Professional development in primary science: Teacher mentoring

Primary teachers are typically hesitant about teaching science, despite science being a Key Learning Area. In Queensland, reviews of teacher professional development have shown that most programs have limited benefit for teachers, and do little to enhance their practice. Recent research has led us to science professional development involving teacher mentoring over an extended period. This study centred around a cluster of four small schools who used the authors as teacher-mentors to help them with their teaching of science, and inclusion of information technology. Mentoring included a mix of full day and after-hours sessions, as well as regular in-class help as a critical friend. An evaluation of the program revealed major changes in science. The regular critical friend contact with a mentor was a major contributor to the effectiveness of the program.

The messages we draw from this study include:

• Schools can best resolve difficulties if they recognise the inhibitors for themselves.
• Mentoring strongly contributes to change, particularly where the mentor is external to the learning community.
• Co-teaching is a valuable adjunct to effecting change in the primary classroom.
• Collaborative planning is successful, utilising the strengths of teaching colleagues.