Exploring pedagogical content knowledge of the concept of heat among Indonesian primary school teachers

This study aims to understand the gap in the development of practical pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in science teaching between private and public elementary school teachers in Indonesia. Specifically, teachers’ PCK development in science learning is focused on heat. The research design adopted a qualitative approach using a case study, where data were collected through content representation, semi-structured interviews, and classroom observations. This study found that the gap between private and public primary school teachers in developing PCK on heat learning materials was due to two important things. First, private primary schools have more adequate resources to support teachers’ PCK development compared to the resources owned by public primary schools. Second, teachers in private primary schools are more likely to apply inquiry-based strategies, while teachers in public schools rely more on traditional methods in learning the topic of heat. Based on these findings, this study recommends the importance of professional development programs tailored to the needs of teachers in various school contexts, which focus on improving teachers’ PCK in science learning, especially in learning the topic of heat. In addition, this study makes a significant contribution to existing literature by revealing novelty in understanding variations in PCK and school contextual influences on heat topic learning practices at the primary school level, which were previously less well identified.