Intentional water and tired wood: exploring causes for primary teachers’ reference to intuitive construals in science education

Abstract

ABSTRACT Research reveals that teachers regularly refer to intuitive construals (IC) in formal science education. Only a few studies, however, have investigated why teachers refer to them. Alarmingly, these studies suggest didactic consideration is not the main reason for this. Instead, teachers introduce IC unintentionally or due to a lack of expertise. A possible explanation for an unconsidered reference to IC – a part of lack of expertise – is that teachers spontaneously align their language with the students’ perspective as a form of implicit didactisation. We asked fifty prospective primary teachers to explain a basic scientific phenomenon of inanimate nature to fictitious recipients of varying expertise (a science expert and a student). We reasoned that if lack of knowledge was the reason for using IC, explanations should be equally intuitive for all addressees. If spontaneous language didactisation is the reason, only the explanations for students should contain intuitive elements. Results show that the majority of participants use IC exclusively when addressing students and not when addressing experts. In a substantial minority, however, lack of knowledge is a more likely cause. We conclude that there might be a tendency towards language didactisation even outside didactic professional knowledge. Implications for teacher training are discussed.