Resumo

FERNANDEZ NISTAL, María Teresa; PEREZ IBARRA, Ricardo Ernesto; PENA BOONE, Sergio Humberto  e  MERCADO IBARRA, Santa Magdalena. Teachers' Conceptions of Teaching and Their Actions in Natural Science Classes in Secondary School. RMIE [online]. 2011, vol.16, n.49, pp.571-596. ISSN 1405-6666.

This article identifies science teachers' conceptions of teaching in secondary school, and studies the relation between these conceptions and teachers' actions in the classroom. The information was obtained through a semistructured interview and observations in class. Based on the implicit theories of Pozo et al. (2006), the teachers' responses to the interview questions, and the teaching behaviors observed, a classification was made of direct, interpretative, and constructive conceptions. Most of the participants had interpretative and direct conceptions of teaching, and showed a lack of coherence between the conceptions they presented in the interview and their classroom behavior.

Palavras-chave : teachers' beliefs; teaching; teaching practice; science teaching; secondary education; Mexico.