The team teaching experiences of pre-service science teachers implementing PBL in elementary school

ABSTRACT

The current phenomenological-qualitative case study examined the team teaching related experiences of 17 Israeli student teachers in the context of using the project-based teaching method in the course of their pedagogical practicum module conducted in elementary schools. The focus of the study was on participants’ experiences in terms of quality and content. Data collection methods included reflective reports and in-depth interviews. Data analysis was conducted using the qualitative method for content analysis. Findings of the study indicate that during team teaching, the student teachers underwent a process of four qualitatively different experiential stages, each of which is characterised by a unique set of experiences. There was also a qualitative difference at each stage between the experiences of student teachers who emerged with an overall positive assessment and those who emerged with an overall negative assessment of team teaching. The practical implications of the findings are discussed. This research contributes to the professional literature on the team teaching of science courses, and may serve to encourage educators to implement team teaching as part of student teachers‘ practicum involving a project based, student centred methodology.

KEYWORDS:

• Science teacher education
• student teachers’ experiences
• pedagogical practices
• practicum
• team teaching
• project based learning

Acknowledgments

I thank the student teachers, coaching teachers, and pedagogical mentor who collaborated with me on this case-study. I also would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Atar Oz for her insightful suggestions on an early version of this paper and for her role as an external investigator in the data-analysis stage.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.