| The National Science Education Standards were published in 1996 (National Research Council (NRC)). The Standards recommend that elementary school science should be taught as inquiry-based, and that teachers should have the time, space, and resources to teach inquiry-based science. A case study was done of a fourth grade teacher who tried to implement the recommendations of the Standards. The teacher had expressed an interest in teaching inquiry-based science even though she had little experience teaching science, had previously avoided teaching science, and had a weak academic background in science.;The study focused on the factors that influence a teacher while trying to develop an inquiry-based science program and the factors a teacher attends to while trying to provide student with the time, space, and resources needed to do inquiry-based science. The study also tried to determine what factors helped the teacher determine how a teacher is able to use children's literature with inquiry-based science.;The researcher was a participant observer in the teacher's classroom during the 1996-1997 school year. The researcher was involved in planning and teaching science although all final decisions were left to the teacher. Data were obtained by taking extensive field notes, using structured and unstructured interviews, document analysis, and analyzing reflective journals.;Results indicate that the teacher was influenced by six major factors: colleagues, reading materials, school context, student behavior, the participant observer, and experimentation. A model for the teacher as a theory builder was developed as a result of her learning, analyzing and experimenting throughout the year. Though not without some problems, children's literature was integrated with science in different ways for different reasons. Constraints to implementing the Standards (NRC, 1996) are discussed. |
