Bringing Māori concepts into school science: NCEA

This commentary article discusses the inclusion of Māori knowledge in senior school science in the context of some new senior school science qualifications that are currently being trialled. These proposals raise challenging questions and are provoking intense debates among secondary science teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand. We introduce the proposals and their rationale and summarise the main objections raised by science teachers. We focus on three specific Māori concepts used in the proposals and comment on the possibilities.

Inquiry-Based Teaching Practices, Attitudes, and Difficulties of Secondary Science Teachers in Masinloc District Division of Zambales for S.Y. 2020-2021

This study aimed to assess the science inquiry-based practices, attitudes, and difficulties of secondary science teachers in the district of Masinloc, division of Zambales. The data gathered through the questionnaire were statistically treated with percentage, weighted mean, Pearson’s Correlation Coefficient, and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA). There is significant difference on the number of trainings towards origin of questioning, nature of problem, responsibility within the inquiry process, students’ diversity and variability and explanation of learning goals. There is significant difference on highest educational attainment towards explanation of learning goals and significant on sex towards origin of questioning. There is significant difference on the perception towards attitude on the use of inquiry-based teaching and learning when grouped according to highest educational attainment. There is significant difference on the number of trainings towards all dimensions of practices of science teachers exhibited components of scientific inquiry-based learning approach; The researcher recommended that the use of inquiry-based teaching and learning approach in teaching Science is highly encouraged in order to help the learners to overcome their problems in engaging with the lesson; that the teacher is encouraged to use the inquiry-based teaching and learning practices model to help them in attaining the consistency of the inquiry process within their lesson; and lastly a replication of this study is encouraged with in-depth and wider in scope so as to better determine the effectiveness of Inquiry-Based Teaching/Learning approach.

An Insight into Teachers’ Classroom Practices: The Case of Secondary Education Science Teachers

Teachers’ knowledge rooted in classroom practices guides their actions when dealing with a specific subject matter. To assess the quality of these practices, a close examination of the “classroom reality” is needed. The present study, which was carried out in Greece, investigates secondary science teachers’ practices. To record these practices, we used special classroom observation tools as well as questionnaires to record students’ views of their teachers’ practices. The observation tools and the student questionnaire focus on specifically formed criteria deriving from aspects of Pedagogical Content Knowledge (PCK). In total, 32 secondary science teachers and 1154 students participated in our study. The results indicated that the strong points of teachers’ teaching practices concern their subject matter knowledge, the use of representations, their questioning, their communication of the instructional objectives to the students, and knowledge of students’ difficulties. The weak points are related to the use of a variety of teaching approaches, the investigation of the students’ alternative conceptions, the experimental and ICT-based teaching, and the implementation of inquiry-based activities. The methodology employed in our study was fruitful in providing a holistic view of science teachers’ practices and can be used for investigating classroom practices of teachers of other subjects as well.

Knowing Process of Rural Secondary School Science Teachers: A Case of Rakai District in Uganda

The study was an investigation of the Knowing Process of rural secondary science teachers in Uganda. The problem of the study was the poor performance of students in sciences in the rural secondary schools in Ugandan Certificate Examinations (UCE). The central point was to find out the beliefs of the rural secondary science teachers about how the educators come to know anything. A non-experimental research design was employed in the study. The research was carried using a purposive sampling technique. Regarding data collection, the researcher administered fifty (50) questionnaires to fifty (50) teachers; interviewed ten teachers and carried out classroom observations often live lessons. The findings of the study revealed that teacher’s conceptions about the mode of knowing to fall under three sources of knowledge, namely, authority, sense-perceptual experience, and reason. It was clear that teachers assume that learners do not have knowledge; hence the Bucket theory of mind is central in their teaching-learning process. Many teachers appeared to do things the way they were taught; in other words, a number of rural science teachers tended to be doing activities whose underlying assumptions they were not clear of. A functional approach to the teaching of Philosophy in Educational programs is recommended.

Secondary Science Teachers’ Views on Environmental Citizenship in The Netherlands

Environmental Citizenship (EC) is a promising aim for science education. EC enables people not only to responsibly make decisions on sustainability issues—such as use of renewable energy sources—but also to take action individually and collectively. However, studies show that education for EC is challenging. Because our understanding of EC practice remains limited, an in-depth, qualitative view would help us better understand how to support science teachers during EC education. This study aims to describe current EC education practices. What do secondary science teachers think sustainability and citizenship entail? What are their experiences (both positive and negative) with education for EC? A total of 41 Dutch science teachers were interviewed in an individual, face-to-face setting. Analysis of the coded transcripts shows that most teachers see the added value of EC but struggle to fully implement it in their teaching. They think the curriculum is unsuitable to reach EC, and they see activities such as guiding discussions and opinion forming as challenging. Furthermore, science teachers’ interpretation of citizenship education remains narrow, thus making it unlikely that their lessons are successful in fostering EC. Improving EC education therefore may be supported by explicit representation in the curriculum and teacher professional development directed at its implementation.