Abstract
The challenges associated with teaching science and teaching about teaching science might initially seem linked to problems of creating technical knowledge. After all, science is often associated with concepts such as truth, rigour, and objective knowledge. Self-study of teacher education practices, by contrast, might initially bring to mind the epistemological challenges of knowledge that is constructed from personal experience. Of what relevance, then, is self-study methodology to issues of science teaching and science teacher education? Part of the answer, of course, lies in the fact that the disciplines of science are about far more than knowledge production. The discipline of teaching, similarly, is about far more than applying particular strategies to everyday classroom situations. Science teaching and science teacher education are complex endeavours that demand far more than the assumptions underpinning what Schön called technical rationality (1983, p. 21). Self-study methodology offers one way to move beyond technical rationality toward a more productive understanding of professional knowledge, one that is inextricably grounded in socially constructed understandings. Historically, the disciplines of science have also made use of socially mediated ways of knowing. In this introductory chapter, I develop a perspective from the history of science that helps to understand how self-study methodology relates to science education.
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Bullock, S.M. (2012). Exploring the Intersections of Self-Study, Science Teaching, and Science Teacher Education. In: Bullock, S., Russell, T. (eds) Self-Studies of Science Teacher Education Practices. Self-Study of Teaching and Teacher Education Practices, vol 12. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-3904-8_1
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