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Science Discipline Days offer a clear picture of how subject-specific training is developed across the programme. The focus sits firmly on the individual discipline, with trainees engaging with the ideas, knowledge and practices that shape how biology is taught in schools.
During a recent session led by Joanna Igoe, Science Subject Lead at Equalitas, at Mulberry Woodside School in London, trainees explored scientific ideas as powerful knowledge alongside the role of hinterland knowledge in building meaning. Practical work reinforced this, allowing trainees to think carefully about how subject knowledge is enacted in the classroom.
This short video offers a window into the opening session. Joanna introduces the idea of scientific ideas as powerful knowledge, before trainees moved onto a practical activity, extracting DNA from strawberries. The video captures trainees working together through the task while considering how to scaffold learning, what to emphasise and how to ensure pupils grasp the underlying science.
The second part of the day moved beyond the classroom, showing how disciplinary knowledge is applied in different contexts. Fieldwork brings its own demands, requiring careful attention to how pupils collect, interpret and use data.
This video highlights an outdoor practical session, where trainees used quadrats to sample plant populations. It shows trainees thinking about accuracy, sampling methods and how to introduce concepts such as distribution and abundance. The session reflects a central principle of the programme: subject knowledge, taught with clarity and intention, supporting pupils to understand the world with greater precision.
Visit our Science Teacher Training page for more insight from Joanna Igoe, or to learn more about joining our next cohort of science teachers.