Implementing change within a school science department: progressive and dissonant voices

The purpose of this study was to describe the teaching and leadership experiences of a science teacher who, as head of department, was preparing to introduce changes in the science department of an independent school in response to the requirements of the new junior science syllabus in Queensland, Australia. This teacher consented to classroom observations and interviews with the researchers where his beliefs about teaching practice and change were explored. Other science teachers at the school also were interviewed about their reactions to the planned changes. Interpretive analysis of the data provides an account of the complex interactions, negotiations, compromises, concessions, and trade-offs faced by the teacher during a period of education reform. Perceived barriers existing within the school that impeded proposed change are identified

Writing Together Metaphorically and Bodily Side-by-Side: An Inquiry into Collaborative Academic Writing

Research discourses are permeated by metaphors. As well, metaphors can be used to create new possibilities for action. In this paper, we describe our attempt to apply particular metaphors for writing research gleaned from our study of the research practices of 24 education researchers from Australia and North America. With reference to the metaphor: writing as a piano duet, for example, we explore the experience of writing side-by-side with each other for the first time. Our reflexive account not only deals with this writing experience, but also discusses potential benefits and shortcomings of this approach to writing and the application of metaphors to guide research practice. Writing in this way is indicative of the metaphor writing as research

Individual and Collective Leadership in School Science Departments

Given that the subject department is recognised by subject specialist teachers as the central and immediate unit of organization in secondary schools it is surprising that so little attention has been paid by researchers to the leadership dynamics within science departments. The leadership dynamics within the science departments of two contrasting school contexts were explored dialectically in this study. The structure | agency and individual | collective dialectics guided our interpretation of data from lesson observations, interviews and questionnaire responses, especially as they related to teachers' preparation of units of work (i.e., planned curriculum). As well as recognising thin coherence in teachers' responses we identify contradictions in teachers' perceived and enacted leadership roles, and perceptions of influences on curriculum planning and teaming within the two science departments. Throughout the article we disrupt traditional individualistic leadership discourses and suggest possibilities for more widespread application of an individual | collective leadership dialectic in school science departments

Solidarity Through Collaborative Research

While numerous publications signal the merits of collaborative research, few studies provide interpretive analyses of collaborative-research practices or collaborative relationships. Through this multiple case study design of collaborative-research teams, we attempt to provide such an analysis by focusing on the collaborative-research experiences of seven qualitative researchers from two contrasting research teams in Australia and North America. We highlight how solidarity emerged from successful interactions between interdependent members, and these were both professionally and personally rewarding for individuals and the teams. As well, we identify the opportunities for solidarity afforded to researchers from vertical collaborations (i.e. collaborations involving differential status between team members) that featured evolving and transforming mentoring relationships through the history of the research projects. We propose that solidarity can be stratified within large research teams through sub-units like dyads. Finally, we suggest that collaborating researchers might benefit from reviewing case studies of collaborative relationships, and engaging in mutual interrogation and subsequent individual reflections of their articulated collaborative practices and relationships