Monday, August 10, 2015 at 10:00 a.m.
Neville Scarfe Library Block, Room 271
Title: Assessment with Mothers and Clinicians in the Assessment of Autism Spectrum Disorder
Supervisor: Jennifer Vadeboncoeur
Committee Member: Kimberly Schonert-Reichl
External Examiner: Kim Zebehazy
ABSTRACT
The current research used a Vygotskian approach to examine the perspectives of two novice teachers and two experienced science teachers on the relationship between theory and practice. Semi-structured interviews and artefact-mediated interviews were used to examine novice teachers’ and experienced science teachers’ definitions of theory, practice, and learning, as well as their experiences in teacher education, and their expectations for their future pedagogy. Thematic analysis was conducted to analyse and interpret the interviews and the artefacts produced. Examples of themes that emerged from the data, but are not limited to the findings were the novice teachers’ perspectives on theory as it related only to scientific disciplines, and effective teaching practices as it related to observing and modeling, as well as experience and doing. The research drew upon Vygotsky’s definition of everyday and academic concepts to better understand teacher education programs and the possibilities for rethinking the relationship between theory and practice in teacher education. Working toward the integration of everyday and academic concepts in teacher education (Vadeboncoeur, 1998) may enable the development of theory and practice as related academic concepts, thus, improving their internalization as psychological tools that facilitate learning and development in classroom contexts.