A Partnership Based Approach to Professional Learning: Pre-Service and In-Service Teachers Working Together to Teach Primary Science

Science Teacher Education Partnerships with Schools (STEPS): Partnerships in science teacher education

“…Feedback from PSTs, classroom teachers and principals indicates they value the experience because they saw the engagement of the children and clear multiple benefits for everyone involved (Kenny, 2009(Kenny, , 2010(Kenny, , 2012.…”

“…This, combined with an increasingly "crowded curriculum", dominated by literacy and numeracy concerns, driven by external testing (Kenny, 2009;Kenny & Colvill, 2008), leads many primary teachers to avoid teaching science or to adapt inappropriate teaching strategies from other disciplines to compensate for a lack of science pedagogical content knowledge (Appleton, 2003). In addition, as universities have had little control over what PSTs teach while on practicum, PSTs report they have few opportunities to teach science or observe it being taught during their normal teaching practicum (Kenny, 2010).…”

“…While some research had been done of individual programs included in the Project (Kenny, 2009(Kenny, , 2010(Kenny, , 2012Jones, 2008), STEPS aimed to examine the five programs to identify key factors involved in the partnership approaches and to draw out any general principles for success. A meta-analysis of the methodologies, informing theories, and principles associated with each approach will enable comparison of the nature and benefits of each and identify the critical success factors.…”

Putting Partnership at the Centre of Teachers' Professional Learning in Rural and Regional Contexts: Evidence from Case Study Projects in Tasmania

“…Evaluation of this project (Kenny, 2009) showed a shift in the relationship between the in-service teacher and the pre-service teacher from that which is typical in a practicum situation. The relationship moved from one of supervision to one of mutual learning where there was a mutual valuing of the other, as each was able to contribute to the whole learning Australian Journal of Teacher Education Vol 36, 12, December 2011 8 experience.…”

“…The project gave the pre-service teachers time to come to know not just their "partners" but also some of the school and class contexts that they came to share. "The reflective framework thinking tools" provided by the university science educator to guide the reflective process were important in helping pre-service teachers mediate their experiences and enhance the learning that emanated from them (Kenny, 2009). This process highlights the power that such tools have in breaking down habitual patterns of teaching behaviours and encouraging the development of new ones.…”