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"This book is not just for science educators or those who wish to become biology teachers. Deborah Trumbull’s longitudinal research offers important insights to all educators who want to investigate and raise challenges to their own practice. Her study calls attention to contexts and power relations that influence the construction of meanings in classrooms. And her six case studies of new teachers illuminate difficulties, confusions, and possibilities that accompany any attempts to teach differently."
–Janet L. Miller, National College of Education, National-Louis University
"The New Science Teacher: Cultivating Good Practice is a very engaging book about six new teachers and the many issues they confront as they move through the first three years of their teaching career. This important book is full of insights for prospective teachers, practicing teachers, and teacher educators in all subject areas. Deborah Trumbull has created a rich tapestry depicting how the ideas, fears, and aspirations of these new teachers are interwoven in complex ways, shaped by their different teaching environments."
–Gaalen Erickson, Director, Centre for the Study of Teacher Education
Veteran science teacher and researcher Deborah Trumbull raises important new questions as she addresses the ways that teaching can and should be reflective practice. Throughout the book she addresses the question, "How can teachers continue to evolve and rethink their teaching methods?" Tracking six prospective biology teachers from their university training through their first years in the classroom, the author uses her own observations as well as interviews and direct quotes from the teachers to record not only their growth, but to reflect on her own development as well. Both beginning and experienced teachers will connect their own teaching journeys to those presented here. What makes this volume so valuable is the author’s insider perspective and the inclusion of background on recent science reforms, learning theories, and the role of lab teaching. Powerful and insightful, this is a useful book not only for science teachers, policy makers, and administrators, but also for educators in any field seeking to improve how students–and teachers–learn.
Deborah Trumbull has taught biology for many years, and has been a teacher educator for the past 13. She is an associate professor in the Department of Education at Cornell University and is the author of several articles on science teaching and the development of new science teachers.
