https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2468-2099
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ABSTRACT
This paper illustrates utilising cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) and the methodology of formative intervention as a responsive capacity-building framework for enhancing science teachers’ professional development and system-level capacity in multilingual settings. We report findings from the initial Change Laboratory (CL) meetings of an ongoing formative intervention project with two schools. CL meetings are explored as ‘dialogic’ spaces for teachers, teacher-leaders and researchers to explore research-based notions alongside practical knowledge for transformative professional development that upholds teacher agency and leverages multilingual students’ diverse resources. Data included meeting transcripts, classroom observations, researcher notes and classroom artefacts. Results showed that higher levels of dialogic struggle around the role of language in teaching and learning science allowed one school’s participants to challenge deficit orientations that allot the home language a lower status and to begin adopting more linguistically responsive practices to enhance their diverse students’ science learning. We discuss the differences between the two schools through the notion of ‘boundary-crossing.’
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).
Notes
2. School 1: n = 27.
School 2: n = 32.
3. The interactions were in both Arabic and English, the term ‘meaning’ or ‘يعني’ is a common word used in Arabic to elaborate.
4. School 1 participants: 12 science and 7 English.
5. School 2 participants: 8 science, 5 maths, 8 English
6. Pseudonym.
7. The same word is used for both in Arabic and can create a misconception.
8. Pseudonyms.