Observing and interpreting quality in social science teaching

• Quality in social science teaching • Social science subject didactics • Social science teaching methodologies • Form, content, and goal (intended function) of social science teaching • Tool for observing and interpreting quality in social science teaching Purpose: The purpose of the articl...

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Main Author: Christensen
Format: Article
Language:deu
Published: Bielefeld University 2022-06-01
Series:Journal of Social Science Education
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.jsse.org/index.php/jsse/article/view/4147
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author Christensen
author_facet Christensen
author_sort Christensen
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description • Quality in social science teaching • Social science subject didactics • Social science teaching methodologies • Form, content, and goal (intended function) of social science teaching • Tool for observing and interpreting quality in social science teaching Purpose: The purpose of the article is to contribute to a discussion about quality for social science teaching and in continuation hereof to develop a tool for social science classroom observation and interpretation, for both direct and video-based observation. Design/methodology/approach: Classroom teaching is communication. Therefore, it is crucial that an analysis of quality of social science teaching includes a focus on communicative quality. The theoretical basis of the article is therefore threefold. 1) A Bakhtin-inspired communicative approach, 2) sociocultural ethnographic classroom research and 3) social science didactics / social science teaching discourse. Discourse is not only understood as language, but as language in context, which means that it’s not only communication as spoken words, utterances, but also communication as actions (doings) that count as disciplinary work. Findings: It is concluded that communicative quality in social science teaching, and perhaps in teaching in general, can be observed as utterances in the classroom analysed for their coherence between form, content, and goal (intended function), which accordingly are the basic elements of an observation tool developed. When utterances are recurring and thus form patterns, they are called practices. The tool aims to keep focus on form, content, and goal (intended function) of the basic subject discourse, which functions as an underlying structuring of classroom communication. It is also concluded that the normative basis for social science teaching can be operationalized and thus serve as a guidance of interpretations of observations made in the classroom of the form and content of teaching. Research limitations/implications. The tool is designed to focus specifically on social science quality. It is not a suggestion to disregard generic conditions in the teaching, and therefore the use of the tool presupposes that this is done in connection with a generic observational focus. The tool has not been tested on a large scale, and therefore it must be expected that it will have to be further developed during use.
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spelling doaj.art-27ef5ddce64c4237936bcaa2ac1ebbf52022-12-22T02:28:28ZdeuBielefeld UniversityJournal of Social Science Education1618-52932022-06-0121210.11576/jsse-4147Observing and interpreting quality in social science teachingChristensen0Syddansk university, Odense • Quality in social science teaching • Social science subject didactics • Social science teaching methodologies • Form, content, and goal (intended function) of social science teaching • Tool for observing and interpreting quality in social science teaching Purpose: The purpose of the article is to contribute to a discussion about quality for social science teaching and in continuation hereof to develop a tool for social science classroom observation and interpretation, for both direct and video-based observation. Design/methodology/approach: Classroom teaching is communication. Therefore, it is crucial that an analysis of quality of social science teaching includes a focus on communicative quality. The theoretical basis of the article is therefore threefold. 1) A Bakhtin-inspired communicative approach, 2) sociocultural ethnographic classroom research and 3) social science didactics / social science teaching discourse. Discourse is not only understood as language, but as language in context, which means that it’s not only communication as spoken words, utterances, but also communication as actions (doings) that count as disciplinary work. Findings: It is concluded that communicative quality in social science teaching, and perhaps in teaching in general, can be observed as utterances in the classroom analysed for their coherence between form, content, and goal (intended function), which accordingly are the basic elements of an observation tool developed. When utterances are recurring and thus form patterns, they are called practices. The tool aims to keep focus on form, content, and goal (intended function) of the basic subject discourse, which functions as an underlying structuring of classroom communication. It is also concluded that the normative basis for social science teaching can be operationalized and thus serve as a guidance of interpretations of observations made in the classroom of the form and content of teaching. Research limitations/implications. The tool is designed to focus specifically on social science quality. It is not a suggestion to disregard generic conditions in the teaching, and therefore the use of the tool presupposes that this is done in connection with a generic observational focus. The tool has not been tested on a large scale, and therefore it must be expected that it will have to be further developed during use. https://www.jsse.org/index.php/jsse/article/view/4147social science subject didacticssocial science teaching methodologies quality of teachingclassroom observation
spellingShingle Christensen
Observing and interpreting quality in social science teaching
Journal of Social Science Education
social science subject didactics
social science teaching methodologies
quality of teaching
classroom observation
title Observing and interpreting quality in social science teaching
title_full Observing and interpreting quality in social science teaching
title_fullStr Observing and interpreting quality in social science teaching
title_full_unstemmed Observing and interpreting quality in social science teaching
title_short Observing and interpreting quality in social science teaching
title_sort observing and interpreting quality in social science teaching
topic social science subject didactics
social science teaching methodologies
quality of teaching
classroom observation
url https://www.jsse.org/index.php/jsse/article/view/4147
work_keys_str_mv AT christensen observingandinterpretingqualityinsocialscienceteaching