ERIC Number: EJ1231480
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2019-Oct
Pages: 21
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0157-244X
EISSN: N/A
Researching Primary Teachers' Professional Agency: Employing Interactive Ethnography to Overcome "Reluctance" to Teach Science
Research in Science Education, v49 n5 p1279-1299 Oct 2019
This paper provides a report of a case study on the professional agency of an experienced early years teacher, Sarah, who successfully embedded a chemical science program of teaching-learning for her students aged between 6 and 8. Interactive ethnography informs the research design, and discursive psychology provides the tools for the analysis of Sarah's speech acts for her positioning as a responsible agent. Reframing the problem of primary teacher reluctance to teach science in terms of primary teachers' professional agency using discursive psychology, this ontological study provides new insight into issues related to the provision of science education in primary schools and asks: How do primary teachers position themselves and others in relation to science curriculum and education? The research calls for research methodologies and reform efforts in primary science that are better grounded in the local moral orders of primary schools.
Descriptors: Elementary School Teachers, Science Instruction, Young Children, Teacher Attitudes, Self Efficacy, Elementary School Science, Science Curriculum, Teacher Role, Teacher Competencies, Ethnography
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Elementary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A