Research potentially can assist in the process of implementing the National Science Education Standards. Existing research shows that changes called for in the Standards are difficult to put into practice, create dilemmas for teachers, require significant changes in teachers' values and beliefs, are fostered when change is pursued within departments within schools, are influenced powerfully by teacher collaboration in the work context, are often resisted strongly by parents, and often demand new student roles and different student work. The results of research on reform do not give a definitive picture of the most productive roles for students, the nature of the desired student work, how teachers can best be engaged in reassessing values and beliefs and taking responsibility for acquiring new professional competencies, how to realize “science for all,” and the most effective ways of involving parents. Research is needed which will: (1) be approached from multiple perspectives, (2) be conducted in the “real world,” (3) focus on interventions into conventional school practice, (4) not assume change can be driven from the top down, (5) be interpretive in nature, (6) focus on student roles and student work, (7) give major attention to teacher learning, (8) attend to parents' concerns, and (9) be approached systemically. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 38: 3–16, 2001

This article explores the relationship between subject matter and secondary science teacher identity, or sense of self. Based on the recent literature on identity and responses of five secondary science teachers in in-depth interviews, I develop a multidimensional model of identity and discuss the role of subject matter in the teachers' descriptions of who they are as people and professionals. I offer implications of this relationship for science education reform and teacher education.

In this article, we argue that insights from scholarship in the sociology of science can provide a powerful basis for making science education more authentic and inclusive. Drawing on recent work in the sociology of science, we describe how adopting sociological ideas as integral components of science curricula and instruction can provide opportunities for students that a traditional approach cannot. We focus on three insights from sociology-social networking, peer review, and skepticism-to demonstrate how sociological understandings can inform and improve the content, structure, and pedagogy of science classrooms. We argue that shifts in the balance of power and authority that result from explicit attention to these aspects of the nature of science offer a more authentic science education for all.

In this article, we argue that insights from scholarship in the sociology of science can provide a powerful basis for making science education more authentic and inclusive. Drawing on recent work in the sociology of science, we describe how adopting sociological ideas as integral components of science curricula and instruction can provide opportunities for students that a traditional approach cannot. We focus on three insights from sociology-social networking, peer review, and skepticism-to demonstrate how sociological understandings can inform and improve the content, structure, and pedagogy of science classrooms. We argue that shifts in the balance of power and authority that result from explicit attention to these aspects of the nature of science offer a more authentic science education for all.