Professional Development of Physical Science Teachers

    Professional Development of Physical Science Teachers

      Physical Science Teachers engaged in her professional development throughout her career as a teacher. Her learning and professional development does not end the completion of pre­service education programme. She needs to continue her growth for enhancing her effectiveness as a science teacher. learning is a continuous process and teacher herself is a lifelong learner. A teacher of physical science needs to remain ith the completion of pre­service education programme. She needs to continue

her growth for enhancing her effectiveness as a science teacher. 

      One of the main reasons behind it is that knowledge in science and its applications are ever expanding. Approaches to teaching ­learning of science are being continually improved and made innovative as a result of researches in science education and educational psychology. New and better apparatus and kits are being developed and used in teaching learning process of science. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has opened up new opportunities in the field of education. A continual system of new teaching learning materials in the form of new textbooks, teachers’ handbook, laboratory manual, assessment source book, science kits are being produced to facilitate teachers to enhance effectiveness of teaching learning process. 

      The entry of Information and Communication Technology, mass media and the satellite television into the field of education has added to the roles of the teacher. Participation of several people in creating learning situations demands newer competencies in teacher to take their help meaningfully. Therefore, it is important for the science teachers to keep themselves abreast with the new developments in science and science education for providing meaningful teaching learning experiences to learners. Moreover, teacher carries an enormous responsibility on her shoulders. The task of

shaping the future generation lies in her hand. She has to pay attention to the holistic development of the students who can contribute constructively to the society. Thus, it is imperative that she realises the importance of her own contribution towards society and takes pride in her job of being a
science teacher. Teacher has to remain sensitive to the social, professional and administrative contexts in which she works. She has to consciously attempt to formulate her own professional orientation as a teacher in situation specific manner. This chapter discusses the need of preservice professional development programme and various opportunities for in­service professional development of a teacher of physical science. 

Teaching as a profession

​     Defining profession is the most challenging task at hand in general and teaching as profession in particular. Redefining teaching as a profession is no less a critical task in the world of today where everyday the same age old concept gets a new meaning in the light of experiences emerging out of
interactions and confrontations with changed meaning of life. However, some characteristics of profession can be enumerated that are found to berelevant towards determining its existence as a profession.
1. A profession requires specialised knowledge with extensive training and an advanced level of intellectual skills in carrying out its service to society.
2. A profession provides an essential service that is both unique and definite to society and only the people within that profession should provide the service. For instance, only doctors practice surgery in this country as opposed to a variety of individuals who believe they have the skill.
3. Members of a profession enjoy a considerable degree of autonomy and decision­making power. They are largely free of closely supervised performance. Members of a profession primarily make their own decisions and regulate their own activities.
4. Members of a profession are required to accept personal responsibilityfor their actions and decisions.
5. A profession is responsible for monitoring its own members and self­governing. The implications of the previous statement make it essential for professional groups to perform various duties to keep the level of their services high and to watch for the economic and social well–being of the
members of the profession.
6. A code of ethics exists within a profession that sets out acceptable conduct for its members. The existence of this code is necessary to enforce a level of high standards.
7. A profession emphasises the services it provides over the financial rewards.
8. It is generally agreed that members of a profession not only get paid for their work, but receive a high salary commensurate with the time and effort required to obtain their specialised knowledge and skills.
9. Society must recognise an occupation as a profession.
10. A profession is considered a lifework or terminal occupation. Those involved usually stay in the field for the rest of their careers.
11. Professional development of a person in a profession is a continuous process.

It is important to remember that a profession needs not have all the
above characteristics we have discuss above. Many professions do not
satisfy all of the characteristics. You can reflect on the nature and dynamics
of action of a teacher as a professional. Teacher needs to recognise herself
as a professional endowed with the necessary knowledge, attitude,
competence, commitment, enthusiasm, spirit of seeking new ways and
means of dealing with teaching­learning situations and capability of
reflection on her own practices. She should be sensitive and perceptive not
only to the learners and the institution but also the emerging concerns in a
larger social perspective within which one functions. Do you think teachin
Anil was pursuing a B.Ed. course. He had already teaching­learning experience of
a few years. During the course, when the ‘Lesson planning’ sessions started, Anil felt
that there was no need to plan lessons. He thought that the exercise of ‘framing learning
objectives’, ‘writing teaching­learning materials’, ‘testing pre­knowledge’, ‘introduction’
and ‘5Es’, ‘classroom proceedings’, etc. were a waste of time. Similarly ‘planning
presentation,’ and ‘framing questions to be asked’ were not required. He argued, “I have
taught in a school for last three years. My students and Principal were satisfied with my
teaching. My students even came to me during my free time to discuss. And I have
never used all this planning. I just went to the class and taught them whatever was
given in the textbook”.
This is not only for Anil, it can be true for many student­teachers who
come to get B.Ed. degree after teaching in a school for some time.
Student­teachers were working on the design of the lesson plans during
their practice teaching programme. They focused their discussion on
various aspects of teaching­learning such as the following:
● Why are you transacting this particular topic in the class?
● Why this content is given in this class?
● What are the expectations of the planner of curriculum with this
topic? How will you encourage students to share their previous
experiences in the class?
● How students are going to relate it with their lives outside the
classroom/school?
● Will students just ‘memorise’ or ‘learn’ (make a part of their
knowledge and understanding) this content
● What will you do to develop the understanding of the students?
● How will you encourage inquiry in the class?
● What is the role of ‘activity’, ‘practical’ and ‘exercise’, in
teachinglearning of physical science?
● What preparation will you make to carry out activities in the class?
With these questions and arguments they started to realise the
importance of designing the lesson plan. They also realised the difference
in teachinglearning with proper planning and without proper planning. They
evaluated their own experiences of teaching­learning and students’
responses. They realised that if one interacts with the class after proper
planning including the questions like why are you teaching, what is that you
want to see in your students, what are you teaching, and how are you
teaching, then only she will be able to help her students move ahead,
developing their understanding. With proper planning, teacher acquires
confidence and presents the content with flexibility.. In other words,
teaching­learning becomes effective, if planned properly as teacher has
more options to choose approaches and strategies of teaching­learning
and assessment tools.
While planning teaching­learning experiences of physical science, a
teacher has to consider many factors required for effective teaching
learning experiences such as:
● individual differences;
● cognition level of learners;
● importance of learners’ experiences and their existing ideas;
● process of learning— assimilation, accommodation and construction
and reconstruction of concepts;
● learning styles of learners;
● approaches and strategies of teaching­learning, tools and techniques
of assessment;
● management of discipline in class, etc.
Teacher can acquire these knowledge from her B.Ed course.
Teachers needs to be prepared to
● care for children, and should love to be with them;
● understand children within social, cultural and political contexts. be
receptive and be constantly learning;
● view learning as a search for meaning out of personal experience,
and knowledge generation as a continuously evolving process of
reflective learning;
● view knowledge not as an external reality embedded in textbooks,
but as constructed in the shared context of teaching­learning and
personal experience;
● own responsibility towards society, and work to build a better world;
● appreciate the potential of productive work and hands­on experience
as a pedagogic medium both inside and outside the classroom;
● and analyse the curricular framework, policy implications and texts.
NCF­2005
Responsibility of a science teacher is not just the teaching­learning
of a particular subject to learners in the school, but also helping them in
their all­round development of personality. As a teacher, one has to
understand and explore the learners to provide conducive environment for
learning and suitable learning experiences. Thus, pre­service training is
needed to empower student­teachers in facilitating learners for their
● intellectual development;
● emotional development;
● behavioural development;
● physical development;
● and social development.
It is observed that there is a difference in the skills and attitude of the
teachers who have received proper training as compared to those who
have not received it. If a teacher is trained, she can design effective
teaching­learning experiences considering individual differences.
Sharing through seminars, conferences, journals and magazines
In seminars and conferences, one gets an opportunity to meet a large
number of teachers and exchange teaching­learning experiences and
innovative ideas with them. By attending relevant science seminars and
conferences, a science teacher can learn about the innovations that other
teachers are doing. The science teacher herself might have developed a
new idea to improve teaching­ learning of science/physics/ chemistry and
she may present it as a paper in seminar or conference. The notifications
for seminars and conferences come out in newspapers and journals. These
information are also available on the relevant websites. The teachers can
send their request for participation after seeking permission from their
school authorities. They should use opportunities of attending such
programmes to enrich their professional experiences. The teachers can
also send their articles to any national or international journal or magazine
for publication and wider dissemination. This is the most convenient way to
exchange ideas with other science teachers. Usually, directions for
submitting an article are given in each issue of the journal/magazine. Each
journal/ magazine prescribes a special format and style that one has to
follow for submitting the article.
Online sharing and collaboration
Internet penetration is increasing in the country day­by­day and hence,
the internet facility is becoming available to an increasingly large number of
teachers. There are many online blogs, discussion Professional Develo
pment of Physical Science Teachers 511 forums, e­journals and
e­magazines which provide teachers immense possibilities to share
experiences and learn from each other. Through internet, teachers across
the regions and nations can connect with each other, discuss and
exchange views. In fact, irrespective of the distance between them they
can collaborate and work together.
In recent years, ICT and internet has emerged as a powerful and
dependable media of interaction. We need to recognise the potential of
internet to promote universal access, facilitate participatory forums and
develop a learning community. This can be sound investment for
continuous and on­demand teacher training and support, research and
content depositories and value­added distance education. Many online
courses for professional development aim at increasing the access, equity
and quality of education. Teachers can take courses on the topics for which
learning resources are not available locally. They can also get ideas for
teaching­learning on any topic from a variety of internet sites. They can
evaluate website content for its quality and usefulness.
Membership of professional organisations
There are many national and international professional organisations
which provide an excellent forum to teachers for exchanging their ideas.
These are dedicated to the promotion of science education and
professional growth of science teachers. A list of some such organisations
is given below. You may add on the names of some more associations by
searching the websites and collectings information regarding the activities
carried out by them. You can also become a member of such
organisations. Some professional organisations for science teachers are:
All India Science Teachers’ Association (Kolkata) Indian Science Congress
Association (Kolkata) Indian Association of Physics Teachers
(Chandigarh) Delhi State Science Teachers’ Foum (Delhi) Indian
Association of Teacher Educators (Delhi) All India Secondary Teachers
Federation (Delhi) National Science Teachers Association (Arlington, USA)
National Association for Research in Science Teaching (Virginia, USA)
American Association of Physics Teachers (Washington)
Collaboration of schools with university
Many colleges, universities and institutions conduct training for teachers
in various areas of physical science. Teacher herself can visit laboratory
and library and discuss with the professors on the concepts she needs
elaborations. This can help her to plan field visit to these places for her
students also. She can involve herself in the preparation of training
modules, textbook development, research project, etc. taken up by colleges
and other institutions. This would break isolation among science teachers
teaching at various stages at the school and college

Role of Reflective Practices in Professional Development
A reflective teacher reflects on her action and strives to improve her
practices continually for the growth in her career. Reflective practices help
a teacher to make right choice and decision on the issues related to
teaching­learning of physical science. Reflective practice is a continuo
own practices. She is engaged in self­analysis and self­ evaluation for the
improvement of teaching­learning of physical science.
Reflective practice is a continuous and cyclic process Thus, for her
professional growth, it is essential for a science teacher to evaluate her
classroom performance and be self­critical. After each class, teacher
should reflect back and try to self­analyse the effectiveness of her
classroom transactions. However, sometimes self analysing may not be the
best way because a teacher may overlook certain things. So, the teacher
may invite other science teachers to observe her classroom transactions to
evaluate her performance and provide constructive feedback. She should
develop professional skills not only in science and pedagogy of science but
also in documentation, analysis and interpretation of performance of
students. Teacher needs to remain open­minded, listen with attention to
others and work collaboratively for her professional development. Let us
now see how getting feedback from questionnaires, conducting research
and maintaining a portfolio can facilitate a teacher in reflective practices.
Questionnaire
Teacher can get feedback about her performance in the classroom by
giving a questionnaire to students. The questionnaire can be prepared by
the teacher herself or by a committee of teachers and administrators. The
students in the class can be asked to complete the questionnaire.
Statement in the questionnaire should be written in a positive manner along
with suitable alternative such as yes/no; true/false or rating scale such as 1
to 5. Students should be assured that their marks would not be affected by
completing the questionnaire in order to encourage them to give response
of all questions. Such feedback can be obtained from the colleagues also.
Information obtained from the questionnaire can be very useful for
self­assessment of the teacher and to make further improvements in the
teaching­learning experiences designed by her.
Research
Research is one of the important components of professional
development of science teacher. Teacher can perform a systematic
evaluation of her own problems related to various aspects of
teaching­learning of physical science to find their solution and test her
process and materials in the classroom. This type of research in the
classroom is Action Research. It does not require extra time beyond daily
routine.Teacher can publish findings of her work in science journals and
magazines. Such teachers are recognised by their students, collegues,
authority and communities for their work. A few enthusiastic students may
come forward to help on the research. Observing their teachers actively
engaged in the research, they can get motivated to work on their own
investigatory projects. In fact many teachers do such type of study.
However their work needs to be properly documented and disseminated.
Pedagogy of Science: Phy sical Science 518 A teacher may undertake
action research to find solutions of some problems faced by her in the
classroom
Maintaining a portfolio
Teacher should maintain a portfolio to keep record of her all
professional activities. It may include certificate of participation in training
programmes, and honours and awards received. The portfolio may also
include nature of her contributions to the various science programmes,
copy of action research paper if published or report of finding of research,
degree/diploma earned or report on progress made towards it, record of
any innovation done in teaching­learning of science, anecdote of an event
that shows her professional achievement, academic contribution outside
the school such as member of science research project conducted by a
professor, nature of participation in professional organisation, etc. The
portfolio should be continuously updated with a mention of dates.
Maintaining a portfolio may take time but it is rewarding in terms of
professional growth and development. Portfolio also helps a teacher in
reflection of her performance. Portfolio provides retrievable evidences of
your work that can be accessed easily. There is less possibility of missing
out information about any important achievement.
Teacher as a Researcher
Introduction
As a successful teacher you would always like to improve teaching
learning practices and grow in your career. If you collect evidences of
problems and solutions regarding these practices and apply systematically
in the classroom, it would create more dynamic learning environment and
lead to better understanding of students. Moreover, the findings of the
research will give you a sense of achievement, boost your self­confidence
and develop a sense of ownership to your own learning. Development and
research in any field of life cannot be separated from each other.
Development in any field is based on the quality of research undertaken in
the field. Teaching­learning is no exception to the above statement. In
order to effectively handle the intricacies of teaching­learning process, a
teacher on the one hand has to be fully trained and on the other hand she
should be able to comprehend the problems emerging at every step of the
process and to find their appropriate and scientific solution. A teacher
comes across many problems and she tries to find an instant solution
through her understanding of the problem based on her previous
experiences. But many a time, such a solution is either partial or temporary.
Thus, a teacher needs to find a solution which is based on ‘research’, so
that the solution obtained really solves her problem. Generally, the
procedure adopted by the teacher to solve the problem faced by her is
based on:
• analysing her problem scientifically in the specific perspective in
which the problem has emerged;
• suggesting a solution based on the above analysis;
• testing the solution herself; and
• accepting the solution only when it satisfies the above test.
Such a process adopted by the teacher to solve her own problem is
commonly called ‘Action Research’. One of the important aims of action
research for teacher is to hold herself accountable for her work and
influence the learning of her students. In this chapter various aspects of
‘Action Research’ have been dealt with. An understanding and true
appreciation of the matter that follows, can equip a prospective teacher with
a solution of the problems she might face during her conduct of
teaching­learning process.

Action Research Vs. Research
In order to comprehend the meaning of action research, it may be
helpful to make a distinction between action research and research. Let us
first understand the meaning of research. George J. Mule has defined
research in his book Educational Research: The Art and Science of
Investigations as: “Research is the process of obtaining a dependable
solution of the chosen problem by collecting data and its analysis and
interpretation. Research is principled effort of obtaining new knowledge.” In
the light of the above definition, following important points emerge in
relation to research:
• Research is a planned process of finding the solution of the problem
based on certain strict principles.
• As a result of research, there is an increase in the knowledge of
humankind.
• It is necessary to go through certain steps for conducting research.
It is apparent that a formal training is required for conducting
research and may everyone not find himself/herself proficient to conduct
the research, though everyone in his/her field of work faces several work
related problems and has to find a solution for them to proceed ahead.
Besides the fact that research is not everybody’s cup of tea, formal
research suffers from some other limitations as well.
• Generally findings of a research take a long time in seeing the light
of the day and their implementation takes even longer time.
• Formal research findings are many a time not applicable at ground
level as in a formal research, professional manoeuvres and limitations may
make them impracticable. On such a scenario, a functionary who needs an
immediate solution of his/her problem, though may not be having the formal
training in research, has to find a solution himself/herself. In order that
solution is dependable, he/she himself/herself has to conduct a certain kind
of study. Such a study is called action research. Thus, action research is a
research which a functionary conducts to find the solution of a problem,
he/she is facing for his/her own benefits. The solution so found by applying
the systematic procedure is the solution of his/ her particular problem and
may or may not be generalisable. Action research is done by the
practitioners themselves rather than professional researchers. In this case,
the teacher is a part of the situation, rather than an outside spectator.
Selecting Problem For Action Research
A researcher generally faces challenge in identifying a suitable
research problem as she has yet to develop sensitivity to the problem. After
gaining some experience, one finds research issues in various areas of
one’s work. For example, if we think about students, there are number of
research issues related to students such as:
• Why does a student fail in one particular subject?
• What are the common errors committed by students at Upper
primary/Secondary/Higher secondary stage in science?
• Why is a particular teacher most popular among students?
• Why does a particular student feel isolated in classroom activities?
• How to deal with students, learning with different paces?
• Can changing seating arrangement in the class facilitate integrating
experimental work with theory? So, whatever area we take, we can list out
a number of research problems. There is no dearth of research problems.
Student­teachers, thus should make themselves aware of the
characteristics of good research problems and format of a research plan
and proposal. While selecting the research problems, certain points as
given below need to be kept in mind. Precision: The broad area like
learning difficulties in various topic’s, creativity, etc. need to be narrowed
down or pinpointed and made as precise and specific as possible. It should
have limited variables to be studied. As an example, one can investigate
why learners have difficulties in understanding the concept of ray diagram
in optics. Critical thrust areas: Identified problem should throw light on
some important problems related to teaching­learning. Accessibility to data:
Before finalising the research problems, make sure to have easy access to
necessary and valid data. Completion within reasonable time limit: If it
takes too long to complete a research project, the findings and conclusions
of the study may become obsolete due to change in the circumstances. Not
against ethical norms: A problem that harms the existing ethical norms of
the society should be avoided as far as possible. After considering and
identifying a research problem, the next step is to make a format of the
research proposal. Two formats of action research designs are discussed
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