Teaching in junior secondary schools and its relationship to the development of formal operational thought

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Abstract
Science education has been greatly influenced by the work of Jean Piaget who proposes that children develop through stages of intellectual development. While the level of formal operations seems necessary for adolescents to learn abstract science concepts, research has revealed that a high percentage of adolescents and young adults operate at the concrete operational level. The purpose of this study was to examine junior secondary teaching in order to determine its effectiveness in promoting formal operational thought. Fifty‐two recorded lessons from 18 classrooms were examined using an observation schedule developed to identify teaching practices thought to promote formal reasoning in adolescents. The most characteristic of such practices was to develop disequilibrium in students. The observed pattern of observations was compared with an ideal Piagetian set of teaching practices. It was found that the observed teaching patterns did not resemble those thought to be ideal for developing formal reasoning in adolescents. Further investigation through interview revealed that such practices did not meet the goals of science teachers. Rather teacher talk, description and explanation were used which were aimed at clarifying concepts. Students were found to be highly influential in determining the teaching patterns of teachers.