Identifying Minority Preservice Teachers’ Sources of Science Teaching Strategies

• In Event: Supporting Diverse Preservice Science Teacher Beliefs in Various Contexts

Abstract

The aim of this study was to explore minority preservice teachers’ sources of science teaching strategies for helping their students learn science. Perspectives from the literature on the role constructs used to distinguish minority preservice teachers from their mainstream peers served as the framework to identify sources of their science teaching strategies. Data included drawings, narratives, observations and self-review reports of microteaching, and interviews. Analysis of data revealed that the minority preservice teachers’ strategies for teaching science included group work, placing less emphasis on textbooks, and respecting students’ ideas about science. Implications include the need to establish supportive environments for minority preservice teachers to express their K-12 experiences and to reveal the multiple ways through which they envision science instruction.

Author

• Karthigeyan Subramaniam, University of North Texas