Latest Comment: What would you do?Support for science and technology
Professor Sally Brown, Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh
A Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) promises opportunities to explore and understand the world in ways that former curricular prescriptions did not.
The centrality to modern life of science and technology confirms the importance of making these areas interesting and exciting, preparing all young people for responsible engaged citizenship and encouraging more to pursue scientific careers.
The Scottish Government emphasises the value of shared learning among industry, schools and academia. The Royal Society of Edinburgh (RSE) could be well placed to contribute to such sharing through its Fellows' expertise in science, technology and industry, strong links with higher education (HE) and experience of cross-disciplinary. With the Royal Society of Chemistry, it is already engaged in exemplifying development of CfE science experiences and outcomes. This will become available for schools and there are aspirations to involve other organisations in comparable future enterprises.
The RSE might also contribute to advice on science and engineering careers, but its most important role could be the encouragement of CPD whereby staff from HE help teachers keep abreast of new research findings and science and technology developments. It is necessary, however, to be clear about the context in which such support could be made available and what the RSE could offer.
To expect each school to develop a relationship with an HE institution is unrealistic. However, it should be possible to create science 'hubs' across Scotland with each located in a secondary science department and involving partnerships with other primary and secondary schools. These would undertake teacher-led CfE projects, with possible support or evaluation from HE or business, and share the projects' outcomes through national events or networks like GLOW.
Projects might include ideas for strengthening primary science, learning across primary-secondary transition, exemplification for S1-S3 science or development of cross-disciplinary learning. This approach could potentially develop CfE communities of science teachers and supporters from schools, colleges, universities or industry, and inform young people about career opportunities and enhanced access to science education.
Helping young people in making sense of their world, asking why things are as they are and questioning explanations, are priorities. Understanding evidence with its strengths, limitations and need for testing is central. HE researchers have expertise in, for example, new technologies, human impact on planetary changes, modern genetics and medical, forensic, food or space science, but effective transfer of such knowledge to school science needs new pathways. Collaboration among local and national government, Learning and Teaching Scotland, and the RSE could engender ideas about such pathways including science "hubs".
For some innovative areas, the knowledge available for transfer is lacking, but questions could still be addressed collaboratively.
For example:
- How does traditional 'covering a syllabus' practice convert to ensuring 'successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens'?
- Greater teacher autonomy implies different CfE developments in different schools; what does this mean for assessment and qualifications?
But the resolution of questions about managing schools' curricula and the qualifications framework or the expectations that developments must be "cost-neutral" will need other approaches.
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Latest comment...
would like to knowthe GTCS view on this scenario. I agree with Steve its a last option!
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