ERIC Number: EJ1187850
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1046-560X
EISSN: N/A
Introducing Science Stories in Palestinian Elementary Classrooms: Facilitating Teacher Learning
Dajani, Majida "Mohammed Yousef"
Journal of Science Teacher Education, v28 n1 p73-91 2017
This qualitative interpretive study aimed to explore the use of content-based story writing as an educative curriculum to promote science teachers' professional learning. It also aimed to help teachers interact and reflect on their students' science stories to generate and explore content and pedagogical content knowledge. This study was carried out in the fourth and fifth-grade classrooms of 6 science teachers in Jerusalem, Palestine, during the 2013--2014 school year. Classroom observations; video recordings; teachers' focus group conversations; students' stories; teachers' reflections; and field notes from the teachers, the students, and the supervisor were collected and analyzed. Thematic analysis was used to develop themes that emerged from the data. The findings showed that teachers explained many educative features, including how their views and beliefs toward teaching science changed as a result of the use of educative curriculum materials (professional learning). Teachers understood more about their new roles as science teachers as students were engaged in the learning process through producing stories that acted in later stages as a fruitful resource of knowledge for teachers and students. Teachers experienced the development of content knowledge (personal growth and self-awareness) and pedagogical knowledge (the power of using stories to enhance classroom interaction and discussion, motivation and feedback as a strategy for enhancing writing and rewriting stories). Finally, the use of stories cultivated students' imagination and identified areas in which students needed to develop further understanding. These findings imply that educative curriculum materials that support teachers in using content-based story writing have potential for supporting Palestinian teachers who work in a complex area with very limited resources.
Descriptors: Elementary School Students, Science Instruction, Foreign Countries, Video Technology, Teaching Methods, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Grade 4, Grade 5, Teacher Attitudes, Science Teachers, Faculty Development, Teacher Role, Metacognition, Classroom Communication, Group Discussion, Imagination, Writing (Composition), Story Telling
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 530 Walnut Street Suite 850, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Tel: 215-625-8900; Fax: 215-207-0050; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Palestine; Israel (Jerusalem)
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A