Pedagogical beliefs of South African physics teachers for inquiry approaches

Abstract This study explored the pedagogical beliefs held by South African physics teachers towards inquiry approaches. A significant curriculum goal of school science in most countries is for learning to happen through inquiry. A similar goal is expressed in the South African school science curriculum. The findings of a quantitative survey that was administered to 166 teachers showed that teachers reported having a predominantly constructivist pedagogical belief suggesting a tendency to facilitate students’ construct of knowledge through their experiential learning. To a lesser extent, teachers exhibited a traditionalist belief that is teacher-directed and lends itself to transmission of knowledge. In investigating the relationship between pedagogical beliefs and orientation towards inquiry-based teaching, it was found that teachers who have a constructivist belief favour guided inquiry and open inquiry. Teacher who possess a traditionalist beliefs have a tendency for direct epistemic approaches such as didactic direct or active direct.