Kevin Watson

A trial of the Five Es: A referent model for constructivist teaching and learning

The science and technology education literature indicates that teaching within a constructivist paradigm is an effective way to promote student learning. Despite this, most primary school teachers do not use constructivist theoretical approaches because they are perceived as difficult and impractical to implement. To promote constructivist teaching and learning approaches in schools, teachers need access to models and strategies they can implement effectively and with relative ease. A unit of work was developed, based on the Five Es model (Engagement, Exploration, Explanation, Elaboration and Evaluation), and taught to a year 3 class. Ten students were participants in the study and became the sample. Data were analysed using two different methods to compare and validate findings. The unit of work, based on the Five Es model, was found to be interesting and fun by students, and motivated student learning and promoted student higher-order thinking.

Environmental Attitudes of Pre-service Teachers: A Conceptual and Methodological Dilemma in Cross-Cultural Data Collection

Human generated environmental problems are significant issues of global concern. Despite this, varying attitudes towards environments continue to exist across the globe, impacting on environmental decision-making and action at local, national and international levels. This paper probes some of the similarities and differences in environmental attitudes amongst pre-service teachers in Australia, Republic of Maldives and Indonesia. Data were collected using an established environmental attitude questionnaire and individual interviews. The three communities exhibited a similar range of environmental attitudes using the established questionnaire but significant differences emerged when the interview data were analysed phenomenographically. These differences reflect diversity within and across cultural groups that cannot be satisfactorily explained by the theory underpinning the established questionnaire. Consequently, a revised conceptual framework is proposed.

Mentoring Retrained Teachers: Extending the Web.

Novice teachers need support if they are to survive the reality of school. A web of relationships involving members of the school community, mentors outside the school community and a university tutor has been shown to be an effective way of providing this assistance. This article describes an extended web of assistance offered to a group of 11 teachers retrained to teach science. As they made the transition to science teaching these teachers identified a need for guidance and support in learning about a new subject and a new school environment. In some cases the school community was able to provide this guidance and support but in other cases the retrained teachers were met with scepticism by their fellow teachers and needed assistance from other sources. The extended web of relationships they accessed included district consultants provided by the employer, mentors located outside of the school, fellow graduates and a university tutor. All retrained teachers were also assisted in their development as reflective teachers by the production of a portfolio. The addition of an online component to the portfolio, allowing the sharing of ideas between the retrained teacher and the university tutor coordinating the program is proposed as a valuable component of the mentoring network.

Issues and Problems Related to Science Curriculum Implementation in Pakistan: Perceptions of Three Pakistani Curriculum Managers.

This article reviews recent curriculum implementation in Pakistan through the eyes of three members of a science curriculum review and implementation team. Different views of curriculum implementation, ranging from cooperative to authoritarian, are considered. In this context, perceptions of past, present, and future science curriculum implementation are examined to reveal the changing patterns of science curriculum implementation in Pakistan. Influences that may act to encourage or discourage change in curriculum management are identified. The relative merits of different views of curriculum implementation are assessed with reference to the cultures of developing countries such as Pakistan. The need for curriculum and its implementation to grow in sympathy with the culture of which it is to be part is emphasized.

Retrained teachers and school culture: Complex interactions

Abstract This article reports the experiences of three retrained teachers as they made the transition to science teaching. The stories of their survival in a new school context were constructed from data obtained in an evaluation of the retraining program and interpreted using a reflexive methodology. These mature professionals had developed an approach to the use of power that characterised their teaching style, and this ‘identity’ influenced the way they interacted with the school culture. The school is likened to a hamlet, in which a new resident alters the balance of relationships and brings changes to the cultural codes. A less teacher-centred style in the classroom, and a tolerant attitude to the value of the individual, appeared to increase the likelihood of successful integration into a new school environment.