Newly Qualified Primary Teachers' Perceptions of the Role of Text Material in Teaching Science

The study used a phenomenographic approach to elicit and describe in detail the categories of perceptions amongst 23 newly qualified primary teachers (NQTs) about their learning and use of science text during and since their training, including their text preferences and the role text plays in their science teaching. Considerable consensus existed amongst NQTs, in spite of a variety of training and subject backgrounds. The use of published science text was seen as peripheral to teaching and focused largely on their own planning needs. Texts were selected on the basis of easily accessible surface features, rather than subject content, and were felt to need adaptation before use with children. These outcomes are interpreted in terms of the teacher‐learner‐text (T‐L‐T) relationship and the implications for primary science teacher education.