Speaker   Dr Vanessa KIND, Durham University, UK

Abstract   This seminar offers a challenge to teacher educators to explore more fully issues surrounding what makes an effective science teacher. Subject matter knowledge (SMK) is regarded as an important pre-requisite for teaching. Academically well-qualified science graduates are selected for science teacher education courses – but evidence presented here shows that good, scientifically correct knowledge about basic ideas in chemistry cannot be assumed. 
Some pre-service teachers with backgrounds in biology state they are confident about teaching chemistry – although their chemical knowledge is poor.
The data presented will suggest that attending to trainees’ personal characteristics alongside their subject matter knowledge may help develop effective science teachers. I will present a novel way of considering pre-service teachers’ qualities for teaching that offers potential for further research and initial teacher training course development.