Trainee teachers’ perceptions of the Nature of Science and implications for pre-service teacher training in England

This paper is an English perspective on the Liang study (2006) into educational contexts for schooling in science; the linkage between teachers’ understanding of the Nature of Science (NoS) and their effectiveness as educators. The work reflects on the basic training received by pre-service teachers in secondary science at the University of London (UEL), and a number of interventions introduced to enhance their awareness and discrimination of NoS. The study is a three-year longitudinal design and intended to probe trainee teachers’ perceptions of NoS. It explores how these notions may be affected by the training experienced in both the university and school placement in the context of the new Science National Curriculum for Schools (England)