Relationship between Teaching Context and Teachers’ Orientations to Science Teaching

Lydia Mavuru; Umesh Ramnarain

doi:10.29333/ejmste/91910

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Lydia Mavuru ¹ ^* , Umesh Ramnarain ¹

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¹ University of Johannesburg, Gauteng, SOUTH AFRICA^* Corresponding Author

Abstract

The social context available to science teachers is known to influence their classroom practices or pedagogical orientation. This study investigated how social context influences pedagogical orientations at three township schools in South Africa. The study employed a qualitative case-study design involving three Grade 9 Natural Sciences teachers. Data collection involved pre-lesson interviews; lesson observations using the Reformed Teaching Observation Protocol (RTOP); post-lesson interviews; and analysis of documents. Data were analysed using a constant comparative method. Findings revealed that learners’ socio-cultural practices, experiences and beliefs influenced teachers’ pedagogical orientations in two important ways. Firstly, their teaching became more process- and activity-driven. Secondly, teachers’ views about the goals of science teaching changed. Rather than a focus purely on curriculum coverage and exam preparation, building learner confidence, stimulating appreciation for the relevance of science, and motivating learners also became important. Implications drawn for in-service and pre-service teacher development programmes are discussed.

Keywords

pedagogical orientations
teaching and learning context
natural sciences

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This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Article Type: Research Article

EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed, 2018, Volume 14, Issue 8, Article No: em1564

https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/91910

Publication date: 01 Jun 2018

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How to cite this article

APA

Mavuru, L., & Ramnarain, U. (2018). Relationship between Teaching Context and Teachers’ Orientations to Science Teaching. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 14(8), em1564. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/91910

Vancouver

Mavuru L, Ramnarain U. Relationship between Teaching Context and Teachers’ Orientations to Science Teaching. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2018;14(8):em1564. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/91910

AMA

Mavuru L, Ramnarain U. Relationship between Teaching Context and Teachers’ Orientations to Science Teaching. EURASIA J Math Sci Tech Ed. 2018;14(8), em1564. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/91910

Chicago

Mavuru, Lydia, and Umesh Ramnarain. "Relationship between Teaching Context and Teachers’ Orientations to Science Teaching". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education 2018 14 no. 8 (2018): em1564. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/91910

Harvard

Mavuru, L., and Ramnarain, U. (2018). Relationship between Teaching Context and Teachers’ Orientations to Science Teaching. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 14(8), em1564. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/91910

MLA

Mavuru, Lydia et al. "Relationship between Teaching Context and Teachers’ Orientations to Science Teaching". Eurasia Journal of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, vol. 14, no. 8, 2018, em1564. https://doi.org/10.29333/ejmste/91910