The School Science Department: Cultural, Historical and Social Practices in Student Teacher Education

Abstract

The Science faculty comprised of departments in Chemistry, Biology and Physics. These departments were situated together on both school sites. There were eleven members of staff working with the student teachers during the research year with two student teachers in the first school practice and three in the second. Science was taught as a compulsory subject in the lower school (11–13 year old pupils) and also as an examination subject in the upper school (14–16 year old pupils). Post 16 students could opt to take science courses in Biology, Chemistry and/or Physics at Advanced level. (For a discussion of the teaching and studying of Science, see Amos and Boohan (2013), Wellington and Ireson (2012), Handelsman et al. (2011) and Liversidge et al. (2009).)