The Inside Story: Early Childhood Practitioners' Perceptions of Teaching Science

Abstract

This thesis investigates early childhood teachers' perspectives of how they support children's scientific learning, and how they felt about the way they supported that learning, within one childcare centre setting. Using a qualitative case study approach the views of the six participants teaching at the research site were gathered during initial individual interviews. Participants were then asked to document situations where they noticed and recognised children engaged in scientific learning. In a second interview participants talked about the documentation they had gathered and what responses they had to what they had seen, if any. The interview data and participant documentation was then coded and collated into a matrix form in order to use the initial findings as the basis for a focus group discussion involving all participants. The transcript of the focus group discussion was then added to the initial findings and subsequently considered in light of Rogoff's (2003) three analytical foci (the personal, interpersonal and cultural-institutional). This enabled a broad spectrum of ideas to emerge and served to highlight several teaching strategies.Three key findings emerged from the data. The first, a unique contribution of this study, highlights specific teaching strategies relating to the interdependent nature of team teaching relationships. The dialogue that developed between participants during the research emerged as a significant teaching support. The way the participants drew on each other's expertise, knowledge, experiences, and physical support was noticeable and often contributed to an individual participant's learning and increased confidence. On an individual level, the second finding concerned how capable and competent the individual participants felt about their support of children's scientific learning was related to their view of what 'science' is, and the role they thought the teacher should play in science education. This emphasises the importance of teachers having subject knowledge and a solid understanding of the nature of science (NOS). Furthermore, in this study the complexity of increasing the effectiveness of the support that early childhood teachers provide for children's scientific learning was revealed as the third finding. The influence of participants' confidence in and attitudes toward supporting children's scientific learning is further complicated when considering them in relation to the role of the teacher's understanding of NOS. Both of these factors have implications for the difference in teachers' available knowledge, skills and resources, and their inclination to use them. This thesis argues that there is no one solution to encouraging teachers to engage in more effective scientific learning support. However, reflective practice can enable teachers to develop their understanding of what science is and a pedagogy that will support the children's scientific learning, as well as increasing their confidence in and willingness to expand their scientific subject knowledge base. In addition, it also contends that collective teaching strategies are a significant factor in early childhood teachers' abilities to notice, recognise and respond to children engaged in scientific learning and as such need further consideration in teacher education, policy making decisions, and future research.