Projektet bygger på en idé om att diskutera forskning och forskare genom att använda boksamtal kopplade till både fakta-böcker och sagoböcker med ett naturvetenskapligt innehåll. Data samlades in genom ljudinspelningar av boksamtal (N=152) i barngrupper (ålder 2-6 år). Boksamtalen leddes av 5 förskollärare som också deltog i fokusgrupper och workshops, vilka också lujdinspelades (N=9). Resultaten från projektet visar på möjligheter för rika diskussioner om vetenskapliga metoder och redskap samt mänskliga och sociala aspekter av naturvetenskap. Resultaten visar också att den sortens samtal var möjliga att föra oberoende av bok-typ, men om boken inte hade några explicita hänvisningar till forskning och forskare behövde läraren hitta andra sätt att rikta barnens uppmärksamhet mot den sorters diskussioner. Vidare visade resultaten att förskollärarna upplevde att boksamtalen gav spin-off-effekter på barnens nyfikenhet, att barnen ställde nya frågor och att de fick ett ökat intresse för egna undersökningar. Resultaten pekar därför på att diskussioner om forskning och forskare har potentialen att bidra till barns egenmakt och agens, vilket i sin tur är viktigt i en verksamhet som byggs upp kring demokrati och rättvisa. Med utgångspunkt i resultaten presenterar vi en didaktiska modell som kan vägleda förskollärare när de introducerar den här sortens diskussioner i sina barngrupper.    

This article addresses physics teachers’ views about physics teaching in upper-secondary school. Their views have been investigated nationwide through a web-based questionnaire. The questionnaire has been developed based on several published instruments and is part of an ongoing project on the role of mathematics in physics teaching at upper-secondary school. The selected part of the results from the analysis of the questionnaire reported on here cross-correlate physics teachers’ views about aims of physics teaching with their view of physics classroom activities, and perceived hindrances in the teaching of physics. 379 teachers responded to the questionnaire (45% response rate). The result indicates that teachers with a high agreement with a Fundamental Physics curriculum emphasis regarded mathematics as a problem for physics teaching, whereas teachers with high agreement with the curriculum emphases Physics, Technology and Societyor Knowledge Development in Physics did not do so. This means that teachers with a main focus on fundamental theories and concepts believe that mathematics is a problem to a higher extent than teachers with main focus on the role of physics in society and applied aspects or physics knowledge development do.  Consequences for teaching and further research are discussed. 

This study examines teachers' evaluations of teaching resources produced by industry to support science and technology teaching. The aim is to contribute to an understanding of how teachers negotiate the usability of industrial school initiatives for compulsory school science and technology. These evaluations are conceptualized in terms of teacher agency and educational governance. The collected data consist of focus group interviews where Swedish lower secondary school teachers discuss the usability of industry-produced teaching resources. A discourse analysis was conducted and five discourses discerned regarding teachers' practical evaluations of industry-produced teaching resources: (1) the curriculum discourse, (2) the educational design discourse, (3) the practical discourse, (4) the correct science content discourse, and (5) the partiality and bias discourse. The teachers draw on the different discourses to different degrees, and the teacher agency achieved in specific situations will vary. Based on the results a tool aimed at strengthening teacher agency in the practical evaluations of teaching resources from the industry is proposed. The study also contributes to a critical discussion on the influence of industry on the local education policy arena and suggests directions for strengthening teacher agency in situations where teachers evaluate and make decisions about the use of industry-produced teaching resources.

We report from a project performed in collaboration between researchers and early childhood education (ECE) teachers. The idea of the project was to introduce ‘nature of science’ (NOS) in the ECE setting through using book-talks connected to trade books (narratives as well as expository books). Much research on NOS teaching has been done, but very scarcely targeting the youngest children. The empirical data in this project consists of audio recordings of book-talks (N=152) with children aged 2-6 led by five teachers, audio recordings of focus groups and workshops (N=9) with the teachers, documentation of children’s drawings as well as of artefacts used by the preschool teachers. The results show that discussions about a variety of NOS issues are possible in an ECE context. It also shows that attention can be directed towards NOS during book talks regardless of genre or if the books contain explicit NOS references or not. However, book-talks connected to books without explicit NOS references require that the teacher finds other ways to direct attention towards NOS.  The teachers involved in this project managed to do this with only a short introduction to NOS. This shows that book-talks has great potential as an approach to introducing NOS to the youngest children. The results further showed that the teachers experienced that the NOS book-talks had spin off-effects such as increased curiosity, new questions, and engagement in investigations among the children. These results point to the potential for NOS teaching to contribute to empowerment and agency for the children, and positions NOS as an important part of science in ECE that values democracy and social justice as central. Building on the results, we present a didactical model that can support teachers when introducing NOS to young children. 

The research field of science education has gathered questions about what science is, how scientific knowledge is developed and in what ways humans are involved in these processes under the umbrella concept ‘nature of science’ (NOS). Previous research has suggested that teaching ought to focus much more on these issues, but so far the focus has been on older children and students, while there is a lack of research on NOS teaching for the youngest children (up to six years). In this conceptual article,we suggest that NOS should be taught from the outset, and thus be part of science teaching in the early years. We put forward arguments as to why this early introduction coupled to the overall values and aims of democracy and social justice is important, and elaborate on the kind of NOS issues that could be included in science teaching aimed at the youngest children.

This edited volume brings closer two contemporary science education research areas:  Nature of Science (NOS) and Social Justice (SJ). It starts a dialogue on the characteristics of NOS for SJ with the purpose of advancing the existing discussion and creating new avenues for research. Using a variety of approaches and perspectives, the authors of the different chapters engage in a dialogue on the construct of NOS for SJ, its characteristics, as well as ways of addressing it in science classrooms. Issues addressed are related to why a school science aiming at SJ should address NOS; what NOS-related content, skills and attitudes form the basis when aiming at SJ; and how school science can address NOS for SJ. Through a set of theoretical and empirical chapters, the authors suggest answers, but they also pose new questions on what NOS for SJ can mean, and what issues need to be taken into consideration in future research and practice.

“Nature of Science” (NOS) and “Social Justice” (SJ) are vivid areas in contemporary science education research. There are different conceptualizations of NOS and SJ, giving rise to divergent research agendas. NOS and SJ research areas have mostly been separate tracks, with only a few contributions across each other. The aim of this volume is to bring NOS and SJ research closer together, explore possibilities that might arise, and start a dialogue on the characteristics of NOS for SJ. In this chapter, we prioritize SJ as an overall aim of science education and shed light on how NOS teaching can contribute to that aim. We argue for the importance of three questions: Why should a school science aiming for SJ address NOS? What NOS-related content, skills and attitudes form the basis when aiming for SJ? How can school science address NOS for SJ? The goal of the dialogue around these three broad questions is to develop a research base for NOS teaching aimed towards SJ. In this chapter, we initiate this dialogue, which is then continued in the chapters that follow. We also provide an overview of the volume and identify some of the main arguments that the authors make as they embark upon this dialogue.