Teachers’ way of contextualising the science content in lesson introductions

Abstract: Previous studies have pointed to the benefits of involving students’ everyday life experiences in lessons and in contextualising the science content to enhance learning and positive attitudes towards school science. However, most of these investigations have been conducted as intervention studies. By contrast, the present study explored how teachers, in authentic situations and without interventions, related the school science context to other contexts. We analysed a total of 490 minutes of lesson introductions in Swedish Grade 9 classes. The results revealed that teachers employed contextualisation at the intersection of science content and the everyday life context, the school context, and the language context. Furthermore, it appeared that contextualisation was created in the moment, as a way of explicating the scientific content. Compared to intervention studies, the present study shows that occasions of contextualisation are rare. It is possible to conclude that the use of contextualisation in science learning situations could be viewed as a teacher competence and must be explicit in teacher education and professional development in order to achieve the benefits of enhanced student interest and learning shown in the mentioned intervention studies.

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