Abstract:

Aim:
This study investigates the role of knowledge in self-concepts and interest regarding the different areas in the subject ‘Nature-human-society’ (NMG) in Switzerland’s kindergarten and primary school. The unpopularity of some specific areas inside the NMG subject among trainee teachers is known. To be exact, only a few trainee teachers enjoy teaching issues related to chemistry, technology or physics, while most of them are pleased to teach contents from the fields of sociology, biology and geography. Sophisticated findings exist for different aspects in single areas of natural and social sciences in kindergarten and primary school but not in a holistic view for NMG. Therefore, this study’s focus is broader. All areas in NMG are considered and compared. It is especially investigated whether knowledge influences trainee teachers’ interests and beliefs of their competencies in specific areas.

Method:
German-speaking students in the first year of kindergarten and primary-school teacher training were recruited at the University of Teacher Education Bern (Switzerland) and at the Free University of Bozen (Italy). The survey was composed of the NMG questionnaire, which detects preferences and self-concepts regarding the different NMG areas, and by the short version of the Bochum Knowledge-Test (BOWIT), which collects data about the general knowledge in specific areas.

Results and discussion:
The first results show significant correlations between interest and self-concepts in natural-science areas like physics and technology and science-related general knowledge, whereas such correlations could not be found in humanities and social sciences. These findings could imply that popularity in humanities and social sciences does not depend on knowledge.

Keywords:

Nature-Human-Society, Knowledge, Preferences, Self-Concept, Interest.