Emotions about the teaching and learning of science and mathematics in secondary education student teachers

Abstract

Although Science Teaching studies are increasingly taking emotions into account, few have dealt with prospective teachers. The present work analyses the emotions of 38 prospective secondary teachers enrolled in the Master's Course in Teacher Education in Secondary Education at the University of Extremadura, in three specialities: Biology and Geology, Mathematics, and Physics and Chemistry. A questionnaire was used to study their emotions concerning the different subjects of secondary education science and mathematics both as future teachers and during their time as secondary school students. Differences were found in the emotions expressed according to the speciality of the Master's course they were doing. For their own experience at school, they showed generally positive emotions towards the subjects that corresponded to their own speciality, and negative emotions towards the rest, except for Biology and Physics. For Biology they all showed positive emotions. Considering themselves as future teachers further sharpened the contrast between these emotions, which were always positive about subjects of their own speciality and negative towards the rest, except now for Physics towards which the future teachers specializing in Physics and Chemistry showed almost equal proportions of positive and negative emotions both during their time at secondary school and as future teachers. It is shown that teachers' lack of specialization is related not only to specific knowledge but also to emotions. For this reason, it is necessary for the education of prospective teachers to include getting them to share their own school experiences, their emotions in teaching science, and how those emotions might influence how they teach and learn science.