good-practice-in-science-teaching-what-research-has-to-say

292 JOHN K. GILBERT
The challenges associated with teacher
development activities
While it is possible to identify which factors support professional development
activities, they will be provided against a background of constraints that must
be addressed if the outcomes are to be successful, that is if changes in classroom
practice are to take place. Although clear policies that support teacher
development are called for (Darling-Hammond and McLaughlin, 1995), there
are often constraints acting on what can be done in particular contexts.
Providers
One barrier is that there will be the tension between support and assessment
in respect of the participants. Providers will be seeking to provide as much
support as they can for the participants yet will be responsible for the maintenance
of professional standards. The resolution of this tension must involve
awareness by all parties of what is entailed in both activities and of
the boundary between them. A lack of knowledge about individual participants
both by the provider(s) and by fellow participants is another barrier.
Early and extensive opportunities for one-to-one discussions should enable
this hurdle to be overcome, such that peer support and tutor support can be
more personal-centred. Finally, problems arising from the stability of science
staffing of schools are also barriers. In most countries, there are not enough
experienced and competent science teachers. As a consequence, staff mobility
among such teachers in high. This makes it difficult to assign pre-service
teachers to schools with suitably expert mentors. Alas, there is no generic solution
to this problem. Also, schools may be unwilling for such experts to be
freed from classroom duties to themselves engage in later-phase professional
development.
Participants
One of the most significant barriers is the lack of time for reflection on what
has been learned in professional development activities due to a heavy course
or classroom workload. This must be recognized by schools in the allocation
of workloads. Second, a lack of experience of discussion, particularly by those
who have recently emerged from didactic degree courses can be a barrier.
The skills and protocols of discussion can be directly taught. Third, a perception
of ‘research’ as being based on inductivism which is at variance with
the hypothetico-deductive approach accepted in the philosophy of science.
A more helpful perception may be produced by a combination of both direct
instruction about the nature of research and by the adoption of that view in
the actual teaching that takes place (for example, by associating it with action
research).