Toward Developing Equitable Teacher–Student Partnerships in Learning

• In Event: 52.078 - Equity in Science Teacher Education: Toward an Expanded Definition

Abstract

The instruction and development of preservice teachers has taken many forms, and shaped by multiple perspectives and frameworks. Research has shown that prior experiences and beliefs about teaching shape and guide the decisions teachers make in their classrooms, yet, it is not common to view the teacher in interaction with the context of and students in the classroom as mediated by prior experiences and beliefs about equity and science education. Use of the Multidimensional Framework as interpreted by Gibson’s ecological approach to frame how teacher beliefs guide practice will be the focus of this work. Through a qualitative analysis, a preservice teacher’s prior experiences and beliefs about equity and teaching are explored, foregrounding her perceptions about equity and the classroom environment, and behaviors/responses to students during the inquiry lesson. This paper explores the use of a multidimensional framework to frame the decisions and classroom behaviors exhibited during an inquiry lesson in terms of prior beliefs and experiences, utilizing Gibson’s ecological approach to develop an understanding of how the perceptions of the preservice teacher guide her actions. The findings reveal that the type of data gathered is critical to the interpretation of how preservice teacher beliefs are changed, and in turn, impact inquiry instruction. The data utilized in this work were collected primarily over a fifteen-week semester in a field based elementary science methods course. Of scholarly significance will be the application of Gibson’s ecological approach to frame perception-action in the context of a classroom in terms of prior beliefs about equity and beliefs about teaching and student learning.

Author

• Brian Scott Fortney, The University of Texas at San Antonio