The Conflict Within the Role: A Longitudinal Study of Preschool Student Teachers' Developing Competence In and Attitudes Towards Science Teaching in Relation to Developing a Professional Role

Abstract

The aim of this exploratory, longitudinal study was to describe an overall picture of how perceptions of the teacher role and attitudes toward science and science teaching develop and interact during preschool teacher education, and how this in turn influences behavior when students are engaged in teaching science. Sixty-five students enrolled in a preschool teacher education program at a Swedish university were followed throughout their teacher education. The study used a phenomenographic approach within a theoretical framework of sociocultural and situated learning perspective. Questionnaires with open and closed questions were combined with interviews. The results show that in spite of growing competence and confidence, many of the students still found science activities to be awkward in preschool, mainly due to a wish to protect the children from school culture. The results have implications for teacher education and the preschool community, showing a need to problematize the purpose of teaching science in preschool and the meaning of pedagogical content knowledge in this context.