Abstract
The aim of this multiple case study was to uncover a series of critical events and experiences related to the formation of the science identities of four beginning elementary female teachers, through a life-history approach and a conceptualization of teacher identity as lived experience. Grounded within the theoretical framework of Figured Worlds, the study used qualitative, interpretive methods for data collection (interviews, biographies, teaching philosophies) and analysis. The analysis shed light on the ways in which various experiences situated within different Figured Worlds (science, family and childhood, schooling, out-of-school, university, professional) impacted the participants’ identity trajectories. The findings provided three main insights that contribute to science identity research and have implications for elementary teacher preparation: (a) science teacher identity is multidimensional and extends beyond cognitive domains of becoming to include affective dimensions; (b) science teacher identity is relational, linked and shaped by various other constructs or sub-identities; (c) place and time, defined as a space with meaning created by experiences, and science teacher identity are inextricably bound to one another.
Highlights
The aim of this multiple case study was to uncover a series of critical events and experiences related to the formation of the science identities of four beginning elementary female teachers, through a life-history approach and a conceptualization of teacher identity as lived experience
The findings provided three main insights that contribute to science identity research and have implications for elementary teacher preparation: (a) science teacher identity is multidimensional and extends beyond cognitive domains of becoming to include affective dimensions; (b) science teacher identity is relational, linked and shaped by various other constructs or sub-identities; (c) place and time, defined as a space with meaning created by experiences, and science teacher identity are inextricably bound to one another
Keywords Science identity Á Lived experience Á Life-history Á Teacher preparation In August 2015, the Science Education for Responsible Citizenship report was published, which offers a twenty-first century vision and the role of science education, within the European agenda promoting a science for society paradigm (European Commission 2015)
Summary
This study is concerned with teachers’ narratives that tell stories of becoming teachers, essentially, stories of forming science identities. In viewing teachers’ learning as identity development, I am especially interested in how different experiences situated in various contexts or communities impact their identity development To conceptualize these various contexts, I use Dorothy Holland’s and her colleagues (1998) model of Figured Worlds as an analytical framework. The Figured-Worlds perspective turns our attention to the contexts of meaning that teachers make, and how they come to construct identities by placing themselves and their actions in relation to activities situated in specific contexts As such, it provides a useful framework for examining how teachers participate in various contexts across time, and how their participation impacts their identity formation. Understanding about these events, experiences, and interactions as well as the contexts in which they occur, can provide useful insights and serve as input for the design of teacher preparation programs that aim at supporting elementary teachers’ re-construct their science identities
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