Chemistry Teachers’ Professional Development for the Implementation of New Content and Pedagogical Standards

Introduction New standards in science and mathematics education in general and in chemistry education in particular are being advocated, standards which reflect the current vision of the content, classroom environment, teaching methods, and support necessary to provide a high quality education in the sciences for all students (NRC, 1996). In the past, conventional methods of conducting pre-service and in-service education and professional development have not always proved to be adequate for attaining such demanding goals. In-service workshops conducted all over the world have been usually too short and occasional to foster a change in teachers’ classroom practice. In order to meet the challenges of reform in science education we need to help schools and other educational institutions, that are involved this reform, to meet the challenges of the times. One of the ways to attain these goals is to treat teachers as equal partners in decision making. In other words, teachers have to play a greater role in providing key leadership at all levels of the educational system. Leadership in the context of science education was defined is the ability of a person to bring about changes among teachers and teaching. Pratt (2001) suggested that that there are four basic skills relevant to effective leaders in science education (in our case chemistry), namely; (1) technical skills, (2) conceptual skills, (3) interpersonal skills, and (4) self-learning skills.