Equitable and Just Science Teaching: Preservice Teachers' Approaches to Practice in a University Methods Course

• In Event: Imagining and Examining STEM Practice and Preparation

Abstract

This qualitative study explores pre-service secondary science teachers’ experiences in a one-semester methods course designed to support equitable and just teaching practice. The course was anchored by a framework for equitable and just science education, necessitating pre-service teachers to learn about, draw on, and leverage students’ interests, identities, and funds of knowledge as learning-related assets. Seven interns’ coursework was analyzed to explore engagement with the framework in reflections on practice. Further, analyses explore challenges raised by interns in relation to leaning and enacting equitable and just practice. Uptake of equitable and just approaches to practice appeared to be dependent on context, and curricular materials and degrees of autonomy presented challenges to enactment. The study has implications for teacher education design.

Author

• Rachael Gordon, University of Michigan - Ann Arbor