Abstract
Science camps for teachers have been held in Chile for several years and are recognized as important opportunities for continuing education, but they have been largely ignored as instances for impactful reflection on teacher self-assessment and identity. This article presents the analysis of teacher experiences at a science camp held in southern Chile called “Explora Va!”, which was designed not just as an instance for continuing education for teachers in scientific contents but also for individual and collaborative reflection aimed at strengthening educators’ skills as agents of change in their institutions. The question of this study was: how do the participants represent their teacher identities based on their experiences at the “Explora Va!” Camp? Using a qualitative approach, the results of the analysis of narratives from teachers’ camp journals are reported here. The narratives from these journals provide an account of two dimensions, personal and contextual, where the importance of the teaching profession and science teaching were explored beyond conventional disciplinary limits. Collaboration, innovation, and personal and professional growth at the camp served to signify and resignify professional identities based on common elements but attending to the particular circumstances and unique backgrounds of each teacher.
Highlights
In the initial and continuing education of teachers in Chile, little focus has been placed on activities that encourage processes of self-criticism and reflection on one’s own teaching work
The research question is: How do the participants represent their teacher identities based on their experiences at the “Explora Va!” Camp? The objective of this research is to describe and analyze the experience of a five-day science camp for science educators held in southern Chile, part of a program called “Explora Va!” Science Camps for Teachers
These camps are utilized by teachers as a strategy to partake in continuing education in the transversal teaching of science that is in tune with the guidelines of the Ministry of Education
Summary
In the initial and continuing education of teachers in Chile, little focus has been placed on activities that encourage processes of self-criticism and reflection on one’s own teaching work. Data on teachers’ perceptions of their working conditions and professional development indicate that a low percentage consider analytical reflection to be important in their work; this factor emerges as quite deficient in teacher evaluations and has been shown to strongly impact teacher identity (MINEDUC, 2017) In this context, spaces for intensive continuing education for teachers (workshops, courses, skills training) have included educational experiences centered mainly on delivering curricular contents and pedagogical innovations to improve teachinglearning processes. Spaces for intensive continuing education for teachers (workshops, courses, skills training) have included educational experiences centered mainly on delivering curricular contents and pedagogical innovations to improve teachinglearning processes These spaces could, in addition, provide a key opportunity to address fundamental dimensions of the teacher’s role, such as strengthening professional identity and self-assessment, if they were designed as instances of collaborative reflection
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