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A Comparative Study of the Professional and Curricular Conceptions of the Secondary Education Science Teacher in Spain

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Title: A Comparative Study of the Professional and Curricular Conceptions of the Secondary Education Science Teacher in Spain
Language: English
Authors: del Pozo, Martin R., Martinez-Aznar, M., Rodrigo, M., Association for Teacher Education in Europe.
Source: European Journal of Teacher Education. Jun 2004 27(2):193-213.
Availability: Taylor & Francis Inc., Journals Department, 325 Chestnut Street, 8th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420 (Toll Free); Fax: 215-625-2940.
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 21
Publication Date: 2004
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Secondary Education
Descriptors: Secondary Education, Science Teachers, Secondary School Teachers, Secondary School Science, Science Instruction, Foreign Countries, Teaching Experience, Teacher Education, Teaching Methods, Job Satisfaction, Teacher Motivation, Science Curriculum
ISSN: 0261-9768
Abstract: This article presents a comparison between the professional and curricular conceptions of two samples of secondary education science teachers in Spain, who differed in their years of teaching experience and in whether or not they had participated in a long-duration scientific-pedagogical refresher course. Using the data from their responses to a questionnaire, aspects of their professionalism as teachers (motivation and work satisfaction) and aspects of the curriculum related to content, teaching methods and evaluation were analyzed. The results show a broader professionalism and a higher level of satisfaction in the case of the teachers with more experience and a higher level of professional training. The study found significant differences in whether the pupils' ideas were regarded as erroneous, and in whether laboratory practical work was used to test theory. It concludes by setting out a series of reflections with the aim of working towards improving teachers' "professional development."
Abstractor: Author
Number of References: 37
Entry Date: 2005
Access URL: https://www.tandf.co.uk/journals/default.asp
Accession Number: EJ688577
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0013532257;54n01jun.04;2019Feb13.17:15;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0013532257-1">A comparative study of the professional and curricular conceptions of the secondary education science teacher in Spain: possible implications for ongoing teacher education. </title> <sbt id="AN0013532257-2">Introduction</sbt> <p>We compared the professional and curricular conceptions of two samples of secondary education science teachers in Spain, who differed in their years of teaching experience and in whether or not they had participated in a long‐duration scientific‐pedagogical refresher course. Using the data from their responses to a questionnaire, we analysed aspects of their professionalism as teachers (motivation and work satisfaction) and aspects of the curriculum related to content, teaching methods and evaluation. The results show a broader professionalism and a higher level of satisfaction in the case of the teachers with more experience and a higher level of professional training. We found significant differences in whether the pupils' ideas were regarded as erroneous, and in whether laboratory practical work was used to test theory. We conclude by setting out a series of reflections with the aim of working towards improving teachers' 'professional development'. Dans cet article, nous comparons les représentations professionnelles et curriculaires de deux échantillons de professeurs de Sciences de l'Enseignement Secondaire en Espagne, selon leur ancienneté et leur éventuelle participation à un cours de remise à niveau scientifique et pédagogique de longue durée. À partir des réponses à un questionnaire, nous avons analysé certains aspects professionnels, tels que la motivation et le degré de satisfaction dans l'exercice de la profession, de même que certains aspects curriculaires touchant les contenus, la méthodologie et l'évaluation. Les résultats démontrent un professionalisme plus important et un plus haut degré de satisfaction chez les professeurs les plus expérimentés et les mieux formés. Nous avons également trouvé des différences significatives en ce qui concerne la prise en compte des idées fausses des élèves ou la mise en place de travaux pratiques en laboratoire pour vérifier la théorie. Il en découle une série de réflexions dans le but d'améliorer le 'parcours professionnel' des enseignants. En este artículo se comparan las concepciones profesionales y curriculares de dos muestras de profesores de Ciencias de Educación Secundaria españoles que difieren en los años de docencia y en la realización o no de un curso de actualización científico‐pedagógica de larga duración. Con los datos de un cuestionario, se analizaron aspectos de la profesionalidad docente, como la motivación y satisfacción en el ejercicio de la profesión, y aspectos curriculares, relacionados con los contenidos, la metodología de enseñanza y la evaluación. Los resultados revelan una profesionalidad más extensa y un mayor nivel de satisfacción en el caso de los profesores con más experiencia y mejor formados. Asimismo, se han encontrado diferencias significativas en asuntos tales como la consideración de las ideas de los alumnos como errores o la realización de prácticas de laboratorio para comprobar la teoría. A partir de ello se plantean una serie de reflexiones que buscan mejorar el 'desarrollo profesional' del profesorado. In disem Artikel werden die Ansichten zu Beruf und Lehrerinhalten von zwei Gruppen von spanischen Erziehungwissenschaftern verglichen, die Pädagogik für den Unterricht an Sekundarschulen lehren und sich darin unterscheiden, dass sie eine unterschiedliche lange Berufserfahrung haben und einige sich wissenschaftlich in zeitlich länger befristeten Kursen fortgebildet haben, andere aber nicht. Die Ergebnisse eines Fragebogens wurden ausgewertet, um bestimmte Aspekte zu untersuchen, die die Arbeit der Dozenten betrifft, so zum Beispiel die Motivation und Zufriedenkeit bei der Ausübung des Berufs sowie Aspekte des Lehrplans, die Unterrichtinhalte, die Methodologie und Fragen der Evaluation betreffen. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Dozenten mit größerer erfahrung und besser wissenschaftlicher Ausbildung vielseitiger in profesioneller Hinsicht sind und einen höheren grad an Zufriedenkeit aufweisen. Des weiteren konnten wesentliche unterschiede in Punkten wie der Bewertung von Schülerfelehrn oder bei der Durchführung von Praxisstunden im Labor, die der Anwendung der gelernten Theorie dienen, gefunden werden. An diesen Ergebnisse schlieben sich Reflexionen darüber an, wie die berufliche 'Entwicklung und Fortbildung' der Dozenten verbessert werden kann.</p> <p>Beginning in the mid 1970s, there was a shift in the interest of research on teachers, away from the study of their behaviour and of their professional education based on technical teaching skills and towards the study of their thinking and of their education based on a constructive process that affects how they think and act. Subsequently, within this line of research on teacher thinking, there was a steady rise in the number of studies on what teachers think about science and its teaching and learning, both in general and in relation to school science curricular content in particular, topics of great interest in orienting our work on teachers' curricular thinking (Shulman, [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref1">34</reflink>]; Wideen <emph>et al.</emph>, [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref2">37</reflink>]).</p> <p>Specifically, there have been numerous studies that point to the inadequacy of teachers' knowledge (both in their initial teacher education and as active teachers) concerning the nature of scientific knowledge. It has been found that teachers tend to exalt the supremacy of scientific knowledge over other types of knowledge (Lederman & O'Mally 1990; Gallagher, [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref3">8</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref4">9</reflink>]; Lederman, [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref5">22</reflink>]). Other work, such as that of Kouladis and Ogborn ([<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref6">20</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref7">21</reflink>]), has shown the diversity of outlooks amongst teachers with respect to their thinking about science: their points of view are often not wholly coherent about the different aspects of science included in the studies (its nature, status, output, change, etc.), and are rather eclectic regarding scientific knowledge.</p> <p>A number of authors (Hollon & Anderson, [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref8">15</reflink>]; Prawat, [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref9">31</reflink>]; Hewson & Hollon, [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref10">14</reflink>]) point to the importance of teachers' conceptions concerning learning, there existing such beliefs as:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> 1. Pupils will learn as long as they pay attention to the teacher's explanations and study. If they do not learn, it is because they study too little or have family problems.</item> <p></p> <item> 2. Learning is manifested by what the pupils are capable of explaining in exams.</item> <p></p> <item> 3. The pupils' ideas need only to be taken into account so as to convert them into 'the scientific truth'.</item> </ulist> <p>As is also the case with teachers' conceptions about science, their conceptions about learning are not always uniform and coherent (Desaultes, [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref11">5</reflink>]; Hewson <emph>et al.</emph>, [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref12">13</reflink>]). The positions frequently expressed are that learning is a case of reception by 'verbal transmission of knowledge' or of acquisition by 'simple pupil activity'. Their conceptions about teaching seem to be correlated with those relating to learning. Thus Kennedy ([<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref13">19</reflink>], p. 7), reviewing different studies concerning teachers, describes 'the supremacy of the conception that learning means absorption and teaching telling the students what the teacher knows, as well as evaluating the students' recall of this knowledge'.</p> <p>While traditional postures predominate, there have been workers such as Gallagher ([<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref14">9</reflink>]) who report finding diverse approaches closer to tendencies that are constructivist (teaching as a learning cycle, as conceptual change, or as a guide in a constructive process) or spontaneist (teaching as a set of manipulative activities chosen by the teacher so that the pupils will discover the meaning of scientific conceptions). There is even evidence of the so‐called goal‐oriented approach of technological teaching, which is closely linked to behaviourist psychology, in the generation of teachers whose professional education was based on this philosophy (Shavelson & Stern, [<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref15">33</reflink>]).</p> <p>What are the most suitable contents, methods, and evaluation techniques to use when teaching sciences? The study of curricular conceptions concerning specific topics of science is a line of work of growing interest. Thus, studies with active teachers (Cronin‐Jones, [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref16">4</reflink>]) found, on the one hand, open conceptions as to content and methodology, but on the other, traditional tendencies with respect to evaluation. Hollon <emph>et al.</emph> ([<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref17">16</reflink>]) observe clear incoherence between the selection of content and the methodological proposals. In other cases, there is even a certain methodological diversity amongst teachers who otherwise claim to follow the same student‐research‐based line of work (Orlandi, [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref18">28</reflink>]).</p> <p>Finally, one might ask synthetically whether the way science teachers approach teaching might be related to their epistemological conceptions. There are studies in this sense (Smith & Neale, [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref19">35</reflink>]; Pomeroy, [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref20">29</reflink>]; Gustafson & Rowell, [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref21">11</reflink>]; Hashweh, [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref22">12</reflink>]) that attempt to relate the positivist and empirical‐inductivist conceptions of science with absolutist versions of truth and knowledge. Such a mix would lead to curricular proposals in which the pupils' ideas and their participation in the teaching/learning task are not taken into account.</p> <p>In sum, the study of teachers' pedagogical, professional and scientific conceptions, as well as being a promising line of research, is needed for the advancement of practical teacher education. These conceptions form an alternative body of knowledge which constitutes the information that will be mobilized in the process of ongoing teacher education.</p> <p>Theoretically, following the analysis by Porlán and Rivero ([<reflink idref="bib30" id="ref23">30</reflink>]), we can consider three major tendencies in teacher education according to the type of knowledge which is most emphasized in the process. One tendency, which some authors have denominated the traditional viewpoint (Ferry, [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref24">6</reflink>]; Imbernón, [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref25">17</reflink>]), is based on the mastery of academic knowledge. A second, which those authors call the technical model, emphasizes technological know‐how, and implies that teacher education should be based on teaching instrumental knowledge to be applied in the classroom. The third, denoted the activist or spontaneist model, is based on the supremacy of phenomenological knowledge. favouring action over reflection, and intervention over planning. The trend today is to integrate these three types of knowledge into a single constructivist view of teacher education.</p> <p>Although the above is valid for any category of professional education, in the present article, where our focus is on ongoing teacher education, we shall refer to that category specifically. In this sense, in Spain as in other countries of our geosocial environment, the ongoing teacher education model which is being adopted is one which encourages conditions for groupwork by means of the design and evaluation of educational experiences in the school (Guerrero & Feito, [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref26">10</reflink>]). Amongst the institutional proposals that have arisen in this line, and specifically in the field of science education, we find especially interesting the scientific and educational refresher courses known in Spain as ACD (Actualización Científica y Didáctica). These are long courses of 150 lesson hours, and represent a serious attempt to integrate the three types of knowledge alluded to above.</p> <p>This institutional form of ongoing education was developed under Spain's law of educational reform, the LOGSE (Ley Orgánica de Ordenación General del Sistema Educativo de 1990). It is organized into three phases:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> 1. The first, of three weeks in July, centres on the basic content of the programme as published by the Ministry of Education (MEC, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref27">27</reflink>]).</item> <p></p> <item> 2. The second, of two weeks in September, also centres on markedly academic‐technical aspects directed towards the elaboration of teaching units.</item> <p></p> <item> 3. The third is developed throughout the following school year (October to June). It consists of sessions with obligatory attendance and others with optional attendance, which revolve around the experimentation with, and evaluation of, a teaching unit designed by the teachers themselves. This part of the course therefore has a markedly more phenomenological character.</item> </ulist> <p>In synthesis, the basics of teacher education underlying the proposals in the documents of the Science ACD courses (MEC, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref28">27</reflink>]) are:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> Science and technology are regarded as human activities placed in a given historical context. The science which is taught (i.e. school‐level science) is neither the science of scientists nor what might be called the science of pupils.</item> <p></p> <item> The content must be chosen by taking several sources into account: epistemological, psychological, educational and sociological.</item> <p></p> <item> These propositions have their correlate in the methodology proposed for science teaching. Thus, the investigation of problems of potential interest in the school environment gives meaning to learning activities, allows the pupils' pre‐existing knowledge to be brought into play, and offers the teacher the possibility of orienting a process of construction of new educational skills.</item> <p></p> <item> Evaluation as investigation is understood as a participative process which provides tested information to use with various instruments in improving both the learning process and the teaching itself.</item> </ulist> <p>Furthermore, because of its interest for our study, we must emphasize that a particular feature of these courses is that the participants are teachers who have been chosen for their consolidated teaching experience and their manifest interest in ongoing education and in the process of educational reform being put into practice in Spain and other countries in recent years. Hence, at least in relation to our own area of science education, a select group of professionals has grown up around these courses, and it seemed interesting to analyse and compare this group with other practising teachers.</p> <hd id="AN0013532257-3">Description of the study</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0013532257-4">Objectives</hd> <p>The present study of professional and curricular conceptions formed part of a wider investigation with practising and prospective teachers (Martínez <emph>et al.</emph>, [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref29">25</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref30">26</reflink>]) aimed at analysing to what degree the educational presuppositions introduced in Spain's reform of its education system have been adopted. The part of the study that we describe here is centred on the professional development of practising science teachers, and has two basic objectives:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> i. To describe and analyse the possible differences in secondary education science teachers' professional and curricular conceptions according to their experience and level of professional education.</item> <p></p> <item> ii. To set out lines of work that contribute to a better knowledge of possible professional career paths and developments, and that may be useful in improving what is offered this group of teachers in ongoing education.</item> </ulist> <hd id="AN0013532257-5">Study samples</hd> <p>The participants were active teachers (with more than 10 years' experience) related with the teaching of science (biology/geology and physics/chemistry) in secondary education (12–18‐year‐old pupils) in the Autonomous Community of Madrid (autonomous region of Spain). Two groups were formed for the investigation: out of a population of 127 teachers registered as having completed a long‐duration ACD course, we located those who were still working in schools of the Madrid Autonomous Community in 1996–97 (80 in total). They were sent a questionnaire, which 27 teachers completed and returned. These 27 teachers will be denominated the 'ACD sample'. From another population of 798 science teachers who were working during 1996–97 in the zone of the Community of Madrid ascribed to the Universidad Complutense and who had never taken the cited course, we chose a random sample of 150 teachers, to whom we sent the questionnaire. This was completed and returned by 76 teachers, who we shall denominate the 'Non‐ACD sample'.</p> <hd id="AN0013532257-6">Method</hd> <p>We used a questionnaire as the basic technique for gathering information. The definitive version was drafted at the end of the 1995–96 academic year, after consulting with experts and performing a pilot trial to test the instrument, which led us to reformulate certain items and eliminate those that were poorly discriminative. The items were constructed mostly according to a Likert scale, and in elaborating them, we took into account the norms put forward by Edwards (Triandis, [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref31">36</reflink>]). Two major blocks were considered in the questionnaire (Annex): one centred on personal‐professional dimensions studied by way of seven free choice questions (a–g) and 14 items to identify and analyse teachers' motivation, satisfaction and perception of their profession. Another consisted of 51 statements relating to Curricular Dimensions, whose possible responses were: 'totally agree', 'agree', 'unsure', 'disagree', 'totally disagree'.</p> <p>To determine the components of the block relating to curricular aspects we asked ourselves the generic questions:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> 1. What to teach?</item> <p></p> <item> 2. What, how, and when to evaluate?</item> <p></p> <item> 3. How to teach?</item> </ulist> <p>These were designed to correspond with Content Dimension (items 36–47), Evaluation Dimension (items 1–12), and Methodology Dimension (items 13–35, 54, 58, 59, 64), respectively. The aim with the statements of this block is to distinguish between two tendencies: a constructivist conception of the teaching–learning process as proposed in the Educational Reform and put into practice in the ACD courses (MEC, [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref32">27</reflink>]) versus the 'more frequent' traditional focus. By way of example, within the content dimension section designed to study the 'relationship with other knowledge', where the intention was to explore the role of alternative conceptions with respect to scientific knowledge, the following propositions were presented: 'the pupils' ideas concerning the concepts of the sciences are errors that the teacher must eliminate' (traditional tendency, item 40), and 'the pupils' ideas concerning the concepts of the sciences form an alternative body of knowledge that one has to work with in the classroom' (constructivist tendency, item 41).</p> <p>For the comparative analysis of the data obtained from the Likert‐scale questions, we used the Student <emph>t</emph>‐test at a 0.05 significance level. The results are shown in Figures 1–4. In the free‐choice questions, counts were made of each statement or response given, and the relative percentage of each response with respect to the total was calculated (Tables 1–4).</p> <p>Distribution percentage of the social origins of the participating Science teachers (ACD, n=27; Non‐ACD, n=76).</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td>Social class (origin)</td><td>ACD Teachers (%)</td><td>Non‐ACD teachers (%)</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><bold>Middle classes</bold></td><td><bold>81.5</bold></td><td><bold>78.8</bold></td></tr><tr><td>Upper middle</td><td>29.6</td><td>19.7</td></tr><tr><td>Middle middle</td><td>37.0</td><td>30.2</td></tr><tr><td>Lower middle</td><td>14.8</td><td>28.9</td></tr><tr><td><bold>Housewives and pensioners</bold></td><td><bold>3.9</bold></td><td><bold>5.2</bold></td></tr><tr><td><bold>Others and N/R (no response)</bold></td><td><bold>18.5</bold></td><td><bold>15.8</bold></td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>Percentage responses referring to motives for the choice of teaching as a profession (ACD, n=27; Non‐ACD, n=76)</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td><bold>Motives</bold></td><td><bold>% responses ACD</bold></td><td><bold>% responses Non‐ACD</bold></td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><bold>EXTRINSIC</bold></td><td><bold>65.4</bold></td><td><bold>61.4</bold></td></tr><tr><td>Overall labour market</td><td>51.2</td><td>45.1</td></tr><tr><td>Compatibility of time</td><td>6.3</td><td>10.9</td></tr><tr><td>Ease of access</td><td>6.2</td><td>4.3</td></tr><tr><td>Social image</td><td>1.6</td><td>1.1</td></tr><tr><td><bold>INTRINSIC</bold></td><td><bold>34.6</bold></td><td><bold>38.6</bold></td></tr><tr><td>Vocation</td><td>23.6</td><td>26.4</td></tr><tr><td>Ideal of service</td><td>4.7</td><td>8.1</td></tr><tr><td>Family continuity in the profession</td><td>6.3</td><td>3.3</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>Professional satisfaction (expressed as percentages) of the participating science teachers. In each cell, the difference from 100% corresponds to N/R (no response)</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td>MOTIVES </td><td>SATISFACTION (%)</td></tr><tr><td /><td>ACD</td><td>NON‐ACD</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Vacations</td><td><bold>100.0</bold></td><td><bold>98.7</bold></td></tr><tr><td>Classroom autonomy</td><td><bold>100.0</bold></td><td><bold>97.3</bold></td></tr><tr><td>Teaching timetable</td><td><bold>96.3</bold></td><td><bold>85.5</bold></td></tr><tr><td>Pupils' attitudes</td><td><bold>77.8</bold></td><td>32.9</td></tr><tr><td>Parents' attitudes</td><td><bold>74.2</bold></td><td>39.5</td></tr><tr><td>Results of their work</td><td><bold>74.1</bold></td><td><bold>52.6</bold></td></tr><tr><td>Available resources</td><td><bold>70.4</bold></td><td><bold>50.0</bold></td></tr><tr><td>Atmosphere of the Centre</td><td><bold>66.7</bold></td><td><bold>78.9</bold></td></tr><tr><td>Pay</td><td><bold>55.6</bold></td><td>31.6</td></tr><tr><td>Ratio pupils/class</td><td>37.0</td><td>19.7</td></tr><tr><td>Sciences in Obligatory Secondary Education (ESO)</td><td>33.4</td><td>15.8</td></tr><tr><td>Social prestige</td><td>29.6</td><td>15.7</td></tr><tr><td>Promotion perspectives</td><td>7.4</td><td>14.5</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>Responses (expressed as percentage) referring to the influence of different contexts on their work. The difference from 100% in each row of each group (ACD or Non‐ACD) corresponds to N/R (no response)</p> <p> <ephtml> <table><thead valign="bottom"><tr><td>DEGREE INFLUENCE </td><td>POSITIVE</td><td>NONE</td><td>NEGATIVE</td></tr><tr><td>Contexts of influence on teaching tasks</td><td>ACD</td><td>NO‐ACD</td><td>ACD</td><td>NO‐ACD</td><td>ACD</td><td>NO‐ACD</td></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td><bold>Professional responsibility</bold></td><td><bold>96.3</bold></td><td><bold>94.7</bold></td><td>0.0</td><td>0.0</td><td>0.0</td><td>1.3</td></tr><tr><td><bold>Pupils</bold></td><td><bold>92.6</bold></td><td><bold>86.9</bold></td><td>0.0</td><td>3.9</td><td>7.4</td><td>3.9</td></tr><tr><td><bold>Seminar colleagues</bold></td><td><bold>77.7</bold></td><td><bold>89.5</bold></td><td>11.1</td><td>5.3</td><td>7.5</td><td>1.4</td></tr><tr><td><bold>Textbook</bold></td><td><bold>74.0</bold></td><td><bold>82.9</bold></td><td>14.8</td><td>6.6</td><td>7.6</td><td>7.8</td></tr><tr><td><bold>Recycling</bold></td><td><bold>96.3</bold></td><td><bold>71.0</bold></td><td>0.0</td><td>22.4</td><td>3.7</td><td>3.8</td></tr><tr><td><bold>Staff meetings</bold></td><td><bold>63.0</bold></td><td><bold>67.1</bold></td><td>18.5</td><td>21.1</td><td>14.8</td><td>6.4</td></tr><tr><td><bold>Official programs</bold></td><td>25.9</td><td>35.5</td><td>18.4</td><td>28.9</td><td><bold>48.1</bold></td><td>30.2</td></tr><tr><td><bold>Administration</bold></td><td>40.7</td><td>38.2</td><td><bold>44.4</bold></td><td><bold>46.1</bold></td><td>3.7</td><td>10.5</td></tr><tr><td><bold>Parents</bold></td><td>44.4</td><td>35.5</td><td>0.0</td><td><bold>53.9</bold></td><td><bold>51.9</bold></td><td>6.5</td></tr><tr><td><bold>Inspection</bold></td><td>3.7</td><td>9.2</td><td><bold>77.8</bold></td><td><bold>60.5</bold></td><td>18.5</td><td>25.0</td></tr><tr><td><bold>School advisory board</bold></td><td>22.2</td><td>26.3</td><td><bold>74.1</bold></td><td><bold>69.7</bold></td><td>3.7</td><td>1.3</td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p>Graph: Results of the comparison of the responses given to items referring to different Professional Perceptions by the two groups, ACD and Non‐ACD (Student's t=1.96 for alpha lower or equal than 0.05)</p> <p>Graph: Results of the comparison of the responses given to items referring to different categories of the Content Dimension by the two groups, ACD and Non‐ACD (Student's t=1,96 for alpha lower or equal than 0.05)</p> <p>Graph: Results of the comparison of the responses given to items referring to different categories of the Evaluation Dimension by the two groups, ACD and Non‐ACD (Student's t=1,96 for alpha lower or equal than 0.05)</p> <p>Graph: Results of the comparison of the responses given to items referring to different categories of the Methodology Dimension by the two groups, ACD and Non‐ACD (Student's t=1,96 for alpha lower or equal than 0.05)</p> <hd id="AN0013532257-7">Results</hd> <p>Given the structure of the questionnaire used in the investigation, we shall present the results according to the dimensions defined in its design. Firstly, we shall describe the information corresponding to the personal and professional characteristics of the sample, and then the information relating to the teachers' opinions in the field of curricular dimensions.</p> <hd id="AN0013532257-8">Professional dimensions</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0013532257-9">Identification</hd> <p>The data from the questionnaires in regard to the age composition show that the ACD sample was older (modal class 41–45 years) than the Non‐ACD sample (modal class 36–40 years). The explanation for the difference is the administrative criterion of seniority in selecting the teachers for the different ACD courses: while the Non‐ACD group had a mean age (38 years) that is similar to that of the total population of Spain's secondary teachers, the ACD group's mean age was six years greater (42 years).</p> <p>With respect to <emph>social origins</emph> (see Table 1), the upper middle class predominated in the ACD group, mostly from sectors of the petite bourgeoisie. The Non‐ACD group presented a lower social class origin, mostly from the educated middle class (e.g. office employees and functionaries). The initial professional education of the two groups was very similar, with a predominance of degrees in chemistry and biology. Of the ACD group, 7.4% had Ph.D.s, as against 5.2% for the Non‐ACD group. It has to be noted that in Spain anyone who wishes to present themselves for the competitive examination for a teaching position in the State secondary education system must satisfy two requirements fundamentally. He or she must have a <emph>licenciatura</emph> (5–6‐year course university degree) in one of the sciences, and psychopedagogical knowledge which is usually given following the <emph>licenciatura</emph> in a postgraduate course that is markedly theoretical, given in the university, and of short duration (two months), called the Pedagogical Aptitude Course (CAP in Spanish).</p> <hd id="AN0013532257-10">Motivation‐satisfaction</hd> <p>The motives for the choice of profession (see Table 2) were very similar between the two groups. There was a predominance, almost 2 to1, of extrinsic motives (e.g. job stability, first or only outlet on graduating) over intrinsic motives. One expects this structure of anticipatory socialization to be accompanied by a propensity to ritualistic fulfilment of the profession (Lortie, [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref33">24</reflink>]; Broadfoot & Osborn, [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref34">1</reflink>]).</p> <p> <emph>Professional satisfaction</emph> (see Table 3) was greater in the ACD sample than in the Non‐ACD sample: 68.2% and 54.7% respectively. But the difference was also qualitative. The ACD teachers showed almost generalized satisfaction except with the social recognition of their work and their promotion expectations. The Non‐ACD group, however, linked satisfaction to such facets as holidays, working hours, and independence in the classroom. In this sense, the Non‐ACD group seem more prone to the ritualistic fulfilment of the profession and to 'burn‐out' (Freechman, [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref35">7</reflink>]).</p> <p>There also appeared differences in <emph>the model of professionalism</emph> (see Table 4) that the teachers follow. Thus, in terms of the study of Broadfoot and Osborn ([<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref36">1</reflink>]), the ACD group showed a more extensive professionalism, with a greater commitment to aspects that are not just clearly teaching‐connected (tutorials, administration responsibilities, recycling). In the Non‐ACD sample, however, the teachers' professional responsibility was reduced to the aspects that are most closely linked to what is intrinsic in the practice of teaching; work in the classroom for instance. Following the aforementioned authors, the position of the two groups seems to lie somewhere between the French and the English teaching communities, although somewhat closer to the latter.</p> <p>In a previous study (Rodrigo <emph>et al.</emph>, [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref37">32</reflink>]), in which some of the teachers were interviewed, it was found that the components of the ACD sample participated in working groups outside their own educational centres.</p> <hd id="AN0013532257-11">Professional perceptions</hd> <p>The analysis of the responses by group showed the ACDteachers to have a profile characterized by items 49, 52, and 63: 'the teacher needs psychopedagogical education to carry out his/her work'; 'boys do not have a better aptitude than girls'; and 'science favours critical thinking'. The Non‐ACD teachers are additionally defined by the item 'do not accept any differences in attitude relative to gender'.</p> <p>There were significant differences between the two groups in the responses to items 48, 53, and 57 (see Figure 1). The ACD teachers: (i) showed a greater degree of dissatisfaction with the teacher education they had received in university relative to the real work of teaching; (ii) relativized to a greater degree pupils' aptitudes as a requisite for success in their subjects; and (iii) showed themselves to be more inclined to consider the importance of suitable choices of methods as a factor affecting their pupils' performance. The Non‐ACD group manifested more traditional attitudes in these aspects. Noteworthy amongst the points of agreement between the two groups were: (i) the need to integrate psychopedagogical education into their initial professional education (item 49); and (ii) the view that science encourages critical thinking (item 63).</p> <p>There was also a similarity between the two groups in their not accepting that boys 'are better' than girls at learning science (<reflink idref="bib52" id="ref38">52</reflink>). Neither group came down clearly on one side or the other relative to the dependence between performance and personal characteristics (intelligence, motivation) (<reflink idref="bib55" id="ref39">55</reflink>), to whether the difficulties of scientific topics are due to their corresponding technical language (<reflink idref="bib61" id="ref40">61</reflink>), or to whether it is science subjects that most contribute to the development of the mind (<reflink idref="bib62" id="ref41">62</reflink>).</p> <hd id="AN0013532257-12">Curricular dimensions</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0013532257-13">Content dimension</hd> <p>The differences detected in this dimension (Figure 2), with respect to the relationship between school‐level content and other forms of knowledge, refer to the consideration of school‐level knowledge as different from scientific and everyday knowledge (item 37), and of the pupils' knowledge as erroneous (item 40), with the ACD sample holding more constructivist opinions. Also, while both groups consider scientific knowledge to be a social product (item 39), the ACD teachers' standpoint is more emphatic. With respect to the linear sequencing of topics as a form of organizing school‐level content (item 44), the ACD teachers do not seem to be in agreement with this proposal, which is thus an element which differentiates them from the Non‐ACD teachers. Nonetheless, the idea of designing evaluation according to the evolution of the pupils' ideas, even though they might not have reached the desired level (item 47), seems to be an aspect of conflict within the ACD sample, despite it being coherent with the constructivist setting of the teaching‐learning process.</p> <hd id="AN0013532257-14">Evaluation dimension</hd> <p>As is shown in Figure 3, there were significant differences in items 2 and 8 which correspond to the categories of Instruments and Purpose of the Evaluation, respectively. There were no significant differences found in the Design category. There was a great deal of consensus amongst all the participants with respect to clearly traditional items, which, as we will see, makes this dimension clearly interestingeducationally as a focus in improving teachers' conceptions. For item 2 for instance (Figure 3), both groups, but especially the Non‐ACD group, manifested a clearly traditional attitude in thinking that 'pupils only study if they have to take an exam'. We would also emphasize that the ACD group also tended to agree with the monitoring of the pupils is impossible' (item 5), or 'not to compare and discuss with colleagues their evaluations of their pupils' (item 7). On the positive side, there was a notable and almost unanimous agreement on 'using evaluations to inform and orient pupils in their difficulties' (items 9, 10).</p> <hd id="AN0013532257-15">Methodology dimension</hd> <p>As one sees from the information presented in Figure 4, there were significant differences between the two groups for items 14, 16, 20, 23, 24, 26, and 65. These corresponded to Planning (item 14), Development of Teaching (items 16, 20), Adaptation to the Pupil (items 23, 65), and Motivation/Participation (items 24, 26). No significant differences were found in the Resources category.</p> <p>With respect to Planning of the teaching, one positive aspect that stands out is that the participants often admit the 'importance of checking on their pupils' pre‐existing ideas with which they confront the new concepts they are being taught' (item 13), the 'importance of including CTS implications' (item 18), and 'everyday problems in the development of teaching' (item 19). The two groups differ, however, in how to put the above into effect, whether in 'structured teaching work units' or teaching units (item 14) or 'exclusively following the textbook' (item 16). A notable finding was that the ACD teachers in the study used a variety of materials that they themselves had generally elaborated. It appeared that the attitudes defined by the more mature ACD teachers were more evolved and congruent in these aspects than was the case with the Non‐ACD teachers. Likewise in considering the 'meaning of practical classes as test of a given theory' (item 20), the Non‐ACD group maintained fairly traditional attitudes.</p> <p>At this point it is worth mentioning the difficulty shown by the ACD teachers in reaching a 'consensus plan with their colleagues'. This is a reflection of a problem of 'isolation', such as is often associated with a higher level of professional education and teaching experience (the loneliness of the veteran). Many of these teachers form teaching material design working groups with colleagues at other centres because 'they understand each other better'.</p> <p>With respect to Adaptation to the pupil, there were differences concerning the 'importance or otherwise of dedicating special attention to pupils with learning difficulties' (item 23), with the Non‐ACD group showing more traditional attitudes than the ACD group. This aspect was also manifest in responses to (item 65) 'whether or not the adaptation to diversity encouraged positive attitudes of the pupils regarding teaching'. One may deduce that the ACD teachers have embraced the educational proposals on this topic that were presented to them in the Science‐ACD courses. Also, the indecisiveness manifest in most of the responses to items 22, 58 and 59 implies that 'adaptation to the diversity of the pupils' levels of knowledge' is complicated to deal with in reality.</p> <p>Lastly, with respect to The motivation/participation dimension, and taking into account the opinion of the participants on 'the participation of the pupils in how the classroom functions' (items 24, 26), it is noteworthy that the ACD group wereclearly more 'open‐minded' than the Non‐ACD group. On the basis of interviews with some of the teachers (Rodrigo <emph>et al.</emph>, [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref42">32</reflink>]), we can state that, in general, a significantly greater fraction of the ACD teachers seek the participation of theirpupils in classroom activities, allowing them to put forward their own ideas about how work in the class could be developed. However, there was quite generalized agreement on 'motivating the pupils by explaining things that are useful for life'(item 27), or the 'introduction of small classroom investigations' (item 28). Likewise, all participants agreed on the 'importance of group work in the classroom' (items 30, 54).</p> <p>Finally, although statistically there were no differences in the use of educational resources, there was more questioning of 'excursions outside the classroom for educational ends' (item 34) on the part of the more experienced teachers. There was also notably little use of computer‐based materials by any of the participants, an aspect that, given its importance for the development of society in the twenty‐first century, needs to be reviewed in ongoing teacher education courses.</p> <hd id="AN0013532257-16">Implications for teacher education</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0013532257-17">Professional dimensions</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0013532257-18">Motivation‐satisfaction</hd> <p>With respect to motivation and satisfaction, there were notable aspects of extrinsic dissatisfaction relating to 'working conditions, social evaluation, and promotion perspectives'. These aspects concur with the findings of various workers studying non‐university‐level teachers in Spain. Improvement of these and similar extrinsic aspects could therefore be a coadjuvant condition to improving the working atmosphere in Spain's educational centres.</p> <p>Other noteworthy aspects of the teachers' attitudes in the light of our studies are:</p> <p></p> <ulist> <item> 1. There is a need to work on proposals of a change in mentality with respect to the attribution of failure, so as to avoid teachers feeling responsible and adopting what such authors as Clark and Peterson ([<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref43">3</reflink>]) describe as self‐defensive attitudes. To this end one could propose problem classroom situations (for instance, analysis of obstacles and/or difficulties in learning school‐level content, groupwork methods, the historical treatment of content) where the possible causes of school‐level failure are perceived and analysed, and alternatives are given with which to confront the problem.</item> <p></p> <item> 2. In line with the above, a key step might be to overcome the frequent conception held by teachers that the subject matter of the sciences is difficult and abstract. In accord with what the more experienced and qualified group of teachers (ACD) manifested, ongoing teacher education should design and work on activities for motivation which would serve to improve the pupils' attitudes to the sciences. Also, there could be a revision made of the epistemological aspects of science and scientific work (e.g. of excessively empiricist and rationalist views) to bring them closer to a view such as that held by today's scientific community. It would also be opportune to introduce the idea of the teachers being researchers in their own classrooms, and address the specific difficulties faced by working groups in teacher education.</item> </ulist> <hd id="AN0013532257-19">Professional perception</hd> <p>In the light of our studies, there appears to be a widespread belief among the teaching community that 'teacher education should be realist and linked to the situation in our classrooms'. Thus, for instance, particular emphasis should be given to those 'educational transpositions' (Joshua & Dupin, 1983;Chevallard, [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref44">2</reflink>]) which are suited to the school‐level content at different educational levels.</p> <p>Another broadly accepted opinion that emerges from the data is that with respect to initial professional education, the prospective teachers should 'possess a solid psychopedagogical education'. It would perhaps be interesting to go deeper into the different theoretical approaches to learning and its relationship with curriculum models, and how the latter make different assumptions about science, and the roles of the teacher and pupil: in sum, about what it is to teach and to learn science.</p> <hd id="AN0013532257-20">Curricular dimensions</hd> <p>As a general observation, and given that the development of professional knowledge is conceived of as a process of gradual change, one would expect great heterogeneity of situations in the ways the participating teachers express themselves, and indeed this is confirmed in two of the dimensions studied (methods and evaluation). Nevertheless, there appears to be a uniformly greater maturity in the more qualified (ACD) teachers' teaching proposals, and a clear segregation between the ways of thinking of the participants according to their level of experience and qualifications, especially in the content dimension. These differences therefore lend support to the importance of ongoing teacher education for professional educational development. In the following, we shall use a more detailed analysis of the data to set out a series of reflections concerning the improvement of secondary‐level science teacher education.</p> <hd id="AN0013532257-21">Content dimension</hd> <p>The teachers of the ACD group seem to have accepted the concepts that they dealt with in their ongoing education courses relating to the theoretical consideration and practical implications of their pupils' ideas, and thereby differ from their less experienced colleagues. We therefore consider that it might be reasonable to insist along this line within the different educational modalities, both for teachers with a higher level of professional development (such as those of the ACD group) or for those with a lower level.</p> <p>For the selection and sequencing of school curricular content, we suggest insisting on 'teachers' know‐how' (pedagogical analysis of specific curricular content using a diversity of sources, textbooks, alternative conceptions and elaboration of materials that suit the particular classroom context) rather than on a purely theoretical approach to this topic during ongoing education.</p> <p>We believe that it is fundamental to address theoretical issues of the nature of school‐level knowledge, and its relationships with other forms of knowledge, such as scientific knowledge and the pupils' own pre‐existing knowledge. In sum, one must address the epistemological and historical issues which help to establish different levels of how the content should be formulated, adapting it to the needs and ages of the pupils (for example, starting out from the phenomenological to approach, littleby little, a more theoretical model). Alternative forms of organizing school curricular content (conceptual maps, for instance), which move away from the linear sequencing offered by textbooks, do not seem to have been taken on board by the participants in their everyday teaching activities. While the more qualified group recognize the drawbacks of linear sequencing, they still do not clearly come down on the side of any particular alternative. To this end, it might be worthwhile to pay special attention in ongoing teacher education programmes to the more formal aspects (the different ways of organizing school curricular content, their advantages, disadvantages, etc.) as well as the more technical ones.</p> <hd id="AN0013532257-22">Evaluation dimension</hd> <p>This entire dimension shows itself to be a field of special interest for improving the processes of teacher education. It seems that it would be worth looking in more detail at instruments for evaluating the pupils' attitudes that would allow individual monitoring. Also, it may be interesting to insist on a collegiate design of the evaluation instruments, such as questionnaires, interviews, classroom observations, problems and investigations that are appropriate for the development of the curriculum from a constructivist viewpoint and which permit the collaboration of other colleagues.</p> <hd id="AN0013532257-23">Methodology dimension</hd> <p>With respect to the planning of teaching, there seems to be coherence in the more experienced (ACD) teachers' opinions, as they consider, in line with the more advanced educational trends, that the textbook must not be the only source of planning. This is not the case with the less experienced (Non‐ACD) teachers, which would seem to point to a need that these teachers have for professional education concerning the design of materials and resources for educational action.</p> <p>A constant preoccupation of most of the teachers who participated in the study is how to adapt to the diversity within the classroom. Given the current characteristics of our classrooms, with the heterogeneity of the pupils, it seems unthinkable that this situation will evolve towards more homogeneous class groups. It thus seems interesting to try to contribute ideas on ways of doing things that would allow the teacher to have a more individual approach to the pupils. To this end, in line with the above remarks concerning the ongoing teacher education courses, a reasonable approach might be to attempt to resolve real cases presented by the members of the work groups. The participants' contributions of practical classroom or laboratory activity designs should yield a diversity of school‐level tasks adapted to different rates of learning, levels of knowledge, and personal interests of the pupils.</p> <p>Lastly, we understand the design and testing of teaching units to be fundamental to improving teachers' professional development. In this sense, the ACD courses have made very interesting contributions which we believe are still useful in the endeavour to enhance the quality of teaching.</p> <hd id="AN0013532257-24">Acknowledgements</hd> <p>This work has been supported by the CIDE (Centro de Investigación y Documentación of the Spanish Ministry of Education) from 1995. We wish to note that none of these reflections or proposals would have been possible without the selfless collaboration of the teachers who have granted us their time to show us their ways of thinking. To them, we wish to express our sincerest gratitude.</p> <hd id="AN0013532257-25">Notes on contributors</hd> <p>Rosa Martín del Pozo is a lecturer in the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. Her research interest is oriented to studying the conceptions of science teachers, both in general aspects related to science and how it is taught and learnt, and in the educational knowledge of the content of topics of chemistry. The aim is the elaboration of curricular proposals for the initial and ongoing education of teachers in the area of sciences.</p> <p>Mercedes Martínez Aznar is Lecturer in the Science Education Department at the University Complutense of Madrid. She graduated in Chemistry and in Education and has obtained her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University Complutense of Madrid. Her professional activity is related to the training of science teachers and her research fields are science problem‐solving, the design of curricular materials based on open‐ended problems and the conceptions of science teachers.</p> <p>Maximiliano Rodrigo Vega is a Lecturer in the University Complutense of Madrid, interested in studying the conceptions of science teachers and their implications in teacher training.</p> <p>Paloma Varela Nietois a teacher in secondary education and Associate Professor in the Science Education Department at the University Complutense of Madrid. She graduated in Physics and has obtained her Ph.D. in education from the University Complutense of Madrid. 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  Data: A Comparative Study of the Professional and Curricular Conceptions of the Secondary Education Science Teacher in Spain
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22del+Pozo%2C+Martin+R%2E%22">del Pozo, Martin R.</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Martinez-Aznar%2C+M%2E%22">Martinez-Aznar, M.</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Rodrigo%2C+M%2E%22">Rodrigo, M.</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Association+for+Teacher+Education+in+Europe%2E%22">Association for Teacher Education in Europe.</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22European+Journal+of+Teacher+Education%22"><i>European Journal of Teacher Education</i></searchLink>. Jun 2004 27(2):193-213.
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  Data: Taylor & Francis Inc., Journals Department, 325 Chestnut Street, 8th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420 (Toll Free); Fax: 215-625-2940.
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  Data: Y
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
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  Data: 21
– Name: DatePubCY
  Label: Publication Date
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  Data: 2004
– Name: TypeDocument
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  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Evaluative
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  Label: Education Level
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Secondary+Education%22">Secondary Education</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Secondary+Education%22">Secondary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Science+Teachers%22">Science Teachers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Secondary+School+Teachers%22">Secondary School Teachers</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Secondary+School+Science%22">Secondary School Science</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Science+Instruction%22">Science Instruction</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Foreign+Countries%22">Foreign Countries</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teaching+Experience%22">Teaching Experience</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teacher+Education%22">Teacher Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teaching+Methods%22">Teaching Methods</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Job+Satisfaction%22">Job Satisfaction</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teacher+Motivation%22">Teacher Motivation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Science+Curriculum%22">Science Curriculum</searchLink>
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  Data: 0261-9768
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  Data: This article presents a comparison between the professional and curricular conceptions of two samples of secondary education science teachers in Spain, who differed in their years of teaching experience and in whether or not they had participated in a long-duration scientific-pedagogical refresher course. Using the data from their responses to a questionnaire, aspects of their professionalism as teachers (motivation and work satisfaction) and aspects of the curriculum related to content, teaching methods and evaluation were analyzed. The results show a broader professionalism and a higher level of satisfaction in the case of the teachers with more experience and a higher level of professional training. The study found significant differences in whether the pupils' ideas were regarded as erroneous, and in whether laboratory practical work was used to test theory. It concludes by setting out a series of reflections with the aim of working towards improving teachers' "professional development."
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  Data: 2005
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  Data: EJ688577
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      – Text: English
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        PageCount: 21
        StartPage: 193
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Secondary Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Science Teachers
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Secondary School Teachers
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Secondary School Science
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Science Instruction
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Foreign Countries
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      – SubjectFull: Teaching Experience
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      – SubjectFull: Teacher Education
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Teaching Methods
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      – SubjectFull: Job Satisfaction
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      – SubjectFull: Teacher Motivation
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      – SubjectFull: Science Curriculum
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      – TitleFull: A Comparative Study of the Professional and Curricular Conceptions of the Secondary Education Science Teacher in Spain
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