LAUSR

ABSTRACT Critical perspectives of science (CPS) elucidates science as a human endeavor that not only embodies the rigorous process of knowledge construction but also reflects the inherent flaws arising from unequal and unjust power relations among humans and between humans and nature. Science teachers need opportunities for self-examination to learn CPS and apply it to their teaching practices, supporting students in developing CPS in the context of school science and using it for what matters to their lives. This self-reflective study applies the CPS as a conceptual framework to reexamine my past experiences teaching science at public middle schools in Korea, particularly the in-classroom interactions with students in science classrooms. As a result, I identified classroom episodes from which I inferred opportunities I could have facilitated students’ engagement with CPS in science classrooms. Three ways to facilitate students’ CPS were inferred from the episodes: (1) probing unjust practices of science hidden from school science; (2) addressing the linguistic and epistemic whiteness implicit in school science; and (3) identifying the relevance of school science to students and what matters to them. Implications for science teacher education are discussed, including how teacher educators can facilitate teachers’ self-reflective examination of their classroom interactions and integration of CPS into daily classroom discourse.