Preservice Teachers’ Experience in a Community of Practice Through a Place-Based Socioscientific Inquiry

• In Event: Roundtable Session 100
  In Roundtable Session: Teacher and Teacher Education Research in Environmental Education 2

Abstract

The questions guiding this study were: In what ways do pre-service teachers experience legitimate peripheral participation through their learning of place-based environmental socio-scientific issues (SSI)? and How do the scientists in the community view this collaboration with pre-service teachers? Findings indicated PSTs were able to participate in a CoP engaged in authentic scientific inquiry and were able to move through levels of LPP in varying degrees while maintaining their status as pre-service teachers. The curriculum being centered on place-based environmental issues enabled PSTs to contribute knowledge about their and their peers’ experiences with these issues from a participatory insight, which enabled them to contribute insights into campus practice to which the scientists did not often have access.

Authors

• Kristin Leigh Cook, Indiana University

• Gayle A. Buck, Indiana University