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...among preservice teachers, lifelong professional disposition of thoughtful teaching based upon cycles of reflection on one's experiences, the literature, and research on effective science teaching. The authors have found that the STR, as a key assignment in their methods courses, encourages these desirable "habits of mind."

Introduction

Ethical practice and foundational knowledge provide the glue that holds members of a profession together. The path to that foundational knowledge and the reflective habits that accompany its mastery and understanding begins at the preservice level for teachers (Abell & Eichinger, 1998; Schon, 1983). To realize these goals, preservice teachers must immerse themselves in the practice and art of teaching through discussion, study, reflection, and experience. The preservice experiences prompt the first cycles of "fine tuning" of the individual's knowledge base of teaching. The introduction of this cyclic pattern of improvement is the precursor to the highly desirable "disposition" (Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium, 1992) of a commitment to lifelong learning and reflective teaching. This process begins when the preservice teachers first purposefully examine their future place--philosophically, practically, and intellectually--within the next generation of teachers.

The authors have found that the creation of a personal science teaching rationale (STR) by the preservice teacher is an effective catalyst to establish this nexus of foundational knowledge, experience, and educational philosophy. The STR is more than an interesting collection of statements on a preservice teacher's ideas about teaching. It is a plan of how those ideas will translate into action in their own classrooms. The STR is the final performance for the preservice teachers in the authors' methods classes, requiring the preservice teachers to create a cogent and detailed discussion of their teaching. This discussion must take into account pivotal elements of their experience; their methods studies; and their personal beliefs, ideas, and values about knowledge and learning. Each preservice teacher must then meld these elements with teaching and learning theory into one carefully written essay (usually 12-18 pages in length) that reflects a personalized portrait of effective elementary science teaching. In terms of the broader priorities of elementary science teacher preparation, the STR addresses the well-documented need to strengthen the relationship between research, beliefs, and actual practice. It requires each preservice teacher to explore "... the complexity and diversity of [their] beliefs and practice ... acknowledging that the relationship between the two is interactive and multifaceted" (Calderhead, 1993, p. 17).

This paper complements the study by Varrella and Veronesi (2003) that provided valid and reliable quantitative evidence on the value of the STR within a study population of 74 preservice teachers. The following discussion examines the critical role of the STR in developing the preservice teachers' concept of "self as teacher." This discussion will focus on relevant literature and desirable teacher educator behaviors.

Literature Relevant to the Development of the STR

A teacher's values and beliefs about knowing and knowledge directly affect his or her teaching, evaluative, and judgmental actions (Rokeach, 1970; Schwandt, 1997). These beliefs are formed during the preservice experience. They are influenced by the individual's coursework and particularly by the student teaching or internship experience. In this formative preservice period, the individual's understanding of the complexities of teaching begins as a loosely amalgamated set of beliefs about teaching, knowledge, and knowing. Even so, these beliefs about knowledge and knowing can be considered the preservice teacher's epistemology (Hammer & Elby, 2002; Schwandt, 1997). This is an uneven construct at this point for preservice teachers, and when questioned, they are inclined to describe their beliefs about knowing and teaching in generalities often prefaced by, "I believe that...." Such statements reflect a lack of supporting evidence from practical experience and grounding in science education literature. The responsibility to introduce and support the disciplined study of these topics, interlocking the research base and experience, falls to the elementary science methods instructor.

The Limitations of a Technical Orientation

An effective science methods course will orient on desirable elements such as cooperative learning, open-ended inquiry, performance assessment, the importance of preconceptions, the use of higher-order questions, and hands-on activities (Fosnot, 1996; NRC, 1996; Osborne & Wittrock, 1983; Penick, Crow, & Bonnstetter, 1996; Yager, 1995). Mastering these techniques and methodological elements become the order of the day for the preservice teachers. These strategies are recognized as having an immediate effect on the preservice teachers' success in teaching and, therefore, are highly valued when compared to that "theoretical stuff" that comes along with the study of best practices in most science methods classes.

Unfortunately, even when preservice teachers study best practices in terms of their grounding in research on teaching and learning, they remain inclined to search for an imagined series of algorithms and objective teaching skills. If, tragically, the science methods instructor encourages this search for the silver bullet of elementary science teaching through a narrow, methodological lens of study and related performance assessments, there is room only for a "technical" view of self-as-teacher. Such circumstances limit the preservice teachers' growth and development, encouraging a facile view of effective...

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