| An increasing interest in illuminating the relationships between context and educational reform has led researchers to examine the various interconnected factors that constitute different teaching contexts and the relationships between these elements and teachers' beliefs. The challenge is to identify those aspects of context that facilitate change in teachers' thinking and the way they approach science instruction. This study investigated the relationships between elementary teachers' science-related beliefs and the external forces within the context of their teaching. Using a situated perspective from which to view context, the activity of teaching and the related beliefs of 2 elementary teachers was examined in an effort to better understand the role of context in teachers' thinking about what science is, what it means to teach and learn science, what is involved in reform-based practices, and what science instruction might look like in their classrooms based on their interpretation of reform. Comparative case studies were developed and analyzed using a constant comparative method of analysis. Cross-ease analyses revealed a number of major themes: (a) teachers' science-related beliefs vary in level of commitment; (b) more deeply held beliefs about what it means to teach and learn science, or guiding beliefs, are profoundly resistant to change and are derived primarily from teachers' personal histories both in and outside of schools; (c) guiding beliefs are also shaped by science methods courses, teacher development, and practical classroom experience; (d) less deeply held beliefs, or perceptions of control, are teachers' beliefs about their ability to teach science according to their guiding beliefs in the presence of physical, social, or structural factors within the context of their teaching; (e) guiding beliefs are likely to override perceptions of control, enabling teachers to adapt their teaching contexts; and (f) although all aspects of context impact teachers' practice, those that shape guiding beliefs have a stronger impact on pedagogical decisions. A major finding was that early life history, particularly outside of school, has an overwhelming influence on teachers' beliefs about what science is and what it means to teach and learn it—beliefs that are mediated by teachers' perceptions of themselves as learners of science—and that teachers' practices are a function of these fundamental or guiding beliefs. The results point to a need to encourage both teachers to articulate their life histories in an effort to identify the source of their beliefs, challenge or reinforce them, and introduce new ways of thinking about science and science instruction. |
