Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-05T10:42:35.929Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Tomato Pip's Story: Creative Narratives as Bridging Cultural and Science Discourses for Indigenous Students

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 July 2017

Lorrin Ruihi Shortland  and
Terry Locke Open the ORCID record for Terry Locke [Opens in a new window]
Lorrin Ruihi Shortland
Affiliation:
Department of Science, Western Springs College, Auckland 1022, New Zealand
Terry Locke*
Affiliation:
Arts and Language Education, University of Waikato, Hamilton 3216, New Zealand
*
address for correspondence: Terry Locke, Arts and Language Education, University of Waikato, Hamilton 3216, New Zealand. Email: [email protected]
Get access

Abstract

This article reports on what happened when a Rumaki pūtaiao kaiako (Science) teacher at a New Zealand high school trialled the use of creative narratives with her Year-10 students as a way of developing their understanding of the human digestive system. These students were members of the school's Māori immersion unit, and creative narratives were in part utilised as a bridge between science discourse and the cultural knowledges these students brought to their learning. In this case study, students developed ‘Tomato Pip’ narratives through four versions, which told the story of a tomato pip travelling through the human digestive system. Word-count data based on these versions and from a summative test were analysed and correlations found between test scores and three categories of word-count total (total words, total science words and total discrete science words). A discourse analysis of one student's narratives identified two distinct voices in these texts: the personal narrator and the emerging biologist. Questionnaire and focus-group data indicated that the use of creative narratives was both motivational to these students and effective as a bridge into science discourse mastery. It is argued that the findings have implications for disciplinary literacy theory, Indigenous education and science instruction.

Keywords

Science writingcreative narrativeteachers as writersIndigenous education
Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 47 , Issue 2 , December 2018 , pp. 171 - 184
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s) 2017 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Bakhtin, M. (1981). Discourse in the novel. In Bakhtin, M., Holquist, M., Emerson, C., & Holquist, M. (Eds.), The dialogic imagination: Four essays (pp. 269–422). Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.Google Scholar
Bereiter, C., & Scardamalia, M. (1987). The psychology of written composition. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.Google Scholar
Bernstein, B. (2000). Pedagogy, symbolic control and identity: Theory, research, critique (Revised ed.). Lanham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.Google Scholar
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101.Google Scholar
Cavagnetto, A., Hand, B., & Norton-Meier, L. (2010). The nature of elementary student science discourse in the context of the science writing heuristic approach. International Journal of Science Education, 32 (4), 427–449.Google Scholar
Clopton, J. (2011). Narrative accounts of research for teaching the processes of science. The American Biology Teacher, 73 (1), 8–14.Google Scholar
Cohen, L., Manion, L., & Morrison, K. (2000). Research methods in education (5th ed.). London, UK: RoutledgeFalmer.Google Scholar
Dirnberger, J., McCullagh, S., & Howick, T. (2005). Writing & Drawing in the naturalist's journal: Reviving the tradition of the naturalist's journal as an effective learning tool. The Science Teacher, 72 (1), 38–42.Google Scholar
Elbow, P. (2000). Everyone can write: essays toward a hopeful theory of writing and teaching writing. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Galbraith, D. (2009) Writing as discovery. In Connelly, V., Barnett, A., Dockrell, J., & Tolmie, A. (Eds.), Teaching and learning writing (pp. 5–26). Leicester, UK: British Psychological Society (British Journal of Educational Psychology Monograph Series II, 6).Google Scholar
Gee, J. (1996). Social linguistics and literacies: Ideology in discourses (2nd ed). London: Taylor & Francis Ltd.Google Scholar
Grimberg, B., & Hand, B. (2009). Cognitive pathways: Analysis of students’ written texts for science understanding. International Journal of Science Education, 31 (4), 503–521.Google Scholar
Hanrahan, M. (1999). Rethinking science literacy: Enhancing communication and participation in school science through affirmational dialogue journal writing. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 36 (6), 699–717.Google Scholar
Heigham, J., & Croker, R. (Eds.) (2009). Qualitative research in applied linguistics. Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Hoogeveen, M., & van Gelderen, A. (2013). What works in writing with peer response? A review of intervention studies with children and adolescents. Educational Psychology Review, 25 (4), 473–502.Google Scholar
Ivankova, N., & Cresswell, J. (2009). Mixed methods. In Heigham, J. & Croker, R. (Eds.), Qualitative research in applied linguistics (pp. 135–161). Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Killingbeck, K. (2006). Field botany and creative writing: Where the science of writing meets the writing of science. Journal of College Science Teaching, 35 (6), 26–28.Google Scholar
Locke, T. (2004). Critical discourse analysis. London, UK: Continuum.Google Scholar
Locke, T. (2015a). Developing writing teachers: Practical ways for teacher-writers to transform their classroom practice. New York, NY: Routledge.Google Scholar
Locke, T. (2015b). The impact of intensive Writing Workshop professional development on a cross-curricular group of secondary teachers. New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 50 (1), 137–151.Google Scholar
Locke, T., & Hawthorne, S. (2016). Affecting a high school culture of writing: Issues and dilemmas in participatory action research. In Rowell, L., Bruce, C., Shosh, J., & Riel, M. (Eds.), The Palgrave international handbook of action research (pp. 527–544). New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Locke, T., & Johnston, M. (2016). Developing an individual and collective self-efficacy scale for the teaching of writing in high schools. Assessing Writing, 28, 1–14.Google Scholar
Lytle, S., & Cochran-Smith, M. (1992). Teacher research as a way of knowing. Harvard Educational Review, 62 (4), 447–474.Google Scholar
Martin, B., & Brouwer, W. (1991). The sharing of personal science and the narrative element in science education. Science Education, 75 (6), 707–722.Google Scholar
McKinley, E., & Keegan, P.J. (2008). Curriculum and language in Aotearoa New Zealand: From science to pūtaiao. L1 –Educational Studies in Language and Literature, 8 (1), 135–147.Google Scholar
Menter, I., Elliot, D., Hulme, M., Lewin, J., & Lowden, K. (2011). A guide to practitioner research in education. London, UK: Sage.Google Scholar
Miele, E. (2010). A case for narrative writing in science courses. Journal of College Science Teaching, 40 (2), 10–11.Google Scholar
Ministry of Education (2014). Māori language in education. In Education counts: Statistics. Wellington, NZ: Author. Retrieved September 15, 2016, from http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/statistics/maori_education/schooling/6040.Google Scholar
Ministry of Education (2013). Ka Hikitia – Accelerating Success 2013–2017. Ministry of Education, Wellington. Retrieved June 9, 2017, from https://education.govt.nz/assets/Documents/Ministry/Strategies-and-policies/Ka-Hikitia/KaHikitiaAcceleratingSuccessEnglish.pdf.Google Scholar
Moll, L., Amanti, C., Neff, C., & Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classroom. Theory into Practice, 31 (2), 125–141.Google Scholar
Morgan, D.L. (1997). Focus groups as qualitative research (2nd ed.). London, UK: Sage.Google Scholar
Norton-Meier, L., Tippett, C., Hand, B., & Yore, L. (2010). Professional development in teaching disciplinary writing in the context of international science reform efforts. In Troia, G., Shankland, R. & Heintz, A. (Eds.), Putting writing research into practice: Applications for teacher professional development (pp. 115–153). New York, NY: The Guilford Press.Google Scholar
Nuthall, G. (2007). The hidden lives of learners. Wellington, New Zealand: NZCER.Google Scholar
Pagnucci, G., & Abt-Perkins, D. (1992). The never-making-sense story: Reassessing the value of narrative. English Journal, 81 (8), 54–58.Google Scholar
Paltridge, B. (2000). Making sense of discourse analysis. Brisbane, QLD: Antipodean Educational Enterprises.Google Scholar
Seraphin, K. (2014). Where are you from? Writing towards science literacy by connecting culture, person, and place. Journal of Geoscience Education, 62 (1), 11–18.Google Scholar
Sullivan, A.M. (2000). Notes from a marine biologist's daughter: On the art and science of attention. Harvard Educational Review, 70 (2), 211–227.Google Scholar
Turkan, S., De Oliveira, L., Lee, O., & Phelps, G. (2014). Proposing a knowledge base for teaching academic content to English language learners: Disciplinary linguistic knowledge. Teachers College Record, 116 (4), 1–30.Google Scholar
Yin, R. (2009). Case study research: Design and methods (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Young, M., & Muller, J. (2010). Three educational scenarios for the future: Lessons from the sociology of knowledge. European Journal of Education, 45 (1), 11–27.Google Scholar
Supplementary material: File

Shortland and Locke supplementary material

Shortland and Locke supplementary material 1

Download Shortland and Locke supplementary material(File)
File 134.8 KB
Supplementary material: File

Shortland and Locke supplementary material

Shortland and Locke supplementary material 2

Download Shortland and Locke supplementary material(File)
File 52.5 KB
Supplementary material: File

Shortland and Locke supplementary material

Table S1

Download Shortland and Locke supplementary material(File)
File 74.8 KB
Supplementary material: File

Shortland and Locke supplementary material

Table S2

Download Shortland and Locke supplementary material(File)
File 63.6 KB
Supplementary material: File

Shortland and Locke supplementary material

Table S3

Download Shortland and Locke supplementary material(File)
File 59.2 KB