Teaching primary science in Northern Ireland is a journey filled with both challenges and exciting opportunities. Revised in 2007, the Northern Ireland Curriculum for Primary was designed to provide relevant learning opportunities for young people to develop as individuals, contributors to society, the environment and the economy. To achieve this, a child-centred and cross-curricular approach to learning was adopted, meaning that science was positioned as one-third of the thematic subject ‘The World Around Us’ (WAU) along with geography and history, often diluting its significance as a result. Compare this to England and Scotland where science is recognised as a distinct subject, or the Revised Curriculum for Wales which recognises the link between science and technology, merging both into one subject area.

Using feedback from a three-day primary teacher continuing professional development (CPD) programme I delivered in 2023 – which highlighted the need for further leadership training for teachers in the area of primary science – a second three-day programme was designed and delivered to 23 teachers in 2024. Data was collected through pre- and post-questionnaires. Analysis highlighted the following five challenges faced by teachers.

‘Teachers felt pressured to “fit” science into thematic topics and struggled to grasp that science (including core knowledge) could also be taught outside of a thematic unit.’

1. Misunderstanding of the subject

First, teachers identified feeling a sense of disconnect with the teaching of science as a subject. They felt pressured to ‘fit’ science into thematic topics and struggled to grasp that science (including core knowledge) could also be taught outside of a thematic unit.

2. Curriculum challenges

While the Council for Curriculum, Examinations & Assessment (CCEA), the education advisory body in Northern Ireland, has provided helpful documents such as the ‘Science and Technology Progression Framework’ and ‘STEM Works!’, teachers felt confused by the frameworks and voiced concern that they did not have the support to align this document to their everyday teaching. This difficulty was compounded due to the ever-evolving landscape of STEM and teachers’ desire to keep up with current trends and demands.

3. Assessment priorities

Many of the teachers indicated that the statutory policy and assessment focus on raising attainment in literacy and numeracy, but not science, had resulted in less importance being placed on science (ETI, 2014).

4. Lack of resourcing and funding

Teachers also described how a critical lack of funding in education meant that engaging hands-on science investigations were hindered by a lack of resources with teachers often having to buy or bring in materials from home.

5. Teacher confidence

The issues identified clearly have a profound impact on teacher confidence and self-efficacy. Many teachers indicated that they had not received professional development in science since beginning their career and that teaching science was a low priority in their school.

Despite these challenges, the opportunities relating to the provision of high-quality CPD for primary teachers are exciting. Teachers on the course demonstrated a passionate thirst for continuing their professional development and enhancement of subject knowledge. One teacher stated: ‘[this course] has made me want to inspire the other teachers in my school’, while another shared: ‘I have been pushed out of my comfort zone!’ Others highlighted the value of developing professional networks and celebrated having time to ‘have professional dialogue with other WAU coordinators’.

While this study relates to the Northern Irish context, these challenges are not isolated. Findings from both this study and others highlight the need to raise teacher confidence through opportunities for teachers to engage in high-quality CPD and professional dialogue while equipping them with resources to support teaching (Hourigan et al., 2021; Murphy et al., 2023; O’Dwyer et al.,  ; Zhou et al., 2023). The challenge now for those holding the purse strings of education is to ensure that teachers have access to such CPD.

Note: The CPD programmes were enabled by subsidies from the Enthuse Charitable Trust through Deliberate Learning Ltd and co-delivered with Dr Anna Monaghan.

References

Education and Training Inspectorate [ETI]. (2014). Chief Inspector’s report 2012–2014. https://www.etini.gov.uk/sites/etini.gov.uk/files/publications/ci-report-2012-2014.pdf

Hourigan, M., O’Dwyer, A., Leavy, A. M., & Corry, E. (2021). Integrated STEM: A step too far in primary education contexts? Irish Educational Studies, 41(4), 687–711. https://doi.org/10.1080/03323315.2021.1899027

Murphy, C., Venkat, H., Leahy, M., Broderick, N., Kelly, O., Butler, D., Harbison, L., Lawlor, C., & Naughton, Y. (2023). STEM education: Curriculum and literature overview & primary science education: Systematic literature review. National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA). https://ncca.ie/media/6276/stem-education_curriculum-literature-overview-and-primary-science-education_systematic-literature-review.pdf

O’Dwyer, A., Hourigan, M., Leavy, A. M., & Corry, E. (2023). ‘I have seen STEM in action and it’s quite do-able!’ The impact of an extended professional development model on teacher efficacy in primary STEM education. International Journal of Science and Mathematics Education, 21(1), 131–157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10763-023-10361-2

Zhou, X., Shu, L., Xu, Z., & Padrón, Y. (2023). The effect of professional development on in-service STEM teachers’ self-efficacy: A meta-analysis of experimental studies. International Journal of STEM Education, 10(37), 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40594-023-00422-x