Between two worlds: principals’ epistemic beliefs and evaluative practices of science education

This study explored principals’ epistemic beliefs towards learning theory and student agency as essential criteria for the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). Following the understanding of these beliefs the principals went through an iterative process to develop a walkthrough matrix to evaluate the criteria deemed essential for immersive learning environments in science education. Central to this study is exploring how we can align principal participants views of learning and student agency in terms of epistemology and evaluation with what is currently expected of science teachers. Results suggest given space and time, an immersive environment, peer agency, challenging ideas, and collaborative development of a walkthrough matrix, the principals were able to start shifting their ideas towards alignment with what is considered to be best practice in science education. In addition, the findings of this study indicate that the principal participants shifted from a focus on student behaviors/teacher actions to student interactions and overall begin to see themselves as peers in the learning process. This study suggests that principals need to experience the same immersive environments that science students and teachers participate to take them to a place between two worlds where their role of learner and evaluator merge together.