, test-driven context in Egypt. For this purpose, 170 Egyptian pre-service and in-service teachers completed an assessment conceptions questionnaire. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis were employed to answer the research questions. The results of the study showed in-service teachers preferring a combination of formative and summative assessment practices while pre-service teachers favored a relatively summative paradigm. With regard to functions of assessment, in-service teachers endorsed the improvement function of assessment more than the pre-service group. Both groups had negative perceptions about the effectiveness of teacher training programs. The study provides a number of implications for language teachers, teacher educators, and policy-makers.     

中小学学科教师心理健康教育能力的培养

我国教师教育重视中小学心理健康教育专兼职教师心理健康教育能力的培养,而忽视了中小学学科教师心理健康教育能力的培养.在中小学学科教师心理健康教育能力培养上,我国教师教育存在思想认识上的不足、职前培养与职后培训上的分离、理论学习与实践上的脱离等问题.针对这些问题,可以采取以下措施:提高思想认识,增强中小学学科教师心理健康教育能力培养意识;职前培养与职后培训一体化,实现中小学学科教师心理健康教育能力全程培养;理论知识学习与实践活动训练相结合,提高完善中小学学科教师心理健康教育能力等对策,将中小学学科教师心理健康教育能力的培养工作落到实处.     

Situated Learning,the Secondary-Education Preservice/In-service Teacher,and the Taming of the Literacy Education Shrew

Abstract

Nine preservice and in-service teacher participants from four different content areas experienced shifts in their personal perspectives regarding integration of literacy in their subject-area instruction after completing a content-area literacy course. The course was positioned as professional development and used situated learning to provide extensive time for modeling, guided practice, discussion, and constructive feedback. Due to the course set-up and strategies thoroughly practiced, all teachers demonstrated a significant increase in knowledge of literacy strategies and how to incorporate them within their classrooms. Additionally, hands-on instruction and situated participation in a community of practice promoted all teachers’ desire to learn and eventual demonstration of learning.     

Consequences of personal teaching metaphors for teacher identity and practice

Past research has clearly indicated that teachers’ metaphors can serve as a framework that moves our understanding of teaching forward by making more explicit the intuitive knowledge teachers hold about themselves, their classrooms, and their practice. Making explicit how metaphors uncover the understandings that guide the practices of in-service teachers, individually and collectively, can provide insight into the assumptions they hold about teaching and teaching practice. The purpose of this study was to explore how in-service teachers’ self-constructed metaphors revealed their perceptions of their roles, obligations, and assumptions about teaching and learning, and consider the implications of such exploration for teacher education and development. The four experienced teachers who participated in this study constructed personal teaching metaphors for which they provided an explanation. Analysis of the metaphors using positioning theory provided evidence that teaching metaphors capture the individual identity and specify the plotlines of teaching and the obligations, duties, and responsibilities of the teacher as well as the role of the teacher and others in the teacher’s practice. We found that each metaphor brought elements of identity and teaching practice together in unique and divergent ways. A subsequent cross-case analysis revealed common discourses of teaching: responsibility, nurturing, and caring, and teacher and student learning. Both the individual and cross-case analysis suggest the potential value of metaphor work for informing teacher education and professional development to advise teachers, teacher educators, school leaders, and policy makers.     

Attributional patterns towards students with and without learning disabilities: a comparison of pre- and in-service teachers in China

This study aims to investigate the differences of attributional responses to students with and without learning disabilities (LD) between pre- and in-service teachers in mainland China. A total of 204 teachers (101 pre-service and 103 in-service teachers) were surveyed using vignettes and Likert scale questions to ascertain their responses to students with and without LD. Drawing from Weiner’s attributional theory, teachers’ feedback, frustration, sympathy and expectation were measured. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) was executed to compare pre-service and in-service teacher responses regarding students with and without LD. The findings showed that pre-service teachers experienced significantly lower frustration than in-service teachers to students with and without LD. Moreover, the teachers gave more positive feedback but felt less sympathy to students with LD who exerted high effort. These findings implied that pre-service tended to foster a more positive attribution style. Implications and recommendations for research and practice are also presented.     

Korean EFL teachers’ perceptions of the impact of EFL teacher education upon their classroom teaching practices

This study employed qualitative data collection and analysis methods to investigate the influence of English as a foreign language teacher education programme on Korean teachers’ classroom teaching practices. Six in-service secondary-school teachers participated in semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was applied to the data collected from these interviews. Findings from the analysis included that: a) most of the teachers were dissatisfied with the largely theory-oriented pre-service teacher education programmes that they attended; b) a major source of influence on their teaching was their experience of in-service teacher training programmes with practical curricula; c) observation of other fellow teachers’ teaching had the strongest impact upon the teachers’ teaching practices; and d) the teachers’ low English proficiency and the washback effect of the Korea Scholastic Aptitude Test hindered the maintenance of the changes brought about by in-service teacher education programmes. This study ends with a discussion of the implications of these findings.     

The effect of high-stakes examination systems on teacher beliefs: Egyptian teachers’ conceptions of assessment

Egypt is currently attempting to introduce a greater formative use of assessment while maintaining a public examination system. This study investigates teacher beliefs about the purposes of assessment in Egypt, using the Teachers’ Conceptions of Assessment (TCoA) inventory. The TCoA inventory elicits responses about four main factors: Improvement, School Accountability, Student Accountability and Irrelevance. A large sample of (n?=?507) Egyptian pre-service and in-service teachers completed an Arabic version of the TCoA inventory. Confirmatory factor analysis was used to test the Egyptian teachers’ responses against the pre-existing New Zealand model, which was found to be inadmissible. Consequently, an ecologically rational three-factor model was found. The model yielded a strong positive relationship between Improvement and Student Accountability, consistent with previous studies. It is argued that greater changes to the examination system are required if teacher beliefs are expected to be more positive about the priority of formative, improvement-oriented uses of assessment.     

Inside and outside the integrated bilingual Palestinian-Jewish schools in Israel: Teachers’ perceptions of personal, professional and political positioning

The purpose of this study was to investigate how teachers of the integrated bilingual Palestinian-Jewish schools in Israel construct their school culture in relation to various outside pressures in their attempt to achieve educational change. Field notes from an in-service training workshop were analyzed according to three levels of the teaching context: the personal, professional and political. It was found that the teachers perceive themselves as primarily pedagogical experts with a shared vision based on multiculturalism and coexistence. According to the findings, recommendations are made for improving the positioning of the teachers in relation to pupils, parents and policy-makers.     

Provision of in-service training of mathematics and science teachers in Botswana: teachers’ perspectives

Teaching is a field that is dynamic, with innovations necessitating upgrading of skills and education of teachers for the successful implementation of reforms. The behaviour and attitudes of teachers towards teaching and learning and their knowledge banks are the result of the impact of in-service training. This study investigated the perceptions of mathematics and science teachers in Botswana towards in-service provision by the Department of Mathematics and Science Education In-service Training unit (DMSE-INSET), whose mandate is to improve the quality of teaching by supporting teachers through training programmes that enable them to take ownership of their professional development. Data were collected from a sample of 42 senior Mathematics and Science secondary school teachers, using structured interviews with open-ended questions, which were analyzed qualitatively. The findings show that teachers’ concerns included the lack of impact of current in-service training programmes on the education system, no regular follow-up activities to support the one-off workshops and insufficient skills acquired to sustain the implementation of the strategies solicited by the workshops.     

Computer-Assisted Learning and In-Service Teacher Training

Beginning in the spring of 1983, a series of in-service courses in computer-assisted learning (CAL) for post-primary schoolteachers was organized under the auspices of the Microelectronics Education Programme (Northern Ireland Region). The courses were presented on a workshop basis and provided the teachers with the opportunity to consider the use of CAL in their teaching. The teachers attending the courses were invited to complete questionnaires which were designed to assess (a) the current level of CAL practice in schools and (b) the effectiveness of the various types of support, including in-service training, available for teachers interested in developing CAL practice in their teaching. This paper reports on the findings arising from the questionnaires.     

Foucault,Confucius and the in-service learning of experienced teachers in an era of managerialism

By drawing on Foucault’s theory of subjectification, this study presents a case study of two experienced teachers’ in-service learning in the managerialist climate of Macau. The results indicate that the prevailing policies and administrative strategies on in-service learning served as the apparatus of managerialism working on teachers and constituting their subject as entrepreneurs. At the same time, however, experienced teachers were able to rely on the time-honoured Confucian philosophy to negotiate their learning experience with the dominating managerialism. Their in-service learning took place in and through their relationship with others and this learning, in turn, facilitated the creation and sustainability of the social harmony of the relationship. In-service learning therefore is essentially a lifelong ethical project that aims to cultivate their potential to become a Confucian sage, rather than an entrepreneur.     

Teacher efficacy: A comparative study of Hong Kong and Shanghai Primary in-service teachers

Teachers beliefs about their ability to affect students’ performance is an important part of professionalism. This study compared 725 Hong Kong and 575 Shanghai primary in-service teachers on their teacher efficacy. Two Chinese versions of the 12-item Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale were used in this study since some wordings of the Hong Kong version of the Scale (HK-TSE) were different from the Shanghai version (STSE) as a result of cultural differences. Basically, the Shanghai teachers reported significantly higher efficacy than did the Hong Kong teachers. After reviewing these quantitative results, 86 follow-up questionnaires from Shanghai in-service teachers who also participated in the first part of this study were collected. Results of this qualitative part showed that the three most commonly cited factors for the contribution of teacher efficacy were: respect and confidence placed in them by students and parents, the training they received from universities and the experience they gained from daily teaching practice. Though Hong Kong in-service teachers had lower efficacy scores than the Shanghai counterparts.     

The importance of orientation: implications of professional identity on classroom practice and for professional learning

Previous work on new teacher professional identity has focused on identity as a process of negotiation between individual and contextual factors. These negotiations are often filled with a struggle between personal agency and structures that prevent the enactment of an ideal professional self. This study introduces and discusses three teacher professional identity orientations (self, classroom, and dialogic) and the implications of each orientation on a teacher’s professional identity and classroom practice. While each focal teacher featured in the study drew from similar sources of professional identity (experiences as students, classroom practical experience, and theory/research), the teachers varied in the degree of importance accorded to each identity source. This variation led to differences in approach to their roles as teachers as well as differences in their work with students. Using a qualitative, comparative case study methodology to highlight features of each professional identity orientation, this study provides evidence of discourse related to each orientation and discusses implications of identity orientation in each case study teacher’s classroom practice. After the discussion and analysis of the data, the author offers recommendations for teacher educators (pre-service and in-service) and researchers related to understandings of professional identity development and implications for the work of pre-service teacher education and continuing professional development.     

The development of an alternative in-service programme for Korean science teachers with an emphasis on science-technology-society

This study looks at the effects of a science-technology-society (STS) in-service programme, designed to change teachers' awareness and practice of STS/constructivist approaches, while also focusing on students' understandings and changes of perceptions of the constructivist learning environments. The STS in-service programme was developed to achieve the following features: teacher-oriented, teaching in a social context, emphasis on a 'constructivist' approach, developing STS units and their use in classrooms. A total of 20 middle and high school science teachers participated in the in-service programme in 1998; and three of the middle school teachers were selected to gain information from their implementation of a Reactions of Acids and Bases unit in their respective classrooms. The Science Education Reform Inventory was administered to all the teachers at both the opening and the end of the programme. One hundred twenty-five students of the three teachers experienced about 16 class hours of lessons comprising the new STS unit. At the beginning and the end of the unit, they completed the Constructivist Learning Environment Survey. In order to assess student understanding, teachers administered the creativity test before and after the unit; and the concept acquisition test and the application test after the unit. Students obtained at average 48% of the 35 key concepts and 6.6 additional non-key concepts after the unit was finished. Students made more relevant and creative responses on unfamiliar situations on the post-test than on the pre-test. Through several tasks including a short essay, students showed their abilities to apply various concepts related to acids and bases to daily life situation. It was found that the STS programme improved the teachers' awareness and practices of the science education reforms characterized by STS and constructivism. The middle school science teachers could develop STS units which they implemented in their own classrooms. They could work together in developing units and reflecting on their teachings through video recordings of science classes. They were willing to assess various aspects of learning such as creativity, application and concept acquisition. Students perceived that the classroom environments improved in terms of personal relevance of contents, scientific uncertainty and student participation. The results showed that the STS in-service programme was effective and could be implemented successfully with Korean science teachers.     

Physics teachers: a holistic plan for professional education during both the pedagogical stage and the probation year

Despite the Bologna agreement implementation in 2008, teachers' education in Portugal has not changed significantly from earlier practice. The major modification in the requirements of master’s level teacher education programmes was the introduction of a strong component of educational research in a master’s degree; this is designed to replace an educational monograph in the typical 5-year ‘Licenciatura’. Both a professional one-year in-school pedagogical stage and a fifth year as a university student continue to be mandatory, as well as the stage co-supervision of the university and the school. However, existing government regulations imply that in the very near future the full professional education of teachers will have to be complemented with an in-service probation year conducted under the supervision of a school mentor. The current study has been designed to try to determine: (a) how the activities of the probation year should be organised in order to improve this stage of professional education; and (b) how probation years could be used to promote school–university partnerships that could provide for more effective in-service teacher education and/or possible shared educational action research. Drawing on the survey data from pre-service students from four different universities, novice teachers, stage supervisors and school principals, information was collected on the perceptions of the quality and scope of the professional education of future teachers from the beginning of their programmes through their pedagogical stage. A high degree of agreement among all the respondents enables us to point towards the perceived high quality of several components of the teacher education programmes, e.g, teachers’ ability to plan a lesson using different teaching strategies and the high value-accorded school–university collaborations. The results also show the weaknesses of other components, e.g, teachers’ skill with controlling badly behaved students and their ability to capture students’ attention and motivation. Based on these results and on our knowledge about the type of professional support needed to promote teaching practice, we conclude with a holistic plan designed for teachers’ professional education during the pre-service pedagogical stage and the in-service probation year.     

Understanding the use of online role-play for collaborative argument through teacher experiencing: a case study

As computers and the Internet are increasingly employed in language teaching and learning, preparing teachers for the impending reality of online teaching is of paramount importance. This study investigated 10 in-service teachers participating in an online role-play as part of a digital education methods course to acquire an understanding of the use of online role-play for collaborative argument. The role-play lasted for 3 weeks and underwent three stages: preparation, implementation and reflection. Analyses of data gathered from the questionnaire survey, the class website for role-play, the blogs and the interviews indicate that online role-play was an appropriate way for teaching collaborative argument given that the topics were well-chosen and well-prepared, and that asynchronous role-play was more helpful than the synchronous role-play given the challenge of tracking the development of ideas. Benefits and problems of online role-play through synchronous chat were analysed and solutions were discussed. The research provides a new perspective on how teachers can be educated to integrate technology into their language instruction through their own experience of learning.