Developing an Elementary School Teacher Training Program for Improving Argument Construction and Evaluation Skills

Abstract

Argument construction and evaluation skills are indispensable not only for young students, but also for the teachers who instruct them. A continuing issue is that in-service teachers lack sufficient skills in argument construction; however, in Japan, there is no program for training teachers in pedagogical strategies for constructing and evaluating arguments. The purpose of this study is to develop a training program for elementary school teachers that will improve these skills and to elucidate the effectiveness of the program. For this purpose, we constructed program activities built on previous overseas research studies, and integrated 12 pedagogical strategies that Yamamoto et al. (2013) administered for elementary children into the program. We applied these strategies to 23 in-service elementary school teachers. The program consists of 4 activities; it included 1) lectures on the definitions of the argument, 2) lectures and exercises related to the realities of children’s skills in arguments, 3) exercises aimed at providing an experiential understanding of the instruction and evaluation of arguments, and 4) an overview of argument construction conducted at an elementary school. The results of the research were based on an analysis of worksheets used in the program, the evaluation and construction of arguments (assessed pre- and post-program), and a survey questionnaire disseminated after the program. The results showed that teachers improved their argument construction skills with regard to the program’s content using claims, evidence, and reasoning. Within the construction and evaluation of arguments, significant improvement concerning evidence could particularly be seen. Moreover, teachers gave high marks to the program’s development of their understanding of the meaning, construction, and pedagogy of arguments, as well as the experiential exercises. Therefore, we can conclude that this program is effective for elementary school teachers who teach argument skills to improve their own argument construction and evaluation skills.