Why Do Teachers Adopt or Resist a Pedagogical Idea for Teaching Science in Preschool

Author
Areljung, S.
Source
International Journal of Early Years Education, 27(3):238-253.
Year
2019

Purpose

All around the world, measures are being taken aimed at increasing the oldest kindergarten children’s understanding of science. However, research on professional development shows that if such measures are to have a lasting effect in the field of practice, they must bring about changes in kindergarten teachers’ assumptions, self-confidence and knowledge. In addition to studies showing ‘how’ teachers change, this article investigates ‘why’ teachers adopt pedagogical ideas about science education in kindergarten.

Research question: Why do kindergarten teachers acquire, or reject, a pedagogical idea about science education in kindergarten?

Result

The results indicate that kindergarten teachers adopt the pedagogical idea because it allows them to extract and support scientific content in everyday life. This is something they prefer over the way they have previously taught science through sporadic experiments. Furthermore, the results show that teachers balance between several external sources of influence in relation to what constitutes good kindergarten pedagogy. Adopted pedagogical ideas are characterised by the fact that they make this balancing act easier because they are aligned with, and help the kindergarten teacher to understand, many of these external sources of influence.

Design

This is a qualitative case study involving one-on-one interviews with kindergarten teachers who have implemented and developed pedagogical ideas about science education in kindergarten. The author of the article analyses the interviews based on Clarke and Hollingsworth’s model of professional growth in teachers.

References

Areljung, S. (2019). "Why Do Teachers Adopt or Resist a Pedagogical Idea for Teaching Science in Preschool?". International Journal of Early Years Education, 27(3):238-253.

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