Primary teachers’ confidence about teaching science and technology

ABSTRACT As part of a larger research project, a national survey of 514 primary teachers in Scotland was carried out in 1993. The questionnaire that was used in the survey focused on teachers’ confidence about teaching various areas of the curriculum and about a variety of aspects of the teaching of science and technology. The design of the questionnaire allowed some comparison with the findings of a study of the perceived competence of primary teachers in England and Wales (Bennett et al., 1992). Primary teachers were less confident about teaching science and technology than about almost all other curriculum areas. They were rather more confident about ‘Living Things and the Processes of Life’ and ‘Earth and Space’ than they were about ‘Energy and Forces’ and design and control technology. Teachers’ confidence about developing science skills and processes in their pupils was higher than their confidence about developing understanding of science content. With respect to science and technology teaching, ma...