the classroom practice of a prospective secondary biology teacher

VICENTE MELLADO, MARÍA LUISA BERMEJO, LORENZO J. BLANCO
and CONSTANTINO RUIZ
THE CLASSROOM PRACTICE OF A PROSPECTIVE SECONDARY
BIOLOGY TEACHER AND HIS CONCEPTIONS OF THE NATURE
OF SCIENCE AND OF TEACHING AND LEARNING SCIENCE
Received: 8 June 2006; Accepted: 25 April 2007
ABSTRACT. We describe research carried out with a prospective secondary biology
teacher, whom we shall call Miguel. The teacher_s conceptions of the nature of science
and of learning and teaching science were analyzed and compared with his classroom
practice when teaching science lessons. The data gathering procedures were interviews
analyzed by means of cognitive maps and classroom observations. The results reflected
Miguel_s relativist conceptions of the nature of science that were consistent with his
constructivist orientation in learning and teaching. In the classroom, however, he
followed a strategy of transmission of external knowledge based exclusively on teacher
explanations, the students being regarded as mere passive receptors of that knowledge.
Miguel_s classroom behavior was completely contrary to his conceptions, which were to
reinforce the students_ alternative ideas through debate, and not by means of teacher
explanation.
KEY WORDS: classroom behaviour, conceptions, secondary prospective science teacher
INTRODUCTION
From a constructivist perspective, science teachers are considered as
having conceptions about the nature of science, about scientific concepts,
and about how to learn and teach them (Gil-Pérez, 1993; Hewson &
Hewson, 1989). These conceptions are usually deeply rooted, and a
teacher_s first step in his or her education and professional development
should be to reflect on these conceptions critically and analytically
(Hewson, Tabachnick, Zeichner, & Lemberger, 1999).
In prospective teachers, the conceptions are the fruit of the many years
they themselves spent at school (Gunstone, Slattery, Bair & Northfield,
1993; Gustafson & Rowell, 1995; Young & Kellogg, 1993), and they are
more stable the longer they have been a part of each person_s belief
system (Pajares, 1992). Most of the novice teachers analyzed by
Simmons, Emory, Carter, Coker, Finnegan, Crockett, Richardson et al.
(1999) considered that the best form in which their students can learn
International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education
# National Science Council, Taiwan (2007)
VICENTE MELLADO ET AL.
sciences is the same as they themselves used when they were at school.
Several studies have shown that these conceptions are usually closer to
more teacher- and content-centered transmissive models of teaching than
to models centered on student learning (Garcı́a & Martı́nez, 2001;
Gunstone et al., 1993; Solı́s & Porlán, 2003). Many of the secondary
education science teachers in initial teacher education analyzed by
Martı́nez, Martı́n del Pozo, Rodrigo, Varela, P., Fernández & Guerrero
(2001a) agree with the need to bear the students_ previous ideas in mind,
nonetheless they do not consider that these ideas might be a source of
professional knowledge for the teacher. A characteristic feature of novice
and prospective teachers is that they usually present many contradictions: they may have teacher-centered conceptions, but perceive
themselves as student-centered (Simmons et al., 1999). Tsai (2002a)
analyzed the relationship among 37 secondary science teachers_ beliefs
about teaching science, learning science and the nature of science. He
found less consistency among beliefs in novice than experienced teachers.
It has been assumed for years that teachers_ conceptions and
classroom practice are related. Several studies, however, have found,
that, depending on the teacher and the context, these aspects are often
out of phase with each other, and even contradictory, and that changes in
one are not necessarily accompanied by a change in the rest (de Jong,
Korthagen & Wubbels, 1998; Lederman, 1992; Marx, Freeman, Krajcik
& Blumenfed, 1998; Mellado, Ruiz, Bermejo & Jiménez, 2006; Meyer,
Tabachnick, Hewson, Lemberger & Park, 1999). But even such a change
in conceptions is no guarantee of transfer to the classroom in the form of
a change in teaching practice if the teacher has no access to procedural
skills and practical schemes of action in the classroom (Furió &
Carnicer, 2002; Tobin, 1993).
As to the nature of science, many investigations have found no
relationship between the teachers_ conceptions and their classroom
behaviour, and it is considered that teachers_ classroom behavior is
influenced by many other factors as well as by their conception of the
nature of science (Lederman, 1992). In a case study of three secondary
biology teachers, Benson (1989) found contradictions on analyzing the
relationship between the teachers_ epistemological beliefs and their
classroom practice. The teachers justified the contradictions by
the pressure of classroom situations and of the imposed curriculum.
Brickhouse (1990) studied the relationship between the conceptions of
science of three teachers (two experts and one novice) and their actions
in teaching science in the classroom, noting that the two experts showed
CLASSROOM PRACTICE OF A PROSPECTIVE SECONDARY BIOLOGY TEACHER
greater coherence between conceptions and classroom practice than did
the novice. Lederman (1999) compared the conceptions of the nature of
science and the classroom practice of expert and novice secondary
education biology teachers who had had no prior contact with the
research team, and whose conceptions of science were not positivist
and were consistent with the model of the reform in the USA. The
results showed that the experts had greater consistency between their
classroom practice and their beliefs because they were able to
incorporate teaching decisions and intentions, and developed the skills
needed to convert knowledge into practice. Bell, Lederman & Abd-ElKhalik (2000) analyzed the relationship between the conceptions of the
nature of science and the classroom practice of 13 prospective teachers
of secondary education science. The advanced conceptions that most of
them held were not carried over to the classroom. Neither did they
explicitly refer to the nature of science, whether in planning or in
teaching.
As for learning and teaching science, several studies have found a
relationship between science teachers_ conceptions and their classroom
practice, although other studies have only found a partial relationship,
with frequent contradictions, between educational conceptions and
classroom teaching behavior (Porlán, Martin & Martin, 2002). Bol &
Strage (1996) also found contradictions between the curricular goals of
biology teachers and how those teachers assess their students, where they
tend to emphasize basic knowledge. One explanation of this contradiction is the pressure the students exert on having the cognitive demands of
classroom tasks reduced.
These studies indicated that there was more consistency between
beliefs and classroom practice in experienced teachers than in novice and
prospective teachers who can present remarkable contradictions between
their implicit theories and those they have to expound on. Unlike
experienced teachers, novice and prospective teachers are usually more
traditional in their teaching behavior than the intentions that they express
in their prior conceptions (Freitas, Jiménez & Mellado, 2004; King,
Shumow & Lietz, 2001; Koballa, Glynn & Upson, 2005; Lucas &
Vasconcelos, 2005; Pavón, 1996).
Prospective teachers use pedagogical methods that are very similar to
those they preferred in their own teachers when they were students, or
simply teach in the same way as they themselves were taught (Gustafson
& Rowell, 1995; Gunstone et al., 1993; Huibregtse, Korthagen &
Wubbels, 1994; Tobin, Tippins & Gallard, 1994).
VICENTE MELLADO ET AL.
In previous studies (Mellado, 1997; 1998a), we have found that
prospective science teachers have a personal practical knowledge that
does not always correspond to their explicit conceptions. To transfer
their conceptions to the classroom, as well as academic knowledge these
teachers need the opportunity to plan and teach particular topics, and to
explicitly have available the appropriate techniques and strategies to do
so (Bell et al., 2000). In this sense, Lederman (1999) pointed out that
beginning teachers have to develop a variety of instructional routines and
schemes that allow them to feel comfortable with the organization and
management of instruction.
Personal practical knowledge is generated and evolves from the
teachers_ own knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes, and integrates experiential knowledge, formal knowledge, and personal beliefs (Blanco, 2004;
Van Driel, Beijaard & Veroop, 2001). It requires, however, personal
involvement and reflection, and practice in teaching the specific subject
matter in particular contexts (Jaen & Banet, 2003). This process allows
teachers to reconsider their conceptions and academic knowledge,
modifying or reaffirming them, as well as transforming and integrating
this knowledge into the act of teaching. It is this Bdynamic^ component
which distinguishes expert from novice and prospective teachers, since
over the course of their years of teaching the different components of
knowledge will develop and be integrated into a single structure, forming
the teachers_ personal pedagogical content knowledge (Gess-Newsome
& Lederman, 1993; Mellado, 1997; 1998a).
In this work, we have described the case study of a secondary education
science teacher at the end of his initial education. We have shown in the
antecedents the results of other studies, but we think that there is a need for
further contrasting studies in different contexts to help understand in depth
the relationship between conceptions and classroom practice. The
availability of more cases would allow one to improve initial education
programs in their effect on the holistic evolution of conceptions and
classroom practice, and the development of the Bdynamic^ component.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
The case study that we shall describe is of Miguel, a prospective
secondary education biology teacher. The focus is on the following
research questions:
1. Is the construction of cognitive maps from data taken from interviews
a suitable procedure for the representation of teachers_ conceptions?
CLASSROOM PRACTICE OF A PROSPECTIVE SECONDARY BIOLOGY TEACHER
2. Is there any correspondence between Miguel_s conceptions of the
nature of science, science teaching, and science learning?
3. Do Miguel_s conceptions of science, and of science teaching and
learning, correspond with his actual teaching in the classroom?
4. What conclusions might be drawn with respect to initial teacher
education?
METHODS
We carried out a case-study investigation of the prospective secondary
biology teacher, whom we shall call Miguel. He is a biology graduate
(5 years of university of specific studies basically on biology, with no
pedagogical material). The study was performed during a brief
postgraduate course on education. Miguel was selected for the study
because of his motivation to participate in the research and his notable
ability for expression in the production of qualitative data. In a case
study, the intention is not that the results be generalizable, but that,
with criteria of research reliability and validity (Marcelo & Parrilla,
1991), they can be compared with those of other studies and allow one to
progress in understanding the conceptions and classroom practices of
science teachers.
The data gathering procedures we used to study Miguel_ conceptions
were the questionnaire INPECIP (Inventory of Teacher_ Scientific and
Pedagogical Beliefs), designed and tested by Porlán (1989) at the
University of Seville and the semi-structured interview. The questionnaire
was analyzed by means of cognitive maps (da Silva, Mellado, Ruiz &
Porlán, 2007) and gave us a first approximation to Miguel_s conceptions
about science and its teaching and learning. We used this as a basis in
drafting the interview script. In the present article, we shall centre on the
analysis of the interview.
The semi-structured interview given previously to Miguel consists of
218 questions concerning academic background, the nature of science,
the science teacher, the science curriculum, and the teaching and
learning of science.
To study the behavior of Miguel in the classroom, we used his
personal planning documents, classroom observations during their
videotaped teaching practices, and stimulated recall interviews. Each
lesson was recorded by two video cameras so as to capture both Miguel_s
and the students_ reactions. Then Miguel was subsequently given an
audio-recorded stimulated recall interview, in which he analyzed,
VICENTE MELLADO ET AL.
together with the investigator, his own behavior in the classroom. The
stimulated recall interview has been used in other work to study the
beliefs of science teachers (Yerrick & Hoving, 2003).
Throughout the investigation, Miguel was kept informed about the
analyses and results by the investigator, and was given the opportunity to
comment on the results. The non-participant classroom observation was
made on the subject BEnergy and the Environment^, which, being
interdisciplinary, allowed the teacher to take a specific orientation in
accord with his own educational training and the level of the class.
In a qualitative investigation, the process of analyzing the data is
related simultaneously to its collection, reduction, and representation
(Miles & Huberman, 1984). In the present case, the interview was
analyzed by means of cognitive maps. Concept maps have been
thoroughly validated in numerous studies on science teaching (Cañas,
Novak & González, 2004). Their initial use was for students_ learning,
but there is a growing body of work that defends their use in research
with science and mathematics teachers (Beyerbach & Smith, 1990; Casas
& Luengo, 2004; Gess-Newsome & Lederman, 1993; Powell, 1994).
Tsai (2002b) use concept maps as a way of exploring teacher_s
pedagogical view and her knowledge growth about STS instruction.
Concept maps were also used by Shymansky, Woodworth, Norman,
Dunkhase, Matthews & Liu (1993) to study changes in middle school
teachers_ understanding of a selected science topic, although, as those
authors recognize, maps are difficult to evaluate, for which reason
particular attention has to be paid to the validity of the study. In our case,
the process of validation of maps was carried out by researchers of the
Universities of Seville and Extremadura, comparing teachers_ cognitive
maps from the INPECIP questionnaire with cognitive maps from
interviews, both about nature of science (Mellado, 1997) and teaching
and learning science (Mellado, 1998a; 1998b).
While the concept map has a logical structure accepted socially by the
experts on the topic, the cognitive map is more psychologically
structured, forming an idiosyncratic personal representation. Cognitive
maps relate, in a partially hierarchical form, units of information in a
wider sense than the concepts used in concept maps. The representation
in a cognitive map gives an overall and unfragmented view of each
teacher_s conceptions about different aspects of education. Teachers may
construct their own cognitive maps (Jones & Vesilind, 1995), or this may
be done by an outside researcher based on data obtained from the
teachers (Mellado, Peme-Aranega, Redondo & Bermejo, 2002; Ruiz,
Porlán, da Silva & Mellado, 2005).
CLASSROOM PRACTICE OF A PROSPECTIVE SECONDARY BIOLOGY TEACHER
To construct a map from the interview, each phrase implying a unit of
information was coded, followed by classification into categories
(Barrantes & Blanco, 2006). Then the information units of each category
or subcategory were related graphically forming the cognitive map. For
example, Miguel_s response to question 66 was classified into four
information units: 66.1, 66.2, 66.3 and 66.4.
M-66: Do you believe that the theories obtained at the end of a rigorous
methodological process are a reflection of reality?
Miguel_s answer: [They are a reflection of our reality] 1. Insisting on the foregoing,
[I believe that science often is done the way we like it] 2, [when we are looking for a
theory, what we are looking for is the solution of some problem in particular that
affects us and we want to solve it so that it does not affect us or to know how it is going
to affect us] 3. [Then what we are looking for is that solution, we are not looking for
other possibilities] 4.
For the analysis of the classroom teaching behaviour, several simultaneous viewings were made of the recordings of the teacher and of the
students, noting down the most outstanding aspects and drafting a script
from the two tapes, for the final montage. Later, each lesson was transcribed,
encoded into units of information, and represented graphically and
sequentially. In this analysis, the personal documents contributed by the
teacher in the planning and interactive teaching were also taken into account.
In the following we shall summarize the most relevant results based
on Miguel_s conceptions, including some cognitive maps. The cognitive
maps were drawn up by the researcher, although later they were analyzed
and checked by Miguel. The numbers in cognitive maps correspond to
the codes assigned to each response in the interview.
RESULTS
AND
DISCUSSION
Miguel_s Conceptions
The Science Teacher_s Academic Background and Conceptions. Miguel
has a family background of education, since his father has been a
primary and secondary education teacher, and Miguel regards teaching
as a tough profession with very little social prestige. Miguel would like
to work as a biologist, or in environmental education, although he does
not discard the idea of following a teaching career.
With respect to the professional knowledge necessary to be a teacher,
Miguel_s vision is based more on natural qualities and personal vocation than
on professionalized teacher education. He believes that, to be a teacher, the
VICENTE MELLADO ET AL.
most important things are interest, knowing how to get across to the pupil,
and the desire to teach. He thinks that the teacher is born, not made.
... this is something that you_ve got, like someone who is all thumbs, and is no
use as a mechanic even though he knows every piece of the motor - it is
something that you_ve got in you (Initial Interview (I) 216).
I believe that in many senses the teacher is born, and then can be oriented, modified,
shown other paths. Fundamentally, I would stay with the teacher being born (I-217).
Methods, yes, but I believe that what is important is to get yourself across to the
pupil, then you have to know how to get the pupil to show interest in what you are
explaining (I-53).
For the primary education teacher, he stresses patience above all. For
the secondary education teacher, he stresses knowledge of sciences,
including the history of science. He also considers experience as a
teacher to be very important.
I believe that [experience as a teacher] is very important. He is the one who can
have his methods, who can vary them according to the result with the pupils. It is
him who is going to live them, and logically he is living an experience, and, as
we said, it is experience from which most is learned (I-211).
In his own case, as he has no experience as a teacher, he believes that his
experience when he himself was a pupil influences his teaching methods.
[What most has influenced me] I guess is the experience that I lived as a pupil,
because as a teacher really I have not had any. The experience that you might
have talked about or that people might have told you about, that I guess is what
most [...], often you don_t know the reason why of some things (I-208).
Miguel particularly recalls his secondary education biology teacher.
He believes that this teacher had a great influence on his development of
a liking for the subject. He remarks especially on her laboratory practical
classes and her use of current news items as a basis for debate in class.
Before beginning at university, Miguel did his last school year in
Norway. From this experience, he highlights the numerous field trips, the
dynamics of the classes, and the debates in class for the pupils to be able
to contribute their ideas.
Miguel also believes that it could well happen that the novice teacher
sets out with good intentions for the class, but that classroom reality
makes him return to traditional methods:
The teacher comes with some schemes that are very utopian, and then at the hour of
truth realizes that it is impossible, and just applies the simplest method of theory and
exams (I-139.3).
CLASSROOM PRACTICE OF A PROSPECTIVE SECONDARY BIOLOGY TEACHER
Scientific
knowledge
and there
exist no
Subjective
Rational criteria
82 & 90
New problems
68
New hypotheses
The culture
and
since they
depend on
93.5 &
95.2
Subjective
and it advances
through
that generate
to decide
Scientific theories
64 &
65.2
since our interpretation
varies according to
62 & 63
62 & 63
is
that they solve (67)
64 &
65.2
86
New theories
Figure 1. Miguel_s cognitive map of scientific knowledge
Another aspect analyzed was of the metaphors with which Miguel
identified the secondary education science teacher. For Miguel, the
teacher is like a friend, a guide, or a counselor of the pupils:
A friend maybe, a guide, not to keep them on the path, but to give them ideas so
that they can decide (I-195).
Conception of the Nature of Science. With respect to the nature of
scientific knowledge, Miguel showed a lack of previous reflection on this
aspect, and he recognized not having dealt before with aspects of the
philosophy of science.
Most of Miguel_s responses to the questionnaire reflect an orientation
that is basically in accord with the new philosophy of science. However,
in a completely contradictory manner, Miguel also expressed agreement
with the item that presents the objectivity of science as being based on
the existence of a scientific method with certain pre-set and orderly
steps, in particular the sequence observation-hypothesis-experimentconstruction of theories.
These responses are nuanced, and in some cases varied, in the interview. We agree with Lederman & O_Malley (1990) that questionnaires
VICENTE MELLADO ET AL.
give simplified results for which it is necessary to complete with other
methods.
In the interview Miguel saw scientific knowledge as having the same
status as other knowledge. He defended a relativist posture towards
science which is close to Feyerabend_s (1975). He saw science as culture
dependent and believed that there are no universal demarcation criteria
(Figure 1).
When he referred to true theories, it was only in the relative sense that
they fitted certain facts, but always within a context of subjectivity. His
view was that scientific theories change with time, and are ideal models
that reflect a subjective reality since everybody interprets things from
their own perspective.
If Miguel had to choose between opposing scientific theories, it would
be the one that solves most problems, since this is a fundamental aspect
of science. He also thought that it is the appearance of new problems and
does not ensure
The scientific method
Objectivity
56 & 70
The empiricist
scientific method
following
following
Other
methods
which start
out from
in which
Experiments
serve as
76, 77
& 79
66.3
& 71
73
Previous ideas and
preconceptions
The existence of a
problem
and seek
Confirmation
66.4
A solution
72 & 75
Hypotheses are formulated
that
condition
66, 72
& 75
Researcher
72
Observation
Figure 2. Miguel_s cognitive map of scientific method
CLASSROOM PRACTICE OF A PROSPECTIVE SECONDARY BIOLOGY TEACHER
needs which causes scientific knowledge to advance, as indicated by
Laudan (1977).
In questions of methodology (Figure 2), Miguel was critical of the
empiricist scientific method, even though he himself held to belief in
some of its features. He considered that the basic thing in science is the
existence of problems for which solutions have to be found, and that the
method will depend on each particular set of circumstances. This
position was consistent with his relativist orientation. For Miguel,
scientific research arises because there exist problems to be solved and
research is the attempt to solve them; new hypotheses are generated in
accordance with those that went before, and with the researcher_s
preconceptions which condition the observations that are made.
Conception of Science Learning. In the case of science learning,
Miguel_s orientation was markedly constructivist, both in the questionnaire and in the interview.
Miguel repeatedly declared throughout the interview that pupils did
not start out from scratch but held spontaneous ideas about many natural
phenomena. He considered that these ideas were formed in the pupil_s
mind by association, and criticized the rote learning that was frequently
applied in schools, without relating or applying the content, and therefore
should not be
Learning science
The pupils' ideas about
natural phenomena
formed by
108.1
Association
113
Learn by
themselves
is improved if the pupils
should start
out from
107 & 109
110 & 112.1
By rote
116,
121.1
& 143
If they are
interested in
what they
learn
104,
114,
156.2
105,
117,
&
115 &
118.1, 158.2
118.1
If they relate If they apply
what is new
it to
with their
different
previous
situations
knowledge
141.3
if they have
a good
atmosphere
in the
classroom
then there will be
156
Assimilation
Figure 3. Miguel_s conception of learning science
VICENTE MELLADO ET AL.
without there being any assimilation. Science is learnt better if the pupils
learn for themselves, if they are interested in what they learn and
motivated by it, if there is a good atmosphere in the classroom, and above
all if they relate what they learn with what they already know and apply it
to different situations (Figure 3).
Miguel reflected a constructivist orientation to learning as active
construction based on the pupils_ existing ideas and relating new
knowledge with what the pupil already knows. He regarded pupils_
ideas as true alternative theories with the same epistemological value as
those of the school curriculum.
Conception of Science Teaching. His responses to the questionnaire
show a fundamentally constructivist view of science teaching.
In the interview, consistent with his conception of learning, Miguel said
that he thought that the teacher_s job is not to change the pupils_ ideas, but
to help them reinforce and justify those ideas by themselves (Figure 4).
Miguel rejected planning by goals, and defended planning by content,
which should take the children_s existing knowledge into account. In
accordance with his intention to start from the basis of the pupils_ own
Science teaching in
the classroom
must
begin by
discovering
111
Dialogue with
the pupils
and later
109
How they are
formed
through
109 & 132
Uncovering the pupils'
intuitive ideas
146.2
&
151.2
so that
Debating
the pupils
the ideas
153
152.1
Awaken their Express
critical spirit their ideas
and
and
149.3
& 159
Are consistent
with those ideas
152.1
See the variety
of ideas
in no
case
146.1
&
150.1
Telling a pupil
that he or she is
wrong
152.1
Understand the
ideas of others
Figure 4. Miguel_s conception of teaching science
CLASSROOM PRACTICE OF A PROSPECTIVE SECONDARY BIOLOGY TEACHER
ideas, he would commence the teaching sequence by attempting to
discover what are these pre-existing ideas by way of questions, examples,
anecdotes, etc., which would also have the purpose of motivation. Miguel
believed that pupils should debate their ideas in class to reinforce and
justify their thoughts, and the teacher_s explanation should not be for the
purpose of rebuttal, but to contribute a further element to the debate.
He recalled that when he was a student most primary and secondary
science teachers followed a sequence of traditional transmissive
instruction: explain, go through exercises of applications, and ask
questions. The main and (in most cases, only) resource that teachers
used was the textbook. He stated that his ideas about the science teacher
or about the teaching and learning of science were formed principally
from his own experiences as a student in school, from what he himself
had lived, and that these ideas had been changed very little by his
university education. He believed that the most important thing for being
a teacher, and hence to know how to teach, was that the teacher likes
teaching. For Miguel, teachers learn by themselves to teach, taking as
referents their experience when they were school students and, above all,
their own practical experience in teaching. Except in his practice
teaching, Miguel considered that his university education had had little
influence on his learning to teach.
Doing problems in class has little importance for Miguel. He
associates school-level problems with the pencil and paper exercises
that he did during his own school years as applications of theory. He
would use these exercises as confirmation of the theory, and would
correct incorporating the pupils_ participation. In contrast, he gives far
more importance to practical activities in the classroom, in the
laboratory, and in field trips (Figure 5).
Miguel_s conception of problems and practical activities is closely
related to his own secondary education school experiences. He recalls
that his life sciences teachers used the laboratory and field trips more,
while the method of his physics and chemistry teachers was to explain
the lesson and then do problems involving application of the formulas.
Miguel_s conceptions of science teaching were closely related to his
conceptions of science learning.
Miguel_s Classroom Behaviour
Planning. Analysis of the personal documents showed that Miguel
planned by conceptual contents. The key concept expressed in the
planning was the degradation of energy. Neither procedures nor attitudes
VICENTE MELLADO ET AL.
163
that can be carried out
Practical activities
such as
163
Field trips
should be
guided by
165
Classroom
practicals
163
&
165
Laboratory
169
&
170
The teacher
as
but giving
the pupils
since it is difficult for
the pupils to use
169.2
A scientific
method
164
At the
beginning
164
Integrated
with the
theory
164
At the end
164.2
Motivation
170
Options
so that they
161
161& 162
Discover
Design their
possibilities
own sequence
Figure 5. Miguel_s conceptions about practical work
were taken into account. He explicitly did not formally plan the
presentation of the class, only mentally planning that he would draw
graphs and diagrams on the board, and that he would show a series of
slides that he had prepared previously. In the final stimulated recall
interview, he noted that the fundamental goal of these classes was that
the pupils should learn the concept of degradation.
As the topic was FEnergy and the Environment_, I approached it from the
standpoint of how energy flows through an ecosystem. What I wanted them to get
was that energy is progressively lost as it advances through a trophic chain. Like,
not all the energy that is received is transformed or used, but rather that energy
gets split up and only a very small part passes along to the next stage (Stimulated
Recall Interview).
As was pointed out by Lederman & Gess-Newsome (1991) and
Wallace & Louden (1992), Miguel did not make an explicit plan of the
form in which to present the class, although he said he kept it in mind
(Pavón, 1996). Miguel_s planning does not correspond to his preconceptions since he just tries to transmit content without taking into account
whether it is suited to the pupils_ ideas and knowledge.
Other studies coincide in noting that novice science teachers plan
almost exclusively by conceptual content (Aguaded, Jiménez & Wamba,
1998). A greater emphasis on developing activities that foster the
learning of processes could be an indicator that the teacher is beginning
to change toward more innovative orientations (Bartholomew &
Osborne, 2004; Martı́nez-Losada & Garcı́a-Barros, 2005).
CLASSROOM PRACTICE OF A PROSPECTIVE SECONDARY BIOLOGY TEACHER
The Content of the Topic. In the classroom observations, Miguel centered
the lessons around the relationship between energy and living beings. He
identified it exclusively with conceptual scientific knowledge. The
content_s logical structure was given more importance than its
psychological structure for the pupils_ learning. Also, there was far too
much content to actually cover in class. The physical principal binding
the content together was the degradation of energy. The principal of
conservation of energy was not explicitly formulated. The pedagogical
treatment of the concept of energy was descriptive based on its forms
and effects, not on the definition of mechanical work.
There are advantages in this approach, both scientific (Feynman, 1971)
and educational (Mellado, 1998b). In the final interview, he confirmed
that he is not a great supporter of definitions.
I am no friend of definitions. So I tell them the definitions that exist on energy, and I
comment to them that energy is not defined by what it is, but by what it does. Really,
there is no definition of energy, from my point of view (Stimulated Recall Interview).
Other work (Barak, Gorodetsky & Chipman, 1997) has shown that, in
the context of biology subjects, the pupils- and some teachers- have
difficulty in applying the principal of the conservation of energy. Also
Trumper (1997) notes that biology undergraduates have more difficulty
in understanding this principal than physics undergraduates.
Nature of Science. In the classroom, Miguel presented a closed view of
scientific knowledge, restricting himself to transmitting a pre-prepared
body of knowledge. In the classroom, he reflected an epistemological
absolutism concerning knowledge that ran completely counter to his
relativist conception of science.
As was the case with the teachers studied by Jiménez and Wamba
(2003), school-level knowledge for Miguel was unique and nonnegotiable.
Science Learning. His intentions, as manifested in his preconceptions,
would be to start out on the basis of the pupils_ intuitive ideas, which for
him were true alternative theories. In the classroom, however, he did not
make any systematic individualized diagnosis of the children_s ideas, so
that it was difficult to start from these ideas and monitor the learning
individually.
In the classroom, Miguel does not take the pupils_ previous ideas into
account for their learning. His initial questions fulfil more a purpose of
motivation and encouragement to participate than being a step in the
VICENTE MELLADO ET AL.
constructivist strategy. In the final stimulated recall interview, he
remarks:
I wanted to make the class more dynamic, with them discovering the topic. Also,
doing that takes more time... and does not leave you time to give them more stuff
(Stimulated Recall Interview).
Miguel thinks that the drawback of asking the pupils questions is that
it takes up a lot of time - time that is taken away from the transmission of
content. As Neale, Smith & Wier (1987) have indicated, novice teachers
think more in overall terms about the class as a group than as
differentiated into individuals.
Miguel_s classroom behavior with respect to learning is contrary to his
previous conceptions which had a basically constructivist orientation.
Science Teaching. In the classroom Miguel followed a strategy of
transmission of external knowledge, with little pupil participation and
based exclusively on teacher explanations backed up with the blackboard
and slides packed with information. In Miguel_s classroom, the pupils
were regarded as mere passive receptors of external knowledge, contrary
to his preconception of science teaching.
His rhythm was very fast, with scarcely any pauses, so that assimilation
was difficult for the pupils. For him, completion of all the programmed
content was more important than the pupils_ learning. On viewing his own
behavior in the classroom, he recognized that he had given too much content.
Miguel_s questions, which are usually of a low cognitive level, do not
involve the pupils, so that they take actually hardly any part at all in the
proceedings. For example, he ends explanations with the expressions
BOk?^ or BIs that clear?^ When he puts a direct question and a pupil
answers, Miguel closes the sequence by reinforcing or refuting the
pupil_s reply, but without giving them any possibility to make any
further comments on the question. In the final interview, Miguel himself
recognized that he cut the pupils off when they were contributing to the
topic because he was in a rush to complete the content, and that he
should have encouraged their participation more. He also blamed the
lack of time, for in some cases his explanations not having been
presented less hurriedly, or that he had not given the class a brief recap
of what they had covered in each session.
If you want to cover everything and you see that you are running behind time,
you speed up and don_t stop so much (Stimulated Recall Interview).
CLASSROOM PRACTICE OF A PROSPECTIVE SECONDARY BIOLOGY TEACHER
...
(Miguel) There, I should have stopped, and I should have given a quick
summary of what we had seen that day, so as to keep them on focus.
(Interviewer) You alone, or with the pupils?
(Miguel) With them. The problem is time. If you start thinking that you won_t
have time, that_s when you rush... (Stimulated Recall Interview).
The lack of time was also regarded as an insurmountable obstacle by
the novice science teachers analyzed by de Pro, Valcárcel & Sánchez,
(2005).
Numerous studies have pointed out the relationship between metaphors
and the classroom practice of science teachers (Powell, 1994; Ritchie, 1994;
Tobin et al., 1994). Metaphors serve to express teachers_ roles and affect
their teaching practice in the classroom (Tobin & Fraser, 1989). In the
present case, there is a total contradiction between Miguel_s teacher_s
metaphor, as a guide, and his classroom behaviour.
Miguel_s classroom instructional sequence was completely contrary to
his conceptions, which were to reinforce the pupils_ alternative ideas
through debate, and not by means of teacher explanation (Figure 6).
This pre-service teacher has no procedural skills or practical schemes
of action in the classroom. As he does not have the pedagogical content
knowledge to teach, he was incapable of transferring his conceptions to
the classroom, and ended up using the traditional transmissive teaching
model that most of his own teachers used when he himself was at
school.
Despite having complete freedom in the lessons that were analyzed to
choose the content, activities, and teaching strategies, resources, and
materials, Miguel did not manage to transfer to the classroom his own
beliefs on science and on teaching/learning. In the final interview,
carried out while viewing the video of the classes, he recognized that
novice teachers start out with very utopian ideas, but when confronted
with the reality of the classroom they end up using the traditional
transmissive method, centered on explaining the theory and examinations. They find this simpler, and it creates less insecurity for them
(Pavón, 1996).
After reading the final document on his case, and being asked about
the disparity between his conceptions and his practice in the classroom,
Miguel replied that in the classroom you end up becoming part of Bthe
system^, using the same teaching strategies that had been used when you
had been a pupil yourself.
VICENTE MELLADO ET AL.
Conceptions about the
instructional sequence
Classroom instructional
sequence
Motivation
Isolated questions
Questions
Debate
Teacher’s explanation
as one more element
in the lesson
Explanation
Reaffirmation of students’
ideas (no conceptual change)
Figure 6. Comparison between Miguel_s prior conception of the instructional sequence
and his classroom practice
CONCLUSIONS
The first conclusion, of a methodological nature, is that we believe
cognitive maps to be an acceptable procedure not only to give an overall
and inter-related representation of interview data, but also as an
instrument to help teachers reflect on their conceptions. The analyses
of their own cases can be an excellent resource to help prospective and
novice teachers reflect on their knowledge, beliefs, and practice, and to
reconstruct their theories and strategies of science teaching (Tobin, Roth
& Zimmerman, 2001).
With respect to Miguel_s conceptions, there existed great coherence
between those on the nature of science and those on science teaching and
learning. His relativist conception of the nature of science is consistent
with his basically constructivist conception of science teaching/learning.
In the classroom, he follows a traditional-transmissive strategy of
teaching based on the teacher_s verbal explanations with the pupils being
mere passive receptors of external knowledge (Figure 7).
Miguel_s classroom behavior is closer to traditional models of the
teaching and learning of science than to his preconceptions. His
markedly transmissive teaching strategy in the classroom was inconsistent with his relativist prior conception of the nature of science. Neither
CLASSROOM PRACTICE OF A PROSPECTIVE SECONDARY BIOLOGY TEACHER
Preconceptions
Nature of science
Learning science
Teaching science
Relativism
Relativist
constructivism
Relativist
constructivism
Classroom
pratice
Epistemological
absolutism
Students as passive
receptors
Transmission of
knowledge
Figure 7. Comparison between Miguel_s prior conceptions and his classroom practice
was there any consistency between his constructivist conceptions about
science teaching/learning and his classroom practice (Figure 7).
One of the major causes of this situation was that the instruction
Miguel received as a biology undergraduate was centered on knowledge
of the subject itself, without any knowledge of science education, and
there was no relationship to the practical classroom knowledge required
when actually giving a science lesson. Miguel_s initial teacher education
has not helped him generate his own pedagogical content knowledge in
the classroom, and may have acted as an obstacle against the transfer of
his beliefs into the classroom (de Pro, Valcárcel & Sánchez, 2005). In
Spain, initial secondary teacher education is centered on knowledge of
the material to be taught, with just a little pedagogical knowledge and
some teaching practice tacked on at the end. Like Miguel, many Spanish
graduates who attend postgraduate secondary education courses regard
teaching as a second-order career option (Martı́nez, Garcı́a & Mondelo,
1993; de Pro et al., 2005). This academic model is not the most
appropriate, not even for the scientific content itself. It is neither oriented
towards teaching nor is it particularly relevant to it, and the courses
areusually presented in a form that is atomized, static, and with no
overall vision (Hewson et al., 1999; Lemberger, Hewson & Park, 1999).
Moreover, they take no account of the difference between the structure
of the academic discipline and that of learning (Gess-Newsome &
Lederman, 1995). With their pedagogical education being so sparse, the
future teachers_ classroom practice will be decisively influenced by the
methods of their instruction in scientific content (Gess-Newsome, 1999).
At university, hardly any attention is paid to the pedagogical education
of the future secondary teacher. Indeed one finds fairly commonplace,
the simplistic conception that teaching is easy, and that to be a teacher it
is enough to have knowledge of the material to be taught, experience,
VICENTE MELLADO ET AL.
common sense, and innate personal qualities (Gil-Pérez, Beléndez,
Martı́n & Martı́nez, 1991; Perales, 1998).
We believe that initial teacher education has to integrate academic
knowledge, personal conceptions, and practical knowledge, and contribute to the prospective teachers_ generating their own pedagogical content
knowledge. Since propositional academic knowledge is not transferred
directly into practice (Bryan & Abell, 1999), teacher education has to
provide students with the opportunity (via a metacognitive process of
reflection) of becoming aware of their own conceptions, attitudes, and
classroom practice when they are teaching their particular subject matter.
They will then be able to self-regulate and re-structure these facets of
their teaching, and progressively develop a personal teaching model
(Jaen & Banet, 2003; Sanmartı́, 2001).
Since the science teaching referents for prospective teachers are the
teachers that they themselves had in their school years, teacher educators
must be careful that the methods they actually apply in initial teacher
education are consistent with the theoretical models that they present to
their students (Adamson, Bank, Burtch, Cox, Judson, Turley, Benford
et al. 2003; Mellado, Blanco & Ruiz, 1998). Otherwise, the prospective
teachers will learn more from what they see done in class than from what
they are told ought to be done (Stoddart, Connell, Stofflett & Peck,
1993). Practice teaching in initial teacher education and in initiation to
teaching has to be an essential component in the development of a
personal teaching model. It is at these stages that teaching strategies and
routines are established that will later be very resistant to change. The
tutor in practice teaching is a powerful role model for these future
teachers, and can exert a major influence on the direction of their future
professional development (Bailey, Scantlebury & Johnson, 1999;
Hewson et al., 1999).
The metaphors with which Miguel identified the secondary education
science teacher were as a friend, a guide, or a counselor of the pupils.
For Tobin & Tippins (1996), metaphors may be regarded as a source of
reflection, and as Bseeds^ that Bwill germinate^ into new ideas and
knowledge. Metaphors have a major affective component since teachers
construct them on the basis of personal experience Mellado et al., 2006).
An important aspect of educational change that is supported by many
studies of science teachers (Martı́nez, Sauleda & Huber, 2001b; Tobin
et al., 1994) is that these teachers make changes in their conceptions and
educational practices when they are able to construct new roles by way
of a process of critical reflection at the same time as adopting or
constructing new metaphors that are compatible with the changes.
CLASSROOM PRACTICE OF A PROSPECTIVE SECONDARY BIOLOGY TEACHER
Miguel_s metaphors (associated with constructivist models of teaching)
have major potential for subsequent development.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This work was financed by Research Projects BSO2003-03603 and
SEJ2006-04175 of the Ministry of Education and Science (Spain) and
European Regional Development Fund (ERDF).
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Vicente Mellado, Lorenzo J. Blanco and Constantino Ruiz
Department Science and Mathematics of Education
Faculty of Education
University of Extremadura
06071, Badajoz, Spain
E-mail: [email protected]
Marı́a Luisa Bermejo
Department Psychology and Sociology of Education
Faculty of Education
University of Extremadura
06071, Badajoz, Spain