Part 1. Chapter 1. An introduction: Middle school science teaching in the 21st Century -- Chapter 2. U-FUTuRES: A comprehensive professional development program -- Chapter 3. In the mirror: Introducing teachers to practitioner Inquiry as professional development -- Chapter 4. Literacy and science learning -- Part 2. Chapter 5. Toward a pedagogy of cultural relevance -- Chapter 6. Gender: Boys jumped in, while girls sat back -- Chapter 7. Metacognition. Heads up (not down); It’s thinking time for kids -- Part 3. Chapter 8. Lessons Learned and the implications for teacher learning in Professional development for science teachers.

This book presents the authentic voices of science teachers engaged in practitioner inquiry as one component of a comprehensive professional development program. Practitioner inquiry as a genre of educational research, allows teachers to intentionally study their practices thus generating practical solutions to problems in their teaching and students’ learning. The teachers’ voices allowed us to enter their science classrooms to observe their posture and practices as reflective practitioners. They encountered issues such as culturally responsive teaching and low literacy proficiency and metacognitive skills among their struggling science learners. Their firsthand accounts provide new insights about practitioner inquiry as a tool to support teachers continuous learning, regardless of the disciplinary content areas. The book therefore provides a blueprint that can inform inservice teacher educators and support school and district administrators as they seek to nurture teachers’ professional growth.