ESERA 2009 CONFERENCE August 31st - September 4th 2009 Istanbul, Turkey Evolution of classroom practice concerning students' construction of knowledge in two secondary science teachers with differing teaching experience Vicente Mellado (1), Carmen Peme-Aranega (2) Ana Lía de Longhi (2), Constantino Ruiz (1), María Argañaraz (3) & Alejandra Moreno (3) (1) University of Extremadura, Spain (2) National University of Córdoba, Argentina (3) Secondary Science Teacher, Córdoba, Argentina

Introduction We describe the cases of Alicia and Mónica, two secondary education physics teachers in Córdoba (Argentina), who are participant in a longitudinal program of professional development based on collaborative guided reflection. Alicia is a novice teacher and Mónica a experienced teacher (25 years of teaching experienced). We analyze the initial state and the evolution (over a period of 6 years in Alicia and 5 years in Mónica) of their explicit conceptions and their classroom practice about students' construction of knowledge. 2

Background: Educational change in science teachers Science teachers’ educational change is a complex process involving numerous variables and obstacles. Educational change is stimulated by successive processes of metacognitive self-regulation, based on the teachers' reflection, comprehension, and monitoring of what they think, feel, and do, and of the changes that they put into effect. Professional change has to go together with personal and social development, taking affective and social aspects into account. 3

Background: Educational change in novice and experienced science teachers Novice teachers Experienced teachers During the first years of their career, novice science teachers are subjected to tension, dilemmas, and overload. Their conceptions are the fruit of the many years they themselves spent at school. - They usually present many contradictions between their implicit theories and those they have to expound on. Experienced science teachers have conceptions and teaching models that have been consolidated by their own professional experience, and which are very stable and resistant to change. - The process of teacher change is continuous but gradual. Teachers do not usually make drastic changes. Instead, they progressively put the ideas that seem to them to be important and attainable into practice. 4

Process of guided reflection in each cycle Knowledge of explicit belief and theories-in-use in the classroon Process of guided reflection Activity planning

Methodology: Combination of qualitative and quantitative methods The explicit beliefs were inferred from: (a) semi-structured interviews done at the beginning of the study; (b) Porlán's Inventory of Pedagogical and Scientific Beliefs, INPECIP; and Peme’s Inventory of Epistemological and Didactic Beliefs, ICDE. The two inventories were applied on three occasions during the study: at the beginning (2000), in the middle (2003), and in the last year (2005). The theories-in-use were deduced from: The teachers’ interactive discourse in the classroom - 36 classes analyzed of Alicia - 19 classes analyzed of Mónica 6

Methodology Oposite poles The instrument used for the interpretation of the data was the "substantive theory" (Peme-Aranega et al., 1999, 2006). Each category consists of dimensions of analysis, expressed in terms of opposite poles. Teacher-centred strategies Student-centred Oposite poles In the present work we analyze: The teachers’ explicit belief (interview and inventories) The teachers’ theories-in-use in the classrooms (Porcentage of teachers’ student-centred strategies) 7

Alicia: At the beginning… Results Alicia: At the beginning… Explicit beliefs: She showed a simplified constructivist psychological approach In the classroom: She showed theories on the construction of knowledge in the classroom that were centred on herself, not on the pupils, and based on the presentation to the class of prepared knowledge During the first year of teaching, Alicia’s real model in the classroom was far more traditional than the one she said she followed.

Alicia's evolution over the six years of the study Results Alicia's evolution over the six years of the study Explicit beliefs: She showed more closely approached modern views of science education In the classroom: The great change in her teaching model with respect to the students' construction of knowledge, reflected fundamentally in her use of more student-centred strategies, occurred from the first to the second cycles In subsequent cycles, these strategies increased in frequency and diversity, and there was consolidation of the study of problems by guided research

Results Porcentage of student-centred strategies 10

Mónica: At the beginning… Results Mónica: At the beginning… Explicit beliefs: Mónica showed a set of beliefs of a mixed nature In the classroom: Mónica's teaching model in the classroom was already more student-centred than Alicia's During the first year of teaching, there is coherence between their conceptions and teaching behaviour

Results Porcentage of student-centred strategies 12

Mónica's evolution over the five years of the study Results Mónica's evolution over the five years of the study In the classroom: In the first three cycles, Mónica experienced conflict between the teaching models. The reflection, however, led to distress and defensive sentiments. The consequence in the first three cycles was reinforcement of her teacher-centred strategies with which she felt more secure. Only in the fourth cycle, with the aid of the teacher-guide in the preparation of class activities, did Mónica finally internalize and put into practice in the classroom more learner-centred strategies.

Some conclusions… The program of guided reflection allowed Alicia and Mónica to overcome many of the obstacles to their professional development. The process of guided reflection affected the participating teachers very differently according to their teaching experience and particular school context. Teachers’ educational change is more than a cognitive process, taking affective aspects into account. As noted by Day (1999), change is not just a matter of the head, but also of the heart.

Some final reflections… The axis of professional development has to be science education (pedagogical content knowledge), taking affective and social aspects into account. The initiation to teaching is a stage in which classroom strategies and routines are being formed and consolidated, and which will be far harder to change later. If novice teachers receive sufficient support, it will be the stage in which their capacity for change is greatest. For experienced teachers, professional development can not be designed and presented as a "change" from one model to others, but rather as an internal process of "growth" and "gradual development“.

"changes in education depend on what teachers think and do, something at once so simple and so complex” (Fullan, 1991)

"changing teachers is something that is extremely difficult "changing teachers is something that is extremely difficult. For one thing, they have strongly set habits of behaviour and teaching. They teach, above all, as they themselves were taught, and when one has a certain practice it becomes extremely difficult to change it“ (Delval, 2002, p. 79). 17