Anna Maria Pessoa de Carvalho
University of São Paulo, Brazil
I found the article Teachers' Attitudes about Physics Classroom Practice very rewarding reading in that it leads us to reflect on a systematization of recent research results and on our own practice and experience as teachers in teacher education courses. The article points out research showing key influences of teachers' (and students') views about learning and teaching, intertwined with their views on the nature of science and the purposes of education as related to teachersí attitudes in classroom practice.
There are some aspects I would like to comment on, starting at the end of the article where the authors address the theme of changes in such views. It is always encouraging when examples show that it is possible to achieve substantial change, not only among pre-service teachers, but among practicing teachers as well. My comments will be aimed at this aspect, since such changes constitute one of the prime targets of teacher education research.
Gunstone and White present a topic on changing views about learning and teaching based on the 1982 article by Posner, Strike, Hewson and Gertzog. The authors argue that, to achieve conceptual change, the individual must initially feel dissatisfied with the existing concept, and that the new concept must be intelligible, plausible and fruitful. To a certain extent, this model seems to comply with what the authors present concerning university physics teachersí views on the nature of science, that is, physics as a highly logical structure.
Nevertheless, Gunstone and White introduce a fifth criterion to the conceptual change model: teachers must perceive new views on new teaching and learning as something feasible. In our opinion, this criterion may diminish claims that conflict is essential if teachers are to change their classroom attitudes. Although reassessment will be necessary at some point, it hardly seems plausible that teachers must necessarily feel dissatisfied with their current views before they can be persuaded to try out new classroom procedures.
On the other hand, we must insist that the contribution provided by groups of teachers when they collectively address the issue of what science teachers must "know" and "know how to do" to achieve quality teaching is extremely valuable. We would also point out the consistency of proposals set forth by groups of teachers with those obtained in Science Teaching research work. Even though the groupsí contributions may be less clearly stated and less detailed than studies published by researchers, they do cover the main aspects so consistently featured by research, and allow teachers to find, in published works, support and more in-depth coverage of their own production.. These contributions are consistent in that if "to know how to do" is one of the prerequisites of quality teaching, examples of activities are important. According to Gunstone and White, "the teacher has to be able to see how to cope with the demands that follow from attempting to implement the classroom consequences of the new views".
We also find the feasibility criterion elsewhere showing the need for discussion and participation of teachers in well structured classroom activities. We can hardly agree with Gunstone and White when they state that "learning assertions about alternative ways is not enough". It is necessary to help the teachers recognize and articulate the views they currently hold, and the appropriateness of these views, but it may not be the proper "beginning point". This may be interpreted as the view held by the authors when they attest to the importance of reflection on "genuine learning contexts" in which teachers reflect on their own learning and the learning of others. But, in our opinion, this alone is not sufficient. Teachers must also reflect on their individual behavior as teachers, and therefore, it is also important that even pre-service teachers go to the classroom and test new teaching proposals in order to bring results and classroom processes for discussion. Such process do not simply sprout up by themselves. They must be encouraged in teacher education.
Teacher education must address both aspects - reflection (ideas and beliefs) and practice - according to the criterion of feasibility, the two are unalienable, inseparable : one cannot exist without the other.
SectionD1C, Comments on: Teacher's attitudes about physics
classroom
practice from: Connecting Research in Physics Education with Teacher
Education
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