In this chapter, the author describes a narrative podcasting assignment published by elementary science teaching candidates. Candidates reflected on their K-12 science education and how their teachers facilitated their participation in science discourse. In their stories, which are shared in transcribed excerpts, they described experiences primarily consisting of lectures and tests, which they perceived as impactful on their confidence and efficacy for participating in science discourse. They vowed to forge authentic, engaging paths of science discourse for their future students. The author shares conclusions from the podcasts regarding a) the importance of candidates' engagement in science discourse to better facilitate their own students' future participation, b) supporting candidates in finding their place in science discourse, and c) recommendations for implementing narrative podcast assignments in teacher education coursework.
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I teach an elementary science teaching methods course each semester for candidates during the final year of their program of study prior to the student teaching semester at a mid-sized state university in Georgia. The objectives of this course (Figure 1) center around a) designing and implementing elementary science instruction that fosters students’ content knowledge and science process skills, b) fostering a learning environment conducive to scientific inquiry, and c) leveraging digital technologies, curricular resources, and knowledge of cognitive development to effectively design science instruction for diverse elementary learners.
Figure 1. Learning objectives of elementary science teaching methods course
As a teacher educator who works with pre-service teaching candidates in elementary education teacher preparation programs (e.g., Bachelor of Science in Education, Master of Arts in Teaching), it is important that my teaching candidates are able to effectively and efficaciously engage in the discourses of the content areas they will teach in clinical settings (Grifenhagen et al., 2021). They must be able to foster their current and future students’ equitable participation in these discourses across the elementary content areas (Brodahl & Wathne, 2018).
The K-5 years are critical for students with regards to science and STEM education (National Science Board, 2021) as they “begin to frame their beliefs about who they are and who they could be” (Galanti & Holicheck, 2022, p. 3). Contemporary science standards (i.e., Next Generation Science Standards) emphasize not only acquiring content knowledge but developing scientific skills and the ability to engage in authentic scientific inquiry (Shemwell et al., 2015), working within and across disciplines with deftness (National Research Council, 2012). By developing increasingly refined skills, elementary learners can become more equipped to participate in science discourses, basing their claims and conclusions on the accurate and precise evidence expected of scientists (National Science Teaching Association, 2018).
James Paul Gee (2015b) proposed the notion of discourses being socially situated, as language involves literal and “situated meaning” (Gee, 2015c, p. 65). A “big D Discourse” (Gee, 2015a, p. 2) involves individuals assuming a specific situated identity, combining language with ways of being, interacting, and performing in that specific sociocultural context (Gee, 2013, 2014). Gee (2010) viewed big D Discourses (henceforth referred to as “discourses”) as a way to conceptualize how literacy functions in specific communities and contexts (Lave & Wenger, 1991). This conception of discourses is particularly applicable to the teaching profession when considering how teachers engage in the discourses of the content areas they teach as well as how they foster their own students’ engagement in those discipline-specific discourses (Lucas & Spina, 2022).
Prospective elementary science teachers enter teacher preparation programs with a variety of positive and negative science education experiences from their years as K-12 and postsecondary students. Participating in science discourse involves seeing oneself as a scientist, considering one’s ability to perform scientific tasks and possessing self-efficacy for engaging in science discourse.