Orientations of the actions of physics teachers

Although teachers’ thinking and their subjective (implicit) theories have been investigated for many years, little research has been carried out into teachers’ thinking and decision‐making in specific areas. This paper describes the main orientations of physics teachers that are assumed to be typical for this subject. The findings demonstrate that the everyday orientations of trainees and novices teaching physics are very different from the standards that are taught in teacher training courses. Within these orientations teachers’ conceptions of experiments performed in the classroom refer more to their possible contribution to pupils’ classroom activities than to their functions concerning the process of learning physics. One reason for this is that teachers aim to make physics as a school subject more attractive and popular with pupils. Teachers’ decision‐making is influenced to a greater extent by the bad image of their subject than by learning conditions.