Resilience of Science Teaching
Philosophies and Practice in Early
Career Primary Teaching Graduates

Rex Bartholomew; Dayle Anderson; Azra Moeed

doi:10.12973/eurasia.2012.824a

Resilience of Science Teaching Philosophies and Practice in Early Career Primary Teaching Graduates

Full Text (PDF)

Rex Bartholomew ¹ ^* , Dayle Anderson ¹, Azra Moeed ¹

More Detail

¹ Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, NEW ZEALAND^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

There has been recent concern over the variable quality of science teaching in New Zealand primary schools. One reason suggested has been the relatively low levels of science education components in initial teacher education (ITE) programmes. This paper follows a cohort of recent teacher graduates from a science education course in their ITE programme through the first two years of their teaching career. Their beliefs in science education, their confidence in their science subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge, and use of strategies suggested in their ITE science course were explored. It was found that the teachers retained their positive views of science in the curriculum, and confidence in their ability to teach science grew. The use of student and investigation-centred teaching strategies increased as the new teachers experienced success with the approaches. These outcomes are discussed in light of recent changes in primary curriculum emphasis on literacy and numeracy, and ITE science course contractions.

Keywords

fun
interest
learning
motivation
hands-on science
kindergarten education

License

This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, Volume 8, Issue 2, 2012, 103-112

https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2012.824a

Publication date: 12 Jan 2012

Article Views: 1907

Article Downloads: 861

Open Access References How to cite this article

References

Appleton, K. (2006). Science pedagogical content knowledge and elementary school teachers. In K. Appleton (Ed.), Elementary science teacher education: International perspectives on contemporary issues and practice (pp. 31-54). Mahwah, NJ: Association for Science Teachers and Laurence Erlbaum.
Bull, A., Gilbert, J., Barwick, H., Hipkins, R., & Baker, R. (2010). Inspired by science. A paper commissioned by the Royal Society and the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor. Wellington. New Zealand Council for Educational Research.
Cochran, K. F., DeRuiter, J. A., & King, R. A. (1993). Pedagogical content knowing: An integrative model for teacher preparation. Journal of Teacher Education, 44(4), 263-272.
Conner, L. (2008). Teacher Education for the Future Project: Special issue. Pacific Asian Education, 20(1), 4-7.
Conner, L. (2009). Initial teacher education programmes in transition: Tensions and possibilities. Curriculum Matters, 5, 121-137.
Darling-Hammond, L., & Bransford, J. (Eds.) (2005). Preparing Teachers for a Changing World: What Teachers Should Learn and be Able to Do: Jossey-Bass.
Education Review Office. (2002). Science now: Science education for students in years 1 to 8. Wellington: Education Review Office.
Education Review Office. (2004). The quality of teaching in years 4 and 8: Science. Retrieved from http://www.ero.govt.nz/ERO/Publishing.nsf/Print/T he%20Quality%20of%20Teaching%20in%20Years%20 4%20and%208:%20Science
Glaesser, J., Gott, R., & Roberts, R. (2009). The roles of substantive and procedural understanding in openended science investigations: using fuzzy set qualitative comparative analysis to compare two different tasks. Research in Science Education, 39, 595-624.
Gluckman, P. (2011). Looking ahead: Science education for the twenty-first century. A report to the Prime Minister from the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor. Office of the Prime Minister’s Science Advisory Committee. Auckland
Gott, R., & Roberts, R. (2008). Concepts of evidence and their role in open-ended practical investigations and scientific literacy; background to published papers. The School of Education, 1990). Durham University.
Grbich, C. (2007). Qualitative data analysis: An introduction. London: Sage.
Grossman, P. L. (The making of a teacher: Teacher knowledge and teacher education. New York: Teachers College Press.
Harlen, W. (1999). Effective teaching of science: A review of research. Edinburgh: Scottish Council for Research in Education.
Kind, V. (2009). Pedagogical content knowledge in science education: perspectives and potential for progress. Studies in Science Education. 45(2), 169-204.
Lewthwaite, B. (2000). Implementing science in the New Zealand curriculum: How teachers see the problems. In G. Haisman (Ed.), Exploring issues in science education: Papers from a research seminar on science education in primary schools (pp. 11-22). Wellington: Ministry of Education.
Magnusson, S., Krajcik, J., & Borko, H. (1999). In J. GessNewsome & N. G. Lederman (Eds.), Examining pedagogical content knowledge (pp. 95-132). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic.
McGee,C., Jones, A., Cowie, B., Hill, M., Miller, T., Harlow, A., & Mackenzie, K. (2003). Curriculum stocktake: National school sampling study. Teachers' experiences in curriculum implementation: English, languages, science and social studies. Retrieved from http://www.educationcounts. govt.nz/publications/curriculum/5827.
Ministry of Education. (1993). Science in the New Zealand curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.
Ministry of Education. (2007). New Zealand Curriculum. Wellington: Learning Media.
Ministry of Education. (2009a). Mathematics Standards for years 1–8. Wellington: Learning Media.
Ministry of Education. (2009b). Reading and Writing Standards for years 1–8. Wellington: Learning Media.
Osborne, J., & Simon, S. (1996). Primary science: Past and future directions. Studies in Science Education, 27, 99-147.
Osborne, J., Ratcliffe, M., Collins, S., Millar, R., & Duschl, R. (2003). What ‘‘ideas-about-science’’ should be Taught in school science? A Delphi Study of the Expert Community. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 40(7), 692–720.
Ratcliffe, M., & Millar, R. (2009). Teaching for understanding of science in context: Evidence from the pilot trials of the Twenty First Century Science courses. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 46(8), 945-959.
Roberts, R. (2004). Using different types of practical within a problem-solving model of science. School Science Review, 85 (312), 113-119.
Roberts, R. (2009). Can teaching about evidence encourage a creative approach in open-ended investigations? School Science Review, (332), 31-38.
Roberts, R., Gott, R., & Glaesser, J. (2009). Students' approaches to open-ended science investigation: the importance of substantive and procedural understanding. Research Papers in Education, (iFirst Article), 1-31.
Russell, T., Qualter, A., & McGuin, L. (1995). Reflections on the implementation of national curriculum science policy for the 5–14 age range: Findings and interpretations from a national evaluation study in England. International Journal of Science Education 17(4), 481-92.
Sharp, J., Hopkin, R., James, S., Peacock, G., Kelly, L., Davies, D. & Bowker, R. (2009). Teacher preparation and the national primary science curriculum: a twentieth-anniversary perspective. Research Papers in Education, 24 (3), 247-263.
Shulman, L. S. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57, 1-22.
Tobin, K. G. (1993). The Practice of constructivism in science education (Vol. Volume 1993, Part 2): Routledge
Tolley, A. (2009). National standards to benefit children and parents. Retrieved from http://www.beehive.govt.nz/ release/national-standards-benefit-children-and-parents

How to cite this article

APA

Bartholomew, R., Anderson, D., & Moeed, A. (2012). Resilience of Science Teaching Philosophies and Practice in Early Career Primary Teaching Graduates. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 8(2), 103-112. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2012.824a

Vancouver

Bartholomew R, Anderson D, Moeed A. Resilience of Science Teaching Philosophies and Practice in Early Career Primary Teaching Graduates. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2012;8(2):103-12. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2012.824a

AMA

Bartholomew R, Anderson D, Moeed A. Resilience of Science Teaching Philosophies and Practice in Early Career Primary Teaching Graduates. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2012;8(2), 103-112. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2012.824a

Chicago

Bartholomew, Rex, Dayle Anderson, and Azra Moeed. "Resilience of Science Teaching Philosophies and Practice in Early Career Primary Teaching Graduates". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2012 8 no. 2 (2012): 103-112. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2012.824a

Harvard

Bartholomew, R., Anderson, D., and Moeed, A. (2012). Resilience of Science Teaching Philosophies and Practice in Early Career Primary Teaching Graduates. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 8(2), pp. 103-112. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2012.824a

MLA

Bartholomew, Rex et al. "Resilience of Science Teaching Philosophies and Practice in Early Career Primary Teaching Graduates". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 8, no. 2, 2012, pp. 103-112. https://doi.org/10.12973/eurasia.2012.824a