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An analysis of the capability of primary school textbooks to promote scientific
inquiry in Irish primary schools
Jonathan Dunne 1 Abdulhussain. E. Mahdi 1 John O’Reilly 2
1 Deparment of Electronic and Computer Engineering, University of Limerick
2 Department of Education and Professional Studies, University of Limerick
Jonathan.dunne@ul.ie
Abstract
This study analyzed several primary school textbook
sets to see whether the textbooks could be used to
promote inquiry based methodologies in the classroom.
The analysis was created from the results of the 2008
survey of Irish primary science which found that
teachers are still relying on textbooks as a primary
source of teaching. As the primary science curriculum
in 2003 was changed to be more experiential, didactic
teaching from textbooks does not follow from the new
aims and objectives of the curriculum. This research
applied 3 current textbook groups into the 5Es model of
teaching. The 5E model is a proven framework for
inquiry teaching. It was decided that if the books
followed a process of inquiry, defined by meeting the
requirements of 3 of the 5Es per lesson in a certain
order, the textbook could be used within an inquiry
lesson. The results showed a large variance across
textbooks in their approach to different topics however,
if a teacher is properly educated in the structure of an
inquiry lesson, then the textbooks could become a
valuable resource in these lessons.
1. Background
This project was designed to further research
that was carried out by the National Council for
Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA) in 2008 [1]. This
longitudinal study examined science teaching and
learning in Irish primary schools. The research looked
at how the introduction of a new experiential
curriculum in 2003 had changed teaching
methodologies and student learning in science. Also
investigated in the study was whether teachers were
using the experiential curriculum as a guide to adapt
their practices from more traditional, deductive
approaches into more constructivist, inquiry based
approaches. A deductive approach is considered as a
teacher centered approach [2] to teaching where the
teachers give the information to the students using
methodologies such as “chalk and talk”. An inductive
or constructivist approach centers around the idea of
student directed learning and includes methodologies
such as investigations.
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2. The 5Es Model of Education
The 5Es model is a structure of teaching a lesson which
meets all of the requirements of an inquiry based
approach [4] [5].The 5Es are: Engage, Explore,
Explain, Elaborate and Evaluate. The engage phase
relates to the idea of prior knowledge that the students
may have on a topic. The explore phase allows a
student to look deeper into topics and letting the
students’ create their own ideas and information from
the subject matter. The explain phase allows for the
addition of any relevant information that the students
may have not been able to take from the explore phase.
The elaborate phase often extends beyond the
constraints of the curriculum and allows the students to
fully research a topic to create a full body of
information. Finally in the evaluate phase the students
are required to present the knowledge and
understanding that they have gained from a topic.
3. Results
The findings highlight several interesting items
when looking at the capabilities of textbooks being used
to promote inquiry. The varied approaches of the
textbooks mean that, depending what textbook a teacher
uses, the teacher must adapt to the approach of that
textbook. The three textbook series could be used in
various ways to promote IBSE, at various levels,
however the teacher must be properly versed in the
strengths and weaknesses of the textbook to utilize
IBSE properly.
4. References
[1] Varley et al, “Science in Primary Schools Phase 1 Final
Report”, National Council for curriculum and assessment,
2008
[2] Rocard et al. “Science Education Now: A Renewed
Pedagogy for the Future of Europe”, European Commission
on Community Research, 2007
[3] Bybee, R.W. et al.“Science and technology education for
the elementary years: Frameworks for curriculum and
instruction”. Washington, D.C.: The National Center for
Improving Instructio, 1989.
[4] Anderson, R. D. “Reforming Science Teaching: What
Research Says About Inquiry.” Journal of Science Teacher
Education, 2002, 13(1): 1 -12,