Preservice teachers’ memories of their secondary science education experiences

Understanding preservice teachers’ memories of their education may aid towards articulating high-impact teaching practices. This study describes 246 preservice teachers’ perceptions of their secondary science education experiences through a questionnaire and 28-item survey. ANOVA was statistically significant about participants’ memories of science with 15 of the 28 survey items. Descriptive statistics through SPSS further showed that a teacher’s enthusiastic nature (87%) and positive attitude towards science (87%) were regarded as highly memorable. In addition, explaining abstract concepts well (79%), and guiding the students’ conceptual development with practical science activities (73%) may be considered as memorable secondary science teaching strategies. Implementing science lessons with one or more of these memorable science teaching practices may “make a difference” towards influencing high school students’ positive long-term memories about science and their science education. Further research in other key learning areas may provide a clearer picture of high-impact teaching and a way to enhance pedagogical practices.

Transforming educational practice : teachers' perceptions of embedding academic litaracy support within a B.Ed twinning program

An academic literacies approach frames students as active participants in their own learning as they develop their voice and identity. This paper describes teachers’ perceptions of developing and delivering an academic literacies program to TESOL pre-service teachers in a B.Ed twinning program. Data indicates that an academic literacies program is a dynamic process that is ever evolving in order to meet students’ needs. A cornerstone of the program was the continual and open communication between teachers to ensure that students’ needs were met. Additionally, a collaborative approach between twinning partners needs to occur in order for the benefits of the academic literacies program to continue for students.

Who wants to work in childcare? Pre-service early childhood teachers' consideration of work in the child care sector

Australia is currently witnessing considerable change in conceptualisation of the role of child care. This is a response to the strong evidence from developmental science that demonstrates the lifelong impact of early experiences. The recent commitment made by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) (Communiqué, December 2009a) to improved qualifications and quality of those working in child care is a manifestation of this shift and highlights the importance of the childcare workforce. This study focused on the considerations of a third year cohort of B.Ed (EC) pre-service teachers (n = 55), about entering the childcare workforce. It examines their willingness to work in child care and identifies barriers and incentives for so doing. Our results indicate that, although attitudes to maternal work and child care were largely positive, few would prefer to work in child care under the current conditions. Key barriers were the pay and work conditions, particularly as they compare to other forms of potential employment. Incentives were the opportunity for leadership, creativity and a commitment to advocate for the rights of children. Those more willing to consider work in child care were distinguished from those less willing by altruism—foregoing personal gain to advocate for improved quality as a child’s right.

Elementary teacher’s conceptions of inquiry teaching : messages for teacher development

The advocacy for inquiry-based learning in contemporary curricula assumes the principle that students learn in their own way by drawing on direct experience fostered by the teacher. That students should be able to discover answers themselves through active engagement with new experiences was central to the thinking of eminent educators such as Pestalozzi, Dewey and Montessori. However, even after many years of research and practice, inquiry learning as a referent for teaching still struggles to find expression in the average teachers' pedagogy. This study drew on interview data from 20 elementary teachers. A phenomenographic analysis revealed three conceptions of teaching for inquiry learning in science in the elementary years of schooling: (a) The Experience- centred conception where teachers focused on providing interesting sensory experiences to students; (b) The Problem-centred conception where teachers focused on challenging students with engaging problems; and (c) The Question-centred conception where teachers focused on helping students to ask and answer their own questions. Understanding teachers' conceptions has implications for both the enactment of inquiry teaching in the classroom as well as the uptake of new teaching behaviours during professional development, with enhanced outcomes for engaging students in Science.

Moral and social development : teachers’ knowledge of learning and teaching strategies in the early years

The intention of the analysis in this paper was to determine, from interviews with eleven early years’ teachers, what knowledge guided their teaching of moral behaviour. Six of the teachers defined moral behaviour in terms of social conventions only. Children’s learning was attributed by five of the teachers to incidental/contextual issues. Nine of the teachers used discussion of issues, in various contexts, as a way of teaching about social and moral issues. The majority of the teachers (n=7) gave the source of their knowledge of pedagogy as practical as opposed to theoretically informed. There was no clear relationship between their definitions, understanding of children’s learning, pedagogy or source of knowledge. Most of the teachers were using discussion, negotiation and reflection to develop the children’s moral and social behaviour. This is probably effective; however, it suggests a strong need for teaching of moral development to be given more prominence and addressed directly in in-service courses so that teachers are clear about their intentions and the most effective ways of achieving them.

Teachers' conceptions of how to engage students through inquiry learning : foundations for STEM

The advocacy for inquiry-based learning in contemporary curricula assumes the principle that students learn in their own way by drawing on direct experience fostered by the teacher. That students should be able to discover answers themselves through active engagement with new experiences was central to the thinking of eminent educators such as Pestalozzi, Dewey and Montessori. However, even after many years of research and practice, inquiry learning as a referent for teaching still struggles to find expression in the average teachers' pedagogy. This study drew on interview data from 20 primary teachers. A phenomenographic analysis revealed three conceptions of teaching that support inquiry learning in science in the primary years of schooling: (a) The Experience-centred conception where teachers focused on providing interesting sensory experiences to students; (b) The Problem-centred conception where teachers focused on challenging students with engaging problems; and (c) The Question-centred conception where teachers focused on helping students to ask and answer their own questions. Understanding teachers' conceptions of teaching has implications for both the enactment of inquiry teaching in the classroom as well as the uptake of new teaching behaviours during professional development, with enhanced outcomes for engaging students in STEM.

Moral and social development: teachers’ knowledge of children’s learning and teaching strategies in the early years

The intention of the analysis in this paper was to determine, from interviews with 11 early years’ teachers, what informed their knowledge of children’s learning and teaching strategies regarding moral development. Overall, the analysis revealed four main categories: definitions of moral behaviour, understanding of children’s learning, pedagogy for moral learning, and the source of knowledge for moral pedagogy. Children’s learning was attributed by five of the teachers to incidental/contextual issues. Nine of the teachers reported using pedagogies that involved discussion of issues, in various contexts, as a way of teaching about social and moral issues. The majority of the teachers (n = 7) described the source of their knowledge of pedagogy as practical/observed as opposed to being theoretically informed. There was no clear relationship between teachers’ definitions, understanding of children’s learning, pedagogy or source of knowledge. These results suggests a strong need for the teaching of moral development to be given more prominence and addressed directly in in-service courses so that teachers are clear about their intentions and the most effective ways of achieving them.

Investigating pre-service teachers’ perceptions of their preparedness to teach

The experiences of transition to the teaching profession have a significant impact on a teachers’ potential length of career, feelings of professional efficacy and the quality of performance in the classroom (Gore & Thomas, 2003). While the transition to practice is characterized by much expectation and excitement, it also a time of stress and uncertainty for many beginning teachers. As such, it is important to investigate this period of transition for beginning teachers. This paper explores graduate teachers perceptions of their personal ‘preparedness to teach’. The group is graduating from one Australian university, and the data is captured at the end of their teacher preparation programs,before they take up positions in schools. These graduating pre-service teachers are from one year graduate entry programs that include individual programs of early years, middle years and senior years. The key findings indicate that this group of graduating pre-service teachers are already engaged in some level of reflective practice and are actively seeking further professional learning to improve the practical aspects of their classroom teaching.

Teachers’ perceptions of the use of an external change agent in school curriculum change

An external change agent (ECA) was recently employed in three Queensland schools to align the school curriculum with the requirements of the state’s high stakes test known as the Queensland Core Skills test (QCS). This paper reports on the teachers’ perceptions of a change process led by an ECA. With the ever-increasing implementation of high stakes testing in Australian schools, teachers are under mounting pressure to produce ‘results’. Therefore, in order to maximise their students’ success in these tests, schools are altering their curricula to incorporate the test requirements. Rather than the traditional method of managing such curriculum change processes internally, there is a growing trend for principals to source external expertise in the form of ECAs. Although some academics, teachers, and much of the relevant literature, would regard such a practice as problematic, this study found that in fact, teachers were quite open to externally led curriculum change, especially if they perceived the leader to be knowledgeable and creditable in this area.

Middle school social sciences : exploring teachers’ conceptions of essential knowledge

This study examines teachers’ conceptions of essential knowledge in the humanities and social sciences, commonly referred to as "social education", in the middle years of schooling. Social education has long been a highly contested area of the curriculum in Australia. In Queensland, social education comprises the integrated learning area of Studies of Society and Environment (SOSE). However, the new Australian Curriculum marks a return to discipline-based study of history and geography. This phenomenographic study addresses a perceived lack of understanding in the current research literature in Australia of the nature of middle school teachers’ professional knowledge for teaching the social sciences. Teachers are conceptualised in this study as curriculum makers in the classroom and, as such, their conceptions of essential knowledge are significant. Shulman’s (1986, 1987) theory of teachers’ knowledge forms the theoretical foundation of the study, which is contextualised in Federal and State education policies and the literature on the middle phase of schooling. Transcripts of interviews conducted with a group of thirty-one Queensland middle school teachers of SOSE were subjected to phenomenographic analysis, revealing seven qualitatively different categories of description. Essential aspects of knowledge for social education emerging from the study were: (1) discipline-based knowledge; (2) curriculum knowledge; (3) knowledge derived from teaching experience; (4) knowledge of middle years learners; (5) knowledge of integration; (6) knowledge of current affairs; and (7) knowledge invested in teacher identity. The three dimensions of variation that linked and differentiated the categories were: (1) content; (2) inquiry learning; and (3) teacher autonomy. These findings are presented as an outcome space where the categories are grouped as knowledge of the learning area, knowledge of contexts and knowledge of self as teacher. The results of the study suggest that social education teachers’ identity and knowledge of self are critical aspects of their knowledge as curriculum makers. The results illustrate that the professional and personal domains intersect, extending Shulman’s (1986, 1987) original theorisation of teachers’ knowledge into the personal arena. Further, middle years teachers’ conceptions of essential knowledge reveal a practice-based theorisation of knowledge for social education that fits the goals of middle schooling. The research concludes that attention to teacher identity in teacher education and in-service professional development has considerable potential to grow teachers’ knowledge in the social sciences and enhance their capacity for school-based curriculum leadership.