Allan MacKinnon

Detecting reflection-in-action among preservice elementary science teachers

Abstract This study deals with the way in which preservice teachers think about their early experiences teaching science to children. Donald Schons conceptualization of the nature of professional thinking, Reflection-in-Action, is explored for its ability to make sense of a beginning science teachers reflection about a methods course practical experience. The concept of the “cycle of reflection” is developed, and a set of criteria for detecting reflection-in-action in clinical supervision dialogue is put forth. The use of the scheme is illustrated with detailed analyses of excerpts of clinical supervision discussion.

Examining practice to address policy problems in teacher education

This article puts forward a case for addressing policy problems in the rigorous pursuit of new practices in faculties of education. Recent policy developments in pre‐service teacher education at Simon Fraser University in British Columbia are discussed in terms of a programmatic rift between study in foundational disciplines, on the one hand, as component bodies of knowledge included in a Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) degree, and, on the other hand, the practical experiences provided in a 1‐year Professional Development Program. This article includes a discussion of underlying assumptions about the nature of learning to teach that inform a framework for a B.Ed. programme that attempts to strike a better balance and more meaningful integration of academic study and the practice of teaching. The concept of schools of practice is discussed in the context of some of the authors experiences in the Professional Development Program. Excerpts from ‘the Summerfest letters’ ‐ taken from a summer school in science ...

Reasons for giving reasons: an expert‐expert clinical analysis of science teaching for non‐academic students 1

This paper concerns the importance of providing reasons and evidence when making claims as a teacher. Two teaching contexts are explored: a nonacademic science classroom and a clinical supervision setting. An expert teacher is seen at work in a nonacademic science classroom. This is an especially significant context in which to find “task‐reasons” and “science‐reasons” since students rarely appear to have access to reasons for what they do or say in such classrooms. The teacher and a colleague, both experts at clinical analysis of teaching, are observed examining and analysing the teaching. This is the setting for developing “interpretation‐reasons” regarding the conduct and events of teaching. The expert‐expert clinical supervision situation is seen as sharpening the requirement for sound, credible interpretation‐reasons beyond that of the more common expert‐novice interaction. 1 An earlier version of this paper was presented at the annual conference of the Canadian Society for the Study of Education at ...

Practicum and Teacher Education: Wrapped around Your Finger.

In the popular song Wrapped around your finger (Sumner, 1983) by the 80s’ rock group The Police, Gordon Sumner (a.k.a. Sting) sings about the master and apprentice relationship. The lyrics of this song provide a heuristic for my commentary in this issue of Studying Teacher Education, which is devoted to researching the experience of practicum. I interpret the song in light of the practicum of teacher education, as the song evokes particular insights about student teaching that encapsulate and provide an entry into the research featured in this special issue. Sting is cited as having characterized his composition as “a spiteful song about turning the tables on someone who had been in charge” and “vaguely alchemical and probably about a friend of mine, a professional psychic and my tutor in tarot, with bits of Doctor Faustus and ‘The Sorcerer’s Apprentice’ thrown into the pot for good measure.” (Wrapped around your finger, n.d.). Wrapped around your finger provides a literary device to analyze general features of practicum as a site of learning, as well as subtleties inherent in relationships between teacher candidates and their mentor teachers. I see potential for the song to speak back to readers and authors of these articles, as it not only helps to frame their insights about practicum, it helps us see the unique qualities of their research and practice as teacher educators. The articles emanate from a multi-year research project funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Located at four Canadian universities, the five authors of this special issue investigated the potential of transformative interventions by associate teachers and university supervisors during practicum. Central to this research was the identification of participants’ assumptions and beliefs about their learning and their abilities to express that learning through more effective practices. The articles span the four teacher education programs involved in the study: a one-year program in British Columbia, a one-year program in Ontario, and two four-year programs in Québec – one English, one French. I think of the song as a worthy example of self-study in its own right, wondering if the lyrics may have been partially inspired by Sumner’s own experience as a teacher candidate in practicum during an earlier time in his life when he attended Northern Counties College of Education (now Northumbria University). But I do not put words into Sting’s mouth. Instead

A community of inquiry-based framework for civic education at Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia

This study focused on the civic education course at Universitas Terbuka (UT). Its purpose was to design a new approach for the online tutorial for the course by analyzing the literature related to online and distance education and investigating participant feedback on the current offering of the course and tutorial, which is a compulsory course in all programs at UT. The study draws from the community of inquiry framework, which promotes a social constructivist approach as well as teaching about democracy by example. This model is intended to create meaningful learning experiences for students in a reformulated civic education course, in which they would learn to think critically through interacting with classmates, experiencing collaborative learning, and supporting fellow students in learning activities and processes. In this model, learning is seen as occurring within the community through the interaction of social presence, cognitive presence, and teaching presence where, students are able to develop civic competences, namely civic knowledge, civic skills, and civic dispositions, as well as experience a democratic interaction that forms the core of civic interactions in a democratic society.