Science teachers’ perception and implementation of inquiry-based reform initiatives in relation to their beliefs and professional identity

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to understand how early career science teachers perceive and interpret the calls for inquiry-based instruction (as suggested by National Science Education Standards) in relation to their emerging professional identity and beliefs. Further, this study explored how the school and classroom contexts influenced teachers' implementation of the reform-based teaching practices. Using semi-structured interviews with twelve early career science teachers, this study revealed that teachers often showed limited understanding about inquiry-based instruction, such as hands-on lab activities, and devoted small amount of time for implementing inquiry teaching. However, interestingly, their beliefs about teaching science were aligned with the assumptions of inquiry-based instruction. The lack of inconsistency between beliefs and practices seem to result from the influence of contextual factors. School and classroom environments that limit teachers' agency and sense of power lead teachers to experience unpleasant emotions, which may eventually threaten their identity as a teacher. This paper ends with implications for school administrators and policy makers.

Development Assistance of Integrated Science Instructional Material by Integrating Real World Context and Scientific Literacy on Science Teachers

“…Literasi saintifik didefinisikan sebagai suatu pengetahuan ilmiah individu dan menggunakan pengetahuan tersebut untuk mengidentifikasi per tanyaan, untuk memperoleh pengetahuan baru, untuk menjelaskan fenomena ilmiah, dan untuk melukiskan kesimpulan didasarkan pada bukti [16]. Pengertian lain literasi saintifik adalah pengetahuan dan penguasaan dari konsep dan proses saintifik yang diperlukan untuk meng ambil keputusan personal, partisipasi dalam urusan kewarganegaraan dan budaya, dan produk tivitas ekonomi [17]. Literasi saintifik menghu bungkan pada kemampuan untuk berpikir secara ilmiah dan menggunakan pengetahuan dan proses ilmiah untuk memahami dunia sekitar kita dan untuk berpartisipasi dalam keputusan yang mempengaruhinya.…”

Improvisation in teaching physics concepts: Teachers’ experiences and perceptions

“…While the technical factors relate to the question of degree of accuracy and precision that is possible with the improvised equipment, the human factor relates to the teachers' skill in developing the resources while providing the appropriate learning experience to the learners. The role of the human factors can be associated with the observation that the perceptions of teachers teaching physics raise students' performance (Adedayo, 2010;Adeyemo, 2011;Chinyere, 2014;Hong & Vargas, 2016). But Omotayo (2009) and Nwagbo (1995) reported lack of adequate professional training as a major problem militating against the effective use of local resources for Science teaching.…”

Preservice educators’ perceptions of manipulatives: The moderating role of mathematics teaching self‐efficacy

“…Understanding how teacher beliefs can influence instructional decisions has been the motivation of many studies in education (Ernest, ; Hong & Vargas, ; Kagan, ; Pajares, ). Theoretical models (see Ernest, ) suggest that decisions about instruction stem from teacher knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about instruction.…”