Jennifer Mansfield
Jennifer is a Lecturer in primary and secondary science education at Monash University. Jennifer’s research focuses on teacher professional knowledge development, enhancing quality biology and science teaching and learning, with an emphasis on understanding science as a human endeavour. Jennifer has previously worked as a scientist and secondary school science teacher.
Subjects: Education
Biography
The major theme running across all of Jennifer’s research is the desire to better understand the nature of teachers’ professional knowledge development. Jennifer’s various lines of research all culminate in articulating the valuable yet tacit knowledge of practice held by pre-service and in-service educators alike as a way of promoting greater awareness of teaching as a complex and sophisticated business.Having worked as a research and clinical scientist in pre-implantation IVF genetics and secondary science education, Jennifer also has a passion for nurturing quality science education. She also engages in self-study research to ensure her professional knowledge of teaching is articulated and shared.
Areas of Research / Professional Expertise
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Jennifer’s current lines of research include:
• Ensuring quality teacher preparation in an increasingly complex and dynamic tertiary space (self-study research).
• Encouraging pre-service teacher critical thinking about the use and effectiveness of practical work in science
• Comparing the nature of education and biomedical students’ views about the nature of science. This cross-faculty research project also includes working with students as research partners.
• Primary Teachers’ Perceptions and Current Understanding of STEM Education: A Cross-Cultural Analysis between Australia and India
Personal Interests
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Jennifer enjoys reading about new scientific research and endeavours. She frequently 'tweets' science in the news and media as a way of making connections between science in the everyday and science in the school curricula. In particular, she uses the hashtag #SciHumE to highlight science as a human endeavour in the news.
Websites
Books
Articles
Pedagogical equilibrium as a lens for understanding teaching about teaching
Published: Oct 30, 2018 by Studying Teacher Education
Authors: Mansfield, J. and Loughran, J.
Subjects:
Education
Articulating the complexity of teachers’ professional knowledge development is complicated but highly desirable. Exploration of dilemmas, which interrupt teaching practice, offers the opportunity to view teachers’ professional knowledge in action as interruptions signal the limits of knowledge. Drawing on interruptions in practice that challenged my sense of pedagogical equilibrium offered the opportunity to frame and document learning productively.