The eight case studies included in this volume were conducted during a major study of Canadian science education. The study was undertaken to establish a documented basis for describing the present purposes and general characteristics of science teaching in Canadian schools, to provide a historical analysis of science education in Canada, and to stimulate active deliberation concerning future options for science education in Canada. The case studies focused on how teachers approach the task of science teaching in elementary, junior, and senior high schools. Major issues addressed included integration and options as forms of curriculum organization, socialization, inquiry approach and understanding, and change. In addition to finding a complex web of interacting factors present in the way teachers approach their work, the studies show that, in practice, teachers are concerned with maintaining their credibility, exerting their influence, gaining access to scarce resources, coping with conflicts between outside expectations and the realities of the classroom, coping with a lack of skill to teach science as innovators imagine it should be taught, fulfilling the expectations of authorities, and resolving conflicts between students' interests and the demands of the subject. (JN)