The Identification of Content and Source of Practical Knowledge of Experienced Teachers of Elementary School: Implications for The Educating of Primary Teachers in The Teacher Education System

The purpose of this research was to investigate the effectiveness of the teachers’ guide books for the sixth-grade science and mathematics courses in primary schools in Iran, according to the eight elements of curriculum development. This research was an applied and descriptive survey. The statistical population included all the educational experts and sixth grade primary school teachers in state schools in the second educational zone in Urmia. Of this population, 173 individuals (135 teachers, 38 experts) were randomly selected as the participants in the study. Data was collected using a researcher-made questionnaire. Data analysis involved both descriptive (frequency, frequency percentage and average) and inferential (repeated measures ANOVA, and t-tests) statistics. The results revealed that both teachers and experts found the teachers’ guide books not equally effective with respect to the eight elements of curriculum development; purpose, content, teaching method, and evaluation method were respectively the first four significant elements to the participants and “educational materials and resources”, and “space and educational facilities” were correspondingly the seventh and eighth important elements. The differences between teachers' and experts point of views on the efficacy of math teaching guide book was significant at p ≤ 0.05 level but for the science teaching guidance book it was not significant.