Students' and Teachers' Confidence about their own Science Knowledge and Skills in Relation to the Sciences National Curriculum

How primary trainee teachers perceive the development of their own scientific knowledge: Links between confidence, content and competence?

“…These concerns about physical science are reflected in a number of other studies (Carré and . Sorsby and Watson (1993) whilst reporting higher levels of teacher and trainee confidence with both substantive and syntactic scientific knowledge than most other studies, did identify concerns about physical science, astronomy and geology.…”

“…(8) Is there a causal relationship between the pattern of trainees' school experiences in science and their mentors' lack of confidence with scientific knowledge? Scottish primary teachers are more concerned about substantive knowledge than pedagogy in science (Harlen and Holroyd 1995) and there is evidence that teachers in England and Wales share this concern (Sorsby and Watson 1993). Carré and Carters' study (1993), while revealing increasing confidence in teaching science in the early years of the NC, still showed that nearly 60% of teachers lacked confidence in their general competence to teach NC Science.…”

“…Third, because they trained as generalists many primary teachers, who qualified before the NC was implemented in the late 1980s, are concerned about the highly specific science requirements in the NC. A fourth reason, not mentioned by Sorsby and Watson (1993), is that many primary teachers and trainees hold scientific ideas which are closer to those of children than scientists (Kruger and Summers 1988). While the implementation of NC science has partially alleviated these concerns in some primary schools, they are still relevant to many trainees starting ITE.…”

School nurses’ skills in sexual health education

“…They claimed that individual variables influence teacher confidence as much as, if not more than, intellectual competence or practical experience. Sorsby and Watson (1993) claimed that 'the possession of higher level qualifications is associated with greater confidence'. The positive correlation between higher qualifications and confidence is confirmed by Pelletier et al (1994) who found that graduate studies increased nurses' confidence, assertiveness and self-esteem by 52.5 per cent.…”

Teacher Perceptions of Science in the National Curriculum: Findings from an application of the Science Curriculum Implementation Questionnaire in English primary schools

“…With the benefit of hindsight, of course, this should come as no surprise given the generally low status of primary science relative to other subject areas reported earlier in the National Primary Survey of Schools (DES 1978) and work of the Assessment of Performance Unit (DES/WO/DENI 1988) and the simple and obvious fact that most practitioners working with the National Curriculum for the first time had little experience of science beyond what they themselves had encountered at school. With a 'tool kit' of sometimes highly specialised professional knowledge and skills increasingly in demand, addressing and acquiring curricular expertise in science has always proved somewhat problematic, particularly for the 'generalist' primary teacher (Sorsby and Watson 1993), often resulting in the almost unavoidable adoption of coping strategies not all of which could be considered productive (Summers 1994;Harlen and Holroyd 1997;Newton and Newton 2000;Pine et al 2001). A lasting solution through pre-service and in-service education and training and continuous professional development has always remained somewhat elusive (Kruger et al 1990;Kinder and Harland 1991;Summers and Kruger 1994;Smith 1999; Teachers' limited subject knowledge of science in particular was quickly identified as a major factor adversely impacting on 'delivery ' (planning, teaching, differentiation and assessment) as well as confidence in the classroom and ultimately the range and quality of children's learning experiences (Russell et al 1992;Summers 1992;Holroyd and Harlen 1996;Osborne and Simon 1996) and subject knowledge subsequently received considerable attention.…”