Abstract:

To remedy the problems of science education in French-speaking minority communities in Canada, we propose an "experiential" approach for the training of future science teachers. In this approach, they are encouraged to explore their representations of teaching and learning science while living experiences lived in a minority environment, to reflect on these experiences by associating them with the formal concepts taught in university courses and initiate the internal transformation process of these representations. In this regard, our research aims to design and identify the conditions for implementing such experiential training, as well as to assess its impact on the development of science teaching skills, within the framework of a collaboration between a university teaching faculty and two French high schools.

The experiential approach had been implemented in two science education courses in a teacher education program taught at a Canadian university during the school year. The choice of the two schools where the activities took place was made on the basis of their proximity to the Faculty of Education, which enabled the volunteers to get there easily without affecting their studies. To assess the achievement of our research objectives, we used qualitative methods, based on a design research model. The research objectives for the design and study of the conditions for implementing a scientific training approach based on experiential training were treated using qualitative methods such as the journal of the researcher and of the participants, as well as semi-structured interviews. Regarding the qualitative data collected in this research, we follow the method developed by Miles, Huberman and Saldaña (2014) to classify the data in pre-established categories or create new categories.

Here we report the results of the third phase of a three-phase design research process. The initial design of the prototype was done in accordance with the guidelines already established by previous research (Trudel & Métioui, 2010) and on the basis of a review of the literature on the training of science teachers in a minority environment. With regard to implantation in local minority contexts, some key conclusions are reported here from the third phase. Finally, we conclude by stating the advantages and limits of our research.

Keywords:

Experiential approach, student teachers training, science teaching, design research, french-speaking minority school system, teaching representations.