Science Teacher Education Partnerships with Schools (STEPS): Partnerships in science teacher education (original) (raw)
School-based pedagogies and partnerships in primary science teacher education
2015
The STEPS project responds to international concern about primary teachers' lack of science knowledge and confidence to teach science, and recent questioning of the effectiveness of traditional approaches to teacher education.It will review and build on established, innovative and successful practices at five universities, to develop and promote a framework supporting school-based approaches to pre-service teacher education.The models involve partnerships between universities and primary schools to engage pre-service primary teachers in classroom teaching and learning that effectively connects theory with practice.Through critical appraisal of these and similar models, the project will identify key features of the approach and the critical success factors required to establish and maintain strong working relationships with schools and build student capacity.The principles, framework, and resources together with exemplifying case studies, will be designed and disseminated to prom...
The STEPS Project responds to international concern about primary teachers' lack of science knowledge and confidence to teach science, and recent questioning of the effectiveness of traditional approaches to teacher education. The project reviews and builds on established, innovative and successful practices at five universities, to develop and promote a framework supporting school-based approaches to pre-service teacher education. This paper will outline the processes involved in developing an Interpretive Framework, which will be a key outcome of the project. The Interpretive Framework identifies key elements to assist teacher educators in planning, implementing and sustaining school-based approaches to teacher education. Hobbs, Jones, King, Chittleborough, Redman, et al. Developing an Interpretive Framework
Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 2012
This paper reports on a partnership approach preparing pre-service primary teachers to teach science. Partnerships involving pre-service teachers and volunteer in-service colleagues were formed to teach science in the classroom of the colleague, with support from the science education lecturer. Each pre-service teacher collaboratively planned and delivered a sequence of at least six science lessons over six weeks. An earlier paper reported on how the program affected the confidence of the pre-service teachers. Over three iterations, 61 inservice teachers from 23 local schools participated. In this paper the data from the colleague teachers and principals who participated is explored. The evidence indicates that the principals valued the program as an opportunity to improve science in their schools and as science professional development for their staff. The in-service teachers were positive and results show that the triadic partnerships offered professional development that addresses common barriers to teaching science in primary schools.
Developing effective school and university partnerships for teacher education
The use of school-university partnerships to address the theory-practice divide in teacher education has recently come to attention in international teacher education studies (e.g. [1], ). Schooluniversity partnerships are particularly important in primary science teacher education as a means to overcome limited opportunities primary pre-service teachers have to observe and practice science teaching during their Practicum. Their opportunities are limited due to a lack of practising teachers who include science in their classroom teaching or who do not feel sufficiently competent to act as science mentors. This is generally attributable to low teacher confidence and knowledge of how to teach science . This workshop will report on a study which is exploring existing school-university partnerships in science teacher education at 5 Australian universities. Utilising a multiple case study methodology , the project has examined the experiences of establishing, maintaining and developing these partnership and explored the benefits of the partnerships for pre-service teachers, practising teachers and schools. A key outcome of the project is the development of an "Interpretive Framework" in which partnership practices were exemplified, contextualised and summarised, documenting key phases in the development of partnership arrangements. The Framework is currently undergoing validation with Australian universities. In this paper, the authors present the Framework to an broader audience for comment and seek to explore its relevance and transferability to school-university partnerships in an international context.
2020
In primary science education, we face an ongoing concern of helping classroom teachers overcome negative associations with science content, teaching and learning. These associations can often impact how they view the value of science in their classroom teaching and impede the development of innovative teaching practice. This research effort investigated in-service teachers' perceptions, reflections and considerations that resulted from their direct involvement within a science-focused school university partnership. Utilizing a multiple case study design, this research effort analyzed partnership efforts across five established science-focused partnership programs in the Australian states of Victoria and Tasmania. Analysis of interview data with 80 in-service teachers from across partner sites indicated an increased valuing of science, where teachers viewed working with pre-service teachers as a professional development opportunity, resulting in additional time spent on developing and teaching through inquiry-based science practices.
Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 2009
This paper reports on a partnership based approach for preparing pre-service primary teachers to teach science. It involved forming three-way or "triadic" partnerships, consisting of a final year pre-service primary teacher and an in-service colleague, to teach science in the colleague teacher's classroom, with the support of a teacher-educator. The pre-service teachers had to collaboratively plan, develop and deliver a sequence of science lessons and take major responsibility for teaching a 90 minute science lesson, at least once a week over a six week period. The data was collected during 2007 and 2008. The pre-service teachers kept a reflective journal of their experiences using a process devised to guide and support them. The results indicated improved attitudes to and confidence in teaching science for the pre-service teachers and their in-service colleagues. The results indicate triadic partnership approach may be an effective way to support teacher professional learning in science. Background This paper explores an approach to teacher professional learning based on three-way partnerships or "triads". The approach was originally designed to prepare pre-service teachers to teach science by giving them an authentic teaching experience that would supplement their normal practicum. The chosen research topic necessarily covered a range of concerns from both the general teacher education literature as well as the science education literature. Both of these aspects are discussed in the literature review. The teacher education literature identifies basically two conceptions of teaching: a "craft" conception, where teaching is viewed as a series of definable technical skills to be mastered; and a professional conception, where it is seen as more complex, involving a process of career-long learning
2018
This research effort investigates principal perceptions regarding the impact of science-focused school university partnership programs in primary school contexts. Utilizing a multiple case study design, this research effort analyzed the nature and structure of the partnership efforts across five established science-focused partnership programs in the Australian states of Victoria and Tasmania. Analysis of interview data from principals across twelve separate school partner sites indicated that principals depicted that partnership arrangements increased their staffs valuing of science and was a mechanism for teachers to reflect on their practices. Consequently, principals often viewed partnerships as an additional level of professional development. Most importantly, principals articulated that the partnership programs were an important aspect of the school-based culture and they harbored strong desires to continue the partnerships well into the future. Implications for partnership de...
2010
This study explores collaborative partnerships between practising and preservice teachers as a model of primary science teacher professional learning. Thirteen volunteer preservice teacher participants from a 3rd year core Science Education unit in a Bachelor of Education course from a regional university were partnered with eight practising teacher volunteers from primary schools in the regional centre in which the university was situated. Partners planned, implemented and reflected on a series of science lessons using the 5Es framework (Australian Academy of Science, 2009) adapted from Bybee (1997). Partners were encouraged to integrate other areas of the curriculum into their science lessons where appropriate. A model of reflective practice informed by Korthagen's (2001) Action, Looking back on the action, Awareness of essential aspects, Creation of alternative actions, and Trialling of the new action (ALACT) model was used to guide partners' reflection and subsequent pla...
Collaborative Partnerships : A Model for Science Teacher Education and Professional Development
Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 2008
This paper proposes a collaborative partnership between practicing and pre-service teachers as a model for implementing science teacher education and professional development. This model provides a structure within which partnerships will work collaboratively to plan, implement and reflect on a series of Science lessons in cycles of actionreflection adapted from Korthagen's (2001) ALACT model. Issues within Science education, teacher professional development and teacher education are considered in the development of the model which attempts to deepen constructivist approaches to teachers' professional learning. It attempts to address issues with teacher professional development in the science area and improve professional experience practice for pre-service teachers. The nexus between theory and practice is the focus of the model which hopes to inform both teacher education and professional development for science teachers in the primary sector.
Education Sciences
This paper charts the recent history of the STEM Learning UK contracts with local Science Learning Partnerships (SLPs) and identifies what leadership has been made available to support the Early Years and Primary school sector. A case study approach is taken using ‘Super SLP’ hubs in England. Curriculum Hubs exist in core subject areas such as maths, English, science and computing. They have recently been expanded to include Behaviour Hubs. This forms the current DfE strategy of Teaching School Hubs (TSHs), i.e., to offer system support and a full career-length support for all stages of teacher-career and leadership development. This paper charts the changes to the Early Years (EY) and Primary teacher support networks, in science particularly, and examines what they provide and how this can be improved, and discusses, through session evaluation and feedback, what teachers have appreciated the most.
Scientist-Teacher Partnerships as Professional Development: An Action Research Study
The overall purpose of this action research study was to explore the experiences of ten middle school science teachers involved in a three-year partnership program between scientists and teachers at a Department of Energy national laboratory, including the impact of the program on their professional development, and to improve the partnership program by developing a set of recommendations based on the study’s findings. This action research study relied on qualitative data including field notes recorded at the summer academies and data from two focus groups with teachers and scientists. Additionally, the participating teachers submitted written reflections in science notebooks, participated in open-ended telephone interviews that were transcribed verbatim, and wrote journal summaries to the Department of Energy at the end of the summer academy. The analysis of the data, collaboratively examined by the teachers, the scientists, and the science education specialist acting as co-researchers on the project, revealed five elements critical to the success of the professional development of science teachers. First, scientist-teacher partnerships are a unique contribution to the professional development of teachers of science that is not replicated in other forms of teacher training. Second, the role of the science education specialist as a bridge between the scientists and teachers is a unique and vital one, impacting all aspects of the professional development. Third, there is a paradox for classroom teachers as they view the professional development experience from two different lenses – that of learner and that of teacher. Fourth, learning for science teachers must be designed to be constructivist in nature. Fifth, the principles of the nature of science must be explicitly showcased to be seen and understood by the classroom teachers.
Research in Science Education, 2003
New Zealand is moving towards increased qualification requirements for early childhood educators. There is an underlying assumption that there is a correlation between quality early childhood education, teacher qualifications and quality practices in teaching and learning. Two fields of literature, early childhood pedagogy and science specific pedagogy, are reviewed briefly to provide a framework with which to consider why student teachers' attitudes, misunderstandings and misconceptions in science can limit their ability and willingness to create quality teaching and learning opportunities. The study reported in this paper highlights, in general, that early childhood student teachers' subject knowledge in science was poor. It also emerged that the student teachers were unaware of how little they knew and how this might affect their ability to provide appropriate science experiences for young children.
Building Trust and Commitment in Scientist-Teacher Partnerships
2003
Scientific partnerships bring individuals from different cultures together to achieve mutual goals, make decisions, exchange ideas, and contribute resources (Gomez et al., 1990.) These collaborations have the potential to benefit both parties, but forming functional partnerships between two different work-environment cultures is difficult. We were interested in determining what governs their success. CATTS (Collaboration to Advance Teaching Technology and Science)
The Science Teaching in Schools Experience (STISE)
Personalising Learning in Teacher Education, 2018
This chapter outlines the Science Teaching in Schools Experience (STISE), a school-based approach to science teacher education that profiles, in particular, the application of a Communities of Collaboration and Learner as Central tenets of personalising learning. The context for this example of personalising learning is the teaching of a science education unit within a pre-service teaching Bachelor of Education course for both primary and early childhood and primary teacher candidates at a local university. In these courses, the science teaching self-efficacy levels of the teacher candidates commencing the unit are persistently low. Efforts to address this widespread concern led to an example of situated learning theory forming the basis for the redesign and delivery of the unit. The ways in which Learners as Central and Communities of Collaboration were established and maintained showcase a successful example of personalising learning within science teacher education that addresses traditionally low science teaching self-efficacy beliefs among pre-service teachers.
Journal of Science Teacher Education, 2015
In this article, we describe how teachers in the Australian school system are educated to teach science and the different qualifications that teachers need to enter the profession. The latest comparisons of Australian students in international science assessments have brought about various accountability measures to improve the quality of science teachers at all levels. We discuss the issues and implications of government initiatives in preservice and early career teacher education programs, such as the implementation of national science curriculum, the stricter entry requirements to teacher education programs, an alternative pathway to teaching and the measure of effectiveness of teacher education programs. The politicized discussion and initiatives to improve the quality of science teacher education in Australia are still unfolding as we write in 2014.