Constraining the discourse community: how science instruction perpetuates marginalization of underrepresented students

This ethnographic study examines how lower-track rural African American students make sense of their position in school and what role school science discourse plays in their micro-cultural identity formation. The objectives of the study are to determine the science discourse's role in (1) determining access to knowledge, (2) affecting lower-track students' perceptions of school, and (3) perpetuating lower-track science students' identity. The constraints identified with lower-track science classroom discourse are strong hegemonic factors in determining students' behaviors, beliefs, and social and academic positions in the school hierarchy

The use of multimodal technologies to enhance reflective writing in teacher education

For preservice teachers new to the teaching profession, reflective practice can be a difficult process. Yet reflective writing, once mastered, has the capacity to support preservice teachers to make connections between teaching theory and professional practice, and to start to take control of their own professional learning journey. The reflective practice described in this chapter was scaffolded through a framework for writing, the use of annotated work samples and explicit teaching. This approach was enhanced through multimodal resources including written peer assessment, audio teacher feedback and a video recording of the class presentation. The video footage assisted the preservice teachers to reconcile the feedback that they received from multiple sources. This chapter describes and analyses the implementation of the PRT Pattern (Prompting Reflection using Technology). Results of this practice revealed that the multiple forms of feedback assisted the preservice teachers to analyse their performance in terms of their developing professional identity and practice