Dr Sarah Frodsham

In this chapter we apply the concept of practical theorising to the context of primary teacher education, focusing specifically on the ways that teachers develop subject knowledge alongside critical engagement with creative approaches to pedagogy. We begin by framing critically the concept of practical theorising in the context of primary teacher education. Then we move on to explore a successful example of practical theorising through the Thinking, Doing Talking Science (TDTS) project. TDTS draws on research that identifies key features of a creative pedagogy that supports cognitive development in science (McGregor 2007; McGregor and Gunter 2006; Davies and McGregor 2017) and focuses on teachers applying theoretical propositions related to a constructivist approach to learning science in a practical and inclusive way. A key component of the programme is the nurturing of ‘adaptive expertise’ (Berliner 2001) or the capacity to adopt a flexible, research-informed approach to the teaching of Primary Science. Through participation in the programme, teachers are encouraged to develop creative and challenging science lessons that encourage pupils to develop higher order thinking skills. Teachers enable their pupils to think and talk about scientific concepts through open discussion and through creative investigation and problem solving. In so doing, teachers model practical theorising as well as organising teaching and learning in a way that is underpinned by this concept. Results from the Education Endowment Foundation’s (EEF) funded  efficacy trial (Hanley et al 2016) indicated that school pupils (aged 9-10) using the approach made approximately three additional months’ progress in science. The EEF research also presented evidence that there was a positive effect on girls and those pupils with lower prior attainment. There were also indications that the approach had most impact on pupils eligible for free school meals. With this in mind, we argue that the ‘practical theorising’ approach adopted by teachers engaged with the TDTS pedagogy provides more equitable opportunities for all pupils and has clear benefits for them, both in terms of learning outcomes and positive attitudes towards science. In terms of professional learning for teachers, TDTS provides clear guidance for them to practically theorise ways of affecting change in pupils’ learning in their science classes.  

This chapter is focused on discussion about the ways that tablet technology can support teaching and learning in inquiry contexts within STEM. The discussion about the nature of inquiry teaching and learning with digital technology is drawn from a series of case lessons in elementary science within the topic of ‘Properties of Materials’ in the UK. The research project informing this chapter examined teacher, young learners and non-participant observer’s perspectives of the same events, namely two sequential science lessons one with and the other with-out the use of tablet technology. A socio-cultural perspective of learning was adopted. Reflections on these three contrasting viewpoints of the processes of teaching and learning informs a theorisation about practice that utilises digital technology. As Clarke and Svanaes (Tech knowledge for schools. An updated literature review on the use of tablets in education, 2014), Geer et al. (Br J Educ Technol 48:490–498, 2017) and more recently the OECD (Digital strategies in education across OECD countries, 2020) report, there is still no ‘clear line’ about which devices best support education, or indeed, how digital devices can be most effectively used. This chapter, therefore, offers suggestions about the ways that affordances or opportunities for young learners should be noted and pedagogically promoted more effectively in science inquiry situations.

The involvement of children in dramatic inquiry, through activities that introduce how scientists and technologists have worked in the past can ‘set-the-scene’ to engage them in practising STEM skills within a problem-solving situation. Historical stories can potentially provide rich, authentic contexts that engage children in imaginatively and creatively STEMbased challenges. In this chapter we describe how a sequence of dramatised activities enabled children to think about scientific and technological issues that were pertinent in the life and work of George Washington Carver (GWC), an American born into slavery. The children worked in-role, as GWC in dramatised inquiry activities, designing their own methods to investigate soil quality and plant growth and to explore how different plant parts might be mashed, ground, dissolved, sieved, mixed and heated to make different products including ink, paints, pastes, creams and drinks. We describe how an Action Research approach was adopted, using a mixed methods to collect the impact data. Data collected included field notes, informal discussions, interviews and questionnaires. Scrutiny of the data suggested that by participating in dramatised activities, learning became more meaningful for the children as they became inquirers through empathising with Carver’s situation as a scientist and technologist. The impact of the creative pedagogy, immersing children in an alternate, historical context, extended the STEM inquiry affordances made available to them. The interventional project not only increased pupils’ engagement, learning about science and generating original ideas but it also demonstrated how teachers could be creative in STEM teaching. Outcomes from the project suggest seven distinctive affordances which can support creative inquiry in STEM learning contexts.