In this study, the author reports on the professional learning of three primary teachers who engaged in three cycles of collaborative action research over a three-year period from 2013 to 2016. Case study was chosen as a methodology to gain insight into the context of the teachers' work as they interacted with others and adopted multiple tools.…

The central thesis of this paper is that the learning of science in integrated curricular contexts requires a broader theoretical framework than is typically adopted by researchers and teachers. The common practice of interpreting science learning in terms of conceptual and procedural understandings in such contexts is problematized through an…

Received conceptualizations of scientific literacy are grounded in (1) the notions of "knowledge", "concepts", and "skills" that science students have to "acquire", "appropriate", or "construct" or (2) the notion of "practices" to which they have to be "enculturated" so that they become part of a "community of practice". All such notions…

Science educators verge upon "sheer eclectic laziness." That is, there is a lack of congruence between classroom practices and the discernible assumptions that underwrite them. Examples are provided. What is needed is a thoughtful selection of models of teaching and learning matched to strategies for their achievement. (RM)

Discusses changes in educational research methods over recent decades. Explores changing views of teaching and learning and what the changes mean for assessment and the content and delivery of the curriculum. Concludes that, to be effective, educational research must be relevant to education and perceived as such by educators. (SG)

Focuses on the reproduction of knowledge in science education and how socio-scientific issues are depicted/accounted for. Reviews contemporary epistemological questions of knowledge production. Outlines the Actor Network Theory (ANT), an alternative epistemology, describing the principal tenets using examples from the nature/nurture debate.…

Suggests a reorientation within science in terms of morals, ethics, and higher values. Argues that science and science-education should encourage a deep-based relation to, and respect for, the object of study as part of a larger orientation to life. Recommends unification between objective and scientific fact. (MJP)