The Early-Career Development of Science Teachers From Initial Training Onwards: the Advantages of a Multifaceted Five-Year Programme

If a programme were to be devised for the early-career development of science teachers, what might such a programme look like? This was the focus of a meeting of science educators interested in developing such a structure, from the start of initial teacher training onwards. The contributions, modified and written up here, include a suggested ‘five-year programme’ that has
ideas for broadening opportunities for trainee science teachers and early-career science teachers and that makes good use of the support provided by the Science Learning Centre consortia. Additional proposals for focusing on ‘threshold concepts’ and on ‘core representations’ add detail to the proposed programme. It is hoped that the contributions will provoke discussion among the science education community and that the introduction of such a programme will be given serious consideration.