Modelling the Sociocultural Contexts of Science Education: The Teachers’ Perspective

A growing body of research argues that teachers’ beliefs and practices should be studied within the sociocultural contexts of their work because the relationship between their beliefs and practices is both complex and context-dependent. There is a need for further research in this area in understudied contexts such as developing countries, in order to promote effective education in schools and the professional development of teachers. This paper argues that if this ‘black box’ of sociocultural contexts in which science teachers are embedded is better understood, it may be possible to identify specific aspects of these contexts related to educational organizations that act as either supports or barriers to pedagogical reform or to implementing innovations in science education. Consequently, the main purpose of this study is to explore the sociocultural contexts of ten Egyptian science teachers and to what extent these sociocultural contexts help in understanding teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and practices. This paper, by utilizing a multi-grounded theory approach and qualitative methods, reveals a variety of sociocultural contexts that are related to teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and practices.     

Faculty Views of Student Evaluation of College Teaching

The literature abounds with psychometric studies of course evaluation measures and articles debating the merits of student ratings of instruction, but little research has focused on faculty perceptions of this procedure. In the present study faculty perceptions are explored at a teachers' college where evaluation is carried out annually on a sample of courses. The sample includes 101 instructors who completed the research questionnaire. Faculty attitudes reflected a broad range of responses towards validity of student ratings, and their usefulness for improving instruction. Although overall attitudes were mildly positive, few instructors reported changing instruction as a result of student ratings. Moreover, few supported sending evaluation results directly to college administrators or publishing them for student consumption.     

Does Training in Alternative Assessment Matter? The Case of Prospective and Practicing Mathematics Teachers’ Attitudes Toward Alternative Assessment and Their Beliefs About the Nature of Mathematics

This study explored the training of prospective and practicing mathematics teachers in alternative assessment and its impact on their attitudes toward alternative assessment methods and their beliefs about the nature of mathematics. Data were collected from 51 prospective teachers and 50 practicing teachers who took a course on alternative assessment in mathematics. Findings indicated a significant change in the correlation between the positivist and constructivist dimensions of their beliefs about the nature of mathematics following the course. No significant differences were found between the prospective and practicing teachers’ beliefs either before or after the course nor in their attitudes toward alternative assessment after the course. Before the course, however, the two groups differed significantly in their attitudes toward alternative assessment. Findings also revealed significant changes in attitudes toward alternative assessment and beliefs about the nature of mathematics following participation in the course. These changes in attitudes and beliefs were accompanied by a shift in the nature of the assessment tasks written by the participants. Participants who demonstrated more positive attitudes and constructivist beliefs tended to write more conceptual problems and less procedural exercises. Implications for mathematics teacher training and professional development in alternative assessment are discussed.     

Large-scale diagnostic assessment: Mathematics performance in two educational systems

A diagnostic methodology for large-scale assessment was employed to compare performance on a national test in mathematics of representative samples of Jewish and Arab 8th graders in Israel in order to shed light on a previously identified large achievement gap between these 2 populations. The results revealed significant differences between the 2 groups in patterns of strengths and weaknesses with respect to content, process, and skill/item-type attributes, indicating different paths for remedial interventions.     

Gender and behavioural differences in Kuwait primary schools

Previous studies have found significant differences between the classroom behaviour of boys and girls. Most are within a single broad cultural context and little work has been done within an Arabic/Kuwaiti one. The main aim was to investigate the differences in behaviour between boys and girls in Kuwait primary schools. Data were collected that provided comparisons across questionnaires between parent and teacher returns for over 430 students. Separate teacher observations of students (n = 671) and classroom researcher observations were also obtained. Significant differences were found across the scales, indicating higher levels of externalising misbehaviour among boys than girls. A comparison with three studies conducted in other cultural contexts using the same strengths and difficulties instrument as used in this study found similarities and differences in results between the behaviour of boys and girls.     

Building peace education in the Islamic educational context

Following the events of 9/11, many misconceptions entered the policy-making platform with regard to the need for education reforms in the Muslim world. Based upon Western cultural and societal norms and increased scepticism of the role of religion in violence, these assumptions have triggered a strong wave of calls for a top-down approach to reform formal state schools in predominantly Muslim countries, These calls often meet with resistance at national and community levels. This article seeks to examine these misconceptions and investigate why educational reform efforts through top-down frameworks which are especially motivated by countering violent extremism or terrorism have had only limited success. Many major international intergovernmental organisations, non-governmental organisations and governments have invested time and effort into education measures aiming to build peace and coexistence in Muslim countries, but they have been unable to build a relationship of trust with community leaders and school authorities. The authors argue that the main reason for defiance is reformers’ failure to closely examine the cultural context of their chosen setting and work with existing tools and local institutions. Illustrating their point with a case study of an intervention carried out in informal Qur’anic schools in Niger, West Africa, the authors offer an alternative method which fosters changes from within. They argue that this model has a better chance of sustainability and could thus be used as the basis for future interventions.     

Confidence in the Knowledge Base of English Language Learners Studying Science: Using Agency to Compensate for the Lack of Adequate Linguistic Identity

Changes in the cultural and linguistic environments of learners are often associated with identity shifts. The aim of this study was to explore what identity shifts occur when science students from Bahraini national schools transition to an international university. The role of two aspects of learner identity—that is, English proficiency and science background knowledge, was examined in this study. Focus groups and semi-structured interviews were conducted with students and with university lecturers. The analysis suggested three conceptual themes of (1) reliance on science knowledge, (2) the auxiliary role of professional language and (3) adequacy of student learning strategies, demonstrating what subjective meanings the participants ascribe to the interplay between science knowledge and linguistic ability. The findings suggest that despite the lack of adequate linguistic attributes, the students are still able to successfully learn science in the context of language change. It is also implied that through strategically utilising their academic background in science, students preserve their identity as successful learners from school through to university. We conclude that agency plays a separate role in transition and is not a sole function of identity. We also contest the idea of language as a necessary attribute of one’s identity as it was perceived by our participants to be an advantage and an auxiliary tool rather than a requirement.