A starting point of learning to teach science topics at the primary level - The Teacher Education Programme

This paper describes the experience of a group of student-teachers in an initial teacher education programme at the Hong Kong Institute of Education. In preparing the student-teachers to teach science, the programme introduced a module on science teaching that included a discussion of the various approaches to teach science and in particular, teaching science with a constructivist view of learning was discussed. The focus of the study is to look at the development of the student-teachers at three phases: before they took the module on science teaching; after they took the module and after their teaching practice period. The student-teachers were interviewed at the three phases and their views on science teaching; feelings about being a science teacher in school and their own experiences in learning to teach were collected and analysed. Drawing on the findings, the paper concludes with the possible factors that influence the development of the student-teachers as they learn to teach.