New Perspectives in Science Education

The main purpose of this study was to develop and validate a Teacher Development Program (TDP) for junior high school teachers (JHS) on teaching science using socioscientific issues (SSIs). The TDP aimed to develop JHS science teachers’ conceptions of SSIs, beliefs, and practices in teaching Science using SSIs, and competence in designing science lessons using SSIs. A concurrent nested mixed method was chosen as a research design. This study was implemented in a Junior High School in Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines, and eight participants were selected through purposeful intensity sampling. The development of the TDP was informed by theoretical assumptions laid out in Mezirow’s Transformative Learning Theory, SSI-Teaching and Learning Framework, and the Philippine Professional Standards for Teachers coupled with empirical bases acquired by collecting data from participating teachers’ profiles. Three approaches were used to establish the validity of the TDP: (1) expert validation, (2) validation by demonstrating the extent to which the TDP has achieved its intended purpose, and (3) consequential validity. Four experts rated, with an excellent level of agreement, that the TDP is effective and includes salient features to improve teacher competence in teaching science using SSIs. To establish the effects of the TDP, improvements (or lack thereof) of teachers were analyzed by characterizing their changes guided by the Extended Interconnected Model of Professional Growth.  Results show that the TDP was effective in improving science teachers’ conceptions of SSIs, beliefs, and practices in teaching Science using SSIs, as well as competence in designing Science lessons using SSIs. Furthermore, consequential validity was established by showing that students of teachers who enact full-fledged SSI Teaching and Learning have shown positive improvements in their scientific literacy.