A shift in pedagogical orientations of pre-service science teachers

In this study, we investigated shifts in pedagogical orientations of South African Physical Sciences pre-service teachers (PSTs) at a public university, and factors that influence such shifts. The Pedagogy of Science Teaching Test (POSTT) was administered to eight PSTs to establish and classify their pedagogical orientations into direct didactic, direct active, guided inquiry, or open inquiry orientations. Changes in their pedagogical orientations were tracked through the implementation of POSTT on two occasions while they were PSTs, and on one occasion when they were novice teachers. To determine the factors influencing shifts in their pedagogical orientations, interviews were conducted with them. The findings show that the PSTs are inclined towards a guided inquiry pedagogical orientation at the end of their initial teacher education. However, it was revealed that pedagogical orientation is not a static construct but evolves with experience. The shift in pedagogical orientation is influenced by factors such as school resources, class size, teaching time, curricular goals, and content knowledge, suggesting that pedagogical orientation is informed by intrinsic, teacher factors and extrinsic, environmental factors. Given these findings, recommendations are made for pre-service science teacher education, and for future research to further explore this aspect.