Enabling content-specific discussions among expert-novice teacher pairs : A case study

Author / Creator

AAPT SM21 (2021)

Conferences

AAPT SM21 PS.D-SU-07: PER: Student and Instructor Support & Professional Development, Program and Institutional Change III (2021)

Available as

Online

Summary

Facilitating discussions on pedagogy and content among high school teachers with different backgrounds can be a challenging undertaking. By becoming attuned to the mechanisms by which discourse mov...

Facilitating discussions on pedagogy and content among high school teachers with different backgrounds can be a challenging undertaking. By becoming attuned to the mechanisms by which discourse moves in expert-novice teacher pairs successfully elevate conversations about content and pedagogy, facilitators of physics teacher professional development (PD) can better design activities and support teacher groups in advancing toward a conversational mode in which all parties feel comfortable contributing. Last summer, the Illinois Physics and Secondary Schools (IPaSS) partnership offered intensive PD workshops for high school teachers. This talk presents a case-study of an expert-novice pair solving problems from a Content Knowledge for Teaching Energy (CKT-E) assessment. Via video analysis, we examine the question: What conversational moves facilitate conversations about physics content and pedagogy between teachers with different backgrounds? In the case study, moves by both teachers minimize apparent disparities in power, creating conversational space and setting the stage for content-specific discussion.

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