Pre-service teachers’ views on science teaching in Early Childhood Education in Spain

ABSTRACT

In this work we analyze the educational reality of Early Childhood Education classrooms in relation to the teaching of science. A total of 83 students from a fourth-year elementary science teacher training program participated in the study. A 48-item instrument was used to collect data. In general, the results obtained show that sciences are a part, consciously and unconsciously, of children’s learning. A marked presence of scientific content in the classroom has also been noted and an excellent predisposition of teachers in practice for their students to carry out activities of scientific inquiry. However, significant shortcomings have also been detected in relation to certain disciplinary content and activities specific to the scientific methodology that should be corrected in order for schoolchildren to achieve adequate scientific literacy. In our opinion, skills such as observation, experimentation, scientific inquiry, reflection and critical thinking should be promoted in children and that are the basis for developing scientific reasoning, positive attitudes towards science and, ultimately, the construction of a scientific basis for their future.

KEYWORDS:

• Early childhood education
• science teaching
• scientific literacy
• teachers in training
• teaching practices

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.