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Teacher Education Standards for Science Teachers
Field experiences that engage prospective teachers in science teaching have yielded some positive results (Abell, Bryan, & Andersen,1998). However, not all field experiences have successfully modified prospective teachers' thinking or practice (Lortie, 1975; McDiarmid, 1990). Several efforts have been made to perturb prospective teachers' beliefs through structured reflection so that alternative, more constructive models of teaching are likely to be implemented in today's classroom. Like Posner, Strike, Hewson, and Gertzog (1986), who outlined preconditions necessary for promoting accommodation and conceptual change for children, Osborne and Freyberg (1985) outlined preconditions necessary for confronting teachers' beliefs. These included the need for preservice teachers to understand children's views, to engage in self-clarification of their own views at an early stage in their training, to weigh the strengths and weaknesses of their personal views, and to consolidate evidence related to their views. Without such preconditions, many teachers find it difficult to accept beliefs and practices contrary to their own. If they believe that science is mostly factual or if they believe children are unable to think in complex ways about the world, they are likely to teach in response to those beliefs. As a result teachers may develop ways of devaluing or avoiding evidence about their students' science learning altogether.
More recent efforts to design educative field experiences have demonstrated that, when given the chance to confront their beliefs, prospective teachers develop a deeper understanding of teaching (Cochran-Smith, 1991; Hollingsworth, 1989). Teachers who have engaged in reflection are more adept at thinking critically about their own teaching as well as the teaching of others. Bryan and Abell (1999) demonstrated that teachers are able to develop a disposition of inquiry about their teaching and more closely align their teaching practices with their professed beliefs, though the researchers agreed with Munby and Russell (1992) that doing so is an arduous process.
Each of these researchers was focusing upon a definition of scientific literacy that incorporates an understanding of the nature of science, an ability to investigate the natural world, and an ability to use more traditional forms of literacy to learn about science, interpret data, and communicate scientific findings. This vision is embraced by current national reform rhetoric (AAAS, 1989, 1993; NRC, 1996). However, as teacher educators we are aware that many school districts have taken a dominant approach to developing narrow strategies based on specific skills, paying little attention to the integration of science content or cultural literacy into the prescribed curricula. It is these narrow approaches that we wish to prepare future elementary science teachers to face, for if they are unprepared in their college education and training, their efforts to implement inquiry-based science learning are likely to be drastically impeded.
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