1. Defining an Occasion of Sensemaking
Teachers’ Sensemaking About Implementation of an Innovative Science Curriculum Across the Settings of Professional Development and Classroom Enactment
Elizabeth X. de los Santos and Charles W. Anderson Department of Teacher Education, Michigan State University
Research Question
How do teachers’ commitments to social relationships in various communities influence their sensemaking about implementation of Carbon TIME?
Comparison of Mr. Ross and Ms. Nolan’s Sensemaking About Implementation of Carbon TIME
Discussion
Productive Sensemaking
Productive sensemaking for teacher learning of rigorous and responsive science teaching practices requires:
A supportive school context that aligns with Carbon TIME goals and purposes.
Social commitments to their classroom communities, particularly students’ engagement in three-dimensional science learning.
Critical noticing of interactions between students and the curriculum.
The Case of Ms. Callahan
Overall, Ms. Callahan’s sensemaking was productive for her own learning and her students’ engagement in three-dimensional science learning. Ms. Callahan was initially challenged by the Expressing Ideas Tool because she was not used to having students share their initial ideas about a phenomenon, and she believed that students wanted to know the right answer. However, after enacting the tool with her students three times and hearing from her case study coach that her students enjoyed being able to be “wrong” at the beginning of a unit, Ms. Callahan reflected that the Expressing Ideas Tool was a useful and important tool for teachers.
Unproductive Sensemaking
Unproductive sensemaking for teacher learning of rigorous and responsive science teaching can involve:
A school context that places teachers in situations where they have to navigate among multiple PD initiatives.
Social commitments to school communities such as colleagues and administrators in ways that enhance the status of the teacher within the school but do not necessarily align with students’ engagement in three-dimensional science learning.
Critical noticing of interactions between students and the curriculum in ways that do not support students’ learning.
The Case of Mr. Ross
Overall, Mr. Ross’s sensemaking was unproductive for his own learning of rigorous and responsive science teaching practices related to Carbon TIME because he was trying to include all the initiatives at his school and focused on grading rather than assessment of students’ ideas.
Conclusions
Teachers’ social commitments to their school communities can either enhance or inhibit productive sensemaking depending on teachers’ goals and purposes for engaging in sensemaking about implementation of an innovative curriculum. The implication for science teacher educators is to support teachers in navigating between the PD and classroom enactment settings.
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Mr. Ross
Research Design
Qualitative comparative case study design (Yin, 2014).
Eight secondary science teachers in three states with 7-22 years of experience; teaching contexts range from a math and science magnet school to an urban school with a diverse student population.
Case study teachers implemented at least three Carbon TIME units during the school year and attended face-to-face and online PD. Data Sources: 40 teacher interviews, teacher-created artifacts, field notes of PD, video-recordings of classroom instruction.
Data Analysis: identifying occasions of sensemaking; using discourse analysis, qualitative analysis, and sensemaking framework to identify outcomes of sensemaking, critical noticing, and drivers of sensemaking.
Ms. Callahan
Mr. Ross’s Sensemaking About the Pre- and Post-Tests: “Fitting It All Together”
Mr. Ross was a teacher with 8 years of experience who taught in a suburban HS in the Midwest. He critically noticed his students’ interactions with the test questions and thought that students’ responses on the essays showed better understanding than the forced-choice questions. He decided to grade the short answer responses using LP levels and use the student assessment data to show student growth for his teacher evaluation.
This occasion of sensemaking was embedded in Mr. Ross’s broader goal of fitting it all together, which was persistent over time. He was concerned with how to implement Carbon TIME while also meeting school and district requirements, including International Baccalaureate (IB) and claim-evidence-reasoning (CER) framework.
Ms. Callahan’s Sensemaking About the Expressing Tool: “It’s Important for the Students”
Ms. Callahan was a teacher with 13 years of experience who taught in an urban math and science magnet program in the Midwest. She critically noticed her students’ interactions with the Expressing Ideas Tool and believed that students were frustrated because they wanted to know the right answer. She decided to modify her enactment by having students look back at the tool at the end of a unit to see how much their ideas had changed over time.
This occasion of sensemaking was embedded in Ms. Callahan’s broader goal of supporting students’ development of particular science, math, and technology skills. She believed that it was important for students to have ownership of their education, which included recognizing limitations of their knowledge and growth in learning over time as a result of engaging in Carbon TIME activities.
Defining an Occasion of Sensemaking
Critical noticing that involves action situated in context over time
Acknowledgements: The authors are grateful for contributions from Drs. Alicia Alonzo, Corey Drake, Ken Frank, and William Penuel and graduate students Stefanie Marshall, Qinyun Lin, Brian Hancock, and Craig Kohn.
Disclaimer: This research is supported by grants from the National Science Foundation: A Learning Progression-based System for Promoting Understanding of Carbon-transforming Processes (DRL ), and Sustaining Responsive and Rigorous Teaching Based on Carbon TIME (NSF ).