Young children are not being exposed enough to science. Photo: Ole Haug, flickr.com
A new study revealed preschool teachers in the US are not effectively teaching science to their young students, a problem that likely contributes to the country’s poor global performance in the subject.
Researchers from Michigan State University have shown that teacher’s engagement with science instruction in the classroom is much lower than literacy or math. In a paper recently published in the journal Early Education and Development, researchers found that early school teachers lack the knowledge, skills and confidence required to effectively teach science to young children.
The study shows that although 99% of preschool teachers studied will instruct literacy three to four times a week, the number drops to 75% for math and 42% for science. This is particularly concerning as American students were found to be behind other developed nations in terms of academic achievement in the sciences. Improving quality education in science at early stages of child development can be crucial to better academic results later on.
The graph below shows the disparity in frequency of teaching across literacy, science and math.
Frequency of teaching different subjects in preschool classrooms studied. Data from Gerde et al., 2017.
The teacher’s self-efficacy in each subject was also analysed. Self-efficacy is the teacher’s belief in their ability or competence in a certain subject. This is important as it has implications for teaching practices and learning outcomes. The study found that the teacher’s self-efficacy was highest for literacy, significantly lower for science, and lowest for math, indicating that the teacher’s perceived ability in a subject can be a barrier in teaching that subject.
The study also points out that teachers may feel pressured by policymakers and school administrators to focus on literacy development. This, combined with lack of science content and skills screening in kindergarten readiness, leads to teachers prioritising literacy to the point of almost excluding science in the classroom.
It is important to ensure that preschool teachers are qualified, confident, and well trained in scientific literacy. This will allow them to have all the necessary tools required to educate young minds to become critical thinkers from a very young age. However, policymakers and schools need to value scientific education more if these changes are to be effective.
– Ana Brunner
References:
BANDURA, ALBERT, 1982. Self-efficacy mechanism in human agency. American Psychologist. 37 (2): 122–147.
DESILVER, D., Feb 15, 2017-last update, U.S. students’ academic achievement still lags peers in many other countries [Homepage of ACI Information Group], [Online]. Available: http://scholar.aci.info/view/14bd17773a1000e0009/15a4407652e0001ba33aef2 [March 4, 2018].
GERDE, H.K., PIERCE, S.J., LEE, K. and VAN EGEREN, L.A., 2018. Early Childhood Educators’ Self-Efficacy in Science, Math, and Literacy Instruction and Science Practice in the Classroom. Early Education and Development, 29(1), pp. 70.
Photo by Ole Haug. flickr.com
