Towards A Capacity-Building Framework for Science Laboratory Teaching: A Qualitative Study of Secondary School Teachers

Abstract

The instruction of science laboratory is essential to building up the scientific knowledge and the skills of students, but the implementation of the laboratory instruction is a complicated set of abilities which are not always thoroughly discussed on the side of teachers. The perceived competencies, challenges, and professional needs of junior high school science laboratory teachers in the public schools were the subject of this qualitative descriptive research. Focus group discussions and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data by interviewing 15 purposely selected science laboratory teachers and analyzing data with the help of thematic analysis. The results showed five key themes, which include Scientific Knowledge and Laboratory Skills, Pedagogical knowledge and classroom management, the Teacher as a Constant Learner, Technological Knowledge and Evaluative Ability. The findings outline that competence in science laboratory teaching is a multifaceted experienced that is influenced by the teachers personal capacity as well as situational constraints. The study emphasizes the importance of long-term, context-specific capacity-building programs that promote scientific, pedagogical, technological, and evaluative skills of the teachers. These results are added to the qualitative science teacher competence literature and offer practical implications to the teacher development and education leadership.