Cultivating Professional Teachers for Science Education

Dear Colleagues,

It has been over a decade since the release of A Framework for K-12 Science Education: Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Core Ideas (NRC, 2012). The Framework established expectations for teaching science in K-12 that were delineated and clarified, ensuring that the three dimensions of science (i.e., Science and Engineering Practices, Crosscutting Concepts, and Disciplinary Core Ideas) are present within science instruction. While parts of these three dimensions were familiar to some science teachers, many educators found themselves unprepared, as this was not how they experienced science instruction as students or learned to teach during their teacher education programs. The Framework effectively re-noviced teachers of science. Thus, a dilemma emerged for science teacher educators—how do we cultivate professional teachers of science within this new culture? Currently, there is a need to curate a collection of research aimed to address this issue. What professional learning opportunities, pre-service education program changes, and/or other support has been offered to teachers to support them as they incorporated the instructional shifts outlined by the Framework? Furthermore, how have these new resources impacted teacher practice and culture? These are questions that states, local education agencies, and teams of teachers are asking.

This Special Issue centers around research with a focus on cultivating professional teachers for science instruction with special attention to the culture of science teaching and teachers. By understanding the realities, challenges, and communities of professional science teachers, this Special Issue seeks to engage in rigorous discourse around science teacher culture and community. These professional communities are rich with complex practices, discourses, and challenges informed by the teachers that make them up. Quantitative, qualitative, and mixed-method methodologies are welcomed as we seek a diverse understanding of science teacher professional communities. Additionally, theoretical manuscripts offering an epistemological approach or framework for addressing issues of teacher culture are encouraged.

Questions regarding this Special Issue should be directed to the Guest Editors.

Dr. Colby Tofel-Grehl
Dr. Melissa P. Mendenhall
Dr. Kimberly H. Lott
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

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Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Education Sciences is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• science teacher culture
• science teacher identity
• science instruction
• three-dimensional instruction
• professional development
• teacher education programs (science)