A Practice-Based Theory of Teaching Analysis of Elementary Preservice Teachers’ Prior Knowledge of Science Instruction

Abstract

ABSTRACT Science teacher education literature has emphasized the importance of prospective teachers’ prior knowledge of their K-12 experiences as a key factor influencing their professional development as future science teachers. The purpose of the study was to identify the teaching practices in prospective teachers’ prior knowledge of science instruction before their enrollment in a science teaching methods course. Constructs from the practice-based theory of teaching, reform-based science instruction, and the pedagogy of poverty framework collectively served as the conceptual lens to focus on teaching practices. Three-hundred and sixty-one prospective teachers took part in this qualitative study. Visual (drawings) and written (narratives) served as the data and thematic analysis was used to identify and categorize teaching practices. The predominant teaching practices were framed by the pedagogy of poverty (68.4%) (giving information and directions). Other teaching practices were framed by a combination of teaching practices (pedagogy of poverty and core science teaching practices) (28.0%) (giving information and directions, engaging students in investigations, and facilitating classroom discourse), and teaching practices that reflected only core science teaching practices (8.0%) (engaging students in investigations and facilitating classroom discourse). Prospective teachers in this study had identified and accepted as knowledge-for-practice from their K-12 experiences a set of limited teaching practices. The findings indicated that prospective teachers’ prior knowledge of science instruction reflected the inclusion and an over reliance on specific teaching practices that contradicted or limited current reforms in science education and imply that they are yet to experience science instruction as stipulated by the current reforms.