| Abstrakt: |
In this article, I share my experiences as a scientist and a science educator. I interpret my professional and personal stories through reflection to understand and gain different perspectives of my teaching practices. I highlight three moments from my experiences that caused me to pause and to reflect on how I teach science to young children, including my two young sons. Based on Donald Schön's (1983) reflective theories, I reflected on my teaching practice, observing and conversing with my peers and colleagues, and through the work from and with the children. Reflective practice helped bridge the gap between what I thought I knew about teaching science with how I was teaching science to young children ages four to six years old. Recognizing and being more aware and conscious about these moments encouraged me to re-evaluate my role as a science educator. Waves from the ocean build and continually shape the shore and land around us, and with each reflective wave, I am continually becoming a science educator. The constant learning, relearning and becoming with my peers and the children helped me identify different ways to convey science and scientific concepts between how a scientist and a science educator views and teaches science. The practice of science in a laboratory is akin to the practice of science in the classroom because practice contributes to the becoming scientist and becoming science educator (that is, questioning, hypothesizing, experimenting). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
