Science Teachers’ Perceptions and Opinions Related to Professional Development Needs
Professional development for a teacher of science is a continuous, dynamic process. They need to respond to increasingly complex challenges today, such as adapting to a rapidly changing technology-based environment, or teaching many varied student populations. Formerly, in-service teacher training (IST) in science highlighted instructional skills rather than decision making, pedagogical knowledge, and reasoning (e.g. Guerrioro, 2017) -- today, these are not enough. In Mongolia, educational reforms in science require changes in teaching and professional development. This study examines how science teachers perceive their development needs from the perspective of their everyday practice. Research questions were (1) Is the evaluation of professional needs related to the perceptions of the importance of specific teacher knowledge components in practice? (2) Are there differences among science teachers by background variables?
A self-developed paper and pencil questionnaire was administered to 203 Mongolian science teachers in 2017. They rated 20 components of teacher knowledge (five-point Likert scale items) from two aspects: how important they are to be included in IST and how important they are in practice. In addition, an open-ended question also asked about their development needs. Demographic information was also solicited.
As for Question (1) the responses to professional development need areas formed three categories: declarative knowledge domain (62,02%); procedural knowledge domain (22,12%); and affective knowledge domain (15,87%). Thus, the majority focused on knowledge as opposed to skills and attitudes. When the closed items were examined, paired sample t-tests showed not many significant differences. However, weak correlations (p<.001) were found between corresponding knowledge components, revealing that individuals often judged the two aspects differently.
As for Question (2), no remarkable differences emerged by gender and length of work experience. By educational level, perceptions were more heterogeneous regarding procedural knowledge only.
By professional status, several differences (p<.001) emerged between sub-samples regarding the declarative domain.
The findings indicate that science teachers’ specific professional development needs may call for more flexibility from compulsorily IST training, e.g. modular curricula or instructional methods based on active learning. Also, various forms of assessment could also be offered. The findings might be of interest to educational policy makers as well.
Keywords: science teachers, professional development, teachers’ perceptions;
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New Perspectives in Science Education
