Culture Wars in the Classroom Prospective Teachers

JOURNALOFRESEARCHINSCIENCETEACHINGVOL.37,NO.9,PP.895±915(2000)CultureWarsintheClassroom:ProspectiveTeachersQuestionScienceKarenSullenger,SteveTurner,HartCaplan,JoeCrummey,RickCuming,CynthiaCharron,BethCoreyUniversityofNewBrunswickReceived23July1999;accepted12June2000Abstract:Doesstudyingaboutthenature(s)ofsciencecontributetoaprospectiveteachers'effectivenessasascienceteacher?Thisresearchgrewoutofacoursecreatedbyascienceeducatorandhistorianofsciencewhobelievedprospectiveteachersneededmorecomplexunderstandingsoftheculturalwarssurroundingscience.Theresearchteamconsistedof®veprospectiveteacherswhoparticipatedinthecourseaswellasthetwoinstructors.Thispaperdescribestheexperienceofparticipatinginthecoursefrombothperspectives.Wearguethatstudyingtheculturalwarsoversciencecontributestoprospectiveteachers'professionalgrowthasmuchbecausethecourseelicitstacitbeliefsaboutschoolscienceasitintroducesmorecomplexunderstandingsofscience.Wefoundthatprospectiveteachers'tacitbeliefsaboutschoolscienceweretheirgreatestbarriertodevelopingmorecomplexunderstandingsaboutthenature(s)ofscience.Wecontendthatwillingnesstograpplewithcomplexityanddevelopingaprofessionalidentitybylocatingoneselfintheconversationsaboutthenature(s)ofsciencearebettercriteriafordeterminingtheprofessionalgrowthofprospectiveteachersthanknowledgemeasures.Finally,wearguethatprospectiveteachersshouldbeviewedasprofessionalswhoareresponsiblefor®ndingtheirownvoice,makingtheirowndecisions,andconsideringtheconsequencesoftheirbeliefsontheirpractice.Thisstudyraisesquestionscriticaltoteachereducationprogramsforprospectiveteachersandteacher-educatorsalike.ß2000JohnWiley&Sons,Inc.JResSciTeach37:895±915,2000Andiftheyareveryvitalquestions,iftheyaretrulyrelevanttoourlivesin`therealworld',thenIwouldargueattheoutsetitisbecauseofaverysimplelogic:thewaywestoryourlivesdirectlyaffectsthewayweunderstandourselves;thewayweunderstandourselvesdirectlyaffectsthewayweact;andthewayweactdirectlyaffectsthewaytheworldis(Randall,1995,p.9)Researchdescribingtheeffectivenessofcoursesaboutthenature(s)ofscienceandthelinksbetweenunderstandingthenature(s)ofscienceandsubsequentpracticeiscon¯icting.Someresearchersarguethatunderstandingthenature(s)ofscienceisessentialtobeinganeffectivescienceteacher,whileotherssuggestthereislittleconnection(seeMcComas,1998,forrecentCorrespondenceto:K.Sullengerß2000JohnWiley&Sons,Inc.discussion).Someargueprospectiveteachersareincapableofunderstandingthemorecomplexdebate(Abd-El-Khalicketal.,1997),whileotherscontendexploringthehistoryandphilosophyofscienceiscentraltoprospectiveteachersunderstandingthenature(s)ofscience(Mathews,1994).Theresearchliteraturedescribingtherelationshipbetweenprospectiveteachers'beliefsaboutscienceandpracticeisalsocon¯icting.Whilesomesuggestteachers'beliefsaboutscience,includingthenature(s)ofsciencedoesin¯uencetheirpractice(e.g.,Duschl,1983,1987;LantzandKass,1987;Brickhouse,1989;Cornettetal.,1990;Palmquist&Finley,1997),othersconcludethereislittleornorelationship(e.g.,Rowell&Cawthorn,1982;Mellado,1997;Lederman&Zeidler,1987;King,1991).Accordingtothelattergroupofresearchersmostbeliefsorviewsprospectiveteachersholdaboutsciencegetsetasideby`realities'oftheclassroom.Researchalsosuggeststhatprospectiveteachers'conceptionsofsciencearelimited,oftendescribedasnaive(e.g.,Kruger,1990;Fleury&Bentley,1991;Gallagher,1991;Pomeroy,1993;Lakin&Wellington,1994;Ginns&Watters,1995).Wesuspectthattheconfusionintheliteraturere¯ectsresearchers'ownwidelydifferentunderstandingsofthenature(s)ofscience,asometimesinadequateappreciationofthecomplexityofthecurrentdebateoverthenatureofscience,andtheirverydifferentinstrumentsandcriteriaforassessingteachingeffectiveness.Ourpaperassumesfromtheoutsetthatscienceteachersoughttobeinformedaboutthisdebate,thattheirteachingwillbene®tfromtheirengagementwithit,andthatgrapplingwiththedebateoffersanimportantcontextforprofessionalgrowth.Itfocusesonadifferentproblem,notaddressedintheexistingliterature:howdoprospectiveteachersreact,cognitivelyandemotionally,totheir®rstclassroom-encounterswiththenature-of-sciencedebates?Whatpriorexperiencesin¯uencethatresponse?Whatcantheirencountertellusaboutopportunitiesforandresistencetocognitivechange,andabouthowprofessionalattitudesareshaped?Finally,weraiseseveralissuessuggestinganeedtorethinkthekindsofexperiencesteachereducationprogramsprovideprospectiveteachersofscience.ThispapergrowsoutofacollaborationamonguniversityeducatorsandprospectiveteacherswhoparticipatedinthecourseED3512,Nature(s)ofScience:ImplicationsforEducation,offeredintheEducationFacultyoftheUniversityofNewBrunswick.Herewepresentourownexperiences,ourobservationsaboutthoseofourcolleaguesandsomecommonperspectivesontherelationshipofthoseexperiencestoprofessionaldevelopment.Wehopethatourexperienceswillencouragethedevelopmentofsimilarsuchcoursesforprospectiveteachers,andpreparethosewhodevelopthemforthehighlycontestedandsometimesemotionalnatureoftheexperiencethosecoursescanoffer.TheProblem:TheNature(s)ofScienceDebateThereassessmentofsciencetowhichED3512aim