Studies have examined teachers’ and students’ attitudes about inquiry instruction in science. However, to date, no study has examined how professional development changes chemistry teachers’ beliefs and attitudes about students. In this study, ten teachers participated in a 2.5 year, long-term, coherent, inquiry-focused, content-centered professional development program called Target Inquiry at Miami University (TIMU). Before, during, and after the program, interviews were conducted to primarily evaluate the impact of TIMU on teachers’ beliefs about inquiry and science, as well as classroom practices. Although teachers were not directly asked about their beliefs about students, preliminary findings directed a more in-depth study of three years of data to address the following research question: How has TIMU changed teachers’ beliefs and attitudes about students within the construct of teacher care? Nel Noddings, a prominent educational philosopher, defines the ethic of caring as, “A state of being in relation, characterized by receptivity, relatedness and engrossment.” The interview data corpus was subjected to a data reduction process whereby quotations discussing students were extracted. Quotations were analyzed within individual teachers across multiple years of data to generate case studies to answer the research question. Themes emerging within teachers were tested across all ten in the sample. Preliminary findings will be presented as well as key implications regarding how the ethic of caring pertains to high-quality professional development, classroom teaching, and research on chemistry learning.

Chemistry and the ethic of caring: How professional development can shape teachers’ attitudes and beliefs about students

255th National Meeting (2018)

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