Förskolans läroplan reviderades 2010. I uppdateringen och utvecklingen av läroplanen är det bland annat naturvetenskapen som fått nya och kompletterade strävansmål. Det har kommit fram att intresse och kunskaper saknas hos majoriteten av eleverna senare i skolgången och allt färre söker till naturvetenskapliga program efter grundskolan. Förskolans personal har ett ansvar för att få in detta i arbetet och ledningen ett ansvar för att personalen har den kunskap och det stöd de behöver för att det ska vara möjligt. Denna studie syftar till att undersöka hur revideringen av läroplanen påverkat arbetet med naturvetenskap i förskolan. Vidare undersöks vilket stöd de haft i arbetet med Läroplanen samt om de själva upplever sig besitta en tillräcklig ämneskunskap för att följa dessa strävansmål till fullo. För att besvara studiens syfte och dess frågeställningar är en kvalitativ metod i form intervjuer använd. Nio intervjuer har utförts varav sex med förskollärare och tre med förskolechefer. Resultatet visar att personalen inte fullt ut har vetskap om läroplanens mål eller vad naturvetenskap är och kan vara i förskolan. Vidare framkommer att personalen fått varierande stöd i implementeringen av den reviderade Läroplanen vilket kan ha påverkat deras intresse för och kunskap om samt deras arbete med naturvetenskap och dess tillkomna strävansmål. För att utveckla arbetet med naturvetenskap i förskolan och ge det samma utrymme som övriga delar i läroplanen behövs vidareutbildning och mer stöd från ledningen. / The Swedish curriculum for preschool were revised in 2010. In the updated and developed version of the curriculum science has been given greater emphasis with new and improved course objectives. One reason for the revision was the decline in interest for science later in life and the drop in number of students who pursue a higher education in science. The preschool teachers now have the responsibility to include the subject in the daily routine. Thus, the management must see to that the teaching staff possesses the skillset necessary to complete the task at hand. The purpose of this study is to investigate which impact the revised curriculum has had regarding science in preschool. Further, the aim is to investigate what kind of support the teachers have had with the curriculum and if they, themselves, consider their skillset to be adequate to fulfill the course objectives. To answer the questions posed, a qualitative interview method was used. Nine interviews were conducted out of which six with preschool teachers and three with preschool managers. The results indicate that the teaching staff does not fully comprehend the curriculum or how to use it in regard to science and the use of science in the preschools. The study has also shown that the lack of support during the implementation of the revised curriculum may potentially have had a negative effect on the will and skillset of the teaching staff thus hampering the work with the course objectives. To be able to give science an equal part in the curriculum as other subjects and to expand the work with science in the preschools further education of the teaching staff is needed, as well as more support from the management.

This study investigated the pedagogical content knowledge supposedly held by two FET mathematics teachers from Mpumalanga Province as they taught quadratic functions in grade 11 classes. The criterion for selecting the two teachers was that they had consistently produced good results (overall pass rate of 80% or more) in the grade 12 mathematics examinations of the National Senior Certificate for the past three years or more and thus, they were classed as effective. The two teachers prepared and taught lessons on quadratic functions in grade 11 whilst they were being observed. The study focused on teacher knowledge base as exemplified in the teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Three elements of PCK were investigated; namely; (i) knowledge of the subject matter; (ii) knowledge of teaching strategies and (iii) knowledge of learners’ conceptions. Qualitative research approach using the case study research method was used to collect qualitative data on the pedagogical content knowledge of the two teachers through lesson observations, lesson plan analysis and interviews. Analysis of the results suggests that the two teachers have adequate subject matter knowledge but have limited knowledge on the aspects of teaching strategies and knowledge of learners’ pre-conceptions and misconceptions on the topics of quadratic functions that they taught. The study recommends that teachers be exposed to workshops that deal specifically with the various topic specific teaching strategies and knowledge of learners’ pre-conception and misconceptions on the topic of quadratic functions. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted

Students who identify as being from an ethnic minority are under-represented within school geography in England at Key Stage 4 (ages 14 – 16) and Key Stage 5 (ages 16 – 18). At these stages geography is an optional subject and how students view geographical knowledge may influence their GCSE and A level subject choices. This study uses an intersectional theoretical lens to explore representations of geographical knowledge by students of different ethnicities, the stories that relate to these representations and how the students accounted for the GCSE and A level subject choices that they made. The first part of the study reveals a lack of empirical and contemporary research into ethnic minority students’ views of geographical knowledge and subject choices. This is followed by a two-strand exploratory case study at one girls’ grammar school in England. The practitioner-researcher strand was two phase; in the first phase, 314 sixth form students (aged 16 – 18) completed a questionnaire to gauge initial views of geographical knowledge. During the second phase, eight of these students represented their views of geographical knowledge through collages, critical incident charts and semi-structured interviews that explored their stories in depth. In parallel, a group of Year 10 (aged 14 – 15) students as researchers used questionnaires to investigate the influence of parents and other factors contributing to students’ subject choices at GCSE level. In the study, geographical knowledge was represented in different ways given different methods. It was found to be diverse and individual, although it was possible for specific themes to be identified. The representations reflected the characteristics and concepts from students’ recent formal experiences of geography. Informal experiences also featured but these were not always explicit or straightforwardly definable. Unless students could see the intrinsic usefulness of their view of geographical knowledge then they were unlikely to choose the subject past GCSE level. This study expands theoretical conceptualisations of how students represent geographical knowledge and the factors affecting subject choice, engages students as researchers in a methodologically innovative way and provides a rich and detailed account of post-14 subject choice by ethnic minority students which otherwise does not exist in an English context.