INSET programmes aiming to familiarise teachers with new curriculum materials need to take note of the following points.
(i) Pre-workshop tasks are only effective in a culture of ownership of INSET activities by the INSET participants. Such a culture may take a considerable time to develop.(ii) Peer teaching sessions help teachers to obtain an overview of the structure of new materials and to gain familiarity with the range of the learning activities. Ample time must be given to peer teaching sessions. Teachers perceive the benefit of more than one opportunity to peer teach.
(iii) A blend of INSET activities is needed for effective adoption and implementation of a technological approach to science teaching. Making participants responsible for conducting peer teaching sessions especially facilitates implementation of the context-led nature of the resource materials. Insight into the teaching strategies aimed at the application of science concepts is aided best through reflective group discussions led by the INSET provider. The appreciation of investigative teaching activities is encouraged by hands-on practical activities with post-event discussions.
(iv) Involving in INSET a practising teacher who has experience with the materials to be introduced is useful for building professional confidence, but is not essential.
(v) In-school support after an INSET workshop is seen as very valuable for both teachers and students, but is difficult to arrange. Teachers show no resistance to classroom observation or team-teaching if the fear of a 'teaching practice situation' can be dispelled.
(vi) A brain storming session on everyday contexts for teaching science topics as part of the INSET programme is insufficient to help transfer of the context-led teaching approach. The role of participants' self perception as materials developers in facilitating transfer of a new teaching approach needs to be further explored.
(vii) For experienced or inexperienced non-specialist science teachers, the INSET programme developed to introduce materials with a technological approach to science needs to be preceded by a programme to enhance subject knowledge and understanding. Where subject content is weak the new approach causes insecurity and results in rejection of the approach.
(viii) INSET needs to focus on the positive effects a new approach may have on the learning of students, rather than on a teacher's own teaching. Such an emphasis may avoid the rejection of the innovation by beginning, untrained science specialists. Equally, such an emphasis encourages novice and experienced trained science specialists to consider the classroom implications of the new approach.
A longitudinal evaluation method can successfully be used to link specific activities in an INSET programme to teacher perceptions of a curriculum innovation, their relevant concerns and their classroom behaviour.
Concerning the student response to learning science through a technological approach the following points are of note.
(i) The attainment of science concepts for the first cohort of students using the new materials is of a lower level than expected. In order to judge the teaching approach fairly, however, such attainment is better measured with subsequent cohorts after teachers have familiarised themselves more intimately with the approach.(ii) Further research needs to document the (untaught) 'natural' investigative abilities of students to solve problems practically. The Matsapha materials form a starting point for the introduction of teaching strategies to improve such abilities. However, teacher insight in this area needs to be improved considerably.
(iii) Context-led materials for science with a technological approach can be used to increase student interest and participation, particularly if they can relate to a (familiar or unfamiliar) context, see themselves as experts in the area, or perceive the context as contentious. Further such materials are needed.
(iv) In order to optimise the beneficial effects of group discussion, teachers need to provide guidelines to make clear that all members should offer suggestions, and that no consensus is required when reporting.
(v) Context related learning activities such as reading stories and doing plays need to be used more frequently in science classrooms to increase student understanding, and specifically to maintain the interest of girls in science.
(vi) It needs to be accepted that context-led learning requires a large amount of processing of verbal information and, therefore, will proceed at a slower pace than other methods. (vii) Appropriate investigative activities can be used to break through the student preference for 'spoon feeding'. However, suitable investigative tasks motivating to African girls still need to be identified.
At a local level (Swaziland), the dissemination of the Matsapha materials needs to be continued and consolidated so that the experience can contribute directly to the current review of the national science curriculum.
It is recommended that a further research project be formulated and implemented to test the tentative model resulting from this project of training teachers in the skills of creating and evaluating teaching materials as a way of facilitating their adoption of specific new curriculum objectives. This follow-up research project needs to further explore methodologies of measuring teacher professional development as materials creators, and relate specific stages of development to a progression in the acceptance of the approaches underpinning a particular curriculum innovation. The results of such a study will have implications for curriculum induction programmes in centralised education systems. Although current trends are to move away from curriculum change at national level, towards allowing a decentralised regionalised adaptation of general national curriculum guidelines, teachers in developing countries will still need to work towards value congruence with the underlying curriculum ideas.
