Despite the long history of the studies on the nature of science (NOS), debates continue about what exactly the NOS means, and which approach should be used to learn and teach it. Among the various approaches proposed in science education literature, the Reconceptualized Family Resemblance Approach (RFN) has gained increasing attention. RFN addresses NOS in a holistic and inclusive way and integrates science under two interconnected systems: the cognitive-epistemic and the socio-cultural systems.

The adaptation of Ludwig Wittgenstein's theory of ‘family similarity’ (1953) to NOS (Irzık & Nola, 2011; 2014) is forming the basis for RFN. By claiming that, science is presented as being more grounded in real-life practice; encompassing different scientific disciplines as a whole, like members of the same family; and expressing science not only as a science of experiments but also as a social, cultural, historical, politic, financial and institutional activity. The adaptation of this theory into education led to the birth of Family Resemblance Approach to Nature of Science, namely RFN (Erduran & Dagher, 2014).

While the literature on RFN frequently addresses theoretical frameworks, instrument development, informal science education, and curriculum analyses across diverse contexts such as Italy, Turkiye, Ireland, US, Hong Kong, Taiwan and South Korea, empirical studies focusing on educational interventions remain limited. As highlighted in a recent review by Cheung and Erduran (2023), such intervention studies have largely concentrated on pre-service teachers and students. Research on in-service teachers, by contrast, has primarily been confined to assessing their understanding of NOS and examining lesson plans. As a result, the practical implementation of RFN in real classroom settings with practicing teachers and real students remains underexplored.

Given the aforementioned gap and the fact that incorporating and imparting scientific knowledge of teachers into understanding the world is one of the ultimate aims of teacher professional development programs, examining in-service teachers’ learning experiences and challenges during RFN implementation will inform future researchers, the design of professional development programs, and instructional practices. Moreover, the researchers’ reflexivity about this specific case of teachers may offer valuable implications for policymakers and practitioners seeking to improve NOS implementation strategies.

The current study aims to document in-service science teachers’ learning during the implementation of a teacher professional development program  based on RFN. Also, it highlights the researchers’ learning journey focusing on teachers’ challenges and reflective insights. This study is guided by the following research questions:

1. Which challenges did in-service science teachers encounter when planning and implementing lessons through a teacher professional development program based on RFN?
2. What forms of learning emerged for in-service teachers as they engaged with and responded to these challenges?

This study adopts a single case research design. For the purpose of examining in-depth data, qualitative methods were used to gather data from six in-service science teachers working in a public school from 5th to 8th grade levels in Ankara, Türkiye. A convenience sampling method was chosen due to the location of the school (Creswell & Poth, 2016). All participating teachers had a minimum ten years of teaching experience and voluntarily attended to 13-week teacher professional development program that was designed by the researchers and pilot study conducted with different teachers and expert opinions about RFN. The program was implemented weekly with teachers as a group, and consisted of three stages. In the first stage, teachers collaboratively learned about the RFN through workshops led by the first researcher in the role of instructor. These workshops include learner-centered, collaborative, professional and reflective activities focused on the NOS. In the second stage, teachers designed an RFN-based lesson plan by selecting a unit, topic, and grade level aligned with the Turkish science curriculum. They received feedback from both their peers and the first researcher, and then implemented the lesson in their own classrooms with real students, under the first researcher's observation. Following the implementation, teachers engaged in self-reflection and received researcher feedback. In the third stage, each teacher independently designed their second lesson plans without getting any feedback and implemented it in a classroom of their choice. Similarly, units, topics and grade level were varied naturally by teachers in accordance with the curriculum. Lesson plans were required to address different topics from both the teachers’ initial plans and one another. Data collection tools in this study included teacher reflective journals, teachers’ lesson plans and classroom observations. Teachers were asked to reflect on their experiences after each implementation. Data related to teachers’ challenges were analyzed using content analysis, through which codes and themes emerged inductively (Krippendorff, 2018), and prolonged engagement and triangulation were used to increase the trustworthiness of the study.

The findings of this study reveal in-service science teachers’ learning during the implementation of a professional development program grounded in the RFN and the challenges they encountered., Rather than aiming to identify teachers' conceptual transformations regarding RFN, the study focuses specifically on learning in implementation and on how teachers addressed emerging challenges. These challenges included difficulties related to time management and curriculum coverage, and the enactment of RFN across different unit subjects areas, and grade levels. Teachers embraced the professional, collaborative, and reflective learning environment provided by the instructor, incorporating it into their own learning, which was reflected in the following results. First, teachers engaged in creative learning. They delivered lessons that made students feel like scientists through active learning strategies such as inquiry-based learning, problem-based learning and group work. Second, they engaged in professional learning by adapting the curriculum, time, textbooks, and lesson videos provided by the Turkish Ministry of National Education (MoNE, 2024) to align with the RFN framework. For example, they conducted group work beforehand to make good use of time, or they assigned preparatory tasks before lessons or used post-lesson activities for assessment. Third, they engaged in contextual learning by adapting RFN-based materials and practices to their specific grade level, classroom or laboratory conditions, and available school resources. This study argues that providing teachers with collaborative, reflective, and active learning environments and utilizing visual aids would be beneficial, as suggested by Erduran and Dagher (2014). Understanding the challenges and lessons learned in this local single case can shed light on future implementation efforts in similar contexts.

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