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Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 21, Issue 1, Article 4 (Dec., 2021) |
Secondary science teachers’ perspectives of teaching outside their subject specialisation
Shashi PRABHA
National Council of Educational Research and Training, New Delhi, INDIA
Corresponding Author's E-mail: shashi.prabha@ciet.nic.in
Received 11 Sep., 2020
Revised 28 Dec., 2021
Teaching outside their subject specialisation put secondary science teachers to lots of challenges and difficulties. Obviously, teachers have a pivotal role in the teaching-learning process. Hence, giving space to their voice in the educational process is of paramount importance. The present investigation aimed to seek secondary science teachers’ perspectives on teaching outside their subject specialization. Tools comprising a questionnaire and a semi -structured interview were administered to 65 teachers (45 Male and 20 Female) from 23 schools spread over five States/UTs of India. The obvious conclusion of the investigation is that science teachers teaching outside their subject specialisation face difficulties and their difficulties drip down to students. It was found that all the teachers teaching outside their subject specialisation (43.07 percent) faced difficulties in teaching one or two subjects of science and 60 percent of students encountered difficulties in conceptual understanding of the same subject where their teachers experienced difficulties in teaching. 92 percent of teachers expressed the opinion that if there are separate teachers to teach Physics, Chemistry and Biology, students’ difficulties in conceptual understanding of science can be minimized. Further, 77 percent of the teachers expressed the need of capacity building programme to support them in teaching-learning of science. There is an urgent need for a powerful, focused capacity building programme addressing specific issues of the secondary science teachers teaching outside their area of specialisation to enhance the quality of science education. The investigation can help the concerned stakeholders to acquaint them with the ground realities of the existing practices of secondary science teachers teaching outside their subject specialization.
Keywords: Teachers’ perspectives, secondary science teachers, teaching outside subject specialisation, teachers’ difficulties, capacity building.
