The Relative Number of Science and Mathematics Teachers in Municipal Elementary Schools in Osaka City, Japan

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to obtain the relative number of teachers with science and mathematics backgrounds in municipal elementary schools in Osaka City, Japan, through a questionnaire survey. The background of teachers plays a vital role because researchers from universities and research organizations should be able to communicate well with science and mathematics teachers in order to disseminate new information in their respective fields. When there is poor communication, the school teachers may be misunderstood or mislead. The number of teachers with science and mathematics backgrounds in municipal elementary schools was found to be around 5.9%, and 2.3%, respectively. Among the different fields of science, the number of teachers with physics, chemistry, biology, and geoscience backgrounds were found to be about 1.0%, 0.9%, 1.0%, and 0.6%, respectively. The relative numbers are rather low in all fields of science, the number in the geoscience field being the lowest. Therefore, the background of applicants should be duly considered when employing elementary school teachers. Further, when researchers communicate with elementary school teachers, they should consider the level of understanding of more than 90% teachers who do not have sufficient background in the field of mathematics and science.