This thesis enquires into the role of values in the attrition of teachers of physical science subjects in the formative years of their teaching careers. Recruitment and attrition have contributed to a shortage of these teachers in English schools (Bousted, 2016), and while recruitment has benefited from increased investment (Gov.uk, 2017), attrition has largely gone unaddressed. In belief system theory, values are considered to be intrinsically linked to the behaviours people exhibit (Ajzen and Fishbein, 1980). As the behaviour of interest in this thesis is the departure of these teachers from the profession, it was decided that the values informing this behaviour should be investigated. Values are also components of an organisation's culture, which is linked to job commitment and satisfaction (Branson, 2008). It is therefore possible that when the values of these teachers and those in school culture are aligned, this will contribute to reduced attrition. Based on the works of Rokeach (1973) and Schwartz (2012), an adapted value scale using Q-method was developed to measure the value systems of student teachers and those contributing to school culture as determined by secondary school department leaders. The measurement and comparison of these value systems showed: values held by these teachers in the formative years of their careers evolve, and ITT guides this; physical science and non-physical science student teacher value systems were shown in some instances to be similar, and in others to be noticeably different; one of the two physical science student teacher value systems was in most instances aligned with the value systems identified as being present in English secondary school culture; misalignment showed that physical science specialists place less emphasis on having a sense of belonging and on benevolence oriented values; when compared with the values in English secondary school culture, teachers in the formative years of their careers, regardless of their specialism, have the potential to overemphasise the importance of conformity oriented values. It is suggested that these combined factors contribute to the attrition of teachers of physical science subjects in the formative years of their careers.

ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION OF Yahya Assiri, for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Curriculum and Instruction, presented on August 19th, 2016, at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: SCIENCE TEACHERS’ KNOWLEDGE, BELIEFS, VALUES, AND CONCERNS OF TEACHING THROUGH INQUIRY MAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. D. John McIntyre, Professor Emeritus of Curriculum and Instruction, Ed.D., Southern Illinois University Carbondale, Department of Curriculum and Instruction. This study investigated elementary science teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, values, and concerns of teaching through inquiry. A mixed-methods research design was utilized to address the research questions. Since this study was designed as a mixed-methods research approach, the researcher gathered two type of data: quantitative and qualitative. The study was conducted in Mohayel School District, Saudi Arabia. The information was collected from 51 participants using a questionnaire with multiple choice questions; also, 11 participants were interviewed. After collecting the data, descriptive and comparative approaches were used. In addition, themes and codes were used to obtain the results. The results indicated that the mean of elementary science teachers’ knowledge was 51.23%, which was less than 60% which was the acceptable score. Also, the qualitative results showed that science teachers had a limited background of teaching through inquiry. In addition, the elementary science teachers had a high level of belief to teach science through inquiry since the mean was 3.99 out of 5.00. These quantitative results were confirmed by the qualitative data. Moreover, the overall mean of elementary science teachers was 4.01, which indicated that they believed in the importance of teaching science through inquiry which was also confirmed by the responses of teachers in the interviews. Also, the findings indicated that elementary school science teachers had concerns about teaching science through inquiry since the overall mean was 3.53. In addition, the interviewees mentioned that they faced some obstacles when they teach by inquiry, such as time, resources, class size, and the teachers’ background. Generally, the results did not show any significant differences among elementary science teachers’ knowledge, beliefs, values, and concerns depending on gender, level of education, and teaching experience. However, the findings indicated there was one significant difference which was the level of teaching experience between groups: (6-10) years and (11-15) years, and (16- more) and (11-15) years. In addition, the implications and suggestions for future research were provided to enhance teaching science through inquiry.

Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Nesta tese abordamos alguns aspectos das inter-relações entre conhecimento, ética e valores dentro da atividade científica segundo as ideias do matemático-filósofo vitoriano William Clifford. O nosso tema geral coloca em jogo o envolvimento da produção, da avaliação e da transmissão de conhecimento científico com os comportamentos, as responsabilidades e os traços de caráter do investigador. Nosso objetivo é oferecer uma introdução ao pensamento e a algumas produções intelectuais de Clifford, um autor pouco familiar ao público filosófico brasileiro, bem como uma descrição comentada de seu escrito mais famoso, intitulado A Ética da Crença. Mediante esse objetivo, extraímos suas concepções a respeito das características e consequências éticas do empreendimento científico. As questões que orientam a tese são as seguintes: de que maneira a produção de conhecimento estaria condicionada à personalidade e ao comportamento ético de quem se lança àquela prática? Em que medida essa prática promove o cultivo de características pessoais socialmente desejáveis e favoráveis? Quais as conseqüências para a sociedade dessa inter-relação entre o caráter do investigador e os valores epistêmicos que estes colocam em ação e, sem os quais parece não ser possível a obtenção de conhecimento confiável? / In this work, we address some aspects of the interrelation between knowledge, ethics and values inside scientific activity according to the ideas of Victorian mathematician-philosopher, William Kingdon Clifford. What is at stake in the overall theme of this thesis is the way the production, evaluation and transmission of scientific knowledge interact with the behaviors, responsibilities and character traits of the investigator. William Clifford is a little known author to the Brazilian philosophical public, thus our primary goal is to offer an introduction to some of his thoughts and intellectual productions, as well as a commented description of Cliffords most famous paper, The Ethics of Belief. By these means, we extract some of his ideas regarding the ethical characteristics and ethical consequences of scientific inquiry. So, these are our guiding question: in what way is knowledge production shaped by the personality and ethical behavior of the person engaged in such production? To what extent does it promote the development of socially desirable and favorable personal characteristics? What are the consequences for society of the interrelation between the investigator's character traits and the epistemic values which he/she puts into action, and without which it seems impossible to obtain reliable knowledge?

Fundação Carlos Chagas Filho de Amparo a Pesquisa do Estado do Rio de Janeiro / Nesta tese abordamos alguns aspectos das inter-relações entre conhecimento, ética e valores dentro da atividade científica segundo as ideias do matemático-filósofo vitoriano William Clifford. O nosso tema geral coloca em jogo o envolvimento da produção, da avaliação e da transmissão de conhecimento científico com os comportamentos, as responsabilidades e os traços de caráter do investigador. Nosso objetivo é oferecer uma introdução ao pensamento e a algumas produções intelectuais de Clifford, um autor pouco familiar ao público filosófico brasileiro, bem como uma descrição comentada de seu escrito mais famoso, intitulado A Ética da Crença. Mediante esse objetivo, extraímos suas concepções a respeito das características e consequências éticas do empreendimento científico. As questões que orientam a tese são as seguintes: de que maneira a produção de conhecimento estaria condicionada à personalidade e ao comportamento ético de quem se lança àquela prática? Em que medida essa prática promove o cultivo de características pessoais socialmente desejáveis e favoráveis? Quais as conseqüências para a sociedade dessa inter-relação entre o caráter do investigador e os valores epistêmicos que estes colocam em ação e, sem os quais parece não ser possível a obtenção de conhecimento confiável? / In this work, we address some aspects of the interrelation between knowledge, ethics and values inside scientific activity according to the ideas of Victorian mathematician-philosopher, William Kingdon Clifford. What is at stake in the overall theme of this thesis is the way the production, evaluation and transmission of scientific knowledge interact with the behaviors, responsibilities and character traits of the investigator. William Clifford is a little known author to the Brazilian philosophical public, thus our primary goal is to offer an introduction to some of his thoughts and intellectual productions, as well as a commented description of Cliffords most famous paper, The Ethics of Belief. By these means, we extract some of his ideas regarding the ethical characteristics and ethical consequences of scientific inquiry. So, these are our guiding question: in what way is knowledge production shaped by the personality and ethical behavior of the person engaged in such production? To what extent does it promote the development of socially desirable and favorable personal characteristics? What are the consequences for society of the interrelation between the investigator's character traits and the epistemic values which he/she puts into action, and without which it seems impossible to obtain reliable knowledge?