Transforming Science Teaching Environment for the 21st Century Primary School Pupils

Abstract

The transformation of technology in the 21st century has produced children who are technology savvy and exposed to the internet and social networking at a very young age. These children are already in our school system. Thus teachers too need to use technology and transform the learning environment to meet the requirements of these children. This article discusses the need for transforming the primary school science teaching environment so that school children could have meaningful learning using tools familiar to them. However, while some parts of Malaysia are developing very rapidly, others are not developing as rapidly. School children in some areas are just as contented to share a single desktop computer without the Internet for a lesson. Thus teachers need to be creative to transform and improvise the learning environment to meet the pupils’ needs. This article discusses a case study on seven excellent teachers of primary school science from different parts of Malaysia. The findings of the study indicated that the excellent teachers have improvised their teachings and teaching environment to meet the needs of their pupils and the curriculum for 21st century learning.