Literature Review
Teaching practices are influenced by teachers’ knowledge of academic content and strategies to teach this content with diverse student groups. Beyond factors residing with individual teachers, features of school organization, such as the interactions between school administrators and teachers, also influence teaching practices.
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Teachers’ Perceived Knowledge and Practices in Science Instruction with ELL Students
Teachers’ Knowledge of Science Content
It seems self-evident that teachers must know the subject matter they are required to teach (Kennedy 1998). Teachers should have deep and complex understandings of science concepts, be able to make connections among science concepts or topics, and be able to apply science concepts to explain natural phenomena or real-world situations. In addition, teachers should be able to engage in inquiry related to the practice of science, as they generate questions, design and carry out investigations, analyze and draw conclusions, and communicate findings using multiple formats (National Research Council 2000). Furthermore, teachers should be able to develop arguments and justify their ideas or solutions based on evidence (Lemke 1990). Teachers’ knowledge of subject matter is a particularly important issue in science education, as many science teachers have only limited preparation in the science disciplines. They often have the same misconceptions or alternative frameworks about science as do their students (Abd-El-Khalick et al. 1998; Smith and Neale 1989). Teachers who possess subject matter expertise and the ability to represent the subject matter to their students are more likely to engage in conceptually rich, inquiry-based activities that facilitate student learning, whereas teachers with weak subject matter knowledge are more likely to rely heavily on the textbook as the primary source of subject matter content (Carlsen 1991; Tobin and Fraser 1990). This is problematic for student learning, since science textbooks generally fail to address students’ misconceptions and teachers with weak science knowledge are unable to clarify students’ confusions (Donovan 1997).