Abstract
A continuing issue for tertiary educators, and pre-service teachers alike, is the articulation between university classes where the pre-service teacher is the user of knowledge, and the school setting where the pre-service teacher is the imparter of knowledge. It is not clear how easily pre-service teachers can transfer university learnings into ‘in school’ practice whilst on a practicum placement or as a beginning teacher. Similarly, it is not clear how easily knowledge, both contextual content and pedagogical knowledge, learned in the school can be dis-embedded from the particular school context and understood more generally by the pre-service teacher. The school and university settings demand different tools, social interactions and knowledges, and often contradictions occur. As problems arise, the pre-service teacher is required to integrate numerous elements from both contexts to provide a solution to the challenge. Pre-service teachers must not simply engage in a single setting at any one time, they must engage in multi-tasking within a single context, but also in multiple communities of practice simultaneously (Tsui, 2003). By integrating elements in multiple contexts, to solve problems, new learning occurs through the blend of ideas.
This proposed chapter explores the problems of transfer between the university setting and school setting for pre-service secondary science teachers. The chapter will explore the following research questions: (1) What informal science activity systems can be at play in school-university activity systems that impact upon the knowledge gain and transfer of preservice science teachers? (2) Are these activities sources of two-way knowledge transfer?
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Notes
- 1.
All names are pseudonyms.
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Acknowledgements
We are thankful for the most generous support from the US University setting and its associated Research Centre. Without their after-hours support (due to time zone differences) the professional learning of the PSPTs would not have been possible. We further acknowledge the PSPTs for their stoic endurance throughout the semester and beyond. Without your individual perseverance, the collective could not have succeeded. Finally, we would like to acknowledge the Australian University’s CLI Cluster Grant for funding to allow two PSTS to “tell their story”.
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Kidman, G., Marangio, K. (2018). “Meet the Scientist”: How Pre-service Teachers Constructed Knowledge and Identities. In: Corrigan, D., Buntting, C., Jones, A., Loughran, J. (eds) Navigating the Changing Landscape of Formal and Informal Science Learning Opportunities. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89761-5_11
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