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Science curricula require new conceptualizations of how teachers relate to their materials. In this study of teacher learning, we analyze an experienced group of practicing Storylines teachers’ use of metaphor to describe the roles and responsibilities of students and teachers in curriculum enactment. We found that every metaphor that teachers used to describe the uses of Storylines curriculum entailed a sort of wayfinding: a destination, a timeframe, a place, a journey, or the students’ or teachers’ respective position in that pursuit. These findings continue to indicate the usefulness of metaphor in foregrounding the central role that students play in NGSS-aligned instruction/materials, as well as the institutional forces that shape how curriculum materials get enacted inside the classroom. This study builds and contributes to current scholarship that aims to support teachers in reconceptualizing their role, relationship to students, and the institution of schooling, in the context of constructivist curricula. 

Fostering locally relevant and community-centered forms of science learning that develop students’ critical science agency problematizes a “one-size-fits-all” model of teacher learning; teachers must examine how community needs and resources, local inequities and justice issues, and curriculum materials can converge to design novel learning opportunities for science learners. This paper presents the core commitments of EMPOWER, a cross-institutional effort that aims to support teachers' sensemaking and adaptations of curriculum materials to promote student ownership, engagement, and relevance at multiple sites across the U.S.