5 Facts in Teaching Science in Primary Schools

In order for you to understand why you have to teach science to the primary school pupils, you need to study the goals for science education in this country. Teaching science in primary school is a very delicate issue because children start encountering formal science learning at this level. You need to acquaint yourself to some of the documents that talk about primary science education in Zambia such as Educating our future (policy document on education) and the Zambia Basic Education Syllabus.

THE RATIONALE OF TEACHING SCIENCE IN PRIMARY

Teaching science in primary , although it does obviously include content, is equally about establishing attitudes and working practices, which will first catch and then nurture the germinal concepts of learners. It gives the learners clear understanding of basic concepts, enabling them to acquire capacity to grasp more intricate science undertakings. Through this approach, they become more specific, more a meticulous, laterally thinking and persevering. Whole process is an effort to create a more scientifically literate community.

Teachers place a significant imprint in the minds of the learners under their care and their worldview. The views of the science teachers shape their teaching approaches in class. The teaching approaches in turn influence the learners’ views and perceptions, their attitudes, values and interest in science. Science educators have the task of preparing students for multiple roles and responsibilities in the society including managing naturally occurring scientific problems in a thoughtful and reasonably accurate way.

The bases and frameworks of the goals and objective of science education for science teachers and curriculum designers are as follows:

1. a)Science has an intrinsic value as a body of accumulated knowledge and as a way of finding out about the world.
2. b)Learning science is a means of helping individuals to fulfil their own personal potential.
3. c)Learning science helps the individual to learn to live in a society and both to contribute to it and benefit from it.

 RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SCIENCE TEACHER

The science teacher has the responsibility to develop in the learners, abilities, attitudes, concepts, intellectual skills and manipulative skills of doing science and acting scientifically by applying scientific knowledge. Pupils need to be aware of how rapidly science progresses and should be able to argue for the positive scientific development, having learnt the basic level of scientific literacy at school. They ought to help the learner acquire scientific competencies and know when and where to use and communicate such scientific knowledge. This involves reflection of the acquisition of knowledge and application of knowledge, understanding, and skills of scientific inquiry and the capacity to test them.

Good teaching requires an awareness of, among other things, the skills that can be developed by working in a scientific way.  Further, if we are to bring them (learner) into the present century, they must be made to appreciate the uncertainty of science, and to know that theories are speculations or guesses that must be discarded or modified as soon as they fail to fit observations. Children must know that no one really knows. When we give pupils the insights, then they will have learnt science no matter what content they have covered. This approach to teaching science promotes the use of processes of science.

EFFECTIVE TEACHING OF SCIENCE

Effectiveness of Science Education program will be manifested on how pupils interpret their environment, what is happening in their surrounding and the day-to-day life experiences. The process should help the learner develop the following:

• An understanding and appreciation of his/her relationship to his/her environment and confidence in his ability to effect changes and improvement in the environment.
• An awareness of, interest in and curiosity about natural phenomena of his environment, and a commitment to seek a scientific explanation of these phenomena.
• An understanding of a selection of significant scientific facts and theories, and the ability to apply them in relevant situations.
• His/her critical thinking ability and a reduction in tendency to adopt opinions based on unsupported or unreliable evidence.
• An understanding and appreciation of the methods of science, and the past and possible future contribution of science to mankind.

DEFICIENCIES IN TEACHING SCIENCE

Many science classes show deficiencies in course planning, course content and methodology. There is need to contextualise science education to the situation of the learner thus linking it to the social, cultural and personal issues. This requires use of experiments and experimental data to challenge the positions that are otherwise taken for granted. Balance in practical work should be geared towards problem-solving rather than illustrating previously taught theories. This promotes innovation and creativity.

Science education programs need to start from the context of the learner. There are often significant disparities between the ideas children bring to the lesson and the ideas the teacher assumes that they would bring, the scientific problem the teacher would like the children to investigate and what they consider the problem for investigation, activity proposed by the teacher and those undertaken by the pupils, the children’s conclusion and the conclusion proposed by the teacher. Although there are some impressive exceptions, too much of the time spent learning science by too many pupils consists of the accumulation of facts and principles which have little perceived or indeed actual, relevance to their daily lives as young people or as adults.

The science teachers are expected to encourage pupils, develop learning experiences that allow the pupils to take responsibility, and value pupil’s hypotheses, conclusions and generate discussions from there. You have to appreciate pupils’ ideas, and promote interactive teaching.

CONSTRUCTIVIST APPROACH

Constructivism is a perception of the way learning takes place from the learner’s -standpoint. Learning then is an active process where the learners construct new ideas or concepts based upon their current and past knowledge and experiences. The learners select and transform information, construct hypotheses, and make decisions, they rely on a cognitive structure to do so. Constructivism therefore views individuals as active constructors of understanding from their own worldview.

Instructional processes must create predisposition towards learning, organise instructional programs in a way that they are easily grasped by the learners, create the most effective sequence of the material to be addressed, and effectively pace reinforcement facilities.

Constructivist approach to teaching science demands that:

• The process begins with what learner already knows, understands and can do.
• Learners become constructors of their own knowledge with guidance of the teacher. The teacher does not necessarily provide the right answer or how appropriate solution can be found.
• Learner to learner communication in speech is a necessary ingredient. Universal terms are introduced when it is appropriate to do so.
• The focal point of the whole learning environment is each separate individual learner albeit in-group context.
• Teaching is a process of enabling. It comprises ceaseless assessment of all learners, individually and appropriate action responses.