Surviving and thriving: pre-service science teachers navigating the transition from STEM to Education

Jones, Nicola; Earnshaw, Heather

Abstract

The supply of new physics teachers into the Scottish education system is in an increasingly fragile state. Longstanding recruitment and retention issues have become exacerbated in recent years. This research explored the experiences of pre-service physics teachers as they undertook a transition from a STEM field to the education/social science field. The differences between the fields of STEM and social sciences are well documented in the literature. STEM disciplines have been conceptualised as ‘hard pure’ where knowledge is considered objective and convergent, arranged in vertical structures. In contrast, Education within the field of social sciences is associated with ‘soft applied’ knowledge, which is considered subjective, divergent and arranged in horizontal structures. We believe our pre-service physics teachers need to become habituated into a social sciences discipline in part because of the academic requirements of the course, but perhaps more importantly because we agree, as Dewey and others have argued, that ITE should incorporate a well-grounded underpinning in academic theory.

This research sets out to understand whether and where barriers to this academic transition arose. We adopted a phenomenological methodology, gathering data through semi-structured interviews which we then thematically analysed. This analysis is ongoing, however we have identified the following tentative themes:

1. Personal judgement of success moving from external to internal measures.
2. Overcoming challenges through problem solving approaches.
3. Moving away from the idea of a singular ‘right’ answer and becoming comfortable with that position.

Citation

Jones, N., & Earnshaw, H. (2024, November). Surviving and thriving: pre-service science teachers navigating the transition from STEM to Education. Paper presented at The Scottish Educational Research Association Annual Conference, Dundee, UK

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: The Scottish Educational Research Association Annual Conference
• Start Date: Nov 27, 2024
• End Date: Nov 29, 2024
• Deposit Date: Jan 6, 2025
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed