درک معلمان از اجرای اهداف ساحت علم و فناوری و برنامه ‏درسی حوزه تربیت و یادگیری علوم-تجربی در دوره ابتدایی

نوع مقاله : تحقیق کیفی

نویسندگان

1 عضو هیات علمی سازمان پژوهش و برنامه ریزی آموزشی، تهران، ایران

2 دکترای مطالعات برنامه درسی، گروه مدیریت و برنامه ریزی اموزشی، دانشکده روانشناسی و علوم تربیتی، دانشگاه علامه طباطبایی، تهران، ایران

3 استاد بازنشسته گروه علوم تربیتی، دانشکده علوم انسانی، دانشگاه تربیت مدرس، تهران، ایران

4 دکترای مطالعات برنامه درسی، گروه مطالعات برنامه ریزی درسی، دانشکده روانشناسی و علوم تربیتی، دانشگاه خوارزمی، تهران، ایران

چکیده

این پژوهش با هدف بررسی چگونگی درک معلمان از اجرای اهداف ساحت علم و فناوری و برنامۀ ‏درسی حوزۀ تربیت و یادگیری علوم‌تجربی در دورۀ ابتدایی انجام شد. روش پژوهش پدیدارشناختی و گروه هدف، شامل معلمان مناطق 19 گانۀ شهر تهران بود که به‌صورت هدفمند انتخاب شدند. ابزار گردآوری داده‏ها پرسشنامۀ ‏باز، روزنگارها، مصاحبۀ نیمه‏-ساختارمند و یادداشت‏های میدانی و تأملی بود. تحلیل داده‏ها به شیوۀ قیاسی و با در نظر داشتن سه مقولۀ خویشتن، تکلیف و اثربخشی انجام شد که انعکاس‌دهندۀ دغدغۀ معلمان در اجرای تغییر/ نوآوری بود. یافته‌ها نشان داد مهم‌ترین نگرانی‏های ابراز شده در مرحلۀ خویشتن، تعدد طرح‏های تحولی در سطح مدرسه و حاکمیت کتاب درسی به جای برنامۀ ‏درسی و محدودیت ناشی از آن برای اتخاذ تصمیم‏ها از سوی معلم در فرایند تدریس و یادگیری بود. در مرحلۀ تکلیف، معلمان با دغدغه‌هایی همچون کمبود زمان آموزش و حمایت‏ها و پشتیبانی‏های علمی و حرفه‏ای مورد نیاز در فرایند اجرا روبه‌رو بودند؛ اما تعامل حرفه‏ای و وجود برخی ویژگی‏های شخصیتی در معلمان، شرایط را برای کنار آمدن با این دغدغه‏ها و اجرای اسناد تحولی فراهم کرده بود. در مرحلۀ اثربخشی، مهم‌ترین دغدغه‌های معلمان عبارت بودند از: تأثیر بر یادگیری دانش‏آموزان، ارزشیابی و آزمون‏های هماهنگ، یادگیری شخصی‌شده و کنشگری معلم. با توجه به یافته‌های این پژوهش، می‌توان گفت در اجرای اسناد تحولی به دلیل ابعاد گسترده و عمق تغییراتی که در  پی خواهد داشت و تمام جنبه‏های کاری مدرسه را تحت تأثیر قرار می‏دهد، نیازمند آن است که برنامه‏ریزی برای اجرا در سطح نهادی از وضوح لازم برای معلمان و دیگر دست‏اندرکاران برخوردار باشد. بی-توجهی به تأثیر و تأثر متقابل ابعاد تغییر، نه تنها موجب بازآفرینی فرهنگ مدرسه نخواهد شد، بلکه می‏تواند به نتایج پیش‌بینی‌نشده و نامطلوبی بینجامد.

کلیدواژه‌ها


عنوان مقاله [English]

Elementary teachers' perception on the implementation of the goals of science and technology domain and science learning area

نویسندگان [English]

  • Fatemeh Zahra Ahmadi 1
  • Amene Ahmadi 2
  • Mahmoud Mehr Mohammadi 3
  • Negar Elhamian 4
1 Faculty Member of Organization for Educational Research and Planning (OERP), Tehran, Iran
2 PhD in Curriculum Studies, Department of Educational Planning and Management, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Allameh Tabatabai University, Tehran, Iran
3 Professor Emeritus of Curriculum and Instruction at Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
4 PhD in Curriculum Studies, Department of Curriculum Planning Studies, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
چکیده [English]

The present research aimed to investigate how teachers perceive the implementation of the goals of the science and technology education domain and science learning areas in elementary schools. This research is a qualitative research in terms of the type of data and applied research in terms of purpose. Among the various methods of qualitative research, phenomenological research method was used. Data collection tools were open questionnaires, diaries, semi-structured interviews and field, and reflective notes. The data analysis method was deductive and considering the three categories of self, task, and impact, which reflects the stages of teachers' concern in implementing change/innovation. The findings showed that the most important self-concerns expressed by teachers were related to the deep understanding of the documents related to the Fundamental Educational Reform;  the imitative practices in the implementation of these documents, and the interference of different projects and the pressure of their implementation on school staff.  Regarding task concerns, the majority of participants mentioned the lack of time and a context supportive of change to facilitate implementation. Impact concerned teachers were concerned about the impact of the change on student’s learning. This research depicted that the majority of the participants called for providing them with a deep understanding of the documents related to the Fundamental Educational Reform. The implementation of the Fundamental Educational Reform documents is facilitated when teachers and other agents have a clear vision of the change at school levels.
Introduction
The present research aimed to investigate how teachers perceive the implementation of the goals of the science and technology education domain and science learning areas in elementary schools. According to Hall and Hord (2015), teachers go through the stages of concerns when they face educational changes or innovations. Concerns are interpreted as teachers’ feelings about, perceptions of, attitudes toward or reactions to a specific educational change or innovation.  These concerns can be a very positive force for change and determine the type of help teachers need. Hall and Hord (2015) introduced Stages of Concern (SoC), namely, Self, Task, and Impact concerns in teachers. Self-concerns arise when an individual shows a general awareness of innovation and an interest in learning more. At this stage, they are not sure about the needs of innovation, their ability to meet these needs, and their role in innovation. They are selflessly interested in main parts of the innovation, including general attributes, effects, and usage requirements. Task concerns arise when the individual is worried about the task itself rather than their ability. Individuals at this stage focus on the “how-to-do-its” and on the process and the tasks involved for the innovation. They are eager to know the best way to use the resources and information to implement the innovation. Issues related to efficiency, organization, management, scheduling, and time requirements are extremely important.  Individuals with impact concerns can see the impact the change is going to have on student’s learning. They work with others and discuss their ideas about the use of the innovation. They explore the more general benefits of the innovation, including the possibility of major changes or other powerful alternatives. These individuals are positive and enthusiastic. They talk to one another about the strengths and successes they are experiencing in using the innovation and come up with specific ideas about innovative alternatives. In Iran, the Fundamental Educational Reform documents were approved in 2011 and they were followed with approval of curriculum goals for different levels of education. This means teachers are faced with extensive changes in the implementation of the intended curriculum, which affects their performance in various aspects. Considering these changes is essential for the implementation of intended curriculum goals. Therefore, the aim of this research was to investigate how teachers perceive the implementation of the goals of the science and technology education in the science learning areas in elementary schools.
Methods
This applied qualitative research used phenomenological approach to examine human experiences regarding the study subject.  The participants were teachers and staff in 19 districts of Tehran who were selected purposefully. According to Patton (1980), purposeful sampling is used when the researcher does not seek to generalize the findings and intends to achieve an in-depth understanding of a phenomenon. Data were collected using open-ended questions, semi-structured interviews, field notes, and reflective notes. Using multiple methods increases the validity and reliability of the research and creates a more in-depth picture of the phenomenon of interest (Creswell, 2013; Denzin and Lincoln, 2005).  To analyze the data, interview transcripts, field and reflective notes were read several times, keeping in mind both the literature reviewed and the research question. After getting a sense of the participants’ perceptions, the researchers segmented the relevant parts of the data for coding (Creswell, 2013). Codes were identified and highlighted. The codes and their definition were recorded in the code book to ensure consistency between researchers. When no more issues emerged from the data, code development stopped. The codes were compared and those with similar attributes were categorized (Hennink, Hutter, & Bailey; 2010) into apriori themes (Gibson & Brown, 2009). These themes were the SoC introduced by Hall and Hord (2015). To increase the trustworthiness of the research, the process of placing data into themes was regularly discussed with research participants and reviewed based on the feedback received.
Findings
The findings showed that the most important self-concerns expressed by teachers were related to the deep understanding of the documents related to the Fundamental Educational Reform;  the imitative practices in the implementation of these documents, and the interference of different projects and the pressure of their implementation on school staff. At this stage, the participants were concerned about the dominance of the textbook instead of the curriculum design as it restricted teachers’ decision-making during teaching-learning process. Most participants were concerned with the stereotyped beliefs in teaching. Regarding task concerns, the majority of participants mentioned the lack of time and a context supportive of change to facilitate implementation. The findings showed that professional interactions and networking with peer teachers were necessary to facilitate changes.  The key characteristics of the teachers needed to facilitate implementation were having lifelong learning skills, valuing research in their role as teachers, showing foresight, creativity and innovation, flexibility, as well as interest in students. Impact concerned teachers were concerned about the impact of the change on student’s learning. They mentioned that students’ first-hand experiences and their freedom of action increased their interest in learning. Despite the positive attitude toward this change, some of them believed that existing uniform assessment methods were a barrier to facilitating implementation. They were pleased that this innovation facilitated individualized learning. Teachers’ participation in the change process provided an opportunity for them to reflect on their professional competencies as an active agent, and to go beyond their students' learning and think about their own and their colleagues’ learning. They saw the existing centralized systems of formal education as a serious barrier to playing this role. They believed that construction of a professional learning community in which learning occurs increases the success of implementing changes.
Discussion and Conclusion
This research depicted that the majority of the participants called for providing them with a deep understanding of the documents related to the Fundamental Educational Reform. They considered the existing practices to implement these documents as imitative practices. Therefore, to implement changes, first of all, teachers' participation and acceptance of the change must be ensured. These finding are consistent with previous research finding (Mellado, 2006). The implementation of the Fundamental Educational Reform documents is facilitated when teachers and other agents have a clear vision of the change at school levels.

کلیدواژه‌ها [English]

  • Elementary Teachers
  • Science and Technology Domain
  • Phenomenology
Ahmadi, F.Z; Ahmadi, A (2015). Dialogue Education a Context for Learning Practicum Program. New Strategies for Teacher Training (Reflective Teacher Education; (2) 2 (Text in Persian)
Ale Husseini, F (2014). Narrative Research: The Meaning of Experience. Practticum and Teacher Training Research Group. Research Institute for Teacher Training Studies, Farhangian University. (Text in Persian)
Becker, M. (2011).   Teachers concerns regrading the implementation and continued use of an Eevidence-Bbaed educational practice (Publication number: 3496896) [Doctoral dissertation, University of Florida]. ProQuest Dissertations Publishing
Cooper, M., Ling, L. M., & Stewart, J. (2010, Feb). Teacher culture and teacher change: Insights from a meta-theoretical perspective. [Paper presentation]. WFATE conference, Chicago, USA.
Creswell, John W. (2007). Qualitative Inquiry and Research Design: Choosing among Five Approaches (2nd). California: Sage Publications.
Darling-Hammond, L. (1997). Doing what matters most: Investing in quality teaching. National Commission on Teaching & America's Future, Retrieved from https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED415183, April 2017
Darling-Hammond, L., & Bransford, J. (Eds.) (2005). Preparing teachers for a changing world: What teachers should learn and be able to do. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Denzin, N. K. Lincoln, Y. S. (2005). The Sage handbook of qualitative research. California: Sage publication
Fullan, M. (2000). The return of Large-scale reform. Jornal of Educational Change, 1, 5-28.
Fullan, M. (2005). Leadership & sustainability: System thinkers in action.  Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press.
Fullan, M. (2007). The new meaning of educational change (4th E). New York: Teachers College Press.
Fullan, M. (2008). The six secrets of change: What the best leaders do to help their organizations survive and thrive. NewYork: John Wiley & Sons.
Fullan, M. (2014). Teacher development and educational change. London: Routledge
Fullan, M. (2015). Freedom to change: Four strategies to put your inner drive into overdrive. NewYork: John Wiley & Sons.
Fullan, M. Hord, S. M. Von Frank, V. (2014). Reach the highest standard in professional learning: Implementation. Thousand Oaks: Corwin Press
Fullan, M., & Stiegelbauer, S. (1991). The new meaning of educational New York: Teachers College Press.
Glatthorn, Allan.A; Bochee, Floyed; Whitehead, Bruce & Boschee, Bonnif (2019). Curriculum leadership strategies for development & implementation. London: Sage publication
Goodlad, J. I., Klein, M. F (1970). Behind the classroom door. Ohio: Charles A. Jones Pub
Hall, E., & Hord, S. M. (2015). Implementing change: Patterns, principles, and potholes.‏ Boston: Pearson
Hennink, M. Hutter, I. Bailey, A. (2010). Qualitative research methods. California: Sage.
Marsh, C. (2009). Key concepts for understanding curriculum. London:Routledge
Mcneil.John D. (2009). Conteporary curriculum in thought and action (7th). New York: Wiley.
Mehr Mohammadi, M (2010). Critique and Commentary on the Third Version of the document "National Curriculum of the Islamic Republic of Iran". Curriculum Studies Quarterly, (18)5 (Text in Persian)
Mellado, V., Ruiz, C., Bermejo, M. L., & Jiménez, R. (2006). Contributions from the philosophy of science to the education of science teachers. Science & Education, 15(5), 419-445.
Mohammadi, F (2019). Bourdieu’s View over Educational Field, Beyond Confliction and Functionalism Approaches. Journal of Foundations of Education, 9 (1), 5-25 (Text in Persian)
Mousapur, N (2008). A Study of the History and Current Status of the Curriculum Planning System in Iran. (Research Project). Tehran: Educational Research and Planning Organization. (Text in Persian)
National curriculum (1391). Higher Education Council (Text in Persian)
Patton, M.Q. (1980). Qualitative Evaluation Methods. (10th Edition). London: Sage
Sabar, N. (1994). "School-Based Curriculum Development" In Husen, T. & Postlethwaite, T. N., (Eds.). International Encyclopedia of Education (2nd). New York: Pergamon Press
Sarason, S. (1971). The Culture of the School and the Problem of Change. Boston: Allyn &Bacon
Sarason, S. B. (1996). Revisiting" The culture of the school and the problem of change". New York: Teachers College Press.
Schwab, J. J. (1973). The practical 3: Translation into curriculum. The school review, 81(4), 501-522.
Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1), 1-22.
Smeed, J. Bourke, T. Nickerson, J. Corsbie, T. (2015). Testing times for the implementation of curriculum change: Analysis and extension of a curriculum change model. Sage Open, 5(2), 2158244015581018
Theoretical Premises of the Fundamental Reform of the Formal General Education System of the Islamic Republic of Iran (2011). (Text in Persian)
Wedell, M. Grassick, L. (Eds.). (2018). International perspectives on teachers living with curriculum change. Palgrave Macmillan.
Young, S, (1993). Defining Highly Qualified Teachers. Journal of Educational Researcher. Washington D.C. 31(9).
Zais, R. (1976). Curriculum principles and foundationd. New York: Growell Publishing Company.