Physics teaching, professional development and a socially critical ideology

Cross, Roger T.; Ormiston‐Smith, Helen

doi:10.1080/0022027980280602

Cited by 8 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Yet, understanding the limits of these contestations is also important if we are to envision a truly alternative physics education. Cross and Ormiston-Smith (1996) explain the powerful structures that entrench prototypical physics education and the physics teachers' position within those structures. First, the science teacher has an allegiance to the scientific community, for it "is through the process of accreditation by the 'gatekeepers' of science that the teacher gains accreditation into the institute of science" (p. 652).…”

Section: Positioning Physics Within Its Powerful Sociohistorical Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If physics is "hard," then by its very nature, it is not accessible to everyone and some will be able to do it and understand it better than others. Historically, physics teachers have benefited from this construction of physics (Cross & Ormiston-Smith, 1996). If physics is the most difficult subject matter, then surely, physics teachers must be among the "smartest" teachers in the school.…”

Section: The Classroom Meanings Of Active Physics At Sunnyglen High Smentioning

confidence: 99%

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Innovative science within and against a culture of “achievement”

Carlone

2003

Science Education

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ABSTRACT:As science educators struggle to reform science education, we need a better understanding of the conundrums associated with the ways educators enact innovative science within and against the "academic," "rigorous," and "elite" sociohistorical constructions of science. I ethnographically investigated the meanings of an innovative, reform-based curriculum (Active Physics) in various micro (classroom) and macro (school and community) contexts. I conducted the study in a high school serving primarily upper middle class students, the majority of whom (97%) planned to attend college. I explored how meanings of the curriculum transformed as the curriculum traveled across space and time. While certain aspects of the context enabled innovative science (e.g., support from the administration, pressure to serve a wider range of students), other aspects of the context constrained the potential of the curriculum (e.g., the need to establish for students, parents, and administrators the legitimacy of Active Physics as "real" and "rigorous" physics). Using practice theory to understand the influence of context and agency in shaping school science practice, this study demonstrates the potential for viewing meanings of science in local settings as partially fluid entities, sometimes reproducing and sometimes contesting sociohistorical legacies.

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Section: Positioning Physics Within Its Powerful Sociohistorical Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: The Classroom Meanings Of Active Physics At Sunnyglen High Smentioning

confidence: 99%

Innovative science within and against a culture of “achievement”

Carlone

2003

Science Education

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“…Teaching practices and teachers' standpoints on content and methods in teaching were related to symbolic values in larger fields. In order to grasp symbolic values in the different fields we leaned on results from other studies (Gunstone and White, 1998 concerning the reproduction of the physics teachers own view on science; Gyberg, 2003 about the impact of scientific discourse on the physics subject; Aikenhead, 1996 which writes about the specific sub culture of science in the physics classroom; Cross & Ormiston-Smith, 1996 concerning strong socialization forces steering the physics subject; De Souza Barros, and Elia, 1998 meaning that the physics subject is highly mathematical; Mulhall and Gunstone, 2008 regarding how the physics subject is valued as the most important in science and at last Myrdal, 2005 who states the importance of the nature science is in society) to support knowledge about the specificity of core values in the fields. In Susanne Engström (2011) political documents, physics textbooks, and research production from science education have been analyzed.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Different habitus: different strategies in teaching physics? Relationships between teachers’ social, economic and cultural capital and strategies in teaching physics in upper secondary school

Engström

Carlhed

2014

Cult Stud of Sci Educ

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With environmental awareness in the societies of today, political steering documents emphasize that all education should include sustainable development. But it seems to be others competing ideals for teaching physics, or why do the physics teachers teach as they do? Physics teachers in secondary school in Sweden have generally, been focused on facts and a strong link with scientific theories and concepts. In general, the curriculum sway the teaching, a standard text book in physics is used, the teaching is organized according to the book and the teacher deals with and demonstrates typical tasks on the whiteboard and group work is common for special issues related to tasks from the textbook or elaborating. The aim with this study is to analyze why physics teachers in upper secondary school choose to teach energy as they do. Data emerging from a questionnaire focused on indicators of the teachers' cultural and economic assets, or capital, according to the work of Pierre Bourdieu´s sociology. Especially his concept on life styles and habitus provide a tool for analysis. We focus on physics teachers' positions in the social space, dispositions and standpoints towards the ideal way to teach physics in upper secondary school (n=268). Our response rate is 29 % and due to the low response rate a non response bias analysis was made. In our analysis we primarily sought for groups, with a cluster analysis based on the teaching practice, revealed common features for both what and how they teach and three different teaching types emerged. Then we reconstructed the group habitus of the teachers by analyzing dispositions and standpoints and related those to the specific polarization of sacred values, that is struggles about the natural order (doxa) in the social space of science education, which is a part of and has boundaries to dominating fields like the natural sciences and the political fields (curriculum etc.). Three teacher-groups' habituses are described and analyzed; 1. The Manager of the Traditional, 2. The Challenger for Technology and 3. The Challenger for Citizenship. By constructing the habitus of the teachers in the different groups we can explain why teachers teach as they do and thereby make a contribution to both science education research and to teaching training, whereas reflective approach which also includes the individual dispositions and representations are paramount. In our paper we elaborate the grounds and implications of these findings further. KeywordsPhysics teachers · Physic teaching · upper secondary school · habitus · life styles 2 Sammanfattning Med den miljömedvetenhet som råder i samhället i dag och de politiska styrdokument som finns för skolan, betonas att all utbildning bör omfatta hållbar utveckling. Det gäller även fysikämnet. Men det verkar trots det finnas andra ideal för skolfysikens innehåll, eller varför skulle annars fysiklärare undervisa som de gör? Fysiklärare i gymnasiet i Sverige har generellt sett varit inriktade på fakta och undervisat med en stark koppling till vete...

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Teaching about ethics through socioscientific issues in physics and chemistry: Teacher candidates' beliefs

Barrett

Nieswandt

2009

J Res Sci Teach

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The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify and explain the origins of physics and chemistry teacher candidates' beliefs about teaching about ethics through socioscientific issues (SSI). This study utilized a series of in-depth interviews, while the participants (n ¼ 12) were enrolled in a 9-month teacher education program at an urban university in Canada. Our data analysis revealed that beliefs about teaching physics and chemistry using SSI derive from a complex web of fundamental beliefs exemplified by four archetypes representing the subject-specific identities of our teacher candidates-Model Scientist/Engineer, Model Individual, Model Teacher, and Model Citizen. Furthermore, we found that the justification for belief change required by a particular teacher candidate depends on these subjectdiscipline identities. Thus, the presence of each archetype in preservice classrooms has ramifications for the way a teacher educator should encourage his or her students to include SSI in their teaching. ß

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Physics teaching, professional development and a socially critical ideology

Cited by 8 publications

References 26 publications

Innovative science within and against a culture of “achievement”

Innovative science within and against a culture of “achievement”

Different habitus: different strategies in teaching physics? Relationships between teachers’ social, economic and cultural capital and strategies in teaching physics in upper secondary school

Teaching about ethics through socioscientific issues in physics and chemistry: Teacher candidates' beliefs

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