This article considers the folklore of the Chewa people of Zambia as an instrument of education. It suggests that there is only a fine distinction between Chewa culture ["mwambo wa a Chewa"] and Chewa education ["maphunziro ya Uchewa"]. The former comprises tribal "truths" to be imposed on the minds of the younger…

According to some commentators, targets set by the international community for bringing education to all children in developing countries are threatened by a teacher motivation crisis. For this crisis to be addressed, challenges to the motivation of teachers in such contexts need to be understood from perspectives both theoretical and comparative.…

Created in 1945 as a specialised agency of the United Nations (UN), the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) was given, among other mandates, the task of reconstructing education systems devastated during the Second World War. UNESCO, in turn, and after some debate about an engagement in Germany, founded the…

This study describes how in-service teachers in the pre-vocational sector in Mauritius adopted specific strategies to overcome the language barrier in the learning of science (Van Driel, Verloop & de Vos, 1998). Students of form III were taught few basic ideas related to "Earth & Space" through the use of role play and ICT. The…

Over the last three decades, public understanding of science (PUS) has been one of the foremost research topics in the Korean society where numerous social scientific conflicts have taken place. As a lead channel of risk communication, Twitter has been studied in experimental research designs or among target user groups, leaving the measurement of…

The problem-solving strategies of students enrolled in general chemistry courses have been the subject of numerous research investigations. In most cases, the investigators were interested in the specific areas or concepts that posed the greatest difficulty to a student's success in achieving the correct answer. However, the investigation…

This study assessed the quality of preservice primary teachers' written arguments in an open inquiry laboratory task. An analysis of the features of the laboratory task was also undertaken to ascertain the characteristics of the task that facilitated or constrained the development of participants' written arguments. Australian preservice…

Aquaponics is the combination of aquaculture and hydroponic technology to grow fish and plants together. While aquaponics can play a role in food security, it may also be a potential educational tool because of its interdisciplinary nature and required technological skills. With aquaponics, students could conduct activities involving chemistry,…

As a key to decide a success or risk of a community of practice, legitimacy of a participant has been conceptually discussed in abundant theoretical literature. Achieving legitimacy is interpreted as gaining credibility from peers, enlarging divisions of labor in a social environment, collecting reinforcement from colleague teachers in the…

In order to educate elementary students scientifically literate as expected in the science curricula in many countries around the world, science teachers need to be equipped with the diverse aspects of scientific literacy. This study investigates whether pre-service elementary science teachers at universities in Turkey have a satisfactory level of…

Although bioaccumulation-related concepts are important scientific knowledge, a study on whether high school textbooks include appropriate explanations has not been conducted. The present study investigated science and biology textbooks from Korea, Japan, and the U.S., focusing on how bioaccumulation-related concepts were defined, what types of…

Over the past decade, there has been a significant reduction for New Zealand initial teacher education student teachers to experience education through a science context. This paper presents the stories of two graduates from a large New Zealand university and their journeys into the classroom. Richard graduated with a Bachelor of Teaching (Primary…

The purpose of this study is to reveal Turkish elementary teachers' and science teachers' attitudes toward science and science teaching. The sample of the study, 138 in-service elementary level science teachers from a province of Turkey, was selected by a clustered sampling method. The Science Teaching Attitude Scale-II was employed to…

This study examined the effect of learning the history of physics on the epistemological beliefs of pre-service physics teachers. The research was conducted with 25 pre-service physics teachers using a single-group pre-test/post-test experimental model. The quantitative data of the research were collected using the Turkish version of the…

Continuing professional development (CPD) living educational theory offers an approach to CPD that enables educators to enhance their own professional practice and enable them to offer as gifts the knowledge, expertise and talents they develop to extend the knowledge base of the profession. In this paper we briefly introduce living theory research…