A comparative study of attitudes to the aims of practical work in science education in Egypt, Korea and the UK

This paper reports a comparative study of attitudes to the aims of practica l work given by science teachers from Egypt, Korea and the UK. The ratings of aims given by specific groups of teachers can be used to characterize th ose groups. The characterizations can be interpreted from knowledge of the conditions in which teachers work. The choice of aims reflects pedagogic pr actice. The UK teachers have attitudes to aims for practical that reflect c urrent concerns in the UK for investigations. The Korean teachers show a po sitivistic attitude to science and aims for practical which can be traced b ack to the emphasis on factual recall and illustrative practicals. The Egyp tian teachers show concerns in their choice of aims for practical work whic h can be traced back to the lack of practical work in current Egyptian scie nce education. All three groups express a common attitude to the aims of pr actical work that reflect an acknowledgement of the methods by which scient ists make new knowledge. It is conjectured that the differences between the groups of teachers might be best understood using an evolutionary approach to the fit of teachers' ideas to their conditions of work.