RIS ID

3391

Publication Details

Kervin, L. K., Cambourne, B., Ferry, B., Turbill, J. B., Hedberg, J. & Jonassen, D. (2005). From classroom reality to virtual classroom: the role of teacher-created scripts in the development of classroom simulation technology. Proceedings of the 2004 Australian Association for Research in Education Conference (pp. 84-92). Melbourne, Australia: Australian Association for Research in Education.

Abstract

This paper describes a specific kind of teacher narrative (the teacher created script) to support the design of a classroom simulation to be used in pre-service teacher education. We intend to share our experiences in exploring and developing the kind of narrative text which can be developed from a large reservoir of ethnographically generated data collected from the teachers and classrooms we have closely observed and documented over the last two decades. In particular, we explore the role which these narratives play within the development of the kind of classroom simulation we have produced.

Reflection has long been acknowledged as a useful process for teachers to engage with. Also, the notion of formalising such reflections through writing has been acknowledged as a way to share, refine and articulate teaching practice. As stated by Barth (2001:66) “…with written words come the innermost secrets of schools”.

This prototype simulation allows the user to adopt the role of a Kindergarten teacher using a daily literacy teaching episode we refer to as “days of the week” and encourages the user to reflect upon the decisions they make about the organisation and implementation of this recurring teaching experience. The range of options that occur in this simulation stem from the teacher-created script we developed drawing from our own teaching experiences and classroom-based research to shape this virtual classroom.

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