Abstract
The aim of this empirical study is to present the results of research on primary school teachers teaching a new science topic using identical textbook materials. At irst theoretical resources and the state of the art of using teaching materials by teachers are described with respect to the transformation of untraditional content and to the introduction of untraditional teaching methods.
In the next part, research methodology is presented. Research data was obtained from an analysis of teaching materials, from in-depth interviews with three teachers and from observing their teaching.
The next part is devoted to research results and discussion. The teachers drew heavily on procedures suggested in the teachers' guide when they planned their lessons; the diff erence was in the depth of understanding, which was also apparent during the lessons.
The irst teacher developed suggestions; the second one accepted them but implemented them ineficiently. The third one was selecting aspects of the curriculum and procedures according to her preferences.
Especially in cases where the textbook resources present the subject matter in a new and non-traditional way, teachers' understanding of the structure may suff er as may the subject matter, the educational objectives and the proposed methodological approaches. For some of them textbook materials can be the source of content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge, for others they are just the source of didactic suggestions whose purposes can be explained by teachers sometimes quite diff erently from the purposes of textbook material authors.
The understanding of teachers' with introducing innovations is the starting point for thinking about effective forms of their professional support.