Research timing/phases

This study was conducted in two phase. In the first phase, the researcher engaged in some personal professional learning in the pedagogical approaches and strategies used to promote learner-centred teaching in teacher education. The researcher was invited by one of his thesis supervisors to observe her teaching three science and education papers or courses: the first paper was Classroom Perspectives in Science Education which is an undergraduate paper intended to enhance the PCK of pre-service primary science education student teachers enrolled in a teacher education degree programme at the University of Waikato; the second paper was Secondary Curriculum Science, which an introductory paper again for secondary pre-service teachers; and the third paper was Secondary Curriculum Chemistry, a postgraduate teacher education paper intended to enhance the PCK of pre-service secondary chemistry teacher education students.

The course lecturer exposed student teachers to a constructivist learning and teaching environment on the assumption that student teachers are active learners and they construct knowledge themselves (Schunk, 2012). According to the constructivist theory, human cognition processes such as thinking and learning are influenced by the physical and social context (Greeno, 1989; Schunk, 2012). Thus, teachers’ construction of knowledge and learning is the result of interactions within a context (situativity learning) and also when learners learn in collaborative groups in a specific social context such as a school community. The researcher attended the course instruction workshops over a three month period and observed a range of learner-centred pedagogical practices by the lecturer. From time to time the researcher participated as a student teacher. The researcher was mentored by the supervisor in the various techniques used to enhance pre- service teachers’ PCK using constructivist and sociocultural views of teaching and learning. The mentoring helped the researcher to gain further knowledge, skills and strategies for enhancing pre-service teachers’ PCK for the purpose of teaching science in primary and secondary schools. The lecturer in the primary education paper used strategies of primary school classroom with herself role-playing the teacher and the student teachers as primary students. Similar strategies were used in the secondary science paper where student teachers were introduced to learner- centred teaching strategies.

Attending the teacher education workshops proved to be very useful for the present study because the researcher deepened his understanding of learner- centred workshop strategies and philosophies that related to science teaching. The knowledge and experience gained were used to develop the draft PDI programme for licensed science teachers (see Appendix 9). The researcher also obtained, and later he thought were culturally relevant, resources, ideas, and strategies used by the course lecturer in science education papers for enhancing licensed science teachers’ PCK in the Tanzanian context. Culturally responsive teaching “creates a learning context that is responsive to the culture of the child and means that learners can bring who they are to the classroom in complete safety and where their knowledge is acceptable and legitimate (Bishop, Berryman, Cavanagh, & Teddy, 2009, p. 741). Significantly, the perspective that human construction of knowledge and learning are inherently influenced by the context underpinned the

design of the PDI to suit the Tanzanian context. Schunk (2012) pointed out “situated cognition fits well with the constructivist ideas that context is an inherent part of learning” (p. 234).

Synchronously, the researcher engaged in an in-depth literature review to identify factors that are reported to make teachers’ professional development effective. By examining various models and principles of teachers’ professional development, the researcher found agreement in the literature that in order for PDI to have a positive impact on teachers’ practices, a needs assessment should be conducted before teachers were involved in the intervention (Guskey, 2000; Loucks-Horsley et al., 1996). This finding from the literature review resulted in an assessment of licensed science teachers’ professional learning needs whereby the researcher became immersed in assessing licensed science teachers’ PCK needs. The licensed science teachers’ PCK needs assessment was conducted by directly involving them in the process of identifying their professional learning needs and involving their immediate supervisors such as headmasters/mistresses and district education officers. The professional learning needs assessment of licensed science teachers was conducted through interviews, focus group discussions, documentary review and classroom observations. The PCK needs identified during this process of investigation form the first phase of the findings and these are presented later in Chapter 4 of this thesis.

The professional learning needs of licensed science teachers identified during the first phase of this study, in particular those relating to PCK, resulted in the second phase of this study. The second phase of the study focused on strategies for addressing the PCK needs whereby the researcher designed and presented a draft PDI programme for the licensed science teachers. Viewing this draft allowed the licensed science teachers to comment on whether or not they felt the content of this proposed programme could meet some of their PCK needs. Corcoran (1995) argued that good professional development of teachers “should draw on the expertise of teachers and take differing degrees of teacher experience into account” (p. 3). They evaluated the draft of the PDI programme, rearranged the topics according to their immediate needs and use in the classroom, and suggested the order of implementation (see Table 5, chapter 5). Some concepts, such as

teachers’ PLCs and the conception of teaching were new to licensed science teachers and so they felt unable to comment; however, they provided some valuable inputs in areas where they felt partially knowledgeable but untrained, such as the planning and preparation of competency-based lessons. These findings are presented later in chapter 5 of this thesis.