Larry Bencze

Changing practice by changing practice: Toward more authentic science and science curriculum development

Recent policy documents from the Ontario Ministry of Education called for teachers to present a more authentic view of the nature of scientific practice at all levels of education. Sadly, this call for substantial curriculum change coincided with severe cuts in the education budget. The authors describe how two teachers collaborated with a university-based researcher/teacher educator to design and implement more authentic science in a Grade 7 classroom. The ways in which the teachers changed their views about science and science teaching, the anxieties they experienced, and the institutional constraints that impacted on their practice are discussed, and some more general features of the action research experience are described.

Becoming Critical about Practical Work: Changing Views and Changing Practice through Action Research.

In recent years, a great deal of attention has been directed towards the purpose and organization of practical work in school science, with several writers urging a radical reappraisal and reorientation of laboratory‐based and field‐based learning. However, for all kinds of reasons, changes of this magnitude are not readily accomplished by traditional means of curriculum development. This article describes how a group of teachers sought to overcome the difficulties of major innovation by working with a change agent to critique their current practice, devise a more ‘authentic science’ for the secondary school curriculum, and translate their ideas into feasible classroom activities.

Multi-media Case Methods in Pre-service Science Education: Enabling an Apprenticeship for Praxis.

In recent years, teacher educators have looked to case methods as one means of bridging the theory-practice gap in university-based pre-service programs. This paper explores how case methods may be used to foster habits of praxis – that is, critical, reflective practice – that enable beginning teachers to adapt to the many diverse contexts they may encounter in the field. Our research used qualitative ethnographic methods to determine the efficacy of a case method designed to encourage critical analysis of a Year 8 science Optics lesson. Results suggest student teachers: (1) understood an associated analytical framework; (2) effectively analysed curriculum and pedagogy; and (3) exercised prudence in their assessment of the case. These findings tentatively indicate emerging habits of praxis. Notwithstanding such gains, we encourage designers of case-based curricula to: ensure case authenticity, protect subjects from critique and use multi-media case methods in conjunction with other approaches to promote habits of praxis.

Reflection‐on‐action at a science and technology museum: Findings from a university‐museum partnership

Abstract As institutions housing societys collective knowledge and as sites for public education, museums can complement formal educational efforts to promote citizen literacy. In this paper, we document and discuss a curriculum renewal activity in an Ontario museum of science and technology designed to allow school students significant control over their learning. Qualitative data suggest that the reconstructed museum educational experience successfully addressed initial concerns about the workshops disconnectedness from school programs and its technological conservatism. The experiences described here identify some interesting possibilities for collaborative reflective practice in museum program development.

Science teachers as metascientists: an inductive–deductive dialectic immersion in northern alpine field ecology

Efforts to promote more realistic conceptions about science are often limited by teachers’ inexperience in this domain. In this paper, we describe an ‘inductive–deductive, dialectic immersion’ approach towards assisting teachers in developing more realistic conceptions about science — along with corresponding revised perspectives about science teaching. Three secondary teachers of science with minimal science research experience engaged in a case study of science in action — specifically, in an episode of northern alpine ecological field research. Qualitative data analyzed by constant comparative methods suggested that these teachers shifted along a modernist through postmodernist continuum — as indicated by increased support for a more Naturalist epistemology of science, a more Antirealist ontology of science, and corresponding priorities towards science teaching and learning. Results suggest that teachers of science can develop postmodern views about science and science teaching if given opportunities to induce and deduce propositions about science in realistic cases of science in action.

Being your own role model for improving self‐efficacy: An elementary teacher self‐actualizes through drama‐based science teaching

Abstract: Many teachers in elementary schools lack school science self‐efficacy, largely because of their inexperience with the subject. This frequently leads them to avoid teaching science or to teach it in ways that compromise the development of aspects of students’ scientific literacy. This paper describes how one teacher was able to improve her school science self‐efficacy through facilitated action research. In response to becoming aware of a discrepancy between her school science practices and her fundamental educational beliefs, Lisa developed a drama‐based, integrated science unit that she judged successful in helping students to achieve relevant learning goals. This experience led Lisa and her students to feel much more positive about teaching and learning in school science. Rather than learning from another, however, “Lisa, the science teacher” learned— to a great extent—from “Lisa, the drama‐based educator.” This finding has implications for science‐phobic teachers and for facilitators of their...

Coping with Uncertainty in Elementary School Science: a case study in collaborative action research

Recent policy documents from the Ontario Ministry of Education have announced a shift towards greater decentralization of the curriculum. Coincident with this announcement is the call for science teachers to present a more authentic view of scientific practice. This article describes how two grade 7 teachers in an Ontario (Canada) school collaborated with a researcher/teacher educator to meet these challenges. The ways in which the teachers changed their views about science and scientific inquiry, the anxieties they experienced and the institutional constraints that impacted on their classroom practice are discussed. Some common pitfalls of action research are identified and some tentative guidelines are advanced for the adoption of action research strategies by central educational authorities wishing to implement new curricula during recessionary times.

Activism! Toward a More Radical Science and Technology Education

What might activism offer science, technology and education? What might science, technology and education offer activism? This chapter provides an introduction to an edited collection exploring these themes. We start by situating assembled responses within contemporary socio-ecological contexts and selected scholarship and practices. We then take up the case for activism as an open question with potentially far-reaching implications for science and technology pedagogies and offer a reading of the following chapters as a more radical complement to existing scholarship in the field. As a basis for greater reflectivity, we then propose four maxims for critical reworking science and technology education praxis; (i) contemporary conditions, (ii) democratic political theory, (iii) subjectivities and agency; and (iv) morals and ethics. The chapter concludes with discussions of partialities and associated tensions, contradictions and limitations, as well as thanking all those involved in bringing this project to fruition.

Counter Cultural Hegemony: Student Teachers’ Experiences Implementing STSE-Activism

In this chapter we outline a study on student teachers’ experiences attempting to implement STSE-activism during a required 1-month practice teaching session at local public secondary schools. We utilized semi-structured interviews and several heuristic survey instruments to collect participants’ beliefs and orientations about: the relationship between science and society; school science; activism; their experiences teaching science during their practicum, including their ability to implement STSE-activism; and what resisted its implementation. Participants demonstrated considerable similarity in their beliefs and orientations to STSE-activism both before and after their practicum, and they described very similar experiences during the practicum. Pre-practicum beliefs and orientations appeared to be highly amenable to teaching STSE-activism. Post-practicum, however, participants expressed considerable skepticism about their ability and desire to teach STSE-activism and demonstrated a growing prioritisation for didactic content-teaching. We suggest these changes may stem from the influence of a hegemonic school science culture participants experienced during their practicum that is resistant to STSE-activism. This culture appears to prioritise knowledge consumption, rather than knowledge production, a characteristic feature of school education influenced by neoliberal values. This culture was described by participants as one that; prioritised teacher-directed content learning and other authoritarian classroom approaches; is seen by the school as necessary to prepare students for university; provides inadequate support for student-led STSE-activism; and includes student who are largely resistant to the open-ended and action oriented educational experiences typically enacted in STSE-activism. We suggest their experiences during practicum aligned student teachers’ practice towards conservative, traditional, neoliberal structures and culture that restricted their agency to implement STSE-activism. If we are to enable school science education that strives to affect sociocultural criticism and change, we believe it is imperative that student teacher education and school experiences are supportive of their attempts to implement STSE-activism.

Utilizing Social Media to Increase Student-Led Activism on STSE Issues

Through Brandon Zoras’ graduate work at OISE on urban boys and science education, he was most interested in papers written on STSE (Science, Technology, Society, and Environment) and social justice in science. Social justice is not always first associated with courses like science, but often is addressed in the social sciences. Nevertheless, many social justice issues are rooted within fields of science; and, ensuring students have some scientific literacy in this regard is critical so they can navigate and understand complex social justice issues. The work of Angela Calabrese Barton and colleagues (e.g., Barton AC, Teaching science for social justice. Teachers College Press, New York, 2003; Barton AC, Tan E, Can J Sci Math Technol Educ 10(3):207–222, 2010), Larry Bencze (e.g., Bencze L, STEPWISE: Science and technology education promoting wellbeing for individuals, societies and environments. Accessed at http://stepwiser.ca, 2013; Bencze L, Bowen M, Alsop S, Sci Educ 90(3):400–419, 2006), Christopher Emdin (e.g., Reality pedagogy and urban science education: Toward a comprehensive understanding of the urban science classroom. In: Fraser B, Tobin K, McRobbie C (eds) Second international handbook of science education. Springer, New York, pp 67–80, 2010; Int J Qual Stud Educ 24(3):285–301, 2011), Wanja Gitari (e.g., Can J Sci Math Technol Educ 9(4):262–275, 2009), and Erminia Pedretti and colleagues (e.g., Sci Educ 17(8):941–960, 2008), had inspired him to get students looking at their own communities for social justice issues that involved science. Focusing on urban education and also teaching in urban schools within Toronto, issues of social justice, equity, and socioeconomic status are important factors to discuss. Having a better understanding of science can lead to better careers, understanding of health diagnosis and power. Through the semester-long apprenticeship and exposure to various types of technology and social media, students reported being able to better understand the STSE issues as well as learning activism strategies that can be applied within their lives. From simple self-advocacy next time they are faced with an issue, to being able to start their own action on an issue, they felt prepared to research and take action.