Enhancing science teaching in an elementary school : a case study of a school-initiated teacher professional development program

This naturalistic case study documents a year long Teacher Professional Development Program (TPDP) initiated by an elementary school staff in British Columbia. The TPDP was designed to enable the teachers to meet their objective of making science instruction more frequent, more active, and more student-centered in all classrooms in the school. This case study addresses two research questions: 1. What attributes of the Teacher Professional Development Program supported the school's "objective" for improved science instruction? 2. How did the outcomes of the Teacher Professional Development Program relate to the achievement of the school's educational objective? The site for the research was a kindergarten - Grade 7 school. A university professor and the researcher were invited to visit the school on a bi-weekly basis during one school year (1993-94) to facilitate a series of science workshops involving the entire teaching staff and to provide classroom support to teachers. Teachers were offered university course credit for their participation. This case study draws on qualitative data including: audio recordings of planning/debriefing sessions, workshop discussions, and interviews with participants; field notes and written observations; a survey of teachers' opinions about the TPDP; and documents relating to the school accreditation process in 1994-95. The results of the study show that teachers, administrators, and parents were satisfied that the school's objective for science instruction was met, and that the TPDP contributed significantly to this outcome. The study identifies TPDP attributes which supported the school's objective with reference to the teachers and their context, the planning process, and the organizational context, that is, the school. This study contributes to our understanding of teacher professional development by examining an alternative to more common approaches to elementary teacher science inservice in British Columbia, which are typically short-term, designed by inservice providers with little input from participants, and removed physically and conceptually from the classroom. Such inservice experiences often lack administrative and collegial support for the teacher who attempts classroom implementation. While this study relates to science, the discussion is relevant to other curriculum areas such as fine arts or physical education.Education, Faculty ofCurriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department ofGraduat