The aim of the study was to describe and analyse the design of learning environments and how children in preschool, preschool class and primary school create meaning and learn from the teaching aids offered to them in scientific activities planned by teachers. The theoretical reference frame was obtained from multimodal and design-oriented theory, with its focus on the creative dimensions of learning and detailed aspects of how learning takes place. The study is based on video-observations and constituted an in-depth study of a limited number of occasions spent in preschool, preschool classes and the first year of primary school when science lessons were in progress. Four children’s groups, thirty-six children and five teachers took part in the study, from different schools and municipalities. The children are aged between three and seven. The video-observations have been transcribed as text and analysed with analytical concepts found within the theoretical framework. The results show that considering the number of children in the children’s groups, relatively few children take part in the scientific learning contexts. Changes in the balance of power were evident in the learning settings and followed the interaction patterns that were identified in the children’s groups.  The results also show that children create representations – both individually and corporately – in new or different ways that are made up of analogies expressed in terms of equivalent, existential, expressive and figurative analogies. The children’s verbal expressions that corresponded with the responses expected by the teachers were highly valued, were paid attention to and were recognised as know-how. This meant that many of the potential meanings that exist in children’s meaning-making in science become invisible. The results have educational implications for teachers’ work at the local level and for teacher training.

This thesis concerns the process of student teachers´ learning to teach primary science and is based on four studies involving primary science student teachers during their teacher education program. The overall question that the thesis intends to investigate is in which ways student teachers’ learning about teaching can be illustrated and understood in terms of the critical aspects that are experienced within their teaching and learning practices. The four papers in the thesis purposefully explore student teachers’ complex journey from learners to teachers and illustrate the processes of learning to teach by highlighting important aspects within that process. In the thesis the concept of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) is used as the knowledge a teacher needs to construct and implement science learning experiences for pupils. Further to this, the thesis brings into focus the importance of teacher educators’ professional knowledge and how that knowledge must impact teacher education practice. In making explicit student teachers’ experiences and concerns for teaching and learning science, the practices and processes highlighted in this thesis help to inform how to involve student teachers in developing a knowledge base for primary science teaching. / Syftet med denna avhandling är att bidra till förståelsen av hur lärarstudenter utvecklar ämnesdidaktisk kunskap (PCK) för att undervisa yngre elever i naturvetenskap. Avhandlingen belyser och diskuterar lärarutbildningens komplexitet samt olika aspekter av den resa lärarstudenten upplever under sin väg från lärarstudent till lärare. Avhandlingen är en sammanläggningsavhandling med fyra artiklar och en kappa. Den övergripande frågeställningen är: På vilka sätt kan lärarstudenters lärande om undervisning i naturvetenskap för grundskolans tidigare år illustreras och förstås i termer av de kritiska aspekter de erfar i sin undervisningspraktik? De fyra artiklarna bygger på empiriska studier av lärarstudenter (F-5) i interaktion med barn och VFU-lärare i undervisning i naturvetenskap. I samtliga artiklar samt i kappan analyseras och diskuteras vilken kunskap som behövs för att undervisa små barn i naturvetenskap. Resultatet i artiklarna visar bland annat på: Hur såväl lärarstudenter som VFU-lärare utvecklar sin förmåga att undervisa naturvetenskap genom att planera, undervisa och reflektera tillsammans; vikten av olika metoder för att stimulera reflektion och därmed utveckla lärarstudenters och VFU-lärares förmåga att undervisa yngre elever i naturvetenskap; de kritiska aspekter som lärarstudenter erfar i sin undervisning samt hur dessa aspekter bidrar till en ökad förståelse för komplexiteten i såväl den undervisning och lärande i naturvetenskap; betydelsen av olika kunskapselement samt hur (behovet av) dessa identifieras i undervisningssituationen; exempel på hur lärarstudenter "lär sig" om naturvetenskaplig undervisning genom att undervisa (lär från eleverna).

This study explores the meaning of relevant science in two townships in Cape Town. Reform in science education, both nationally and internationally has placed much emphasis on the fact that science education should be relevant. The research conducted in this study attempts to interpret different dimensions of relevance. This study explores not only how learners make meaning of their everyday lives, but what 'science' they deem to be relevant and worth learning within this context. It acknowledges the important role of teachers in establishing what learners perceive to be relevant. The theory of social constructivism is suited to this investigation, in its recognition of the roles of children's knowledge, purposes, social groups and interactions in learning. The children in this study often have personal lives steeped in poverty, abuse and violence. The curriculum design is also guided by social constructivist theories. However, a second version of constructivism, critical constructivism, is used to frame the second phase of the study. A critical constructivist approach raises questions about the type of knowledge learners interact with. In critical constructivism, science and its methods, the curriculum and the classroom are opened up to critical inquiry. Teachers' knowledge of their learners is used to design science lessons that are more meaningful, relevant and personalised. The individual lessons, as well as the lesson series that are used in this study are designed as examples of relevant science, while the lesson series also serves as a tool to elicit deeper understandings of what learners in this particular context experience as relevant to their lives. Although the main focus of this research is the relevance of using everyday knowledge in the classroom, bringing everyday knowledge into the classroom allows for the inclusion of a number of dimensions of relevance. The different ways in which learners respond to the science lessons in both phases are discussed as five outcomes. The findings of the research show that the essence of a relevant science curriculum lies in a particular design. This design accommodates many dimensions of relevance, such as relevant content, context and purposes. Such as design helps learners to negotiate the difficult border between the formal school environment and the informal home environment. A relevant curriculum acknowledges that science education is more than only science, but also recognises the implications for science curriculum development. This study is part of a larger project which is a comprehensive evaluation of the Primary Science Programme (PSP). The PSP gave the research its full support as the investigation of relevance may have an influence on curriculum design. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, 2005.

This study was an attempt to explore and describe media utilisation from a Primary Science teacher's perspective, within a qualitative theoretical and methodological framework. A brief survey revealed what media was available in the schools, and observation and interview methods were used to give meaning to the media utmsation practice in schools. It was hoped that the results would assist in the construction of guidelines required to improve media use, and consequently science teaching in the rural primary schools. The inquiry revealed that apart from improving educational facilities, re-motivation of the science teachers was an essential ingredient in the search for ways of improving media use in Primary Science instruction / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Didactics)

This study was an attempt to explore and describe media utilisation from a Primary Science teacher's perspective, within a qualitative theoretical and methodological framework. A brief survey revealed what media was available in the schools, and observation and interview methods were used to give meaning to the media utmsation practice in schools. It was hoped that the results would assist in the construction of guidelines required to improve media use, and consequently science teaching in the rural primary schools. The inquiry revealed that apart from improving educational facilities, re-motivation of the science teachers was an essential ingredient in the search for ways of improving media use in Primary Science instruction / Educational Studies / M. Ed. (Didactics)