Abstract
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.
Highlights
There is a strong correlation between the quality of education, quality practices in teaching and learning, and teachers’ qualifications and knowledge
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
Summary
There is a strong correlation between the quality of education, quality practices in teaching and learning, and teachers’ qualifications and knowledge. Researchers and educators have stressed the importance of teachers’ knowledge and its relation to teaching practices (e.g., [1]) They suggest that teachers’ knowledge informs their practices and directs their actions in the classroom (e.g., [2]). Sparks [9] suggests that a promising trajectory towards the improvement of instruction is a closer examination of individual teachers’ classroom practices and needs. Questions such as what happens in the real science classroom, how teachers implement the curriculum and what kind of activities they adopt during the science lesson, how they organise these activities and what are their practices in the classroom can be raised.
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