Exploring teacher identities and emotions in the teaching of evolution in Grade 12 Life Sciences.

Abstract

Over the past eighteen years, the Department of Education (DoE) has implemented significant changes in the life sciences curriculum. The most recent change in 2008 included the study of evolution in life sciences, both human evolution and natural selection in the curriculum at grade 12 level. This accounts for forty-four percent of the weighting in Grade 12 life sciences paper 2, that is, sixty-six marks out of a total of one hundred and fifty. This research study therefore focused on the teaching of evolution in Grade 12 life sciences and specifically how teachers’ identities, namely on a personal and professional level influenced the teaching of evolution. In addition, it endeavoured to evaluate the extent to which teaching this topic is an emotional practice. In this context, personal identity refers to the character of a teacher that is located outside school and is associated with family and social roles, whilst the professional identity embraces the policy expectations of what an ideal teacher is, as well as their educational aspirations. This study adopted a qualitative approach, with an interpretative paradigm and a narrative research method. The conceptual frameworks of Day and Gu’s (2007) Dimensions of Teacher Identity and Hargreaves (2000) Emotions of Teaching and Educational Change were used to explore the link between teacher identities, their emotions and the impact on teaching evolution. Purposive sampling was used to invite six life sciences teachers in the uMgungundlovu district in Pietermaritzburg to participate in this study. Methods of data collection included semi-structured interviews, collages and reflective journals. The qualitative data that was collected was coded and analysed using thematic analysis. The key findings of this study indicated that in terms of teacher identities being compromised during the teaching of evolution, some teachers submitted that their identities on a professional level did not change because their beliefs and perspectives did not change. However, this study indicated that a teacher’s personal identity, is intricately linked to their professional identity, therefore this infers that the one merges into the other and this in turn directly or indirectly influences the teaching of evolution to learners. The data on teacher emotions revealed a descent into anxiety, frustration and indifference by some participants. They revealed that inadequate training on the topic of evolution, together with insufficient support from school management teams and the DoE made them feel anxious and frustrated. In addition, a lack of resources and financial constraints with the incessant pressure to perform and produce good results caused many teachers to feel challenged and apathetic in the classroom, which culminated in exhaustion and burn-out. The large number of learners in a class, language barriers and inadequate contact time with learners also contributed to their negative feelings towards teaching evolution. However, it was not only negative emotions that teachers felt, but also what I termed ‘a kaleidoscope of positive emotions’. Teachers at different stages of teaching evolution felt hope, rewarded, appreciation, fulfilment and excitement. This study has revealed that there is a strong link between teachers’ identities and their emotions. I used the expression ‘evolutionary partners’ to accentuate the long-lasting, intertwined relationship between these two elements. Recommendations include the need for teacher professional development and training in teaching evolution in Grade 12 life sciences; the provision of adequate resources; more time to be allocated to teaching evolution and allowances for on-site visits and excursions. The following problems and limitations were encountered during this study: participant teachers were not available for the scheduled interviews due to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, therefore interview questions were made available via email and responses collated and analysed thereafter. The limited number of participants were not representative of the population of Grade 12 life sciences teachers, therefore the findings of this study cannot be generalised, but can only be applied to other similar scenarios. This study aims to increase the awareness of the Department of Education, in providing much needed support to life sciences teachers, not only materially but in terms of their identities and emotional support too.