Using Narrative to Construct Personal Theories of Teaching Science Among Pre-Service Teachers: Cross-Curricular Convergencies and Implications.

Presentation at the American Education Research Association, Seattle, WA, April 12, 2001

Presenters:

Robert W. Blake, Jr., Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Elementary Education/Science Education
Towson University
8000 York Road
Towson, MD 21252

Brett E. Blake, Ph.D., Assistant Professor
TESOL/Literacy
School of Education
Adelphi University
Garden City, NY 11530

Jennifer A. Tinsley
Department of Science and Mathematics
Magnolia Middle School
Harford County, MD

Purpose and Overview of The Interactive Symposium

            The purpose of this interactive symposium is to present research on the cross-curricular implications of using narrative as a tool in helping both students and teachers to construct personal theories of learning, particularly in the teaching and learning of science.  The first presenter, through an ethnographic study of what Ayers (1997) calls “multiply-marginalized” adolescents in literacy classrooms, will discuss the potential curricular convergences of using narrative among these students with that of using narrative to construct knowledge among teachers and students in science.  The second presenter will discuss how pre-service teachers, in general, construct personal theories of science as they struggle between theory and the actual classroom.  The final presenter will share her own struggles and successes as a pre-service teacher learning to construct these personal theories through the use of narrative, relating her experiences to the realities of the science classroom.  Finally, the discussant will summarize the presenters’ research and pose questions/dilemmas/challenges to the audiences to stimulate discussion.  Interaction among symposium participants is critical and is intended to allow for multiple voices to be heard, and for multiple narratives around the topic to be created.

Paper I: Using Narrative as a Tool for Constructing Identity and Knowledge: Cross-Curricular Implications from Language and Literacy to Science.

Objective:  The purpose of this paper is two-fold.  First, it examines and describes the importance of using narrative to capture the stories of ESL students as they created knowledge around literacy and language learning.  Second, it discusses the curricular implications for converging our knowledge of successfully using narrative in literacy education to that of science education.

Perspective:  Throughout the twentieth century, a sharp demarcation of the natural sciences and the social sciences from other disciplines has resulted in an explicit rejection of the use of narrative and personal theories in creating knowledge in fields such as linguistics, philosophy, and science.  In science education, in particular, an analytic, didactic “application-of theory model” has prevailed (Wells, 1996).  And yet, individuals create and express meaning through stories; through the construction and reconstruction of their lives through their own narratives.  Narratives are found where people exchange stories, where the, “read and talk collectively of ambitions, and possibilities, and accomplishments (Heilburn, 1988).  Through stories, individuals may find a rediscovery of their own selves—and the interconnectedness among the many aspects of their selves—gaining self-knowledge, as well as creating new knowledge.  Narrative, too, has potential power for those who have been silenced, as the expression of their own voices can lead to new theories and ways of applying these new theories to practice in the classroom (Blake, 1997, 1998).

Methodology and Data Source:  This study situates the lives and stories of both urban girls and incarcerated adolescents in a larger context of feminist inquiry embedded within critical race theory.  Central to this approach is a focus on voice, silence, reflection, and action (Belenky, 1986; Blake, 1997; Brown & Gilligan, 1992; Rogers, 1993); notions that could not be completely captured and expressed by feminist inquiry alone.  Rather, the analysis of how deeply and profoundly race, ethnicity, class, and gender shape perceptions, assumptions, and expectations, a central tenet of critical race theory, was used to not only guide the feminist inquiry, but also to help apply the insights gained from the inquiry itself.  From this perspective, then, I explored and described the particular contexts in which narrative and story was used not only to create pictures of one’s self, but also to construct knowledge and understanding (i.e. personal theories) about literacy and language learning.  Data analysis is ongoing.

Potential implications:  If narrative and the construction of personal theories can help inform both students’ and teachers’ perspectives in literacy and language learning, the following questions emerge: How, then, can we begin to lay the groundwork for the same (i.e. narrative as a tool) to occur within fields that typically have eschewed such methodological approaches as tools?  How, do we then, begin to lay the groundwork for the same to occur within the field of science education, for example?  And, finally, how might this curricular convergence of the use of narrative add to our current knowledge about teacher beliefs and practice across disciplines?  Does it?

Paper II: Pre-service Teacher Narratives and the Construction of Personal Theories of Teaching Science

Objective:  This paper discusses the use of narrative in constructing personal theories of teaching science of elementary education majors enrolled in a non-traditional (emphasizing science and mathematics) elementary education program.

Perspective:  Recently, a focus in the teaching and learning of science has centered on the link between teacher beliefs and their practice (Blake, 1999a and 1999b; Bryan and Abell, 1999; Abell and Roth, 1994; Korthagen and Kessels, 1999).  To counter didactic practices (Stofflett, 1994) of traditional teacher education, Korthagen and Kessels (1999) suggest that teacher educators move from the application-of-theory model” (p. 4) towards “reflective approaches,” where students have considerable opportunity to link their experiences to their developing notions of what it means to teach.  In order to improve teacher preparation and the teaching and learning of science, there may need to be a change in how we teach and work with pre-service and in-service teachers.  In order to allow for the creation of personal theories of what it means to teach and learn science, we may need to better integrate current theories of teaching science with the actual in-school classroom experiences.  Using narratives as a means to construct this understanding is proposed as a way to allow for more teacher reflection on their practice as they construct personal theories of teaching science.

Methodology and Data Source: The context of this study is in a medium-sized, comprehensive public university in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States.  All of the students are elementary education (ELED) majors (certifiable grades 1-8) enrolled in the Maryland Collaborative for Teacher Preparation (MCTP: Funded by the National Science Foundation (DUE 9255745 and DUE 9814650)).  Based on a constructivist framework, the MCTP program embraces four elements for a change in teacher education: new content coursework, new pedagogy coursework linked to field experience, science and mathematical internships, and classroom support in the early years of teaching.  There were eight students in the study, and all were white females from European descent.

            The primary source of narratives is from student writing during the student teaching experience.  Additional sources are from the following: classroom exit slips, electronic mail reflections; electronic mail responses to questions posed by the instructor; audio tapes of student teaching and debrief sessions; collection of end of semester historical background survey; and collection of student work (lesson plans, peer and self-evaluations, and written philosophies of teaching science).

            Data analysis is ongoing, and using Spradley’s (1980) developmental research sequence, focused questions and observations were made around emergent themes.  Analysis focused on how reflections were used to better understand the teaching and learning of science, or the construction of personal theories, as well as identifying tensions among their beliefs, experiences, and practices, or the notion of Ideal vs Reality (from Bryan and Abell, 1999).

Potential Implications:  In gaining insight into the processes and struggles involved as pre-service teachers construct personal theories and narratives of teaching science, we, as teacher educators, will be able to appropriately adjust our teacher education programs.  In addition, as the students themselves gain insight into these struggles, they may become more cognizant of the challenges that children face in learning science.

Paper III: A Narrative of One’s Own: Struggles and successes in using narrative to construct theories of teaching as a first-year science educator.

Objective:  The purpose of this paper is to provide a single case study of one elementary education trained teacher in her first year of teaching seventh-grade science and her use of narratives to construct her meaning of teaching science.  Specific themes center on the student teacher’s struggles as she balances issues of directed vs. inquiry-oriented learning, the “time” factor in planning and teaching activity-oriented science, and the reality of planning and implementing standards-based science lessons.

Methodology and Data Source:  This session allows the participant, a graduate of the MCTP program, to be directly involved in the presentation and discussion of her own theory and what it means to teach science.  Data collection is directly from the teacher’s written narratives.  She will discuss how narratives and teaching debriefs sessions influenced in her planning and implementing science lessons.  Additional data comes from her written responses to writing prompts that focused on other themes that emerged from the original narratives.  Finally, she will share her narratives and insights from her first year as public school seventh-grade science teacher.  These narratives will focus on how she may or may not adjust her personal theory to fit a “professional stance,” a stance that balances her personal beliefs with the reality the day-to-day demands of teaching in a public school classroom.

Potential Implications:  This session will allow us to gain direct insight into how this teacher has struggled, and remedied these struggles as she has transitioned from pre-service to in-service teaching, and how she continues to use narratives to construct her personal theory of teaching science.  Such insights will be useful as we focus pre-service and in-service teachers on the efficacy of reflective approaches and narratives as a means to link theory to practice in constructing personal theories of teaching science.

Selected References

(Full Reference Page Provided at Symposium)

            Abell, S.K. and Roth, M. (1994). Constructing science teaching in the elementary school: The socialization of a science enthusiast student teacher.  Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 31 (1), 77-90.

             Blake, B.E. (1997). She say, He say: Urban girls write their lives.  Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

             Blake, R.W., Jr. (1999a). Socializing students into science: Teaching and modeling cooperative social skills in a sixth grade classroom.  Paper presented at the National Association of Research in Science Teaching Annual meeting.  Boston, MA.

             Blake, R.W., Jr. (1999b).  Curricular enactment and a dynamic balance in a middle ground of teaching science.  Paper presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual meeting.  Montreal, Canada.

             Brown, L.M. and Gilligan, C. (1992).  Meeting at the crossroads: Women’s psychology and girl’s development. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

             Bryan, L.A. and Abell, S.K. (1999).  Development of professional knowledge in learning to teach elementary science.  Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36 (2).

             Korthagen, F.J. and Kessels, J.P.A.M. (1999).  Linking theory and practice: Changing the pedagogy of teacher education.  Educational Researcher, 28 (4), 4-17.

             McGoey, J. and Ross, J. (199).  Research, practice, and teacher internship.  Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36 (2), 117-120.

             Spradley, J.P. (1980). Participant observation.  Orlando, FL: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.

             Stofflett, R.T. (1994).  The accommodation of science pedagogical knowledge:  The application of conceptual change constructs to teacher education.  Journal of Research in Science Teaching.  31 (8), 787-810.