Primary School Teachers’ Development of Subject-Specific Knowledge in Technology during a Design Based Research Project

In this study we examine the development of teachers’ subject-specific knowledge in technology during a design based research project. In the project a researcher collaborated with two primary school teachers in exploring their students’ learning of technology. Throughout the whole project, the teacher-researcher group worked in an iterative and systematic way to explore the students’ learning. The data draws from the groups’ meetings during the whole project. In order to study the potential learning that was taking place among the teacher team during the course of the teaching project, Practical epistemology analysis (PEA) was used. During the project the teachers’ expanding knowledge was based on needs of relations between their understanding of the object of learning (i.e. the capability that the students should develop) and their previous teaching experiences, technical terms and real life examples. An important factor explaining the development of the teachers’ knowledge base was the discussion in the group focusing on different aspects, starting with formulating an object of learning, constructing the pre-test, identifying critical aspects and planning and revising lessons. Our study shows that it is possible for primary school teachers to significantly increase their knowledge base in technology and technology education through design-based teaching. Introduction The introduction of technology education in primary school has meant that yet another subject area has been added to the already long list of subjects to be taught by class teachers at these levels. Several studies show that primary school teachers experience difficulties when teaching technology due to their limited subject matter knowledge and pedagogical knowledge related to technology (Jones & Moreland 2004; Stein et al 2007). But also that subject specific training can increase teachers’ confidence in teaching technology (Rohaan et al 2012) and enhance students’ learning (Jones & Moreland 2004). In this paper we present a study aiming to investigate how primary school teachers who participated in a design based research project extended their knowledge in technology and technology education during the project. Background The study was conducted as a Learning study, which is a type of design based research inspired by the Japanese Lesson study. In a Learning study, a group of teachers, in collaboration with a researcher, together explore the most powerful way of teaching a specific object of learning. Based on phenomenographic analysis and a theory of learning, variation theory, they conduct a pre-test, plan a lesson, draw on the student’s experience of the object of learning by analyzing the lesson and a post-test, refine the lesson and repeat the cycle one or several times. During this process, the participants learn from each other and gain a deeper understanding of the object of learning in terms of what critical aspects are important to open up for variation (Marton & Ling 2007). The participants of the study were two primary school teachers, Catherine and Julia (pseudonyms), their pupils and a researcher. The study included two classes with a total of 49 pupils in preschool class and in school year 1 (pupils aged 6–7 years). Both teachers had 7 years’ experience of teaching in primary school. Catherine had former training in technology education and a few years’ experience of technology teaching, while Julia had neither any training in technology education nor any former experience of teaching the subject. The study was carried out during one semester. A Learning study takes its starting point from an object of learning that is chosen by the teachers and researcher together on the basis that it is central to the curriculum, and usually it is a topic that involves difficulties for the students. In this study, the capability to construct a linkage mechanism was chosen as the object of learning. The field of mechanisms is part of the core content in the new Swedish Technology syllabus from 2011 (National Agency of Education 2011), and it’s also a common content in the existing technology teaching practice. A vast range of data was collected during the Learning study. In this study we will focus on data from a total of seven meetings with the teachers and the researcher, referred to as the "teacher team". During these meetings all stages of the study were discussed, starting with the choice of object of learning. The meetings also included shared viewing and analyzing video recordings of lessons and preand posttests (see Table 1.). Each session was about one and a half hour long. All meetings were audio recorded and transcribed, excepting meeting 5 when the audio recorder accidently was turned off, and notes were taken directly after the meeting in order to sum up the discussion. The transcribed recordings were analyzed. Table 1. Outline of activities performed during the Learning study. Activity Date Content Meeting 1 Sept 11 Discussing the purpose of the study and choosing the object of learning Meeting 2 Sept 25 Discussing and analyzing the object of learning, constructing the pretest