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Teachers' conceptions of understanding historical and scientific events
Author(s) -
Newton D. P.,
Newton L. D.
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
british journal of educational psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.557
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 2044-8279
pISSN - 0007-0998
DOI - 10.1111/j.2044-8279.1997.tb01262.x
Subject(s) - relevance (law) , psychology , affect (linguistics) , subject (documents) , school teachers , mathematics education , scale (ratio) , communication , library science , political science , computer science , law , physics , quantum mechanics
Background . Teachers of younger children commonly teach a range of subjects. Those with a science degree, for instance, may also teach subjects like history. Conversely, those with a history degree may also teach science. Aims . Do such differences in academic background affect teachers' conceptions of understanding? The aim was to compare teachers' conceptions of understanding of scientific events and historical events, particularly when their degree was in one or the other of these subjects. Sample . A total of 178 primary school teachers (58 with science degrees, 61 with history degrees, and 59 with other degrees) were tested in the main part of the study. Method . Teachers rated 36 statements on a 1 to 5 scale for relevance to understanding historical and scientific events. Results . Teachers generally discriminated between the relevance of the statements for understanding these events. At the same time, teachers with different degrees also disagreed about the level of relevance for understanding of a number of statements. Differences in the balance of subject experience could account for this. Conclusions . Differences in academic backgrounds can affect conceptions of understanding of a subject. This could have consequences for the support for understanding that teachers provide.