Early Childhood Development (ECD) Teachers’ Conceptions and Implementation of the Child-Centred approach to Teaching Science

The study investigated ECD teachers’ conceptions of the child-centred approach and strategies they adopt to implement it when teaching environmental science in infant classes. A descriptive survey was conducted to investigate the research problem. Information from the teachers was sourced via a questionnaire, semi-structured interviews, analysis of documents and lesson observations. Stratified random sampling was used to come up with a sample of 30 ECD teachers in five primary schools within a 25 kilometre radius of Masvingo City. The study found out that the child-centred approach to teaching science in ECD classes was not well understood by the teachers and it was not being effectively implemented in ECD science classes. A number of constraints which rendered implementation of the child-centred approach to teaching science in ECD classes ineffective were unravelled. All the teachers indicated that large classes, lack of sufficient resources, teachers’ insufficient knowledge of the approach and lack of conducive learning environments in ECD classes militated against effective implementation of a child-centred approach to teaching science. The study recommended that there is need for regular staff development workshops. ECD teachers should be provided with enough teaching and learning resources. There is need for continuous monitoring of the child-centred approach to ensure its effective implementation to teaching science in ECD classes. A system should be developed and operationalised where samples of media improvised by some of the ECD teachers are forwarded to Audio Visual Services for mass production so that all schools in the country benefit from the creation of innovative teachers. Lastly, it was recommended that the teacher-pupil ratio should be reduced from 1 teacher to 40 pupils to manageable classes of say 1 teacher to 30 pupils for ECD classes.