Issues in science and technology teaching

Science and technology are two of the essential learning areas in New Zealand. The format and presentation of science in the New Zealand curriculum are described in Appendix V11. According to the researcher, this is the most suitable learning area that would match the primary ERA integrated curriculum in Sri Lanka as the learning outcomes are similar. Therefore, issues in science teaching are an important aspect to consider. Figure 8 illustrates how science links with the themes in the ERA integrated curriculum. The New Zealand Council of Educational Research carried out several studies on the New Zealand primary school curriculum and revealed that most primary teachers are not confident enough to teach science (Cameron, 2004). Lack of confidence in science teaching was identified by Varely (1975) and Symington & Hayes (1989) and has been consistently reported. This appears to be shared by teachers in other countries as evidenced by many educators who research in this area (Biddulph and Osborne, 1984; Duschi & Gitomer, 1991; Bell, 2005).

Symington and Hayes (1989) noted that pre-service teachers avoided acquiring the necessary science background knowledge when preparing science lessons.

McDonald et al. (1991, cited in Rawaikela, 2004) analysed curriculum implementation in New Zealand and clearly stated that junior primary teachers frequently do not organise their lessons around science. Biddulph and Osborne (1984) pointed out that little time is devoted to teaching science and instruction is often a matter of covering topics rather than helping children learn.

A case study, Science-Technology-Society (STS) as a context and conceptual framework for identifying and developing content knowledge for teaching primary science, by Baker (1995), investigated the use of related views and perspectives. It was found that the STS approach enabled student teachers to adopt a more coherent and contemporary view of science. Even though this approach helped student teachers to gain an understanding of science concepts, the research revealed that translating these ideas into classroom practice was a difficult task for them. Yager (1996, cited in Yieng, 1999) also defined STS as the teaching and learning of science and technology in the context of human experience. Instead of a STS curriculum, STS is a context for a curriculum. In addition, STS has been regarded as an appropriate learning context for all learners. The applications of science, such as advances and issues concerning food, clothing, shelter, transportation, are close to the lives of the students (Yager, 1996, cited in Yieng, 1999). In other words, STS has been regarded as an appropriate learning context for all learners (Tobin, 1994, cited in Yieng, 1999) and it is an outlook about science education and education through the environment. Further, STS emphasises science and technology through cultural economics and social context. In this view of science education students are encouraged to learn and analyse issues pertaining to the impact of science on everyday life (Solomon, 1993, cited in Rawikela, 2004). PBL is an approach based on constructivism that can be used to teach STS education and also address the everyday issues in the environment to gain a holistic view of the environment.

Primary school teachers, including pre-service teachers, tend to have little science content knowledge and harbour misconceptions about science (Appleton, 2003). Further, Hudson’s (2004) study reveals that student teachers did not receive adequate pedagogical knowledge from their mentors. This research argues that mentors/teacher educators require pedagogical knowledge of primary science for guiding their mentee/student teachers with planning, preparation, implementation, teaching strategies, science teaching knowledge, problem solving strategies and assessment techniques.

Appleton (2003) describes how Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK) helps beginning primary teachers cope with science. Science PCK is a form of teacher knowledge transformed from other forms of teacher knowledge. It has inherently close links to the teacher’s science content knowledge and is developed through the teachers own experiences and science teaching practices as well as the recommendations from colleagues’ experiences. In developing science PCK, teachers draw on a range of other forms of teacher knowledge such as knowledge of curriculum, context, general pedagogy and children.

Hipkins (1998) argues that teachers need to have an understanding of the theoretical basis on which new scientific knowledge is constructed to offer meaningful opportunities for students. She further describes that a group of teachers from a compressed course of primary teacher education programme for graduates do not have sufficient coherent understanding about science to assist their future students.

Lewthwaite (2000) describes a similar idea from a study about primary student teacher perceptions of their previous science experience and their development during the initial teacher education course. According to Lewthwaite, after the completion of the course a majority of student teachers recognised the necessity of having further science content knowledge.

However, Salter (2000) describes a different idea from another group of pre- service primary teacher education students. This survey aimed to measure student teachers’ attitudes about science, their conceptions of learning science, their perceptions of science knowledge and their ability to teach science. It

was found that the student teachers had positive-tending attitudes towards science and they felt confident about their ability to teach science even though their knowledge base was low. The author concludes that there is evidence that those with positive attitudes are more likely to devote time to teaching science. On the other hand, the author describes the lack of science knowledge in some of the cohort may lead to reluctance to teach science. Finally, the author pointed out that some findings were inconclusive and needed further study.

It, thus, appears that more research on a curriculum for teacher education is needed (Burgess, 2000). The focus for the current study lies in exploring the potential for an alternative teacher education programme for the integrated primary curriculum in Sri Lanka. As a pathway to address the research questions the researcher will compare and contrast the primary curriculum in New Zealand and Sri Lanka.

2.9 Comparing and contrasting the primary curricula in New Zealand