title: Teaching Ethics in the Primary Science Classroom: Planning Support for Teachers

authors: Ryan, Barbara Elizabeth

subjects: ethics in primary science

abstract: The work presented in this thesis focuses on teaching ethics in primary science classrooms. Such teaching is important because it engages students not only in the human aspects of science, but also in science more generally, leading to enhanced scientific literacy and ultimately contributing to responsible citizenship. Teaching ethics in science also presents opportunities for developing students’ argumentation, critical thinking and decision-making skills, and helps students become more ethically aware, knowledgeable and discerning in science. Ethics in science has a prominent role in the New Zealand Curriculum within the ‘nature of science’ strand in the science learning area. However, there is a paucity of research demonstrating how this might be implemented with primary-age students. This work determines firstly whether primary students can engage in ethical discussions in science. Secondly, it focuses on the question of support needed for primary teachers and whether it is helpful for teachers to use a subject-specific planner for teaching ethics in science. The research adopted a sociocultural view of learning, in which learning is understood to be of a social and collaborative nature. The research involved two teacher development sessions, where three teachers were introduced to ethics concepts, examples on how they could be taught in a science context, and an ethics-in-science planner. Teachers subsequently developed and implemented an ethics in science programme using the ethics-in-science planner in their classrooms. The data for this research were collected from three teachers within the same school. Document analysis, interviews and classroom observation provided data triangulation. The findings suggest that young students can engage in ethical discussions in science – and do so, enthusiastically. They also confirm that primary teachers need support to teach ethics in science. For example, all three teachers reported the development sessions were necessary to help them understand ethics concepts and to give them ideas and strategies for teaching ethics in science. This is supported by research demonstrating that intervention in the form of teacher development and planning is vital for teachers to develop pedagogical content knowledge in a new area. In particular, teachers reported that the ethics-in-science planner helped them consider the classroom interactions on which they wanted to focus the outcomes, demonstrating that ethics in science can be meaningfully taught in the primary classroom. This raises the issue of teacher development and how this would be funded and implemented for the purpose of developing the pedagogical content knowledge of primary teachers for the teaching of ethics in science.

text: Teaching Ethics in the Primary Science Classroom: Planning Support for Teachers The work presented in this thesis focuses on teaching ethics in primary science classrooms. Such teaching is important because it engages students not only in the human aspects of science, but also in science more generally, leading to enhanced scientific literacy and ultimately contributing to responsible citizenship. Teaching ethics in science also presents opportunities for developing students’ argumentation, critical thinking and decision-making skills, and helps students become more ethically aware, knowledgeable and discerning in science. Ethics in science has a prominent role in the New Zealand Curriculum within the ‘nature of science’ strand in the science learning area. However, there is a paucity of research demonstrating how this might be implemented with primary-age students. This work determines firstly whether primary students can engage in ethical discussions in science. Secondly, it focuses on the question of support needed for primary teachers and whether it is helpful for teachers to use a subject-specific planner for teaching ethics in science. The research adopted a sociocultural view of learning, in which learning is understood to be of a social and collaborative nature. The research involved two teacher development sessions, where three teachers were introduced to ethics concepts, examples on how they could be taught in a science context, and an ethics-in-science planner. Teachers subsequently developed and implemented an ethics in science programme using the ethics-in-science planner in their classrooms. The data for this research were collected from three teachers within the same school. Document analysis, interviews and classroom observation provided data triangulation. The findings suggest that young students can engage in ethical discussions in science – and do so, enthusiastically. They also confirm that primary teachers need support to teach ethics in science. For example, all three teachers reported the development sessions were necessary to help them understand ethics concepts and to give them ideas and strategies for teaching ethics in science. This is supported by research demonstrating that intervention in the form of teacher development and planning is vital for teachers to develop pedagogical content knowledge in a new area. In particular, teachers reported that the ethics-in-science planner helped them consider the classroom interactions on which they wanted to focus the outcomes, demonstrating that ethics in science can be meaningfully taught in the primary classroom. This raises the issue of teacher development and how this would be funded and implemented for the purpose of developing the pedagogical content knowledge of primary teachers for the teaching of ethics in science.

year: 2011

title: Talk yuh talk: making sense of how graduate secondary teachers in Trinidad learned to teach without pre-service teacher education

authors: De Four-Babb, Joyanne

abstract: In Trinidad and Tobago graduate secondary teachers begin teaching with subject degrees, but without pre-service teacher training. How, then, do these people come to see themselves as teachers? How do they learn how to teach? I draw on life history, constructivism and discourse analysis for my analysis of teachers’ stories of beginning to teach. These stories were collected in individual interviews with 29 experienced graduate secondary teachers in Trinidad between March and August 2000. I use discourse analysis to explore the historical and policy context and highlight the dominant ideas about teachers and teaching that have been made available to teachers in Trinidad. I argue that in spite of the historical period in which they began to teach, the 29 interviewees’ interpretations and understandings of being a graduate secondary teacher and doing what they thought secondary teachers should do, were informed by dominant discourses such as the teacher as a transmitter of knowledge, a disciplinarian, a role model and a socially responsible person. These discourses were also evident in the wider official and common-sense ideas on secondary education, teachers, and teaching, as well as the recruitment practices of secondary teachers. I theorise about the ways in which these discourses created possibilities and sometimes put limits upon the interviewees’ construction of their practical professional knowledge - that is the knowledge they gained from day-to-day experiences of teaching. I recommend that pre-service and in-service teacher education programmes for secondary teachers in Trinidad must help teachers to explore why they may see themselves in certain ways and not in others. Schools should also play a more prominent role in the preparation and on-going professional development of graduate secondary teachers by seeking to become a place of learning for all teachers.

text: Talk yuh talk: making sense of how graduate secondary teachers in Trinidad learned to teach without pre-service teacher education In Trinidad and Tobago graduate secondary teachers begin teaching with subject degrees, but without pre-service teacher training. How, then, do these people come to see themselves as teachers? How do they learn how to teach? I draw on life history, constructivism and discourse analysis for my analysis of teachers’ stories of beginning to teach. These stories were collected in individual interviews with 29 experienced graduate secondary teachers in Trinidad between March and August 2000. I use discourse analysis to explore the historical and policy context and highlight the dominant ideas about teachers and teaching that have been made available to teachers in Trinidad. I argue that in spite of the historical period in which they began to teach, the 29 interviewees’ interpretations and understandings of being a graduate secondary teacher and doing what they thought secondary teachers should do, were informed by dominant discourses such as the teacher as a transmitter of knowledge, a disciplinarian, a role model and a socially responsible person. These discourses were also evident in the wider official and common-sense ideas on secondary education, teachers, and teaching, as well as the recruitment practices of secondary teachers. I theorise about the ways in which these discourses created possibilities and sometimes put limits upon the interviewees’ construction of their practical professional knowledge - that is the knowledge they gained from day-to-day experiences of teaching. I recommend that pre-service and in-service teacher education programmes for secondary teachers in Trinidad must help teachers to explore why they may see themselves in certain ways and not in others. Schools should also play a more prominent role in the preparation and on-going professional development of graduate secondary teachers by seeking to become a place of learning for all teachers.

year: 2003

title: Whakapiki Wairua: Co-designing and implementing a Māori mindfulness mental health intervention in a Wharekura.

authors: McDonald, Marama

abstract: This article explores the process of co-designing a mātauranga-Māori-informed mindfulness intervention with rangatahi in a wharekura and examines the effects on wellbeing. Mahitahi co-design methodology underpinned the design, implementation and evaluation of the intervention, and quantitative psychological tests measured improvements in wellbeing and dispositional mindfulness. Findings showed positive indications for a decrease in levels of psychological distress, improvements in Māori quality of life domains, and higher levels of dispositional mindfulness. The effective mātaurangaMāori-informed wellbeing components of the intervention were he āhuru mōwai, mahi a ngā tīpuna, ngā kaitiaki, te taiao, whanaungatanga, and hohou te rongo. Future application of the intervention in mainstream schools and communities is needed to assess the efficacy of the intervention for rangatahi in other environments, the sustainability of mindfulness practice for rangatahi, and the long-term effects on wellbeing.

text: Whakapiki Wairua: Co-designing and implementing a Māori mindfulness mental health intervention in a Wharekura. This article explores the process of co-designing a mātauranga-Māori-informed mindfulness intervention with rangatahi in a wharekura and examines the effects on wellbeing. Mahitahi co-design methodology underpinned the design, implementation and evaluation of the intervention, and quantitative psychological tests measured improvements in wellbeing and dispositional mindfulness. Findings showed positive indications for a decrease in levels of psychological distress, improvements in Māori quality of life domains, and higher levels of dispositional mindfulness. The effective mātaurangaMāori-informed wellbeing components of the intervention were he āhuru mōwai, mahi a ngā tīpuna, ngā kaitiaki, te taiao, whanaungatanga, and hohou te rongo. Future application of the intervention in mainstream schools and communities is needed to assess the efficacy of the intervention for rangatahi in other environments, the sustainability of mindfulness practice for rangatahi, and the long-term effects on wellbeing.

year: 2021