Journal of Korean Elementary Science Education (한국초등과학교육학회지:초등과학교육)

The Korean Elementary Science Education Society (한국초등과학교육학회)
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Which Types of Dilemmas do Elementary School Teachers Experience and How do They Cope with in Science Classes?

초등교사는 과학 수업에서 어떠한 딜레마를 경험하고 어떻게 대응하는가?

  • Received : 2020.04.17
  • Accepted : 2020.04.30
  • Published : 2020.05.31
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Abstract

In this study, we aimed to look at what dilemmas of science teaching elementary school teachers experience and how they cope with their dilemmas in everyday science classes. Three elementary school teachers participated and qualitative data such as class log, class video, and interview materials were analyzed in inductive ways. The main findings are as follows. First, the dilemmas were classified based on the four factors that make up the science class; teacher, student, learning content, environment. However the dilemmas appeared to be not only one factor involved, but the rest of the factors intertwined. Thus, it was interpreted how the main factors causing the dilemmas conflicted with other factors. Second, the types of teachers' coping strategies to the dilemmas could be largely divided into 'give-up', 'stick to' and 'modified'. In some cases, teachers gave up on what they valued and did not take active action ('give-up'), teachers chose what they valued and made decisions to actively realize it ('stick to'), and in others, conflicts were adjusted by introducing new methods or elements to their classes ('modified'). Based on these results, we discussed that the teacher's dilemmas could facilitate the teacher's learning or professional development.

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References

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