Teaching science in primary schools: What knowledge do teachers need?

Several reviews on science education have lamented the lack of content knowledge of primary teachers and implied that improvements in this area would lead to better teaching and learning. Subject knowledge, however is a complex issue. What knowledge is required and how much? There is knowledge of the ‘content’ and the ‘processes’ of science. An elusive but essential third component has been described as syntactic (Grossman, Wilson &; Shulman, 1989), experiential (Burnard, 1986) or personal knowledge. This paper argues that it is unrealistic to consider the implementation of pre-service primary science courses that will provide potential teachers with all the ‘knowledge’ that they will require to be an effective teacher of science. Science educators, can however, provide effective frameworks from which pre-service students can identify and develop their existing knowledge. If teachers of science have their knowledge of science set within a personal view of science the potential exists for their school science programs to be more comprehensive, dynamic, relevant and contemporary. One perspective that could provide this framework is that offered by ‘Science, Technology and Society’ (S-T-S).     

Using Lesson Study in teacher professional development for domain-based moral education

This study examined the application of Lesson Study for professional development (PD) for a domain approach to moral education. A comparison was drawn between the effects of Lesson Study with 17 teachers and 144 students representing middle schools in the same district as a prior study employing intensive traditional PD. In Lesson Study, groups of same grade teachers construct lessons taught by one group member and observed by the others. Teachers meet following the lesson to critique and improve the lesson using criteria established by teachers and informed by outside ‘experts.’ Findings from analysis of teacher discourse over nine months and end of year surveys revealed improvements in teacher pedagogy, knowledge of moral development, greater sense of professionalism, and efficacy for engagement in moral education in comparison with controls. Fewer lessons were produced, resulting in fewer gains in student moral and conventional reasoning than observed with intensive individualized PD.     

Both ways strong: using digital games to engage Aboriginal learners

Engaging Aboriginal learners in the school curriculum can be quite a challenge given issues of cultural and linguistic differences. Even more so, these differences can be expanded when the students are in their adolescence. Creating learning environments that engage learners, while providing deep learning opportunities, is one of the biggest challenges for teachers in remote communities. This paper reports on a reform initiative that centred on the use of a digital game, Guitar Heroes, in a remote Aboriginal school. It was found that the digital media provided teachers with opportunities for new learning spaces and resulted in additional unintended learning outcomes.     

Power,Conflict, and Cooperation: Toward a Micropolitics of Coaching

According to Jones, Wells, Peters, and Johnson (1993), being political is a necessary part of a coach's repertoire, because a coach's effectiveness and longevity may depend not only on a favorable win–loss record but also on an individual's ability to gain the approval of contextual power brokers (e.g., athletes, other coaches, or owners). Although only limited research has been done examining power and interpersonal relationships in coaching, there remains a paucity of work investigating the micropolitics inherent in such relationships. The aim of this article is to make the case for how the adoption of a micropolitical perspective could serve to further our understanding of the power-ridden, contested nature of sports coaching. After an introductory examination of the concept of micropolitics in the educational literature, a discussion of how such practice is beginning to emerge in recent ethnographic coaching research is presented. The literature addressing the micropolitical nature of teachers' interactions and relationships with other pedagogical stakeholders is then explored in terms of providing future avenues of critical investigation into the social complexity of coaching. Finally, a concluding section summarizes the main points and highlights their implications for future work.     

Integrating extra credit exercises into a university English-language course: how action research provided a framework to identify a practical problem

This article describes an action research (AR) study with multiple cycles undertaken with undergraduates over three years. The university is a trilingual institution in Italy where degree programmes are taught in Italian, German and English. The study’s aim was to improve the syllabus of an advanced English for Specific Purposes course using a blended approach: it would be more learner-centred, but it would also provide more speaking practice during class. This would thus combine elements from process and product approaches to syllabus design. However, students had to attend class to benefit from the speaking skills practice planned, which was not automatic, as the university does not require compulsory attendance. Although optional attendance was a given, its impact on the syllabus was not fully considered and led to an AR cycle that failed to implement the proposed syllabus. However, an advantage of using multiple cycles was that this unexpected problem was identified and addressed in a subsequent cycle when action was taken: the introduction of extra credit exercises (ECE) to motivate students to attend class. The use of ECEs had a startling effect on attendance levels and a positive impact on the study’s central focus, the blended syllabus.     

What do coaches orchestrate? Unravelling the ‘quiddity’ of practice

The general purpose of this article is threefold. Firstly, it is to further the notion of coaching as orchestration through developing insight into precisely how and what coaches orchestrate. Secondly, it is to firmly position coaching as a relational practice, whilst thirdly it is to better define coaching’s complex nature and how it can be somewhat ordered. Following an introduction where the purpose and value of the article are outlined, we present the reflective method of critical companionship through which we explored and addressed the aforementioned purposes. The case for the quiddity, or the ‘just whatness’ (i.e. the inherent nature or essence) of coaching as involving complex, relational acts which can be somewhat explained through recourse to the developing theory of orchestration is subsequently made. In doing so, two precise examples of how we as coaches orchestrate sporting practice are presented. The article concludes with both a summary of the principal argument(s) made, and some reflective considerations for future directions.