Background: An overarching goal of school science education is to prepare young people for a rapidly changing and complex world. Middle school science students need more than a basic understanding of science concepts in preparation for further study. Rather, they need the skills to question and evaluate evidence and make decisions about complex…

Teachers do not simply deliver a set curriculum, but carry out classes based on practical knowledge, including their values, beliefs, and experiences. Therefore, it is meaningful to investigate the practical knowledge of teaching among teachers in terms of orientation, structure, and content in order to understand the teacher's knowledge,…

Modeling inter-disciplinary teaching and learning practices within a critical pedagogical framework has produced powerful learning outcomes for graduates of the Primary/Middle Bachelor of Education degree at the University of South Australia. This paper explores the notion of how best to prepare beginning teachers to work with students in their…

Cultural diversity is a key concept informing the recently introduced New South Wales Stages 4 and 5 (junior high school) science syllabus. In this paper I undertake a genealogical analysis of the discourses of culture and cultural diversity found in the syllabus itself and in the accompanying syllabus support document. The discourses used in the…