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Preparing Pre-service Secondary Teachers to Teach Science to English Learners: Theory into Practice

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Science Teacher Preparation in Content-Based Second Language Acquisition

Part of the book series: ASTE Series in Science Education ((ASTE))

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the preparation of pre-service teachers to teach science to English Learners (ELs) and is based on the SSTELLA (Secondary Science Teaching with English Language and Literacy Acquisition) project that has been implemented in four pre-service teacher education programs in Arizona, California and Texas. The SSTELLA project uses a practice-focused model of teacher education to engage novice teachers in observation, analysis, and experience with explicit models of the instructional approaches they are being prepared to teach. It describes how four SSTELLA practices – Scientific Sense-making, Scientific Discourse, English Language and Literacy Development, and Contextualized Science Activity–are articulated across the coursework and practicum requirements of the teacher education program through the use of instructional exemplars, video cases, and professional development with cooperating teachers and teacher supervisors. Data are presented that show that teacher candidates who participated in the SSTELLA intervention implemented several key practices at a higher level: contextualizing science activity, and engaging students in productive talk and student-student interaction. Furthermore, these teacher candidates showed higher self-efficacy for teaching ELs than candidates who were not part of the intervention.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    These strategies however need to be considered carefully to sustain nature of science activities being addressed.

  2. 2.

    EL or English Learner/Limited English Proficient terms are used in many official state and federal policies to refer to students acquiring a second language in school. We acknowledge that these terms are problematic terms because these students are very diverse from age of arrival to the U.S., to proficiency in the primary language, and prior academic preparation among other significant differences. ELs can’t be defined as a homogeneous or absolute group; moreover, state assessments used to classify EL designations and language levels differ from state to state. The term “EL” moreover is a restrictive identifier that fails to acknowledge non-English primary languages and the emergence of bilingual abilities.

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Acknowledgment

This material is based on work supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF) Discovery Research K–12 Program under Grant No. DRL-1316834. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of NSF.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The University of California, Santa Cruz, CA, 95064, USA

    Trish Stoddart

  2. University of Texas at San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, 78249, USA

    Jorge Solis

  3. Sonoma State University, Rohnert Park, CA, 94928, USA

    Edward G. Lyon

  4. University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ, 85721, USA

    Sara Tolbert

Authors
  1. Trish Stoddart
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  2. Jorge Solis
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  4. Sara Tolbert
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Correspondence to Trish Stoddart .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. State University of New York at Albany, Albany, New York, USA

    Alandeom W. Oliveira

  2. Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, Texas, USA

    Molly H. Weinburgh

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Stoddart, T., Solis, J., Lyon, E.G., Tolbert, S. (2017). Preparing Pre-service Secondary Teachers to Teach Science to English Learners: Theory into Practice. In: Oliveira, A., Weinburgh, M. (eds) Science Teacher Preparation in Content-Based Second Language Acquisition. ASTE Series in Science Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43516-9_6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-43516-9_6

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