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Integrative perspectives of understanding Science teachers’ beliefs and practices

A paper accepted for presentation at the British Educational Research Association (BERA) annual conference at Heriot Watt

University, Edinburgh from 3-6th September, 2008.

Nasser Mansour

University of Exeter, UK

n.mansour@ex.ac.uk

Many studies have investigated science teachers’ beliefs about what science is, and how it

should be taught (Hewson & Hewson, 1987, 1988; Bryan, 2003; Tsai, 2002), while other

research has focused on teachers' beliefs regarding teaching tools (e.g., Zacharia, 2003;

Windschitl & Andre, 1998). Another trend has involved studies of teachers’ beliefs about

teaching efficacy and classroom management (Woolfolk et al., 1999; King & Wiseman, 2001).

However, little attention has been given to the nature of teachers’ beliefs about their roles,

their students, the subject areas that they teach, such as STS, and the schools in which they

work. Most studies of beliefs in general and those concerning STS in particular have been

carried out in Western cultures rather than Islamic cultures (Reiss, 2007).

1.1. Aims of the study and the associated research questions

This study explored Egyptian science teachers’ beliefs and practices concerning Science-

Technology-Society (STS) education. Its aims to reveal science teachers’ beliefs and

practices regarding teaching and learning science through STS; to examine the factors that

might shape their beliefs; to establish whether there was any relationship between teachers’

beliefs and practices, and to reveal the factors which influenced the ways in which teachers

put their beliefs into practice.

1. What beliefs do science teachers in Egypt hold about teaching/learning science

through STS Education?

2. What are science teachers’ perceptions of the factors which affect their beliefs?

3. How far do science teachers’ classroom practices reflect their beliefs about STS?

4. What are science teachers’ perceptions of the factors that affect the way they put

their beliefs in practice?

1.2. The research approach

It is clear that there is no single method that ensures that research data obtained are valid

and reliable. Studying teachers’ belief systems is a problematic field of research, mainly

because teachers’ beliefs cannot be accessed directly. The data collection techniques used in

this study have potential strengths and weaknesses. One way to emphasize the strengths

and minimize the weaknesses is to use complementary multiple methods of data collection for

triangulation. So, to achieve the aims of study, data has been collected using multiple sources

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of data, including a questionnaire, interviews, teachers’ journal, and classroom observations

to map the field and to enable triangulation of the data.

According to the research aims and the research design, sampling procedures came in three

stages. On the first stage, a total of 162 Egyptian preparatory science teachers was selected

randomly and responded to the questionnaire. On the second stage, based on findings of the

questionnaires, the maximum variation strategy was used to sample ten teachers with diverse

beliefs. The interviews with those ten teachers aimed to explore teachers’ beliefs and their

perceptions of the factors that influence their beliefs and practices. Then, on the third stage,

based on the analysis of the semi-structured interviews with the ten teachers, four case

studies were chosen to represent the different relationships between teachers’ beliefs and

practices. Theoretical sampling drove the second and third rounds of data collection. To

achieve the aims of this research, I adopted the principles of Multi-grounded theory to build a

theory or model.

Analysis through Multi-Grounded theory identified five main themes: the mixed beliefs of

Egyptian science teachers about STS education; the degree of consistency or inconsistency

between their beliefs and practices; how personal religious beliefs in shaping and reshaping

beliefs and practices; the influence of teachers’ social-cultural contexts on their beliefs and

practices; the mediating factors which influenced the ways in which beliefs were translated

into practices. From these themes, three models illustrating different aspects of the

relationships between teachers’ beliefs and practices emerged, a personal religious beliefs

model; a social-cultural contexts model and a constraints model. These models were then

combined into an ‘Integrated Understanding Model’’. Implications of this model for developing

STS education and science teacher education and development in Egypt are considered.

References:

Bryan, L. (2003). Nestedness of beliefs: Examining a prospective elementary

teacher’s belief system about science teaching and learning. Journal of research in science education, 40 (9), 835-868.

Hewson, P. & Hewson, M. (1987). Science teachers’ conception of teaching: implication for teacher education. International Journal of Science Education, 9(4), 425-440.

Hewson, P., & Hewson, M. (1988). An appropriate conception of teaching science: A view from studies of science learning. Science Education, 72 (5), 597-614.

King, K., & Wiseman, D. (2001). Comparing Science efficacy beliefs of elementary education majors in integrated and non-integrated teacher education. Journal of Science Teacher Education, 12(2), 143-153.

Reiss, M. J. (2007). Imagining the world: The significance of religious worldviews for science education. Science & Education. June 15, 2007, Available on-line, at http://www.springerlink.com/content/8l44675174184750.

Tsai, C. (2002). Nested epistemologies: science teachers’ beliefs of teaching, learning and science. International Journal of Science Education, 24(8), 771-783.

Windschitl, M., & Andre, T. (1998). Using computer simulations to enhance conceptual change: the roles of constructivist instruction and student

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epistemological beliefs. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 35, 145-160.

Woolfolk, A. Rosoff, B., & Hoy, W. (1990). Teacher’s sense of efficacy and their beliefs about managing students. Teaching and teacher Education, 6(2), 137-148.

Zacharia, Z. (2003). Beliefs, attitude, and intentions of Science teachers regarding the educational use of computer simulations and inquiry-based experiments in physics. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, 40 (8), 792-823.