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Science for all

Empowering elementary school teachers

Hofstra University, USA, irene.plonczak{at}hofstra.edu

This article addresses issues that are related to the empowerment of elementary teachers through teaching and learning science in socially and culturally meaningful contexts. It is based on the analysis of the attitudes and relationship to science of 10 elementary school teachers from inner city schools in Caracas, Venezuela. In the context of a workshop, teachers were asked to come up with a scientific explanation of a familiar physical phenomenon observed on a daily basis and related to their everyday tasks. The data were the teachers' discourse and were both written (a description of an ideal science class) and oral (semi-structured interviews). Academic/epistemic, professional, and social dimensions were used to analyze the discourse. These categories were based on two theoretical frameworks: an empirico-realistic one, held by the majority of teachers, and a socioconstructivist one, held by the researcher. The results illustrate how familiar contexts bring meaning and raise teachers' confidence to teach science, which contributes to the development of a more empowering attitude towards science.

Key Words: elementary teachers • empowerment • everyday science • inner city schools • science education • socioconstructivism

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