What is ‘Agency’? Perspectives in Science Education Research

The contemporary interest in researching student agency in science education reflects concerns about the relevance of schooling and a shift in science education towards understanding learning in science as a complex social activity. The purpose of this article is to identify problems confronting the science education community in the development of this new research agenda and to argue that there is a need for research in science education that attends to agency as a social practice. Despite increasing interest in student agency in educational research, the term ‘agency’ has lacked explicit operationalisation and, across the varied approaches, such as critical ethnography, ethnographies of communication, discourse analysis and symbolic interactionism, there has been a lack of coherence in its research usage. There has also been argument concerning the validity of the use of the term ‘agency’ in science education research. This article attempts to structure the variety of definitions of ‘student agency’ in science education research, identifies problems in the research related to assigning intentionality to research participants and argues that agency is a kind of discursive practice. The article also draws attention to the need for researchers to be explicit in the assumptions they rely upon in their interpretations of social worlds. Drawing upon the discursive turn in the social sciences, a definition of agency is provided, that accommodates the discursive practices of both individuals and the various functional social groups from whose activities classroom practice is constituted. The article contributes to building a focused research agenda concerned with understanding and promoting student agency in science.     

Extract from new understandings of teachers' pedagogic knowledge 1

Abstract

The focus of this article is a comparative review of the science curriculum for England and Wales from the perspective of recent developments in the United States of America, Australia, New Zealand and the Canadian province of Ontario. In the comparison of science curriculum documents and the language deployed, questions are raised about differences as well as commonalities among and between documents from various jurisdictions. Issues discussed include: the varying emphases upon science topics and/or intended learning outcomes; integration with other curriculum areas; the content and organization of the science curriculum; and ways of assessing students’ performances and understandings. The article draws attention to the importance of comparative analysis which informs our understanding of the effects of curriculum change, its relation to students’ achievements in science, and the need to support the development of teachers.     

Of sheep's pluck and science exhibitions: the professional life of Mother Bernard Towers RSM (1883–1963)

An examination of the professional lives of women science teachers presents an opportunity to consider ways in which women became ‘knowledge purveyors’ and to reflect on the extent to which they challenged contemporary boundaries about what science women should know. An analysis of the life of a woman science teacher who was also a ‘professed’ religious illuminates the complexity of a professional life shaped by an overlay of vocation and employment. Mother Bernard Towers's teaching life extended over the greater part of the twentieth century. As a science teacher she was influenced by changing understandings of the gendered science curriculum and the cultural and religious environment in which she lived. At the same time she challenged contemporary constraints on the teaching of science to girls, helped her pupils gain access to high‐status ‘hard’ science options and expanded the kinds of science that they could expect to know.     

Eliciting pupil perspectives in primary mathematics: possibilities and issues

This article considers various approaches to consulting primary pupils about mathematics. This is done first through a literature review and second by drawing on our experience of designing and piloting pupil consultation in collaboration with staff in one primary school. Our concern is with the utility and drawbacks of the methods used rather than with substantive issues. We conclude that useful information can be gained from both the planning process and outcomes, but caution must be exercised in interpreting pupil responses. Social processes are involved and the possibility of social desirability effects must be acknowledged. Finally, we indicate the usefulness of using different approaches together.     

Primary School Teachers' Understanding of Environmental Issues: An interview study

In the light of an increased emphasis on environmental education in revisions of the National Curriculum to be introduced in September 2000, this study used in-depth interviews to explore the understanding of a non-random sample of 12 practising primary school teachers in four areas: biodiversity, the carbon cycle, ozone and global warming. A methodological innovation in this research was the prior identification of basic scientific explanations of each area for a primary teachers, and the use of these as benchmarks for judging understanding. The study was able to identify those underpinning science concepts which were well understood, and those which were not so well understood. Some missing concepts and misconceptions are also reported. Although the findings cannot be generalised to all primary teachers, the fairly strong science backgrounds of eight teachers in the sample suggest that some of the difficulties reported may be found more widely. It is suggested that both the basic explanations and the difficulties of understanding displayed by the teachers can usefully inform programmes of professional development for environmental education. An outline of a guide for teacher education adopting this approach is provided.     

Planning a competence-based curriculum: the case of four secondary schools in England

Despite the belief that schools tend to be resistant to change, it is possible to find secondary schools in the UK which are investing in the design of an innovative curriculum for their Year 7 (11-year-old students). This article focuses on four of these schools and discusses some of the challenges they face in planning and implementing their competence-based curricula (CBC). Such curricula tend to be based on the rationale that they better prepare all students for the constant changes of human knowledge and understanding. They develop transferable skills rather than subject-specific content, which are considered necessary requirements for learners as future productive members of society in the twenty-first century. Advocates of CBC argue that such curricula are more inclusive and emancipatory than traditional curricula, although this view is contested. Employing Bernstein's concepts of framing and classification of the curriculum, this article describes the challenges and constraints encountered by four schools which have endeavoured to develop a competence-based curriculum.     

Institutional financial assessment: Methodology and meaning

This paper responds to the fourth annual report by W. John Minter and Howard R. Bowen on Independent Higher EducationFinancial and Educational Trends in Independent Higher Education, 1978. Primary thesis: established financial reporting does not tend to do justice to a sound assessment of the financial condition of colleges and universities. Because the latter belong to the service economy, we must know more than we do about changes in quality. Such studies also must say how well institutional objectives are being achieved. College presidents and deans have tended to provide researchers with overly optimistic information. When they later see that Bowen and Minter report this very fact, they complain that their conclusions are not gloomy enough. Such double standards damage realistic program assessment efforts. The blame falls on the respondents and not on the authors. Neither can the authors be blamed for shortcomings in financial accounting ignoring the total cost of institutional activity. If accounting practice were based on a total cost concept the news about higher education finance would more nearly reflect what we all know is true: colleges and universities are worse off than the statistics say.Presented at the Annual Forum of the Association for Institutional Research, Houston, Texas, May 1978.     

A PERSONAL CONSTRUCT APPROACH TO EVALUATING TEACHING PRACTICE

During 1976, one of us decided to investigate the use of Kelly's personal construct theory and the triadic form of his repertory grid in enhancing understanding between a supervisor and a student‐teacher, when evaluating that student's teaching. An account of the procedure is given. In discussion, the student and supervisor agreed that the procedure, although long and demanding, led to a greater understanding of their own and each other's perspectives of the lesson evaluated. But it was admitted that the particular procedure employed and the use of the triadic form of the repertory grid are both time consuming and tiring. A rating form of the repertory grid in a simpler procedure was then explored in a similar teaching situation. An account of this second approach is also given. It was agreed that this approach was much simpler than in the original investigation and both student and supervisor (who were common to both investigations) found that it led to a greater understanding of their own and each other's perspectives. The authors therefore suggest that a rating form of the repertory grid (and the accompanying theory) can be used to enhance understanding between student‐teachers and their supervisors. They also propose that this would be a useful procedure in other educational contexts when an evaluation takes place.