ERIC Number: EJ1164265
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2017-Nov
Pages: 27
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0926-7220
EISSN: N/A
Caring Enough to Teach Science: Helping Pre-Service Teachers View Science Instruction as an Ethical Responsibility
Grinell, Smith; Rabin, Colette
Science & Education, v26 n7-9 p813-839 Nov 2017
The goal of this project was to motivate pre-service elementary teachers to commit to spending significant instructional time on science in their future classrooms despite their self-assessed lack of confidence about teaching science and other impediments (e.g., high-stakes testing practices that value other subjects over science). Pre-service teachers in science methods courses explored connections between science and ethics, specifically around issues of ecological sustainability, and grappled with their ethical responsibilities as teachers to provide science instruction. Survey responses, student "quick-writes," interview transcripts, and field notes were analyzed. Findings suggest that helping pre-service teachers see these connections may shape their beliefs and dispositions in ways that may motivate them to embark on the long road toward improving their science pedagogical content knowledge and ultimately to teach science to their students more often and better than they otherwise might. The approach may also offer a way for teachers to attend to the moral work of teaching.
Descriptors: Preservice Teachers, Science Instruction, Methods Courses, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, Self Efficacy, Sustainability, Ethics, Student Surveys, Student Attitudes, Elementary School Teachers, Interviews, Moral Values
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Research; Tests/Questionnaires
Education Level: Higher Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A