Contribution of a Professional Development Program for Teachers’ Learning

1. Contribution of a Professional Development Program for Teachers’ Learning Mónica Baptista; Ana Maria Freire mlmbaptista@gmail.com; amvfreire@ie.ul.pt Instituto de Educação Universidade de Lisboa

2. Study aim To describe the contribution of Professional Development Program for teachers’ learning

3. PORTUGUESE CURRICULA FOR TEACHING SCIENCE AT MIDDLE SCHOOL • Promotion STSE perspective • Constructivist focus, values the scientific inquiry approach • Preparation for public understanding of science and scientific literacy • Assessment as learning Galvão et al.(2002)

4. National Curricula Goals for Sciences • Development of competences in • Subject knowledge (substantive, procedural, epistemological) • Reasoning • Communication skills • Scientific and social attitudes Galvão et al.(2002)

5. Teachers are often resistant to the implementation of innovative ideas in order to adapt the Curricular Orientation Professional Development Program Collaborative work between Teachers and Researchers Link PracticeandTheory

6. Phase 1 • Discussion about Curriculum Orientations, Science teaching and learning, formative assessment • Planning and design of inquiry activities • Phase 2 • Inquiry activities implementation in the classroom • Data Collection • Phase 3 • Data Analysis • Reflection about practice Written documents produced by students Audiotapes Focus Group Interviews Collaborative work between Teachers and Researchers

7. The activities were designed having in mind the notion of situated learning practices and were based on 5E learning cycle (Bybee & Landes, 1988). The 5E learning cycle leads pupils through a sequence consisting on the following phases: engagement, exploration, explanation, elaboration and evaluation.

8. Themes Electricity Periodic Table 14 yearsold Chemical Reactions Sound and Light 13 yearsold Astronomy Materials 12 yearsold

11. Methodology Participants Six Physics and Chemistry teachers from schools within the region of Lisbon. They were all females and their ages range from 25 to 47 years old. Two of them are Master’ students in Science Education, one has a Master in Science Education, and another has a Master in Physics for Teaching.

12. Methodology The methodology is qualitative, adopting an interpretative orientation (Erickson, 1986) Data Collection Interactions among researchers and teachers during the design of inquiry activities, and interviews (Patton, 1990)

13. Results

14. Phase 1 Results Interpreting the curricular orientations It isn’t easy to adapt and to apply the curriculum. When we started the first activity, I read the curricular orientations and I thought that the most important were the concepts and facts. Then, I made another reading and our discussion allowed the reflection. Now, I can say that I changed my point of view and I learned to interpret the curricular orientations. I think that I understand the intention of the curriculum developers. This teacher understood the importance of using curriculum as a resource for her own design of inquiry activities.

15. Phase 2 Results Managing the teachers and pupils role During the implementation of inquiry activities I learned to manage my role, but I had to break my routine associated with traditional approach. I had to assume a different role and my pupils too. They had an active role. They planned experiences, draw conclusions in a collaborative work, they managed materials. According to this teacher, she and her pupils modified their role in the classroom. Pupils assumed the responsibility for their own learn.

16. Phase 3 Results Reflecting concern their practice I think I learned to reflect about my own practice. We collected data from the pupils [during the phase 2] and the data analysis allowed me to reflect about my practice, my pupils’ learning and their difficulties. I think this is very important because it allowed to do improvements. I think this is crucial for my professional development According to this teacher, she learned to reflect about their own practice and this is very important for her professional development

17. Conclusions • The study showed that teachers had learned about teaching science trough inquiry, researching while teaching, reflecting on their practice, taking responsibility about their own learning, understanding themselves as learners. Teachers had the opportunity to learn new ways of making instructional decisions. • They, in collaboration with researchers, interpreted the National Curriculum and incorporated new approaches into their teaching. They enjoyed the discussions, grew in their own knowledge about teaching and learning, and valued the opportunities for reflection.

18. Conclusions • They went through several changes during the design and implementation process. These teachers seemed to value a more passive role for the teacher when they used inquiry activities in their classroom. According to them, during the inquiry activities, pupils plan experiences, work collaboratively, communicate with each other, defend them based on the evidence and draw conclusions.

19. Conclusions • It is necessary to increase the collaborative work between researchers and schoolteachers, because each partner offers a unique set of knowledge and expertise that contributes successfully to the improvement of teachers’ practices.