title: Collaborative CoRe design for year 10 electricity and magnetism: Professional development for enhancing practising science teachers' PCK

authors: Carpendale, Jared Alan

subjects: Science Education

abstract: This study investigated the effectiveness of collaborative content representation (CoRe) design as a professional learning and development (PLD) intervention for enhancing practising science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching Year 10 (14-15-year olds) Electricity and Magnetism in New Zealand. There were three case study teachers in this study, each of whom were practising science teachers with a limited physics background. These teachers collaborated with six other experienced science teachers; three of whom also had a limited physics background, while the others were physics specialist teachers. All nine teachers were from the same school.
PCK is a highly specific form of professional knowledge that teachers have, which enables them to teach particular content to a particular group of students. Since its inception, many approaches have been suggested for exploring science teachers’ PCK, but the exact nature of PCK and how to measure it has been problematic. To address these issues, two international PCK Summits have been held to advance the agenda of PCK research. The first Summit was in 2012, where a key output was a Consensus Model of PCK. The second Summit was in 2016, where researchers critiqued the use of that model, and discussed future PCK research. Outcomes of the second Summit are being published in the book Repositioning PCK in Teachers’ Professional Knowledge (due out in late 2018). This book introduces the Refined Consensus Model of PCK (RCM of PCK), which was used as conceptual framework to guide this study.
Data was collected in three phases. In Phase One, case study teachers were interviewed about teaching Year 10 Electricity and Magnetism and then observed teaching this topic. Phase Two involved all participants in two CoRe design workshops, where they shared and debated ideas, and discussed pedagogical considerations with respect to teaching different concepts. The first workshop was a pilot exercise, while the second focused on Year 10 Electricity and Magnetism. All discussions were recorded and field notes were taken in workshops. In Phase Three, case study teachers were observed teaching the same topic to a different Year 10 class, then interviewed about changes to their practice. All participants were also asked about their overall experiences with collaborative CoRe design.
Findings show collaborative CoRe design enhanced the case study teachers’ PCK for Year 10 Electricity and Magnetism. Development was seen in their subject matter knowledge, knowledge of instructional strategies, and knowledge of students’ understanding and learning. Furthermore, all participants saw value in CoRe design as it allows topics to be unpacked and teacher’s PCK to be shared. The teachers felt it was a worthwhile PLD intervention, they were interested in taking part in CoRe design in the future, and they offered suggestions to make it sustainable within their school.
Thus, this study showed collaborative CoRe design is a worthwhile and effective PLD intervention for practising teachers. Not only did teachers explicitly identify their own PCK developments, enhancements were also seen in lesson observations. Schools could adopt this model of PLD to encourage collaboration amongst their staff and to allow for knowledge transfers between teachers with differing content backgrounds and pedagogical strengths.

text: Collaborative CoRe design for year 10 electricity and magnetism: Professional development for enhancing practising science teachers' PCK This study investigated the effectiveness of collaborative content representation (CoRe) design as a professional learning and development (PLD) intervention for enhancing practising science teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for teaching Year 10 (14-15-year olds) Electricity and Magnetism in New Zealand. There were three case study teachers in this study, each of whom were practising science teachers with a limited physics background. These teachers collaborated with six other experienced science teachers; three of whom also had a limited physics background, while the others were physics specialist teachers. All nine teachers were from the same school.
PCK is a highly specific form of professional knowledge that teachers have, which enables them to teach particular content to a particular group of students. Since its inception, many approaches have been suggested for exploring science teachers’ PCK, but the exact nature of PCK and how to measure it has been problematic. To address these issues, two international PCK Summits have been held to advance the agenda of PCK research. The first Summit was in 2012, where a key output was a Consensus Model of PCK. The second Summit was in 2016, where researchers critiqued the use of that model, and discussed future PCK research. Outcomes of the second Summit are being published in the book Repositioning PCK in Teachers’ Professional Knowledge (due out in late 2018). This book introduces the Refined Consensus Model of PCK (RCM of PCK), which was used as conceptual framework to guide this study.
Data was collected in three phases. In Phase One, case study teachers were interviewed about teaching Year 10 Electricity and Magnetism and then observed teaching this topic. Phase Two involved all participants in two CoRe design workshops, where they shared and debated ideas, and discussed pedagogical considerations with respect to teaching different concepts. The first workshop was a pilot exercise, while the second focused on Year 10 Electricity and Magnetism. All discussions were recorded and field notes were taken in workshops. In Phase Three, case study teachers were observed teaching the same topic to a different Year 10 class, then interviewed about changes to their practice. All participants were also asked about their overall experiences with collaborative CoRe design.
Findings show collaborative CoRe design enhanced the case study teachers’ PCK for Year 10 Electricity and Magnetism. Development was seen in their subject matter knowledge, knowledge of instructional strategies, and knowledge of students’ understanding and learning. Furthermore, all participants saw value in CoRe design as it allows topics to be unpacked and teacher’s PCK to be shared. The teachers felt it was a worthwhile PLD intervention, they were interested in taking part in CoRe design in the future, and they offered suggestions to make it sustainable within their school.
Thus, this study showed collaborative CoRe design is a worthwhile and effective PLD intervention for practising teachers. Not only did teachers explicitly identify their own PCK developments, enhancements were also seen in lesson observations. Schools could adopt this model of PLD to encourage collaboration amongst their staff and to allow for knowledge transfers between teachers with differing content backgrounds and pedagogical strengths.

year: 2018

title: Playing to win or trying your best: Media representations of national anxieties over the role of sport participation during the 2002 commonwealth games.

authors: Wensing, Emma H.

subjects: education

abstract: In the last few years, growing concern has emerged in New Zealand sport about the shift towards a more commercial or professionalised model of sport and away from a mass participation-based model. In the midst of a relatively intense period of debate and concern over this change in direction, the 2002 Commonwealth Games took place in Manchester, England. In this article, we analyse how media coverage of the Games articulated with the broader public debate over the direction of New Zealand sport. Grounded in the assumption that the media both reflects and impacts on public understandings of cultural issues, we believe this analysis of coverage of the Games reveals a profound ambivalence over a more profess ionalised model of sport and points to an unwillingness to give up traditional values of sports participation in order to win. We explore how this debate articulates with current tensions in the realm of Physical Education and suggest that health and physical educators have an important role to play in challenging current pressures towards a win-at-all-costs approach to sport.

text: Playing to win or trying your best: Media representations of national anxieties over the role of sport participation during the 2002 commonwealth games. In the last few years, growing concern has emerged in New Zealand sport about the shift towards a more commercial or professionalised model of sport and away from a mass participation-based model. In the midst of a relatively intense period of debate and concern over this change in direction, the 2002 Commonwealth Games took place in Manchester, England. In this article, we analyse how media coverage of the Games articulated with the broader public debate over the direction of New Zealand sport. Grounded in the assumption that the media both reflects and impacts on public understandings of cultural issues, we believe this analysis of coverage of the Games reveals a profound ambivalence over a more profess ionalised model of sport and points to an unwillingness to give up traditional values of sports participation in order to win. We explore how this debate articulates with current tensions in the realm of Physical Education and suggest that health and physical educators have an important role to play in challenging current pressures towards a win-at-all-costs approach to sport.

year: 2004

title: Street health: Practitioner service provision for Maori homeless people in Auckland

authors: Nikora, Linda Waimarie

abstract: Drawing insights from interviews with Maori homeless people, health professionals, and relevant local and international literatures, this chapter focuses on the provision of medical care to homeless people. In particular, we propose that health services orientate to accommodate the worldviews and circumstances of Maori homeless people. Below we consider colonialism and societal developments that have led to homelessness among Maori today. We then present a case study of ‘Grant’, which was compiled from common aspects of various Maori homeless people who access health services at the Auckland City Mission (ACM); an organisation with a long history of catering to the needs and hopes of dispossessed groups, providing food, clothing, advocacy, social and health services. The relational orientation of healthcare at the ACM is discussed, and leads to an exploration of ‘judgement-free service space’ for meeting client needs (cf., Trussell & Mair, 2010). Lastly, we focus on how health professionals can respond to the multiple healthcare needs of Maori homeless people, in partnership with social services.

text: Street health: Practitioner service provision for Maori homeless people in Auckland Drawing insights from interviews with Maori homeless people, health professionals, and relevant local and international literatures, this chapter focuses on the provision of medical care to homeless people. In particular, we propose that health services orientate to accommodate the worldviews and circumstances of Maori homeless people. Below we consider colonialism and societal developments that have led to homelessness among Maori today. We then present a case study of ‘Grant’, which was compiled from common aspects of various Maori homeless people who access health services at the Auckland City Mission (ACM); an organisation with a long history of catering to the needs and hopes of dispossessed groups, providing food, clothing, advocacy, social and health services. The relational orientation of healthcare at the ACM is discussed, and leads to an exploration of ‘judgement-free service space’ for meeting client needs (cf., Trussell & Mair, 2010). Lastly, we focus on how health professionals can respond to the multiple healthcare needs of Maori homeless people, in partnership with social services.

year: 2012-09