Becoming a teacher of primary science: integrating theory and practice

This paper reports a study of how a group of six students learnt to teach primary science as they went through a 4-year teacher education degree. The study shows that from early in the course students had a clear view of how they wanted to teach science and had a range of concerns about their teaching. Their views gradually became refined and actionable in the classroom as they went through the course. A variety of data types was used to interpret their learning. A significant number of their decisions were not recorded in their written work so were only available in discussion or action. All students were able to deal with the complexity of their classrooms in their oral discussions, but fewer could do this in writing. The students drew on a range of programme material to support their decisions, and these are used to show the interaction between their work in school and in college.