Background to the Research

• This study examines the effects of the teaching and learning of science in primary schools. It is set in the context of the current concern regarding Transfer Procedure results which show that girls do less well than boys in the science element of the tests.
• The research examines teaching and learning processes at the P6 classroom level for evidence which might implicate such processes in the existence of gender differentials in patterns of Test results. Specifically, the research investigates the fit between the preferred learning strategies and children's experience of learning science in the classroom setting. The study also focuses on teacher awareness of children's learning dispositions, particularly with regard to how these might differ between boys and girls, and the extent to which teachers accommodate such differences in their planning for, and in their teaching of, science. Teachers' subject knowledge, organisation for teaching the subject and levels of confidence in science are also examined.
  

Research Approach

• The study generated data from a wide range of perspectives using both quantitative and qualitative research methods. The former included questionnaires to generate data on pupil learning disposition, pupil attitude to science, pupil self-esteem, pupil locus of control orientation and teacher perspectives on teaching science.
• Qualitative data were generated from focus group discussions with P6 pupils, semi-structured interviews with teachers of P6 classes and teacher trainers, classroom observation and video recordings of P6 science lessons.
  

Main Findings

• The 'masculinisation' of science is borne out by the perceptions of both boys and girls in the study. Boys make strong claims that science is a 'boys' subject on account of their interests in the outdoors and working with gadgets and that as suc they are more suited to it than girls. Girls, although they see science as a male domain, contend that some aspects of science are more suited to boys' interests and experiences.
• Boys and girls have identifiably different dispositions as learners which they bring to the science classroom. A general pattern of a stronger preference for precise/sequential processing among girls and stronger preferences for technical and confluent processing among boys is sustained regardless of school sector, school type, school size, or class size. Boys' avoidance of precise/sequential processing, together with their strong penchant for technical processing is likely to run counter to the predominant classroom ethos where precision and sequence are emphasised.
• Boys and girls differ significantly in their overall attitude to science. Girls are more likely than boys to claim they enjoy science. However, boys' attitudes reflect that they are more likely to believe it to be a 'boys' subject. Girls are significantly more positive in their attitude to 'doing' science in the classroom than are boys. Given boys' more positive attitude to science overall, this finding for girls indicates that their positive disposition to 'doing' science must be tempered by other factors.
• Boys are more amenable than girls to what might be called the 'challenge of science' and this is consistent with the finding that boys are significantly more positively disposed than girls to technical and confluent processing learning dispositions.
• Boys and girls enter the science classroom with significantly different levels of self-esteem and locus of control orientations. The more positive a pupil's disposition towards precise/sequential or technical processing, the higher their self-esteem is; the more positive their attitude towards science, the more internal their locus of control orientation is than external. Conversely, the stronger a pupil's disposition towards confluent processing, the lower their self-esteem, the less positive their attitude towards science in the classroom and the more external they are in their locus of control orientation.
• Boys and girls report strong perceptions that the behaviour of their teachers is thoroughly gendered. Boys feel that they are more likely than girls to be admonished by the teacher. Girls feel that teachers allow boys to dominate and be more able to command the teacher's attention.
• Teachers report that they treat their pupils fairly and equally, regardless of gender. Adherence to this principle becomes problematic when considered in the light of gender differences between boys and girls in terms of affinity with science topics, learning disposition, interests and previous experiences. While teachers report that they endeavour to be even-handed in the classroom, elements suggestive of 'gender awareness' and 'gender blindness' are detectable in their discourse.
• Teachers are reluctant to acknowledge, or are unaware of, differences, in the learning needs and dispositions of boys and girls. In more than two out of three classes pupils work on the same of similar tasks in science. Where differentiation occurs, it is on the basis of learning outcome expected or in terms of the pace at which pupils work.
• While teachers report the value they attach to mixed-gender group activity in science lessons, boys and girls perceive distinct difficulties inherent in collaborating with one another and report that these difficulties are not always acknowledged by teachers. Boys feel that girls are fussy, pedantic, squeamish and bossy, characteristics which are implicit identifications of girls' penchant for precise/sequential approaches to learning. Girls claim they have no acquiesce in the face of boys' being domineering, messy, impetuous and insensitive. These are characteristics which implicitly identify boys' emphasis on technical and confluent processing approaches to learning.
• Teachers perceive the key constraints on science teaching to be the Transfer Procedure, limited resources, limited subject knowledge and a wide ability range of pupils in the class.
• Science has a secondary status in terms of time-tabling. Only a small minority of lessons are ever time-tabled before break. In more than half of the P6 classes surveyed, science is taught less than twice a week. Teachers see group work in science as contributing primarily to development of cooperation and the acquisition of organisational skills, rather than to development of scientific knowledge and process.
• Four out of five teachers in the sample have never studies sciences as an academic subject and, for a small proportion, professional development in science is informal and limited to school-based activity. Instances of inter-school networking to support the delivery of science curriculum are infrequent.
• Feelings of insecurity and pressures associated with teaching science are linked to teachers' perceived inadequacy in science subject knowledge and pressures perceived to arise from the Transfer Procedure Tests. Many teachers perceive a tension between teaching science for conceptual understanding and the prominence they believe they are required to place on transmitting factual knowledge to children.
• More than one third of teachers report that they are never involved in whole-school planning for science. More than one quarter of teachers report that they have no role in planning for science within the Key Stage. While a high proportion of teachers plan for specific individuals or groups within the class, only a small minority report that they plan for everyone individually.
• A majority of teachers use resource materials which they have created personally or which have been developed within the school. Information and Communication Technology is used infrequently or not at all in science. There is little evidence of use of the Internet as a resource. More than 80% of teachers engage in a professional reading or development activities less frequently than once a term.