How much of teaching efficacy is just plain old experience?
Some ideas are taking shape from the data. I'm not really sure if what I am doing is even coding. I feel like I have heard lots of people talk about coding and what they are doing to code their data and I've read more than a few published research articles where the methods section describes coding- even one article that was written with the idea of how to code. And yet, I'm still really unsure of the process I am going through because it seems sort of haphazard and leads me down different pathways of thinking even if I only have one or two pieces of data to support a given thought. Tara has told me that I don't have to detail every theme that comes out of my data "coding" and I understand that whatever these themes are they should be big, broad ideas that shed some light on my research question. While I am not too confident in my own process righ now, here are some things I am starting to see and that are making me want to go back in and see if I can tell more of this part of the story.
1. The teachers still seem to be unsure of what STEM really is. They know what the letters stand for but they don't seem to grasp that STEM is about integration and process and how these disciplines weave in and out of each other. JW made the comment that the "A" is in the methods, that arts as a discipline shouldn't be in STEM because it muddies the waters and somehow dilutes the construct. That shows me that she feels that STEM is the parts and not the greater sum. A related misconception around STEM is that any hands-on learning activity or "building something". While building can be part of STEM and many STEM projects and learning experiences are hands-on, those are not the behaviors that define STEM
2. Content Area Knowledge/Expertise does not seem to be a simple contributing for limiting factor to PSTE. A general "can do" attitude that was modeled in the formative years by a teacher or parent or a childhood rich with fishing, gardening, surfing and McGyver-like problem solving seem to play a larger part in the individual's feelings that STEM is, like other challenges, do-able. Interestingly, a counter-factual to the idea that content knowledge or expertise is not necessary to be an effective STEM teacher, are comments about my expertise in the role of specialist teacher and how that contributes directly to the success of the STEAM program at our school. Several teachers recognized my level of mastery as contributing to positive outcome expectancy. Perhaps the contradiction can be explained simply- a classroom teacher feels like their limited background knowledge is still sufficient in the elementary environment and , if they keep the learning within expected boundaries they have set then there won't be any "surprises"; they won't have to get into the realm of things they may not know.
3. Experience matters. The longer a teacher has been in the classroom, the more confident they claim to be about STEM teaching. It is not clear if that confidence is, in all cases, supported by practice. It does seem to follow that if a teacher remains in the profession for more than a few years they feel some satisfaction and a level of success. Teaching is hard enough in the best of times- if you feel unsuited or ineffectual at the task it would be difficult to stay in the classroom. That statement in and of itself may reveal some bias I have-namely, a person seeks fulfillment and personal validation in their chosen work.
Experience seems to bring with it the broad expanse of situations encountered and weathered. Teachers with more than 8 years teaching report greater comfort in setting up collaborative learning situations and relinquishing some control over the learning to the students. Teachers who have experience on their side have the advantage of having learned from their mistakes and drawing on their past success.
Those are some of the "themes" (?) that are emerging so far.
1. The teachers still seem to be unsure of what STEM really is. They know what the letters stand for but they don't seem to grasp that STEM is about integration and process and how these disciplines weave in and out of each other. JW made the comment that the "A" is in the methods, that arts as a discipline shouldn't be in STEM because it muddies the waters and somehow dilutes the construct. That shows me that she feels that STEM is the parts and not the greater sum. A related misconception around STEM is that any hands-on learning activity or "building something". While building can be part of STEM and many STEM projects and learning experiences are hands-on, those are not the behaviors that define STEM
2. Content Area Knowledge/Expertise does not seem to be a simple contributing for limiting factor to PSTE. A general "can do" attitude that was modeled in the formative years by a teacher or parent or a childhood rich with fishing, gardening, surfing and McGyver-like problem solving seem to play a larger part in the individual's feelings that STEM is, like other challenges, do-able. Interestingly, a counter-factual to the idea that content knowledge or expertise is not necessary to be an effective STEM teacher, are comments about my expertise in the role of specialist teacher and how that contributes directly to the success of the STEAM program at our school. Several teachers recognized my level of mastery as contributing to positive outcome expectancy. Perhaps the contradiction can be explained simply- a classroom teacher feels like their limited background knowledge is still sufficient in the elementary environment and , if they keep the learning within expected boundaries they have set then there won't be any "surprises"; they won't have to get into the realm of things they may not know.
3. Experience matters. The longer a teacher has been in the classroom, the more confident they claim to be about STEM teaching. It is not clear if that confidence is, in all cases, supported by practice. It does seem to follow that if a teacher remains in the profession for more than a few years they feel some satisfaction and a level of success. Teaching is hard enough in the best of times- if you feel unsuited or ineffectual at the task it would be difficult to stay in the classroom. That statement in and of itself may reveal some bias I have-namely, a person seeks fulfillment and personal validation in their chosen work.
Experience seems to bring with it the broad expanse of situations encountered and weathered. Teachers with more than 8 years teaching report greater comfort in setting up collaborative learning situations and relinquishing some control over the learning to the students. Teachers who have experience on their side have the advantage of having learned from their mistakes and drawing on their past success.
Those are some of the "themes" (?) that are emerging so far.
Merrill, It was great to read this post and get an update on your research, I am having similar feelings about coding. I love how in depth your research goes, I would be curious if we asked the smae questions to my research participants what would happen. Also, "Teachers with more than 8 years teaching report greater comfort in setting up collaborative learning situations and relinquishing some control over the learning to the students." I have founds this to be true in other settings as well. My principal candidates with over 8 years of classroom experience displayed more collaboration skills.
ReplyDelete