"Re-Thinking Science Teaching": A Grounded Theory Study of Science Teacher Identity Formation

The contributions of science teachers toward the achievement of quality science education are undoubtedly key factors. The always-changing landscape of education demands the active participation of teachers in this field. Understanding the preparedness of preservice science teachers is equally important to know their experiences and intentions toward becoming science educators. With this in mind, this grounded theory study was conducted to discover and explore the process of becoming science teachers of the Preservice Science Teachers (PSTs) by looking at what they have to go through as learners and teachers and identifying their intention as based on the different influences. Twenty-five PSTs from two different state universities were purposively chosen as participants. With a constructivist grounded theory as the research design, the main instrument for data collection was the interview. The processing and analyses of data yielded relevant results to the present study. Twelve categories resulted from the first and second cycles of coding. Further results revealed two major categories which were (1) Learning Science as a Teacher: Teaching Science as a Learner and (2) Having the Intention, both are equally involved in the grounded theory "Re-Thinking Science Teaching". Over the course of this examination, a better understanding of the process of becoming a science teacher has been progressed. The findings suggest that Teacher Education Institutions (TEIs) evaluate and enhance their teacher education programs and policies that focus on the PSTs framing of their science teacher identity.