Attitudes and beliefs of Greek preschool teachers on the teaching of Science

Introducing science activities in early childhood is very important for children's scientific development. Young children will need teachers who feel competent to teach science. This study explores teachers' attitudes and beliefs about teaching science and the relationship between teachers' qualifications and their attitudes and beliefs about science. The investigation was conducted using the specialized questionnaire P-TABS and the sample consisted of 269 Greek preschool teachers. The results showed that the teachers who participated in the survey have generally positive attitudes and a high level of self-efficacy beliefs, which are influenced by the number of science/science education courses they have taken during their undergraduate studies and their professional development (postgraduate studies, science education training programs). These results largely confirm the results of similar international studies and offer evidence to support the hypothesis that current teachers display improved attitudes and self-efficacy beliefs compared to their colleagues twenty years ago.