Teacher-Pupil Interaction During Science Lessons in Two Western Samoan Primary Schools

Science education throughout the world is facing changes in teaching methods similar to those which began in the 1960s. However, still the most favoured method of teaching science is the inquiry-generating-discovery approach. In Western Samoa, moves in this direction began in the early 1970s resulting in new science curricula which are now being reviewed and revised. Despite these revisions, there is concern by local educators that the high attrition rates of tertiary students taking science-oriented courses, and the general lack of interest in such courses, could be due to the non-develop-ment of scientific attitudes and behaviour (inquiry-type) in students at earlier levels. This concern prompted the author to investigate science education in Western Samoa. This article is a report of that study and it includes comments on the future directions of science education in Western Samoa — these may apply to other South Pacific countries too. It is suggested that there is a conflict between Samoan culture and the favoured science teaching approach, i.e. inquiry-generating-discovery approach; and that interaction in the classes studied was influenced by some teacher-pupil relationships which had developed out of the continuous association between each class and its teacher. It is suggested therefore that the outcome of the science lessons was the result of an aggregation of factors and not merely the result of the interactions during the lessons