Shulman PDF Traduo (incio)

knowledge and teaching: foundations of the new reform Shulman

!uilds his foundation for teaching reform on an idea of teaching that
em"hasi#es com"rehension and reasoning$ transformation and re%ection
this em"hasis is &usti'ed he writes$ !( the resoluteness with research and
"olic( ha)e so !latantl( ignored those as"ects of teaching in the "ast to
articulate and &ustift this conce"tion$ Shulmam res"onds to four *uestions:
what are the sources of the knowledge !ase for teaching+
conhecimento e ensino: fundamentos da nova reforma. Shulman
constri a sua fundao para o ensino de reforma em uma idia de ensino que enfatiza a
compreenso e raciocnio, transformao e reflexo. Essa nfase !ustificada, escreve
ele, pela firmeza com a investi"ao ea poltica tm to descaradamente i"norado os
aspectos do ensino no passado. articular e !ustift esta concepo, Shulmam responde a
quatro per"untas: quais so as fontes da #ase de conhecimento para o ensino$
South African Journal of Education
Print version ISSN 0256-0100
S. Afr. j. educ. vol.31 no.2 Pretoria 2011

ARTICLES

In-service teachers' perspectives of pre-service
teachers' knowledge domains in science


M L otha
!
" C # S Redd$


ASTRACT
The concept of pedagogical content knowledge is integral to teaching as a
profession and is often considered to be an important aspect of a teacher's lived
experience. Pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is described as a transformation
of teacher knowledge from a variety of domains of knowledge which incl!des
s!b"ect matter knowledge pedagogical knowledge and knowledge abo!t content.
This exploratory st!dy reports on in#service nat!ral science teachers' inferences
regarding pre#service teachers' performance in nat!ral science teaching as
observed d!ring a practice teaching period. Perspectives of in#service teachers of
the different knowledge domains of pre#service teachers d!ring their final year were
investigated. $emi#str!ct!red interviews incorporating a specific set of open#ended
%!estions were cond!cted with in#service teachers following a practice teaching
period of fo!r weeks. The findings indicate that the in#service teachers rated the
pre#service teachers positively in some knowledge domains b!t less positively in
other knowledge domains. This has prompted some rethinking on the str!ct!re and
presentation of the c!rric!l!m in o!r !ndergrad!ate teacher ed!cation programme
to incl!de and accommodate approaches that wo!ld enable better !ptake of vario!s
knowledge domains and improve PCK development.
%e$words& in#service teachers& pedagogical content knowledge& pre#service
teachers& teacher knowledge


Introd'ction
'n order to improve professional development in pre#service teachers (teachers in
training) in partic!lar learning comm!nities need to be established between
schools and tertiary ed!cation instit!tions between experienced mentor teachers
(in#service teachers) and pre#service teachers as well as between teacher ed!cators
and in#service teachers ((gbo )**+). (gbo ()**+) arg!es that collaboration within
professional development comm!nities and learning comm!nities alike co!ld be
seen as ,learning abo!t teaching and teaching abo!t learning,. This learning from
one another co!ld only be possible when one of the parties-participants is an
experienced teacher-mentor or teacher ed!cator. This symbiotic collaboration also
provides sol!tions for conc!rrent effective teacher ed!cation and therefore the
improvement of the preparation of pre#service teachers ((gbo )**+). (itken and
.ildon (/00)) are of the opinion that pre#service teachers ,need to talk to more
experienced teachers, on their way to becoming %!alified teachers. There is a need
for experienced mentors at the schools where pre#service teachers do their practical
training ((itken 1 .ildon /00)2++).
(ccording to $ikes (/00)234) the older teachers have longer#term perspectives on
teaching and learning since they ,have seen it all before,. 't is therefore also tr!e
that experiences in science teaching accompanied by ac%!ired knowledge develop
over time. 5embal#$a!l $tarr and Kra"cik (/000) mention that pre#service teachers
observing experienced teachers d!ring the practice teaching period might
maximise the %!ality of the pre#service teachers.
The research presented here was foc!sed on the interaction between pre#service
teachers and in#service teachers d!ring a practice teaching period. 6e relied on the
practical knowledge and PCK of teachers as the reference for making "!dgements
on pre#service teachers' competencies in nat!ral science teaching and th!s their
PCK. The %!estions ((ppendix () presented to the in#service teachers d!ring the
semi#str!ct!red interviews g!ided their "!dgements of pre#service teachers. 6e
analysed the data in terms of o!r framework developed from vario!s a!thors as
described in the next section. This article therefore reports on the st!dy of in#
service teachers' perspectives of pre#service teachers' knowledges of nat!ral
science teaching by applying .agn!sson Kra"cik 1 7orko's (/000) criteria for PCK
to interpret the comments made by the in#service teachers d!ring the interviews.

Theoretical framework
$h!lman originally concept!alised the constr!ct of Pedagogical Content Knowledge
(PCK) in /089. The key elements in his definition are knowledge of representations
of s!b"ect matter and the !nderstanding of specific learning diffic!lties and st!dent
conceptions. :rossmann (/00*) identified fo!r distinct components of PCK2
knowledge and beliefs for teaching s!b"ect matter& knowledge of st!dents'
!nderstanding conceptions and misconceptions of partic!lar topics in a discipline&
knowledge of the c!rric!l!m& and knowledge of instr!ctional strategies and
representations. 'n elaborating on these aspects .agn!sson Kra"cik and 7orko
(/000) concept!alised five criteria for PCK2 orientations towards teaching science
knowledge and beliefs of science c!rric!l!m knowledge of st!dents' !nderstanding
of science knowledge of assessment in science and knowledge of instr!ctional
strategies. (ccording to Carlsen (/000) PCK is a form of teacher knowledge and it
incl!des five general knowledge domains2 general ed!cation context specific
ed!cation context general pedagogical knowledge s!b"ect matter knowledge and
PCK. ;ig!re / (adapted from Carlsen /000) represents a reform!lation of science
teacher knowledge as p!blished by a!thors s!ch as $h!lman (/089) :rossman
(/00*) and .agn!sson et al. (/000).
't follows therefore that to attain an !nderstanding of science and the development
of scientific knowledge while taking into consideration the needs of diverse gro!ps
of learners teachers will have to display differentiated and integrated knowledge
domains to effectively design and g!ide learning experiences. (n opport!ne time to
ascertain knowledge of a teacher or pre#service teacher's knowledge regarding
teaching is d!ring their practice teaching period as it is the ind!ction period of pre#
service teachers into teaching.
Carlsen (/000) mentions that the ind!ction period to teaching is a ,wonderf!l, time
to examine teacher knowledge as it provides a space where conceptions of s!b"ect
matter are manifested in ,different places in different ways,. 't is therefore
necessary to tap from the competence of the in#service teachers to '"!dge' or make
inferences abo!t the knowledges regarding science teaching of o!r pre#service
teachers.
'n referring to statements and observations made by the in#service teachers as
well as %!estions they sometimes ask while teaching .agn!sson et al. (/000)
%!ote the following2 '6hat shall ' do with my learners to help them !nderstand
nat!ral science<' '6hat materials and reso!rces are there to help me<' '6hat are
the learners' pre#knowledge abo!t nat!ral science< 6hat do they find diffic!lt<'
'=ow best shall ' assess what my learners have learned<' They arg!e f!rther that
these %!estions which describe pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) are central
to identifying the knowledge that disting!ishes the skilled in#service teacher from
the pre#service teacher ($h!lman /089).
'n o!r teacher ed!cation programme we teach the intended c!rric!l!m for schools
as set o!t in the policy doc!ments (>$( )***). Content areas and o!tcomes for
nat!ral sciences are highlighted and disc!ssed in terms of the national c!rric!l!m.
'n this way we deal with c!rric!l!m as policy and the intended c!rric!l!m for
schools. Professional ed!cation incl!des the roles for teachers and the
competencies as presented in the policy doc!ments. ?!ring o!r analysis of the
doc!ments we were able to link some of the prescribed roles for teachers to the
criteria for PCK as presented by .agn!sson et al. (/000)(Table / (ppendix 7).
The concept of PCK is mostly theoretical and has not actively been introd!ced into
o!r teacher training programme or applied in schools. ;or this reason the concept
seemed to be far removed from the daily practice and concept!al framework of in#
service teachers. Therefore the %!estions form!lated for the interviews consisted of
separate concepts for content knowledge knowledge of pedagogy and knowledge
of c!rric!l!m concerning the pre#service teachers as related by the in#service
teachers. The concepts of PCK developed by $h!lman (/089) :rossman (/00*)
and .agn!sson et al. (/000) were !sed to develop an analytical framework which
was considered d!ring the thematic analysis of the taped and transcribed
interviews.
Policy doc!ments foc!sing on the changed pedagogy of both pre#service teachers
and in#service teachers form the key to the transformation of teaching in $o!th
(frican schools and define the roles and competencies that the teacher m!st be
able to perform. These roles incl!de2
@ Aearning mediator&
@ 'nterpreter and designer of learning programmes and materials&
@ Aeader administrator and manager&
@ $cholar researcher and lifelong learner&
@ (ssessor&
@ Aearning area-s!b"ect-discipline-phase specialist.
Competencies related to these roles are fo!ndational competency practical
competency and reflexive competency. These roles and competencies are cr!cial
facets according to which knowledge skills and val!es of a competent professional
teacher will be identified (Borms and $tandards )***).
Teachers' knowledge beliefs and attit!des abo!t ed!cation Cnat!ral science
teachingD have a profo!nd effect on all aspects of their teaching (Carlsen /00/
/00+& ?obey 1 $chafer /083& Koster 7rekelmans Korthagen 1 6!bbels )**4&
Bespor /08E& $mith 1 Beale /00/). $ome of this research was framed by the
concept!alisations developed by $h!lman and his colleag!es concerning the diverse
domains that teachers !se when planning and teaching (:rossman /00*&
$h!lman /089). Two ma"or contrib!tions of this work were the acknowledgement
of the importance of s!b"ect#specific knowledge in effective teaching and the
identification of a type of knowledge that was seen to be !ni%!e to the profession of
teachers known as pedagogical content knowledge. These co!ld be seen as
developing from a teacher's knowledge of content and knowledge of pedagogy.
(ltho!gh the concept of domains of knowledge (incl!ding PCK) has been !sed in
ed!cation as a vehicle to !nderstand how teachers concept!alise and organise their
teachings it seems to be not !niversally accepted as PCK. .any a!thors have
placed knowledge in vario!s categories resembling PCK. Fxamples of s!ch
categories are2 domain knowledge (Carlsen /00/& =ong et al. )**8) teacher
competencies (7arnes 1 Bobles /000& Casey /000& Koster et al. )**4) academic
knowledge and skills (7arnes 1 Bobles /000) and s!b"ect#oriented
methodological comm!nicative and organisational competencies (Korthagen
)**3). (ccording to $toof .artens and .errienboer ()***) competency is defined
by the levels of integration of knowledge skills and attit!des which f!rther define a
good (nat!ral science) teacher.
Table / ((ppendix 7) provides a s!mmary of the five criteria for PCK as s!ggested
by .agn!sson et al. (/000) linked to the roles prescribed by the policy doc!ments
(>$( )***). These five criteria and roles relate to many of the categories
previo!sly shown in ;ig!re /.
Flements of overlap were fo!nd between the different knowledges defining
characteristics of PCK and the expectations of the policy doc!ments regarding the
roles and competencies of a good science teacher. 't is therefore clear that the
ac%!isition of PCK sho!ld start in the pre#service training phase of teachers
(Aankford )*/*). =owever the reality is that teachers hold inade%!ate conceptions
of the nat!re of science which may be translated as being positivist in the sense
that they believe the s!bstantive content of science is fixed and !nchangeable
rather than tentative (Gan ?riel Gerloop 1 ?e Gos /008). The effect of this is that
nat!ral science is presented to learners by teachers as a body of knowledge with
proven facts and tr!ths and st!dents !ltimately foc!s on memorising facts with
the res!lt that they lack the intellect!al skills in science to allow them to ass!me
their roles in society ade%!ately ($yh#Hong )**E).
:oodno!gh ()**9) points o!t that at the end of their teacher training co!rse in
nat!ral science pre#service teachers are expected to comply with re%!ired skills
attit!des and dispositions in order to deal with the ongoing adaptations in the
classroom environment. This statement can also be related to the ed!cational
environment in $o!th (frica. 'f their roles and competencies as teachers are not
ade%!ately developed pre#service teachers will be ill prepared to commence their
roles as competent teachers.

Research design
?rawing on both the criteria for PCK (.agn!sson et al. /000) and the content of
the policy doc!ments semi#str!ct!red interview %!estions were constr!cted and
administered to in#service nat!ral science teachers

Conte(t
The st!dy was cond!cted within a larger pro"ect whose p!rpose was to adapt the
7Fd co!rse for teachers to align with the c!rric!l!m re%!irements for ed!cation as
set o!t in the policy doc!ments of the ?epartment of Fd!cation. This exploratory
st!dy was done in collaboration with in#service teachers to establish their
perspectives on o!r st!dents' 'performance'. The concept of PCK was chosen as
this approach links to the roles for ed!cators in the policy doc!ments and the
re%!irements thereof for o!r teachers and teachers in training. This specific
research p!rpose was to ascertain the different levels or domains of knowledge
displayed by pre#service teachers as perceived by their in#service teacher mentors
d!ring teaching practice at different primary and secondary schools. (s in#service
teachers are often not familiar with the term PCK %!estions disc!ssed d!ring the
interviews were form!lated in relation to the different domains of knowledge
(Carlsen /000) from which data were generated. Pre#interview disc!ssions were
held regarding the policy doc!ments and the teachers !nderstanding of the norms
and standards.

Sample
The method of sampling for this st!dy may be termed p!rposive sampling since
the participants were chosen with specific criteria in mind. Pre#service teachers
cond!cted their practice teaching at schools with learners from different socio#
economic gro!ps as well as co#ed and single#gender schools. The teacher
participants were selected on the basis that they were expert mentors assigned to
the pre#service teachers whose !nderstanding of the different knowledges within
nat!ral science teaching were being investigated. 6e are of the opinion that the
expert mentors are experienced teachers whose domains of knowledge enable them
to teach well. These in#service teachers were identified as expert mentors regarding
their teaching experience and %!alifications& 7Fd degree or =?F (higher diploma in
ed!cation). They also form part of the learning comm!nity established between the
schools where pre#service teachers do their teaching practise and o!r instit!tion of
higher ed!cation. Aearning comm!nities are important for s!pport interaction as
well as networking between new teachers experienced teachers Cexpert mentorsD
and teacher ed!cators (Ftkina )*/*) These expert mentors were re%!ired to do
some of the teaching assessments and observe the pre#service teachers who were
presenting nat!ral science lessons that they were re%!ired to teach d!ring teaching
practice. This incl!ded observation of teaching methods content area acc!racy
practical competencies and dealing with diversity in classrooms according to
observation sched!les s!pplied by the instit!tion. The sample for this st!dy
consisted of in#service teachers at fo!r secondary schools and two primary schools
which were sampled p!rposively to reflect the disparate socio#economic stat!s of
different comm!nities and schools in $o!th (frica and to accommodate the
possible differences between single#gender and co#ed schools.
The // participants consisted of in#service teachers from the vario!s schools where
o!r pre#service teachers were placed for teaching practice for a period of nine
weeks2 six female teachers and five male teachers. $ix schools were selected2 two
primary and fo!r secondary schools. $econdary schools were chosen according to
the socio#economic stat!s of the comm!nities that the schools served and also
whether they were single#gender (two schools) or co#ed schools (two schools). The
segregated boys' and girls' schools were academically top#performing schools while
the one co#ed school served middle to !pper middle#class comm!nities and the
other a lower to middle#class comm!nity.
7oth the primary schools were co#ed schools. Ine school was !nofficially %!alified
as serving an !pper middle#class comm!nity& the other school served a lower
middle#class comm!nity consisting mainly of the economically disadvantaged
gro!ps.
;or the p!rposes of this st!dy the schools are referred to as $chool ( 7 C ? F
and ; to ens!re anonymity as well as for ethical reasons.

)ata collection and anal$sis
:iven the exploratory nat!re of this st!dy and the fact that the aim of the st!dy
was to ascertain some perspectives of in#service teachers regarding the
performance of the pre#service teachers assigned to them the semi#str!ct!red
interview method was considered to be the most appropriate. The arg!ment in
favo!r of the appropriateness of interviews for this specific st!dy is s!pported by
?enscombe ()**E2/*0#/+8) who notes that the interview is s!itable for
investigating s!btle and more complex phenomena that may consist of sensitive
information of a personal nat!re as well as for accessing privileged information
from certain individ!als willing to f!rnish the researcher with this kind of
information2 ,... the interviewer still had a clear list of iss!es to be addressed and
%!estions to be answered ... the interviewer is more flexible in terms of the order
which the topics are considered ... to let the interviewee develop ideas and speak
more freely ...,
Permission was obtained from the 6estern Cape Fd!cation ?epartment to cond!ct
the semi#str!ct!red interviews at the identified schools with the chosen in#service
teachers who signed a consent of participation form. (ll the interviews were a!dio#
taped and transcribed& field notes were also taken d!ring and after interviews to
identify common topics within the responses. Teachers were ass!red of
confidentiality and anonymity as agreed d!ring the initial pre#interview disc!ssion.
The first step in analysing the data was following processes of Thematic (nalysis as
disc!ssed by 7ra!n and Clark ()**9). These data gathered from the semi#
str!ct!red interviews were coded according to the responses of the in#service
teachers and linked to the criteria for PCK as o!tlined in Table / ((ppendix 7).
Aabels were assigned to the !nits of text from the transcripts and field notes that
most closely resembled the mentioned criteria for PCK. ( process of comparison
was engaged concerning the responses of the different teachers at the vario!s
schools visited. These responses were finally gro!ped into the same concept!al
categories represented by the different criteria for PCK and doc!mented. Ainks
were established between the criteria and the findings from the interviews and
these will be disc!ssed in the following section.

Res'lts and disc'ssion of the res'lts
The res!lts were linked to the five criteria for PCK as described by .agn!sson et al.
(/000). These served as a framework for analysis of opport!nities for PCK in the
school c!rric!l!m and to recognise the level of pre#service teachers' experience of
PCK (different knowledge domains) in the context of the c!rric!l!m. The findings
displayed that the st!dents complied with some of .agn!sson et al.'s (/000)
criteria for PCK and were lacking in others. Ftkina ()*/*) arg!es that some aspects
of PCK co!ld only be formed d!ring the preparation years of a teacher and that
each teacher develops their own PCK with teaching experience. Th!s it became
evident d!ring this st!dy that the development of so!nd PCK is cr!cial d!ring the
training of pre#service teachers as also emphasised in the policy doc!ments.
The awareness of the in#service teachers regarding the above criteria and their
perspectives of the pre#service teachers are reflected in the following disc!ssion.
(ccording to the first criterion orientations toward teaching science are generally
organised according to the emphasis of the instr!ction content and reso!rce
material on a contin!!m from p!rely process# or content#based to that of being
in%!iry#based Cproblem#solvingD. 't became clear from the interviews cond!cted
with in#service teachers that pre#service teachers are mostly content#driven and
that they str!ggle to translate the theory into practice (schools ( 7 C ? and ;).
=owever in one school (school ;) the teachers felt that the st!dents were too
content#driven and then sometimes did not pay attention to the nat!re of the
learners. Inly school F mentioned that there might be 'gaps' in their (pre#service
teacher) content knowledge. The responses from the in#service teachers were
linked to criterion / for PCK as described by .agn!sson et al. (/000). The
responses are %!oted verbatim and some were translated from (frikaans as
indicated in each relevant instance.
The girl that was here was over and above on her knowledge, she was fantastic.
One provides the content they have to do but they do a lot of research. The content
knowledge is definitely there. (Translated from (frikaans)
In connection with the curriculum and methods they are quite up to date; it is only
the content knowledge that needs experience. (Translated from (frikaans)
The students have a positive attitude ... they do not necessarily have all the
subect knowledge, but they know where to find it. (Translated from (frikaans)
The application of the skills that they learn to the practical part is not yet
completely evident, that is the translation of theory to practice. (Translated from
(frikaans)
In the beginning he ust tries to transfer the theory. (Translated from (frikaans)
The university students were very content!driven and very task!oriented.
(Translated from (frikaans)
Pre#service teachers demonstrate an !nderstanding of science and science
knowledge altho!gh it is felt that pre#service teachers are !p to date with the
c!rric!l!m and methodology there seems to be some lack of s!b"ect content
knowledge. ;!rthermore it is mentioned that pre#service teachers find information
and reso!rce material to f!lfill the role of interpreter and designer manager and
administrator.
The second criterion knowledge of science c!rric!l!m consists of two parts2 (/)
the knowledge of goals and ob"ectives which incl!des knowledge of national
doc!ments that o!tlines frameworks for decision making and ()) knowledge of
programmes that are relevant to a partic!lar domain of science. Concerning the
first part the in#service teachers seemed to agree that some of the pre#service
teachers had ac%!ired and were !p to date with all the necessary knowledge
concerning the c!rric!l!m and national doc!ments (schools 7 and F) as can be
derived from the following %!otes. $chools ( C ? and ; felt that pre#service
teachers need more !p#to#date knowledge abo!t national doc!ments2
"egarding the curriculum and methods, they appear to be quite up to date.
(Translated from (frikaans)
They have knowledge of the curriculum. (Translated from (frikaans)
I feel that they do not necessarily have knowledge of the curriculum when they
arrive here, but they do ask about it. (Translated from (frikaans)
=owever regarding the second part the knowledge of programmes that are
relevant to a partic!lar domain the perceptions of the in#service teachers showed a
lack of !nderstanding and knowledge in one of the specific domains (schools ? F
and ;) of the nat!ral science c!rric!l!m namely 'Farth and 7eyond' which has a
distinct characteristic of geography2
If I did not have geography at school until matric, I would have struggled with
#$arth and %eyond#, which is more geography ... (Translated from (frikaans)
The above weak point-deficiency was raised as a concern from a novice in#service
teacher who had completed her teacher training the previo!s year. 'n s!pport of the
points made regarding the specific domain of 'Farth and 7eyond' the experienced
in#service teachers voiced a similar concern ill!strated in the following comments2
The part of the learning areas that needs more attention is the one on #$arth and
%eyond#, which is actually part of geography and biology, this part is thus being
neglected and needs more attention. The students seem to be wary of this area.
(Translated from (frikaans)
't is clear that policy doc!ments are cons!lted and that there is an !nderstanding of
the prescribed c!rric!l!m. Certain learning areas are of concern as this is neglected
d!ring the pre#service training and need more attention. This links to the role of
ed!cator and s!b"ect specialist which will develop more over time and with
experience (Ftkina )*/*).
The third criterion for PCK refers to the knowledge of learners' !nderstanding of
science with the characteristic of the teacher having the knowledge abo!t st!dents
to help them develop scientific knowledge. 't consists of two parts2 (/) knowledge
of re%!irements for learning incl!ding prere%!isite knowledge and approaches to
learning and ()) knowledge of areas of learner diffic!lty referring to topics learners
find diffic!lt to learn.
Teachers in schools ( and 7 felt that pre#service teachers start to know how to
react to different types of learners after cond!cting a few classes altho!gh
teachers in school C and ; felt that the pre#service teachers need more skills to
adapt to the needs of the different learners and that they sho!ld pay more
attention to whom the learners are as people. 't is diffic!lt to reconcile respect and
discipline in diverse classes and teachers felt that they need more s!pport in
dealing with these iss!es.
They enquire as to what the children already know. (Translated from (frikaans)
&ith experience they 'pre!service teachers( learn ... It 'knowledge of discipline(
comes with experience ... (Translated from (frikaans)
They must also be able to adapt to the different needs of the children, and be able
to adapt to the type of child that they are working with. (Translated from (frikaans)
The discipline part needs more attention. (Translated from (frikaans)
They need 'support or assistance with( on conflict management. (Translated from
(frikaans)
(ccording to two of the schools (schools ( and F) diffic!lty is displayed in the topic
of Flectricity and Fnergy within the Bat!ral $cience c!rric!l!m as the learners do
not grasp the concept of an atom. There also seems to be diffic!lty in the link
between learning areas as well& contin!ing with one topic in a specific learning area
and not making a proper link to similar topics in another learning area creates
misconceptions amongst learners (school F).
... you cannot tell a )r * learner that electricity comes from nuclear power and the
splitting of atoms if they do not know what an atom is ... (Translated from
(frikaans)
... you cannot ump from electricity to energy in plants ... learners do not
understand it ...(Translated from (frikaans)
(ccording to =ong =orng Ain and ChanAin ()**8) a disparity exists between pre#
service teacher ed!cation and the in#service "ob re%!irements. 't may therefore be
inferred from the above comments recorded d!ring this st!dy that the pre#service
teachers do not yet have the re%!ired awareness of learners' !nderstanding of
science and learning diff!c!lty and th!s the pre#service teachers do not f!lly
comply with this specific criterion of PCK and the role as mediator.
The fo!rth criterion is concept!alised in the knowledge of assessment consisting of
the knowledge of the dimensions of science learning to be assessed and the
methods of assessment. 'n comments from the in#service teachers emphasis is
placed on the fact that the pre#service teachers need more training in the
administering and !se of assessment (schools C and ?). $chools ( and 7 indicated
that pre#service teachers co!ld not demonstrate assessment skills as their practice
teaching period did not allow eno!gh time. The teachers of school F felt that the
assessment methods were too complicated even for them and that they had to do
too m!ch administrative work and paperwork. Components like knowledge of
assessment and knowledge of instr!ctional strategies are of some concern as
indicated by the following %!otes2
+tudents must receive more training on how to assess and how to use it.
(Translated from (frikaans)
,ssessment and the design of rubrics leave an open space. (Translated from
(frikaans) ... practicum time is too short, because the student has to take the
learners from the beginning through to assessment in order to be able to
understand it ... and ... short time of practicum does not allow them to assess it
effectively.
,ssessment is a problem; it is a nightmare. There is too much paperwork, and then
you start to neglect things, and choose only those that you want to do. (Translated
from (frikaans)
't co!ld be inferred that assessment seems problematic to experienced in#service
teachers& therefore it may be more so for pre#service teachers indicating a lack of
training.
(dhering to the role of assessor is not reached satisfactorily. Pre#service teachers
need a better !nderstanding in the designing and administering of vario!s
assessment strategies. 'n the fifth and final criterion knowledge of instr!ctional
strategies most of the emphasis of the in#service ed!cators was on the categories
of topic#specific activities and topic#specific representations. Concerning topic#
specific activities it co!ld be inferred that the knowledge of activities especially
experiments seems to be s!fficient (schools ( C ? and ;) while the teachers from
one school felt that the confidence of the pre#service teachers to engage with the
experiments are lacking (school F)2
One of the students was very afraid to work with gas. (Translated from (frikaans)
They do not have to know everything, but they have to seem at ease when they do
it. They must be able to improvise. (Translated from (frikaans)
'n#service teachers made favo!rable comments concerning topic#specific
representation (criterion 4). The pre#service teachers were accessing technology
and adapting to new pedagogy in order to prepare for their lessons more effectively
and in doing so engaging with PCK by way of vario!s knowledge domains.
(ccording to the teacher of school ; ,st!dents sho!ld gain more knowledge on the
different ways of representing content altho!gh they are good with new
technologies,.
+ome of them have good Internet knowledge, and then plan interesting interactive
tasks. (Translated from (frikaans)
It seems to me that they employ many forms of pedagogy. (Translated from
(frikaans)
+tudents adapt well to the new pedagogy, because they make an effort to do
research and obtain what they need to present a specific type of class. (Translated
from (frikaans)
Pre#service teachers do f!lfill the role of researcher and life#long learner as they
make !se of available reso!rces to engage with ,new, information and content
developing as s!b"ect experts.
't is evident from the res!lts that some of the criteria for PCK s!ch as orientations
toward teaching science knowledge and beliefs of science c!rric!l!m and
knowledge of st!dents' !nderstanding of science are c!rrently addressed in the
programme. $ome !ncertainties are however displayed regarding other criteria2
knowledge of assessment in science (criterion 3) and knowledge of instr!ctional
strategies (criterion 4). Bo links co!ld be made with criteria 3 and 4 in some of the
target schools (schools ; and 7 respectively). This indicates a lack of knowledge in
the assessment of nat!ral science as well as a lack of instr!ctional strategies. These
two criteria (3 and 4) make !p part of PCK and therefore it co!ld be inferred that
pre#service teachers' levels of PCK are not f!lly addressed and developed d!ring the
pre#service science co!rse in o!r programme.

Concl'sion
The overarching goals of this st!dy were to context!alise the importance of the
different knowledge domains and the PCK development of pre#service teachers as
well as an appraisal of PCK by in#service teachers. 't was f!rther aimed at providing
a space to implement ideas on science teaching and teaching strategies in a real
environment in which pre#service teachers will be working.
:enerally it can be inferred from the data that pre#service teachers do not comply
with all the knowledge domains and PCK that enable a teacher to teach well. (
great deal of time and effort is needed before any change will become visible in in#
service as well as pre#service teachers regarding their !nderstanding of PCK
(Ftkina )*/*).
The analysis of the data and the ens!ing disc!ssion show clearly that the pre#
service teachers complied only in terms of some of the criteria noted for PCK.
(ccording to the in#service teachers it appears that the pre#service teachers had
good content knowledge b!t they did not always present the knowledge in
innovative and creative ways as envisaged by the policy doc!ments. $ome of the
pre#service teachers lacked the confidence to teach or do practical work. Pre#
service teacher's confidence to teach effectively sho!ld develop d!ring teacher
training and this confidence will f!rther develop over time and with experience
(=an!scin Aee 1 (kerson )*/*& Aankford )*/*). 'n addition the pre#service
teachers do have a so!nd !nderstanding of c!rric!l!m ideas as presented in the
?oF policy doc!ments and they do !nderstand the nat!ral science s!b"ect content.
The responses related to assessment indicated a lack of competence to implement
vario!s strategies of assessment and s!ggested that time is needed to develop
these competencies. This implies that f!rther refinement of PCK is related to time
and teaching experience that carries on beyond pre#service teaching into career
development.
Iverall the data prod!ced shows that aspects of PCK seem to be developed to
varying degrees within the pre#service teacher training co!rse and largely in
isolation of each other. :oodno!gh 1 =!ng ()**8) arg!e that problem#based
learning (P7A) is an instr!ctional approach that provides a means to foster
meaningf!l science learning while enhancing PCK. 'deas developed regarding P7A
show that P7A as a teaching and learning process provides space and opport!nities
for the development of a variety of skills incl!ding concept!alisation and thinking
which might serve to better organise pre#service teachers with regard to f!lfilling
the roles set o!t in the policy doc!ments and to !tilise the many criteria of PCK as
well as integrating the different domains of knowledge pertaining to good science
teaching. 't is o!r contention that !sing P7A as a basis for teaching will integrate
the criteria of .agn!sson et al. (/000) and provide the space for holistic PCK
development and broadening of the domains of knowledge within nat!ral science
for pre#service science teachers. 6hile this benefits the teaching of nat!ral science
it will enhance the development of teaching competencies and roles as stip!lated in
the norms and standards doc!ment for teachers.
Possibilities for a second research cycle based on literat!re (Chick 1 =arris )**E&
=an!scin et al. )*/*& Aankford )*/*) regarding engaging disc!ssion abo!t
revisiting and rethinking science ed!cation as well as the adoption of P7A
(:oodno!gh 1 =!ng )**8) as an instr!ctional strategy for teaching and learning to
enhance PCK in the c!rric!l!m is possibly a way forward. Challenges to be
considered d!ring the proposed second research cycle co!ld incl!de2 (/)
organisational challenges s!ch as large classes with only one facilitator are of great
concern ()) cognitive challenges to provide st!dents with a strong rationale for
adopting a new instr!ctional approach& (+) the constant search for ways to make
problems engaging and meaningf!l& (3) constraints presented by rigid and slow#
changing teaching and learning programme str!ct!res& (4) the lack and availability
of %!alified facilitators& and (9) time constraints.
,To learn to be a good (highly %!alified) teacher the person needs to be exposed to
different contexts and pre#service teachers need opport!nities to practice their
ac%!ired skills within these contexts, (Ftkina )*/*23).
Considering the findings on the lack in some knowledge domains and PCK criteria
regarding the teaching of nat!ral science displayed by pre#service teachers
emanating from this st!dy the benefits for teaching and learning in the form of P7A
sho!ld now seem clearer. =owever it wo!ld be beneficial to engage in a prod!ced
synergy of both the local and international context!al constraints while also being
mindf!l of the challenges presented in the foregoing section.
PCK development is time dependent and re%!ires m!t!alistic interaction between
in# and pre#service teachers and !niversity s!pervisors. Close cooperation in this
triadic partnership we believe will address the problems enco!ntered in this st!dy.

Acknowledgement
6e thank the Centre for Teaching and Aearning ($tellenbosch Jniversity) for
f!nding which made this research pro"ect possible.

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$toof ( .artens >A 1 .errienboer HH: )***. 6hat is competence< ( constr!ctivist
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)**8. Competency disparity between pre#service teacher ed!cation and in#service
teaching re%!irements in Taiwan. +cience-irect. International /ournal of $ducation
-evelopment )823#)*. C Ainks D
$yh#Hong H )**E. ( st!dy of st!dents' constr!ction of science knowledge2 Talk and
writing in a collaborative gro!p. $ducational "esearch 30294#8/. C Ainks D
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A'thors
Ao!ise 7otha is Aect!rer in Plant Physiology in the ;ac!lty of Fd!cation at
$tellenbosch Jniversity. $he is a widely p!blished a!thor nationally and
internationally and her research aims to promote creativity in science teaching and
learning.
Chris >eddy is (ssociate Professor in the ;ac!lty of Fd!cation at $tellenbosch
Jniversity and =ead of the ?epartment of C!rric!l!m $t!dies. =e is a widely
p!blished rated social science researcher and his research interests incl!de teacher
ed!cation environmental ed!cation and c!rric!l!m en%!iry.


P lbotQs!n.ac.Ma


Appendi( A
Ipen#ended %!estions presented to participants d!ring the semi#str!ct!red
interviews. ?isc!ssions were a!dio taped and transcribed.
/. (re yo! familiar with the content of the doc!ment pertaining to the Borms and
$tandards for ed!cators doc!mented in the :overnment :aMette )***<
). (re yo! familiar with the prescribed roles for ed!cators set o!t in the Borms and
$tandards< (a copy of the roles were s!pplied and disc!ssed d!ring a pre#interview
disc!ssion)
+. ?id the pre#service teachers display and-or apply any of these roles and
principles d!ring their teaching practice<
3. ?id the pre#service teachers apply newly ac%!ired pedagogical skills and-or
instr!ctional strategies<
4. ?id the pre#service teachers display a deep !nderstanding of science and science
content knowledge<
9. 6hat is yo!r opinion abo!t the assessment of content o!tcomes<
E. ?o yo! feel that the pre#service teachers' !nderstanding of the $cience
c!rric!l!m is efficient eno!gh to be p!t to !se in a school-classroom<
8. ?o the pre#service teachers engage with knowledge abo!t the different learners
in order to maintain good discipline in a diverse classroom and to identify problem
areas<

Appendi(

Table / # Click to enlarge

) 2014 Educational Association of South Africa
*acult+ of Education
,niversit+ of -retoria
.roen'loof /ampus
&le+ds Street, -retoria
South 0frica
liesel.e#ersohn1up.ac.za
T,-D./01
Sul-Africano Jornal da Educa!o
Impresso verso ISSN 0256-0100
S. Afr. j. educ. vol.31 no.2 Pret"ria 2011

ARTI*+S

,#erspectivas de professores pr--servi.o 'dom/nios de
conhecimento em ci0ncia professores em servi.o


ML otha
!
" C#S Redd$


RES1M+
I conceito de conhecimento pedagRgico do conteSdo T essencial para o ensino
como !ma profissUo e T m!itas veMes considerado como !m aspecto importante da
experiVncia vivida de !m professor. Conhecimento pedagRgico do conteSdo (PCK) T
descrito como !ma transformaWUo do conhecimento dos professores a partir de !ma
variedade de domXnios de conhecimento o %!e incl!i o conhecimento ass!nto
conhecimento pedagRgico e conhecimento sobre o conteSdo. Fste est!do
exploratRrio relata 'inferVncias sobre os professores prT#serviWo ,em serviWo de
professores de ciVncias nat!rais desempenho no ensino das ciVncias nat!rais como
observado d!rante !m perXodo de prYtica de ensino. Perspectivas de professores
em serviWo dos diferentes domXnios de professores prT#serviWo d!rante se! Sltimo
ano de conhecimento foram investigados. Fntrevistas semi#estr!t!radas
incorporando !m con"!nto especXfico de %!estZes abertas foram realiMadas com
professores em serviWo na se%!Vncia de !m perXodo de ensino prYtica de %!atro
semanas. Is res!ltados indicam %!e os professores em serviWo avaliado os
professores prT#serviWo de forma positiva em alg!ns domXnios de conhecimento
mas menos positivamente em o!tras Yreas do conhecimento. 'sso levo! alg!ns
repensar sobre a estr!t!ra e apresentaWUo do c!rrXc!lo no nosso programa de
grad!aWUo de formaWUo de professores para incl!ir e acomodar as abordagens %!e
permitam !ma melhor absorWUo de vYrios domXnios do conhecimento e melhorar o
desenvolvimento PCK.
#alavras-chave& professores em serviWo o conhecimento pedagRgico do
conteSdo& professores prT#serviWo& conhecimento dos professores


Introd'.2o
( fim de melhorar o desenvolvimento profissional em professores de prT#
atendimento (professores em formaWUo) em partic!lar as com!nidades de
aprendiMagem precisam ser estabelecidas entre as escolas e as instit!iWZes de
ensino s!perior entre professores experientes mentores (professores em serviWo) e
os professores prT#serviWo bem entre formadores de professores e professores em
serviWo ((gbo )**+). (gbo ()**+) arg!menta %!e a colaboraWUo entre as
com!nidades de desenvolvimento e com!nidades de aprendiMagem profissional
tanto pode ser visto como ,aprender sobre o ensino e ensinando sobre a
aprendiMagem,. Fsse aprendiMado de !m o!tro sR seria possXvel %!ando !m dos
partidos - participantes T !m experiente professor - t!tor o! professor ed!cador.
Fsta colaboraWUo simbiRtica tambTm fornece sol!WZes para a formaWUo de
professores eficaM concorrente e portanto a melhoria da formaWUo de professores
prT#serviWo ((gbo )**+). (itken e .ildon (/00)) sUo da opiniUo de %!e os
professores prT#serviWo ,Preciso falar com os professores mais experientes, em se!
caminho para se tornar professores %!alificados. =Y !ma necessidade de mentores
experientes nas escolas onde os professores prT#serviWo faMer a s!a formaWUo
prYtica ((itken 1 .ildon /00)2++).
?e acordo com $ikes (/00)234) os professores mais velhos tVm perspectivas de
longo praMo sobre o ensino e aprendiMagem !ma veM %!e ,"Y vi isso antes,. Por
isso T tambTm verdade %!e as experiVncias no ensino de ciVncias acompanhadas
de conhecimentos ad%!iridos desenvolver ao longo do tempo. 5embal#$a!l $tarr e
Kra"cik (/000) menciona %!e os professores prT#serviWo observando professores
experientes d!rante o perXodo de prYtica de ensino pode maximiMar a %!alidade
dos professores prT#serviWo.
( pes%!isa a%!i apresentada foi focada na interaWUo entre professores prT#serviWo e
professores em serviWo d!rante !m perXodo de prYtica de ensino. Contamos com o
conhecimento prYtico e PCK de professores como a referVncia para faMer
"!lgamentos sobre as competVncias dos professores prT#serviWo 'no ensino das
ciVncias nat!rais e assim s!a PCK. (s perg!ntas ((pVndice () apresentado aos
professores em serviWo d!rante as entrevistas semi#estr!t!radas g!iado se!s
"!lgamentos de professores prT#serviWo. ;oram analisados os dados em termos de
nossa estr!t!ra desenvolvidos a partir de vYrios a!tores como descrito na prRxima
seWUo. (ssim o presente artigo relata o est!do de ,perspectivas de professores
prT#serviWo 'saberes do ensino das ciVncias nat!rais professores em serviWo atravTs
da aplicaWUo (/000) critTrios .agn!sson do Kra"cik e 7orko para PCK para
interpretar as observaWZes feitas pelos professores em serviWo d!rante as
entrevistas.

Arca3o'.o te4rico
$h!lman Iriginalmente concebida a constr!WUo de conhecimento pedagRgico do
conteSdo (PCK) em /089. Is elementos#chave em s!a definiWUo sUo o
conhecimento das representaWZes do tema ea compreensUo de dific!ldades
especXficas de aprendiMagem e concepWZes de est!dantes. :rossmann (/00*)
identifico! %!atro componentes distintos de PCK2 conhecimentos e crenWas para o
ensino da matTria o conhecimento de compreensUo dos al!nos concepWZes e
e%!Xvocos de tRpicos especXficos de !ma disciplina o conhecimento do c!rrXc!lo e
conhecimento de estratTgias de ensino e representaWZes. (o elaborar sobre estes
aspectos .agn!sson Kra"cik e 7orko (/000) conceit!o! cinco critTrios para PCK2
orientaWZes em relaWUo [ ciVncia do ensino conhecimentos e crenWas de c!rrXc!lo
cientXfico o conhecimento da compreensUo da ciVncia dos al!nos o conhecimento
da avaliaWUo em ciVncia e conhecimento de estratTgias de ensino . $eg!ndo Carlsen
(/000) PCK T !ma forma de conhecimento dos professores e incl!i cinco domXnios
de conhecimentos gerais2. Contexto da ed!caWUo geral o contexto especXfico da
ed!caWUo conhecimento pedagRgico geral conhecimento ass!nto e PCK ;ig!ra /
(adaptado de Carlsen /000) representa !ma reform!laWUo do conhecimento como
professor de ciVncias p!blicados por a!tores como $h!lman (/089) :rossman
(/00*) e .agn!sson et al. (/000).
Concl!i#se portanto %!e para atingir !ma compreensUo da ciVncia e do
desenvolvimento do conhecimento cientXfico tendo em consideraWUo as
necessidades dos diversos gr!pos de al!nos os professores terUo %!e exibir
domXnios de conhecimento diferenciados e integrados para efetivamente pro"etar e
orientar experiVncias de aprendiMagem. Jm momento oport!no para avaliar o
conhecimento de !m professor o! de conhecimento do professor prT#serviWo a
respeito do ensino T d!rante o se! perXodo de prYtica de ensino pois T o perXodo de
ind!WUo de professores prT#serviWo para o ensino.
Carlsen (/000) menciona %!e o perXodo de ind!WUo ao ensino T !m momento
,maravilhoso, para examinar o conhecimento dos professores pois proporciona !m
espaWo onde as concepWZes de ass!nto se manifestam em ,l!gares diferentes de
formas diferentes,. Portanto T necessYrio para tocar a partir da competVncia dos
professores em serviWo para ,"!iM, o! faMer inferVncias sobre os conhecimentos
sobre o ensino da ciVncia dos nossos professores prT#serviWo.
(o se referir a declaraWZes e observaWZes feitas pelos professores em serviWo bem
como as perg!ntas %!e [s veMes perg!ntam en%!anto ensino .agn!sson et al.
(/000) citam o seg!inte2 'I %!e vo! faMer com os me!s al!nos para a"!dY#los a
entender a ciVncia nat!ral<' 'L!e materiais e rec!rsos estUo lY para me a"!dar<'
'L!ais sUo os al!nos ,prT#conhecimento sobre a ciVncia nat!ral< I %!e eles acham
difXcil< '' L!al a melhor ' deve avaliar o %!e os me!s al!nos aprenderam< Fles
arg!mentam ainda %!e estas %!estZes %!e descrevem conhecimento pedagRgico
do conteSdo (PCK) sUo f!ndamentais para identificar o conhecimento %!e disting!e
os %!alificados professores em serviWo do professor prT#serviWo ($h!lman /089).
Fm nosso programa de formaWUo de professores %!e ensinam o c!rrXc!lo destina#se
a escolas como definidos nos doc!mentos de polXtica (>$( )***). \reas de
conteSdo e res!ltados para as ciVncias nat!rais sUo destacados e disc!tidos em
termos do c!rrXc!lo nacional. ?esta forma lidar com c!rrXc!lo como polXtica e do
c!rrXc!lo destina#se a escolas. ( ed!caWUo profissional incl!i os papTis de
professores e as competVncias como apresentados nos doc!mentos de polXtica.
?!rante a anYlise dos doc!mentos %!e foram capaMes de vinc!lar alg!ns dos papTis
prescritos para os professores os critTrios para PCK como apresentado por
.agn!sson et al. (/000) ( Tabela / (pVndice 7).
I conceito de PCK T principalmente teRrica e ativamente nUo foi introd!Mida em
nosso programa de formaWUo de professores o! aplicado nas escolas. Por esta
raMUo o conceito parecia estar m!ito distante da prYtica diYria e %!adro conceit!al
de professores em serviWo. Portanto as %!estZes form!ladas para as entrevistas
consistiram em conceitos distintos para conhecimento do conteSdo o conhecimento
da pedagogia e conhecimento do c!rrXc!lo sobre os professores prT#serviWo como
relatado pelos prRprios professores em serviWo. Is conceitos de PCK desenvolvidos
por $h!lman (/089) :rossman (/00*) e .agn!sson et al. (/000) foram !sados
para desenvolver !m %!adro analXtico %!e foi considerado d!rante a anYlise
temYtica das entrevistas gravadas e transcritas.
?oc!mentos de polXticas com foco na pedagogia m!do! de ambos os f!t!ros
professores e professores em serviWo formam a chave para a transformaWUo do
ensino nas escolas do $!l (fricano e definir as f!nWZes e competVncias %!e o
professor deve ser capaM de exec!tar. Fstes papTis incl!em2
@ (prender mediador&
@ 'ntTrprete e criador de programas de aprendiMagem e materiais&
@ AXder administrador e gerente&
@ (cadVmico pes%!isador e eterno aprendiM&
@ (ssessor&
@ Yrea de (prendiMagem - s!"eito - especialista disciplina - fase.
CompetVncias relacionadas a essas f!nWZes sUo competVncia f!ndacional
competVncia prYtica e competVncia reflexiva. Fstes papTis e competVncias sUo
facetas importantes seg!ndo as %!ais conhecimentos habilidades e valores de !m
professor profissional competente serY identificado (Bormas e PadrZes )***).
?os professores conhecimentos crenWas e atit!des sobre ed!caWUo Censino de
ciVncias nat!raisD tVm !m efeito prof!ndo sobre todos os aspectos de se! ensino
(Carlsen /00/ /00+& ?obey 1 $chafer /083& Koster 7rekelmans Korthagen 1
6!bbels )**4& Bespor /08E & $mith 1 Beale /00/). (lg!ma desta investigaWUo
foi en%!adrado pelas conceit!aWZes desenvolvidas por $h!lman e se!s colegas
sobre os diversos domXnios %!e os professores !sam %!ando o plane"amento e
ensino (:rossman /00*& $h!lman /089). ?!as grandes contrib!iWZes deste
trabalho foram o reconhecimento da import]ncia do conhecimento especXfico do
ass!nto no ensino eficaM bem como a identificaWUo de !m tipo de conhecimento
%!e foi visto a ser excl!sivo para a profissUo de professores conhecidos como
conhecimento pedagRgico do conteSdo. Fstes podem ser vistos como o
desenvolvimento de conhecimento de !m professor de conteSdos e conhecimentos
de pedagogia.
Fmbora o conceito de domXnios de conhecimento (incl!indo PCK) tem sido !tiliMado
na ed!caWUo como !m veXc!lo para compreender como os professores conceit!ar e
organiMar os se!s ensinamentos ele parece nUo ser !niversalmente aceito como
PCK. .!itos a!tores tVm colocado o conhecimento em vYrias categorias %!e se
assemelham PCK. Fxemplos dessas categorias sUo2 conhecimento de domXnio
(Carlsen /00/& =ong et al, )**8.) CompetVncias dos professores (7arnes 1
Bobles /000& Casey /000& Koster et al, )**4.) Conhecimentos e habilidades
(7arnes 1 Bobles acadVmico /000) e competVncias metodolRgicas com!nicativas
e organiMacionais de !m ass!nto orientado (Korthagen )**3). ?e acordo com
$toof .artens e .errienboer ()***) a competVncia T definida pelos nXveis de
integraWUo de conhecimentos habilidades e atit!des %!e definem mais !m bom
professor (ciVncias nat!rais).
Tabela / ((pVndice 7) apresenta !m res!mo dos cinco critTrios para PCK como
s!gerido por .agn!sson et al. (/000) ligado aos papTis prescritos pelos
doc!mentos de polXtica (>$( )***). Fstes cinco critTrios e papTis referem#se a
m!itas das categorias anteriormente mostrados na ;ig!ra / .
;oram encontrados elementos de sobreposiWUo entre os diferentes saberes as
caracterXsticas definidoras de PCK e as expectativas dos doc!mentos de polXtica em
relaWUo aos papTis e competVncias de !m bom professor de ciVncias. ^ claro
portanto %!e a a%!isiWUo de PCK deve comeWar na fase de formaWUo prT#serviWo de
professores (Aankford )*/*). Bo entanto a realidade T %!e professores poss!em
concepWZes inade%!adas de a nat!reMa da ciVncia o %!e pode ser trad!Mido como
sendo positivista no sentido de %!e eles acreditam %!e o conteSdo s!bstantivo da
ciVncia T fixo e im!tYvel em veM de tentativa (Gan ?riel Gerloop 1 ?e Gos /008).
I efeito disto T %!e a ciVncia nat!ral T apresentado aos al!nos pelos professores
como !m corpo de conhecimento com fatos e verdades comprovadas e est!dantes
em Sltima anYlise se concentrar em memoriMar fatos com o res!ltado %!e eles nUo
tVm as habilidades intelect!ais da ciVncia %!e lhes permitam ass!mir a s!a papTis
na sociedade de forma ade%!ada ($yh#Hong )**E).
:oodno!gh ()**9) aponta %!e no final de se! c!rso de formaWUo de professores
em ciVncias nat!rais os professores prT#serviWo devem c!mprir com as habilidades
necessYrias atit!des e disposiWZes a fim de lidar com as adaptaWZes em c!rso no
ambiente de sala de a!la. Fsta declaraWUo tambTm pode estar relacionado com o
ambiente ed!cacional na \frica do $!l. $e as s!as f!nWZes e competVncias como
professores nUo sUo ade%!adamente desenvolvidos os professores prT#serviWo vai
estar mal preparado para comeWar se!s papTis como professores competentes.

#ro5eto de pes6'isa
7aseando#se em ambos os critTrios para PCK (.agn!sson et al., /000) e do
conteSdo dos doc!mentos de polXtica perg!ntas da entrevista semi#estr!t!rada
foram constr!Xdas e administradas a em serviWo os professores de ciVncias nat!rais

Conte(to
I est!do foi realiMado dentro de !m pro"eto maior c!"o ob"etivo era adaptar o
c!rso cama para os professores para se alinhar com as exigVncias c!rric!lares para
a ed!caWUo tal como estabelecido nos doc!mentos de polXtica do ?epartamento de
Fd!caWUo. Fste est!do foi realiMado em colaboraWUo com professores em serviWo
para estabelecer s!as perspectivas sobre de nossos al!nos 'performance'. I
conceito de PCK foi escolhida pois esta abordagem links para os papTis para os
ed!cadores nos doc!mentos de polXtica e os re%!isitos do mesmo para os nossos
professores e professores em formaWUo. Fste propRsito pes%!isa especXfica foi
avaliar os diferentes nXveis o! domXnios de conhecimento apresentadas por
professores prT#serviWo percebida pelos se!s mentores de professores em serviWo
d!rante a prYtica docente em diversas escolas primYrias e sec!ndYrias. Como os
professores em serviWo m!itas veMes nUo estUo familiariMados com o termo PCK
%!estZes disc!tidas d!rante as entrevistas foram form!ladas em relaWUo aos
diferentes domXnios do conhecimento (Carlsen /000) a partir do %!al foram
gerados dados. ?isc!ssZes de prT#entrevistas foram realiMadas a respeito dos
doc!mentos de polXtica e os professores a compreensUo das normas e padrZes.

Amostra
I mTtodo de amostragem para este est!do pode ser chamado de amostragem
intencional !ma veM %!e os participantes foram escolhidos com critTrios especXficos
em mente. Professores prT#serviWo cond!Miram s!a prYtica de ensino em escolas
com al!nos de diferentes gr!pos sRcio#econ_micos bem como co#ediWUo e de
gVnero Snico escolas. Is professores participantes foram selecionados com base em
%!e eles eram os mentores especialistas designados para os professores prT#
serviWo c!"a compreensUo dos diferentes saberes no ensino de ciVncias nat!rais
estavam sendo investigados. $omos da opiniUo de %!e os mentores especialistas
sUo professores experientes c!"os domXnios de conhecimento %!e possam ensinar
bem. Fstes professores em serviWo foram identificados como mentores especialistas
a respeito de s!a experiVncia de ensino e %!alificaWUo& gra! cama o! =?F (maior
diploma em ed!caWUo). Fles tambTm faMem parte da com!nidade de aprendiMagem
estabelecidas entre as escolas onde os professores prT#serviWo faMer s!a prYtica de
ensino e da nossa instit!iWUo de ensino s!perior. (s com!nidades de aprendiMagem
sUo importantes para o apoio interaWUo bem como de redes entre os novos
professores professores experientes mentores CFxpertD e formadores de
professores (Ftkina )*/*) Fsses mentores especialistas foram obrigados a faMer
alg!mas avaliaWZes de ensino e observar os f!t!ros professores %!e estavam
apresentando liWZes nat!rais da ciVncia %!e eles eram obrigados a ensinar d!rante
a prYtica docente. 'sto incl!i! a observaWUo de mTtodos de ensino a precisUo Mona
de conteSdo competVncias prYticas e lidar com a diversidade nas salas de a!la de
acordo com os horYrios de observaWUo fornecidos pela instit!iWUo. ( amostra deste
est!do consisti! de professores em serviWo em %!atro escolas sec!ndYrias e d!as
escolas primYrias %!e foram amostrados propositadamente para refletir o stat!s
sRcio#econ_mico dXspares de diferentes com!nidades e escolas na \frica do $!l e
para acomodar as possXveis diferenWas entre single# escolas de gVnero e co#ed.
Is // participantes consistia em serviWo professores das vYrias escolas onde nossos
f!t!ros professores foram colocados em prYtica de ensino por !m perXodo de nove
semanas2 seis professores do sexo feminino e cinco professores do sexo masc!lino.
$eis escolas foram selecionadas2 d!as escolas primYrias e sec!ndYrias %!atro. (s
escolas sec!ndYrias foram escolhidos de acordo com o stat!s sRcio#econ_mico das
com!nidades %!e as escolas atendidas e tambTm se eles eram de !m Snico sexo
(d!as escolas) o! escolas co#ediWUo (d!as escolas). Is meninos segregadas e
meninas escolas foram academicamente alto desempenho escolas en%!anto %!e a
escola !m co#ed servido do meio para as com!nidades de classe mTdia alta e o!tra
mais baixa para !ma com!nidade de classe mTdia.
(mbas as escolas primYrias eram escolas co#ed. Jma escola foi oficialmente
%!alificado como servir !ma com!nidade de classe mTdia alta a o!tra escola
servido !ma com!nidade de classe mTdia baixa %!e consiste principalmente dos
gr!pos economicamente desfavorecidos.
Para os fins deste est!do as escolas sUo referidos como Fscola ( 7 C ? F e ;
para asseg!rar o anonimato bem como por raMZes Tticas.

Coleta e an7lise de dados
?ada a nat!reMa exploratRria deste est!do eo fato de %!e o ob"etivo do est!do foi
verificar alg!mas perspectivas de professores em serviWo em relaWUo ao
desempenho dos professores prT#serviWo %!e lhes forem atrib!Xdas o mTtodo de
entrevista semi#estr!t!rada foi considerada a mais ade%!ado. I arg!mento em
favor da ade%!aWUo das entrevistas para este est!do especXfico T s!portado pelo
?enscombe ()**E2/*0#/+8) %!e observa %!e a entrevista T ade%!ado para
investigar fen_menos s!tis e mais complexas %!e podem consistir de informaWZes
sensXveis de nat!reMa pessoal como bem como para aceder a informaWUo
privilegiada de certos indivXd!os dispostos a fornecer o pes%!isador com este tipo
de informaWUo2 ,... o entrevistador ainda tinha !ma lista clara de %!estZes a serem
abordadas e perg!ntas a serem respondidas ... o entrevistador T mais flexXvel em
termos da ordem %!e os temas sUo considerados ... para deixar o entrevistado
desenvolver idTias e falar mais livremente ... ,
( permissUo foi obtida a partir do ?epartamento de Fd!caWUo do Cabo Icidental
para realiMar as entrevistas semi#estr!t!radas nas escolas identificadas com os
professores escolhidos em serviWo %!e assinaram !m termo de consentimento do
form!lYrio de participaWUo. Todas as entrevistas foram Y!dio#gravadas e transcritas
notas de campo tambTm foram tomadas d!rante e apRs entrevistas para identificar
temas com!ns nas respostas. Is professores foram a garantia de confidencialidade
e anonimato conforme acordado d!rante a fase inicial de disc!ssUo prT#entrevista.
I primeiro passo na anYlise dos dados foi a seg!ir os processos de anYlise temYtica
como disc!tido por 7ra!n e Clark ()**9). Fstes dados recolhidos a partir de
entrevistas semi#estr!t!radas foram codificados de acordo com as respostas dos
professores em serviWo e ligado aos critTrios para PCK conforme descrito na Tabela
/ ((pVndice 7). Fti%!etas foram designados para as !nidades de texto a partir das
transcriWZes e notas de campo %!e se assemelhava mais de perto os critTrios
mencionados para PCK. Jm processo de comparaWUo foi contratado sobre as
respostas dos professores diferentes para as vYrias escolas visitadas. Fstas
respostas foram finalmente agr!pados nas mesmas categorias concept!ais
representadas pelos diferentes critTrios de PCK e doc!mentada. AigaWZes foram
estabelecidos entre os critTrios e os res!ltados das entrevistas e estes serUo
disc!tidos na seWUo seg!inte.

Res'ltados e disc'ss2o dos res'ltados
Is res!ltados foram relacionados com os cinco critTrios para PCK como descritos
por .agn!sson et al. (/000). Fstes serviram como base para a anYlise de
oport!nidades para PCK no c!rrXc!lo escolar e de reconhecer o nXvel de experiVncia
professores prT#serviWo ,de PCK (diferentes domXnios de conhecimento) no ]mbito
do c!rrXc!lo. (s concl!sZes apresentadas %!e os al!nos c!mpriram alg!mas de
.agn!sson et al. '$ (/000) critTrios para PCK e estavam com falta de o!tros. Ftkina
()*/*) afirma %!e alg!ns aspectos da PCK sR poderia ser formada d!rante os anos
de preparaWUo de !m professor e %!e cada professor desenvolve s!a prRpria PCK
com experiVncia docente. (ssim torno!#se evidente d!rante este est!do %!e o
desenvolvimento do som PCK T cr!cial d!rante a formaWUo de professores prT#
serviWo como tambTm enfatiMado nos doc!mentos de polXtica.
( conscientiMaWUo dos professores em serviWo em relaWUo aos critTrios acima e s!as
perspectivas dos professores prT#serviWo sUo refletidas na disc!ssUo a seg!ir.
?e acordo com o primeiro critTrio orientaWZes para a ciVncia do ensino geralmente
sUo organiMados de acordo com a Vnfase do material de instr!WUo conteSdo e
rec!rsos em !m contin!!m de p!ramente processo o! para a de ser baseada na
investigaWUo Cproblem#solvingD baseada em conteSdo. Torno!#se claro a partir de
entrevistas realiMadas com professores em serviWo %!e os professores prT#serviWo
sUo em s!a maioria de conteSdo dirigido e %!e eles l!tam para trad!Mir a teoria em
prYtica (escolas ( 7 C ? e ;). Bo entanto em !ma escola (escola ;) os
professores sentiram %!e os al!nos eram m!ito conteSdo#driven e em seg!ida
por veMes nUo prestamos atenWUo [ nat!reMa dos al!nos. $R escola F menciono!
%!e pode haver ,lac!nas, na s!a (prT#serviWo de professores) conhecimento do
conteSdo. (s respostas dos professores em serviWo estavam ligados ao critTrio /
para PCK como descrito por .agn!sson et al. (/000). (s respostas sUo cotadas na
Xntegra e alg!ns foram trad!Midos do (frikaans conforme indicado em cada caso
relevante.
, menina que estava aqui foi acima em seu conhecimento, ela foi fant8stica.
9m fornece o conte:do que tem que fa;er, mas eles fa;em um monte de
investiga<=o. O conhecimento do conte:do > definitivamente l8. (Trad!Mido do
(frikaans)
$m conex=o com o curr?culo e m>todos que s=o bastante atuali;ado, > apenas o
conhecimento do conte:do que precisa de experi@ncia. (Trad!Mido do (frikaans)
Os alunos t@m uma atitude positiva ... eles n=o necessariamente t@m todo o
conhecimento do assunto, mas eles sabem onde encontr8!lo. (Trad!Mido do
(frikaans)
, aplica<=o das habilidades que eles aprendem a parte pr8tica ainda n=o >
completamente evidente, que > a tradu<=o da teoria A pr8tica. (Trad!Mido do
(frikaans)
Bo come<o, ele apenas tenta transferir a teoria. (Trad!Mido do (frikaans)
Os universit8rios eram muito conte:do!driven e muito orientado para a tarefa.
(Trad!Mido do (frikaans)
Professores prT#serviWo demonstram !ma compreensUo da ciVncia e do
conhecimento da ciVncia apesar de se considerar %!e os professores prT#serviWo
estUo em dia com o c!rrXc!lo e metodologia parece haver alg!ma falta de
conhecimento do conteSdo ass!nto. (lTm disso T mencionado %!e os professores
prT#serviWo encontrar material de informaWUo e de rec!rsos para c!mprir o papel de
intTrprete e designer gerente e administrador.
I seg!ndo critTrio o conhecimento do c!rrXc!lo de ciVncias T composta por d!as
partes2 (/) o conhecimento das metas e ob"etivos o %!e incl!i o conhecimento de
doc!mentos nacionais %!e descreve estr!t!ras de tomada de decisUo e ()) o
conhecimento de programas %!e sUo relevantes para !m determinado domXnio da
ciVncia. L!anto [ primeira parte os professores em serviWo pareciam concordar %!e
alg!ns dos professores prT#serviWo tinha ad%!irido e foram at!aliMados com todo o
conhecimento necessYrio sobre o c!rrXc!lo e doc!mentos nacionais (escolas 7 e F)
como pode ser derivado a partir das seg!intes citaWZes. Fscolas ( C ? e ; senti
%!e os professores prT#serviWo precisa de mais !p#to#date conhecimento sobre
doc!mentos nacionais2
$m rela<=o ao curr?culo e m>todos, eles parecem ser bastante atuali;ado.
(Trad!Mido do (frikaans)
$les t@m conhecimento do curr?culo. (Trad!Mido do (frikaans)
$u sinto que eles n=o t@m necessariamente conhecimento do curr?culo, quando eles
chegam aqui, mas eles n=o perguntar sobre isso. (Trad!Mido do (frikaans)
Bo entanto em relaWUo [ seg!nda parte o conhecimento dos programas %!e sUo
relevantes para !m determinado domXnio as percepWZes dos professores em
serviWo mostro! !ma falta de compreensUo e conhecimento em !m dos domXnios
especXficos (escolas ? F e ;) do c!rrXc!lo de CiVncias Bat!rais o! se"a 'Farth and
7eyond' %!e tem !ma caracterXstica distinta da geografia2
+e eu n=o tivesse geografia na escola at> matricial, eu teria lutado com #$arth and
%eyond#, que > mais geografia ... (Trad!Mido do (frikaans)
I ponto - deficiVncia fraco acima foi criado como !ma preoc!paWUo de !m novato
de professores %!e tinham completado s!a formaWUo de professores no ano
anterior. Fm apoio das observaWZes feitas em relaWUo ao domXnio especXfico de
'Farth and 7eyond' os experientes em serviWo os professores manifestaram !ma
preoc!paWUo semelhante il!strado nos seg!intes comentYrios2
, parte das 8reas de aprendi;agem que precisa de mais aten<=o > aquele em
#$arth and %eyond C, que > na verdade parte de geografia e biologia, esta parte >,
portanto, a ser negligenciado e precisa de mais aten<=o. Os alunos parecem ser
cauteloso nesta 8rea. (Trad!Mido do (frikaans)
^ claro %!e os doc!mentos polXticos sUo cons!ltados e %!e nUo hY !ma
compreensUo do c!rrXc!lo prescrito. Certas Yreas de aprendiMagem sUo motivo de
preoc!paWUo pois isso T negligenciado d!rante o treinamento prT#serviWo e
precisam de mais atenWUo. 'sso nos leva ao papel de ed!cador e especialista em
ass!nto %!e irY desenvolver mais ao longo do tempo e com a experiVncia (Ftkina
)*/*).
I terceiro critTrio para PCK refere#se ao conhecimento de compreensUo dos al!nos
da ciVncia com a caracterXstica de o professor ter o conhecimento sobre os al!nos
para a"!dY#los a desenvolver o conhecimento cientXfico. ^ composto por d!as
partes2 (/) conhecimento dos re%!isitos para a aprendiMagem incl!indo o
conhecimento prT#re%!isito e abordagens [ aprendiMagem e ()) o conhecimento
das Yreas de dific!ldade do al!no referindo#se aos tRpicos al!nos acham difXcil de
aprender.
Is professores das escolas ( e 7 senti %!e os professores prT#serviWo comeWar a
saber como reagir a diferentes tipos de al!nos apRs a realiMaWUo de alg!mas a!las
apesar de professores na escola C e ; sentiram %!e os f!t!ros professores precisam
de mais habilidades para se adaptar ao necessidades dos diferentes al!nos e %!e
eles deveriam prestar mais atenWUo a %!em os al!nos sUo como pessoas. ^ difXcil
conciliar o respeito ea disciplina em diversas classes e professores sentiram %!e
precisam de mais apoio para lidar com estas %!estZes.
$les inquirir sobre o que as crian<as 8 sabem. (Trad!Mido do (frikaans)
.om a experi@ncia que eles 'os professores pr>!servi<o( aprender ... $le 'o
conhecimento da disciplina( vem com a experi@ncia ... (Trad!Mido do (frikaans)
$les tamb>m devem ser capa;es de se adaptar As diferentes necessidades das
crian<as, e ser capa; de se adaptar ao tipo de crian<a que eles est=o trabalhando.
(Trad!Mido do (frikaans)
, parte disciplina precisa de mais aten<=o. (Trad!Mido do (frikaans)
$les precisam de 'apoio ou assist@ncia com( na gest=o de conflitos. (Trad!Mido do
(frikaans)
?e acordo com d!as das escolas (escolas ( e F) dific!ldade T apresentada no tRpico
de Fletricidade e Fnergia no c!rrXc!lo de CiVncias Bat!rais pois os al!nos nUo
compreendem o conceito de !m Ytomo. TambTm parece haver dific!ldade na
ligaWUo entre as Yreas de aprendiMagem bem como contin!ando com !m tRpico
em !ma Yrea especXfica de aprendiMagem e nUo faMer !ma ligaWUo ade%!ada para
temas semelhantes em o!tra Yrea de aprendiMagem cria e%!Xvocos entre al!nos
(escola F).
... Doc@ n=o pode di;er a um aluno )r. * que a eletricidade vem de energia nuclear
e a divis=o de 8tomos se eles n=o sabem o que um 8tomo > ... (Trad!Mido do
(frikaans)
... Doc@ n=o pode saltar de eletricidade com a energia em plantas ... os alunos n=o
entendo ... (Trad!Mido do (frikaans)
?e acordo com =ong =orng Ain e Chanlin ()**8) existe !ma disparidade entre a
formaWUo de professores prT#serviWo e as exigVncias de trabalho em serviWo. Por
conseg!inte pode#se inferir a partir dos comentYrios acima gravados d!rante este
est!do %!e os professores prT#serviWo ainda nUo tVm a consciVncia necessYria de
compreensUo dos al!nos da ciVncia e diff!c!lty aprendiMagem e assim os f!t!ros
professores nUo c!mprem totalmente com este critTrio especXfico de PCK eo papel
de mediador.
I %!arto critTrio T conceit!ada no conhecimento de avaliaWUo %!e consiste no
conhecimento das dimensZes da ciVncia aprendendo a ser avaliada e os mTtodos de
avaliaWUo. Fm comentYrios dos professores em serviWo a Vnfase T colocada no fato
de %!e os f!t!ros professores precisam de mais formaWUo na administraWUo e
!tiliMaWUo da avaliaWUo (escolas C e ?). Fscolas ( e 7 indicaram %!e os professores
prT#serviWo nUo p_de demonstrar habilidades de avaliaWUo como o se! perXodo de
prYtica de ensino nUo permitem tempo s!ficiente. Is professores da escola F senti
%!e os mTtodos de avaliaWUo eram m!ito complicado mesmo para eles e %!e eles
tinham %!e faMer m!ito trabalho administrativo e papelada. Componentes como o
conhecimento da avaliaWUo e conhecimento de estratTgias de ensino sUo de alg!ma
preoc!paWUo como indicado pelas seg!intes citaWZes2
Os alunos devem receber mais forma<=o sobre como avaliar e como us8!lo.
(Trad!Mido do (frikaans)
,valia<=o e desenho de rubricas deixar um espa<o aberto. (Trad!Mido do
(frikaans) ... o tempo > muito curto est8gio, porque o aluno tem que levar os
alunos, desde o in?cio at> a avalia<=o, a fim de ser capa; de compreend@!lo ... e ...
pouco tempo de est8gio n=o permita los para avali8!la de forma efica;.
, avalia<=o > um problema, > um pesadelo. E8 muita papelada, e ent=o voc@
come<a a negligenciar as coisas, e escolher apenas aquelas que voc@ quer fa;er.
(Trad!Mido do (frikaans)
Pode#se inferir %!e a avaliaWUo parece problemYtico experientes em serviWo os
professores e portanto pode ser mais assim para professores prT#serviWo
indicando !ma falta de treinamento.
(derindo ao papel de assessor nUo T alcanWado de forma satisfatRria. Professores
prT#serviWo precisa de !m melhor entendimento na concepWUo e administraWUo de
vYrias estratTgias de avaliaWUo. Bo %!into e Sltimo critTrio o conhecimento de
estratTgias de ensino a maior parte da Vnfase dos ed!cadores em serviWo estava
nas categorias de actividades de tRpicos especXficos e representaWZes de tRpicos
especXficos. Concerning topic#specific activities it co!ld be inferred that the
knowledge of activities especially experiments seems to be s!fficient (schools (
C ? and ;) while the teachers from one school felt that the confidence of the pre#
service teachers to engage with the experiments are lacking (school F)2
One of the students was very afraid to work with gas . (Translated from (frikaans)
They do not have to know everything, but they have to seem at ease when they do
it. They must be able to improvise . (Translated from (frikaans)
'n#service teachers made favo!rable comments concerning topic#specific
representation (criterion 4). The pre#service teachers were accessing technology
and adapting to new pedagogy in order to prepare for their lessons more effectively
and in doing so engaging with PCK by way of vario!s knowledge domains.
(ccording to the teacher of school ; ,st!dents sho!ld gain more knowledge on the
different ways of representing content altho!gh they are good with new
technologies,.
+ome of them have good Internet knowledge, and then plan interesting interactive
tasks. (Translated from (frikaans)
It seems to me that they employ many forms of pedagogy . (Translated from
(frikaans)
+tudents adapt well to the new pedagogy, because they make an effort to do
research and obtain what they need to present a specific type of class . (Translated
from (frikaans)
Pre#service teachers do f!lfill the role of researcher and life#long learner as they
make !se of available reso!rces to engage with ,new, information and content
developing as s!b"ect experts.
't is evident from the res!lts that some of the criteria for PCK s!ch as orientations
toward teaching science knowledge and beliefs of science c!rric!l!m and
knowledge of st!dents' !nderstanding of science are c!rrently addressed in the
programme. $ome !ncertainties are however displayed regarding other criteria2
knowledge of assessment in science (criterion 3) and knowledge of instr!ctional
strategies (criterion 4). Bo links co!ld be made with criteria 3 and 4 in some of the
target schools (schools ; and 7 respectively). This indicates a lack of knowledge in
the assessment of nat!ral science as well as a lack of instr!ctional strategies. These
two criteria (3 and 4) make !p part of PCK and therefore it co!ld be inferred that
pre#service teachers' levels of PCK are not f!lly addressed and developed d!ring the
pre#service science co!rse in o!r programme.

Concl's2o
The overarching goals of this st!dy were to context!alise the importance of the
different knowledge domains and the PCK development of pre#service teachers as
well as an appraisal of PCK by in#service teachers. 't was f!rther aimed at providing
a space to implement ideas on science teaching and teaching strategies in a real
environment in which pre#service teachers will be working.
:enerally it can be inferred from the data that pre#service teachers do not comply
with all the knowledge domains and PCK that enable a teacher to teach well. (
great deal of time and effort is needed before any change will become visible in in#
service as well as pre#service teachers regarding their !nderstanding of PCK
(Ftkina )*/*).
The analysis of the data and the ens!ing disc!ssion show clearly that the pre#
service teachers complied only in terms of some of the criteria noted for PCK.
(ccording to the in#service teachers it appears that the pre#service teachers had
good content knowledge b!t they did not always present the knowledge in
innovative and creative ways as envisaged by the policy doc!ments. $ome of the
pre#service teachers lacked the confidence to teach or do practical work. Pre#
service teacher's confidence to teach effectively sho!ld develop d!ring teacher
training and this confidence will f!rther develop over time and with experience
(=an!scin Aee 1 (kerson )*/*& Aankford )*/*). 'n addition the pre#service
teachers do have a so!nd !nderstanding of c!rric!l!m ideas as presented in the
?oF policy doc!ments and they do !nderstand the nat!ral science s!b"ect content.
The responses related to assessment indicated a lack of competence to implement
vario!s strategies of assessment and s!ggested that time is needed to develop
these competencies. This implies that f!rther refinement of PCK is related to time
and teaching experience that carries on beyond pre#service teaching into career
development.
Iverall the data prod!ced shows that aspects of PCK seem to be developed to
varying degrees within the pre#service teacher training co!rse and largely in
isolation of each other. :oodno!gh 1 =!ng ()**8) arg!e that problem#based
learning (P7A) is an instr!ctional approach that provides a means to foster
meaningf!l science learning while enhancing PCK. 'deas developed regarding P7A
show that P7A as a teaching and learning process provides space and opport!nities
for the development of a variety of skills incl!ding concept!alisation and thinking
which might serve to better organise pre#service teachers with regard to f!lfilling
the roles set o!t in the policy doc!ments and to !tilise the many criteria of PCK as
well as integrating the different domains of knowledge pertaining to good science
teaching. 't is o!r contention that !sing P7A as a basis for teaching will integrate
the criteria of .agn!sson et al . (/000) and provide the space for holistic PCK
development and broadening of the domains of knowledge within nat!ral science
for pre#service science teachers. 6hile this benefits the teaching of nat!ral science
it will enhance the development of teaching competencies and roles as stip!lated in
the norms and standards doc!ment for teachers.
Possibilities for a second research cycle based on literat!re (Chick 1 =arris )**E&
=an!scin et al . )*/*& Aankford )*/*) regarding engaging disc!ssion abo!t
revisiting and rethinking science ed!cation as well as the adoption of P7A
(:oodno!gh 1 =!ng )**8) as an instr!ctional strategy for teaching and learning to
enhance PCK in the c!rric!l!m is possibly a way forward. Challenges to be
considered d!ring the proposed second research cycle co!ld incl!de2 (/)
organisational challenges s!ch as large classes with only one facilitator are of great
concern ()) cognitive challenges to provide st!dents with a strong rationale for
adopting a new instr!ctional approach& (+) the constant search for ways to make
problems engaging and meaningf!l& (3) constraints presented by rigid and slow#
changing teaching and learning programme str!ct!res& (4) the lack and availability
of %!alified facilitators& and (9) time constraints.
,To learn to be a good (highly %!alified) teacher the person needs to be exposed to
different contexts and pre#service teachers need opport!nities to practice their
ac%!ired skills within these contexts, (Ftkina )*/*23).
Considering the findings on the lack in some knowledge domains and PCK criteria
regarding the teaching of nat!ral science displayed by pre#service teachers
emanating from this st!dy the benefits for teaching and learning in the form of P7A
sho!ld now seem clearer. =owever it wo!ld be beneficial to engage in a prod!ced
synergy of both the local and international context!al constraints while also being
mindf!l of the challenges presented in the foregoing section.
PCK development is time dependent and re%!ires m!t!alistic interaction between
in# and pre#service teachers and !niversity s!pervisors. Close cooperation in this
triadic partnership we believe will address the problems enco!ntered in this st!dy.

Reconhecimento
6e thank the Centre for Teaching and Aearning ($tellenbosch Jniversity) for
f!nding which made this research pro"ect possible.

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A'tores
Ao!ise 7otha is Aect!rer in Plant Physiology in the ;ac!lty of Fd!cation at
$tellenbosch Jniversity. $he is a widely p!blished a!thor nationally and
internationally and her research aims to promote creativity in science teaching and
learning.
Chris >eddy is (ssociate Professor in the ;ac!lty of Fd!cation at $tellenbosch
Jniversity and =ead of the ?epartment of C!rric!l!m $t!dies. =e is a widely
p!blished rated social science researcher and his research interests incl!de teacher
ed!cation environmental ed!cation and c!rric!l!m en%!iry.


P lbotQs!n.ac.Ma


Ap0ndice A
Ipen#ended %!estions presented to participants d!ring the semi#str!ct!red
interviews. ?isc!ssions were a!dio taped and transcribed.
/. (re yo! familiar with the content of the doc!ment pertaining to the Borms and
$tandards for ed!cators doc!mented in the :overnment :aMette )***<
). (re yo! familiar with the prescribed roles for ed!cators set o!t in the Borms and
$tandards< (a copy of the roles were s!pplied and disc!ssed d!ring a pre#interview
disc!ssion)
+. ?id the pre#service teachers display and-or apply any of these roles and
principles d!ring their teaching practice<
3. ?id the pre#service teachers apply newly ac%!ired pedagogical skills and-or
instr!ctional strategies<
4. ?id the pre#service teachers display a deep !nderstanding of science and science
content knowledge<
9. 6hat is yo!r opinion abo!t the assessment of content o!tcomes<
E. ?o yo! feel that the pre#service teachers' !nderstanding of the $cience
c!rric!l!m is efficient eno!gh to be p!t to !se in a school-classroom<
8. ?o the pre#service teachers engage with knowledge abo!t the different learners
in order to maintain good discipline in a diverse classroom and to identify problem
areas<

Ap0ndice