Using Tools to Promote Novice Teacher Noticing of Science Teaching Practices in Post-Rehearsal Discussions

Source: Teaching and Teacher Education, Volume 59 (2016) 28-44
(Reviewed by the Portal Team)

This article examines the potential of tool-supported rehearsal enactments and post-rehearsal discussions to provide novices with opportunities to develop the ability to notice and interpret critical features of science teaching

Methods
The study was conducted in an elementary science methods course in a master’s level practice-based teacher education certification program.

The participants were novice teachers, who were recent college graduates and individuals pursuing a second career.

The author examined three tools: a framework of science teaching practices, information about student misconceptions and scientific practice challenges, and a feedback form.

Data were collected through videotapes and transcripts of each of the 48 rehearsal discussions.

Conclusion
The results revealed that the tools guided novices to collectively identify, interpret, and share insights to respond to critical issues of science teaching and learning related to using the science teaching practices to support student learning.
The author argues that the results point toward the promise of using tools and rehearsals to foster novice teaching noticing.

The author suggests that teacher educators should emphasize familiar aspects of instruction, such as how to manage students’ behaviors, may direct novices to rely on prior experiences to make sense of teaching challenges.

The author also suggests that teacher educators need to help novice teachers make the familiar strange so that they can learn to see in new ways. She argues that it is also important to examine whether and how novices are able to use the insights gleaned from the rehearsal enactments and post-rehearsal discussions to improve their classroom teaching.