Teaching Practices

Science teaching practices have not been systematically reviewed in the scientific literature, and when they have been addressed, it has been in relation to the study of specific issues such as the implementation of pedagogical approaches, sequence design, the effects of training plans, etc. This chapter takes another view by focusing on practices and their characteristics, even if they are often the result of very different research perspectives. It thus reports the results of studies of these characteristics published in four major science education journals between 2015 and 2020. It is focused on teaching science in elementary, and middle school and physics in high school. More specifically, beyond descriptions and characterizations of practices as such, it takes stock of the relationships that practices have with student and teacher characteristics, with local or broader structures, with teacher training, with the resources available to teachers, or with the particular aspects of the taught content. The results show the great complexity and variety of science teaching practices, and allow us to understand the difficulty of grasping the expertise and ingenuity behind this human activity.