Storyline in natural science teacher education - An approach to the coherence between theory and practice

Abstract

The development of teacher identity depends on education rooted in theory- and practice-related activities. The Storyline Approach (TSA) can help to highlight connections between theory- and practice-oriented teaching using stories, characters, places, and tasks performed through role-play variants. In this study, natural science11This study is all about natural science teacher students, studying for being teachers in primary school (6-13 yr. pupils) even if we further on in this paper is writing just science students, or science teacher students. teacher education students at a Norwegian university developed and implemented Storyline projects within the areas of biology, environmental education, and technology. This study suggests that Storyline promotes theory- and practice-oriented knowledge and discusses this in relation to the Aristotelian knowledge forms. Through practical tasks, the students in this study reflected on connections between pedagogical and didactic theories, the need for theoretical and practical knowledge, and their future work as schoolteachers. Through this case study, we have determined that Storyline is fruitful for promoting coherence between practical and theoretical knowledge in science teacher education and for the development of professional practice as future teachers.