Dr. Allen A. Espinosa, Professor of Science Education at the Philippine Normal University (PNU) and Director of the Graduate Research, Creative Endeavors, and Examination Management Office (GRaCEMO), served as an invited speaker at the International Conference on Advances in Chemistry and Chemistry Education (ICoACCE) 2026 held on June 13, 2026 at Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia in Bandung, Indonesia.

The conference gathered scholars, researchers, and educators from various institutions to discuss current developments, challenges, and innovations in chemistry and chemistry education. Dr. Espinosa represented PNU in the international academic forum and delivered an invited lecture titled “Teaching Chemistry as Identity Work: Negotiating Rigour, Reform, and Equity.”

In his lecture, Dr. Espinosa argued that chemistry education reform is not only about changing curriculum, teaching strategies, assessment, or laboratory practice. Rather, it is also about understanding how chemistry teachers negotiate who they are, what they value, and what they are allowed to become as professionals. Drawing from his work with Dr. Martin Rusek, he introduced the NICE model, or Negotiating Identity as a Chemistry Educator, which explains chemistry teacher identity as a dynamic process shaped by disciplinary affinity, reform-oriented pedagogies, intersectional positionality, and continuous professional negotiation.

Dr. Espinosa emphasized that chemistry teachers often navigate tensions between rigour and accessibility, tradition and reform, authority and inclusivity, and disciplinary loyalty and social responsibility. He noted that while chemistry teachers’ strong commitment to accuracy, precision, and conceptual coherence is a professional strength, reform becomes more sustainable when this disciplinary loyalty is connected to inclusive, inquiry-oriented, and meaningful learning.

The lecture also highlighted that equity in chemistry education should include not only students but also teachers. Dr. Espinosa explained that teachers’ ability to enact reform is shaped by their access to resources, institutional support, curricular flexibility, professional recognition, and opportunities for meaningful professional development. He stressed that chemistry education reform must therefore be identity-sensitive, context-responsive, and supportive of teachers’ professional becoming.

The invited lecture concluded with the argument that the future of chemistry education depends not only on what reforms ask teachers to do, but also on who reforms allow teachers to become. Dr. Espinosa called for teacher education, professional development, policy, and research to treat chemistry teaching not merely as technical work, but as identity work.

His participation in ICoACCE 2026 strengthened PNU’s visibility in the international science and chemistry education community and contributed to the University’s continuing efforts toward internationalization, research dissemination, and scholarly collaboration in teacher education.