Abstract

In many parts of the world, schools serving students from disadvantaged backgrounds are the norm rather than the exception. In science education, research has shown that within these schools, science is taught as a body of simple facts and that inquiry-based teaching methods are practically absent, despite being endorsed by national and local curricula. We analyzed the case of “Escuelas del Bicentenario” (Bicentennial Schools), a School Improvement Program that has been held since 2007 in 151 primary schools in unprivileged areas of 6 provinces of Argentina. This professional development program is composed of a team of 30 science facilitators who work with about 1800 class teachers every fortnight in their own schools with the goal of improving their science instruction. We conducted an open survey to examine facilitators’ perceptions of the efficacy of different professional development practices in having teachers incorporate inquiry-based science teaching methods in their classrooms. An overwhelming majority of science facilitators identified the same strategy as the most effective, namely modeling inquiry-based lessons in the actual classroom, with teachers very own students. We found the value of this practice, chosen by over 90% survey responders, to be related to the possibility of building teachers trust and understanding. First, when teachers see successful inquiry-based lessons developed with their very own students, they begin to have trust not only in facilitators as skilled professionals, but also in the value of this teaching method as a way to develop student understanding and class participation. It also helps teachers trust their students learning capabilities. Second, it helps teachers to understand the nuances of implementing inquiry-based curriculum by themselves in the future, including how to handle student questions, a challenge that most facilitators reported as one of the biggest fear for teachers in adopting inquiry-based methods.