Mapping Energy in the Boston Public Schools Curriculum
Energy is a cross-cutting concept that can be used to integrate all scientific disciplines. However, most curricula are not organized, taught, or learned from this integrated energy perspective. As science becomes increasingly interdisciplinary, K-8 science teachers often teach all scientific disciplines, and many scientific concepts are taught repeatedly in different curricula, we hypothesize that using an integrated energy approach allows for more efficient learning of science as a whole. This idea is consistent with the Next Generation Science Standards being introduced in the United States with a major cross-cutting concept being Matter and Energy. To examine how energy pervades the Boston Public Schools (BPS) curriculum, grades 1–12, the Boston Energy in Science Teaching (BEST) project gathered 12 teacher leaders (one representing each grade) to identify where energy was most prominent in the curriculum they teach and how these energy ideas, activities, and examples were connected horizontally across science disciplines and vertically across grade bands. After 3 days of an Energy Institute devoted to this task, the teachers’ inputs resulted in a matrix of 162 connections among the 105 curriculum units (grades 1–12) that featured energy most prominently. Identified energy ideas were consistent with four energy subthemes: Forms and Transformation, Systems, Conservation of Energy, and Energy Resources. The most critical energy ideas and activities were identified and crossed all disciplines and grade bands equally. Challenges remain in aligning the energy map in BPS with energy learning progressions and making the energy content map more generalizable for use across many districts as the Next Generation Science Standards are adopted.
What happens after edTPA?
The teacher certification process can be overwhelming for early-career educators. Negotiating teacher identity, completing fieldwork hours, and navigating institutional expectations can stress the most resilient teacher candidates. These pressures are further compounded as teacher certification assessments, such as the edTPA, introduce additional hurdles to achieving state licensure. This study approaches these obstacles by examining the stories of a diverse group of 14 early-career teachers as they reflect on completing edTPA and their current teaching practices. Through social constructivist perspectives and professional learning continuum framing, we interpreted narrative data to examine early-career teacher discussions of completing edTPA and developing pedagogical practices. These 14 teachers elucidated that the collaborative nature of their preparation program was integral to their completing the assessment, that the program approach to completing the portfolio assessment positioned them to think reflexively about their practice, and that the skills and tools used on edTPA remained useful to them throughout their early-career teaching. We suggest ways that preparation programs can interpret this teacher certification policy as an instructional touchpoint and can limit the gatekeeping capabilities of certification exams through collaboration, building capital, and supporting reflective portfolios. This work has implications for policymakers in teacher education and induction programs.
Educational innovation in Musical Language Course: responses and the overcoming of limitations
This article presents an innovative methodological proposal for the development of auditory education in the course of the Language of Music. Based on this proposal, we analyze an educational community’s response to the innovations implemented, and we identify the limitations recognized throughout the learning and teaching process, as well as the strategies developed to overcome them. To this end, we applied a qualitative methodology with the classroom-based research method. The compilation of data was carried out through participant observation, captured in the journals of the professor and researcher, interviews and analysis of documents. The research results demonstrate that patience, responsibility and perseverance in their work on behalf of the professors have been key to overcoming the limitations identified and in promoting that students enjoy and learn their class contents in meaningful ways. Recibido 05/02/2018 Aceptado: 09/03/2018