Changes in perceptions and attitudes of pre‐service post‐graduate secondary school science teachers

The article deals with perceptual and attitudinal changes of British post‐graduate pre‐service secondary science teachers during and following their education and training year at the University of Keele, UK. Specifically, the following aspects were addressed: views about education through science; views about the aims and goals of science education, classroom management, teaching schemes and instructional strategies; their self‐concepts as science teachers; their self‐confidence concerning a variety of teaching assignments; and their expectations of the PGCE (Post‐Graduate Certificate of Education) programme. The influence of gender, age, and science subject background, on their initial views and subsequent changes of perceptions and attitudes, were also investigated. The research was conducted with 39 PGCE students and their five academic tutors. It combined both qualitative (open questionnaire and interviews) and quantitative ('closed’ questionnaire) methods. The findings emphasized three characteristics of the pre‐service teachers:

1. the progressive ideas which they already possessed and their considerable motivation on entering the teacher education programme;

2. their idiosyncratic nature. Throughout the teaching practice the students passed through a dynamic process of transformation. A meaningful change of perceptions and attitudes occurred for almost all of them in respect to ideas about science education in schools;

3. their narrowly practical viewpoints and learning abilities. The influence of the university tutors was effective only when their ideas provided useful and practical teaching tools. The students could only dimly understand the relevance of many of the theoretical and philosophical ideas presented by their tutors.

It is suggested that these findings might serve as a good beginning for developing more effective pre‐service education and training programmes.