Situating Teacher Learning in the Practice of Science and Mathematics Teaching

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Situating Teacher Learning in the Practice of
Science and Mathematics Teaching

• Monica Hartman
• University of Michigan
• Pre-Oral Defense Meeting
• May 3, 2004

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Problem

• New content and pedagogy for students require new
  content and pedagogy for teachers
• Traditional methods of professional development
  are decontextualized and a patchwork of
  opportunities stitched together into a fragmented
  and incoherent curriculum
• (Ball Cohen, 1999)

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The Problem

• The kinds of changes envisioned by reformers
  require changes not only in features of
  instruction but in the very goals of the teaching
  system
• (Hiebert Stigler, 2000, p. 7)
• Changes recommended by reform will require that
  teachers break from their experience

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Professional Development should

• Be inquiry based, with time for reflection and
  analysis
• Include a community of learners
• Involve meaningful conversations, a discourse for
  inquiry
• Address needs and concerns of participants
• Be sustained over time

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Japanese Lesson Study

• Lesson study is responsible for the change in
  Japanese science education from the
  teacher-centered telling approach to a problem
  solving approach
• Lewis Tsuchida, 1997
• Stigler and Hiebert identify Japanese Lesson
  Study as a possible model of professional
  development for systemic school improvement .
• Stigler Hiebert, 1999. The Teaching Gap

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Lesson Study Process

• Determine long term and short term goals
• Collaboratively plan a research lesson
• Implement lesson with other teachers as observers
• Discuss and analyze research lesson
• Re-teach revised lesson

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Questions

• How does a collaborative professional development
  experience, situated in teachers own practice,
  help elementary public school teachers develop
  their knowledge of teaching?

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Sub Questions

• What are the characteristics of these teachers
  engagement in a collaborative examination of
  practice?
• What challenges do they face?
• How do they overcome these challenges or not?

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Participants

• Small suburban district outside major city
• Six half day sessions for each group
• Mathematics Fifth Grade
• Greenfield (n2)
• Forest Hills (n4)
• Science Group Fourth Grade
• Greenfield (n2)
• Forest Hills (n3)

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Method

• Qualitative analysis
• Constant comparison process
• Researchers role Participant-observer
• Analysis Tool Hyper Research

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Data Sources

• Audio tapes of planning and feedback sessions
• Video tapes of lesson implementations
• Audio tapes of pre and post interviews
• Direct observations, field notes and journal
  entries

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Challenges

• Three themes developed during analysis of these
  data that represent the challenges that faced
  these teachers
• Time
• Talk
• Individualism

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Time

• Too much to teach, too little time
• Control what they do with their time
• Need time to construct meaning and process new
  learning
• Influence of cultural perspective of what
  teachers should be doing with their time
• Taking time to collaborate was expressed as a
  major benefit

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Talk

• Small talk developed into more meaningful
  conversations during the planning sessions
• Teachers thought they would have no problem
  offering critical feedback, but found it
  difficult
• Teachers with more content knowledge were more
  critical during feedback session

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Individualism

• Lortie (1975) describes the culture of teaching
  as individualistic, present-oriented and
  conservative
• Concern for self rather than others is
  problematic puts an end to debate and closes
  the door to change
• (Buchmann, 1993)

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Building Community Knowledge Subject Matter

• Mathematics Lesson
• Could not give real world example of fraction
  times a fraction
• Wanted to postpone that topic to sixth grade
• Thought it was division
• Science Lesson
• Admitted they never ask their students to draw a
  conclusion during their science lesson
• Didnt know what was an appropriate conclusion
  for the lesson

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Building Community KnowledgeTeaching

• Students need time to discuss concepts so dont
  feel like you are wasting time when giving
  students that extra time
• Journals allowed for you to see student thinking
  and how it develops through the lesson
• Use of manipulatives
• How did students use them?
• Need multiple representations for fraction
  concepts

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Building Community KnowledgeStudents

• Collaborative skills
• Group talk was more productive than it sounds
• Leaders developed within their groups
• Students had good discussions in their group
• Student learning
• Students who were otherwise failing were leading
  their groups in understanding concepts in science
• Students were having a difficult time in finding
  fractions of a set
• What teachers saw in the classroom did not match
  their expectations
• Students were on task, noise was productive
• Teachers talk in lunchroom painted a different
  picture of what was really happening in the
  classroom

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Patterns in the Group of Teachers Who Stayed

• Dissatisfaction with learning outcomes of
  students
• Collegial atmosphere already existed
• Trust in relationship with facilitator
• Teacher talk between sessions was positive and
  supportive
• Were not assigned role of teacher too soon

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Patterns in the Group of Teachers Who Left

• Substitute problems
• Already out of classroom for personal reasons and
  professional development
• Didnt know where this program was going in the
  district
• Having a more experienced teacher watch you teach
  was intimidating
• The school climate was not collegial
• Teachers did not know me as well

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Conclusion

• Groups that are more collegial have a better
  chance of succeeding in this type of professional
  development.
• Teachers who are dissatisfied with the learning
  outcomes of their students are more inclined to
  see a need to learn something new.
• The group leader needs to establish credibility
  and trusting relationships among the members.

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Conclusion

• Not all teacher groups are ready for a
  collaborative investigation of practice
• Time should be scheduled during their work day
• Structures are present in this type of
  professional development that allow teachers
  opportunities to learn.
• Future research should seek to identify how best
  to overcome the challenges of time, talk and
  individualism.

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