Jo Lunn Brownlee

Elementary Teacher's Conceptions of Inquiry Teaching: Messages for Teacher Development

This study explored practicing elementary school teacher’s conceptions of teaching in ways that foster inquiry-based learning in the science curriculum (inquiry teaching). 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-centered conception where teachers focused on providing interesting sensory experiences to students; (b) The Problem-centered conception where teachers focused on engaging students with challenging problems; and (c) The Question-centered 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 behaviors during professional development, with enhanced outcomes for engaging students in Science.

Educational policy for citizenship in the early years in Australia

Understandings of young children as active and capable citizens, while evident in discourses of early childhood education and research, are not widely reflected in the policy for the early years of schooling in Australia. This paper makes an analysis of the gaps and tensions between discourses of young children as active citizens and policy for citizenship education at the national level in Australia and at the Queensland State level. There is a widespread discourse within early childhood that regards young children as citizens and democratic participants in their own lives, as a reflection of the oft-cited Article 12 in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. However, educational policy and curriculum for citizenship in Australia, by and large, adheres to age and stage understandings of children that deem young children unable to conceptualise and/or articulate ideas of what it means to ‘be a good citizen’. We ask which discourses are being harnessed in educational policy for citizenship in Australia, what discourses are silenced or ignored and what this tells us about how young children are thought about in Australian politics and education.

Practices for teaching moral values in the early years: a call for a pedagogy of participation:

Schools have long been seen as institutions for preparing children for life, both academically and as moral agents in society. In order to become capable, moral citizens, children need to be provided with opportunities to learn moral values. However, little is known about how teachers enact social and moral values programs in the classroom. The aim of this article is to investigate the practices that Australian early years teachers describe as important for teaching moral values. To investigate early years teachers’ understandings of moral pedagogy, 379 Australian teachers with experience teaching children in the early years were invited to participate in an online survey. This article focuses on responses provided to an open-ended question relating to teaching practices for moral values. The responses were analysed using an interpretive methodology. The results indicate that the most prominent approaches to teaching moral values described by this group of Australian early years teachers were engaging children in moral activities. This was closely followed by teaching practices for transmitting moral values. Engaging children in building meaning and participatory learning for moral values were least often described.

Investigating Epistemological Beliefs in Vocational Education for Child Care Workers: New Ways of Thinking about Learning and Training

Epistemological beliefs (beliefs about knowing and knowledge) have provided interesting insights into effective teaching and learning in higher education over the last 30 years. However, to date, little research has taken place in regard to teaching and learning in the technical and further education (TAFE) context in Australia. Seventeen 1st and 2nd year child care students studying for a Diploma in Childrens Services were interviewed about the nature of their epistemological beliefs. The findings revealed new ways of thinking about evaluativistic beliefs, described as “practical evaluativism”. These beliefs may have implications for the way in which students evaluate theory and practice for implementation in their own child care practice.

Child care students’ practical conceptions of learning1

This paper describes an analysis of interview transcripts for 77 first- and second-year students enrolled in a vocational education course for child-care work. The purpose was to identify their conceptions of learning. All six categories of conceptions, as identified originally by Marton et al. (1993), were found. However, more than 50% of the conceptions were at level A (increasing knowledge). This category was richer and more differentiated than found in other research and had a practical, applied focus. The participants did not generally situate their learning in a formal context based on reading theoretical material. This finding provides a new perspective on conceptions of learning. The results are compared with research in vocational, informal, workplace and teacher learning. The conceptions of learning held by the child-care students could present a challenge for lecturers in the vocational programme who expect that students will underpin practical skills with theoretical knowledge. It is less likely that students will engage in innovative behaviours in practice if their approach to learning is based mainly on practical, procedural knowledge. The findings raise questions as to how to move students’ conceptions to a higher more theoretical mode of learning.

Epistemic beliefs and beliefs about teaching practices for moral learning in the early years of school: relationships and complexities

While investment in young children is recognised as important for the development of moral values for a cohesive society, little is known about early years teaching practices that promote learning of moral values. This paper reports on observations and interviews with 11 Australian teachers, focusing on their epistemic beliefs and beliefs about teaching practices for moral education with children aged 5–8 years. The analysis revealed three main patterns of thinking about moral education: following others, reflecting on points of view, and informing reflection for action. These patterns suggest a relationship between epistemic beliefs and beliefs about teaching practices for moral learning which have implications for teacher professional development concerning experiences in moral education.

Learning and leading: how beliefs about learning can be used to promote effective leadership

Purpose: To examine the l inks between the core beliefs a leader holds about learning and knowing (called epistemological beliefs) and how they go about leading an organisation. Design: We interviewed 15 directors in centre-based child care organisations about how they viewed learning and knowing in their leadership role. Findings: What we found in these interviews were that the directors who indicated transformational leadership behaviours also thought that staff learning and knowing should be active, meaningful and evidenced-based. This means that they viewed knowledge as evolving, tentative and needing to be critiqued and evaluated in the light of evidence (known as evaluativism in epistemological belief jargon). Conversely, the director with transactional beliefs about leadership clearly demonstrated beliefs that knowledge was about his own “truths’ or black and white facts that could be transmitted to others (known as objectivism). Value & Practical Implications: While it may be useful to reflect on the connections between core beliefs about knowing and learning and transformational leadership practice, a more important task for the field is how such leaders might be nurtured.

Understanding children's epistemic beliefs in elementary education

Research shows that the beliefs individuals hold about knowledge and knowing (epistemic beliefs) influence learning approaches and outcomes. However, little is known about the nature of childrens epistemic beliefs and how best to measure these. In this pilot study, 11 Australian children (in Grade 4 or Grade 6) were asked to ‘draw, write and tell’ about their epistemic beliefs using drawings, written responses and interviews, respectively. Drawings were analysed, with the majority of children depicting external, one-way sources of knowledge. The written statements and interviews were analysed using inductive thematic analysis, showing that children predominantly described knowledge acquisition as processes of task-based learning. Interviews also enabled children to describe a wider range of views. These results indicate that the methodological combination of ‘draw, write and tell’ allowed for a deeper understanding of the childrens epistemic beliefs which holds implications for future research.

Exploring intercultural competence through the lens of self-authorship

Abstract Intercultural competence among educators has long been recognised as important, especially in contexts characterised by growing and shifting cultural diversity such as Australia. However, the capacity to be interculturally competent has only recently been enshrined in teacher standards in Australia, and research into this field among early childhood educators is fledgling. Through the theoretical lens of self-authorship, this case study integrated a developmental model of intercultural maturity with a compositional model of intercultural competence. Combining these two models allowed for a holistic exploration of the complexities of intercultural experiences in an early childhood educational setting. This new integrated framework is applied to a case study that focuses on Heidi, an early childhood educator in a culturally diverse kindergarten. Data were collected through interviews, classroom observations and analysis of philosophy, policy and observational documents. The findings indicated the importance of critical reflection and internal meaning making, as part of a self-authored identity, in relation to intercultural competence. Implications are discussed with a focus on the potential significance of the integrated framework to explore as well as enhance educators’ critical reflection about their intercultural experiences.

Epistemic Climates for Active Citizenship: Dialogically Organised Classrooms and Children’s Internal Dialogue

While the significance of children’s early learning experiences is recognised internationally, less is known about early learning for moral values and active citizenship. There is evidence to suggest that prejudicial behaviours can emerge in early childhood, yet there is little research to inform how to promote social inclusion and reduce exclusionary behaviours in young children. One promising line of research involves considering children’s reasoning about moral values for active citizenship. This chapter explores values education and children’s learning of moral values through the theoretical lens of epistemic beliefs. We argue that a focus on children’s beliefs about knowing and knowledge in the context of learning about moral values is best addressed in dialogically organised early years classrooms.