Xavier Fazio

EXPLORING TEACHER CANDIDATES’ ASSESSMENT LITERACY: IMPLICATIONS FOR TEACHER EDUCATION REFORM AND PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

This study examined the assessment literacy of primary/junior teacher candidates in all four years of their concurrent program. Candidates from each year of the program completed a survey pertaining to self ‐ described level of assessment literacy, main purposes of assessment, utilization of different assessment methods, need for further training, and suggested methods for promoting assessment literacy in university and practice teaching settings. Levels of self ‐ efficacy remained relatively low for teacher candidates across each of the four years of this program. Most candidates suggested summative purposes for assessment and only a minority expressed formative purposes. They favoured observational techniques and personal communication. Key words: classroom assessment; preservice education Cette etude porte sur la capacite d’evaluation chez les etudiants en pedagogie durant les quatre annees de leur programme de formation a l’enseignement au primaire et au premier cycle du secondaire. Des etudiants de chaque annee du programme ont rempli un questionnaire portant sur les sujets suivants : auto ‐ estimation de leur aptitude a l’evaluation, buts principaux des evaluations, utilisation de diverses methodes d’evaluation, besoin d’une formation plus poussee et suggestion de methodes pouvant aider a perfectionner l’aptitude a l’evaluation a l’universite et lors de stages pedagogiques. Les repondants dans chacune des annees du programme estimaient que leur capacite d’evaluation etait relativement faible. La plupart ont parle d’evaluations sommatives et seulement une minorite, d’evaluations formatives. Les repondants favorisaient les techniques d’observation et les communications personnelles. Mots cles : evaluation des eleves, formation a l’enseignement

Experience and Reflection: Preservice Science Teachers’ Capacity for Teaching Inquiry

In this article, we investigate the relationship between preservice teachers’ inquiry experience and their capacity to reflect on the challenges involved in implementing inquiry into classrooms. For data, we draw on the personal narratives of preservice science teachers enrolled in science instruction courses. Preservice teachers with extensive inquiry experiences perceive implementation challenges principally in terms of teaching and student learning. This contrasts with the perceptions of preservice teachers with limited inquiry experience for whom the main concerns relate to the negative perceptions of others, time, the curriculum, and materials. By identifying these perceptions, it may be possible to develop courses that assist limited and moderate-experience preservice teachers’ move toward the perceptions of their more inquiry experienced colleagues.

The Problematic Nature of the Practicum: A Key Determinant of Pre-service Teachers’ Emerging Inquiry-Based Science Practices

This article disseminates findings from a multi-year study regarding secondary preservice science teachers’ perceptions toward inquiry-based science teaching, and the extent these perceptions are augmented by their practicum. While findings indicated that preservice teachers did improve their understanding and capability of using scientific inquiry due to their methods course, the role of practicum in supporting their newly developed perceptions was problematic. Issues ranging from associate teacher subjugation, availability of resources, time constraints, and the need to address curriculum standards were the most commonly cited reasons for preservice teachers’ difficulty in creating an inquiry-based environment during their practicum. Implications are presented highlighting the importance of practicum experiences as a key determinant of pre-service science teachers’ emerging inquiry-based science views and practices.

Scoping review of complexity theory in health services research

BackgroundThere are calls for better application of theory in health services research. Research exploring knowledge translation and interprofessional collaboration are two examples, and in both areas, complexity theory has been identified as potentially useful. However, how best to conceptualize and operationalize complexity theory in health services research is uncertain. The purpose of this scoping review was to explore how complexity theory has been incorporated in health services research focused on allied health, medicine, and nursing in order to offer guidance for future application. Given the extensiveness of how complexity theory could be conceptualized and ultimately operationalized within health services research, a scoping review of complexity theory in health services research is warranted.MethodsA scoping review of published research in English was conducted using CINAHL, EMBASE, Medline, Cochrane, and Web of Science databases. We searched terms synonymous with complexity theory.ResultsWe included 44 studies in this review: 27 were qualitative, 14 were quantitative, and 3 were mixed methods. Case study was the most common method. Long-term care was the most studied setting. The majority of research was exploratory and focused on relationships between health care workers. Authors most commonly used complexity theory as a conceptual framework for their study. Authors described complexity theory in their research in a variety of ways. The most common attributes of complexity theory used in health services research included relationships, self-organization, and diversity. A common theme across descriptions of complexity theory is that authors incorporate aspects of the theory related to how diverse relationships and communication between individuals in a system can influence change.ConclusionComplexity theory is incorporated in many ways across a variety of research designs to explore a multitude of phenomena.. Although complexity theory shows promise in health services research, particularly related to relationships and interactions, conceptual confusion and inconsistent application hinders the operationalization of this potentially important perspective. Generalizability from studies that incorporate complexity theory is, therefore, difficult. Heterogeneous conceptualization and operationalization of complexity theory in health services research suggests there is no universally agreed upon approach of how to use this theory in health services research. Future research should include clear definitions and descriptions of complexity and how it was used in studies. Clear reporting will aid in determining how best to use complexity theory in health services research.

Teacher development using group discussion and reflection

This article presents outcomes from a study of science teachers participating in a collaborative action research project. A case study methodology was used to describe and analyze effectively the views and practices of teachers participating in this project. Through group discussion and reflection with other participants, the teachers discussed and critiqued current practices, clarified action research questions, and explained and evaluated their students’ activities. From these discussions emerged collaborative and communal reflection which helped promote problem‐solving and dialogical thinking, and resulted in teachers’ views changing from the contextual particulars of their local school to a more systematic awareness of their curricular actions. At the same time, these reflective experiences exposed teachers’ personal tensions related to implementing their action research plans. The idea of using group discussion and reflection as a strategy to prompt perceptual restructuring of teachers’ experiences to promote teacher development is presented.

Science teacher development through collaborative action research

This article explores the views and actions of four science teachers participating in a collaborative action research project. A qualitative case study approach was used to describe and analyze the development of these teachers. This development initially involved the teachers critically comparing their extant practices to current developments in science curriculum, teaching and learning. From this iterative and reflective process, the teachers proceeded to implement curricular changes and reflect again on their modified curricular practices. The authors’ analysis of the data suggests that all participants had augmented their personal understanding of both scientific inquiry and the nature of science, and had also developed socially and professionally. Implications for the value of collaborative action research in promoting teacher development are presented.

Relationship Matters: Negotiating and Maintaining Partnerships in a Unique Teacher Education Program.

Abstract Teacher education has evolved into a cooperative responsibility shared by universities and schools. Given the recent emphasis on educational reform, the impetus has been to dismantle conventional and insular approaches to teacher preparation and so establish school-university partnerships. This article explores the relationship development, maintenance, and relational intricacies of a Canadian school-university partnership—specifically, how the Faculty of Education at Brock University has built a conceptual bridge between the university, the partner districts, and the individual schools. The article also examines the concepts of leadership in teacher education, learning groups, ethics of care within community, and the nature of individual contributions to the learning group. Collectively, the partnership and the resulting preparation program within this collaborative venture provide an alternative model with important considerations for other universities and school systems that are interested in fostering effective partnerships.

Educating-Within-Place: Care, Citizen Science, and EcoJustice

We bring to the academic debate on place-based education (PBE – science), ecojustice, and indigenous knowledge a distinctly different perspective on the relationship between humans and their world. While contemporary conceptions of place tend to reinforce modern distinctions between subject and object, our conception of place, founded upon being, attempts to ameliorate these binary distinctions. Within the literature on PBE a variety of conceptions of place extend influence over the movement. The natural realm, that is, a physical location, orients early conceptions of place. Gradually, the veneer of the cultural realm has extended influence over place to include community. Presently, a sophisticated cultural realm considering complex social and political factors has extended place meaning. The literature review indicates little consideration of place from the ontological perspective. Our work explores the ontological realm through the philosophy of hermeneutic phenomenology – a philosophy premised upon human relationship with the world. Place conceptions inclusive of the ontological and the resulting influence they have on PBE movements have the potential to replace a traditional and prevailing form of knowledge as representation with a view of knowledge as a subspecies of a kind of thoughtful dealing with the world capitalizing on transcendent experiences with nature and our primordial capacity for care.

Negotiating the constraints of schools: environmental education practices within a school district

The purpose of this study was to explore environmental education (EE) practices within elementary and secondary schools. Using complementary mixed-methods (survey and focus groups), we detail these practices in schools (n = 58) within one school district. Our findings are categorized according to classroom teaching conditions affecting EE, and whole-school perspectives of the supports and resources for EE in these schools. Our analyses reveal that while typical normative teaching and cultural constraints of schools are still evident (e.g. curriculum standards, school-level organization), there are identifiable practices involving administrators and teachers negotiating these challenges due to their personal commitment to schools and the environment. In particular was a provincial environmental certification program called Ecoschools supporting environmental educators’ initiatives at their respective schools. We conclude with a discussion of recommendations based on an interpretation of our findings in relation to the school reform literature on how to enhance EE in schools and propose future research opportunities.

Formação inicial de professores de ciências na austrália, brasil e canadá: uma análise exploratória

A principal justificativa para estudos comparativos em Educacao e a promocao de um entendimento regional, local, por meio de analises e cooperacao internacional. Na area do ensino de ciencias, existem poucas investigacoes na formacao de professores numa perspectiva internacional. Baseado nessa perspectiva, este artigo vem contribuir mostrando uma analise comparativa dos programas de formacao de professores de ciencias para o Ensino Fundamental em tres diferentes contextos: Australia, Brasil e Canada. Apresenta-se uma analise qualitativa das similaridades e diferencas por meio da comparacao da politica de certificacao de professores de ciencias e das exigencias das instituicoes formadoras numa especifica jurisdicao de cada pais. Por meio dessa analise, identifica-se um numero coerente de similaridades, destacando-se os mecanismos de funcionamento e as estruturas comuns que dao suporte aos programas de formacao nas tres realidades estudadas. Os resultados apresentados sao importantes para futuros estudos comparativos na formacao de professores de ciencias.