Supporting early years science education during COVID-19 crisis

Scientific Conference (2022, September 09)

In this proposed presentation, we aim to discuss the initiatives promoted by the SciTeach Center (University of Luxembourg) in response to the COVID-19 crisis, with a focus on the examination of the A/B ... [more ▼]

In this proposed presentation, we aim to discuss the initiatives promoted by the SciTeach Center (University of Luxembourg) in response to the COVID-19 crisis, with a focus on the examination of the A/B-Wochen online resources. The resources were developed with the aim of promoting young children’s engagement in science inquiry as well as supporting teachers in adapting their practices to a changing scenario. Pedagogical materials were launched online in May 2020, when Luxembourgish schools reopened under new and challenging conditions for teachers, children and families. We discuss how the notions of openness, access, and interest for both teachers and children were embedded in the design of the resources. Framing this initiative within the projects and practices of the research team allows us to highlight the collaborative structures such as distributed leadership that, eventually, made possible the quick transfer from research to adaptations tailored to support teachers’ needs. [less ▲]

Building School-University Partnerships to Support Primary Science Education in Luxembourg

Scientific Conference (2022)

What you see is what you get – Representation, Knowledge, and Strategies of Showing in Images.

Scientific Conference (2022)

Working towards responsive science education pedagogies during a time of crisis: centering community, diversity and access

Scientific Conference (2021, January 30)

Children, teachers, and families internationally are navigating new terrains of remote learning and teaching during the COVID-19 crisis, and this extends to the University of Luxembourg's SciTeach Center ... [more ▼]

Children, teachers, and families internationally are navigating new terrains of remote learning and teaching during the COVID-19 crisis, and this extends to the University of Luxembourg's SciTeach Center team, a multidisciplinary group of educators and researchers dedicated to supporting primary and pre-primary science education. Luxembourg’s schools closed mid-March 2020, with rapid implementation of online/distance schooling. By mid-May, the national scenario started changing with deconfinement stages, and schools adopted blended in-person/distance structure of rotating “A” and “B” weeks of instruction, ending the year with two weeks of “back to normal”. What are we wondering about? The SciTeach team responded to changing circumstances with several initiatives to support science education within new structures. The team’s interactions in response to the pandemic and resulting outcomes are the focus of a case study utilizing ethnographic methods and discourse analysis. We are examining planning discussions and development of remote science education resources for in-service teachers, children, and caregivers, with a purpose of identifying essential steps in the process, and the resulting impacts of changes. Why is this wondering important? This wondering will elaborate an adaptation process as we transitioned to online modes of interacting, reflecting on the applicability of responsive pedagogies during crisis. This crisis has exposed issues of equity and access, in particular with the high percentage of students who do not speak the languages of instruction at home (more than half) and has given rise to questions about what structural changes will/can remain ahead. As our main goal is to support children’s engagement in science, we discuss benefits and challenges associated with these responses as they were developed not with the intent to only respond, but to offer teachers a sustainable approach to support students in engaging in science moving forward. What approaches frame our thinking? Grounded in sociocultural theoretical perspectives (Sewell, 1999), we understand the teaching-learning processes as cultural enactment, and we draw on translanguaging perspectives (García, 2009) and multimodal approaches (Kress, 2004). Our theoretical and methodological approach is grounded as bricolage (Kincheloe, 2001), and we hope to honor the diversity and complexity of engaging in research with participants. We seek to trouble the existing policy-based notions of science "proficiency" as we consider diverse ways teachers, students, and families engage in science education, with a particular focus on examining issues of equity and access during crisis. Why is our wondering important to equity, diversity and / or social justice in science education? The overarching purpose of this work is identifying the adaptation process and reflecting upon the resulting impacts of changes. Issues of access and equity are multiple, for teachers, children, and caregivers, and our wondering focuses on three questions: • How can we work towards resource-rich approaches for working with students – to build on what they know and wonder – and make openings for engaging in science inquiry? • How can we support equitable student access to science, given the range of languages and technology access? • How can we keep and nurture community during times of rapid unplanned changes, and shifting interaction structures? [less ▲]

Adapting to Covid19 in Luxembourg: Centering community, diversity and access in remote primary teacher education for science.

Scientific Conference (2021)

Enacting responsive science teacher education: revised strategies , adapted resources and rapid digitization during a time of crisis

Presentation (2020, October 23)

The role of critical reflexivity in the professional development of professional developers: A co-autoethnographic exploration

in Interfaces Científicas (2018), 7(1), 13-24

This manuscript shares findings from a collaborative autoethnography project during which two classroom teachers worked together with university researchers to develop and facilitate science education ... [more ▼]

This manuscript shares findings from a collaborative autoethnography project during which two classroom teachers worked together with university researchers to develop and facilitate science education professional development workshops for elementary teachers in Luxembourg. Grounded in critical theoretical perspectives, we undertook a process of collaborative autoethnography grounded in dialogue and reflection, to examine our own professional development in the process of facilitating the professional development of our colleagues. First, we elaborate the cultural and historical importance of this project in the context of teacher professional development in Luxembourg, an education system that operates from a national primary school curriculum, but in which instructional decisions are made by teachers. Next, we describe how critical methodologies allowed us to examine working within this system from each of our unique perspectives, while critically analyzing the process of engaging in professional development with teachers. We then elaborate the two main claims that emerged from our collective processes of reflection, dialogue, and action, namely that undergoing this critical process in parallel with supporting teacher professional development facilitated changes in our perspectives and our positions towards the national curricula, and that our multiple roles coupled with the process of reflection-dialogue-action mediated taking agency and the adaptation of primary science curricula. [less ▲]

Die Kunst gibt nicht das Sichtbare wieder, sondern macht sichtbar. Die Familie als Sujet erziehungswissenschaftlicher Reflexion auf Gemälden an der Wende vom 18. zum 19. Jahrhundert

in Zeitschrift für Pädagogik (2018), (3), 325-341

Being and becoming Science Education Professional Developers: A Co-Autoethnographic Examination

Presentation (2018)

What you see is what you get - Das Bild als Medium der Wissensvermittlung

Speeches/Talks (2016)