Case‐based pedagogy as a context for collaborative inquiry in the Philippines

The purpose of this study was to investigate the potential for using case‐based pedagogy as a context for collaborative inquiry into the teaching and learning of elementary science. The context for this study was the elementary science teacher preparation program at West Visayas State University on the the island of Panay in Iloilo City, the Philippines. In this context, triple linguistic conventions involving the interactions of the local Ilonggo dialect, the national language of Philipino (predominantly Tagalog) and English create unique challenges for science teachers. Participants in the study included six elementary student teachers, their respective critic teachers and a research team composed of four Filipino and two U.S. science teacher educators. Two teacher‐generated case narratives serve as the centerpiece for deliberation, around which we highlight key tensions that reflect both the struggles and positive aspects of teacher learning that took place. Theoretical perspectives drawn from assumptions underlying the use of case‐based pedagogy and scholarship surrounding the community metaphor as a referent for science education curriculum inquiry influenced our understanding of tensions at the intersection of re‐presentation of science, authority of knowledge, and professional practice, at the intersection of not shared language, explicit moral codes, and indigenization, and at the intersection of identity and dilemmas in science teaching. Implications of this study are discussed with respect to the building of science teacher learning communities in both local and global contexts of reform. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 502–528, 2001     

Using Case-Based Pedagogy in the Philippines: A Narrative Inquiry

This study features use of case-based pedagogy as a context for exploring science teacher education reform. A central premise of the study is that science teacher education reform is a complex process characterised by the individual and collective narrative histories of teachers. The study was conducted at West Visayas State University in the Philippines as a collaborative research endeavour involving two US and four Filipino science teacher educators. The centrepiece of this study was a case experience prompted by reflection on prospective and practicing elementary teachers' written cases. Results of the study are presented here as a layered narrative. An initial layer explores how a case, written by a prospective teacher, was interwoven with her past and future life history. A second layer looks at sociocultural and professional tensions that mediated the participants' case experience. A third layer represents how the case experience provided a community that supported critical reflection among the research team members. Implications from the study emphasise that case-based pedagogy can serve as a basis for critical reflection to inform community-based approaches to science teacher education pedagogical and research reform.