Abstract:
Authors have realized through their years of teaching and research experience in teacher education, by working in different capacities in many institutions and by involving in developing various teacher education innovations and implementing both practical and theoretical components of the teacher education programmes that there exists a definite gap between theory and practice of teacher education. The proposed study intends to investigate ways to integrate theory and practice into Primary Science instructional programme in teacher education through environment related activities curriculum. In this paper authors have presented the conceptual framework of the proposed research. The research is mainly focused on identifying the gap between theory and practice in Primary Science Teacher Education in Sri Lanka and on implementing a professional development model that links theory and practice in this area of Primary Teacher Education. Therefore the researchers wish to develop a professional development model that consists of reflective groups to form a strong network of communities. This model has the potential to help teachers reflect critically on their practice and to construct new knowledge about content and pedagogy in Primary Science through Environment Related Activities Curriculum.