INFLUENTIAL FACTORS AFFECTING THE PERFORMANCE OF PRIMARY SCIENCE TEACHING IN WESTERN PROVINCE SCHOOLS, SRI LANKA

Abstract

The child's science education has a positive effect on their later science learning achievement. This research examined the factors: primary teachers’ attributes (science knowledge, science process skills, teaching strategies, qualifications, and experience) and principal influence (instructional leadership and supervision) that impact primary science teaching via environment-related activities as an integrated subject in the schools of the Western Province of Sri Lanka. The primary teachers are trained as general primary teachers and are not trained for science teaching. The data were collected from 416 in-service general primary teachers using a five-point Likert scale questionnaire blended with a Google form. The sample was a proportionate stratified random sample in teaching grade-wise from the three districts of Colombo, Kalutara, and Gampaha in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. The data collection and analysis were followed by quantitative and survey methods, and we followed descriptive and inferential statistics with SPSS and AMOS software. The structural equation method was applied to test the hypothesis of the proposed model by following the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and the confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The structural equation model fit indices of the study: incremenetal fit (CFI) 0.90, parsimonions fit (the value of CMIN/Df) 2.41, and absolute fit (RMSEA) 0.060 were acceptable to fit. Primary teachers had a high (r = 0.69, p > 0.05) and principal influence had a low (r = 0.26, p > 0.05) positive and significant correlational impact on the science teaching performance of the acceptable model. The primary teachers’ attributes: the teaching strategies (r = 0.86), experience (r = 0.83), and science process skills (r = 0.88) had significant and positive high influence; the knowledge of science (r = 0.55) had moderately high positive and significant influence; and the qualification impact was insignificant. Instructional leadership and supervision of the principals were not distinguished as two dimensions in the context of the Western Province of Sri Lanka in the dimension reduction of the principal component method in the EFA. The professional development for the primary teachers and the principal needs to be conducted based on the findings. Educational policies and procedures in Sri Lankan primary schools can incorporate the findings. Further studies should focus on studying the supplementary variables that impact the teachers’ efficacy, including classroom resources, student engagement, and parental involvement.