Publication details
Bridging Pedagogies: Developing Science Pedagogical Content Knowledge with CLIL Methodology
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| Year of publication | 2024 |
| Type | Appeared in Conference without Proceedings |
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| Description | The presentation describes main findings from a study exploring the effects of CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) methodology on student teachers´ pedagogical content knowledge of science subjects. The research was conducted in an English course for undergraduate and graduate teachers of science at a Czech university where they delved into the theory and practice of CLIL methodology, aiming to answer the question “(How) Can CLIL methodology improve instruction in my science subject?”. Following a series of microteaching sessions, the students gave their answers to the research question first in short essays and subsequently in group discussions. The results show that exposure to CLIL methodology has an impact on several levels. First, it helped the students notice and more actively engage with specific genres inherent in the science classroom practices, such as predicting experiment results, classifying phenomena, or describing processes. This newfound insight helps students understand how language intertwines with scientific content. Secondly, the application of a CLIL lens to one´s teaching facilitated the development of lesson planning skills, with a greater emphasis on language integration and scaffolding strategies essential to CLIL teaching. Finally, teaching science through a foreign language was described as a powerful motivational instrument, representing a journey beyond the linguistic and cultural boundaries of a typical science class. It challenges both students and teachers, introduces a new power dynamic, and so can help reset and rejuvenate one´s teaching and learning. The study underscores the potential of this integrated perspective in shaping pedagogical content knowledge as well as the knowledge of classsroom dynamics. Fostering such awareness through CLIL methodology seems to be a powerful tool for equipping student teachers to respond to the challenges of the evolving classroom. |