Hugh Munby

School science culture: A case study of barriers to developing professional knowledge

A detailed case study of classroom observations and interviews with Bess, a grade 9 science teacher, is used to explore how school science constrains the development of Besss professional knowledge. The themes characterizing Besss teaching, such as “science is fun and activity-oriented” and “science is fact,” appear more related to the ethos of school science than to demonstrating to students something of the practice of science. This study argues that the version of experiment and inquiry seemingly prescribed by the institutional science of school is antithetical to the sort of exploratory inquiry she uses when planning and changing her own teaching. Accordingly, Besss authentic inquiries into her own teaching are quite different from the “scientific” inquiries she has her students undertake. Building on earlier cases, the article concludes that the nature of school science influences how teachers assess their own teaching and sets boundaries to the social-scientific inquiries teachers make of their teaching.

Issues of Validity in Science Attitude Measurement.

This article explores the work that Moore and Foy (1997) did in revising and field testing the Scientific Attitude Instrument (SAI). I begin by showing that the empirical work with the revised instrument, the SAI II, raises doubts about the instruments validity, and I suggest that these doubts seem to coincide rather remarkably with ones raised in an extensive study of science attitude instruments published in the early 1980s. I then consider the field testing of the SAI II in light of alternative approaches to validating instruments, and I show that the revisions made to the SAI leave its validity in question. I end by considering how we might develop guidelines for validating the instruments we use in science education research. J Res Sci Teach 34: 337–341, 1997.

Novice and expert teachers' time epistemology: A wave function from didactics to pedagogy

Abstract This study compares how 23 novice and 23 expert teachers perceive time. The focus of the study is upon differences in time epistemologies in didactics and pedagogy. The theoretical justification for exploring these differences comes from current research on novice and expert teachers and from the distinction, in semiotics, between two fundamental ways of knowing time, diachrony and synchrony. Data for the study are interview transcripts which are coded for their various mentions of time. A cluster analysis technique is used to portray graphically different epistemologies of novices and experts, and the results suggest that it is not helpful to view the growth from novice to expert as a simple accretion of information and experience. A wave model is advanced as an alternative way to depicting what appears to be a rhythm between didactic and pedagogical thinking among experts.

Workplace learning and the metacognitive functions of routines

In the face of research that shows that workplace knowledge and learning are highly contextual, calls for the teaching of generalizable skills for the workplace have been widespread. While the authors reject the usefulness of teaching generalizable skills, they believe that there are commonalities in workplace knowledge that can be taught. These commonalities are related to metacognition rather than simple cognition, and the approach in this paper is to explore the potential of metacognitive instruction for workplace learning. Specifically, the concept of routines is used to develop an instructional theory derived from the inherent metacognitive functions of routines themselves. The paper draws upon contemporary cognitive theory and on recent research on workplace learning, and it builds on studies the authors have conducted on learning in the workplace and on the observation of routines at work.

Epistemological Appropriation in One High School Student’s Learning in Cooperative Education

In this study, detailed observations and interviews from a high school student’s semester-long cooperative (co-op) placement in a dental practice are used to exemplify Hung’s theoretical approach to understanding situated learning. Using Hung’s theory of epistemological appropriation in an analysis of the coop supervisor’s regulatory behaviors (scaffolding, modeling, and coaching) and of the novice’s corresponding regulatory behaviors (submitting, mirroring, and constructing) helped to explain the developments in this student’s learning, actions, and beliefs. In contrast to the progression suggested by Hung’s theory, this study reports daily examples of all types of regulatory behaviors, with scaffolding/submitting being most prominent. The discussion focuses on how Hung’s theory of regulatory behaviors informs supervisors’ improving opportunities for novices’ learning and informs novices’ engagement in epistemological appropriation in work-based learning.

Learning in the workplace: Fostering resilience in disengaged youth

OBJECTIVE International reports on school-to-work transition make it clear that worldwide youth are at-risk for educational disengagement and are three times as likely to be unemployed as their adult counterparts. Work-based education (WBE) is one of the most frequently recommended solutions for youth disengagement which suggests that WBE serves as a protective factor and encourages resilience in at-risk youth. The objective of this study was to describe and compare the experiences of two at-risk youth enrolled in WBE. PARTICIPANTS Two 18-year old at-risk youth enrolled in WBE were chosen for study because they were learning in workplaces judged likely to promote resilience. Both had been disengaged from school prior to enrolling in WBE. METHOD Each multiple-perspective case study includes the perspective of the youth, the workplace employer, and the work-based educator. Data consisted of ethnographic observations and interviews conducted at the workplace, and with the teacher in the school. RESULTS Each case study highlights how supportive adults and an at-risk youth engage in interactions that facilitate the emergence of resilience in the workplace. CONCLUSIONS In these two cases, risk and resilience are context specific, suggesting that at-risk youth may require tailored workplace programs to meet their career development needs.

Using Experience to Prepare Teachers for Inclusive Classrooms: Teacher Education and the Epistemology of Practice

This paper describes an innovative experience-based teacher education program and a course in the program aimed at preparing teacher candidates for inclusive education of children with special needs. The paper opens with an account of the theoretical background of the program, with special attention given to the nature of professional knowledge and its acquisition. The impact of this approach to teaching for inclusion is illustrated with two case studies prepared by teacher candidates from their experience in an extended practicum of 14 weeks beginning at the opening of the school year.

Exemplary practice in work‐based education: a validation study

This paper validates the concept of exemplary practice in work‐based education (WBE) programs. The validation uses two theoretical frameworks: Social Cognitive Career Theory, and Billett’s research on workplace learning. The empirical component of the validation study consists of two widely differing case studies of high school students in work placements. Concepts found in previous research (communication, assessment and evaluation, linking school and workplace learning, and creating a pathway) are evident in the data of this study and are consistent with the theoretical frameworks, thus validating the concept of exemplary practice.

Enhancing Workplace Learning for Adolescents: The Use of Metacognitive Instruction.

Purpose – This paper aims to describe an instructional study of three cases of work‐based education students (in co‐operative education in Canada), described by their teachers as ranging from high achieving to low achieving.Design/methodology/approach – The three students are given metacognitive instruction to enhance their workplace learning. The instruction is based on findings from a population of recent case studies of learning in the workplace and is shared with the students, with their teachers, and with their workplace supervisors. Interviews and observations are used to describe the variable success of metacognitive instruction in the three workplace settings.Findings – The paper finds that, while the teachers do not implement the materials fully, both the employers and the students find the metacognitive questions that make up the instructional materials to be useful and have suggestions for how the instructional materials should be used in workplaces. The instructional materials are appended.Ori...

Teaching science for the workplace? An analysis of Canadian science curriculum documents

This article reports on the analysis of 108 science curriculum documents from the 13 Canadian provinces and territories exploring the explicit links that the science curriculum makes with the world of work. The document analysis was undertaken to examine the extent to which the contemporary Canadian provincial and territorial science curriculum documents represent objectives and goals that relate to science in the workplace. Because Canadian curriculum documents are reviewed periodically, the research was timed so that it captured the moment at which a significant number of these policy documents had been revised and released: December 2004. The article begins with a review of the nature of the knowledge or New Economy. Then previous document analysis research on science curriculum policy is discussed. The present study’s findings suggest that curriculum policy makers are generally inattentive to the world of work and, in particular, to the demands of the New Economy. Implications of the research include the need to review the purposes of science education in Canada. Questions we might ask include, ‘To what extent might school science attempt to bridge the worlds of school and work?’ and ‘How might the bridge be built to this large part of life after school?’RésuméCet article est le résultat de l’analyse de 108 documents provenant des curriculums scientifiques des 13 provinces et territoires canadiens, portant sur les liens explicites entre les curriculums scientifiques et le marché du travail. Cette analyse a été réalisée afin de mieux comprendre à quel point les documents issus des curriculums scientifiques provinciaux et territoriaux canadiens reflètent les but et objectifs qui touchent les liens entre les sciences et le monde du travail. Puisque les curriculums canadiens sont révisés périodiquement, cette recherche a eu lieu à un moment choisi en fonction du fait que nombre de ces documents faisaient l’objet d’une révision détaillée, soit en décembre 2004. L’article commence par un tour d’horizon sur la nature des connaissances sur la nouvelle économie. Ensuite, il présente une analyse des recherches précédentes sur le sujet. Nos résultats suggèrent que les décideurs en matière de curriculums sont généralement peu attentifs au monde du travail, et aux besoins de la nouvelle économie en particulier. Parmi les implications qui se dégagent de cette recherche, mentionnons la nécessité de revoir les objectifs de l’enseignement des sciences au Canada. Les questions que nous sommes en droit de poser sont entre autres les suivantes: Jusqu’où les sciences à l’école peuvent-elles aller pour faire le pont entre les milieux scolaires et le monde du travail ? Comment peut-on procéder pour construire un pont vers cette longue étape de la vie qui suit la formation scolaire?