Science Education and Teacher Professional Development Combining Learning with Research

This book presents a radical reconceptualization of subject-focused and research-led teacher professional development. Drawing on the experiences of more than 50 high school teachers and technicians who participated in science-based research with their students, the author examines how this enables teachers to develop a ‘Teacher Scientist’ model of professional identity. Through active participation in research, science teachers and technicians can implement socially just approaches to education, where students’ differences are valued and, through research, their social and academic development is supported. Central to the ‘Teacher Scientist’ identity is the development of, and sustained interaction with, complex and collaborative professional networks which include researchers, university-staff and teachers and students in other schools. In the context of persistent recruitment and retention challenges, the ‘Teacher Scientist’ model provides a research-led approach which may offer analternative to strategies focused on financial incentives.

Elizabeth A.C. Rushton is Lecturer in Geography Education at King’s College London, UK. She has worked within education as a high school teacher, and as Director of Evaluation for an education charity that supports school student participation in STEM research. Her research considers young people’s experience of science in formal and informal settings and teacher professional development through collaborations with researchers and mentoring school student research.