Chin, Tan Ying; (2013) Insights and lessons from teachers initial professional learning and collaborative practices in questioning for higher-order scientific discourse in primary science classrooms. Doctoral thesis , Institute of Education, University of London.

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Abstract

The purpose of this study is to understand the processes of teacher learning and collaboration when teachers are initiated into a professional development programme focusing on questioning to promote higher-order scientific discourse. The study will inform the design of school-based professional development on teacher questioning. Two Primary Four and two Primary Five science teachers from a Singapore primary school participated in a school-based professional development, comprising learning experiences designed for individual teachers and for teachers working together. The teachers were first introduced to Chin's (2007) questioning framework of four questioning approaches (Socratic questioning, verbal jigsaw, semantic tapestry, framing) at workshop sessions. They also conducted a total of sixteen lessons covering the topics of Heat, Light, Plant Reproduction and Plant Processes and participated in post lesson reflections. Data were collected by audio-recording workshop discussions, video-recording enacted lessons and audio-recording post lesson discussions. To analyse teachers' evidence of learning, the interconnected model of professional growth by Clarke and Hollingsworth (2002) was used. The model also facilitated the presentation and comparison of teachers' change sequences and growth networks in the personal domain of knowledge and belief, domain of practice and domain of consequence of salient outcomes arising from external domain of stimuli. All teachers changed but in different ways. Overall, the study has contributed empirical evidence on how teachers enacted and reflected on questioning in an authentic school setting, providing insights into the complexity of teacher learning and practices individually and with other teachers across various learning experiences. It has also provided insights into the potential of the model of Clarke and Hollingsworth (2002) as an analytical tool, not just for individual teachers but for teachers learning together. The features of school-based professional development that facilitated learning have informed the design of inquiry professional development. Findings from this study will inform me as a science curriculum specialist in designing curriculum, resources and professional i development to better support questioning to nurture effective inquirers and critical thinkers in the 21st century.

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