Exploring the Recontextualisation of Biotechnological Knowledge in the Plant Biotechnology Course: A Bernsteinian Analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore the recontextualisation of knowledge in a Plant biotechnology course. The goal of the analysis was to understand the structure of the pedagogic discourse which the biology education students were to experience during their training. The aim of any training is to prepare the students for their future profession. In this case the training is aimed at preparing the students for teaching biology in secondary schools in Zambia. Studies have indicated that, to effectively prepare the students to teach biology in secondary schools, the students need to experience a pedagogic practice characterized with both weak and strong framing and a weak classification between the discourses. The analysis will also inform the practitioners of the knowledge to be taught and how the knowledge is to be taught. The research question which guided the study was: How is knowledge recontextualised in a plant biotechnology course? Bernstein’s classification, framing, recognition and realization rules were used to analyze and interpret the findings in relation to the training of the teachers. Indicators were developed to guide the analysis. An inductive approach was used to analyse the document. Atlas ti 8 was used to analyse the document. The findings indicated that the document is strongly framed in the selection and evaluation criteria, weakly classified in the relations between discourses. There was no indication of sequencing, pacing and the hierarchical rules in the document. The findings indicate a weak recognition and realisation of the text.