EXPLORING MINORITY PRESERVICE TEACHERS’ DEPICTIONS OF THEIR SCIENCE CLASSROOMS USING DRAWINGS: DECIPHERING THEIR ORIENTATIONS TO SCIENCE TEACHING

EXPL= ORING MINORITY PRESERVICE TEACHERS’ DEPICTIONS OF THEIR SCIENCE CLASSROOMS USING DRAWINGS: DECIPHERING THEIR ORIENTATIONS TO SCIENCE TEACHING

Karthigeyan Subramaniam, Penn State Harrisburg <= /o:p>

Abstract

This descriptive study examines the lens through which minority preservice teach= ers view the elementary science classroom. The study aims to identify the orientations that minority preservice teachers use to mediate the complexit= y of learning to teach in classroom settings. Data consisted of participantsR= 17; drawings of themselves as science teachers at work (Finson et al. (2001), narratives generated from participants’ drawings, self-review essays = of participants’ microteaching sessions. Findings showed that participants’ orientations ca= ptured the physical makeup of the classroom as a cultural mediator: an extension of their pedagogical knowledge. These findings were underscored by the followi= ng two beliefs: all children can learn; and the need to alleviate the belief that = some students are better than others in science. Participants saw the physical makeup of the classroom as a cultural mediator

Introduction

This study examines the orientations that minority preservice teachers use to mediate the complexit= y of learning to teach in elementary science classrooms. The study was one componen= t of a larger comparative study of minority preservice teachers and white preservi= ce teachers’ depictions of their science classroom using drawings and the perspectives that underscored their depictions. The study is important because literature proposes that students recruited from ethnic minority groups often have spe= cial needs which may or may not be easily recognized (Loving & Marshall, 199= 7). Science teacher education needs to build a knowledge base and supportive environments that the academic communities at the university can use to recruit, retain, educate and credential young minority preservice teacher candidates who will go out and be successful science teachers. The essence = of this study is capture in the following quote:

Solely focusing the work= of recruitment on increasing the numbers of people of color denies the very essence of being for those who embrace and love their ethnicity, their enti= re personhood. The question should be: What is it that the teacher of color br= ings to the teaching and learning setting which is qualitatively different and inherently of value in our increasingly diverse schools (Dillard, 1994: 16= in Guyton, Saxton, & Wesche, 1996: 643).

Literature Review

Diversity in Teacher Edu= cation

A growing = body of literature has continuously stressed the importance of increasing the numbe= rs of minority teachers in schools and teacher education programs (Carrington & Tomlin, 2000; Guyton et al., 1996; Kirby, Berends, & Naftel, 1999; Montecinos, 2004; Pailliotet, 1997; Paine, 1990; Quicho & Rios, 2000; R= oss & Smith, 1992; Sheets, 2004; Shipp, 1999). Although the overarchi= ng reason for this importance has been the increasingly diverse schools in the nation, two camps of thought permeate this overarching reason. The first ca= mp of thought, for increasing the numbers of minority teachers in schools and teacher education programs, is the simplistic notion of minority teachers as role model designates who act as mentors to minority students in their classrooms and schools (M= ontecinos, 2004; Pailliotet, 1997; Paine, 1990; Quicho & Rios, 2000; Sheets, 2004)= . Literature substantiat= es this notion by stating that these minority teacher role model designates wi= ll provide mentorship; will be empathetic towards minority students’ nee= ds in the classroom; and will be cultural transmitters (Carrington & Tomlin, 2000; Kirby et al., 1999; Lee & Krapfl, 2002; Shipp, 1999). Unfortunately, this substantiation falters on two levels: first, some ethnic minority teachers = may have internalized negative images of their own ethnic groups and they may b= e just as ineffective as any culturally insensitive Euro-American teacher; and sec= ond, no students (minority or white) should be educated exclusively by members of their own ethnic group as this denies and deprives students (minority or wh= ite) from a realistic understanding of growing up in a multicultural society DOCVARIABLE SH5_S23_C5(Quicho & Rios, 2000).

The second= camp of thought, for increasing the numbers of minority teachers in schools and tea= cher education programs, is the more complex (and realistic) notion of minority teachers as cultural mediators in the classrooms. This notion is worthwhile= as it banks on the use of transformed and appropriate pedagogical tools in the classroom, arising from minority preservice teachers’ cultural and linguistic resources, and the prior knowledge and experiences (of schooling= ). It is also assumed that minority preservice teachers’ understanding of racism and ability to communicate this understanding to colleagues from the majority group will bring rich = and diverse cultural experiences to the classroom (Basit & McNam= ara, 2004). By doing so, they will have the pedagogical tools to counter the privileged reproduction of Euro-centric hegemonic ideology by appropriately integrating their cultural and linguist= ic resources, and the prior knowledge and experiences (of schooling). That this they will be willingly to enact a socially just agenda for the students they will teach (= Quicho & Rios, 2000). Furthermore, a number of studies state that in order for minority preservice teachers to transform their cultural and linguistic resources, and the prior knowledge and experiences (of schooling) into appropriate classroom pedagog= ical tools requires supportive environments must be created in teacher education programs (= Basit & McNamara, 2004; M= ontecinos, 2004; Pailliotet, 1997; Paine, 1990; Quicho & Rios, 2000; Sheets, 2004)= .

But it is imperative to note that the two notions discussed above are not immediate solutions as other barriers to recruit minority teachers still exist: inabi= lity to meet program/state requirements, unfulfilled needs for financial assista= nce and cultural bias in standardized competency testing (Pailliotet, 1997)= . Most important of all,= it must be noted that minority teachers must not be used as cultural carriers = or be perceived as experts in pedagogical strategies or curricular content for diverse students while at the novice stage (Sheets, 2004).

Diversity in Science Tea= cher Education

So far, the studies in relation to science teaching and preservice science teacher education have ventured little into the perspectives of minority preservice science teachers and science teaching. The role model deficit paradigm (Sheets, 2004) seems to be the overarc= hing reason for attracting more minorities into science teaching (Fraser-Abder, 2001; Loving & Marshall, 1997; Luft, Bragg, & Peters, 1999). Basically, most of the science teacher education literature addresses the attitudes and lack of knowledge of white preservice teachers in relation to diversity in science teaching, that is the literature generally talks about preservice teachers but little attention has been paid to minority preservi= ce teachers and what they bring to diversity in science teaching. Although the= re is scant attention afforded to notion of minority teachers as cultural medi= ators in the classrooms and the pedagogical tools that may arise from minority preservice teachers’ cultural and linguistic resources, and the prior knowledge and experiences (of schooling), prior knowledge and experiences a= re generally accepted as an imperative in understanding how (white and minorit= y) preservice teachers learn how to teach (Fraser-Abder, 2001; Loving & Marshall, 1997; Luft, Bragg, & Peters, 1999). It must be noted that Fraser-Abder (2001: 126) stresses the need for preser= vice teachers to “engage in a process of self-exploration of understanding their personal mechanisms for dealing with issues of diversity and social identity”. In addition, science teacher education literature also advocates for the creation of supportive environments in teacher education programs for helping preservice teachers to engage in this process of self exploration.

In summary= , two common themes emerge from the studies on diversity in teacher education and science teacher education. First, there is a need for understanding the personal mechanisms that minority preservice teachers use to mediate the complexity of learning to teach in classrooms. Second, the supportive environments that need to be created in teacher education programs for mino= rity preservice teachers to help them transform their cultural and linguistic resources, and the prior knowledge and experiences (of schooling) into appropriate pedagogical tools.

Purpose of Study

The signif= icance of building the knowledge base for the lens through which minority preservi= ce teachers view their science classroom is crucial not only because of the continuously evolving diverse population in their classrooms but also for o= ther pertinent reasons. There is a need for teacher education programs to build = an infrastructure necessary for managing the changes caused by diversity (Hobson-Horton &am= p; Owens, 2004). An infrastructure is needed to s= tudy how minority preservice teachers come to see themselves as teachers and how minority preservice teachers’ critical perspectives (culture, linguistic, prior knowledge= and experiences) influence their classroom instruction. This might help teacher educators to understand the ove= rall context, content and process of teacher preparation programs for minority teachers (= Sheets, 2004) and also promote Hood and Parker’s (1994, in Pailliotet, 1997)<= !--[if supportFields]> belief that teacher educators should take= more personal responsibility for motivating minority students to hear and see th= em. Basically, the study is framed by the research question “What are the personal mechanisms that govern minority preservice teachers’ views of science teaching?” Before moving onto the methodology used in this st= udy, the theoretical framework used in this study is presented next.

Theoretical Framework

According = to Paine (1990), preservice teachers, in general, hold four orientations about the diversity they encounter in the classroom: individual, categorical, context= ual, and pedagogical. First, instructional practices that are influenced by an individual orientation tend to be underscored by preservice teachers’ perceptions of their students’ individual characteristics. Second, instructional practices that are influenced by a categorical orientation te= nd to be underscored by preservice teachers’ perceptions of their students’ membership within a cultural group. Third, instructional practices that are influenced by a contextual orientation tend to be unders= cored by preservice teachers’ perceptions of their students’ positions within mainstream society. Lastly, instructional practices that are influen= ced by a pedagogical orientation tend to be underscored by preservice teachers’ perceptions of their students’ as contextually differ= ent within classroom settings. Ross and Smith (1992) further proposed that prior experiences with different cultures also influence preservice teachers teac= hing experiences.

Methodology

Context

Participan= ts in this study were five minority preservice teacher candidates enrolled in the science methods course of a teacher education program at a private universi= ty in northeast United = States. Two of the participants were African-American, the other two were Hispanic = and the other participant was Asian (a Phillipina). All of the five participants were female, ranging in age from 20 to 25 years old.

Instructional Procedures<= o:p>

The elementary science education methods course met fo= r 75 minutes twice weekly for 15 weeks and was taught by the author, (the course instructor). The curriculum for this science methods course included science standards (national and state), benchmarks for science literacy, nature of science, lesson and unit planning, inquiry-based science teaching, teacher = as mediator, technology in science teaching, safety issues in the elementary classroom and diversity and multicultural perspectives in science teaching.= .

Data Collection and Anal= ysis

Data consisted of participants’ drawings of them= selves as science teachers at work (Finson et al. (2001), narratives generated from participants’ drawings, self-review essays = of participants’ microteaching sessions. Data was collected from both the five minority preservice teacher candidates and the rest of the preservice teacher candidate population who were predominately white students. The four different orientations, individual, categorical, contextual, and pedagogica= l, were used to frame the drawings and other data. Evidence for teaching actions present in the evaluations of microteaching sessions, self-review essays, drawings and narratives were analyzed for thematic content and followed the analysis procedures as descr= ibed by Bogdan and Biklen (1998). Multiple data sources collected from participants allowed for triangulation of themes and for a saturation of co= mmon themes.

Findings

Findings r= evealed that participants viewed their science classroom from two orientations: categorical and contextual. The data, especially the drawing data, showed t= hat minority preservice teachers’ viewed their science classrooms as plac= es where the physical makeup of the classroom governs the social dimensions of teaching. Drawings showed the tables and chairs were arranged more for group work and social interaction among the students rather than between students= and participants. Participants’ drawings were devoid of any drawings of t= heir students or themselves. Instead, narratives and self-review essays revealed that the physical makeup of the classroom was a direct consequence of how t= hey viewed their students. That is, they only perceived their students as belon= ging to the mainstream population (contextual orientation) and thus more suited = to perform learning activities in groups (categorical orientation). These preservice teacher candidates’ drawings showed drawings of students, activities, interactions between students and themselves. It is must be not= ed that these differences in the drawings were underscored by participantsR= 17; prior experiences and beliefs about teaching.

Findings also showed that = personal mechanisms were underscored by the following two beliefs: all children can learn; and the need to alleviate the belief that some students are better t= han others in science. Some common quotes from participants included: “&#= 8230; students should work in groups”, “Every student deserves to lea= rn science”, “All children can learn”, “… certain kids won’t get it”, and “… some students won’t understand no matter what teachers do in the classroom.”

Discussion

The purpos= e of this study was to identify the orientations that minority preservice teache= rs use to mediate the complexity of learning to teach in classrooms. In this study participants viewed the physical makeup of the classroom as a way to alleviate the belief that some students (in reference to minority students) are better than othe= rs in science.= Thus, their drawings of ta= bles and chairs were arranged more for group work and social interaction among t= he students (contextual) rather than between students and participants.= Participants saw the physi= cal makeup of the classroom as a cultural mediator (Fraser-Abder, 2001; Guyto= n et al., 1996; Loving & Marshall, 1997; Luft et al., 1999; Montecinos, 2004; Pailliotet, 1997;; Quicho & Rios, 2000; Sheets, 2004) but not themselves. It mu= st noted prior knowledge and experience (Basit & McNamara, 200= 4; Carrington & Tomlin, 2000; Finson et al., 2001; Fraser-Abder, 2001; Guy= ton et al., 1996; Hobson-Horton & Owens, 2004; Johnson & Birkeland, 200= 3; Kirby et al., 1999; Lee & Krapfl, 2002; Loving & Marshall, 1997; Montecinos, 2004; Pailliotet, 1997; Paine, 1990; Quicho & Rios, 2000; R= oss & Smith, 1992; Sheets, 2004; Shipp, 1999) did influence the partici= pants personal mechanisms in mediating their learning to teach knowledge but this knowledge was not integrated with the cultural mediator role designation. Instead, participants in this study viewed the physical makeup of the class= room as pertinent tool to transform their pedagogical knowledge.

Implications

Drawings (and the accompan= ying narratives) are good supportive systems that enable participants to engage = in a process of self-exploration of understanding their personal mechanisms for teaching science in elementary classrooms. To assist minority preservice teachers to become cultural mediators in their science classrooms, teacher educators need to understand= the orientations that minority preservice teachers use to construct their classrooms.=

The nature of minority preservice teachers’ prior knowledge and experiences should be made explicit so that they can make connections to their pedagogical knowledge.

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