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An investigation into secondary teachers’ views of argumentation in science and religious education
Full text linkCitizens often face problems and dilemmas about which they need to make decisions and choices that impact their everyday lives. Some of these issues are related to science and religion. For example, genetic cloning, nuclear energy and climate change can potentially appeal to moral and religious values as well as scientific knowledge. The ability to coordinate knowledge and values in reaching justified conclusions has thus become increasingly important in contemporary democratic societies. The process of justification of knowledge claims with evidence and reasons is often referred to as ‘argumentation’. Curriculum standards of school subjects such as science and religious education (RE) include references to argumentation, and teachers are expected to teach to these standards. Yet, there is often limited opportunity for teachers of conventionally disparate subjects to express their understanding of how argumentation is broadly conceptualised in their own subject and in relation to other school subjects. The primary purpose of this paper is to report an empirical study that investigated how science and RE teachers view the nature of argumentation. The empirical data were drawn from 16 science and 17 RE teachers’ responses to survey questions. The findings illustrate how teachers describe both the distinguishing features (e.g. the forms of evidence acceptable for substantiating a claim) and similarities (e.g. the structures and processes of argument construction) of argumentation in science and religious education
Science and religious education teachers' views of argumentation and its teaching
No full textArgumentation, the justification of claims with reasons and/or evidence, has emerged as a significant educational goal in science education in recent years. It has also been noted as an important pedagogical approach in numerous school subjects. Yet, there is limited understanding of how teachers’ views of argumentation and its teaching compare in different school subjects. In order to ensure coherence in the implementation of the school curriculum, it is important to understand such views particularly in the context of subjects that are often positioned to be in conflict with each other, for example in the context ofscience versus religious education. In this paper, we present an empirical study on how science and religious education teachers view argumentation and its teaching. The data are drawn from a survey of secondary school teachers of 11–16-year-old students in England. Twenty-nine teachers were presented with an online survey in order to collect data on various aspects of their views including pedagogical strategies that support argumentation. Qualitative and quantitative results suggest that teachers of both subjects consider argumentation to be a significant aspect of their subject although particular nuances exist in how the teachers interpret argumentation. Furthermore, the data suggest that there are statistically significant differences in terms of the perceived frequency of pedagogical strategies used to support argumentation in lessons
Secondary teachers’ instructional practices on argumentation in the context of science and religious education
Full text linkArgumentation is widely recognised as a core practice of science, but the relation between argumentation in the teaching of science in contrast to the teaching of other school subjects has not been sufficiently addressed. In this study, we investigate science and religious education (RE) teachers’ instructional practices related to argumentation in lower secondary lessons in England. Through qualitative analysis of a pair of science and RE teachers’ instructional practices, we characterise how the teachers participating in a professional development project understand and teach argumentation. Data sources included questionnaires, lesson materials, classroom video recordings, and written teacher reflections. Findings suggest that both teachers recognised the value of argumentation in their subject, but some variations existed in the nuances of their views and particularly how different instructional strategies were utilised to achieve the lesson goals related to argumentation. The study highlights the teachers’ different understandings and enactments of argumentation as a disciplinary practice and an instructional objective in science and RE lessons. We call for further consideration of argumentation in different school subjects and how argumentation can enrich science teaching in interdisciplinary contexts
Broadening STEAM education through cross-curricular collaboration: the case of argumentation in science and religious education
No full textAlthough there has been increasing research and development efforts in the integration of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) as well as the integration of STEM with the arts (i.e. STEAM), little attention has been placed on how other school subjects such as religious education (RE) can be integrated. In some countries like England, RE is a subject taught in secondary schools. It is a subject that aims to provide students with an overview of world religions and worldviews from a range of perspectives including philosophy and ethics. While RE and STEAM may seem mutually exclusive, there are common features addressed in both. For example, the articulation of arguments—or justification of claims with reasons and evidence—is widespread not only in science but also in RE. As such, it involves deep exploration of justification of why particular people hold the beliefs that they do. Furthermore, both RE and STEAM are, by definition, interdisciplinary and lend themselves to synthesis of new perspectives. Argumentation defined as the justification of knowledge claims with evidence and reasons, has emerged as a significant educational goal, advocated in international curricula and investigated through school-based research. Surprisingly, however, the contrast of argumentation in science and RE has been under-investigated although educators have been concerned with the manifestation of science-religion debates in schools, particularly in relation to topics such as evolution and intelligent design for numerous years. Considering the importance of worldviews in education, it is worthwhile to explore how RE might be related to STEAM education. The purpose of this chapter is to investigate how the scope of STEAM education can be broadened by focusing on school subjects conventionally not considered in relation to STEAM, such as RE. Considering RE itself is a vast domain, we focus on argumentation as an overarching theme where cross-subject integration and collaboration can be explored. Examples from the funded 3-year OARS Project from England are used to illustrate how cross-curricular collaboration between teachers can be enhanced
Argumentation and interdisciplinarity: Reflections from the Oxford Argumentation in Religion and Science Project
Full text linkArgumentation has emerged as a key area of research and development in science education in recent years. Simply defined, argumentation is about the justification of knowledge claims with evidence and reasons. Although there is now a vast amount of work in argumentation, much research remains to be pursued. Given the interdisciplinary nature of argumentation, the dialogue between science education and other relevant domains can produce many constructive research agendas that could profit argumentation research and lead to practical applications. Following an overview of the relevant interdisciplinary investigations that can be pursued in science education, the paper subsequently focuses on the interphase of science and religion. Although science education research has witnessed considerable debate about particular issues related to science and religion such as the teaching and learning of
evolution and creationism, the role of argumentation remains an uncharted territory. Hence, the paper focuses on how argumentation may be explored in science and religion in comparison. Some preliminary observations from the Oxford Argumentation in Religion and Science(OARS) Project are reported including a comparative analysis of curricula and teachers’ views. Implications for interdisciplinarity in the context of argumentation in science education are discussed
How does military life shape service children's identity and school experiences?
Full text linkService children are identified by virtue of the occupation of their parents. Their lives are shaped by the unique demands placed on armed forces personnel. Service children are more likely to move (home and school) than their non-service peers and parental separation is common amongst service families. Alongside these experiences of mobility and separation, being part of an armed forces family results in the creation of a distinct identity, which further sets service children apart from their peers. As a result, they have unique educational experiences, associated needs and a distinctive identity which are often not fully understood, or supported, in the English state school context.
Since 2011, service children in English state schools have received targeted funding, known as the Service Pupil Premium (SPP). In the academic year 2023-2024, £335 per child was provided to schools for 78,897 individuals, amounting to just over £26.43 million in total (Department for Education [DfE], 2024). Despite the significant amount of funding given to schools over the last 13 years, there has been considerable criticism of the SPP. Indeed, as a recent report – commissioned by the Ministry of Defence (MoD) – highlights, the SPP is “poorly understood and poorly used” (Walker, Selous & Misca, 2020, p.69).
Bringing together voice research and creative methods, this research was undertaken with service children, to explore their thoughts and feelings around their service child identity and school experiences. In total, 19 service children, aged between 9 and 16 years old, participated in a range of innovative ‘data generation’ methods – self-portraits and relational maps, timelines and free responses – alongside discussion, within their respective English state school contexts.
Findings from this doctoral research both enrich and widen current understanding of service children’s school experiences and further knowledge into how service children see themselves. Crucially, this thesis develops the concept of the ‘service child identity’ and explores the relationship between this identity and the broader concept of school belonging. From this, implications are derived, which serve to help inform SPP funding choices and wider school culture and practice within English state schools
A study of the views and experiences of student’s transition and the role of the guidance counsellor with two post-primary schools
No full textA fundamental aim of this research is to undertake a study exploring the views and experiences of student’s transition and the role of the guidance counsellor with two schools. This research aims to establish what are the initial experiences and challenges in the student’s transition and the student’s views on the role of the guidance counsellor in their transition. Additionally, the researcher will explore the role of the guidance counsellor in the transition process from the perspective of the guidance counsellor.
From a research perspective, internationally much of the research that exist centres around the area of school transfer and transition programmes (Hanewald 2013, Tudge et al 2009 and Rice et al 2011). The main body of research in relation to transition in Ireland is conducted by Smyth (2017) and Smyth et al (2004).
This study provides and insight into the views and experience of current 2nd year students looking back on their transition experience in 1st year. The data collection involved the use of surveys, focus groups and semi-structured interviews. A number of themes emerged from this study and the conclusions of this research highlight that the transition experience is mainly a positive one. However, greater clarification of guidance counsellor’s role is required for junior cycle students. A number of recommendations were generated to inform the practice of guidance counselling going forward
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Full text linkThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
Variations on the Author
Full text link“Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship
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