Context and Power Image of puppets removed for

Context and Power: Image of puppets removed for copyright reasons The Subject Conceptions and Practice of Preservice Geography Teachers in Singapore Tricia Seow GTE Conference 2008

Subject Conceptions Research • Implications for teacher practice • Importance for teacher education BUT • Influences on formation of subject conceptions varied and complex • Practice may not always match conceptions

The Significance of Context • Context affects pre-service teachers’ practice • Context goes beyond the classroom Includes • National education structures and policies • Geography’s social and developmental context • School, departmental contexts

Context and Power • Context is embedded in power relationships which frame the parameters within which we perceive the world and constrain our actions within it • Foucault’s “Discourse”

Context and Power Image of puppets removed for copyright reasons • Pre-service teachers are enmeshed within the power structures of context(s) ÞEffect on subject conceptions? ÞEffect on practice?

Contexts: An Analysis School Geography Context Academic Geography Context Curriculum offered; Type of teaching exposed to Curriculum offered; Modules taken; Type of teaching exposed to Pre-Service Teacher National Education Context National education policies; Pay and promotion structures; Competitiveness and stratification of schools Subject conceptions School Context School culture and mission; Relationships: staff, students, parents, community Personal Context Personal background; Interests; Travel… Prior to teacher education course Classroom Practice Subject Context Subject curriculum; Assessment formats; Dominant paradigms in subject During school placement

The Singapore Context • Highly centralised and uniform • Prescribed national Geog syllabus: topics, skills and values, teaching strategies and resources, assessment format, objectives, weightages, time frame • One university, one teacher education college, one employer =>implications for the subject conceptions of Singapore pre-service Geography teachers => implications for their practice

The Singapore Context • Stratified • Streaming and differentiation at every level from primary school through to university • More innovation in curriculum and teaching context for elite students =>implications for the subject conceptions of Singapore pre-service Geography teachers => implications for their practice

The Singapore Context • • Competitive Annual rankings and intense rivalry Teachers’ ranking and bonuses ‘Drilling’ to perform well in exams =>implications for the subject conceptions of Singapore pre-service Geography teachers => implications for their practice

Embodied Agents The body matters! Teachers have bodies! … so what?

Embodied Teachers Trained in the philosophical context of western metaphysical dualism, many of us have accepted the notion that there is a split between the body and the mind. Believing this, individuals enter the classroom to teach as though only the mind is present, and not the body (bell hooks, 1994: 17). • Teachers’ bodies affect the way in which they perceive, are perceived and relate to the world. => What is the effect of pre-service teachers’ embodiment, and societal regulation of their bodies, on their conceptions of Geography, and on their practice?

Contexts and Embodiment Personal Context School Geography Context Curriculum offered; Type of teaching exposed to EMBODIED Pre-Service Teacher National Education Context National education policies; Pay and promotion structures; Competitiveness and stratification of schools Academic Geography Context Personal background; Interests; Travel Curriculum offered; Modules taken; Type of teaching exposed to Embodied characteristics Subject conceptions Classroom Practice School Context Subject Context School culture and mission; Relationships: staff, students, Parents, community Subject curriculum; Assessment formats; Dominant paradigms in subject Embodied Context Regulation of own body, bodily actions Prior to teacher education course During school placement

Hmmm… • What is the role of the teachers’ body in the teaching and learning of Geography? • Is there a stronger link between Geography and the body, than other subjects?