Developing a Reform-Minded Science Teaching Identity: The Role of Informal Science Environments

Recommendations for reform in science education around the world set high goals for beginning elementary teachers. Concurrently, existing literature indicates a number of challenges that beginning elementary teachers face. In this paper an argument is put forward about the integration of informal science environments in elementary teacher preparation, as a means for supporting beginning elementary teachers develop reform-minded science teaching identities. Essentially, the purpose of this paper is to explore the links between teacher identity, reform recommendations, and informal science environments. In doing so, a discussion of the theoretical construct of teacher identity in conjunction with reform recommendations is offered, followed by a summary of existing literature about the challenges that beginning elementary teachers face. Subsequently, the advantages and unique opportunities that informal science environments offer for teacher learning and development are discussed through a review of related literature. Following this review, a set of theoretical and methodological limitations of existing literature are identified. Based on these limitations, a research agenda is framed to address the theoretical, methodological and research implications that the idea of integrating informal science environments and approaches to elementary teacher preparation holds.