Conflicts in science the classroom: Documentation and management through phenomenological methodology

Abstract

The study investigated the nature of conflicts that are generated in the science classroom. Twenty video-recorded lessons taught by 10 randomly selected pre-service science teachers in teaching practice in a few Nigerian secondary schools were analyzed. Beside the expected goal attainment of the lessons a number of negative conflicts were documented. The analysis of the responses to the questionnaire administered to further sample of 220 serving science teachers presented in charts not only confirmed the occurrences of these negative instances but attributed them to students’ poor home background and upbringing, They attributed students’ success and good performance to teachers’ dedication and employment of good teaching methods, strategies and approaches. The subjects played down the contributions from government and parents. A number of remediation strategies meant to carry all students along in teaching-learning situation were made. These include adequately equipped laboratories, provision of appropriate incentive environment for teachers, retraining and counseling. The author sees these useful but predictable findings as part of a customary teacher’s narrative and rhetoric. For that reason, this study sought to adopt a phenomenological methodology by reconstituting these surface experiences afresh and at deep level perceptions. One suggestion is science excursions for students who for one reason or the other are prone to causing these conflicts. Such excursions can take the students to a science museum or science exhibition that offers hands-on involvement and can help change their attitudes towards learning science inside the more passive space of the classroom. Keywords: Science classroom, nature of conflicts, classroom management, phenomenological methodology.