The rupture in the physics teacher’s pedagogical sequence

Abstract

This is the result of an observational research, carried out with a group of high school physics teachers in professional development. We departed from the recognition of the incipient learning in courses, as identified from the few changes resultant in teachers’ practices. While studying their attempts to take into classroom the proposals learned in the courses, we’ve observed that such attempts frequently originated a rupture in the pedagogical sequence. This caused a great distress and a tendency to return to the “old” practice. Of what does this rupture consist? Which obstacles may be causing them? This question lead us to study the characteristics of teachers’ practices and their evolution/oscillation, motivated by the professional development course. We’ve related the ruptures in their pedagogical sequence with the incoherence in teachers' strategies and attitudes when applying the teaching theory being learned, whereas still maintaining aspects of their practice founded into the old theory. We’ve concluded that the learning of a new teaching theory requires a ground attitudinal change, more fundamental than possible changes in the teaching strategies, these ones capable of planning.

Keywords

• teacher education
• teacher professional development
• constructivism
• physics teaching
• course planning