Primary Teachers' thinking about the English National Curriculum for science: Autobiographies, warrants, and autonomy

Lunn, Stephen; Solomon, Joan

doi:10.1002/1098-2736(200012)37:10<1043::aid-tea2>3.3.co;2-j

Cited by 6 publications

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“…As Katie's interactive knowledge bases grew, her teaching of science improved. Her knowledge of herself as a teacher became established as part of the way she thought about her planning, the purposes of science teaching, and the adaptation of curriculum resources (Lunn & Solomon, 2000). Hellden's (2003) study showed that science ideas are formed early in life, persist rather than be replaced, and are important in later conceptual development.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growing the tree of teacher knowledge: Ten years of learning to teach elementary science

Mulholland

Wallace

2005

J. Res. Sci. Teach.

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Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is a much debated and studied construct. In this article, we adopt an all-embracing view of PCK to examine the development of one elementary science teacher's knowledge over a 10-year period. We portray this teacher's knowledge at three critical points in her career-as a student teacher, beginning teacher, and established teacher-and represent and analyze the growth of her science PCK using the metaphor of a knowledge tree. The tree metaphor shows that while science knowledge begins as the major branch of science PCK, it is soon overshadowed by the general teaching and interactive knowledge branches of science PCK; however, taken together, all three branches contribute over time to the formation of a healthy, established tree of science PCK. ß

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Growing the tree of teacher knowledge: Ten years of learning to teach elementary science

Mulholland

Wallace

2005

J. Res. Sci. Teach.

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“…In a study of primary (elementary) teachers in the United Kingdom, Lunn and Solomon (2000) found that it was important for teachers to take ownership of curriculum making, as did Lisa, and to incorporate that into their personal identities as teachers. Teaching is less effective when subject matter and instructional practices are detached from the personal and professional identities of teachers.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Being your own role model for improving self‐efficacy: An elementary teacher self‐actualizes through drama‐based science teaching

Bencze

Upton²

2006

Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Educati

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Many teachers in elementary schools lack school science self-efficacy, largely because of their inexperience with the subject. This frequently leads them to avoid teaching science or to teach it in ways that compromise the development of aspects of students' scientific literacy. This paper describes how one teacher was able to improve her school science self-efficacy through facilitated action research. In response to becoming aware of a discrepancy between her school science practices and her fundamental educational beliefs, Lisa developed a drama-based, integrated science unit that she judged successful in helping students to achieve relevant learning goals. This experience led Lisa and her students to feel much more positive about teaching and learning in school science. Rather than learning from another, however, "Lisa, the science teacher" learnedto a great extent-from "Lisa, the drama-based educator." This finding has implications for science-phobic teachers and for facilitators of their action research.Résumé : De nombreux enseignants du primaire sont peu efficaces dans leur enseignement des sciences à l'école, en grande partie en raison de leur manque d'expérience dans cette matière. Cela les conduit fréquemment à éviter d'enseigner les sciences ou encore à enseigner les sciences de façon à compromettre le développement de certains aspects de l'alphabétisation scientifique des étudiants. Cet article décrit le cheminement d'une enseignante qui a réussi à améliorer l'efficacité de son enseignement des sciences grâce à une recherche action facilitée. Après avoir pris conscience de l'écart qui existait entre sa pratique des sciences à l'école et ses convictions profondes en matière d'éducation, cette enseignante (Lisa) a mis au point un module scientifique intégré fondé sur les jeux de rôle, méthode qu'elle jugeait en mesure d'aider les élèves à atteindre les objectifs d'apprentissage pertinents. Cette expérience a permis à l'enseignante et à ses élèves d'éprouver des sentiments beaucoup plus positifs á l'égard de l'enseignement et de l'apprentissage des sciences à l'école. Plutôt que de chercher des réponses auprès d'autres enseignants, cependant, «Lisa, l'enseignante de sciences» a appris principalement de «Lisa, l'éducatrice créative». Un tel résultat peut avoir des répercussions sur les enseignants chez qui on constate une sorte de « phobie des sciences» et sur toutes les personnes susceptibles de faciliter leurs éventuels projets de recherche action.

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“…Analysis of the pilot data suggested that individual teachers' positions could be rich and complex, and were perhaps dependent on scienti c and social context (Lunn & Solomon, 2000). The systemic nets created for each individual were combined to give a new domain mapping, containing only those conceptualisations and distinctions enunciated by teachers in interview, which formed the basis for the design of the survey instrument and interview schedules used in the main project.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

‘What We Think We Can Safely Say…’: Primary teachers’ views of the nature of science

Lunn

2002

British Educational Res J

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Since science became part of the core curriculum in England and Wales for children aged ve upwards, primary school teachers have moved from widespread dif dence to positions of some con dence and success in teaching it. In the process, their views of the nature of science and the purposes of teaching it can be expected to have developed. The importance of the teacher in relation to the quality of students' learning, and to the ideas about and orientations towards a subject that students develop, is well documented. There are good reasons to believe that teachers' views of the nature of science form part of a 'hidden curriculum' in their science teaching: thus, an understanding of them is necessary to an understanding of learners' experiences of science teaching. The research reported explored such views through both case study and survey methodologies. The case studies showed the depth and subtlety of some teachers' views of science. The survey data yielded six factors, explaining 82% of the variance in respondents' views of science, provisionally named scientism, naive empiricism, 'newage-ism', constructivism, pragmatism and scepticism. The views of science expressed by teachers in interview, and those inferred from and made explicit in their practice, were in most cases consistent with their positions on these factors. These enable interesting insights into the representations of science communicated by primary teachers in their science teaching, which could inform curriculum development in relation to the nature of science, at both primary and secondary levels.

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Primary Teachers' thinking about the English National Curriculum for science: Autobiographies, warrants, and autonomy

Cited by 6 publications

References 0 publications

Growing the tree of teacher knowledge: Ten years of learning to teach elementary science

Growing the tree of teacher knowledge: Ten years of learning to teach elementary science

Being your own role model for improving self‐efficacy: An elementary teacher self‐actualizes through drama‐based science teaching

‘What We Think We Can Safely Say…’: Primary teachers’ views of the nature of science

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