Epistemological Base of Rural Secondary School Science Teachers: A Case of Rakai District in Uganda

Abstract

The study was an investigation of the Epistemological Base of Rural Secondary Science Teachers in Uganda, a case of Rakai district.  Epistemology enquires into the possibility, nature, origin, scope, validity, and limits of human knowledge. The problem of the study was poor performance of students in sciences in the rural secondary schools in Ugandan Certificate Examinations (LJCE). The central point was to find out the philosophical beliefs of the rural secondary science teachers about how the educators come to know anything. A non-experimental research design was employed in the study. The research was carried out in ten selected schools using purposive sampling technique. Regarding data collection, the researcher administered fifty (50) questionnaires to fifty (50) teachers; interviewed ten teachers and carried out classroom observations of ten live lessons. The findings of the study revealed that teacher’s conceptions about mode of knowing falls under three sources of knowledge namely, Authority, here knowledge is acquired through consulting experts in their fields, Sense-perceptual experience, this involves usage of empirical instruments and Reason, where the logical process is employed to acquire knowledge. The conclusion was that beliefs about source of knowledge have significant bearing on the methods of teaching. Many rural science teachers employ teacher centered method of teaching. It was clear that teachers assume that learners do not have knowledge; hence the Bucket theory of mind is central in their teaching learning process. Many teachers appeared to do things the way they w re taught, in other wards a number of rural science teachers tended to be doing activities whose underlying assumptions they were not clear of. A functional approach to the teaching of Philosophy in Educational programs is recommended.

Keywords: Epistemology, science, teaching.

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-19-02

Publication date:July 31^st 2020