Exploring Chilean elementary teachers' beliefs regarding agriculture as an educational context to enhance student learning in natural sciences
Abstract
One of the goals of the Chilean government is to be considered one of the most important producers of food in the world by 2030. Even though agriculture is one of the industries with a higher percentage of the Chilean task force, its contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) has been declining since 2003. For Chile's agriculture to remain competitive in the global context, Chile needs to consider investing in science and technology for agriculture. Developing human capital through education is a key public investment to prepare people for the future of Chile. Moreover, in the Chilean educational system, the national curriculum regarding natural sciences promotes the development of the inquiry learning approaches over traditional teaching methods for elementary schools. The literature shows that a low percentage of the teacher training programs regarding elementary education integrate didactics of science, and suggests that elementary science teachers struggle with the inquiry approach that the national curriculum states. Therefore, integrating agricultural literacy into the curriculum may contribute by benefiting not only science education but also the agricultural industry. To accomplish integration, it is priority to explore teachers' views regarding agriculture literacy in curriculum. So, The purpose of this study was to explore a selective group of Chilean elementary teachers' views of teaching natural science in the classroom, regarding the use of agriculture as an educational context to enhance student learning in natural science within the Santiago area. The participants consisted of three elementary Chilean teachers who taught to 5th to 8th grade students. This qualitative study consisted of a semi-structured interview using open-ended questions as the research method. There were three salient conclusions of this study. First, teaching methodology, context and personal experiences described the views that Chilean elementary teachers had about teaching natural science/Mathematics in the classroom. Second, the Chilean elementary teachers related the word agriculture with the production of products from the land as well as gardening. Last, Chilean elementary teachers believed that agricultural concepts could be integrated into some areas of the curriculum such as nutrition and healthy food.
Degree
M.S.
Advisors
Knobloch, Purdue University.
Subject Area
Agricultural education|Science education
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