The development of the teacher's professionality: a Gowin's V as an inquiry-based resource

Abstract

Today's school needs change and innovation, where all students can be agents of transformation as part of the solution in a global world in crisis. It is important to promote critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, innovation, collaboration, and communication - the key skills for the 21st century. Therefore, these skills have assumed greater prominence in the international education discourse, with more and more countries striving to ensure that their education systems go beyond the cognitive domains. The need for an attitudinal change in educational practices based on teachers' professional development is superimposed on transmissive and memoiristic teaching. It is essential to rethink and reorient the initial and continuing education of science teachers, which encourages the development of professional pedagogical skills for the implementation of investigative practices that stimulate and promote student learning. The students learn best when they actively participate in the proposed activities, so teachers must know how to adapt and implement diversified strategies and resources to achieve this purpose. Inquiry-based teaching gives the student a leading role, placing him at the centre of the educational process. The teacher is responsible for creating situations that lead to student learning. Just like scientists who do their research work in the laboratory, students can also do scientific research in the classroom. In this sense, the practical work is highlighted as a relevant strategy for teaching and learning Geology, with reflection on the student's integral development. One of the goals of science education is to promote scientific and cultural habits that can be part of the student’s routine, develop their investigation skills and teach them to reason. Studies show the positive impact of experimental work in developing scientific skills necessary for science education. Gowin's V diagram, as a didactic resource, is a tool for planning, collecting data, and evaluating practical work, namely experimental work, which promotes scientific reasoning and meaningful learning in students. In the context of the Didactics of Geology II curricular unit of the Master’s in Biology and Geology Teaching, laboratory and experimental activities were developed with students and future middle and high school teachers. The educational intervention was based on promoting the development of collaborative work among peers and the active participation of students in the proposed activities in accordance with an inquiry-based methodology. It was meant to execute creative activities in line with a comprehensive understanding of the Earth system in order to comprehend the natural geological processes and phenomena that take place therein and to encourage a shift in the way science is taught. The proposed activity simulates the mechanical erosion process on the Earth's surface, showing the alteration of the natural materials it contains. According to Gowin's V-diagram, the students planned and created the activity, enabling them to learn about and comprehend how scientific knowledge is constructed. The diagram can also be served for the evaluation of knowledge.