Literacy learning in secondary school science classrooms: A cross‐case analysis of three qualitative studies

Abstract

The purpose of this cross‐case analysis is to illustrate how and why literacy was incorporated into science teaching and learning in three secondary classrooms. Research questions guiding the analysis include: (a) How were literacy events shaped by the teachers' philosophies about teaching science content and teaching students? and (b) How was literacy (reading, writing, and oral language) structured by the teachers and manifested in science lessons? The methodology of ethnography and the theoretical framework of symbolic interactionism were employed in the three studies on which the cross‐case analysis was based. The researchers assumed the role of participant observers, collecting data over the period of 1 year in each of the three classrooms. Data, in the form of fieldnotes, interviews, and artifacts, were collected. In each study, data were analyzed using the constant comparative method (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) to determine patterns in the teachers' beliefs about learning and how these influenced their choice of literacy activities. The cross‐case analysis was conducted to determine patterns across the three teachers and their classrooms. The findings from this analysis are used to compare how the teachers' philosophies of teaching science and their beliefs about how students learn influenced their use of literacy practices during lessons. Specifically, each teacher's use of literacy activities varied based on his or her beliefs about teaching science concepts. Furthermore, reading, writing, and oral language were important vehicles to learning science concepts within daily classroom activities in the three classrooms.

Evolution of the conceptions of a secondary education biology teacher: Longitudinal analysis using cognitive maps

“…With respect to the relationship between conceptions on the nature of science and conceptions on teaching and learning, for Brickhouse (1990), a teacher's conception of how scientific knowledge is constructed is consistent with his or her beliefs about how students learn science. Other work, however, has found discrepancies between the two (Carvajal & Gómez, 2002;Powell, 1994), and there is a greater consistency in experienced teachers than in novice or prospective teachers (Brickhouse, 1990;Dillon, O'Brien, Moje, & Stewart, 1994;Mellado, 1996;Tobin & Espinet, 1989).…”

La argumentación y la reflexión en los procesos de mejora de los profesores universitarios colombianos de ciencia en activo. Aplicación de estrategias formativas sobre ciencia, aprendizaje y enseñanza

“…Los escasos trabajos encontrados centran su atención en las relaciones entre las creencias del profesorado sobre la enseñanza y aprendizaje de las ciencias con su conducta en el aula al enseñar ciencias (Dillon, O'Brien, Moje, & Stewart, 1994;Lorsbach, Tobin, Briscoe, & LaMaster, 1992); en ellos, se encuentran evidentes contradicciones entre creencias explícitas y comportamiento. Este parece más bien matizado por el conjunto de valores, sentimientos, pensamientos y acciones formadas durante sus experiencias como estudiantes (Huibretse, Korthagen & Wubbels, 1994).…”

Lifetime Influences on the Literacy-Related Instructional Beliefs of Experienced High School History Teachers: Two Comparative Case Studies

“…Examples include Dillon et al (1994), Moje (1994), and Stewart (1989/90), all of whom studied high school science teachers and found that uses of literacy were connected to the teachers' instructional philosophies. In an earlier study, Hinchman (1985) compared a middle school social studies teacher, a high school science teacher, and a high school English teacher.…”

“…Reasons for this resistance remain unclear, however. Teachers' "local knowledge" of constraints and opportunities within the school setting is often unknown to those outside the school culture (O'Brien, 1988), and research has only begun to provide insights into beliefs secondary teachers hold about teaching and learning, how these beliefs develop over time, and how they affect classroom uses of literacy (Alvermann & Moore, 1991;Dillon, O'Brien, Moje, & Stewart, 1994). In essence, although understanding instruction from the teachers' perspective would seem necessary to the success of any educational reform effort (Moje, 1993), this perspective often has been ignored by researchers.…”