This study examines Pre-Service Teachers (PSTs)’ implicit preassumptions about elementary students’ capabilities in science classroom settings. Within a responsive teaching framework (Robertson et al., 2016), teachers are encouraged to attend to and build on students’ developing ideas rather than evaluating them solely against predetermined expectations. When PSTs hold strong assumptions about what students of a particular age should or should not understand, those assumptions may influence what they notice in classroom interactions and how they interpret students’ contributions.

The data were drawn from Spring 2024 course assignments both at the beginning of the semester and the end in which PSTs wrote reflective essays after viewing a classroom video of elementary students collaboratively making sense of how electrical circuits work. Using qualitative analysis informed by both inductive and deductive coding approaches, patterns were identified in PSTs’ written reflections. 

The analysis revealed that PSTs frequently expressed expectations about children’s cognitive abilities and science understanding when interpreting the classroom interaction. Three prominent themes emerged: (1) PSTs referencing their own prior learning experiences as a point of comparison, (2) assumptions tied to students’ age and perceived developmental limitations, and (3) expressions of surprise or admiration regarding students’ scientific reasoning capabilities.

These findings highlight how preservice teachers’ expectations can shape how they notice and interpret students’ ideas in science discussions. Examining these expectations is therefore important for teacher education programs seeking to support PSTs in developing more responsive approaches to instruction that recognize and leverage elementary students’ emerging scientific thinking.