Chapter 12: How Personal Experiences of Teachers Affect Urban Students in Science Education

In this preliminary study, four inner-city teachers who participated as mentors and instructors in a leadership program at a science museum were interviewed on their personal experiences in an informal learning environment. Interview questions were focused on when instructors first experienced science, how their careers were affected by the affordances that they were given in their education, and their subsequent view of science. Using narrative analysis (Labov & Waletzky, 1997), it was found that participants who had positive views of themselves as teachers portrayed science as an inclusive topic for their students to engage in.