Esta pesquisa investigou na produção acadêmica sobre EaD as questões emergentes do seu paradigma educacional em função da inserção das TDIC (Tecnologias Digitais de Informação e de Comunicação) por meio de plataformas virtuais com o objetivo de compreender principais tendências, contribuições e desafios identificados. Descreve os principais conceitos ligados à EaD e às plataformas virtuais de aprendizagem, destacando-se as características do Moodle. Apresenta as gerações da modalidade EaD, a legislação vigente, amplo número de produções científicas nacionais, predominante em cursos da rede privada da Educação Superior. Questiona seu paradigma como diferenciado do modelo tradicional de ensino e como são tratados os estruturantes didáticos em suas propostas de cursos bem como questões referentes à formação docente e à inserção das TDIC em diferentes modalidades de EaD. Focaliza a opção metodológica por uma pesquisa de natureza exploratória e descritiva de referências e a criação de categorias de análise ligadas aos estruturantes didáticos. Identifica as tendências, contribuições e desafios da EaD articulada à presença ou não dos estruturantes didáticos (contexto institucional, modalidades, fundamentação da visão de ensino e de aprendizagem, inserção dos recursos tecnológicos e suas contribuições aos processos de ensino e de aprendizagem e processo de avaliação). Conclui pela necessidade de uma ressignificação educacional da inserção das Tecnologias Digitais de Informação e Comunicação (TDIC) que reduza a reprodução da sala de aula tradicional e que forme docentes capazes de compreender a complexidade existente na convergência de dimensões antes menos integradas ao processo de ensino e de aprendizagem como as competências cognitivas, emocionais e éticas. A inserção das TDIC implica planejamento e formação prévia e continuada dos professores para evitar o que ocorre atualmente com os modelos tutoriais de EaD com estratégias pré-planejadas, processos diretivos rígidos, com memorização de fatos e/ou informações isoladas, reforçando paradigmas educacionais tradicionais. Os estruturantes didáticos precisam ser considerados nas articulações dos diferentes saberes docentes (conhecimentos específicos, conhecimentos pedagógicos e conhecimentos tecnológicos) com foco prioritário no protagonismo discente da aprendizagem e na interação colaborativa. O maior desafio consiste em reduzir a ênfase dada a tecnologia, como se ela, por si só, pudesse ser responsável pela melhoria da democratização e qualidade da educação. / This research investigated the academic production about EaD emerging issues of their educational paradigm according to the insertion of TDIC (Digital Information and Communication Technologies) through virtual platforms with the goal of understand main tendencies identified contributions and challenges. Describes the major concepts connected to distance education and virtual learning platforms highlighting the features of Moodle. Displays the generations of distance education modality, the current legislation, large number of national, prevailing scientific production in the private courses of higher education network. Questions his paradigm as distinguished from the traditional model of teaching and learning as the structuring are treated in their proposed courses as well as issues related to teacher training and the integration of TDIC in various forms of distance education. Focuses on the methodological option for an exploratory and descriptive research references and the creation of categories related to structuring didactic. Identifies trends, contributions and challenges of distance education articulated the presence or absence of didactic structuring (institutional context, procedures, grounds of educational vision and learning, integration of technological resources and their contributions to teaching and learning processes and evaluation process ). It concludes for the need for a redefinition of educational integration of Information and Communication Digital Technologies (TDIC) that reduces the reproduction of the traditional classroom, and form teachers able to understand the complexity existing in the convergence of dimensions before less integrated into the teaching process and learning as cognitive, emotional and ethical skills. The insertion of TDIC implies planning and prior and continued training of teachers to avoid what is currently happening with the tutorials models of distance education with pre-planned strategies, hard directive processes, memorization of facts and / or isolated information, reinforcing traditional educational paradigms. The didactic structuring need to be considered in the joints of different teaching knowledge (specific knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and technological knowledge) with priority focus on the role of student learning and collaborative interaction. A major challenge is to reduce the emphasis on technology, as if she alone, could be responsible for improving the quality of education and democratization.

O estágio supervisionado na formação inicial de professores é o momento no qual os licenciandos são inseridos, como professor, em seu ambiente profissional. Para se compreender o lugar do estágio na formação docente é necessário investigar como os saberes docentes dos licenciandos são elaborados durante essa formação. A pesquisa aqui apresentada possui como tema central a produção de saberes docentes por licenciandos em física durante o estágio supervisionado investigativo em sua formação inicial. Um estágio que envolve uma dimensão de ensino, caracterizada pelas atividades de regência dos licenciandos, e uma dimensão pesquisa, que envolve os licenciandos em um processo de pesquisa sobre a sua própria prática. Utilizamos a conceituação de saber como constructo de pesquisa e a centralidade dos saberes experienciais na prática profissional docente, tal como propostos por Tardif (2008), a fim de compreendermos a elaboração e a validação de saberes docentes pelos licenciandos durante o estágio supervisionado investigativo. Utilizamos também o Conhecimento Pedagógico do Conteúdo (PCK), como esquema teórico de análise com o intuito de caracterizar as interações existentes entre os saberes docentes relacionados às atividades de regência desenvolvidas pelos licenciandos. O pesquisador, como supervisor de estágio, orientou, durante um semestre, dois licenciandos de uma universidade pública de São Paulo no desenvolvimento de seus estágios. A análise dos dados envolveu dois recortes: um primeiro longitudinal, a partir das gravações das reuniões de supervisão entre os licenciandos e o pesquisador, além de uma apresentação final de estágio e uma entrevista final individual, que propiciou uma linha cronológica da elaboração e validação dos saberes docentes conforme o desenvolvimento do estágio supervisionado investigativo; e um segundo recorte transversal, com base em cinco unidades temáticas de análise, originárias da primeira etapa de análise, que nos permitiu esmiuçar a elaboração e validação dos saberes docentes desenvolvidos pelos licenciandos durante o estágio supervisionado investigativo. A partir desses dois recortes analisados de forma mais descritiva, foi possível delinear um melhor entendimento da relação teoria e prática e da centralidade dos saberes experienciais no decorrer do estágio supervisionado investigativo. A percepção da centralidade dos saberes experienciais e do movimento do PCK na atividade de regência dos licenciandos no desenvolvimento do estágio supervisionado investigativo nos possibilitaram refletir sobre a formação inicial de professores e propor redirecionamentos que podem contribuir para uma formação teórico-prática mais efetiva. / The supervised practicum in initial teacher education is the moment in which the pre-service teachers are inserted, as a teacher, into their professional environment. To understand the place of internship in teacher education is necessary to investigate how the teachers knowledge pre-service teachers are prepared during the training. This research focus on the development of teachers knowledge by pre-service teachers during a investigate supervised practicum occurred in their initial teacher education. A investigate supervised practicum comprehends both the teaching dimension, the latter having as its main characteristic the teaching activities carried out by the pre-service teachers, and the research dimension, which takes into account a process whereby pre-service teachers examine their own pedagogical practices. The concept of knowing as a research construct and the centrality of experiential knowledge in teachers professional practice are considered, as proposed by Tardif (2008), so as to understand the development and validation of teachers knowledge by pre-service teachers throughout the investigate supervised practicum. Moreover, the so-called Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) was also applied as a theoretical framework of analysis in order to describe the interactions prevailing in the teachers knowledge related to the practicum accomplished by the pre-service teachers. The researcher, as the practicum supervisor, guided and assisted two pre-service teachers of a public university of São Paulo over one semester in the development of their practicum. The analysis of the data involved two perspectives: firstly, a longitudinal one, which regarded the recorded supervision meetings between the pre-service teachers and the researcher, as well as a practicum final presentation, and an individual final interview, which provided a timeline of the of the development and validation of teachers knowledge as the supervised pre-service teachers practicum progressed; and secondly, a transversal perspective, based on five thematic units of analysis, originating in the first stage of analysis, which allowed us to look deeper the development and validation the teachers knowledge by pre-service teachers during the supervised practicum. From these two perspectives examined in more descriptive way, it was possible to devise a better understanding of the theory-practice relationship and the centrality of experiential knowledge in the accomplishment of the investigate supervised pre-service teachers practicum. The perception of the centrality of experiential knowledge and the movement of PCK in the teaching activities of pre-service teachers in the development of investigative supervised practium, allowed us to reflect on the initial teacher education and propose redirects that can contribute to a more effective theory-practice relationship.

Esta pesquisa investigou as contribuições do conhecimento pedagógico do conteúdo tecnológico para as competências docentes e para o processo de aprendizagem apoiado por ambiente virtual. Caracterizou-se como uma investigação qualitativa, de natureza descritivo-exploratória, em um contexto didático, com observação participante e abordagem netnográfica. Foi realizada na disciplina Ambientes de Aprendizagem Cooperativa Apoiados em Tecnologias da Internet: Novos Desafios, Novas Competências (EDM 5053), pertencente ao quadro de disciplinas da área de concentração da pósgraduação Didática, Teorias de Ensino e Práticas Escolares, da Faculdade de Educação da USP. Foram utilizadas técnicas qualitativas de coleta de dados (diário de bordo, formulários de avaliação processual, registros em chats, fóruns de discussão, entrevista e grupo focal). Os dados coletados foram analisados sob a perspectiva das categorias de autopoiese, metacognição e interação, relacionadas no horizonte interpretativo de um processo de ensinoaprendizagem, que dialogou com o modelo explicativo da ação docente Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK). Dentre as contribuições, destacou-se o entendimento de que os objetivos didáticos são alcançados na inter-relação com os estudantes e na relação dialética teoria e prática, e não pela mera presença de infraestrutura tecnológica disponível nas aulas. As propostas pedagógicas devem estar abertas ao diálogo, à criatividade e à negociação de sentidos para a construção cooperativa do pensamento autônomo e exercício da liberdade. A ação docente experiente representou uma variável que reiterou a exigência de metodologias e estratégias representadas também pelo modelo TPACK, isto é, a articulação dos diferentes saberes, com destaque para o conhecimento pedagógico de conteúdo tecnológico. Este se constituiu em um aspecto orientador de reflexões necessárias para elaboração de propostas pedagógicas, apoiadas por tecnologias digitais de informação e de comunicação (TDIC), ou seja, fundamentou a importância do conhecimento docente em diálogo com o conhecimento discente, na seleção das tecnologias, no estudo de suas melhores estratégias metodológicas, qual sua intencionalidade educativa, com vistas ao atendimento das expectativas de aprendizagem e demandas de conhecimentos específicos, articuladas aos conteúdos tecnológicos. A continuidade de pesquisas na área pode levar à compreensão aprofundada do tema e impulsionar a pedagogia apoiada por TDIC, com a finalidade de enriquecer experiências docentes e discentes. / This research investigated the contributions of technological pedagogical content knowledge for teaching skills and the learning process supported by virtual environment. It is characterized as a qualitative research, descriptive and exploratory nature, in an educational context, with participant observation and netnographic approach. It was conducted in the discipline Supported and Cooperative Learning Environments in Internet Technologies: New Challenges, New Skills\" (EDM 5053), belonging to the hall of disciplines of the graduate field \"Didactic, Teaching Theories and School Practices, from Education Faculty at USP. Qualitative techniques of data collection (logbook, procedural review forms, chats records, discussion forums, interviews and focal group) were used. Data were analyzed from the perspective of the autopoiesis categories, metacognition and interaction, all related to the interpretative scope of teaching and learning process that dialogued with the explanatory model of the teaching action \"Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge\" (TPACK). Among the contributions the highlight was the understanding that educational purposes are achieved in the inter-relationship with the students and in the dialectical relationship between theory and practice, and not solely by the presence of technological infrastructure available in classroom. The pedagogical proposals must be open to dialogue, creativity and negotiation of meanings for the cooperative construction of autonomous thinking and exercise of freedom. The experient teaching action represented a variable that reiterated the requirement of methodologies and strategies also represented by the TPACK model, namely, the articulation of different knowledge, highlighting the technological pedagogical content knowledge. This constituted a guiding issue for reflections required to formulate pedagogical proposals supported by Digital Technologies for Information and Communication (DTIC), i.e., it underlies the importance of teacher knowledge in dialogue with the student knowledge in the selection of technologies, in the study of their best methodological strategies, which is its educational intentionality, in order to meet the learning expectations and demands of specific knowledges articulated to the technological content. Additional research in this area can lead to deeper understanding of the topic and boost pedagogy supported by DTIC in order to enhance teaching and student experiences.

Este estudo situa-se no campo de formação de professores e utiliza o conceito de Conhecimento Pedagógico do Conteúdo (PCK) como referencial teórico. O PCK versa sobre um conhecimento específico do professor, que fundamenta suas decisões didáticas diante dos processos de ensino e aprendizagem no contexto de sala de aula. Neste trabalho, investigamos o PCK sobre conceitos pertinentes ao tema \"Natureza da Matéria\", de licenciandos em Química, manifesto no processo de elaboração de um planejamento de ensino proposto em uma disciplina integradora (entre conteúdo químico e pedagógico) de final de curso, oferecida no IQ-USP. Os planejamentos elaborados pelos licenciandos, assim como as transcrições de gravações dos debates gerados nessa disciplina, foram submetidos à análise de conteúdo agrupando-se as ideias centrais em categorias construídas a partir do modelo de PCK de Rollnick et al.. Os resultados indicam que as discussões para elaboração do CoRe promoveu, ainda na graduação, a ampliação do repertório profissional. Na elaboração do planejamento de ensino, os licenciandos também puderam refletir sobre os conhecimentos necessários para a docência e evidenciaram as manifestações e o domínio dos conhecimentos necessários ao professor. Pelas falas e textos, os licenciandos mobilizam diferentes conhecimentos advindos de sua formação prévia, a saber, os conhecimentos: do conteúdo, dos alunos, pedagógico e do contexto de forma integrada e também acabam transformando tais conhecimentos como resultado da discussão em grupo promovida durante a disciplina. Essa transformação pôde ser acessada por exemplo, quando o conhecimento do conteúdo vai sendo ampliado e ganha especificidade quando esses licenciandos necessitam discutir e negociar aspectos desse conteúdo sob o ponto de vista do ensino. Assim, o acesso ao PCK desses licenciandos se dá pelo dinamismo observado da ampliação dos repertórios de experiência profissional e pedagógica acoplados a um conteúdo específico. Os distintos conhecimentos vão sendo mobilizados à medida que esses licenciandos discutem situações de planejamento de ensino. Os resultados indicam que os licenciandos, ainda na graduação, passam pelas etapas de apropriação dos conhecimentos necessários para a prática docente, desenvolvem a compreensão, do conhecimento do conteúdo nas disciplinas específicas de química, dos propósitos com base nas propostas oficiais e na seleção de temas estruturadores nas disciplinas integradoras que, juntamente com os domínio do conhecimento pedagógico, direcionam as transformações sobre o conhecimento. Foi possível observar assim, durante o processo da pesquisa flashes das disciplinas da formação inicial no repertório profissional dos licenciandos investigados. / This study is situated in the field of teacher training and uses the concept of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) as the theoretical base. The PCK is about a teacher\'s specific knowledge, which bases its decisions on the educational processes of teaching and learning in the classroom. In this paper, we investigate the PCK on concepts relevant to the theme \"Nature of Matter\" by undergraduates in chemistry, manifest in the process of developing a plan of education proposed in an integrative discipline (between chemical content and pedagogical) final course offered at IQ-USP. The plans prepared by undergraduates as well as transcripts of recordings of the discussions generated in this discipline, were subjected to content analysis by grouping the main ideas in categories from the model of PCK Rollnick et al.. The results indicate that the discussions for the preparation of CoRe promoted, still an undergraduate, expanding professional repertoire. When planning teaching, undergraduates could also reflect on the knowledge needed for teaching and showed manifestations and develop the knowledge necessary to the teacher. Through speeches and texts, undergraduates mobilized different knowledge from their previous training, namely, knowledge, content, students, teaching and the context of an integrated and also end up turning this knowledge as a result of group discussion promoted during discipline. This transformation could be accessed for example, when knowledge of the content will be expanded and gain specificity when these undergraduates need to discuss and negotiate aspects of the content from the point of view of education. Thus, access to these undergraduates PCK is given by the dynamism of the observed expansion of the repertoire of teaching experience and coupled to a specific content. The different skills are being deployed as we discuss these undergraduates planning teaching situations. The results indicate that undergraduates still in grad school, go through the steps of appropriation of knowledge needed for teaching practice, develop understanding of content knowledge in specific disciplines of chemistry, based on the purposes of official proposals and selection of themes structuring proposed by the integrative disciplines which, together with the domain of pedagogical knowledge, direct knowledge about the changes. It was thus possible to observe during the research process flashes of the disciplines of professional training in the repertoire of the undergraduates surveyed.

Lärare som undervisar i matematik förväntas kunna mer avancerad matematik än vad de undervisar om. Men formell matematikkunskap anses inte vara tillräckligt för att lärare ska kunna undervisa så att ämnesinnehållet blir begripligt för eleverna, de behöver även pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Begreppet belyser en speciell form av ämneskunskap för undervisning och skiljer sig från den matematikkunskap som används av andra välutbildade vuxna. Det har föreslagits att olika arrangemang av kollegialt och praktikbaserat lärande kan utveckla lärares PCK. Ett exempel på ett sådant arrangemang är learning study. Den här avhandlingen handlar om den kunskap om lärande och undervisning i matematik som studiens lärare utvecklar då de deltar i learning studies och utforskar sin praktik utifrån ett variationsteoretiskt perspektiv. Det yttersta syftet med en learning study är att utveckla elevernas lärande om specifika lärandeobjekt, genom att undersöka vad som kan vara kritiskt för elevernas lärande. I ett samarbetsprojekt med fyra högstadielärare genomfördes två learning studies i matematik, under ett år. Lärargruppen undersökte vad eleverna behöver lära för att de ska förstå i) varför en kvot kan vara större än talet i täljaren och ii) olika representationer av konstanterna k och m i räta linjens ekvation. Under learning study-arrangemangets olika steg samlades studiens empiri in och denna består av filmade lektioner, inspelade möten där lärargruppen planerade och analyserade undervisning och elevers lärande, skriftliga elevtest samt elevintervjuer. Studien har en variationsteoretisk utgångspunkt, vilket innebär att lärande förklaras ske när en person ser något på ett nytt och mer kvalitativt sätt, genom att personen urskiljer aspekter som han/hon inte tidigare har urskilt. Studien visar de två lärandeobjektens kritiska aspekter samt hur de kritiska aspekterna gradvis förändrades och specificerades. Förändringen var ett resultat av att lärargruppen fick syn på avgörande detaljer om på vilket sätt eleverna förstod ämnesinnehållet samt hur skilda sätt att förstå kunde användas i undervisningen för att utveckla elevernas lärande. Där av titeln att få syn på avgörande skillnader. Denna form av utvecklad kunskap om lärandeobjektet kan ses som ett bidrag om PCK och vad det kan vara. / It is a common view that teachers need more than formal content knowledge to teach and to make the content comprehensible to others. They also need pedagogical content knowledge, or PCK (Shulman, 1986). It has been suggested that different teacher collaboration approaches may support teachers’ development of PCK (Chapman, 2013, Davis & Renert, 2014; Steele & Rogers, 2012). This thesis aims to provide insights into the kind of knowledge about teaching and learning mathematics that teachers develop through their participation in a specific collaboration approach called learning study. Four teachers of mathematics and their 74 students (aged 15−16 years) participated in two learning studies over the course of one year. The foremost aim of a learning study is to enhance student learning about specific objects of learning and to identify what is critical for the students’ learning (Marton & Tsui, 2004). The objects of learningin the two learning studies were to understand that dividing with a denominator between 0 and 1 gives a quotient larger than the numerator and to understand different representations of the constants b and m in the equation of the straight line. During the two learning studies data were collected from 8 video-recorded lessons, 2 written student tests, student interviews, and 14 audio-recorded sessions in which the teachers and I (PhD student) planned, analysed and revised teaching and student learning. The analysis was based on variation theory (Marton & Tsui, 2004) and focused on what participants considered to be critical aspects of the objects of learning and on the components embedded in that knowledge. The result shows the identified critical aspects of the two objects of learning and, furthermore, how the teachers’ knowledge about those critical aspects gradually changed and became more refined and specified in relation to their students’ understanding. The thesis provides an insight into the value of the teachers’ enhanced knowledge of the object of learning, in relation to how PCK can be understood.

Abstract Teaching of music, especially instrumental music, has rarely been the interest of researchers. This thesis explores the music teaching of a well known Finnish piano teacher and artist Matti Raekallio, describing his practical knowledge and theoretical tenets and their formation during the different phases in his life. The practical knowledge of a music teacher is experiential knowledge that takes shape in practical situations. It shows especially in the teaching-related interactions of music lessons. The teacher's practical knowledge manifests in his practical theory, which guides his teaching and includes his notions of the human being, learning and knowledge. The research tasks developed in the course of the research process and can be defined as follows: 1. What kind of shape do the elements of Raekallio's practical theory take in his life story? 2. What kind of teaching strategies and styles does he use in his piano lessons? 3. What kind of teaching stories are told in piano lessons? 4. How do the teacher and his students tell about their mutual relationships and their relations to music? The teaching of instrumental music is also approached from the viewpoint of the master–apprentice tradition it is usually connected with. And in addition to the actual research questions, the way in which this tradition is told in this research is also considered. The study is based on a narrative approach. Most of the data was collected by observing Raekallio's piano lessons and by interviewing both him and his students. This data was then analysed using content analysis and narrative methods of analysis. The results of this study broaden our conception of a music teacher's work. The teacher uses versatile teaching strategies, both verbal and nonverbal. Raekallio's teaching style includes his way of speaking, of being present and of giving feedback during his piano lessons. The exploration of teaching styles proved to be a fruitful starting point in the research of the moral dimension of music teaching. Examining teaching stories opened up the socialising significance that teaching has; through these stories future pianists and piano teachers are narrated into their cultural environment. These teaching stories show the teacher's pedagogical content knowledge as narrative knowing. With the help of narrative knowing, the teacher ties together knowledge that makes possible the production of a music performance, starting from notes and ending in a musical performance. The findings reinforce our conceptions of the teacher's significance in the teaching of instrumental music. In the stories of both students and the teacher, the significance of the teacher was clear during the different stages of development as a musician and especially during the stage of professional studies as a guide into the culture and practices of the field. The concepts and theory of educational sciences proved necessary and handy tools even in the research of music teaching. To popularise or model the contextual thinking of teaching related to the teaching of music, more descriptive research in the field is needed as well as descriptions of various everyday teaching events, the teaching of students of different ages, etc. The future challenges that this research points out include research of the narrative character of teachers' knowledge in general. How do teachers use storytelling in teaching, into what kind of stories are the things to be taught woven? / Tiivistelmä Soitonopetus on ollut harvoin tutkijoiden mielenkiinnon kohteena. Tässä työssä tarkastellaan tunnetun suomalaisen pianopedagogin ja -taiteilijan Matti Raekallion soitonopetusta, kuvaten hänen praktista tietoaan ja teoriaansa sekä sen muotoutumista elämän eri vaiheiden aikana. Soitonopettajan praktinen tieto on opettajan kokemuksellista tietoa, joka syntyy käytännön tilanteissa ja joka näkyy oppitunneilla etenkin opetuksen vuorovaikutustilanteissa. Opettajan praktinen tieto manifestoituu opettajan praktisessa teoriassa, joka ohjaa hänen opetustaan ja johon kuuluvat hänen käsityksensä ihmisestä, oppimisesta ja tiedosta. Tutkimustehtävät muotoutuivat prosessin aikana seuraaviksi: 1. Millaiseksi Raekallion praktisen teorian ainekset muotoutuvat hänen elämäntarinassaan? 2. Millaisia opetusstrategioita ja -tyylejä soittotunneilla käytetään? 3. Millaisia opetustarinoita soittotunneilla kerrotaan? 4. Millaiseksi opettaja ja opiskelijat kertovat suhteensa toisiinsa ja musiikkiin? Tarkastelen soitonopetusta myös siihen liitetyn mestari–kisälli-perinteen näkökulmasta ja varsinaisten tutkimustehtävien lisäksi pohdin, millaiseksi mestari–kisälli-perinne voidaan kertoa tämän tutkimuksen perusteella. Tutkimus on lähestymistavaltaan narratiivinen. Päätutkimusaineiston keräsin havainnoimalla Raekallion pitämiä soittotunteja sekä haastattelemalla häntä ja hänen oppilaitaan. Aineiston analysoin sisällönanalyysia ja narratiivisen tutkimuksen analyysitapoja käyttäen. Tutkimustulokset laajentavat käsitystämme soitonopettajan työstä. Opettaja käyttää monipuolisia opetusstrategioita, niin verbaalisia kuin nonverbaalisia. Raekallion opetustyylissä tulivat esille hänen puhetapansa sekä hänen tapansa olla läsnä soittotunneilla ja antaa palautetta. Opetustyylin tutkiminen näyttää olevan hedelmällinen lähtökohta opettajan työn moraalisen ulottuvuuden tutkimiseksi myös soitonopettajan työssä. Opetustarinoiden tutkiminen avaa opetuksen sosiaalistavaa merkitystä, sillä niiden kautta tulevat pianistit ja soitonopettajat kerrotaan kulttuuriseen yhteisöönsä. Niissä näkyy opettajan niin sanottu pedagoginen sisältötieto narratiivisena tietämisenä, jonka avulla opettaja sitoo yhteen tiedon, joka mahdollistaa kappaleen työstämisen nuottikuvasta alkaen aina kappaleen esitykseen saakka. Tutkimus vahvistaa käsityksiämme opettajan merkityksestä soitonopetuksessa. Opettajan ja oppilaiden kertomuksissa näkyi selvästi opettajan merkitys soittajataipaleen eri vaiheissa ja erityisesti ammattivaiheen opinnoissa johdattamassa alan kulttuuriin ja käytänteisiin. Tutkimuksessa käytetty kasvatustieteen käsitteistö ja teoria on osoittautunut tarpeelliseksi ja toimivaksi työkaluksi myös soitonopetuksen tutkimuksessa. Soitonopetukseen liittyvän opetustilanneajattelun yleistämiseksi tai mallintamiseksi tarvitaan lisää alan kuvailevaa tutkimusta ja kuvauksia erilaisista arkipäivän opetustapahtumista ja esimerkiksi eri-ikäisten opettamisesta. Tutkimuksen jatkohaasteena nähdään yleisestikin opettajan tiedon narratiivisen luonteen tutkiminen. Miten opettajat käyttävät kertomista opetuksessaan, esimerkiksi millaisiin tarinoihin opetettavat asiat kerrotaan?

The teaching of abstract concepts requires higher cognitive thinking skills and thus presents a challenge for most subjects in the curriculum, in particular, science subjects. Teachers often complain that they struggle to develop higher cognitive skills in learners in such topics. As a result, learners fail to understand science concepts and then complain that science is boring and hence lose interest in the subject. The main reason for this study was to investigate how Grade 7 Natural Science teachers mediate the learning of abstract topics, in particular, atoms and molecules which are regarded as the building blocks in chemistry. This study further sought to develop a teaching unit of work on atoms, molecules and the Periodic Table in partnership with the participating teachers, in order to help improve teaching and learning of the topic. The study is located within an interpretive paradigm. Within this paradigm, a qualitative case study approach was adopted whereby two Grade 7 Natural Science teachers in the Khomas Region were the research participants. This approach enabled me to seek for answers beyond the obvious classroom experiences by using document analysis, semi-structured interviews and classroom observation (which were video-taped and transcribed). The theoretical frameworks underpinning this study focused on mediation of learning and social constructivism as expounded by Vygotsky, in conjunction with Shulman’s pedagogical content knowledge. Hence, emphasis was placed on the teaching strategies used by teachers, such as elicitation of prior knowledge during the lessons, language used, interaction of learners and ways how teachers deal with the challenges faced by them in the mediation of learning. An inductive analysis to discover patterns and themes was applied during the data analysis process. The themes were further turned into analytical statements to interpret the data. The validation process was achieved by using a variety of data gathering techniques. I watched the videotaped lessons with the observed teachers and I made use of member checking in the form of stimulated recall interviews and transcripts of the interviews. Thus, a summary of discussions were given back to the respondents to verify their responses and check for any misinterpretations. Different chapters of my study were given to colleagues to read through as a means of the validation process. Herein lies the importance of a critical friend in qualitative research. The findings of the study revealed that concepts of high cognitive demand should not be oversimplified when introduced to learners, as learners might find it difficult to define and conceptualise concepts as they do not have proper insights into the concepts. The findings further illuminated that teachers should develop a strong subject content knowledge as well as pedagogical content knowledge to have the best strategies in place to mediate learning of this topic. The study concludes, with Phase 2, that the exposure of and cooperation between teachers plays an indispensable role in their professional development. Essentially, this enables teachers to make use of different teaching styles as they scaffold learners in the process of making sense of, in particular, abstract science concepts. Finally, this study recommends that teachers need to engage in on-going professional development opportunities and be equipped with suitable learning support and other necessary physical resources, as a way of motivation and to be in a position to deal with all the many challenges they have to face during the mediation of learning.

This study was carried out to investigate how Grade 10 Life Science teachers in three schools in the Omusati region of Namibia are including Environmental Learning (EL) in terms of the curriculum policy. A qualitative approach was used to generate data through document analysis, interviews and classroom observations to investigate the application of the policy of including environmental learning in classroom curriculum practice. The research was primarily directed towards examining constraints and enabling factors in the context of the three schools that participated in the study. The study revealed that teaching strategies for the inclusion of environmental learning were not widely evident, suggesting disparities between the policy of enabling environmental education through the inclusion of environmental learning across the curriculum. It was notable that teacher knowledge and interest in environmental education influence how they include environmental learning and that assessment practices narrow the scope of environmental learning in ways that do not include critical thinking and problem solving skills. The study concludes that despite diverse constraints inhibiting inclusion, the evidence suggests that the inclusion of environmental learning in Namibia’s Life Science curriculum can enable environmental education. The above main findings are used to make recommendations toward strengthening environmental content knowledge of teachers and to improve assessment practices. It was also noted that some of the environmental learning constraints could be transformed into enablers with more teacher support and by making a better link between environmental learning theories and practices. This will involve a redirection of the curriculum documents as well as the provision of other learning support materials to support environmental learning. The study has enabled me to conclude that what is happening should be encouraged so that it continues and is strengthened although the implementation of environmental learning is not as clear as the policy had mapped out.

This study aimed to investigate how Grade 11 Biology teachers mediate learning through code-switching from English to Oshiwambo. It was triggered by my experience as a teacher when I came to observe that the majority of teachers still use the home language during their lessons though the language policy for schools in Namibia clearly states that English should be used as a medium of instruction from Grade Four onwards. The research was carried out at Happy Secondary School (pseudonym), a rural government school in Omusati Region, Namibia. It was a qualitative case study underpinned by an interpretive paradigm. The unit of analysis was the mediation of learning through codeswitching from English to Oshiwambo. Document analysis, questionnaires, interviews (semistructured, focus group, stimulated recall interviews) and lesson observations were used as data gathering techniques, to ensure adequate coverage, validity and trustworthiness of the data gathered. The study adopted Vygotsky’s social constructivism and the socio-cultural perspective in conjunction with Shulman’s Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) as the theoretical frameworks. The data analysis process entailed organising data into themes from which four analytical statements were then derived in relation to the research questions. The study found that both Biology teachers and learners view code-switching as a useful tool in making learners understand the biological concepts. The study revealed that Biology teachers code-switch from English to Oshiwambo to make learners understand better, increase participation, explain concepts, elaborate, for disciplinary purposes, when giving examples of everyday knowledge events and when asking questions. The study also revealed that learners code-switch mainly for good communication, easier self-expression, due to loss of words, when unprepared to explain concepts and due to fear of making mistakes. It emerged, however, that both teachers and learners experience some challenges when codeswitching from English to Oshiwambo is used to mediate learning in Biology lessons. These include time constraints, lack of biological terms in Oshiwambo, different Oshiwambo dialects and the language policy. In addition, learners also lose the opportunity to learn English and find it difficult to answer questions in the examinations. The study revealed that Biology teachers and learners try to overcome these challenges by good lesson preparation, mini-teaching, using English/Oshindonga dictionaries or simply by adhering to the language policy.

Stoichiometry is proven to be one of the difficult topics for learners in the NSSC Physical Science syllabus due to its abstract nature. Over the years the Examiner’s reports reveal that learners' performance is very poor in this topic. In addition, learners fear the topic and have developed a negative attitude toward it. It is against this background that I decided to carry out a qualitative case study; investigating how teachers mediate the learning of stoichiometry. The study was conducted at two schools in the Oshikoto Region, Namibia and it involved two grade 11 Physical Science teachers. The study is located within the interpretive paradigm and made use of interviews, document analysis and lesson observations (which were video-taped and transcribed) followed by stimulated recall interviews to generate data. The generated data were analyzed using the inductive approach whereby themes were identified. The themes were later used to develop analytical statements in relation to my research questions and these were used to interpret the data. Moreover, the study adopted the notion of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) proposed by Shulman (1986, 1987) as well as Vygotsky's (1978) mediation of learning and social constructivism as the theoretical frameworks. The data were validated by triangulation, member checking as well as using the stimulated recall interviews while watching the videos with each participant. The findings of the study show that teachers use several tools to mediate the learning process and this includes the use of language, learners' prior knowledge and analogies. In addition, it emerged in this study that teachers are faced with a number of challenges when mediating learning of this topic. Hence, the study recommends that teachers should develop their pedagogical content knowledge for them to effectively eliminate the challenges faced as well as to come up with the best teaching strategies which they can use to mediate learning and help learners make sense of the topic stoichiometry.