New Perspectives in Science Education
Improving Primary School Science: Structural, Systemic, & School Challenges
James P. Spillane, Northwestern University, Chicago (United States)
Abstract
Drawing on two mixed method longitudinal studies involving 13 US education systems, this paper examines the unique challenges faced by system and school leaders in their efforts to improve the quality of science teaching in primary schools. Contending with the broad preferencing of literacy and numeracy relative to science in the primary school, leaders encounter dilemmas – conflict filled and messy problems where alternative solutions are roughly equally desirable or undesirable (Cuban, 2001). Choosing one solution over another is difficult, if not impossible. I show how these dilemmas are embedded, historically and contemporarily, in the policy and institutional environments of public schools (Burch & Spillane, 2005; Peurach, Lyle, et al., 2022). I also document how these arrangements shape not only classroom time for science but also teachers formal and informal professional learning opportunities related to science teaching. Based on my analysis of social network survey and interview data, I identify three coping strategies that leaders use to manage the dilemmas of improving science teaching including integrating science instruction with other subjects, using science specialist teachers to teach science, and adopting science curricula. In conclusion, I argue that the challenge of improving elementary science, is not simply about changing the values and building the capability of individual system and school leaders but also addressing the structural arrangements that fundamentally shape their work.
Keywords: primary school science, teacher professional development.
REFERENCES
1. Burch, P., & Spillane, J. P. (2005). How subjects matter in district office practice: Instructionally relevant policy in urban school district redesign. Journal of Educational Change, 6(1), 51–76.
2. Cuban, L. (2001). How can I fix it? Finding solutions and managing dilemmas: An educator’s road map. Teachers College Press.
3. Peurach, D. J., Foster, A. T., Lyle, A. M., & Seeber, E. R. (2022). Democratizing educational innovation and improvement. In D.J.Peurach, J.L. Russell, L. Cohen-Vogel, & W. Penuel (Eds.), The foundational handbook on improvement research in education (p. 211). Rowman & Littlefield.
