A rose in a mirror

In this paper I reflect on the idea of a person as constructed through their actions, in science and otherwise, and the role of the teacher in enabling such action. I write, drawing on my own history in science and the imaging technologies in which I am presently involved, about how these shape the work I do with children and teachers in schools. I purposely try to make the science I do with children reflect the science I did as a scientist and it is in this context that the children act. This environment is illustrated in two stories. In the first the children are looking at lenses and discussing their qualities and the things they are able to see as they gaze through them. This conversation illuminates both the qualities of lenses, the role of the observer, and of the act of seeing. In the second story I argue that the way I shape the classroom is in effect a lens through which we can view children. What we see through such a lens has the same qualities as the things the children and I talk about in the first story and such visions both shape and are shaped by my actions as a teacher.