Search results for: Science teachers

In Malta, most science teachers are likely to have a teaching degree level qualification in one science subject. When teaching science in the first two years of secondary school they will be teaching outside their area of science specialism, that is teaching a subject/s that was not studied at degree or Advanced level. A study was conducted to investigate how a group of science teachers, who are non-chemistry specialists, could be supported to teach chemistry topics by participating in a year-long professional development programme. Data were gathered through individual and focus group interviews. This paper focuses on the teachers’ views of this programme and how it affected their views of teaching chemistry. After conducting experiments, discussing and planning lessons within a community of learners teachers felt better prepared to teach chemistry. This enabled them to change their views and expand their identity as a science teacher.

The functions of teacher leaders and teacher educators, what they do, are critical in teacher education. This article presents the seemingly unexamined concept that some teacher leaders’ practice includes a teacher educator dimension. Evidence that supports this claim is provided by exploring the interrelationship between teacher leader and teacher educator functions using a focused analysis of the literature and findings from qualitative research. This research investigated the impact of a professional development programme for primary science leaders. Data were collected from strategic-level informants, programme mentors and science leaders using interviews, questionnaires and a focus group. The findings are analysed to provide a critical overview of the participants’ views of the requirements for successful leadership and development of primary science and to illustrate how educator and leader functions are intertwined in science leaders’ activities. The article considers the implications of recognising the educator dimension of some teacher leaders’ practice and asserts that these implications extend beyond the primary science context of the research. Acknowledging the contribution made by ‘unrecognised’ teacher educators and enabling them to contribute to and gain from the professional knowledge of the teacher educator community has significant potential to enrich practice in teacher education internationally, nationally and locally.

Teacher attrition rates are high in urban schools, particularly for new science teachers. Little research has addressed how science teachers can be prepared to effectively bridge the divide between preparation and urban teaching. The authors utilized the theoretical frameworks of social justice, identity, and structure‐agency to investigate this transition. Specifically, they examined the Urban Science Teacher Preparation (USTP) program as a critical case of “well‐prepared” urban science teachers. Study participants included one cohort of four teachers. Data, primarily from individual interviews, a focus group, and written reflections, were collected from participants during pre‐service preparation and their first year of teaching. The USTP program nurtured the development of a professional identity aligned with teaching science for social justice, with a unique emphasis on identifying structural injustices in schools. Findings indicate all four teachers used their identities to negotiate school policies and procedures that restricted student opportunities to learn science through three processes: deconstructing the context, positioning themselves within and against the context, and enacting their identities. These findings suggest the importance of USTP programs to provide teacher candidates with political clarity for teaching for social justice and sustained induction support to resist school socialization pressures.

This study aimed to understand how a journal club, which is used in the science and medical fields to connect theory to practice, could be used in teacher education to reduce the theory–practice gap. The authors argue that the journal club incorporated the three characteristics of a community of practice: learning, meaning, and identity. As the participants presented, discussed, and tied the articles they chose to their practice, their initiative to make the journal club a site for learning grew (enterprise), they grew to respect and trust one another (mutuality), and they became more aware of how participation in the journal club helped them to improve their practice (repertoire).