ERIC Number: EJ1173394
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2018-Mar
Pages: 31
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-1871-1502
EISSN: N/A
Science Education Reform in Confucian Learning Cultures: Teachers' Perspectives on Policy and Practice in Taiwan
Huang, Ying-Syuan; Asghar, Anila
Cultural Studies of Science Education, v13 n1 p101-131 Mar 2018
This empirical study investigates secondary science teachers' perspectives on science education reform in Taiwan and reflects how these teachers have been negotiating constructivist and learner-centered pedagogical approaches in contemporary science education. It also explores the challenges that teachers encounter while shifting their pedagogical focus from traditional approaches to teaching science to an active engagement in students' learning. Multiple sources of qualitative data were obtained, including individual interviews with science teachers and teachers' reflective journals about Confucianism in relation to their educational philosophies. Thematic analysis and constant comparative method were used to analyze the data. The findings revealed that Confucian traditions play a significant role in shaping educational practices in Taiwan and profoundly influence teachers' epistemological beliefs and their actual classroom practice. Indeed, science teachers' perspectives on Confucian learning traditions played a key role in supporting or obstructing their pedagogical commitments to inquiry-based and learner-centered approaches. This study draws on the literature concerning teachers' professional struggles and identity construction during educational reform. Specifically, we explore the ways in which teachers respond to educational changes and negotiate their professional identities. We employed various theories of identity construction to understand teachers' struggles and challenges while wrestling with competing traditional and reform-based pedagogical approaches. Attending to these struggles and the ways in which they inform the development of a teacher's professional identity is vital for sustaining current and future educational reform in Taiwan as well as in other Eastern cultures. These findings have important implications for teachers' professional development programs in East Asian cultures.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Science Education, Educational Change, Teacher Attitudes, Educational Policy, Educational Practices, Secondary School Teachers, Science Teachers, Constructivism (Learning), Student Centered Learning, Confucianism, Grounded Theory, Cultural Influences, Epistemology, Beliefs, Inquiry, Active Learning, Traditionalism, Faculty Development, Asian Culture, Resistance to Change, Professional Identity, Self Concept, Data Analysis
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research
Education Level: Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Taiwan
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A