context and power: the subject conceptions and practice of pre- service geography teachers in...
TRANSCRIPT
Context and Power:The Subject Conceptions and Practice of Pre-service Geography Teachers in Singapore
Tricia Seow GTE Conference 2008
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Subject Conceptions Research
• Implications for teacher practice
• Importance for teacher education
BUT
• Influences on formation of subject conceptions varied and complex
• Practice may not always match conceptions
The Significance of Context
• Context affects pre-service teachers’ practice• Context goes beyond the classroom
Includes• National education structures and policies• Geography’s social and developmental context• School, departmental contexts
Context and Power
• Context is embedded in power relationships which frame the parameters within which we perceive the world and constrain our actions within it
• Foucault’s “Discourse”
Context and Power
• Pre-service teachers are enmeshed within the power structures of context(s)
Effect on subject conceptions?
Effect on practice?
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Contexts: An Analysis
Pre-ServiceTeacher
School Geography ContextCurriculum offered; Type of teaching exposed to
Academic Geography ContextCurriculum offered;Modules taken; Type of teaching exposed to
Personal ContextPersonal background;Interests; Travel…
Subject conceptions
Classroom Practice
National Education ContextNational education policies;Pay and promotion structures;Competitiveness and stratification of schools
School ContextSchool culture and mission;Relationships: staff, students, parents, community
Subject ContextSubject curriculum; Assessment formats;Dominant paradigms in subject
During school placement
Prior to teacher education course
The Singapore Context
• Highly centralised and uniform• Prescribed national Geog syllabus: topics, skills
and values, teaching strategies and resources, assessment format, objectives, weightages, time frame
• One university, one teacher education college, one employer
=>implications for the subject conceptions of Singapore pre-service Geography teachers
=> implications for their practice
The Singapore Context
• Stratified• Streaming and differentiation at every level from
primary school through to university• More innovation in curriculum and teaching
context for elite students
=>implications for the subject conceptions of Singapore pre-service Geography teachers
=> implications for their practice
The Singapore Context
• Competitive• Annual rankings and intense rivalry• Teachers’ ranking and bonuses• ‘Drilling’ to perform well in exams
=>implications for the subject conceptions of Singapore pre-service Geography teachers
=> implications for their practice
Embodied Agents
Teachers have bodies!… so what?
The body matters!
Embodied Teachers Trained in the philosophical context of western metaphysical
dualism, many of us have accepted the notion that there is a split between the body and the mind. Believing this, individuals enter the classroom to teach as though only the mind is present, and not the body (bell hooks, 1994:17).
• Teachers’ bodies affect the way in which they perceive, are perceived and relate to the world.
=> What is the effect of pre-service teachers’ embodiment, and societal regulation of their bodies, on their conceptions of Geography, and on their practice?
Contexts and Embodiment
EMBODIEDPre-Service
Teacher
School Geography ContextCurriculum offered; Type of teaching exposed to
Academic Geography ContextCurriculum offered; Modules taken; Type of teaching exposed to
Personal ContextPersonal background;Interests; TravelEmbodied characteristics
Subject conceptions
Classroom Practice
National Education ContextNational education policies;Pay and promotion structures;Competitiveness and stratification of schools
School ContextSchool culture and mission;Relationships: staff, students, Parents, community
Subject ContextSubject curriculum; Assessment formats;Dominant paradigms in subject
During school placement
Prior to teacher educationcourse
Embodied ContextRegulation of own body, bodily actions
Hmmm…
• What is the role of the teachers’ body in the teaching and learning of Geography?
• Is there a stronger link between Geography and the body, than other subjects?