Informal science educator professional identity: Perceptions of NGSS, work with teachers, and the centrality of place

There have been calls for meeting the goals of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) through instruction and experiences in out-of-school, informal science education contexts. To maximize the effectiveness of such experiences, teachers and informal science educators must collaborate to create meaningful science learning experiences. However, in contrast to teachers, there has been little work done with informal science educators (ISErs), and their professional identity and motivations are not well understood. This paper presents the results of a survey and interview study with informal science educators in a state in the U.S. Midwest. Using a sociocultural framing of identity, we examined the values and positioning of ISErs through two avenues: their work with teachers, and the role of place/content in their work. We found that ISErs see their work as complementary to that of teachers. In addition, the place of their work or the content they teach were valued in different ways. We conclude with a discussion of how informal science educator identity can influence collaboration with teachers to the benefit of students.