Educating prospective teachers of biology: Findings, limitations, and recommendations

Abstract

This article summarizes the findings of a complex study of a science teacher education program whose goal was to graduate teachers who held conceptual change conceptions of teaching science and were disposed to put them into practice. The findings are based on the description and analysis of two major course components—methods courses for prospective elementary and secondary teachers, and an action research seminar—and on case studies of six prospective elementary and secondary teachers as they progressed through the program. The article identifies several important issues with respect to the development of prospective elementary and secondary teaches that arise from the case studies of individual teachers and discusses the relationship between the professional component of preservice science teacher education—the focus of the study—and other components of teacher preparation. It concludes that there are influences on prospective teachers from their content coursework that have significant implications for how they view science and how they teach. Thus, there need to be large changes in the ways in which these content courses are conceptualized and taught. Finally, the influence of cooperating teachers, curricula, and school environment on prospective teachers is considerable. This suggests the need for much closer cooperation between schools and universities, such that the professional development of both prospective and practicing teachers can be integrated: learning to teach should be a coherent, life-long experience. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Sci Ed 83:373–384, 1999.