Pre-school science education in Portugal: teacher education and innovative prac...

• Autor(es): Pereira, Sara ; Rodrigues, Maria José ; Martins, Isabel P. ; Vieira, Rui Marques
• Data: 2011
• Identificador Persistente: http://hdl.handle.net/10198/3949
• Origem: Biblioteca Digital do IPB
• Assunto(s): Science education; Pre-school; Teacher education
• Tipo de Documento: Artigo
• Idioma: Inglês

Descrição

Assuming science education in the early years as the stepping stone for the development of scientific and technological literacy, a teacher training program was developed with six kindergarten teachers in Portugal. Its aim was to promote the (re)construction of their subject content and pedagogical knowledge leading to innovative practices, based on the characterization of their profile, shortcomings and practices. Learning through practice was considered the most effective means to promote change in kindergarten teachers’ curricular approaches to science, hence the development of practical activities focusing on children’s understanding and requiring their scientific knowledge and enquiry processes. These include a teacher’s guide (presenting its objectives, concepts and teaching, learning and assessment strategies), a theoretical framework (presenting the concepts, known misconceptions and research references) and also the necessary didactic resources. The paper details the results of the developed teacher training program as well of the validation process of the designed teaching strategies.