Teacher Education and Popular Culture: Proverbs about the Climate and Weather

Laurinda LEITE; Luís  DOURADO; Sofia  MORGADO; Conceição  ANTUNES

Laurinda LEITE CIEd-Institute of Education, University of Minho, Braga-PORTUGAL
Luís DOURADO CIEd-Institute of Education, University of Minho, Braga-PORTUGAL
Sofia MORGADO CIEd-Institute of Education, University of Minho, Braga-PORTUGAL
Conceição ANTUNES CIEd-Institute of Education, University of Minho, Braga-PORTUGAL

Keywords: Popular culture, prospective teachers, proverbs, senior citizens, weather

Abstract

Proverbs are a part of cultural heritage of people. Proverbs about climate and weather influence human behaviours at such areas as agriculture and fishing. The pedagogical use of proverbs promotes to link everyday knowledge with scientific one. However, teachers should be familiar with the meanings of proverbs to integrate them into their classes. This article presents data collected from prospective teachers (n=22) and senior citizens (n=38). The results show that both of the groups believed proverbs, even though there were some differences concerning their familiarities with the content of the proverbs. This shows that the proverbs should be successfully used in science teaching to facilitate a better conceptual understanding of science content. Therefore, proverbs should be approached in teacher education contexts.