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Innovations in science and technology education
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Innovations in science and technology education Vol. VIII Edited by Edgar W. Jenkins
U N E S C O Publishing
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The designations employed and the presentation of material throughout this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of UNESCO concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or of its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. The authors are responsible for the choice and the presentation of the facts contained in this book and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of UNESCO and do not commit the Organization.
Published in 2003 by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, 7, place de Fontenoy, F-75352 Paris 07 SP Composed by IGS-Charente Photogravure (France) Printed by Marco Gráfico, S.L., Madrid ISBN 92-3-103894-X © UNESCO 2003 Printed in Spain
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Preface
This is the eighth volume of Innovations in Science and Technology Education, a series launched by UNESCO in 1984 to provide information, on an international basis, about innovations in science and technology education at all levels of schooling, in related teacher training and in out-of-school activities. The twentieth century was distinguished from humanity’s previous history by the unprecedented progress in science and technology. Within the context of sustainable development, it is now recognized that no modern society is imaginable without the support of science and technology, and most countries place high value on science and technology as a means towards development. This volume looks at the state of science and technology education (STE) worldwide at a crucial time. We are at the start of a new century and a new millennium. The reflections and recommendations of experts assembled at the World Conference of Science, Budapest, 1999 and the International Conference of Science, Technology and Mathematics Education (ICSTME), Goa, 2001, provided input to the thinking behind this publication. UNESCO played an important role in the organization of both these conferences. In Budapest, the vital role of science education was acknowledged by all the participants. Goa served as an occasion for science, technology and mathematics experts from around the world to make practical recommendations for the implementation of effective Science, Technology and Mathematics Education (STME) in formal and non-formal education. These recommendations have been used to develop a Framework of Action aimed at helping UNESCO’s Member States to review and re-orient their national STME programmes. Notable differences in the state of STE in different parts of the world became apparent at the two conferences as did differences in attitudes towards STE. UNESCO feels that it is important that these differences be brought to the forefront in order to stimulate concerted action for mutual benefit. Thus, this publication attempts to present a worldwide panorama – albeit not exhaustive – of the state of STE based on the experience of renowned specialists in the field. This publication is intended for all those concerned with the on-going process of science and technology education.
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Preface
These include science educators in universities and colleges, especially those involved with teacher training and curriculum planning, Ministry of Education officials, and practising science and technology teachers. UNESCO wishes to express its appreciation to the contributors to this volume, who so generously gave of their time and energy. Particular acknowledgement is due to the editor, Edgar W. Jenkins, Professor of Science Education Policy at the School of Education, University of Leeds, United Kingdom.
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Contents
Introduction Edgar W. Jenkins
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School science and technology education in Australia and the Pacific Léonie Rennie, Mark Hackling and Denis Goodrum 13 Science and technology education in the Arab World in the twenty-first century Saouma BouJaoude 43 Reforming the United States secondary school science curriculum Sylvia A. Ware 69 Science and technology education in South Asia Jayashree Ramadas School science and technology education in China Cheng Donghong and Liu Jiemin 123 Issues in science and technology education in South Africa: a nation in transformation Colin Wood-Robinson 147 School science and technology for girls in sub-Saharan Africa Joseph P. O’Connor 171 Science and technology education in Europe: current challenges and possible solutions Svein Sjøberg 201 School technology education in Europe in the early twenty-first century: towards a closer relationship with science education Marc J. de Vries 229 Technology education in the Russian Federation: is the perspective clear? Margarita Pavlova and James Pitt 249
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Contents
Challenges, opportunities and decisions for science education at the opening of the twenty-first century Richard T. White School technology education: the search for authenticity John Olson 299 Postscript Edgar W. Jenkins
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Introduction Edgar W. Jenkins
In the early years of the new millennium, all Member States of UNESCO acknowledge the importance of scientific and technological knowledge and expertise to their national economies and to the well-being of their citizens. Those same States also recognize that such knowledge and expertise depend crucially upon the quality of scientific and technological education and training, the foundations of which are laid at school. It is with those foundations that this volume is principally concerned. The contributors to this publication have been invited both to review the current state of school science and technology education in a region or state with which they are familiar, and to look ahead, at least a little, into the future. To this end, there has been some editorial encouragement to engage in reasoned speculation about what school science and technology might look like in ten, or perhaps twenty, years’ time. Two of the contributors have responded to a particularly difficult additional challenge in providing something of a global perspective, and the chapters by White (on science education) and Olson (on technology education) frame and complement the more specific initiatives and trends that are described elsewhere in the volume. Some of the difficulties facing most of the contributors to this volume become evident in the first chapter, by Léonie Rennie and her colleagues – namely the great diversity of science and technology education found within a given region, and the difficulty of securing reliable and up-to-date data. Though it would be invidious to draw a general conclusion from their chapter concerned with Australia and the Pacific, any attempt to do so would probably identify the need for collaboration between developed and developing nations while accommodating the cultural diversity referred to above. Saouma BouJaoude’s account of school science and technology in the Arab world sets out a formidable agenda for reform, and he draws attention to the importance of teaching science and technology in ways that are sensitive to students’ often deeply held religious beliefs. BouJaoude also offers a timely warning against what might be called scientific or technological determinism by stressing the role of well-informed citizens in reaching decisions about the uses to be made of scientific and technological knowledge.
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Introduction
Perhaps no country in the world has invested as heavily in the reform of school science and technology education as the United States. In her chapter, Sylvia Ware describes initiatives to effect change on a national scale in a country in which education is the responsibility of the state, rather than the federal, government. While much has been achieved, not least in producing curriculum materials of high quality and in exploiting the potential of information and communication technologies in a variety of innovative ways, one of the problems that she highlights is by no means unique to the United States. This concerns the extent to which curricula designed to provide ‘science for all’ can be sufficiently rigorous to meet the needs of those students likely to pursue more advanced studies in science. Her conclusion that curriculum reform in the United States is ‘an unfolding story with both successes and failures’ is also surely one that has validity elsewhere. So, too, is her query as to whether the political commitment to reforming school science and technology education can be sustained long enough to show the gains in student achievement that ‘the whole process is about’. It serves as a timely, if implicit, reminder, that change in school science and technology is complex, multi-faceted and, if it is to endure, cannot be effected quickly or cheaply. For Jayashree Ramadas, the central problem in the education systems of South Asia is that they continue to carry ‘an uneasy burden of alienation’, and she welcomes the re-emergence of indigenous approaches to science, technology and development. It is clear that the issues she raises here extend well beyond the region she discusses. Ramadas also draws attention to underlying social problems, such as child labour and enduring low standards of professional accountability, that must be overcome if substantial progress is to be made towards a worthwhile science and technology education for all. No one can be unimpressed by the scale of the educational endeavour in China, a country with 200 million students and almost 11 million full-time teachers. The country has probably gone further than most in developing out-of-school science- and technology-related activities, and in linking these with more formal schooling. Even so, as in many other parts of the world, the levels of scientific literacy remain low. Like a number of other contributors to this volume, Cheng Donghong and Liu Jiemin draw attention to attempts to integrate science and technology within the curriculum, and to change both the content of these subjects and the ways in which they are taught to students. For South Africa, the goal of science and technology for all is an important element of its attempt to shed the legacy of apartheid and consolidate a new democracy. As Colin Wood-Robinson points out, the country has developed a forward-looking curriculum that could be the envy of its neighbours
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Introduction
on the African continent. However, he also points out that ‘Far-sighted and imaginative curricula and new approaches to assessment are only as good as their delivery in the classroom’. He presents seven questions to which answers are urgently needed if the challenges facing science and technology education in South Africa, and to some extent, the wider region, are to be met. Central to Joseph O’Connor’s chapter is the scientific and technological education of girls, an issue that also receives some attention from a number of other contributors. He gives particular attention to the Female Education in Mathematics and Science in Africa (FEMSA) project, and to what needs to be done to ‘mainstream’ what has been learned from the project in order to bring about lasting improvements in the scientific and technological education of girls in Africa. Svein Sjøberg discusses some of the current challenges facing science and technology education within Europe and suggests some possible solutions to the difficulties that he identifies. He comments critically upon two recent large-scale international comparisons of student achievement, the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), and, in a wide-ranging analysis, explores why, in the developed world, science and technology seem to have lost their attraction for many young people. Central to his analysis, and to the ongoing Relevance of Science Education (ROSE) project that he directs, is a concern to identify the priorities of the learner and to establish what gives a science or technology curriculum meaning for young people. It seems likely that many people do not make a distinction between science and technology or, to the extent that they do so, regard the distinction as unimportant. It is true that most modern technological innovations are closely integrated with developments in the corresponding sciences. Attempts to bring school science and technology closer together, or even to integrate them, are perhaps therefore only to be expected. This is a central theme of Marc de Vries’ chapter focusing on Europe. He carefully reviews the advantages that might come from bringing science education and technology education closer together, balancing this with a clear account of the disadvantages, and of the obstacles in the way of change. Like a number of other countries referred to in this volume, the Russian Federation has undergone constitutional, social and economic upheaval in recent years, and the education system has had to adjust accordingly. Given the importance of labour training in the former Soviet period, the challenge of establishing a school technology education based upon a ‘design and make’ approach, and of accommodating an enriched notion of vospitanie, remains severe. Margarita Pavlova and James Pitt place these attempts to reform school technology within the context of a broader concern to humanize
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Introduction
the school curriculum in the Russian Federation, and they are, perhaps unsurprisingly, cautious about the extent to which some exciting and important initiatives will flourish. In introducing his chapter, Richard White reminds us of what has been achieved in the past hundred years in establishing science as an internationally recognized component of the school curriculum. He also reminds us that, if science is to remain a lively and worthwhile part of schooling, many people will have to ‘cope with new challenges and seize the opportunities that come with them’. His global overview of these challenges and opportunities encompasses the curriculum, assessment, the Internet, teachers and their training, and research. It offers much food for thought. For example, White points out that, while much has been learned about the complexities of teaching and learning, education researchers have barely begun to meet the challenge of how to translate what has been learned into action in the mass of classrooms. He also points out that ‘the combination of factors that underpins research in science education is not permanent’, and that those who believe that computers and the Internet are about to reduce, perhaps even remove, the need to employ teachers are mistaken, not least because they have a simplistic notion of what is involved in learning. Central to John Olson’s global overview of technology education is the search for ‘authenticity’. His chapter reveals links between technology education and conventionally different notions such as education for citizenship and education for sustainability, links that confirm education as an essentially moral enterprise and, therefore, fundamentally and inescapably concerned with values. Olson is particularly sensitive to the centrality of the teacher in effecting change and the need to engage students actively in work that carries real meaning for them, i.e. that they regard as authentic. Drawing upon the earlier chapters, the concluding postscript identifies a number of issues in school science and technology education and offers some comments upon them. In presenting this final chapter, I readily acknowledge the debt that I owe to all of the contributors to this volume. They cannot, of course, be held in any way responsible for the views that I put forward, although I hope that they would agree with them.
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School science and technology education in Australia and the Pacific Léonie J. Rennie, Mark Hackling and Denis Goodrum
This chapter reviews school science and technology in the Australia/Pacific region, including Australia, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea and the Pacific Island states/territories, among which are some of the world’s smallest independent nations. Except for the first two mentioned, these countries are classified by UNESCO as developing countries and, indeed, many of them rely on aid to maintain their education systems. Unfortunately, aid donors do not always take into account local educational needs when providing aid (see Luteru and Teasdale, 1993, for a comprehensive discussion of aid and education in the South Pacific). In preparing this chapter, we have been conscious of White’s (2001) warning that Western theoretical paradigms on formal education often exert a hegemonic influence on both discourse and policy on such education in some Third World countries where it originated as a Western-imported institution (p. 303). All of the countries in this region were colonized, and in all of them formal education originated ‘as a Western-imported institution’. In fact, the Pacific Island states/territories were the last in the world to be decolonized, and, according to Thomas (1993), all require aid to sustain their development. Australia and New Zealand are major suppliers of this aid 1, and this, together with their much larger populations and high level of development, means that they have a strong influence on education in the region. We have found it difficult to access reliable and recent information about science and technology education in the Pacific Island states/territories. Consequently, we have drawn on an Australian report of science education released in 2001 (Goodrum et al., 2001) which was set in an international (but predominantly Western) context. We use it to develop the framework of scientific literacy, which we believe is the underlying purpose of science education, together with the pedagogy, which we argue has the best chance of promoting scientific literacy. 1.
In 2001–02, 20% of Australian Aid was expected to go to Papua New Guinea and 10% to the Pacific region (AusAID, August, 2001a) and the allocation from New Zealand to Pacific country or regional programmes was 47.25% (NZODA, 2001).
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The introductory overview of basic educational data in the region emphasizes the diversity that makes it so difficult to advance science and technology education on a collaborative basis. The notion of scientific literacy and how it has been operationalized leads to a picture of science education in the region. Following an outline of the kind of science education that can promote scientific literacy, suggestions are made as to how science education needs to change to achieve scientific literacy, and some initiatives in the region with potential for improvement are described.
Setting the scene The region is very diverse. In addition to contrast in terms of development and industrialization, the countries are geographically different, ranging from a mountainous, volcanic topography to low islands in danger from rising sea levels. Although most the countries are independent, they are politically diverse. Several have experienced political upheaval in recent years, others major natural catastrophes. It is understandable, then, that the education systems of these countries are also varied and that science and technology education, whilst universally recognized as a central component of educational and economic advancement, differs also. Some idea of the educational diversity of the region can be obtained from the UNESCO Statistical Yearbook 1999. Oceania is the collective term used for the region, but for most of the twenty or so countries very limited data are available. The number of years of compulsory schooling in these countries varies from six, in Vanuatu, to twelve, in Tokelau (UNESCO, 1999, Table II.1). The structure of schooling differs also. For example, Nuie has six years of primary school, followed by six of secondary school (eight years are compulsory), and New Caledonia has five years of primary, four of lower secondary, and three of upper secondary school (ten years are compulsory). Estimated illiteracy levels are available only for Fiji and Papua New Guinea, and these are reported in Table 2.1. It can be seen from Table 2.1 that considerable progress has been made over two decades in reducing the level of illiteracy in these two countries. Even so, literacy levels remain different for males and females, with almost twice as many females among the illiterate in both Papua New Guinea and Fiji. The high level of illiteracy in Papua New Guinea is understandable in terms of the country’s geography, since the mountainous terrain and the predominantly ‘subsistence’ lifestyle of its people have resulted in the development of many communities relatively isolated from each other. The consequent cultural and linguistic diversity (there are more than 700 dialects)
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TABLE 2.1.
Estimated illiteracy rate (%) for the population aged 15 years and over Fiji
Papua New Guinea
Year
Male
Female
Male
Female
1980 1985 1990 1995 2000
13.4 10.5 8.4 6.5 5.0
21.8 17.2 14.3 11.4 9.1
30.0 25.6 22.1 19.0 16.3
54.8 48.3 42.5 37.3 32.3
Source: UNESCO Statistical Yearbook 1999, Table II.2, p. II-50.
creates barriers to schooling on top of the difficulties of attending school attributable to the terrain. Fiji has lower levels of illiteracy, but these figures mask an ethnic difference. Unlike other nations in the region, Fiji is strongly bi-ethnic, comprising about 50 per cent Fijians, 45 per cent Fiji Indians and 5 per cent other. Ethnic Fijians are the traditional landholders and are spread over more than 300 islands, whereas the Fiji Indians are concentrated in the urban areas. Fiji Indians have greater access to schools and have generally lower levels of illiteracy. Another view of the education systems in the region is given in Table 2.2. Here the gross enrolment ratios are reported for primary and secondary TABLE 2.2.
Gross enrolment ratios and percentage of GNP spent on education Gross enrolment ratioa Primary
Secondary
GNP on Educationb
Country/territory
Year
Male
Female Male
Female Year
%
Australia Fiji French Polynesia Guam New Caledonia New Zealand Papua New Guinea Samoa Solomon Islands Tonga Vanuatu
1997 1992 1992 1997 1997 1995 1996 1994 1992
101 128 127 101 87 101 103 101
101 128 124 101 74 99 89 94
155 65 86 106 116 11 66 14 18
5.5 5.4 9.8 8.5 13.5 7.3 4.7 4.2 3.8 4.7 4.8
a b
150 64 69 95 110 17 59 21 23
1995 1992 1984 1985 1985 1996 1979 1990 1991 1992 1995
UNESCO Statistical Yearbook 1999, Table II.8, pp. II-359 to II-363 UNESCO Statistical Yearbook 1999, Table II.18, pp. II-512 to II-513
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schools, together with the total public expenditure on education as a percentage of the gross national product (GNP). Gross enrolment ratios disregard age and reflect the total enrolment at primary/secondary level, expressed as a percentage of the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the primary/secondary level. Gross enrolment ratios inflate the figures, because repeating students are included, and thus the ratio can exceed 100 per cent. The secondary figures can become very high because they also include enrolment in technical and vocational education, and in Australia reach 150 per cent, due to the participation of mature-age students. One notable feature of Table 2.2 is the variable age of the data, which in many cases precludes making comparisons and emphasizes the difficulty of obtaining up-to-date and complete information for the region. The most notable feature, however, is diversity, with several countries having around 20 per cent or less of their school-aged children in secondary school, even though most students attend primary school. In these countries, fewer girls than boys attend secondary school. The figures are lowest for Papua New Guinea for the reasons already described.
Scientific and technological literacy The concept of ‘Science for All’ was widely accepted as an urgent educational priority in 1983 (UNESCO, 1983) and it remains a priority because science and technology continue to affect our everyday lives in so many different ways. It follows that science at school should contribute to the scientific and technological literacy of students, although as Jenkins (1997) points out in his comprehensive account of the meanings and rationales associated with scientific and technological literacy, agencies other than formal education have a role to play. Nevertheless, a fundamental belief of science educators is that developing scientific literacy should be the focus of science education in the compulsory years of schooling of all children (Khun and Tek, 2000). The reasons are well rehearsed. Scientific literacy contributes to the economic and social well-being of the nation, and to improved decision-making at public and personal levels (Laugksch, 2000). The Royal Society of London (Royal Society, 1985) argued that scientifically literate citizens are able to negotiate their way more effectively through the society in which they live. Personal decisions – for example, about diet, smoking, vaccination, screening programmes, or safety in the home and at work – should all be helped by some understanding of the underlying science (p. 10). This view is supported by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which considers that scientifically literate persons are ‘able to use scientific
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knowledge and processes not just to understand the natural world but [also] to participate in decisions that affect it’ (OECD Programme for International Student Assessment [PISA], 1999, p. 13). Unfortunately, school science has not been effective in promoting scientific literacy, for a range of reasons that have been documented by Fensham (1997). Not least of these is the traditional focus on the academic content of science, especially at the upper levels of schooling, instead of an understanding of the science involved in rational decision-making about personal health and safety, the well-being of the community and a sustainable environment. If science education is to achieve its goal of scientific literacy, then the implemented curriculum in every country should be that which promotes in students the capacity to use scientific knowledge, to identify questions and to draw evidencebased conclusions in order to understand and help make decisions about the natural world and the changes made to it through human activity (OECD-PISA, 1999, p. 60).
This is the definition of scientific literacy used by OECD-PISA to develop ways of assessing scientific literacy in the 15-year-old target population of its assessments. To transform this definition into an assessment framework, three dimensions of scientific literacy have been identified: scientific concepts, processes, and ‘real-world’ contexts in which the concepts and processes are applied (OECD-PISA, 2000). In many developing countries, achieving this level of scientific literacy is indeed a challenge, when so many pupils do not complete primary schooling. However, progress is being made, and as we look back over the last decade or so, we can see signs of change in how science education is being implemented. For example, a review of recent trends in science, mathematics and technology education within South-East Asia highlights the focus being placed on scientific literacy, along with moves towards balanced curricula, a more student-centred pedagogy, more holistic use of assessment, and a greater use of information and communication technologies (Khun and Tek, 2000). In 1999, the Australian Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs (DETYA) commissioned a study of the status and quality of the teaching and learning of science in Australian primary and secondary schools (Goodrum et al., 2001). The research set out to establish two pictures: one of the ideal regarding the teaching and learning of science, the other of the reality of what was actually happening in Australian schools. By comparing these two pictures, recommendations were prepared to help move the actual situation towards the ideal. This research reaffirmed the importance of developing scientific literacy to a quality science education and, based on extensive research, provided the following definition of the construct:
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Scientific literacy is a high priority for all citizens, helping them to be interested in, and understand, the world around them, to engage in the discourses of and about science, to be sceptical and questioning of claims made by others about scientific matters, to be able to identify questions, investigate and draw evidence-based conclusions, and to make informed decisions about the environment and their own health and well-being (Hackling et al., 2001, p. 7).
The status of science teaching and learning in the Australia/Pacific region The recent national review of science education in Australia (Goodrum et al., 2001) described the current status of science in Australian schools, and this ‘actual picture’ addressed trends similar to those identified by Khun and Tek (2000). Australia is the only country of the region to have completed a comprehensive review of its school science education, and because of this, considerable space is devoted to it in this chapter. Many of these trends are visible in the curricula being implemented in other countries since the early 1990s, including Australia and New Zealand, and in some of the Pacific Island states/territories. Australian and New Zealand educators are beginning to assess the outcomes of the implementation of these curricula.
Science education in Australia The national review of the teaching and learning of science in Australian schools (Goodrum et al., 2001) collected data by reviewing reports and research literature, analysing Australian science syllabuses and curriculum frameworks, holding two rounds of focus group meetings with teachers and other stakeholders, and conducting representative surveys of students and telephone interviews with teachers. These data provided a triangulated picture of what is actually happening in school science. Goodrum et al. report fully in terms of the curriculum, the nature of the science being taught and the types of learning outcomes being developed; science teaching, learning and assessment practices; student participation in science; level of student achievement; resources for teaching science; teachers’ knowledge, skills and perceptions of status; pre-service teacher education; and the lack of a national focus for science teaching and learning. This picture is summarized briefly below.
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School science and technology education in Australia and the Pacific
The science curriculum and intended learning outcomes The syllabuses, curriculum and assessment frameworks developed by the eight Australian states and territories share several common features, including a rationale for school science based on scientific literacy for all students, a focus on learning outcomes rather than on what should be taught, and a link between outcomes and making improvements to students’ existing understandings and skills, so that learning is seen as progressive and developmental. The focus on content to be covered has been replaced with a focus on the development of broad conceptual understandings that help students to understand the world around them and become informed and responsible members of society. Science concepts and processes, skills and attitudes associated with the scientific endeavour are described in the essential materials for all students. All syllabuses and frameworks either embed these processes into the conceptual outcomes or emphasize that they should be integrated in teaching and learning.
Science teaching, learning and assessment Goodrum et al. (2001) found that their research revealed a gap between the intended curriculum of the science curriculum frameworks and the actual, implemented curriculum. At the secondary level, in particular, science is presented as traditional, discipline-based and dominated by content. Lower secondary students report that the science they are taught lacks relevance to their needs and interests. Many students indicate that science never deals with things they are concerned about or helps them to make decisions about their health. This raises questions about the appropriateness of the selected content and learning contexts. The focus group discussions with teachers confirmed the heavy content burden they felt at the secondary level, with both teachers and students focused on covering content for ‘the test’. At the primary level, pupil questionnaire responses indicated a greater level of satisfaction with the science curriculum and in the pedagogical approach taken. Science at the primary level is usually pupil-centred with practical activities and pupil investigations. However, science tends to remain in the classroom, with excursions being rare. For most secondary school students, the teaching-learning process is teacher-centred. The teacher and student data both indicate that lessons are of two main types: practical activities under the direction of the teacher rather than the student’s own investigation, and chalk-and-talk lessons centred on teacher explanation, copying notes and working from an expository text. Current emphases in state and territory curriculum frameworks on investigations (e.g. Hackling, 1998), with
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students planning and conducting their own investigations and learning the skills necessary for scientific literacy, are not reflected in the traditional curriculum still implemented in many schools. The assessment and reporting of student achievement in secondary science is far more formal than in primary science. Assessment at the primary level is informal and mainly based on the teacher’s observation of pupils. In secondary schools, teachers say that tests are the most common form of assessment and, on average, represent 55 per cent of the overall weighting of assessment. Assessment is typically summative, norm-referenced and focused on content. Traditional assessment practices remain one of the most significant barriers to educational reform in secondary schools, where teachers are required to cover too much content in order to prepare students for ‘the test’, instead of making greater use of formative assessments for improving teaching and learning.
Student participation in science Although science was enjoyed by primary school pupils, the teacher survey suggested that it was taught for an average of only one hour each week, and in some schools was rarely taught at all. This figure has not changed for some time, despite the importance given to science by the relevant stakeholders (Australian Science, Technology and Engineering Council, 1997). Science is compulsory in the lower secondary school, but across states the time devoted to it varies from 150 to 240 minutes each week. In the non-compulsory years of secondary schooling, teachers surveyed by telephone estimated that, on average, about one-third of upper secondary students in their schools studied no science at all. Recent official data from the Australian State and Territory Boards of Study reveal that, despite an increase in the size of the final year cohort, fewer students are taking any science subjects (Dekkers and De Laeter, 2001). Analyses of the data kindly provided to Goodrum et al. (2001) by Dekkers and De Laeter indicate that, between 1980 and 1998, the Year 12 cohort (the final year of schooling) increased in size by 99 per cent. However, science subject enrolments increased by only 31 per cent. There is now a lower percentage of the cohort taking traditional discipline-based public examination subjects than in 1980. Indeed, in 1980 students enrolled in an average of 1.3 science subjects; by 1998 this had fallen to an average of 0.86. A number of factors are likely to be impacting negatively on upper secondary students’ science enrolments. These may include negative experiences of science in the lower secondary years, changing requirements for admission to university courses, and the widening range of abilities and interests represented in the 1998 Year 12
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cohort, compared to that of 1980. Schools will need to evaluate carefully the science education needs of upper secondary students and ensure that an appropriate range of science subject choices is available for these students so that they can continue their science education.
Resources available to support science teaching Focus group meetings and teacher telephone surveys revealed that limitations in science budgets, curriculum resources, consumables, equipment and facilities are a significant constraint on the quality of science teaching. In primary schools, 40 per cent of teachers identified resources as a major factor limiting science teaching. Secondary teachers have similar concerns. A quarter of the secondary teachers surveyed indicated that inadequate resources were a major limiting factor, together with an inadequate science budget and poor access to laboratories and computers. In Australia, the various states and territories have developed their own syllabuses and curriculum frameworks, and there is much duplication of effort. Recently, the Australian government initiated a number of national collaborative innovations that have the potential to develop world class curriculum and assessment resources and professional development programmes. On-line technology provides a delivery mechanism that now makes possible the national dissemination of resource materials for science education.
Teacher status and the ongoing professional development of teachers The Australian education system, like that of many countries, is experiencing constant change, reflecting changes in society. A consistent theme emerging from the focus group meetings was that many Australian teachers lack the time, resources and professional development opportunities for this change to be a positive period of personal growth, so that it becomes a time of stress and feelings of inadequacy. Many teachers feel undervalued, under-resourced and overloaded with non-teaching duties. Teachers report that they do not have sufficient time for core professional responsibilities such as the preparation of teaching materials and lessons. The profession is in urgent need of renewal, as there is an aging population of teachers, and fewer outstanding people choosing teaching as a career. In the telephone survey, a large number of teachers indicated a need to upgrade their existing skills and to attract more, younger, and better teachers into the profession if science education were to be revitalized.
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One of the most startling aspects of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS 1995) data was the proportion of Australian teachers who indicated that they would like to change career: 45 per cent of Australian primary and 50 per cent of Australian secondary teachers sampled indicated they would like to change career and leave teaching. Both of these figures were the worst of all participating countries, except for New Zealand (Lokan et al., 1996; 1997). There needs to be greater professional or monetary recognition given to teachers who upgrade their knowledge and skills through professional development or further studies. The ongoing professional growth of teachers needs to be supported by a framework of professional standards for certification and registration following a period of induction and mentoring. There is also a need to recognize and reward teachers with advanced levels of professional knowledge and skills. In Australia, the profession itself has accepted the responsibility for providing strong leadership in this area and has initiated the development of professional standards for science teaching (Ingvarson and Wright, 1999).
Pre-service teacher education and teacher supply There has been a progressive running down of funding and staffing within Australian university teacher education (Dobson and Calderon, 1999), to the point that a great deal of teaching fails to model best professional practice. Reduced budgets and staffing levels have forced education faculties to reduce the hours of class contact provided to students and to adopt low cost, mass lecture and tutorial methods. These changes fail to produce the much higher standards of professional knowledge and skills, and enhanced capacity for educational leadership, required by modern innovative schools. Currently there are few effective incentives employed to attract school leavers into teacher education and, in addition, the current age-profile of the Australian secondary teacher population indicates that the impact of retirements over the next few years will be greater for secondary science teaching than for any other profession (Australian Council of Deans of Education, 2000). The combination of these two factors points to an impending crisis in teacher supply relative to demand, particularly when other countries are actively recruiting young science and mathematics teachers. If the quality and number of graduate teachers of science are to be increased, there needs to be greater investment in teacher education and appropriate incentives to attract young people into teacher education programmes.
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Science education in New Zealand New Zealand developed a new, outcomes-based science curriculum in the early 1990s. There are four content areas and two integrating strands: the nature of science and its relationship to technology, and developing scientific skills and attitudes. Bell et al. (1995) described in detail how the curriculum was developed and noted the benefits of the new curriculum, in terms of the replacement of an out-dated curriculum with one more relevant to the 1990s; the acknowledgement of the role of context in learning; the promotion of new teaching strategies that take into account the thinking of students; the promotion of new assessment strategies; the inclusion of earth sciences and the nature of science; and the promotion of an appropriate science education for Maori students in the Maori language if they wish (p. 99).
However, Bell and her colleagues also noted some of the problems resulting from the development process. As is often the case with educational developments, there were time limits that precluded the amount of consultation that the writers would have liked. Consequently, they drew attention to problematic aspects of the new curriculum, including: the notion of progression and the hierarchical and neo-behaviourist views of learning underpinning the structure of the curriculum; the curriculum development process; and the assessment of the learning from the curriculum, especially for senior secondary students (p. 99).
New Zealand science educators have been prominent in the region’s research efforts; the series of five Learning in Science Projects (LISP) based at the University of Waikato are significant, and the outcomes of these projects have been influential internationally. Recently, in the fifth LISP, Bell and Cowie (2001) produced some seminal work in formative assessment, an essential change in approach to assessment if the outcomes-based education promoted by the curriculum is to be achieved. Good research, however, is not always embraced by curriculum developers. Three of the LISP projects were completed before the New Zealand curriculum was developed, and the new curriculum incorporated several LISP recommendations, including the importance of context in teaching science, but other aspects of it are inconsistent with the LISP research (Bolstad et al., 2001). New Zealanders are now taking stock of any differences the new curriculum has made, and the results are not yet clear. Bolstad et al. (2001) report surveys suggesting that some teachers have not taken up the challenges to change their usual teaching practice. Further, many teachers, especially
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those lacking pedagogical skills, or who are oriented towards science content, teach in ways that value the content rather than the students’ learning. These problems are similar to those identified in Australian schools. A perusal of the New Zealand Ministry of Education website suggests that there are other similarities with Australia; a shortage of science teachers is one example, and the Ministry is offering a bonus to attract teachers back to New Zealand.
The recognition of indigenous and minority peoples The New Zealand Ministry of Education has recognized specific issues relating to Maori education and the education of immigrants from the Pacific Islands. 2 Most of these people are concentrated in urban areas, often in particular schools, and the Ministry is actively seeking teachers from these ethnic groups. 3 An important aspect of the New Zealand curriculum is the recognition given to Maori students through the development of a national science curriculum in Maori. McKinley (1996) estimates that the Maori curriculum is aimed at probably no more than 2 per cent of the total school population, and, although not without compromise, the Maori curriculum has made a significant statement about the value of Maori culture. McKinley discussed issues relating to its development, pointing to the importance of using Maori writers representing diverse backgrounds and groups, and of a strong advisory/support group. Debate occurred around issues of concern, including the notion of how ‘Maori science’ might differ from Western science and how this might be dealt with. In the time available, it was not possible to resolve all of these debates, but, as McKinley points out, the document has created the space for these debates to become more focused.
Science education in other Pacific Island states/territories There is an inconsistent picture of science education across the Pacific Island states/territories. Although most of the countries are independent, they all have been recently decolonized and the educational challenges include the shedding of Western-originating curricula and the provision of their own. Further, as indicated in Table 2.2, many students do not complete both primary and secondary schooling. 2. 3.
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See (http://www.minedu.govt.nz). See (http://www.teachnz.govt.nz).
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Primary Science Education Science in primary schools in the Pacific Island states/territories is very variable as each of the countries has its own approach. It is important that primary science be strong because often it is the only exposure to science education that children will receive. Further, the quality of primary science education impacts on those who do proceed to secondary school. It was noted earlier that most Pacific Island states/territories rely on aid for educational development. In science, much of this aid goes to the development of secondary school science curricula and resources, and to support the training of teachers, although the situation at primary level is also poor. Taylor and Vlaardingerbroek (2000) report on a project entitled ‘Science Education in Pacific Schools’ (SEPS), funded by NZODA in 1997, and involving twelve of the Pacific Island states/territories. Each of these countries has its own Ministry of Education and each has developed a primary science or environmental science curriculum. Four countries adopted curricula from neighbouring OECD countries. The Cook Islands, Nuie and Tokelau adopted the New Zealand science curriculum, and Tuvalu adopted the Australian Primary Investigations curriculum. Taylor and Vlaardingerbroek found that teachers felt a lack of ownership and sometimes offered resistance to these materials. Often the external curriculum was found to be too complex for local needs, and teachers felt ill-equipped to teach science using it. Fiji, Samoa, Solomon Islands and Tonga developed their own science teaching resources, usually with aid assistance. Although the content was more relevant to local needs, some of the books used in schools were very old, unattractive, and contained obsolete material. Taylor and Vlaardingerbroek found that, even when they had newer materials, teachers were inclined to omit sections because of their limited background in science. Kiribati, Nauru, Vanuatu and the Marshall Islands had a curriculum outline, but lacked the resources to support it. Frequently, science was not taught at school because teachers had neither the science background nor the confidence to create their own plans. Some materials have been developed through workshops and other sources, but there has been little improvement, especially where recent curriculum revisions paid no attention to earlier efforts to support teachers. Taylor and Vlaardingerbroek concluded that the major problems for primary science in these countries related to the lack of modern, attractive science teaching resources, the tendency for curriculum projects across the region to duplicate each other, and the poor training of teachers who lack confidence in teaching science – a subject which they perceive to be conceptually difficult. Of course, these problems are not restricted to the Pacific
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Island states/territories, but they are an indication of what needs to be done to support the teaching of science. Taylor and Vlaardingerbroek recommend the provision of teachers’ guides suitable for teachers with little training, that is, that contain background material and manageable activities, as well as discussing appropriate curriculum. Such guides could also form the basis of teacher training at both the pre-service and in-service levels.
Secondary science education Science at the secondary level follows a rather traditional focus, with an emphasis on the disciplines of science. As in other countries, including Australia and New Zealand, public examinations focus teaching on the content of science. Currently, the University of the South Pacific is the only university in the region, and there is a common public examination for senior secondary curricula, including science, across the countries controlled by the South Pacific Board of Educational Assessment. Taylor (1991) analysed the questions on the Fiji Junior Basic Science Examination two decades after the implementation of a new curriculum. Although the aim was to make skills, attitudes and reasoning in science as important as the content, most examination questions were based on content, and many mirrored the examples given in the textbook. Not surprisingly, Taylor found that teachers taught to the text and believed that anything other than a didactic approach would disadvantage their students.
Improving resources Resources for science are expensive for developing countries to produce, so textbooks are often imported, with perhaps some ‘localizing’ to render them more relevant to different cultural groups. However, this is not without its problems. Thaman (1993) points out that foreign consultants often do not understand the cultural contexts involved in developing and implementing curriculum in these countries. Based on research and on his experience in schools in Australia, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands, Ninnes (2001) has pointed out that incorporating the multicultural perspectives of indigenous and minority people into science textbooks requires more than depicting these people in photographs. The lack of representation of indigenous knowledges and identities, and often narrowly conceived notions of what it means to be indigenous, are important considerations. His survey of authors of science textbooks in Australia and Canada who attempted to include multicultural perspectives revealed that, in addition to the authors’ lack of knowledge, there was a dearth of resource materials and little guidance by publishers about ways
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to represent indigenous and minority peoples. In fact, these people were almost never directly involved in the production of textbooks, so it is difficult to see how any sense of ownership of the science in the textbook might be developed. Ninnes argues that ministries of education developing syllabuses and curricula need to take a more inclusive approach to science education; otherwise, there is little incentive for publishers to follow. Two approaches to providing local resources for primary science are described by Taylor and Vlaardingerbroek. A low-cost model is based on teachers working with a consultant to develop local materials – but, despite a strong sense of ownership, it is difficult to sustain progress and to trial materials. Alternatively, aid agency-funded contractors are engaged to prepare and trial materials – but, although the results are good, the cost is prohibitive for individual countries. Taylor and Vlaardingerbroek propose a viable alternative involving regional collaboration with joint writing workshops, and the trialling of materials and their use for in-service education. They point to the Pacific Secondary Senior Curriculum administered by the South Pacific Board of Educational Assessment as an example of a collaborative inter-country curriculum.
Accommodating traditional knowledge in science and science teaching Many secondary science teachers in Pacific Island states/territories are expatriates or local people who have been trained in other countries, particularly Australia and New Zealand. Teaching science in ways that acknowledge the value of local knowledge and wisdom is not easy for Western-trained teachers. Whereas the culture of science is one of questioning and challenging knowledge to build better explanations, knowledge in the culture of most of the Pacific Island states/territories tends to emphasize received wisdom from cultural elders (Ninnes, 1994; Pauka, 2001). Pauka investigated the ways in which traditional knowledge and beliefs were associated with students’ understanding of natural phenomena in the Gulf Province of Papua New Guinea. He found that students’ explanations came from a combination of what they had heard in their family or village (often relating to spirits, magic spells and sorcery), and what they heard at school or in church. Curriculum officers interviewed by Pauka believed that there was a need to bring traditional knowledge into all levels of science in ways that linked it with Western science so that students’ understanding can be enhanced. They also noted that teachers often did not know how to do this, regarded Western science as a foreign concept and failed to recognize the overlaps between traditional knowledge and Western science.
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Gender is important in terms of ownership of traditional knowledge. In cultures where women and men have markedly different roles, they have different local knowledges of science and technology, and both should be valued. Rennie (2000) has argued that women’s knowledge and understanding are important in sustaining the environment and, in countries where fewer girls than boys attend secondary school, it is especially important that women’s knowledge be valued. Michie and Linkson (1999) describe some initiatives to accommodate the indigenous knowledge of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in curriculum materials produced in Australia’s Northern Territory, where 30 per cent of students are indigenous. The aim in these materials was to consider Western science and indigenous knowledge as complementary world views, culturally based, but equally valid. They suggest that accommodation of Western science can occur when the curriculum is conceptrather than context-driven, when learning is based in the context of the learners, and when indigenous ways of knowing, ownership of knowledge and students’ world views are specifically considered. Western-trained teachers also need to recognize that different ways of gaining knowledge translate into different ways of learning by students in classrooms. Ninnes (1994) studied his secondary science classroom in the Solomon Islands and made observations in out-of-school settings to describe the informal learning strategies employed by the Melanesian children. He noticed that learning occurs by observation of others, active imitation, listening, and participation in a context that maintains respect between participants. Ninnes encouraged the use of these strategies to promote the learning of science in his laboratory-oriented science lessons, and this seemed effective, allowing students to progress from learning by observation to partial then full participation. Ninnes notes that the arrival of sufficient amounts of equipment funded by the World Bank and AIDAB (the forerunner of AusAID) allowed students to work in pairs, greatly facilitating this progression.
The place of technology education New technology curricula were published in both Australia and New Zealand during the 1990s, and in both countries the new curriculum created challenges for teachers and a need for support. Some of these challenges, and the ways in which teachers have responded to them, are documented by Australian and New Zealand authors in a special issue of Research in Science Education devoted to technology education (Jones, 2001). Jones and his colleagues in New Zealand have produced valuable and forward-thinking
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research relating to the professional support of teachers implementing technology education, particularly in the area of assessment, which has proved troublesome for teachers. In the Australia/Pacific region, technology education, especially at the primary level, is frequently linked to science education, and at all levels of schooling it is often regarded as synonymous with the use of computers. The incorporation of ICT is another challenge for the region, given the rapid obsolescence, the cost of implementation and maintenance, and the need to train teachers in its constructive use for teaching and learning. It seems likely that, for the time being, enhanced focus on technology will occur as science is increasingly taught in context. Scientific knowledge is linked with technological knowledge and design in communication, agriculture, transport, medicine and commerce. Science cannot be taught effectively in these contexts without due recognition of the effect of technology on our daily lives and on the environment.
A science education that promotes scientific literacy Given the variety of science education in the Australia/Pacific region, and of the challenges which face it, what kind of science education might all countries aim towards? Based on the data collected and the literature reviewed in the Australian study of teaching and learning of science, Goodrum et al. (2001) developed a picture of an ideal science education that would facilitate the development of scientific literacy, in terms of the following nine characteristics. 1 2 3 4
5
6
The science curriculum is relevant to the needs, concerns and personal experiences of students. The teaching and learning of science is centred on inquiry. Students investigate, construct and test ideas and explanations about the natural world. Assessment serves the purpose of learning and is consistent with, and complementary to, good teaching. The teaching-learning environment is characterized by enjoyment, fulfilment, ownership of and engagement in learning, and mutual respect between the teacher and students. Teachers are lifelong learners who are supported, nurtured and resourced to build the understandings and competencies required of contemporary best practice. Teachers of science have a recognized career path based on sound professional standards endorsed by the profession.
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7 8
9
There are facilities, equipment and resources to support teaching and learning. Class sizes make it possible to employ a range of teaching strategies and to provide opportunities for the teacher to get to know each child as a learner and give feedback to individuals. Science and science education are valued by the community and have high priority in the school curriculum, and science teaching is perceived as exciting and valuable, and as contributing significantly to personal development and to the economic and social well-being of the nation.
In addition to the above, Goodrum et al. (2001) have reviewed two other significant Australian studies that describe the characteristics of effective teaching, learning and assessment that facilitate the development of scientific literacy. The professional standards for highly accomplished teachers of science developed by the Australian Science Teachers Association and Monash University (2001) and the Victorian Science in Schools project (Tytler et al., 2001) have both described effective science teaching practice. A major literature review of international and local literature undertaken in New Zealand has argued for a contextually based pedagogy in which well-resourced teachers are able to support the development and achievement of all students (Bolstad et al., 2001). Taken together, all of these studies argue that to develop scientifically literate citizens, teachers need a rich conceptual knowledge of science and of science teaching practices to provide an interesting, engaging and meaningful science education. Characteristics are: • • • • • •
a curriculum that is relevant to students’ lives and interests, and caters to individual learning needs; the active engagement of students with inquiry, ideas and evidence; the challenging of students to develop and extend meaningful conceptual understanding; assessment that facilitates learning and focuses on outcomes that contribute to scientific literacy; the linking of classroom science with the broader community; and the exploitation of information and communication technologies to enhance the learning of science.
These views of science education, grounded in international experience and research, provide something of a blueprint or a target for science education. Changes in science education over the next one or two decades will need to focus on making improvements that lead to the kind of science education described.
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Science education in the next few decades The focus for improving science education is to close the gap between actual practice and the kind of science education that has the best chance of
TABLE 2.3.
Changes in emphasis required to teach for scientific literacy
Teaching for scientific literacy requires : Less emphasis on
More emphasis on
Memorizing the name and definitions of scientific terms Covering many science topics Theoretical, abstract topics
Learning broader concepts that can be applied in new situations Studying a few fundamental concepts Content that is meaningful to the student’s experience and interest Presenting science by talk, text and Guiding students in active and extended demonstration student inquiry Asking for recitation of acquired Providing opportunities for scientific knowledge discussion among students Individuals completing routine Groups working co-operatively to assignments investigate problems or issues Activities that demonstrate and verify Open-ended activities that investigate science content relevant science questions Providing answers to teachers’ Communicating the findings of student questions about content investigations Science being interesting for only some Science being interesting for all students students Assessing what is easily measured Assessing learning outcomes that are most valued Assessing recall of scientific terms and Assessing understanding and its facts application to new situations, and skills of investigation, data analysis and communication End-of-topic multiple choice tests for Ongoing assessment of work and the grading and reporting provision of feedback that assists learning Learning science mainly from textbooks Learning science actively by seeking provided to students understanding from multiple sources of information, including books, Internet, media reports, discussion and hands-on investigations. (from Goodrum et al. 2001, p. 168)
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promoting scientific literacy. Of course, in many classrooms there is already excellent practice, but we have seen that more often there are serious barriers. To make clear what changes in teaching practice would assist the development of scientific literacy, Goodrum et al. (2001) borrowed an idea from the National Science Education Standards in the United States (National Science Council, 1996) and presented change on a series of continua. Table 2.3 shows that teaching for scientific literacy requires more emphasis on the right hand side of the table, thus moving away from the traditional, content-based presentation of science in the left hand side. Clearly, some of these changes in emphasis will require significant and sometimes fundamental changes in teachers’ practices and beliefs. As Goodrum et al. (2001) point out, it is not simply a matter of ‘fine tuning’. The challenges are especially great in the Pacific Island states/territories, where teachers are poorly trained, resources are very limited and the imported curricula are insensitive to students’ cultural beliefs and values. In these places, teachers need extensive support. We believe there are three basic principles that underpin attempts to make significant change in science education.
1. Teachers are the key to change Research findings at the classroom level emphasize that teachers are the most important factor in improving learning (Goodrum et al. 2001). Teachers need help to recognize the gap between students’ real needs in science and what is offered in the actual curriculum. They also need support to develop the pedagogical knowledge and skills needed to effect changes in the science classroom. Importantly, research reaffirms that imposing change without teacher participation and a sense of ownership of the proposed change rarely results in long-term improvement.
2. Change takes time and resources Changing teachers’ practice involves significant shifts in beliefs and professional knowledge. Not surprisingly, this takes considerable time, resources and effort. Teaching for scientific literacy is difficult and it requires a higher level of professional skills than those associated with traditional didactic methods. Where classes are large, resources are poor, and students are not interested, it is much easier just to maintain the status quo. To support change, therefore, realistic curriculum and professional development resources must be developed to assist teachers to translate the intended curriculum into classroom action, and to demonstrate that an outcomes-focused curriculum can really
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work and benefit students. This will give teachers ownership, but it takes time and money.
3. Collaboration is essential for quality The final principle recognizes that collaboration is essential for quality. The cost of quality science education curriculum and professional development resources is high. Thus collaborative partnerships that combine the financial and human resources from a number of areas (states in Australia, for example, or nations in the South Pacific) can produce the quality materials and professional approaches required for change.
Some challenges and innovation in the Australia/Pacific region A number of innovative projects undertaken or underway in the region have the potential to close the gap between the actual situation of science education and the ideal picture. Many will require considerable creativity to carry out their activities while using limited resources effectively.
Raising community awareness of science We need to promote the importance of science education in schools, particularly its fundamental role in developing scientific literacy. While the importance of science is generally unquestioned in the Australian community, Goodrum et al. (2001) found that the meaning of scientific literacy was not well understood. These authors recognized the ‘need to promote understanding in the educational and broader community about why science is important, why time is spent on it in school, why scientific literacy is a desirable outcome of schooling and the teaching and learning approaches that ensure that it is’ (p. 170). This is one recommendation of the report that has been taken up by the Australian Government, and a pilot project is currently underway to develop science awareness in the community. The project is contracted to the Australian Science Teachers Association and aims to develop a model for raising science awareness and to trial it with a community-based project in each state and territory. Dissemination of the revised model will be a second stage of the project.
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Other researchers have recognized the need to raise science awareness in communities. For example, in his research in Papua New Guinea, Pauka (2001) found that science learning at school did not involve participation from the community, yet the traditional knowledge and beliefs possessed by village elders was valued by students. He argues that more non-formal education and adult literacy classes would help to identify mutually acceptable alternative explanations for natural phenomena and help in the development of science curricula that could give value to traditional knowledge.
Teacher Supply and Demand Internationally there are concerns that the supply of qualified science teachers does not meet demand. Within Australia, perceptions of low status and poor working conditions, as well as the length of university teachereducation courses, deter school leavers from commencing teacher-education programmes. Teacher recruitment agencies are employing many of the best graduate teachers from Australia and New Zealand to work outside the region, and there is an increasing rate of retirement from an ageing population of science teachers. Many Pacific Island states/territories depend on Australian and New Zealand secondary science teachers to staff their schools, and a shortage of teachers threatens science and technology education in the region. In particular, it is important to train indigenous teachers from all countries in the region. Many aid-agency programmes aim to improve teaching by training teachers and upgrading facilities. For example, the Fiji-Australia Teacher Education Project in 1992–1995 aimed to improve secondary teaching by refurbishing and equipping the Fiji College of Advanced Education. About 21 per cent of secondary teachers have received training in programmes linked to the project (AusAID, 1998). Between 1996 and 2001, the programme improved the quality of primary education by providing training and technical assistance for more than 400 teachers. Unfortunately, the May 2000 hostage crisis, and political unrest in Fiji disrupted social and economic progress, and led to the emigration of professionals, and the suspension or termination of many non-humanitarian aid activities (AusAID, 2001b). Threats to the supply of science teachers have been recognized. Governments are beginning to develop incentives such as scholarships to attract students into science teaching. The Council of Deans of Science for Australian universities is in the process of organizing a national summit to tackle the problem. The longer-term solution to the problem of status and worth rests with the profession itself. The current development of professional standards for science teaching by the Australian Science Teachers Association and other
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professional organizations has the potential to lift the status of teachers and improve the quality of teaching and learning. Professional standards for certification, for teacher registration, and for advanced-skills teachers will provide a framework to support the ongoing development of the profession.
Professional development and improving teaching Teachers in all countries in the region need continued classroom-oriented professional development and quality curriculum resources that exemplify and support the implementation of best professional practice. Significant changes are required in teaching and in learning and assessment strategies to achieve scientific literacy outcomes in the region’s schools. An urgent priority in Australia, identified by Goodrum et al. (2001), is the professional development of teachers of lower secondary science. The Australian government is now supporting the Collaborative Australian Secondary Science Programme (CASSP). This project has been developed jointly by science curriculum officers from all states and territories, the Australian Science Teachers’ Association, the Australian Academy of Science, the Curriculum Corporation and the universities, and it will develop integrated resources for professional development, curriculum and participative inquiry. These resources are aimed at developing a student-centred inquiry approach to science that will become the norm rather than the exception in schools. The New Zealand review of science education literature identified the use of narrative as an effective way of making science more meaningful to students, particularly those from non-Western cultures (Bolstad et al., 2001). Taylor and Vlaardingerbroek (2001) describe the development of a series of ten science stories to improve both primary science and literacy – areas which have been poorly resourced in the Pacific Island states/territories. The Pacific Science Series was produced at a regional workshop. Written in English, each story presents a single science concept and illustrates its relevance to typical cultural events. A teacher’s resource book contains background information and related science activities for the classroom. Taylor and Vlaardingerbroek report that initial trials in seven countries were very supportive, and they argue that by taking indigenous life and culture as the starting point, science is both conceptualized and demystified in ways that enhance both teachers’ and students’ confidence.
Improving student assessment Innovative reform of assessment practice is required and long overdue. Currently, most assessment in secondary school science serves the purpose of
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reporting student achievement and is based on traditional testing that focuses on the extent to which students can memorize and recall scientific facts. This hinders the development of meaningful understanding. Traditional assessment leads teachers to follow suit in their classroom style, and this is why many students find science uninteresting and lacking in relevance. Traditional assessment practices present a significant barrier to innovation and to the implementation of a more student-centred and inquiry-oriented approach that promotes scientific literacy. Assessment must be reformed to serve, more effectively, the purpose of enhancing learning and supporting students to make progress towards desired learning outcomes. Further, assessment must focus on the learning outcomes that are most valued, rather than on those that are most easily measured. To raise the quality of learning, and allow teaching that contributes to scientific literacy, it is critical that formative assessment practices be improved. Formative assessment needs to compare pupils’ current levels of attainment with the next step along the developmental continuum, and then do something about closing the gap. Making judgements about students’ levels of understandings and competencies in terms of science learning outcomes has proven to be particularly difficult for primary teachers who lack a strong background in science. A resource bank of assessment techniques and tasks is needed to help these teachers make judgements about pupils’ levels of achievement. New types of assessment must be introduced and become widespread to allow students to demonstrate understandings, skills and competencies associated with the broad outcome of scientific literacy. Variety in assessment practice is needed to provide all learners with opportunities to demonstrate what they know and can do. The New Zealand and Australian governments are establishing assessment resource banks (ARBs) to provide teachers with the support needed to improve the quality and effectiveness of assessment practice. The New Zealand ARBs provide on-line assessment resources in science, mathematics and English for assessing achievement in the middle primary to lower secondary years of schooling. The New Zealand Council for Educational Research developed the resource banks, and the science ARB came on-line in 1997. Teachers can search the on-line resource bank in terms of learning outcomes, type of assessment item, curriculum strand and level, so that they can select assessment items and tasks suited to their classroom needs. For each assessment item, teachers are provided with marking keys, some of which provide diagnostic information relating to common student misconceptions (Mendelovits et al., 2000). The Australian government, in response to recommendations from the national review of school science education (Goodrum et al. 2001), has initiated the development of a science ARB to support and
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improve assessment in the compulsory years of schooling. It is anticipated that this resource bank will come on-line at the end of 2003.
On-line curriculum and professional development An innovation that will have a substantial impact on science teaching and learning in the region during the next decade is on-line curriculum and professional development. The Australian government will contribute A$34.1 million over five years towards the development of on-line curriculum resources, services and applications for schools. The initiative will support national collaboration to make high quality on-line curriculum resources readily available. The discipline of science is one of the priority areas for this project. Obviously, such a programme also has potential for use in other countries, but there remains the challenge of sensitivity to other cultures, otherwise the prevailing culture of the on-line developer may swamp the cultures of recipient countries.
Contribution of science centres and museums Worldwide, science centres and science museums have a role to play in educating people, and not only school children, in science. They are mentioned specifically in the International Council of Scientific Unions’ (ICSU) Programme on Capacity Building in Science (Lederman, 1998) as a means of promoting scientific literacy in all countries. The world’s developed countries have many such places, but they are expensive to set up and maintain. Opportunities for hands-on and minds-on interactions with scientific phenomena should not be lost to young people too distant from such a resource. In Australia and New Zealand there are a number of travelling science road shows, such as the Shell Questacon Science Circus in Australia, and the National Science-Technology Roadshow in New Zealand, which visit country areas and allow children and community members to experience a range of interactive exhibits. Apart from the Fiji Museum, there is little opportunity for people in the Pacific states to experience this kind of stimulation to think about science. In an effort to spread opportunities and to develop local skills in designing and making exhibits, Questacon, Australia’s National Science and Technology Centre, developed a Science on the Move programme in the Pacific, with initial stimulus from the UNESCO Office for the Pacific States in 1995 (Rooney, 2000). In 1997, an exhibition toured nine Pacific States, and in 1998, exhibit design workshops were held in Fiji and Vanuatu for participants from these and seven other Pacific States. A key feature was the promotion of traditional sciences and technologies relevant to the Pacific States
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(Rooney, 2000). Training teachers in developing a range of such exhibits enables the spread of culturally relevant means of promoting scientific literacy in countries with few formal resources. Another means of promoting experiences in science outside school is through the Internet and other digital technologies. Honeyman (2000) has explored the potential of virtual museum visits via the Internet, and Allen and Honeyman (2001) have described the clever way students can be involved in science issues via the CD-ROM Ingenious! But development of these resources is difficult, expensive, time consuming and technically challenging (Yates and Errington, 2001). Further, a major issue is the dependence on computer access and reliable Internet connections. Despite the rapid advances in technology and the expectation of its further spread, it will take a long time for these avenues for science experiences to become available – if they ever do – to the majority of people in developing countries.
Concluding comments The Australia/Pacific region is one of great diversity. Australia and New Zealand are the only countries in the region classified by UNESCO as developed, and these two countries are very small, in terms of their population, on the world stage. Yet, despite their size, they have an impact in providing leadership in science education through excellent research and development programmes. It is likely that these countries will retain their focus on quality programmes in school science and technology into the future. Many Pacific Island states/territories also have been working on improving science and technology education, usually with aid assistance. Some of their challenges include the continuing localization of curriculum as it emerges from Western domination, as well as having sufficient welltrained teachers and resources to make progress. The challenge of maintaining an adequate supply of teachers is an ongoing problem, not limited to this region. Although increasing the use of ICT can assist in providing opportunities to remote and isolated areas in Australia, as well as in Pacific Island states/territories, the cost of ICT infrastructure is often an additional barrier. It remains to be seen how much influence any increased use of ICT will have on furthering education for scientific and technological literacy. Within the region, it is to be hoped that friendly co-operation both within countries and between countries will prevail. Some of the Pacific Island states/territories continue to suffer from political instability for a variety of reasons, and such unrest affects the quality of the education that can be provided. Many still require aid assistance to maintain their education
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systems, and as long as that help comes from Western sources, it must be sensitively applied. We know enough about what is likely to promote progress in science and technology education. But knowing is not the same as acting, so challenges remain. Co-operation will lead to better quality curriculum resources, better professional development and more collegial solving of common classroom problems. Nevertheless, by working together we can close the gap between excellence in science teaching and learning and what is actually happening at present in our region.
Bibliography ALLEN, I.; HONEYMAN, B. 2001. Ingenious! Edutainment via interactive multimedia. In: S. Errington, S. M. Stocklmayer and B. Honeyman (eds.), Using Museums to Popularise Science and Technology, pp. 103–6. London, Commonwealth Secretariat. AUSTRALIAN AGENCY FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT (AusAID) 1998. South Pacific Cluster Evaluation (Evaluation No: 8). Canberra, Commonwealth of Australia. ––––. 2001a. http://www.ausaid.gov.au/makediff/expenditure.cfm. ––––. 2001b. http://www.ausaid.gov.au/country/. AUSTRALIAN COUNCIL OF DEANS OF EDUCATION, 2000. Submission to the Teaching and Learning of Science Project. Canberra, Australian Council of Deans of Education. AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION AND MONASH UNIVERSITY. 2001. Consultation Draft: Professional Standards for Science Teaching. Canberra, Australian Science Teachers Association. AUSTRALIAN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND ENGINEERING COUNCIL (ASTEC) 1997. Foundations for Australia’s Future: Science and Technology in Primary Schools. Canberra, Australian Government Publishing. BELL, B.; COWIE, B. 2001. Formative Assessment in Science Education. Dordrecht, The Netherlands, Kluwer Academic Press. BELL, B.; JONES, A.; CARR, M. 1995. The Development of the Recent National New Zealand Science Curriculum. Studies in Science Education, Vol. 26, pp. 73–105. BOLSTAD, R.; HIPKINS, R.; BAKER, R.; JONES, A.; BARKER, M.; BELL, B.; COLL, R.; COOPER, B.; FORRET, M.; HARLOW, A.; TAYLOR, I.; FRANCE, B; HAIGH, M. Curriculum Learning and Effective Pedagogy: A Literature Review in Science Education (A Review Commissioned by the Ministry of Education, New Zealand. Final Draft Prepared for Advisory Group). December, 2001, Wellington, NZ, Ministry of Education.
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DEKKERS, J.; DE LAETER, J. R. 2001. Enrolment Trends in School Science Education in Australia. International Journal of Science Education, Vol. 23, pp. 487–500. DOBSON, I. R.; CALDERON, A. J. 1999. Trends in Science Education: Learning, Teaching and Outcomes 1989–1997. Melbourne, Australian Council of Deans of Science. FENSHAM, P. J. 1997. School Science and its Problems with Scientific Literacy. In: R. Levinson and J. Thomas (eds.), Science Today: Problem or Crisis?, pp. 119–36. London, Routledge. FORRET, M.; HARLOW, A.; TAYLOR, I.; FRANCE, B.; HAIGH, M. Curriculum Learning and Effective Pedagogy: A Literature Review in Science Education (A Review Commissioned by the Ministry of Education, New Zealand. Final Draft Prepared for Advisory Group). December, 2001. Wellington, NZ, Ministry of Education. GOODRUM, D.; HACKLING, M.; RENNIE, L. 2001. The Status and Quality of Teaching and Learning of Science in Australian Schools. Canberra, Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs. HACKLING, M. 1998. Working Scientifically: Implementing and Assessing Open Investigation Work in Science. Perth, Education Department of Western Australia. HACKLING, M.; GOODRUM, D.; RENNIE, L. 2001. The State of Science in Australian Secondary Schools. Australian Science Teachers Journal, Vol. 47, No. 4, pp. 6–17. HONEYMAN, B. 2000. Real vs Virtual Visits: Issues for Science Centres. In: S. Errington, S. M. Stocklmayer and B. Honeyman (eds.), Using Museums to Popularise Science and Technology, pp. 107–10. London, Commonwealth Secretariat. INGVARSON, L., WRIGHT, J. 1999. Science Teachers Are Developing Their Own Standards. Australian Science Teachers Journal, Vol. 45, No. 4, pp. 27–34. JENKINS, E. W. 1997. Scientific and Technological Literacy: Meanings and Rationales. In: E. Jenkins (ed.), Innovations in Science and Technology Education, Vol. VI, pp. 11–39. Paris, UNESCO. JONES, A. 2001. Theme issue: Developing Research in Technology Education. Research in Science Education, Vol. 31, pp. 3–14. KHUN, T.; TEK, O. E. 2000. Current State of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education in the SEAMEO Region. Connect: UNESCO Science, Technology and Environmental Education Newsletter, Vol. 25, No. 3–4, pp. 7–9. LAUGKSCH, R. C. 2000. Scientific Literacy: A Conceptual Overview. Science Education, Vol. 84, pp. 71–94. LEDERMAN, L. (Chair) 1998. The ICSU Programme on Capacity Building in Science. Studies in Science Education, Vol. 31, pp. 73–91.
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LOKAN, J.; FORD, P.; GREENWOOD, L. 1996. Maths and Science on the Line: Australian Junior Secondary Students’ Performance Third International Mathematics and Science Study. Melbourne, Australian Council for Educational Research. ––––. 1997. Maths and Science on the Line: Australian Middle Primary Students’ Performance Third International Mathematics and Science Study. Melbourne, Australian Council for Educational Research. LUTERU, P. H.; TEASDALE, G. R. 1993. Aid and Education in the South Pacific. Comparative Education, Vol. 29, pp. 293–306. MCKINLEY, E. 1996. Towards an Indigenous Science Curriculum. Research in Science Education, Vol. 26, pp. 155–67. MENDELOVITS, J.; FARKOTA, R.; LINDSEY, J. 2000. Evaluation of the New Zealand Assessment Resource Banks’ Methodology. Wellington NZ, Ministry of Education, Research Division. MITCHIE, M.; LINKSON, M. 1999. Interfacing Western Science and Indigenous Knowledge: A Northern Territory Perspective. SAMEpapers, pp. 265–86. NATIONAL SCIENCE COUNCIL. 1996. National Science Education Standards. Washington, DC, National Academy Press. NEW ZEALAND OFFICIAL DEVELOPMENT ASSISTANCE (NZODA). 2001. http://www.mft.govt.nz/nzoda/background.html. NINNES, P. 2001. Writing Multicultural Science Textbooks: Perspectives, Problems, Possibilities and Power. Australian Science Teachers’ Journal, Vol. 47, No. 4, pp. 18–24, 26–7. ––––.1994. Toward a Functional Learning System for Solomon Island Secondary Science Classrooms. International Journal of Science Education, Vol. 16, pp. 677–88. OECD PROGRAMME FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ASSESSMENT 1999. Measuring Student Knowledge and Skills: A New Framework for Assessment. Paris, OECD. OECD PROGRAMME FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDENT ASSESSMENT 2000. Measuring Student Knowledge and Skills: The PISA 2000 Assessment of Reading, Mathematical and Scientific Literacy. Paris, OECD. PAUKA, S. 2001. The Use of Traditional Knowledge in Understanding Natural Phenomena in the Gulf Province of Papua New Guinea. Unpublished PhD Thesis, Perth, Science and Mathematics Centre, Curtin University of Technology. RENNIE, L. J. 2000. Gender and Science, Technology and Vocational Education in Asia and the Pacific. In: E.W. Jenkins (ed.), Innovations in Science and Technology Education, Vol. VII, pp. 99–142. Paris, UNESCO. ROONEY, A. 2000. Science On the Move-Exhibit Design Workshops. In: S. Errington, S. M. Stocklmayer and B. Honeyman (eds.), Using
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Museums to Popularise Science and Technology, pp. 61–6. London, Commonwealth Secretariat. ROYAL SOCIETY. 1985. The Public Understanding of Science. London, Royal Society. TAYLOR, N. 1991. An Analysis of the Fiji Junior Certificate Basic Science Examination and its Implications for the Teaching of Science in Fiji. Journal of Science and Mathematics Education in South East Asia, Vol. 14, No. 2, 73–8. TAYLOR, N.; VLAARDINGERBROEK, B. 2000. A Case Study of Educational Planning for Small Developing Nations: Pacific Elementary Science. International Journal of Educational Reform, Vol. 9, pp. 155–62. ––––. 2001. Reforming Primary Science through Literacy: The Pacific Science Reading Series. International Journal of Educational Reform, Vol. 10, pp. 347–55. THAMAN, K.H. 1993. Culture and the Curriculum in the South Pacific. Comparative Education, Vol. 29, pp. 249–60. THOMAS, R. M. 1993. Education in the South Pacific: The Context for Development. Comparative Education, Vol. 29, pp. 233–48. TYTLER, R.; SHARPLEY, B.; CONLEY, H. 2001. Describing and Monitoring Classroom Practice in a Science Teaching and Learning Development Project. Paper presented at the 32nd annual conference of ASERA, Sydney, NSW, Australia. UNESCO. 1983. Science For All. Bangkok, UNESCO Regional Office for Education in Asia and the Pacific. ––––.1999. UNESCO Statistical Yearbook 1999. Paris, France and White Plains, MD, UNESCO Publishing and Bernan Press. WHITE, C. M. 2001. Between Academic Theory and Folk Wisdom: Local Discourse and Differential Educational Attainment in Fiji. Comparative Education Review, Vol. 45, pp. 303–33. YATES, S.; ERRINGTON, S. 2001. Computer-Based Exhibits: A MustHave or a Liability? In: S. Errington, S. M. Stocklmayer and B. Honeyman (eds.), Using Museums to Popularise Science and Technology, pp. 111–14. London, Commonwealth Secretariat.
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Science and technology education in the Arab world in the twenty-first century Saouma BouJaoude
The twenty-first century offers both a promise and a challenge. Remarkable advances in electronic technologies in general, and information technologies in particular, hold out the promise of new scientific discoveries, improved living standards, better communication, increased production and greater access to information. Moreover, advances in medical technologies and in medicine more generally, in agriculture, and in the economies of many countries, promise significant improvements in health and quality of life. Many of today’s children can expect a bright future, full of opportunities, success and happiness. However, many other children, possibly the majority (Vargas, 2000), face poverty-related obstacles, including a lack of educational opportunity and a lack of access to quality health care, as well as problems of overpopulation and violence. They will also bear the brunt of decreasing environmental quality, wider and increasingly brutal armed conflict, and unequal opportunities between the sexes. The future of these children, especially the girls, is bleak. They will not be able to reach their potential. Consequently, preparing students for the twenty-first century should be one of the priorities of educational and political leaders around the world. UNESCO (1994) underscores the value of scientific and technological literacy as a universal requirement if people are not to become alienated from the society in which they live, or be overwhelmed and demoralized by change. Meanwhile, research has shown that many students in both developing and developed countries lack the necessary knowledge and skills in science and technology to function effectively in the modern world (AAAS, 1989; Eisenhart et al., 1996; ETS, 1988; Halloun, 1993; Miller, 1989; Ogawa, 1998; Shamos, 1995). Students graduating from schools in the twenty-first century need the scientific and technological knowledge and skills that will permit them to be industrious and creative members of society. They also need to develop attitudes that will encourage them to use their knowledge and skills responsibly when taking everyday and professional decisions. Students must also develop those skills that are particularly important for effective functioning in the world of work, a world that is very fluid and ever-changing, and in which the traditional bases of economic competition
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have changed and continue to change (Koller, 1995). This requires students to develop a thorough knowledge and understanding of basic scientific and technological concepts, allied with problem-solving and critical-thinking skills that they can apply in a variety of situations. In addition to developing a profound understanding of these concepts, students must learn to identify and analyse problems, and to explore and test solutions in a variety of inschool and out-of school situations. A strong conceptual base and essential thinking skills must thus be the new basics and the focal points of teaching and learning science and technology in the classrooms of the twenty-first century (Resnick, 1 1999). But what science and what technology should students study, and how should they study them? What characteristics ought students to possess in order to be considered scientifically and technologically literate individuals? What qualities do graduate students need in order to succeed in an increasingly scientifically and technologically rich world? Science is not only a body of knowledge but also ‘a way of knowing’. Scientific investigation involves a variety of processes, such as observing, measuring, classifying, inferring, recording and analysing data, communicating, making calculations and experimenting. Technology is also ‘a way of knowing’ and a process of exploration and experimentation (Ontario Ministry of Education, 1998). Technological investigation involves the use of design processes that necessitate the use of concepts and procedures such as identifying a need or problem and selecting the most appropriate solution. Science and technology exist in a broader social and economic context. They affect, and are affected by, the values and choices of individuals and private and public institutions. The world as we know it today has been influenced in many important ways by science and technology. For example, science has fundamentally changed and expanded our understanding of the micro- and macro-worlds. As a result of the advances of science, what we know about the smallest particles of matter and the constituents of living things – along with our understanding of the Earth and the universe – has changed drastically in recent decades. Likewise, technology has transformed the world into a ‘global village’ through effective and high-speed communication systems that have the potential to revolutionize access to information. In addition, technology has helped us develop new materials that promise to radically transform medicine and engineering.
1.
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See http://www.instituteforlearning.org/Interview.html, http://npeat.org/profdev/research.htm, http://instituteforlearning.org/content.html, and http://austinschool.org/tools/ learning_guide/Guide_pol.pdf
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Science and technology, however, do not bring only advantages. They may also have negative consequences. It is important, therefore, that students see science and technology as activities with important benefits and burdens, and as endeavours that have both positive and negative implications for the world beyond the school. Many international organizations have played a role in improving science education through a variety of programmes and activities. Because of its vast network with governmental and non-governmental organizations, UNESCO is uniquely placed to play a major role in this respect. Thus, UNESCO, a global body – globally representative, running unique worldwide scientific programmes ranging from a global ocean observing system to microbial research and education networks, offering a global framework for the ethical review process, a global clearing house for the best practice in science education and communication (Mayor, 2000, p. 27)
is committed to improving science education worldwide by synthesizing the experiences and efforts of scientists, exploiting modern systems of communication, and providing evidence-based advice to policy makers in all science-related fields. The late 1940s were the early years of UNESCO. Activity in these years was focused on identifying the educational needs of those countries destroyed by the Second World War, providing educators with ways to address the problems of a shortage of teaching equipment, and running campaigns to educate the general public about the practical applications of science in modern life. During the late 1950s and the 1960s, UNESCO launched efforts to modernize science education in response to international events such as the launching of Sputnik by the former Soviet Union. Activities in this period emphasized the development of school science curricula whose aims were to help to prepare future scientists and engineers. In the 1970s and 1980s, emphasis shifted to the promotion of integrated science teaching and of technology in general education, and to highlighting the applications of science and technology in everyday life and in social and economic development. This emphasis is reflected in the documents published during these two decades, and in a variety of programmes and conferences. Thus, in 1971, attention was given to technology as a component of general education, and 1975 saw the launch of the International Environmental Education Programme (IEEP). An International Congress on Science and Technology Education and National Development was held in 1981, and the International Network for Information in Science and Technology Education (INISTE) was established in 1985.
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The 1990s were the years committed to making science and technology accessible to all. The changing world environment, and the need for scientifically and technologically literate individuals capable of taking decisions regarding environmental and other science- and technology-related issues, prompted UNESCO to make ‘science and technology for all’ the focal point of its activities. The major initiative of the 1990s was the commitment, in 1992, to Project 2000+: Scientific and Technological Literacy for All. This was followed by an International Forum on Scientific and Technological Literacy for All in 1993, the publication of the first issue of UNESCO’s World Science Report in 1993, and the holding of a World Conference, Science for the Twenty-First Century – a New Commitment, in 1999. This chapter is divided into four sections. In the first section, I discuss some of the important issues that face science and technology education in the Arab world. I then define the nature of science and technology, and what constitutes a scientifically and technologically literate individual. In the third section, I discuss the nature of the learning and teaching required to prepare scientifically and technologically literate individuals, capable of surviving and succeeding in the twenty-first century. Finally, I present a vision of the priorities for science and technology education in the first two decades of the twenty-first century.
Science and technology in the Arab world Science Education What are the important issues that face science and technology education in the Arab world? The two major problems that face Arab science education are the level of access to, and the quality of, education. The problems of access are manifest in the enduring high levels of illiteracy, especially among females, in some Arab states. Many Arab states are attempting to increase access to education through a variety of programmes and strategies. This is evident from the increase in student enrolment at all educational levels in recent decades and the decrease in illiteracy among the population in general and among women more specifically. However, the illiteracy rates are still generally very high. Basic literacy is no longer sufficient. The need now is for scientifically and technologically literate individuals who can function in a global village characterized by intense competition and the rapid production of knowledge. In such a world, ‘catching up’ is extremely difficulty even for those who are highly educated and trained. Even when the problems of access are addressed, a very serious problem
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in the Arab world is the low quality of the education experienced by students at all levels. The problem of quality is manifest in outdated curricula and teaching methods, an emphasis on theoretical science education to the neglect of hands-on and practical activities, a lack of access to computers (or the use of obsolete equipment) and to the Internet, the low quality of science and technology education programmes, a lack of teacher support for implementing new teaching methodologies or the use of new technologies, and inadequate budgets to improve the quality of education. There have been many attempts to reform science curricula in the Arab world. The Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) has been instrumental in promoting science and technology. As early as 1989, ALECSO published an Arab strategy for science and technology. This was followed by an Arab strategy for information in the Internet age, in 1999. In 1994, the Organization published a strategy for biotechnology in Arab countries and subsequently made available a reference book on the integration of subjects at the basic level of education, in 1996. More recently, ALECSO published model audio-visual educational tools packages for teaching and learning in the field of renewable energies. These will be distributed to training centres in the Arab world 2 along with a number of dictionaries that are aimed at standardizing the usage of science and technology terminology in the Arab world. According to Sleem (1996), a number of Arab states have adopted science frameworks developed by ALESCO. These curricula have the advantage of being developed by Arab experts who were in tune with the needs of Arab society. Other countries have adopted or adapted science education reform projects developed in the West to their different needs. A third group of countries has contracted Arab curriculum design specialists to develop their curricula. Nashwan (1993) analysed the science curricula of eleven randomly selected Arab countries. He found that these focused on the theoretical aspects of science, neglected the applications of science in novel and everyday situations, and did not develop students’ abilities to use investigative, problem-solving and thinking skills. They also ignored students’ interests, backgrounds and environments, paid no attention to creativity and imagination, did not attempt to address students’ unacceptable beliefs in myths and superstitions, and did not help them to understand their bodies and take care of their health and hygiene. Nashwan concluded that science curricula in the Arab world should not be focused solely on helping students to know scientific facts but should also assist them to apply scientific knowledge to solve everyday problems. 2.
For more information about this project, see http://slis.uwm.edu/alecso/ Abstracts/MdlTeachpack.htm
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Similarly, Badran (1993) conducted a study to assess the quality of science curricula and textbooks in seven Gulf States. The results of this study indicated that the curricula did not benefit from the new technologies in teaching science and did not address social and environmental problems associated with the applications of science and technology. Moreover, Badran found that the contents of school science textbooks appeared to be copied from foreign books, with no emphasis on local science-related social and environmental problems or on the applications of science in technology and in everyday life. To make matters worse, these textbooks were outdated and lacked any emphasis on inquiry-type activities. Science teaching in most Arab states suffers from an overemphasis on teacher-centred approaches and on pedagogies that encourage memorization. Such approaches neglect the development of critical thinking, problem-solving capability, and inquiry and investigative skills. While it is difficult to find studies that have attempted to investigate the nature of science teaching across the Arab world, studies in individual countries and recommendations for change in reports on Arab education almost always reveal the need to adopt new and more student-centred teaching methods (e.g. Abd-ElWahed, 1996; Al Sharki, 1993; Badran, 1993; Nashawn, 1993, 1996; Sleem, 1996.) 3 Moreover, many studies have shown that teachers do not emphasize the nature of science and that, like their students, they have an inadequate understanding of it (Al Attar, 1993; BouJaoude, 1996; Haidar, 1999). There have been a variety of projects to improve the quality of science teaching in Arab states. Many of these have focused attention on improving teaching methods, on developing computer literacy and on updating teachers’ science content knowledge (Abd-El- Wahed, 1996; UNESCO Regional Office for Science and Technology, 2000). In many cases, however, the projects have been of limited scope and duration, and have suffered from the familiar problems of teaching at the pre-college levels. That is, they were trainer- rather than learner-centred, with attention focused on theoretical issues rather than on practical and useful classroom teaching skills. The enormous number of pre-service and in-service teachers who need to be trained or re-trained, and the lack of human and material support to implement their training, resulted in what can be characterized as ‘one-off’ training experiences in which large numbers of teachers were trained together, then left to solve their own problems in the classroom. Most of the pre-service and in-service training programmes lacked the necessary follow-up mecha3.
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See also the final reports of the fourth and fifth Regional Conferences of Ministers of Education and Ministers Responsible for Economic Planning in the Arab States (Abu Dhabi,1977, and Cairo, 1994).
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nisms to help teachers or to investigate the impact of training and university education on teachers’ classroom practice. Moreover, teachers were rarely provided with supplementary instructional materials or with the training to produce these materials, materials that are essential if teachers are to implement student-centred teaching and inquiry approaches to teaching science. In short, many of the teacher-training programmes in the Arab world attempted to do worthwhile things but failed to implement them satisfactorily. Finally, there have been many attempts to implement distance learning in teacher education in a number of Arab states (e.g. Egypt). These attempts suffer from the problems that have plagued traditional teacher preparation and training approaches, namely, they were trainer- rather than teachercentred, focused on the dissemination of information, and lacked teacher follow-up and support strategies.
Technology education The second half of the twentieth century brought extraordinary advances in electronic technologies in general and in information technologies in particular (Abd-El-Khalick, 2001a). These advances have profoundly impacted the nature and practices of the scientific enterprise. Computation is becoming an increasingly crucial aspect of scientific investigation. Breakthroughs in micro- and super-computer hardware and software design, and developments in networking capabilities are rendering the analysis, modelling, and visualization of complex systems an increasingly important component of various scientific disciplines (Abd-El-Khalick, 2001a, p. 2)
These modern-day technologies have become an integral part of science (Lane, 1999), and this has important implications for teaching science at the pre-college level. Technology education in the Arab world, i.e. technology as an end (American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 1990, 1993; National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM), 1987, 1991, 1995) and the use of technology in science teaching, i.e. technology as a means (Bereiter, et al., 1997; Hannafin and Land, 1997; McCluskey, 1994; Scardamalia and Bereiter, 1996), are in their infancy. 4 There have been several 4.
There are many instances of successful use of technology in the Arab world. However, these are very limited. The aim here is to provide a general picture of the state of technology education in the Arab world. The discussion that follows is based on the author’s impressions gleamed from participating in several
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attempts to increase access to, and the use of, technology in many Arab states (UNESCO Regional Office for Science and Technology, 2000). Also, Arab countries have realized that technology is not a luxury, but a necessity for catching up with, and competing in, the global economy and workplace. However, as is the case with efforts to improve teachers’ skills, the attempts at reform have been limited in scope, duration and impact. Many factors have contributed to this situation, the most important of which is the lack of material and human resources. However, one cannot group together all Arab states when discussing technology and its use in education. On the one hand, there are countries that have the resources to place a computer or a number of computers, or any technological device, in each classroom, to provide access to the Internet for each student or teacher, or even equip teachers with individual computers. On the other hand, there are countries in which it is very hard to find a single computer in the whole school, and where the basic infrastructure required to support the introduction of technology is not available. However, even in countries where computers and other technologies and access to the Internet are available, education systems are plagued with very serious problems. These include the absence of human resources to train the huge number of teachers and students who need training, and the lack of coordinated and clear strategies to implement technology education in the classroom (Abu Shakra, 1993). One other very serious problem is the lack of educationally and culturally appropriate software programmes, matched to the needs of Arab students and aligned with science curricula in Arab states. When considering using the Internet in the science classroom, one serious problem is that many Arab students and teachers lack the necessary language skills to ‘surf’ and benefit from the Internet in a meaningful way.
The nature of science The expression ‘nature of science’ typically refers to the epistemology of science, science as a way of knowing, or the values and beliefs inherent in the development of scientific knowledge (Lederman, 1992). Beyond general characteristics, no consensus at present exists among philosophers of science, conferences that aimed to assess the state of technology education in the Arab world, the most recent of which was a conference held in Amman, Jordan between October 20 and 21, 2001. Other conferences included the first and second scientific conference on the future of science and mathematics teaching and the needs of Arab society, held in 1993 and 1996, in Lebanon and Tunis, respectively.
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historians of science, scientists and science educators that could sustain an uncontentious definition of the nature of science (Abd-El-Khalick, 2001b, 2001c; Abd-El-Khalick and Lederman, 2000a; 2000b; Abd-El-Khalick et al., 1998; Bell et al., 2001; Bell, Lederman, and Abd-El-Khalick, 2000; Lederman et al., 2001). However, differences in opinion about the definition of the nature of science have no implications for pre-college teaching. According to Abd-El-Khalick and Lederman (2000a), there is an acceptable level of generality about the meaning of ‘nature of science’ that is relevant to the daily lives of pre-college students. Several characteristics 5 correspond to this level of generality: scientific knowledge is tentative (subject to change), empirically based (based on and/or derived from observations of the natural world), subjective (theory-laden), necessarily involves human inference, imagination, and creativity (involves the invention of explanations), and is socially and culturally embedded. Two additional important aspects to consider when discussing the nature of science are the distinction between observation and inference, and the functions of, and relationships between, scientific theories and laws. The following paragraphs elaborate each of the above characteristics. Contemporary conceptions of the nature of science suggest that scientific knowledge is never absolute or certain. Facts, theories and laws are tentative and subject to change. Scientific assertions change as new evidence – gained through advances in theory and technology – is used to adapt or change existing theories or laws, or when old evidence is reinterpreted in the light of new theories. Tentativeness in science arises partially from the fact that scientific knowledge is inferential, creative, and socially and culturally embedded. However, additional support for the notion that scientific knowledge is tentative comes from the arguments of philosophers of science such as Popper (1963, 1988) who propose that scientific hypotheses, theories, and laws can never be absolutely ‘proven’. This holds irrespective of the amount of empirical evidence gathered in support of one idea rather than another. Scientific knowledge is, at least partially, based on and/or derived from observations of the natural world (i.e. it is empirical). However, human imagination and creativity play a very important role in science. For, as Poincaré suggested, while science is built with facts, as a house with stones, a collection of facts is no more a science than a heap of stones is a house.
5.
The paragraphs that follow are based on the work of Abd-El-Khalick, 2001a; Abd-El-Khalick, 2001b; Abd-El-Khalick and Lederman (2000a, 2000b); Abd-ElKhalick et al., 1998; Bell et al., 2001; Bell, Lederman, and Abd-El-Khalick, 2000; Lederman et al., 2001.
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Building a house from a heap of stones is an activity that requires creativity, imagination and hard work. Similarly, transforming observations into theories and laws requires much imagination and creativity. Moreover, science is not just a dry, rational and orderly activity. It involves the invention of explanations, and this requires a great deal of creativity by scientists. One implication of the role of creativity and imagination in science, and of its inferential nature, is that scientific concepts such as atoms and species are functional theoretical models rather than faithful copies of reality. Scientific knowledge is subjective or theory-laden. Scientists’ theoretical commitments, beliefs, prior knowledge, preparation, experiences and expectations determine the problems that they investigate, the methods they use to conduct their research, what observations they accept as relevant or irrelevant to their work, and the way in which they interpret their observations and construct their explanations. It is worth noting here that philosophers of science have concluded that scientific activity never starts with neutral observations. Rather, questions and problems – derived from scientists’ theoretical perspectives – guide and give meaning to their observations (Bechtel, 1988; O’Hear, 1989). Science is not practised in a cultural vacuum. Scientific activity is performed in the context of a culture, and scientists are the products of that culture. It follows that science affects, and is affected by, the elements of this wider culture, and that it is deeply rooted within it. Social and power structures, politics, socio-economic factors, philosophy and religion are a number of the factors that have reflexive relationships with scientific activity. Observation and inference are fundamentally different. While observations are descriptive statements of natural phenomena which are accessible to the senses or extensions of the senses, inferences are statements about phenomena which are not directly accessible in this way. Moreover, the possibility of consensus among observers is higher concerning observations than it is concerning inferences. There is a basic difference between scientific laws and theories. Contemporary conceptions about the nature of science suggest that theories and laws are different kinds of knowledge, and that – contrary to popular belief – theories do not become laws after the accumulation of an adequate amount of data. While laws are statements about, or descriptions of, the relationships among observable phenomena, theories are inferred or invented explanations for observable phenomena.
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The nature of technology 6 Technology is a multifaceted social activity that includes, but is not limited to, research, design and crafts, as well as finance, manufacturing, management and marketing. At its best, technology expands our ability to know, understand, and to change the world to meet our needs and wants, and to solve practical problems. The changes that result from using technology may relate to mundane matters, such as basic human material needs for food, medicines and shelter, or to higher ambitions and desires for knowledge and understanding, such as knowing about the universe or the smallest components of atoms, for example. The outcomes of the application of technology, however, are always complex and unpredictable because of the nature of the implementation and the change processes. Innovative technologies are, by nature, totally new and foreign to the environment in which they are introduced. Thus, they have unforeseen long-term consequences. It sometimes seems that new technologies take on a life of their own because of the very complex and multifaceted networks of relationships that are created whenever and wherever they are introduced. Consider, for example, the implications of introducing the cellular telephone, or any other similar technology, in cultures that have only seen and experienced traditional forms of communication. These implications can include unanticipated benefits, costs and risks. Anticipating the positive and negative effects of technology is thus extremely important, and it deserves careful attention when teaching students about technology. Technology draws upon science and contributes to it. One of the ways in which technology differs from science is that it combines scientific inquiry with practical values. However, much of what was said about the nature of science applies also to technology. Thus, as in science, technological activity requires creativity, imagination and logic – with the important difference that whereas science aims to understand the natural world, technology aims to intervene and manipulate it. Moreover, because of the emphasis on practical values in technology, individuals who work in technology seek to find the fit between their designs and the real world, while scientists attempt to relate data to theories. Technology, like science, is affected by, and affects, society. Technologies, however, affect culture more directly than much of science because of the immediate implications of the success or failure of technological projects, especially those conducted on a large scale.
6.
This discussion of the nature of technology is based on AAAS (1989, 1993) and International Technology Education Association (2000).
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Although the importance of technological research is unquestioned, the essence of technology is design under constraint. The production of any new technology is constrained by the physical laws that govern the behaviour of matter. Economic, political, social, ecological and ethical factors may also constrain technological activity. Why does an understanding of the nature of science and technology matter? Understanding the nature of science and technology is necessary if people are to understand science and its social and cultural dimensions, and manage the technological objects and processes they encounter in their everyday life. This understanding is very important if people are to participate in decisionmaking related to scientific and technological issues that have the potential to influence their lives. Since science and technology have become an important part of the fabric of modern life, it is necessary to understand them as central elements of contemporary culture. Finally, there is some evidence to suggest that understanding the nature of science and technology supports the successful learning of scientific and technological concepts and processes.
Scientific and technological literacy Who is the scientifically literate individual? Lederman and Niess (1998) and BouJaoude (2002) suggest that a scientifically literate individual is one who understands the content of science (which includes the facts, concepts, principles, laws, hypotheses, theories and models of science), understands and can use the processes of science (such as observing, measuring, classifying, inferring, recording and analysing data), and can communicate using a variety of means (such as writing, speaking, using graphs, tables and charts, making calculations and experimenting). Furthermore, such an individual uses science to solve personal and societal problems, understands the interrelationships between science, technology and society, and can address science-related moral and ethical issues. Finally, a scientifically literate individual distinguishes evidence from opinion, recognizes the role of science and technology in advancing human welfare, and understands the nature of the scientific enterprise. Hurd (1998) describes the characteristics of a scientifically literate individual in the following terms: The ability to discern experts from novices, theory from dogma and data from myth; recognize that almost every aspect of one’s life has been influenced by science/technology; understand that science often has dimensions in political, judicial, ethical and
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sometimes moral interpretations; use science knowledge to make life and social decisions; distinguish science from pseudo-science; recognize risks, limits, and probabilities in making decisions involving knowledge of science and technology; know that science-related everyday problems may have more than one correct answer, especially problems that involve ethical, judicial, and political actions; recognize when a cause and effect relationship cannot be drawn; recognize that the global economy is influenced by advancements in science and technology; recognize when one does not have enough data to make a rational decision; consider the need to synthesize knowledge from different fields in solving science-social and personal-civic problems; and recognize the need for collaborative work in solving science-social problems (pp. 413–14).
In summary, a scientifically literate person is aware that science, mathematics and technology are distinct human enterprises with strengths and limitations, understands key concepts and principles of science, is familiar with the natural world, and recognizes both its diversity and unity, and uses scientific knowledge and scientific ways of thinking for individual and social purposes (AAAS, 1989). However, what rationales do we have for developing scientific literacy in students? Jenkins (1997) suggests that arguments for scientific literacy reflect the orientations and interests of those who seek to promote it. Scientists, for example, may support the development of scientific literacy because it may help the public to understand science-related societal issues and everyday phenomena, generate political support for scientific research, and provide a means of countering opposition to the scientific enterprise (e.g. animal rights activists and creation scientists). Moreover, if scientific literacy helps people to understand the limitations of science, it may diminish the disenchantment with, and hostility towards, the scientific endeavour. Economic instrumentalists, on the other hand, may support scientific literacy because of their perception of the existence of a positive relationship between scientific literacy, prosperity and the creation of wealth. Supporters of participatory democracy, in their turn, embrace scientific literacy on the grounds that citizens need to understand science to be able to take decisions regarding science-related issues and to challenge those taken by scientific experts, and because science is an important cultural activity in itself. For environmentalists, scientific literacy may provide citizens with the knowledge and skills in science necessary for supporting sustainable development. Finally, for feminists and scholars supporting minority rights, enhancing scientific literacy may provide women and minorities with the ammunition to address economic and social inequalities and injustices.
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Who is the technologically literate individual? According to the Center for Technology Innovation and Research at the University of Houston, College of Technology 7 and the Tennessee Technology Education Standards, 8 a technologically literate person has the ability to participate actively in shaping our technological society by appropriately adopting, adapting, inventing and evaluating technology. He or she has an adequate knowledge base and the skills needed to look for, and evaluate, technological solutions, and is ready to invest the time to achieve the necessary skills and solutions. He or she is able to determine the discrepancy between what he or she knows and what he or she needs to know to achieve appropriate solutions by selecting and using safely a variety of technological devices and systems. Moreover, a technologically literate individual sees himself/herself as capable of learning independently about and using technology, throughout his or her life, to better himself/herself, achieve personal and group goals, and take control of decisions. Finally, he or she needs to have the skills to reflect on how and why technology is used, how technology is related to one’s surroundings, the advantages and disadvantages of using technology, and the ethical dilemmas associated with the development and use of technological innovations.
The nature of learning and teaching necessary in the twenty-first century According to Resnick (1999), there are nine principles, derived from a synthesis of research in psychology and education, that will define the nature of education in the twenty-first century. These are: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
organizing for effort clear expectations fair and credible evaluations recognition of accomplishment academic rigour in a thinking curriculum accountable talk socializing intelligence self-management of learning learning as apprenticeship.
7. 8.
http://www.tea.state.tx.us/Cate/teched/tcftair.html http://www.k-12.state.tn.us/voced/vetestandards.html
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These principles can be used to design programmes to prepare thoughtful and reflective individuals who are scientifically competent and technologically literate. These principles are elaborated below. Schools that are organized to encourage effort should be the signature of the twenty-first century. These schools convey the message that sustained effort, not only aptitude, produces high achievement for all students, so that, with appropriate support, all students can develop skills, knowledge and attitudes in science and technology. Effort-oriented schools also have clear and high expectations of all students. These expectations are understood and shared among all stakeholders in twenty-first century schools, including school professionals, parents, the community and, in particular, students themselves. Thus, all students should be expected to achieve minimum, yet high, standards in mathematics and technology. Mediocrity is not accepted in these schools. However, if students are expected to make the effort to achieve high and demanding standards, their evaluation should be fair and credible, and be seen to be so by all stakeholders, including students, parents and school professionals. This credibility must extend to include the business and higher education communities. In a competitive global environment, society in general and the business community in particular cannot afford to re-teach students who have just graduated from secondary school. They expect secondary school graduates to have mastered important scientific and technological knowledge and skills, and to have developed positive attitudes upon which they can build. Fair and credible evaluation encourages members of the public and the business community to trust and support pre-tertiary education. The issue of fair and credible evaluation is thus a central issue in science and technology education. It is both inadequate and inappropriate to give students abstract theoretical examinations in order to evaluate tasks that require the manipulation of equipment or the solution of practical problems or science- and technology-related issues. Credibility in evaluating students’ achievements in science and technology is intimately associated with the close alignment of what is measured with how it is measured. When students exert themselves to achieve high and demanding standards, and when their assessments are fair and credible, their authentic achievement should be recognized. It is worth noting here that recognition of students’ achievement should be both formative and summative. Curricula in twenty-first century schools cannot continue to focus on the traditional basics. Critical thinking and problem-solving should be the new basics in the new millennium. It is no longer acceptable to learn and teach science and technology as school subjects disconnected from students’ lives and society. Also unacceptable is teaching thinking and problem-solving
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skills independently of content. Thinking and a solid foundation of knowledge are inseparable: it is impossible to teach content without teaching thinking skills, or to teach thinking skills without content. Moreover, teaching thinking associated with content matter should not be confined to programmes for the gifted, as is currently the case in many schools and societies. Being ‘intelligent’ is a social activity that requires a number of problemsolving and reasoning abilities, along with a preparedness to use those capabilities regularly. These abilities develop when teachers expect students to use them, and provide opportunities for them to be put to practical use. Thus, all students in the twenty-first century should be helped to both develop critical thinking skills and acquire the sound understanding of science and technology that will make them productive citizens. Curricula at all education levels and in all subject areas should be rigorous, and organized around major concepts that allow students to think and solve authentic and meaningful problems. While a rigorous thinking curriculum is advisable in all subject areas, it is essential in science and technology. The rate at which scientific knowledge is produced and technological advances are developed necessitates an emphasis on thinking, the mastery of core concepts, problem-solving capability and skills for lifelong learning. It also requires that students learn and apply investigative skills, and understand the nature of science and the relationships between science, technology and society. The nature of classroom discourse and its possible relationships with learning have been an active area of research in education. This research has demonstrated that allowing students to talk in the classroom is not sufficient in itself. What matters is that this classroom talk be directed towards learning, to the acquisition of accurate and appropriate knowledge, and to the promotion of rigorous thinking. Accountable talk takes place within a community of learners, draws on evidence appropriate to the discipline – such as data from investigations in science – and follows appropriate logical standards. When used appropriately, accountable talk improves students’ thinking skills and allows them to create personal and meaningful knowledge. Accountable talk models the process of scientific and technological inquiry, in that its arguments take into consideration the experiences of others, along with new evidence to produce new claims. Helping students to use accountable talk in science, at all education levels, should be instrumental in preparing them to be lifelong inquirers. None of the above principles will have practical significance if students depend on teachers for their learning and for evaluating their work. Consequently, students who take responsibility for thinking rigorously need to develop a set of self-monitoring strategies that will help them to manage their learning personally. The self-monitoring and self-correcting skills,
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meta-cognitive skills, are important characteristics of scientifically and technologically literate individuals, who are constantly attempting to decide what new knowledge and skills they need to acquire in order to stay up-to-date in an ever-changing and expanding scientific and technological environment. Finally, schools in the twenty-first century have to benefit from what is known about apprenticeship as a means of learning, because of its possible implications for science and technology education. Apprenticeships help students to gain complex interdisciplinary knowledge, to learn the social and behavioural norms of professional communities, to develop practical abilities and skills in a natural setting and, most importantly, to create authentic products under the supervision of skilled experts. Schools benefit from creating working environments that approximate to this apprenticeship model and exploit it to optimize students’ learning. Students can also be placed for short periods of time in establishments, such as research and development laboratories or technology companies, not only to help them develop scientific and technological knowledge and skills but also to enhance their understanding of the interrelationships of science, technology and the workplace.
Recommendations What are the problems to be solved and the issues to be addressed for improving science and technology education so as to fulfil the promise and confront the challenges of the twenty-first century? Teachers and students of the first few decades of the twenty-first century should work in school environments that are positive, supportive and demanding. These schools should implement integrated curricula that are up to date, flexible and intellectually rigorous. Teachers and students should have access to well-equipped science and technology laboratories and classrooms. They should value education, science, and technology, be reflective and thoughtful about the advantages and disadvantages of science and technology, and be productive and reflective problem-solvers. These characteristics are detailed below. The first priority remains that of building sufficient schools to enrol all school-aged students in those Arab countries where this is still a problem. Government budgets and loans or grants should not be the only sources for building schools. Community and business involvement is also important. This involvement provides resources to build schools, and equip their science and computer laboratories, but, more importantly, it strengthens the spirit of ownership of the school by the community, as well as its sustainability. These community-supported schools provide short- and long-term advantages for students, especially for girls, and for the community.
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Second, increasing access to well-equipped schools should move hand-inhand with improving education by reforming teacher education programmes, providing teachers with the appropriate means to help their students, and designing and implementing up to date curricula, teaching, and evaluation methods. Teacher-education programmes appropriate for the twenty-first century are those that prepare technologically and scientifically literate teachers. Teachers who are not themselves scientifically and technologically literate cannot prepare students to be so. Moreover, continuous follow-up in classrooms to support teachers’ work is essential. The traditional role of inspectors as enforcement officials who attempt to impose rules and requirements from a central office far from where the real action is – i.e. the classroom – is not appropriate for education in the twenty-first century. Rather, teachers in general, and science and technology teachers in particular, should be coached and provided with enough flexibility to innovate and introduce new technologies and topics within a general national framework. What changes should take place in teacher preparation programmes in order to give professional teachers the tools to prepare their students for the future rather than for the past? The following are a number of trends and directions that need to be emphasized to approach the goal of preparing professional teachers. According to Smylie and Conyers (1991), teacher preparation programmes should move from: a.
a deficit-based to a competency-based approach, in which teachers’ knowledge, skills and experiences are considered assets. This approach will help to shift teachers away from dependency on external sources for the solution to their problems and towards professional growth and self-reliance in instructional decision-making. b. replication to reflection, in which practising teachers focus less on the transfer of knowledge and more on analytical and reflective learning. This reflective approach will sharpen teachers’ skills in problem solving, determining students’ needs, and conducting action research that is designed to develop new knowledge and skills related specifically to their schools and classrooms. c. learning individually to learning together, in which teachers learn to work co-operatively to address instructional and other school-related problems. If co-operation is vital for students, it is no less essential for teachers. This implies that teacher education should focus on fieldwork and on collaboration between schools and universities, and place an emphasis on the co-construction of knowledge about teaching. It also implies that teachers should be provided with support after they start teaching. The emphasis on the induction phase of teaching, typically the
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first year of teaching, and the use of experienced master teachers in this phase is one way of inducting new teachers into the profession. d. a teacher who thinks that students’ minds are empty vessels to be filled to one who encourages students to construct their own knowledge. A teacher must act as a facilitator, providing experiences that enable students to construct meaning for themselves. Teachers must abandon the idea that the external learning situation including the teacher, classroom, books, and experiments are the only determinants of learning, and espouse the notion that students’ prior ideas and learning are essential for successful teaching. This shift entails different approaches not only to planning and teaching but also to assessment and evaluation. e. a teacher as a ‘finished product’ to teacher as a lifelong learner. Today, teacher education is spoken of as a lifelong experience that extends from admission to a teacher-education programme to retirement. In this context, science teachers should always be ready to learn and incorporate new knowledge and technologies into their teaching. They should be able to change in order to help their students meet the needs of a changing world. This flexibility may be achieved in a variety of ways, including conferring temporary certification, followed by permanent certification after a number of years. Another method of encouraging teachers to become lifelong learners is to give merit pay based on involvement in science-teaching-related professional development activities that can take a variety of forms. These include: programmes of individually guided staff development, which encourage teachers to plan and engage in activities to promote their own learning; schemes of observation/assessment, which provide teachers with objective data and feedback regarding their classroom performance, which can be used to identify areas for professional growth; programmes of professional development that engage teachers in developing curricula; programmes and instructional improvement projects to solve school-related problems; and involving teachers in inquiry, by requiring them to identify an area of instructional interest, collect the relevant data, and make changes in their instruction on the basis of interpretation of that data. One should not forget the important role that technology is currently playing and will continue to play in the lives of science teachers. Lifelong learning therefore should necessarily include an important role for technology. Realizing the above goals requires qualified scientifically and technologically literate teacher educators who, according to the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science (AETS, 1997), will possess: good subject matter knowledge and skills, and inquiry/research experiences within their discipline,
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together with a sound knowledge of science process skills, and an adequate understanding of the philosophy, sociology and history of science; a good knowledge of, and skill at, teaching science, especially those skills relating to the pedagogical content knowledge of their discipline; documented expertise in the development and implementation of curricula and instructional materials in school settings; expertise in a variety of assessment approaches, including both traditional and alternative methods of assessment; an in-depth functional knowledge of the relationships between learning outcomes, instructional strategies, and approaches to assessment and evaluation; the skills necessary to apply, in an appropriate manner, different research approaches, in order to answer significant questions in science teacher education; expertise in the preparing of educational products/materials or professional development programmes that are informed by the research literature, allied with a good knowledge of, and experience in, science teacher development, including the design and implementation of workshops and institutes. Third, updated, flexible and rigorous curricula that put an emphasis on thinking and problem-solving are essential, if Arab students are to do well in the twenty-first century. Science and technology curricula that emphasize breadth rather than depth are inappropriate. If students are to be able to think, they need a deep and coherent knowledge base, the necessary skills, along with encouragement and opportunities to use them, and evaluation systems that reflect these desired outcomes. Moreover, they need the skills to reflect upon what they have learnt. From this stems the importance placed on the nature of science and technology, and its inclusion in the characteristics of scientifically and technologically literate individuals. Understanding the nature of science and technology helps students reflect upon both, to relate them to their own lives and to realize the importance of lifelong learning. Fourth, understanding the nature of science and including it in science curricula may have another advantage. Students who are religious sometimes find it hard to reconcile their religious and scientific beliefs, if science is considered as the only truth. However, when science is taught as one way of knowing and understanding the natural world, students may feel less threatened by it and consequently may pursue careers in science. Fifth, having access to the Internet at present requires students to master at least one language other than Arabic. Consequently, very serious efforts are needed to improve the quality of foreign language instruction in schools. The emphasis needs to be on teaching scientific and technological terminology to provide students with the necessary tools to access information. This does not preclude emphasizing the learning of Arabic and of trying to write science in this language. Rather, it provides students with the competitive advantage of knowing another language.
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A sixth point is that the popular adage that technology will improve our world and enhance competitiveness is misleading. Technology and science by themselves do not help people to advance. It is the serious effort that is exerted by each individual to understand and use science and technology that brings about advancement, thus the importance of effort-based schools discussed above. Additionally, the driving forces behind any important advancement are the values placed on education, science and technology, and their methods. Memorizing terms, even whole science books, is useless if the methods and values of science and technology, as well as their limitations, are not appreciated. The seventh issue is that living in a technologically and scientifically rich environment requires students to think carefully about, and reflect deeply on, the interactions of science, technology and society, the benefits and burdens of science, and the ethical and moral issues associated with science- and technology-related problems and solutions. Integration, even partial, of school science with other curriculum subjects could be one way for students to appreciate the relationships between science, technology and society, as well as the moral and ethical issues associated with them. Moreover, this integration can be instrumental in giving meaning to health and environmental concepts, and to the role that science and technology can play in sustainable development. An eighth point is that technology should be considered both as an end in itself and as a means or a tool for accomplishing educational and everyday tasks. Schools should therefore have technology curricula and programmes that exploit and integrate learning technologies in the teaching of all subject areas. Finally, science and technology have been traditionally considered male subjects. This bias cannot and should not be sustained in the twenty-first century. Depriving women of the opportunity to fulfil their potential and aspirations is indefensible on moral as well as economic grounds. The rights of individuals to pursue their ambitions are supported by all international conventions. Moreover, squandering the productive potential of half the population may deprive nations of their competitive edge in the global economy.
Bibliography AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science). 1989. Science for All Americans. Washington, DC, American Association for the Advancement of Science. ––––. 1993. Benchmarks for Science Literacy. Washington, DC, American Association for the Advancement of Science.
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ABD-EL- WAHED, N. 1996. The Role of Developing Scientific Literacy and Problem Solving Skills in Science Teaching – A Critical Study. In: M. Debs (ed.), The Proceedings of the Second Scientific Conference on the Future of Science and Mathematics Teaching and the Needs of Arab Society, pp. 469–99. Beirut, Arab Development Institute. (In Arabic.) ABD-EL-KHALICK, F. 2001a. Integrating Technology in Teaching Secondary Science and Mathematics: Effectiveness, Models of Integration, and Illustrative Examples. UNESCO Paper. ––––. 2001b. Embedding Nature of Science Instruction in Pre-service Elementary Science Courses: Abandoning Scientism, But . . . Journal of Science Teacher Education, Vol. 12, No. 3, pp. 215–33. ––––. 2001c. History of Science, Science Education, and Nature of Science: Conceptual Change, Discourse, Collaboration, and other Oversights! History of Science Society Newsletter, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 8–9. ABD-EL-KHALICK, F.; LEDERMAN, N. G. 2000a. Improving Science Teachers’ Conceptions of the Nature of Science: A Critical Review of the Literature. International Journal of Science Education, Vol. 22, No. 7, pp. 665–701. ––––. 2000b. The Influence of History of Science Courses on Students’ Views of the Nature of Science, Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Vol. 37, No. 10, pp. 1057–95. ABD-EL-KHALICK, F.; BELL, R. L.; LEDERMAN, N. G. 1998. The Nature of Science and Instructional Practice: Making the Unnatural Natural. Science Education, Vol. 82, No. 4, pp. 417–36. ABU SKAKRA, G. 1993. The Status of Science and Technology in Arab Education and its Potential to Meet the Needs of Arab Society after the Year 2000: A Diagnostic Document. In: M. Debs (ed.), Proceedings of the First Scientific Conference on the Future of Science and Mathematics Teaching and the Needs of Arab Society, pp. 114–121. Beirut, Arab Development Institute. (In Arabic.) AETS (Association for the Education of Teachers in Science). 1997. Journal of Science Teacher Education, Vol. 8, pp. 233–40. AL ATTAR, A. 1993. Chemistry Teachers’ Understanding of the Nature of Science and its Relationship to Selective Variables. In: M. Debs (ed.), Proceedings of the Second Scientific Conference on the Future of Science and Mathematics Teaching and the Needs of Arab Society, pp. 363–90, Beirut, Lebanon, Arab Development Institute. (In Arabic.) AL SHARKI, M. 1993. A Futuristic Vision for Pre-College Teaching Science in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In: M. Debs (ed.), Proceedings of the First Scientific Conference on the Future of Science and Mathematics Teaching and the Needs of Arab Society, pp. 142–53. Beirut, Arab Development Institute. (In Arabic.)
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BADRAN, A. 1993. The Status of Science Teaching in the Gulf Countries. In M. Debs (ed.), Proceedings of the First Scientific Conference on the Future of Science and Mathematics Teaching and the Needs of Arab Society, pp. 154–72. Beirut, Arab Development Institute. BECHTEL, W. 1988. Philosophy of Science: An Overview for Cognitive Science. Hillsdale, N.J., Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. BELL, R. L.; ABD-EL-KHALICK, F.; LEDERMAN, N. G.; MCCOMAS, W. F.; MATTHEWS, M. R. 2001. The Nature of Science and Science Education: A Bibliography. Science and Education, Vol. 10, Nos. 1/2, pp. 187–204. BELL, R. L.; LEDERMAN, N. G.; ABD-EL-KHALICK, F. 2000. Developing and Acting upon One’s Conceptions of the Nature of Science: A Follow-up Study. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Vol. 37, pp. 563–81. BEREITER, C.; SCARDAMALIA, M.; CASSELLS, C.; HEWITT, J. 1997. Postmodernism, Knowledge-Building, and Elementary Science. Elementary School Journal, Vol. 97, pp. 329–40. BOUJAOUDE, S. 1996. Lebanese Students’ and Teachers’ Conceptions of the Nature of Science. In: M. Debs (ed.), Proceedings of the Second Scientific Conference on the Future of Science and Mathematics Teaching and the Needs of Arab Society, pp. 283–303. Beirut, Arab Development Institute. ––––. 2002. Balance of Scientific Literacy Themes in Science Curricula: The Case of Lebanon. International Journal of Science Education, Vol. 24, No. 2, pp. 139–56. EISENHART, M.; FINKEL, E.; MARION, S. 1996. Creating the Conditions for Scientific Literacy: A Re-Examination. American Educational Research Journal, Vol. 33, pp. 261–95. ETS (Educational Testing Service). 1988. Science Learning Matters: The Science Report Card Interpretive Review. Princeton, N.J., Educational Testing Service. HAIDAR, A. 1999. United Arab Emirates Students’ Views about the Epistemology of Science. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, Boston, Mass., March. HALLOUN, I. 1993. Lebanese Public Understanding of Science (A Survey). (Beirut, Author). HANNAFIN, M. J.; LAND, S. M., 1997. The Foundations and Assumptions of Technology-Enhanced Student-Centred Learning Environments. Instruction Science, Vol. 25, pp. 167–202. HURD, P. de H. 1998. New Minds for a Changing World. Science Education, Vol. 82, pp. 407–16.
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INTERNATIONAL TECHNOLOGY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION. 2000. Standards of Technological Literacy: Content for the Study of Technology. Reston, West Virginia, International Technology Education Association. JENKINS, E.W. 1997 Scientific and Technological Literacy: Meanings and Rationales. In: E. Jenkins (ed.), Innovations in Science and Technology Education, Vol. VI, pp. 1–39. Paris, UNESCO. KOLLER, J. 1995. Globalizing Education for Engineering and Science Students: A FIPSE Project Model for Cross-Cultural Studies in Science and Technology. Final Report. Troy, N.Y., School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. LANE, N. 1999. Science and Technology in the 21st century: Remarks by Neal Lane, Assistant to the President for Science and Technology and Director, Office of Science and Technology Policy. Zuckerman Lecture, London, Office of Science and Technology. LEDERMAN, N. G. 1992. Students’ and Teachers’ Conceptions of the Nature of Science: A Review of the Research. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Vol. 29, No. 4, pp. 331–59. LEDERMAN, N. and NIESS, M. 1998. Survival of the Fittest. School Science and Mathematics, 98(4), pp. 169–72. LEDERMAN, N. G.; SCHWARTZ, R.; ABD-EL-KHALICK, F.; BELL, R. L. 2001. Pre-service Teachers’ Understanding and Teaching of Nature of Science: An Intervention Study. Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 135–60. MAYOR, F. 2000. Opening address. Proceedings of the World Conference on Science: Science for the Twenty-first Century: A New Commitment, pp. 29–32. Paris, UNESCO. MCCLUSKEY, L. 1994. Gresham’s Law: Technology and Education. Phi Delta Kappa, No. 75, pp. 550–2. MILLER, J. 1989. Scientific Literacy. Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, San Francisco, Calif. NASHWAN, Y. 1993. Evaluation of Secondary School Science Teaching Objectives in the Arab World. In: M. Debs (ed.), Proceedings of the First Scientific Conference on the Future of Science and Mathematics Teaching and the Needs of Arab Society, pp. 122–41; Beirut, Arab Development Institute. (In Arabic.) ––––. 1996. Teaching Science and the Needs of the Palestinian Society. In: M. Debs (ed.), Proceedings of the Second Scientific Conference on the Future of Science and Mathematics Teaching and the Needs of Arab Society, pp. 595–606). Beirut, Arab Development Institute. (In Arabic.) NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics). 1987. The Use of Computers in the Learning and Teaching of Mathematics: An
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Official NCTM Position. NCTM News Bulletin, Vol. 24, No. 2, p. 3. ––––. 1991. Professional Standards for Teaching Mathematics. Reston, Va., NCTM. ––––. 1995. Assessment Standards for School Mathematics. Reston, V., NCTM. OGAWA, M. 1998. Under the Noble Flag of Developing Scientific and Technological Literacy. Studies in Science Education, Vol. 31, pp. 102–11. O’HEAR, A. 1989. An Introduction to the Philosophy of Science. New York, Oxford University Press. ONTARIO MINISTRY OF EDUCATION. 1998. Science and Technology: The Ontario Curriculum, Grades 1–8. (http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/ document/ curricul/scientec/scientec.html). POPPER, K. R. 1963. Conjectures and Refutations: The Growth of Scientific Knowledge. London, Routledge. ––––. 1988. The Open Universe: An Argument for Indeterminism. London, Routledge. RESNICK, L. 1999. Making America Smarter: A Century’s Assumptions about Innate Ability Give Way to a Belief in the Power of Effort. Education Week, 16 June, pp. 38–40. SCARDAMALIA, M.; BEREITER, C. 1996. Engaging Students in a Knowledge Society. Educational Leadership, Vol. 54, pp. 6–10. SHAMOS, M. 1995. The Myth of Scientific Literacy. New Brunswick, N.J., Rutgers University Press. SLEEM, S. 1996. Reflections on the Development of Science Curricula in the Arab World. In: M. Debs (ed.), Proceedings of the Second Scientific Conference on the Future of Science and Mathematics Teaching and the Needs of Arab Society, pp. 457–68. Beirut, Arab Development Institute. (In Arabic.) SMYLIE, M. A.; CONYERS, J. G. 1991. Changing Conceptions of Teaching Influence the Future of Staff Development. Journal of Staff Development, Vol. 12, No. 1, pp. 12–16. UNESCO. 1994. The Project 2000+ Declaration. Paris, UNESCO. UNESCO Regional Office for Science and Technology. 2000. Annual Report 2000: UNESCO Annual Report. Cairo, UNESCO Regional Office for Science and Technology. VARGAS, J. 2000. Science for the 21st century. Proceedings of the World Conference on Science: Science for the Twenty-first Century: A New Commitment, pp. 29–32. Paris, UNESCO.
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Reforming the United States secondary school science curriculum Sylvia A. Ware
Reform of the United States secondary school science curriculum has been underway for more than fifteen years, involving a paradigm shift in ‘what counts’ as essential science knowledge for all students. It has been influenced, in particular, by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)’s Project 2061: Science for All Americans, and the release of National Science Education Standards (NSES) by the National Research Council (NRC). It is complicated by the decentralization of educational policy-making authority to the individual states and local school systems, and by the need to build a national consensus to bring coherence to the reform efforts. State standards for science content vary in quality from state to state. Since United States science teachers are highly dependent on textbooks to deliver course content, the quality of these textbooks can support or impede reform efforts. The National Science Foundation (NSF) has played a leading role in supporting reform at state level and funding the development of new instructional materials that promote the reform agenda. This chapter compares four projects funded by the National Science Foundation in chemistry, physics, biology and earth science, in terms of their essential characteristics and potential impacts. Educational reform is a slow process, wherever it takes place. It is hindered by the reality that, too often, ‘everyone’ is an expert on education. Those who may be considered ‘experts’, the professional educators, may lack access to the levels at which education policies are developed and resources allocated to support reform. Educational reform exists in a climate shaped by parental hopes, fears and expectations, as well as by the aspirations of the students themselves. It carries the burden of supporting national goals related to sustainable human resource development, and economic and productive growth. When attempting to implement educational reform, there is always the fear that, while the existing system may not be meeting individual and national needs, reform may not improve the situation either. Coupled with the problem of evaluating the impact of any educational reform effort (an impact that may only become evident over a considerable period of time), is the issue of the costs of initiating reform in the first place. Many countries cannot afford to ‘gamble’ on the success of educational reform.
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However, for about the past twenty years, the reform of science and technology education has been promoted, in both developed and emergent nations, as likely to ‘produce extensive contributions to economic development’ (Thulstrup and Bregman, 1999). Clearly, science and technology can contribute to the betterment of the human condition in many areas: health, agriculture, nutrition, transportation, environmental quality, and materials and energy production. Not only can the most basic of human needs be addressed through the application of science and technology, but economic development, increasingly reliant on technological advancement, depends on the availability of a science- and technology-literate workforce, and investment in the development of such a workforce (Lewin, 2000). Science education reform in the United States has most definitely proceeded from the basic premise that the purpose of science education is not just to educate future scientists, but also future citizens, to ensure the continued economic viability of the United States in the global economy. As early as 1978, the American Chemical Society (ACS) was calling for the development of chemistry courses designed for the ‘general student’ from middle school through adult education (ACS, 1978), with the rationale that chemical knowledge was essential for all citizens in an economy driven by technological change. This report was, in fact, the impetus for the development of the ACS high school text, ChemCom, beginning in 1983. In 1985, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) initiated Project 2061, with the goal of defining science literacy for all Americans, and then identifying the ways in which this goal could be achieved (AAAS, 1989). Publication of the AAAS Benchmarks 1 for Science Literacy (1993), and the NRC’s National Science Education Standards 2 (1996) revitalized the ongoing science education reform effort in the United States. Both of these reports clearly define the audience for science knowledge as ‘all students’; both recognize the need to redefine science content in kindergarten through twelfth grade to meet the needs and diverse capabilities of all students; and both recognize that science education reform goes beyond a redefinition of science content to include all aspects of the education system (see over). 1.
2.
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‘Benchmarks’ are a list of competencies that describe what students ‘should know and be able to do by the time they reach certain grade levels.’ The Benchmarks document does not define a specific curriculum, but is considered a tool to use in fashioning various curricula. Note that 2061 is the year for the next appearance of Halley’s comet – this is a project taking the long view. The National Standards also outline what students should know and be able to do at different grade levels (fundamental understandings). They also define criteria for education of the teachers, classroom teaching practices, quality science programmes and the responsibilities of the overall educational system.
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Another driver of science education reform in the United States has been the growing concern that students are not meeting international standards for educational achievement. The Nation at Risk report (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983) warned that ‘the educational foundations of our society are being eroded by a rising tide of mediocrity that threatens our very future as a nation and as a people’. The results of the 1995 Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) indicated that United States students were above the international average in science and mathematics at the fourth-grade level, and about at the international average for achievement in science and mathematics by Grade 8 (Beaton et al., 1996). However, by the final year of secondary school, they had dropped well below the international average for both mathematics and science literacy and advanced physics and mathematics (Mullis et al., 1998). Specifically, United States advanced physics students performed below 14 of 16 countries on the TIMSS physics assessment, and advanced mathematics students scored below 11 of 16 nations. In the school-leaving mathematics literacy test, United States students were outperformed by 14 of 21 nations, and in the schoolleaving science literacy test by 11 out of 21 countries. Also of concern has been the performance of students on the science and mathematics components of the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), a series of national tests administered to students in Grades 4, 8 and 12. While students are currently performing at higher levels than they did in the late 1970s, the gains realized are far short of expectations (National Science Board, 2000). The release of the results of the 2000 science and mathematics NAEP showed that achievement levels remained essentially flat from 1996 to 2000, a period of significant science educational reform. There has been a slight increase in performance of eighth-grade students at the highest levels of achievement, and a decrease in performance at the middle levels of achievement for twelfth-grade students (National Center for Education Statistics, 2001).
Benchmarks and the National Science Education Standards The large numbers of highly distinguished scientists, science educators, teachers, employers and parents who contributed to the development of the Benchmarks and those who contributed to the NSES reached similar consensuses – informed by research on student learning – on the direction of United States science education reform. Both projects are visionary, viewing science knowledge as essential for, and accessible to, all students at all grade levels
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from kindergarten through twelfth grade. Both describe the minimum knowledge and skills that students should acquire over time in order to develop into scientifically literate citizens as defined by both projects. The Benchmarks are subdivided into literacy goals for kindergarten through Grade 2, Grades 3 through 5, Grades 6 through 8, and Grades 9 through 12 (high school). The NSES content standards cover kindergarten through fourth grade, Grades 5 through 8, and Grades 9 through 12. For both projects the content core is selective, concentrating on what the developers consider to be fundamental and comprehensive concepts defining modern science, and eschewing the mere encyclopedic listing of science ‘facts’. The coverage is not identical, but there is a great deal of overlap between the two projects, including their broad agreement on the fundamental understandings that contribute to scientific literacy (see Table 4.1). (Note that the Benchmarks also address mathematics, technology and social science content.) TABLE 4.1.
Content Coverage in Benchmarks and the NSES
Benchmarks for Science Literacy
National Science Education Standards
The Nature of Science The Nature of Mathematics The Nature of Technology The Physical Setting The Living Environment The Human Organism Human Society
Unifying Concepts and Processes Science as Inquiry Physical Science Life Science Earth and Space Science Science and Technology Science in Personal and Social Perspectives History and Nature of Science
The Designed World The Mathematical World Historical Perspectives Common Themes Habits of Mind Source : AAAS (American Association for the Advancement of Science). 1993. Benchmarks for Science Literacy. New York, Oxford University Press.
Source : NRC (National Research Council). 1996. National Science Education Standards. Washington, DC, National Academy Press.
In the NSES, any given content standard describes the knowledge and skills that students should develop in order to understand the fundamental principles listed in the standard. For example, the Grades 9 through 12 Physical Science standard covers knowledge related to the structure of atoms; the structure and properties of matter; chemical reactions; motions and
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forces; conservation of energy and increase in disorder; and interactions of energy and matter (NRC, 1996). The importance of science as a process of inquiry is emphasized in the NSES, where inquiry is treated both as a learning goal and as a ‘way to learn science’, likely to stimulate the students’ curiosity about, and capability to actually ‘do’, science (NRC, 1996, 2000). NSES make the point that learning about the ways in which scientists conduct their investigations is not sufficient to ensure that students actually understand the nature of scientific inquiry. Students must actively engage in the inquiry process and ‘reflect on the characteristics of the processes in which they are engaged’ (NRC, 2000). The cognitive abilities that the students are expected to master become increasingly complex as students move from kindergarten through twelfth grade, but at all levels include both ‘abilities’ and ‘understandings’ (see Table 4.2). TABLE 4.2. Aspects of scientific inquiry in the National Science Education Standards As a result of activities in Grades 9–12, all students should develop: 1. abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry 2. understandings about scientific inquiry. 1. Abilities: • Identify questions and concepts that guide scientific investigations. • Design and conduct scientific investigations. • Use technology and mathematics to improve investigations and communications. • Formulate and revise scientific explanations and models using logic and evidence. • Recognize and analyse alternative explanations and models. • Communicate and defend a scientific argument. 2. Understandings: • Scientists conduct inquiries based on conceptual principles and previous knowledge. Design and interpretation of investigations is based on historical and current scientific knowledge. • Scientists conduct investigations for various reasons (new knowledge, seeking explanations, verification of previous data). • Technology is used to enhance collection and manipulation of data. • Precision of data depends on the technology used. • Mathematical tools and models are used in all aspects of scientific inquiry including data collection and interpretation. • Scientific explanations must be coherent and consistent with each other and are subject to modification based on new information. • New science knowledge and methods result from communications among scientists that are logical and complete, and allow for verification. Source : NRC (National Research Council). 1996. National Science Education Standards. Washington, DC, National Academy Press. pp. 173–6.
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Both Project 2061 and the NSES do more than answer the question: ‘What science knowledge should all our students acquire in order to become scientifically literate citizens?’ Both also recognize that the process of reform involves changes in all aspects of the educational system. Project 2061 explored systemic issues related to reform in its Blueprints for Reform (AAAS, 1998), which discusses issues related to the curriculum, teacher preparation, assessment, resources, school and system policies including financial policies, and the roles of the family and business and industry. In addition to content standards, NSES identify standards related to science teaching, teacher professional development, assessment, science programmes and the supporting school systems. Unlike the Benchmarks, the NSES identify specific teaching strategies (including planning an inquiry-based programme) that teachers should ‘understand and be able to do’ in order to help students develop their understanding of science.
Reform at the state and local levels While both the Benchmarks and NSES have influenced the direction of science education reform in the United States, neither carries the force of a Federal mandate, although both reports were developed with significant Federal funding, especially from the NSF. In the United States, there is no national curriculum. The individual states (and, in some cases, even the larger cities) define their own curricula, their own required content and their own standards of assessment. Local authorities, relying principally on local funding, run the schools. Each school district (of which there are more than 15,000) has its own curriculum committee, usually, but not always, adopting the state-mandated standards of learning. In 1995, according to the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), only twenty-three states had established statewide content standards in science for kindergarten through twelfth grade. By 2000, this number had risen to forty-six (Blank, 2000a). Like the Benchmarks and NSES, these state standards are goals that define what students should know and be able to do in science at various grade levels. Some state content standards are written by grade cluster; some are subdivided by grade at the elementary level and by specific course at the secondary level; and some go across all grades (Blank and Pechman, 1995). Many states have also developed their own assessment instruments, which may or may not be aligned with their content standards. They may also provide examples of model teaching strategies for specific content areas, as well as advice on actual curriculum development. (Note: science content standards are science literacy statements. They do not define a specific curriculum, although they define the parameters used to develop a given curriculum.)
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While most state content standards (or, variously, ‘curriculum frameworks’, ‘guides’, ‘objectives’, or ‘standards of learning’) have been strongly influenced by both the Benchmarks and NSES, in some states there is still an emphasis on remembering an almost encyclopedic number of science facts. The effort to make science education relevant to all students has been viewed by some as an effort to ‘water down the curriculum’. The Benchmarks and NSES, which are both clearly identified as minimum levels of acceptable achievement for all students, have been viewed by some as defining standards of achievement that do not meet international levels of excellence. To address this problem, in some states the content standards exist at two levels, as basic and ‘stretch’ standards. This is the case in California, for example, where development of the state standards has been a traumatically politicized (and not yet fully resolved) battle between two groups, broadly representing either NSES-style reform or traditional ‘rigour’. In California, the basic standards for Grades 9 through 12 are defined as ‘standards that all students are expected to achieve in their science courses’. The stretch standards are ‘standards that all students should have the opportunity to learn’ [emphasis added] (California State Board of Education, 2000). It is not only in California that the process of developing state content standards for science learning at the primary and secondary levels has been politicized. Religious objections to the teaching of some topics (especially evolution) have influenced the science content selection in many states, particularly for high school science courses. For example, in his analysis of the science standards of thirty-six states, Lerner (1998) identified religious issues limiting the teaching of evolution in eight states: The result has been serious damage to the teaching of both the life sciences – one third of the total curriculum – and of all the sciences as structured, interconnected fields.
Not only has religion influenced science content but so has political ideology, especially related to resource conservation issues (Kirk et al., 2001). Regrettably, the content topic listed in the NSES that is most likely to be excluded from many of the individual state standards, or to be given minimal attention, is probably the standard related to ‘Science in Personal and Social Perspectives’. In NSES, at the high school level, this standard covers four pages of ‘fundamental understandings’ that students should be able to achieve related to all of the following topics: • • •
Personal and community health Population growth Natural resources
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• • •
Environmental quality Natural and human-induced hazards Science and technology in local, national and global challenges.
A state may appear to subscribe to this NSES standard, but fail to really include it. For example, in the California Science Standards, the Introduction to the standards indicates that societal connections are important, but, in the body of the California standards document, there is only this statement, under a subsection headed ‘Investigation and Experimentation’: Investigate a science-based societal issue by researching the literature, analysing data, and communicating the findings. Examples of issues include irradiation of food, cloning of animals by somatic cell transfer, choice of energy sources, and land and water use decisions in California.
The establishment of state content standards is driving reform at the local level, but there remains a concern about the extent to which district policy makers are accurately interpreting the intent of their state standards (Spillane and Callahan, 2000). There is also the practical issue that United States science teachers depend heavily on the textbook to deliver instruction, especially at the middle (Grades 5 through 8) and senior high school levels. Thus, the quality of textbooks available can support or detract from efforts to reform science instruction in the schools. The AAAS has conducted surveys of twelve middle school science textbooks and ten commonly used biology texts to determine the extent to which these texts were in alignment with the AAAS Benchmarks (AAAS, 2000). The middle school texts were found to contain too many topics, disconnected facts, factual errors and many ‘irrelevant’ activities. The biology textbooks received better ratings than the middle school science textbooks but were also considered to be overburdened with too many facts and pages of vocabulary, and were described as, too often, providing a ‘fragmentary treatment of important issues’. Yet, it should be pointed out that many – and not just those whose textbooks were judged to be lacking – consider the process used by AAAS to evaluate textbooks to be flawed. In the most recent report stemming from United States participation in TIMSS, the connection was made between student achievement and the quality of the textbooks used for both eighth-grade science and mathematics (Schmidt, 2001): In some countries, standards determine what is taught and what is learned. In the United States, state standards have little direct effect on what is in math and science textbooks and even less effect on determining what teachers teach and students learn.
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However, textbook publishers claim that their science books are meeting state standards, that they regularly survey teachers to determine their needs, and that they are, in fact, giving their customers exactly the books they have said they want. Complicating this issue is that in about twenty-three states, primarily in the South, there are rigid adoption procedures that require textbooks to be selected by a State Adoption Board (appointed by the State Board of Education) according to strict criteria, usually now based on the state content standards. In Texas, for example, if a textbook fails to meet all of the Texas Essential Skills and Knowledge standards for the specific science textbook adoption being considered, then it will not get adopted in Texas. State money will not be made available to buy a rejected textbook. Because of the size of the Texas market, and the money at stake, science (and other) textbooks are often tailored to that particular market. Some 25 per cent of United States school-age children are found in four states: Texas, California, Florida and North Carolina, giving the content standards of these four states great weight in influencing the content of nationally sold textbooks (Kirk et al., 2001). Since it is not commercially feasible to develop different textbooks for different states, the consequence is the production of heavy volumes containing an excess of content, since, to ensure sales nationwide, nothing must be left out. It has been pointed out that both state selection committees and publishers seem to favour textbooks that provide a greater range of coverage at less depth, rather than the converse (more depth, less breadth) recommended by both Benchmarks and the NSES (Kirk et al., 2001). That being said, many publishers claim to be aligned with the NSES and Benchmarks, without having made major changes in the content and organization of their existing, best-selling textbooks. It is indeed significant that of all the NSF-funded high school instructional materials that were developed as reform courses addressing the NSES and Benchmarks (twenty-one of which have already been published), only four were published by mainstream publishers (BSCS, 2001).
The ‘layer cake’ approach to science curricula Reforming the content of the science curriculum is one issue, but perhaps of greater importance is whether students even elect to study science at the high school level. In the United States, the science requirements for high school graduation have changed significantly since 1987, and vary considerably from state to state (see Table 4.3). Only four states require students to study science for four years; sixteen states now require three sciences for graduation, while twenty-three states require only two sciences (Blank, 2000a). Twenty states
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TABLE 4.3.
High school science course credit :1 – requirements for graduation
Credits required
1987
1995
1988
2000
4 credits 2.5 to 3.5 credits 2 credits Local decision
0 6 37 7
0 11 32 7
1 13 28 5
4 16 23 5
1. Credit is a Carnegie credit, i.e. completion of two semesters (one year) of instruction. Source : R. K., Blank. Key State Education Policies on K-12 Education : 2000. Washington, DC, Council of Chief State School Officers. 2000a, p. 16.
require a specific science course, usually biology, although some states may also stipulate ‘a physical science’ or a ‘laboratory science’. Table 4.4 summarizes changes in the actual taking of science courses at the secondary school level from 1982 until 1994. The most common course, first-year biology, is taken in either Grade 9 or 10 by some 93.4 per cent of students. The big gainer in students over the period studied was first-year chemistry in Grades 10 or 11, with the percentage of students earning academic credit rising from 31.1 per cent in 1982 to 55.8 per cent in 1994 (NCES, 1998). Other sciences studied (usually in the ninth grade) include earth science, physical science, general science and integrated science. As of 1998, some 12 per cent of students in Grade 7 or 8 (middle school) took earth science; 15 per cent took life science; and 31 per cent took general science (Blank and Langesen, 1999). Note that one science is taken after the other in the typical sequence of biology, chemistry and physics. This has been termed the ‘layer cake’ approach to organizing science curricula. Where there is no compulsion to study science every year, after most students have taken biology, they then select the next option they perceive as the easiest (or least likely to deflate their grade point average).
The role of the National Science Foundation For the past twenty years, NSF has played a significant role in promoting science education reform in the United States. This Federal agency has provided much of the funds necessary to support the development of Project 2061 and the National Science Education Standards. As mentioned previously, the agency has also provided funding to textbook developers to produce textbooks in line with standards-based reform, as well as funds for the professional development of teachers, both before and during service. Through
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TABLE 4.4.
Percentage of high school students earning credits in science
Science taken
1982
1987
1990
1994
Any science Survey science Biology AP1/honours biology Chemistry AP chemistry Physics AP/honours physics
96.5 62.1 76.6 9.7 31.1 2.9 14.4 1.1
99.9 61.3 87.9 9.5 43.8 3.3 19.3 1.7
99.4 68.1 91.1 10.1 48.9 3.5 21.6 2.0
99.6 71.1 93.4 11.9 55.8 3.9 24.7 2.7
1. AP = Advanced Placement, intended as the equivalent of a first-year undergraduate course. Source : NCES (National Center for Education Statistics). The 1984 High School Transcript Study: Comparative Data on Credits Earned and Demographics for 1994, 1990, 1987, and 1982 High School Graduates. Washington, DC, United States Department of Education, 1998.
its systemic reform programme, NSF has supported efforts at the state, urban and rural levels to redefine, redirect and reorganize science education at the primary and secondary levels. Systemic reform recognizes that, in order to improve student science achievement, all aspects of the education system must be working in alignment. It is not sufficient to improve the curriculum if the assessment process is left untouched. Teachers cannot be expected to teach hands-on, inquiry-based science if they do not have the necessary educational background or the system does not provide the required laboratory facilities, materials and equipment. The twenty-four state systemic reform projects funded competitively by the NSF have concentrated on defining a coherent vision for science education within each participating state, a vision, with accompanying goals, that has been formed and accepted by the stakeholders (i.e. education policy-makers, teachers, the academic community, business and industry) for reform in that state. The more successful projects have not only developed the consensus for reform in the state and state leadership capabilities, but also managed to sustain the reform process with their own funds when the NSF award period ended (Blank, 2000b). One major accomplishment of the systemic reform programme has been the development of the state standards referred to previously.
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The science societies and content reform The major scientific and science education societies have also played an important role in moving forward the reform agenda. The National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) was responsible for developing Scope, Sequence, and Coordination, a project that defined the syllabus for teaching four sciences (life science, chemistry, physics, and earth and space sciences) to every student every year of high school. This rejection of the existing ‘layer cake’ approach to teaching high school science (i.e. the existing one science a year, no overlap, no co-ordination) was piloted in a number of states, but never gained wider popularity. However, NSTA together with AAAS and other science education organizations, both in and out of government, worked closely with the National Research Council to develop the National Science Education Standards. Moreover, in addition to their involvement in helping to shape the NSES consensus, a number of societies have been closely involved in efforts to develop new science instructional materials, at both the middle and high school levels. These materials have been designed to align with both the Benchmarks and NSES. NSF funded the four high school courses described in detail below as model instructional materials designed to promote standards-based reform in the classroom. The modular Active Physics (Eisenkraft, 1998) was developed in association with both American Association of Physics Teachers (AAPT) and the American Institute of Physics. The Active Physics Web site offers an on-line grid for each state, documenting the correlations with Active Physics in detail (see Eisenkraft, 1998, for site reference). The authors of Biology: A Community Context textbook (Leonard and Penick, 1998) have close ties to the National Association of Biology Teachers. Biology: A Community Context also provides a correlation with the NSES and Benchmarks on its website (see Leonard and Penick, 1998) and in its teacher edition. The EarthComm: Earth System Science in the Community modules (AGI, 2001) were developed by the American Geological Institute. EarthComm NSES correlations are available on the web (see AGI, 2001). The oldest of these courses, ChemCom: Chemistry in the Community (ACS, 1988), was initially developed by ACS before the release of either the Benchmarks or the National Standards. Subsequent editions of the ChemCom textbook were revised to ensure that the text addresses all applicable NSES. The ChemCom NSES correlations are in its teacher edition (ACS, 2001). Teams of authors that included leading science educators, scientists and classroom teachers developed the materials for all four projects. All four underwent extensive field-testing in diverse school systems around the country, with special workshop support being provided to the field-test teachers.
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All four are being published by commercial publishers, since none of the developers had special expertise in marketing to the high school readership. These four projects share similar philosophies and approaches, and have a number of developmental and pedagogical characteristics in common. The similarities are very much a consequence of following the NSES and Benchmarks recommendations closely in terms of content selection, pedagogical delivery and assessment. The four projects differ somewhat from each other partly because of the different populations of students targeted by their courses. All four have felt the need to make the science more relevant to students’ interests, since all four are in competition for potential students. Initially, the market for ChemCom was defined as those students who were college-bound, but who were not likely to be majoring in chemistry or a related science in college. Since many United States students who are not majoring in science may still have to take college chemistry as part of the requirements for their degree, the issue arose, ‘Does ChemCom prepare students for college chemistry?’ The developers of ChemCom would argue yes, and some of the limited research studies that have so far been conducted on ChemCom support this contention, or at least demonstrate that ChemCom ‘does no harm’ (Mason, 1996; Winther and Volk, 1994; Smith and Bittner, 1993). It was not a specific aim of the developers of ChemCom to expand the number of students taking chemistry, although this was considered highly desirable. The prime goal was to meet the needs of students who would be future citizens, but not necessarily future chemists. The developers of Active Physics are very clear about their goal of expanding the number of students taking physics, defining the course as ‘an alternative physics course for high school students who would not normally enrol in physics.’ Active Physics is being marketed as a ninth-grade course to be taken before both chemistry and biology. The ‘Physics First’ movement, under the leadership of physics Nobel laureate Leon Lederman, is promoting this inversion of the order in which the sciences are typically taught in the United States (Lederman, 2001). This reordering is being explored by a number of school districts in the United States, including Cambridge, Massachusetts, and San Diego, California. (Note that one of the arguments being made to justify this inversion is the steady drift of the first-year biology course from a general biology focus to an emphasis on molecular biology, when the students do not yet have the chemistry background to understand molecular biology.) The developers of EarthComm promote the study of earth science ‘by all students in all United States high schools’ (AGI, 2001). EarthComm is intended as an inquiry-oriented introduction to earth science, capable of attracting and exciting students (Smith et al., 2000). Given the low
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enrolments in physics and earth science at the high school level (see above), it is not surprising that both projects are seeking expanded/new markets for their courses. The task of finding a place in an overcrowded high school curriculum for what is, in reality, a fourth science (earth science) is particularly daunting, given the low mandatory state science requirements for high school graduation (see Table 4.3 above). Note that while earth science has often been taught in middle school, there is support for teaching the systems-approach to earth science as a capstone course in the twelfth grade. Almost all high school students study high school biology. Thus, there are no new groups of students to lure into biology. Instead, Biology: A Community Context is designed to meet the need for a hands-on, inquiry-based approach to biology in a course suitable for students of average abilities (Leonard et al., 1996). The developers consider the most widely used biology texts to be too ‘vocabulary-oriented’ or ‘encyclopedic’ in their approach to teaching biology. They believe that the inquiry-oriented biology texts produced by the Biological Sciences Curriculum Study are at too high a level for the majority of students taking biology. Other similarities and differences among the four courses are described below.
1. Organization by themes All four projects are organized around themes intended to motivate the students and drive the selection of the science to be taught. ChemCom is a year-long chemistry course for high school students that introduces the chemistry needed to understand important societal themes/issues on a ‘needto-know’ basis. These themes are Water: Exploring Solutions; Materials: Structure and Uses; Petroleum: Breaking and Making Bonds; Air: Chemistry and the Atmosphere; Industry: Applying Chemical Reactions; Atoms: Nuclear Reactions; and Food: Matter and Energy for Life (ACS, 2001). The consequence of organizing chemistry content in this fashion is to exclude certain topics found in a traditional first-year United States chemistry course (especially the mathematical manipulations associated with physical chemistry). However, the course does contain more organic chemistry, biochemistry, and environmental and industrial chemistry than the traditional course. The use of societal themes has led to an integration of the science, technology and society aspects of chemistry, yet has produced a course that is clearly still a chemistry course. Biology: A Community Context (originally titled ‘BioCom’, a name that was later dropped because of trademark issues) addresses the key topics of ecology, genetics, and evolution. The unit themes of Biology: A Community Context are Matter and Energy for Life; Ecosystems; Populations;
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Homeostasis: The Body in Balance; Inheritance; Behavior and the Nervous System; Biodiversity; The Biosphere (Leonard and Penick, 1998). In Active Physics, with the goal of expanding the base of students who study physics, the themes selected are key physics concepts introduced through the hands-on exploration of topics expected to be of interest to the students. These are Communication; Home; Medicine; Predictions; Sports and Transportation (Eisenkraft, 1998). Active Physics breaks with both the traditional structure and sequence of the United States physics curriculum and introduces the science knowledge and skills needed by students to address the introductory scenarios that begin each chapter within each module on a ‘need-to-know’ (or ‘just-in-time’) basis (cf. ChemCom). The volume of physics to be taught is reduced, in what is, after all, an introductory course, and the need for students to come to a high school physics course with a background in calculus is eliminated. The mathematics in the course is at about the level of elementary algebra programmes. The newest of the courses, EarthComm, has also limited content coverage compared with the traditional United States earth science text. The themes of the five units cover what the developers have identified as ten ‘Big Ideas’ that will develop ‘understandings and abilities that all students can use to make wise decisions, think critically, and understand and appreciate the earth system’ (AGI, 2001). The five units are Earth’s Dynamic Geosphere; Understanding Your Environment; Earth’s Fluid Spheres; Earth’s Natural Resources; and Earth System Evolution. (Note that all four projects emphasize various aspects of the NSES content standard on Science in Personal and Social Issues.)
2. An emphasis on hands-on science and an inquiry approach In ChemCom, the laboratory activities are also integrated into the text and are accompanied by both pre- and post-laboratory discussions. Nearly 50 per cent of class time is related to the laboratory activities. In earlier editions of the text, there was a concern that the laboratory activities were too ‘cookbook’ in their approach and did not emphasize inquiry. Great efforts were made in the fourth edition to ensure that, for at least some of the laboratory activities, the students design their own experimental protocols. Also, since the first edition, the wet labs have been presented as small-scale (or micro-scale) activities, for cost, safety and pedagogical reasons (more can be accomplished in a fifty-minute period with simple small-scale equipment and protocols.) The decision-making activities in ChemCom are perhaps the most innovative of its characteristics and are essential to its central mission to produce chemically literate students. Students, as adult voters (or journalists, lawyers,
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politicians, trade-union officials, or future scientists), will be making decisions for their communities that involve applications of chemistry. In the real world, such decision-making is complex and interdisciplinary, requiring consensus building and involving myriad points of view. If the educational process is expected to produce students who will be competent decisionmakers, then students need to practise decision-making in the classroom. The decision-making exercises in ChemCom give students practice in: developing or compiling existing data; synthesizing chemistry information gathered in the laboratory with knowledge acquired elsewhere; conducting simple risk/benefit analyses; suggesting solutions to problems when the knowledge base may be incomplete and open to various interpretations; and communicating decisions made clearly, both orally and in writing. The decision-making activities in ChemCom start with the speculative discussions of the ‘Chem Quandaries’, which may have no correct answer but identify more questions to be answered (e.g. a discussion on the purity of bottled v. tap water). The next level of decision-making, ‘Making Decisions’, asks students to develop, or find and interpret data, often quantitative, in order to suggest solutions to a problem (e.g. smog caused by vehicular pollution). The most complex of the decision-making activities in ChemCom are collectively designated as a ‘Putting It All Together’ (PIAT) and end each of the seven units. To illustrate this type of activity, consider the synthesis of information required to answer the PIAT at the end of the first unit of ChemCom, which centres on a fish kill in an imaginary river. In order to find out why the fish died, the students need to understand a great deal of chemistry. They learn about the physical and chemical properties of water; the water cycle; the electrical nature of matter; ions and ionic compounds; molecular compounds; solutions and solubility; pH; water purification and water softening. They use chemical language and symbols and interpret graphical data. When their chemistry is well-enough informed, they can tackle PIAT at the end of the Water unit. The students interpret the data that will tell them why the fish died; they then consider who is responsible for correcting, and paying for, the problem (ACS, 2001). Active Physics could very well be called ‘Activity Physics’ since each of the modules is organized as a series of activities introduced by a ‘Scenario’, describing a common, everyday physics-related experience, followed by a related ‘Challenge’ to the students that describes the applied physics problem they will solve in the chapter. In any chapter, there will be eight to ten activities that develop the physics knowledge that the students need to have, in order to solve the ‘Challenge’. For example, the first chapter of the Communication module begins with a challenge to students to design their own, low-budget, sound and light show using only human voices, homemade
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instruments and ordinary household lamps (Eisenkraft, 1998). The students then proceed through a series of guided-inquiry activities that explore the characteristics of sound and light including: wave motion, sound waves, light rays, reflection and refraction of light, Snell’s Law and colour. The amount of reading the students have to do is minimal compared with a traditional text, the focus placed on learning-by-doing. There are class discussions before an activity, to give students an opportunity to brainstorm the topic based on their existing knowledge, and reflective group and class discussions afterwards, to share and consolidate the knowledge learned. This constructivist approach is used throughout. Biology: A Community Context approaches inquiry through hands-on activities, fieldwork and science readings, and has similarities to both ChemCom and Active Physics. In the biology text, each of the eight units is introduced by what is termed an ‘Initial Inquiry’, and this is followed by a set of activities called ‘Guided Inquiries’ (cf. the activities in Active Physics) that relate to the ‘Initial Inquiry’. Each unit ends with a series of optional ‘Extended Inquiries’, typically readings, and library or web research, that broaden the parameters of the original investigation by allowing a more in-depth study of related topics. For example, the first unit on Matter and Energy for Life begins with an Initial Inquiry on the biology of waste (trash) that is introduced (as are all Initial Inquiries) with a video. The ‘Guided Inquiries’ include: a trash audit, collecting composting data, exploring decomposition, investigating mystery bags, modelling bio-molecules and the biology of the compost heap. The ‘Extended Inquiries’ for this unit include topics such as landfills, incineration, recycling, toxic waste and sewage. As with both ChemCom and Active Physics, members of the class work in various groups in a co-operative learning fashion. Sharing information with the rest of the class takes place through a ‘Conference’, where students discuss the findings of the Guided Inquiries; a ‘Congress’, where students engage in a variety of new data collection, discussion and decisionmaking activities; and a ‘Forum’, where students often conduct a role-playing exercise to explore various scenarios to address the issue under debate. EarthComm also emphasizes a hands-on, field approach to learning the geosciences. Each of the five modules contains three chapters, each of which addresses the students’ motivation to learn by posing ‘chapter challenges’ that introduce community-based issues requiring an understanding of basic principles of earth science for their solution. Through a series of extended inquiry-based activities – conducted individually, in small groups, or by the class as a whole – the students are involved in exploration and discovery, before explanation. For example, in the unit on ‘Understanding Your Environment’, students are challenged to develop a comprehensive land-use plan for their own community for the next twenty years. They begin by exploring
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community water resources and land use planning, including issues related to floodplain management, through a series of guided-inquiry activities. Through additional activities, they then explore the impact of urban development on air quality, and soil and land use in their community. Current data to conduct these analyses are retrieved from previously identified web sites. The activities are integrated with fieldwork and the use of technology (not only the web but also videos, calculators and spreadsheets).
3. The role of the teacher and professional development All four of these projects expect the classroom teacher to take on a very different role from that of the traditional teacher – namely, that of a facilitator of the learning process (the so-called ‘guide-on-the-side’), rather of the lecturer at the front of the room (the ‘sage-on-the-stage’). Students often work in co-operative learning groups, sharing and discussing data. There is a focus on the teacher helping students to become self-directed learners, and on continuous, authentic assessments (cf. NSES). The four projects subscribe to a constructivist model of student learning, rather than a behaviourist model. Students are viewed not as ‘empty vessels’ into which knowledge can be poured, but as individuals who come to the classroom with minds full of previous understandings, partial knowledge, misconceptions, naïve theories and distracting ‘noise’. The purpose of the teacher is to help gradually shift the students’ understanding toward the accepted scientific explanations (see, for example, Driver and Oldham, 1986; Gable, 1999; Krajcik, 1991). The materials are ‘spiral’ in their approach to introducing important content, in other words, fundamental concepts are revisited throughout the year in different contexts and at different levels of complexity. This again is a challenge to the teacher who may initially attempt to teach a given concept to mastery the first time the concept is introduced, rather than revisit the topic several times throughout the year. All four projects include various forms of assessment, either within the instructional units and/or in ancillary computerized test banks. While there are the traditional individual multiple–choice, short answer and mathematical problem-solving exercises, there is also an emphasis on performance assessment, both for individual students and for the ‘team’ work of the co-operative group activities, especially the more complex of the decision-making activities. ChemCom offers a nationally normed, multiple-choice examination, through the ACS Examinations Institute, that is currently being revised for the fourth edition.
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Given the difficulty that many teachers have in adapting to the pedagogical demands of teaching these courses, all four provide as much help to the teacher as possible, through special teacher editions and other resource materials, but also through teacher workshops, held both during the summer and throughout the year. Ensuring teacher comfort with the materials is clearly an essential element in ensuring their widespread dissemination. ACS offers from six to ten ChemCom residential teacher workshops, of five days in length, every summer. The number of workshops held depends on the royalties available to support them and receipt of grants, since most of the costs are borne by ACS. Each workshop is held by three ChemCom ‘Master Teachers’ and is attended by up to twenty-five teachers, each of whom must be teaching ChemCom in the upcoming school year. In addition, the workshops often host chemistry educators from other nations through ongoing collaboration with UNESCO. The workshops cover the philosophy and student-centred approach of ChemCom, and the teachers work through the laboratory and decision-making activities in each unit. The ‘Master Teachers’ have previously gone through an initial ten-day orientation programme, and meet annually with ACS staff to plan the coming summer workshops. In addition, ACS is planning to develop a ChemCom Internet course to reach much larger numbers of teachers. AGI offers a National Curriculum Leadership Institute and summer workshops for teachers, of up to a week in length, to support EarthComm, as well as running one- to two-day workshops during the school year at local teacher professional development days. The Leadership Institute not only introduces teachers to the content, pedagogy and assessment of EarthComm, it is designed to develop the participating teachers into ‘Leader Teachers’ capable of running their own workshops for other groups of teachers. AGI also provides web-based teacher enhancement materials. The funds to support EarthComm teacher development are provided by the American Geological Institute Foundation, the American Association of Petroleum Geologists Foundation, the Geological Society of America, and the publisher of the modules (It’s About Time). Active Physics has developed seven professional development videotapes, one providing a general overview of the course, its philosophy and instructional design, and six covering the specific contents of each of the modules. The six videos feature eight actual teachers of the course, and each provides a systematic introduction to the chapter Challenge, Scenarios, and student activities. There are also five-day summer institutes, and one- to two-day implementation workshops held throughout the year. The workshops are not free, with local school districts usually meeting the costs of teacher attendance.
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In addition to the residential workshops described above, all four developers run shorter workshops, ranging in length from about one hour to one day, at various conferences held throughout the year. In particular, national and regional NSTA meetings are seen as important venues to reach large numbers of teachers actively committed to their own professional development. The developers and/or the publishers of the four projects run all of these workshops. The publishers also run short programmes to introduce teachers to the materials, although these are often more in the nature of marketing sessions than educational opportunities.
4. The role of media All four projects make use of various forms of media including videos, CD-ROMS and the Internet. Active Physics not only uses videos for teacher development but also provides five content videos for the students, to be used with specific activities in the book. Biology: A Community Context provides two videos per unit that serve as an initial motivation to students as they begin a unit, and as a means of providing additional topical insights into the issue being studied. These latter videos include material from the CNN Video Update Series. ChemCom is supported by ChemCom Connections, a set of twenty narrated segments on laser videodisc that cover the topics of water, energy, polymers, air and food. AGI has not produced videos specifically for EarthComm but identifies and recommends a large number of relevant videos produced by other developers. ChemCom offers a number of CD-ROM materials for both students and teachers. The ChemCom student CD-ROM, which is also available over the Internet, serves a particular pedagogical function. It has been postulated that one of the reasons that students find chemistry difficult to learn is that they must comprehend the discipline at three different levels: the macroscopic, the particulate and the symbolic (see Gabel, 1999; Johnstone, 1991). In ChemCom, there is an enhanced focus in the text and on the CD-ROM on helping teachers integrate the three levels of comprehension to enhance student learning. Also available are ChemCom teacher CD-ROMs that address mathematical skill building in chemistry, offer additional student activities, and provide an additional test bank of predominantly multiplechoice questions. Biology: A Community Context also provides a computerized test bank. EarthComm recommends the use of a related geo science CDROM that allows students to work with real-world data and explore important concepts further. Using Active Physics requires the use of spreadsheet software on Predictions, Sports and Transportation. There are also recommended software packages available to supplement the modules.
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The projects make use of the web in a variety of ways: for teacher development (Active Physics and EarthComm); to provide additional resources to both teachers and students (especially EarthComm, ChemCom, Biology: A Community Context); and to bring real-world data into the classroom (EarthComm, Biology: A Community Context). In particular, the developers of EarthComm have made a comprehensive effort to identify a range of government, non-governmental organization, and industry Internet resources to add to the richness of the students’ learning experiences.
Future prospects and implications Given the relatively recent publication of the physics, biology and earth science materials (all are still in their first editions), it is difficult to predict what their ultimate impact will be on the course of science education reform in the United States. ChemCom, now in its fourth edition (ACS, 2001) has been taught to probably close to 2 million United States students. ACS will shortly begin developing the fifth edition, using royalty monies to do so. Thus, it is clearly the best established of the four projects. Throughout its history, ChemCom has slowly evolved into a better programme, incorporating new ideas into every edition and allowing for more flexible use by teachers. It is the ongoing financial stability of the programme, the continued support of ACS and a permanent staffing structure, and the steady improvements from one edition to the next that have contributed to its success. ACS has also supported the development of other successful science texts that use the same pedagogical approach for both college and high school audiences. ChemCom was one of the five United States case studies of innovations in science education conducted as part of the larger international study of science, mathematics and technology education undertaken by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (Rowe, 1997). Although ChemCom has always maintained an environmental focus, for the first time the fourth edition of ChemCom introduced the subject of ‘green’ (or environmentally benign, or sustainable) chemistry, albeit relatively briefly. The fifth edition is expected to add more activities related to green chemistry, a special interest of ACS with its recent sponsorship of the Green Chemistry Institute. 3
3.
ACS, the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Gesellschaft Deutscher Chemiker are currently jointly developing green chemistry instructional materials for secondary schools. These will be available on the three societies’ respective Web sites.
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How relevant is the approach of these four projects to science education reform in other nations? Clearly, these approaches need well-prepared, confident teachers and, in their use of the electronic media, are quite expensive to implement. While all four present their science in the United States cultural context, there is no reason why the approach could not be adapted to the cultural context of other students. ChemCom has been translated into both Russian and Japanese, and partially adapted and translated into Spanish for use in Latin America. The experience of ChemCom use in Russia is of particular interest. The Russian translation has been used effectively in Krasnoyarskii Krai, Siberia, with strong support from local school boards and school principals (Gapanovitch and Tarasova, 1999). Initial concerns about the United States societal context of the course were addressed through a series of workshops at which teachers received environmental literature addressing local issues and containing locally relevant data. They also had an opportunity to interact with local scientists. The difficulty of finding local data became an issue that was addressed in ingenious ways. Two students together with their parents were sent on a mission to the town of Achinsk to try and obtain the information needed from the local Committee on Environmental Protection. They did receive the data they were seeking. Furthermore, the village broadcasting station disseminated a request to collect and donate newspapers and magazines to the local school to help students prepare for a lesson on ‘The Natural Resources of Bolshoi Ulai: To Reserve or to Use?’ Two years have passed since that day, but still the inhabitants of the village help the children find the information they need for chemistry class. The students can conduct risk-benefit analyses using this expanding data base (Gapanovitch and Tarasova, 1999).
Obviously, a complete adaptation would have been preferable to the direct translation, but the Siberian teachers were more than capable of making their own adaptations of the course to meet the needs of their own students. The four projects discussed in detail above, including ChemCom, are all struggling to a greater or lesser extent with the issue of whether or not, as ‘science for all’ courses, they are sufficiently rigorous to be taught to those students likely to specialize in science. Historically, there are three basic traditions of curriculum emphasis: the academic, the utilitarian and the pedagogic (Roberts, 1988). Over the past fifty years, the academic approach has always, rightly or wrongly, enjoyed the higher status. This is true not only in the United States but also worldwide. It is ironic that, while we justify science education reform in terms of the utility of science, we still denigrate courses that emphasize this very utility (Ware, 1992). Perhaps the ultimate contribution of these four courses will be to establish that courses that
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emphasize applications can be appropriate for a wide intellectual range of students, including those destined for science careers. Curriculum reform in the United States is an unfolding story with both successes and failures. Project 2061’s vision of reform as a long-term project is certainly accurate. What is not clear is whether the political effort committing to the present reform direction will, in fact, be sustained long enough to show gains in student achievement. In the end, that is what the whole process is about.
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BSCS (Biological Sciences Curriculum Study). 2001. Profiles in Science: A Guide to NSF-Funded High School Instructional Materials. Colorado Springs, Colo., BSCS. CALIFORNIA STATE BOARD OF EDUCATION. 2000. Science Content Standards for California Public Schools: Kindergarten Through Grade Twelve. Sacramento, Calif., California Department of Education. DRIVER, R.; OLDHAM, V. 1986. A Constructivist Approach to Curriculum Development in Science. Studies in Science Education, Vol. 13, pp. 105–22. EISENKRAFT, A. 1998. Active Physics. Armonk, N.Y., It’s About Time, Inc. GABEL, D. L. 1999. Improving Teaching and Learning Through Chemistry Education Research: A Look to the Future. Journal of Chemical Education, Vol. 76, No. 4, pp. 301–26. GAPANOVITCH, N. E.; TARASOVA, N. P. 1999. Adaptation of the United States ChemCom Course for Secondary School Students in Krasnoyarskii Krai, Siberia, Russia. In: S. A. Ware (ed.), Science and Environment Education: Views from Developing Countries, pp. 47–55. Washington, DC, World Bank, Human Development Network. (Secondary Education Series.) JOHNSTONE, A. H. 1991. Why Is Science Difficult to Learn? Things Are Seldom What They Seem. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, Vol. 7, p. 75. KIRK, M.; MATTHEWS, C. E.; KURTTS, S. 2001. The Trouble with Textbooks. The Science Teacher, December, pp. 42–5. KRAJCIK, J. S. 1991. The Psychology of Learning Science. Hillsdale, N.J., Lawrence Erlbaum. pp. 117–47. LEDERMAN, L. 2001. Revolution in Science Education: Put Physics First! Physics Today, September, pp. 11–12. LEONARD, W. H.; PENICK, J. E. 1998. Biology: A Community Context. Columbus, Ohio, Glencoe/McGraw-Hill. LEONARD, W. H.; PENICK, J. E.; SPEZIALE, B. J. 1996. BioCom? Is That Like ChemCom? The American Biology Teacher, Vol. 58, No.1, pp. 8–12. LERNER, L. S. 1998. State Science Standards: An Appraisal of Science Standards in 36 States. Washington, DC, Thomas Fordham Foundation. LEWIN, K. M. 2000. Linking Science Education to Labour Markets: Issues and Strategies. Washington, DC, World Bank. MASON, D. 1996. Life after ‘ChemCom’: Do They Succeed in University-Level Chemistry Courses? (Paper presented at the 1996 Meeting of the National Association for Research in Science Teaching, St. Louis, Mo.) (ERIC Document ED393693).
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MULLIS, I., et al. 1998. Mathematics and Science Achievement in the Final Year of Secondary School. Chestnut Hill, MA, TIMSS International Study Center, Boston College. NCEE (National Commission on Excellence in Education). 1983. A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. Washington, DC, United States Government Printing Office. NCES (National Center for Education Statistics). 1998. The 1984 High School Transcript Study: Comparative Data on Credits Earned and Demographics for 1994, 1990, 1987, and 1982 High School Graduates. Washington, DC, United States Department of Education. ––––. 2001. The Nation’s Report Card: Science Highlights 2000. Washington, DC, United States Department of Education. NRC (National Research Council). 1996. National Science Education Standards. Washington, DC, National Academy Press. ––––. 2000. Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards. Washington, D.C., National Academy Press. NSB (National Science Board). 2000. Science and Engineering Indicators1/42000. Arlington, Va., National Science Foundation, NSB00-1. pp. 5/12 – 5/17. ROBERTS, D. A. 1988. What Counts as Science Education? In: P. J. Fensham (ed.), Development and Dilemmas in Science Education. London, Falmer Press. ROWE, M. B. 1997. ChemCom’s Evolution: Development, Spread, and Adaptation. In: S. A. Raizen; E. D. Britton (eds.), Bold Ventures, Volume 2: Patterns of United States Innovations in Science and Mathematics Education, pp. 523–84. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers. SCHMIDT, W. 2001. Why Schools Matter: A Cross-National Comparison of Curriculum and Learning. New York, Jossey Bass. SMITH, L. A.; BITTNER, B. L. 1993. Comparison of Formal Operations: Students Enrolled in ChemCom versus a Traditional Chemistry Course. (Paper presented at the 1993 Convention of the National Science Teachers’ Association). (ERIC Document ED365557). SMITH, M. J.; LEONARD, W. H.; SHIH, E. 2000. Earth Comm? Is That Like BioCom and ChemCom? The Earth Scientist, Vol. 17, No. 4, pp. 14–18. SPILLANE,J. P.; CALLAHAN, K. A. 2000. Implementing State Standards for Science Education: What District Policy Makers Make of the Hoopla. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Vol. 37, No. 5, pp. 401–25. THULSTRUP, E. W.; BREGMAN, J. 1999. Preface. In: S.A. Ware (ed.), Science and Environment Education: Views from Developing Countries,
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p. ix. Washington, DC, World Bank, Human Development Network. (Secondary Education Series.) WARE, S. A. 1992. Secondary School Science in Developing Countries: Status and Issues. Washington, DC, World Bank. (PHREE Background Paper Series PHREE/92/53). WINTHER, A. A.; VOLK, T. L. 1994. Comparing Achievement of InnerCity High School Students in Traditional versus STS-Based Chemistry Courses. Journal of Chemical Education, Vol. 71, No. 6, pp. 501–5.
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Science and technology education in South Asia Jayashree Ramadas
The countries of South Asia 1 share much in their cultural, historical and socio-economic backgrounds. The region was once famed for its natural wealth and state of development, although the feudal patriarchal societies were deeply divided by inequalities of gender, caste and social status. Conditions worsened during the several centuries of colonial rule, which left the countries economically debilitated. In more recent times, a complex set of political, socio-cultural and economic circumstances has led to continuing ethnic strife in the region. Until the eighteenth century, indigenous systems of education, based on religion, trade and craft, had been fairly widespread. The colonial system which replaced them was restricted in scope and coverage (Dharampal, 1995). Aimed at training clerks and civil servants, this education emphasized languages, especially English, and the humanities: science and technology were all but excluded. Further, the use of a foreign language as a medium of instruction reinforced rote memorization as an accepted method of learning (Basu, 1978). Since the indigenous scientific and mathematical tradition had long died out, the science education that was introduced in the twentieth century was necessarily derivative. Many contemporary scholars (e.g. Goonatilake, 1984) have argued that creative thought in the region has suffered due to this reliance on an ‘alien’ intellectual and scientific tradition. The above account is over-simplified, but it captures the central problem in the education systems of South Asia: they continue to carry an uneasy burden of alienation. The science that is taught in schools often seems ‘not their own’. In addition to the problems of formal language and terse presentation, there often persists in the school curriculum an urban middle-class bias (see, for example, Government of India, 1993; PROBE Team, 1999, chapter 6). The schools and the education service are run by an élite who are themselves the products of an imperfect system. 1.
In this chapter South Asia refers to the member countries of the South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), namely, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
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Nonetheless, much can be, and is being, done. Critiques of Western scientific traditions have encouraged the re-emergence in South Asia of interesting indigenous approaches to science, technology and development (Jamison, 1994). Critical assimilation of these new traditions has provided tools with which to analyse and confront a range of problems. The scepticism of science has often been able to challenge fundamentalism, and it is possible to hope that, in the future, cultural diversity will help to overcome ethnocentricity, providing multiple perspectives while enriching the repertoire of ‘scientific’ methods. Enough still survives of traditional technologies, crafts and arts, to suggest that they might contribute to relating science and technology to everyday practice.
South Asia today Haq (1997) outlines the South Asian scenario with a series of stark statistics. South Asia, with a population of 1.15 billion – 22 per cent of the world’s population – has 6 per cent of global real income and accommodates 46 per cent of the world’s illiterate population; 50 per cent of all malnourished children live in this region. The populations of the individual countries range from the Maldives, with 0.3 million people, to India, with 1 billion. These are largely rural populations: about 90 per cent of the people in Nepal and Bhutan and 75 per cent of those in India live in rural areas, with agriculture as their main source of livelihood. The rate of economic growth in South Asia is less than 2.5 per cent per annum, but there has been a significant improvement over the years in the poorest: in the case of Bangladesh, from 0.5 per cent in 1965–1973 to 5 per cent in 1973–1983. Bhutan saw a 7.4 per cent growth rate in the 1980s. However, inequalities in income distribution remain high (Tilak, 1994). There is a clear urban-rural divide in terms of economic and educational opportunities. In urban areas, the fruits of science and technology are seen in terms of job possibilities and an enhanced quality of life, with the result that parental motivation for education is high. Monetary and intellectual resources tend to be concentrated in urban areas, leaving the majority out of the fold of most development efforts.
Literacy levels As a result of a sustained effort over the past thirty years, adult literacy has increased substantially, from 32 per cent in 1970 to 55 per cent in 1999, but
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this is still the lowest literacy rate in the world, lower even than sub-Saharan Africa (Haq and Haq, 1998; UNDP, 2001). Until the mid-1970s, the literacy rate in South Asia was higher than that of Africa, but by the mid-1980s the position had been reversed (Tilak, 1994). Literacy rates vary widely between, and within, the different countries, from highs of 96.2 per cent in the Maldives and 91.4 per cent in Sri Lanka to lows of 40.8 per cent in Bangladesh and 40.4 per cent in Nepal (UNDP, 2001). Within India, literacy rates range from more than 90 per cent in the State of Kerala to 41 per cent in Rajasthan. Despite an increase in literacy rates expressed in percentage terms, the number of illiterates has increased, while the out-of-school population has remained static (in Bangladesh) or has increased (in India) (Tilak, 1994).
Access to education Since the 1940s and 1950s, when the South Asian countries gained independence, their education systems have expanded several-fold. However, enrolment rates have not increased proportionately, and drop-out rates have remained high. According to an Oxfam report Education Now, South Asia has 56 million primary-school-aged children out of school, a figure that accounts for 45 per cent of the global total of out-of-school population of children (Watkins, 2000). As with the literacy rate, there is a wide variation in enrolment and retention within, and between, countries. Sri Lanka and the Maldives have achieved 100 per cent enrolment in primary schools; India and Bangladesh are approaching 90 per cent, but Pakistan, Bhutan and Nepal have fairly low enrolment rates. The primary school completion rates have shown considerable improvement in recent years, but there is still a long way to go for achieving universal primary education (Table 5.1). TABLE 5.1. Country Bangladesh Bhutan India Maldives Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka
Enrolment and primary school completion rates Enrolment rate (%) 85 (?) 53 87 100 64 31 100
Primary school completion rate (%) 38 54 59 75 25 48 85
(Source : Haq and Haq, 1998)
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A UNESCO report on follow-up action towards ‘Education for All’ puts the blame for high drop-out rates squarely on ineffective school supervision, the rampant absenteeism of teachers, the irrelevance of curricula and the indifference shown by the community (UNESCO, 1992). As for the last of these, the PROBE survey in India, and studies by non-governmental organizations in Bangladesh and elsewhere, report that the lack of motivation can often be attributed to the low quality of education on offer. The corollary is that community mobilization can lead to a marked improvement in the quality of local schooling (PROBE Team, 1999; Haq and Haq, 1998). Primary school drop-outs have a high probability of lapsing into illiteracy. The region is therefore caught in a vicious cycle of low enrolment, low literacy, low levels of education among the work force, low rates of economic growth and low standards of living.
Investment in education Low levels of literacy and school enrolment were once thought to be a consequence of poverty. This myth has been destroyed by a number of studies, particularly those undertaken by the World Bank (World Bank, 1993). The experiences of Europe, Japan, and South East Asia suggest that, rather than being a consequence, universal mass education is probably a necessary prerequisite for economic growth (World Bank, 1993; Tilak,1994). Education in South Asia is largely State-funded (95 per cent in Sri Lanka and 85 per cent in India). Even so, public expenditure on education remains low. The percentage of GNP allocated to education is less than 3 per cent in Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh, and just over 3 per cent in India and Sri Lanka. The Maldives is an exception, with 8.4 per cent of its GNP spent on education (SURF-UNDP, 2001). Most of the education budget is spent on teachers’ salaries, leaving little to improve the infrastructure or raise the standards of teaching and learning. The investment priorities in most of the region have worked against universalization, because expenditure has traditionally been skewed towards secondary education (Tilak, 1994). There has thus been a top-heavy growth in enrolment. In India and Pakistan, higher education has expanded rapidly, probably at the cost of primary education. Another neglected area has been technical and vocational education, where not only have budgetary allocations been low but expenditure has also fallen far short of targets (Haq and Haq, 1998). Traditionally, the need for technological development has been used to justify more spending on higher education. Good research and development
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requires focused spending on higher education, but this should not be at the cost of primary education, since the social returns from investment in primary education are known to be higher than from those from comparable investment at secondary or tertiary level. The UNDP (2001) report recommended more private spending on higher education while retaining public funding for primary education. The UNDP Human Development Reports have persistently pointed out that education is not at the top of the policy agenda within South Asian countries. India has appointed a series of committees and commissions on education, but their recommendations have largely gone unimplemented (Ghosh, 2000). A similar situation prevails in Pakistan. These two countries spend around twice as much on defence as they do on education. If only a fraction of this money were spent on primary education, universal education might become a reality (Watkins, 2000).
Two thorny problems Before considering issues pertaining directly to science and technology education, it is important to acknowledge two problems that plague all educational reform efforts in developing countries in general and in South Asia in particular. One is the problem of child labour which is endemic in all the countries of South Asia, and especially so in Bhutan, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. Weiner (1991) argues that child labour in India is not simply a result of poor economic conditions. It is bound up with a deeply ingrained value system, shared by educators, administrators, religious leaders and even social activists, a system which leads to an easy acceptance of inequity in society. This value system has further devastating consequences for the education of girls from the lower socio-economic groups within the population. The second is the problem of governance. Haq (1999) analyses the political, economic, social and civic dimensions of this issue. The widespread prevalence of favouritism, corruption and inefficiency in public life, and the low standards of professional accountability, are major barriers to the implementation of educational policies and reforms. Again, in the existing value system in society, this is a state of affairs that is too easily tolerated. An education based on critical, quantitative thinking should aim to challenge these value systems.
National goals and executive agencies The major national goal of the South Asian countries is to provide a quality education for every child of school age. Free primary education is promised
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by all the governments, although the compulsory nature of the provision varies. In Sri Lanka, education is free and compulsory up to secondary school level. In Bhutan, a limited tertiary education is also provided free. Bhutan, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka emphasise national integration, cohesion and harmony (Gyamtso and Dukpa, 2000; NCERT, 2000; Asian Network IBE, 2000; Presidential Task Force, 1997; Karunasinghe and Ganasundara, 2000). Sri Lanka specifically lists the following among the goals of education: democratic principles, human rights, gender equity and environmental conservation (Presidential Task Force, 1997). Religious education is compulsory in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the Maldives. Job-oriented technical and vocational education is prominent in the statement of national goals of all the countries. In all the countries of South Asia, a central agency, within or outside the Ministry of Education, is responsible for interpreting national policy and framing school curricula. In Pakistan, it is the Institute for the Promotion of Science Education and Training (IPSET); in India, the National Council of Educational Research and Training (NCERT); in Bangladesh, the National Curriculum and Textbook Board (NCTB); in Sri Lanka, the National Institute of Education (NIE); in Nepal, the Curriculum Development Centre (CDC) of the Ministry of Education; in Bhutan, the Curriculum and Professional Support Section (CAPSS) of the Ministry of Health and Education; and in the Maldives, the Educational Development Centre (EDC) of the Ministry of Education. In all these cases, the writing of curricula is done by teams consisting of subject specialists from within the agency along with experts from outside. In India, the curriculum developed by NCERT is not legally enforceable in the individual states, but, in practice, the states either adopt, or closely follow, the national curriculum.
STE – a priority area? Given inadequate and unequal access to education, the high levels of dropout and the low achievement of literacy and numeracy in schools, it is natural to ask if science and technology education (STE) is a real need for these countries. Are there not more pressing problems to be dealt with? The statements of national policies of most countries acknowledge the role of science and technology in economic development. However, this recognition does not necessarily translate into a commitment to science and technology education at school level. Current writing and debate about education in South Asia, together with the policy statements of governments
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and the priorities of non-governmental organizations, gives credence to this view, by remaining largely silent about the importance of scientific and technological education. Since the early 1970s, science has been taught as a compulsory subject in schools in South Asia. There is an element of ‘technology’ within these curricula, although it usually amounts to little more than scattered pieces of information on technological applications. A UNESCO survey of science and technology in school curricula in India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka found that, with the exception of the Maldives, the total hours of schooling were higher than the world average, while the time devoted to science teaching was lower. Exceptionally in the Maldives, where the total hours of schooling were found to be lower than the world average, the time given to science at the secondary level was higher (UNESCO, 1986). As for demand, only 26 per cent of South Asian students at the tertiary level are enrolled in the natural and applied sciences, compared with an average of 30 per cent for all developing countries (SURFUNDP, 2001). Bangladesh in recent years has seen a drastic decrease in the percentage of students enrolling in the science stream at the secondary school level (Bangladesh Education Statistics, 1995, and Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics [BANBAIS], 1996, [cited in Mian, 1998]). The reasons for these trends are not clearly understood, but perception of the relevance of scientific and technological education is surely an important factor. Commitment to such education can come about only in a situation in which it is not isolated from the larger problems of education and of society. Within this larger context, science and technology education should be seen by people as providing information, methods and tools for their empowerment. It is entirely possible for STE in South Asia to play a supportive role by acknowledging and addressing the basic problems of equity, gender roles, literacy, numeracy, health and environment.
Technology and education In ancient Greece, liberal education intended for an élite was separated from professional and technical education. In ancient India, this kind of separation was institutionalized through the caste system. Today, such attitudes are reflected in the excessive verbal and academic orientation of science education. Given the context of low literacy levels and lack of resources, the outcome is simply the rote learning of the textbooks. Orpwood and Werdelin (1987) have explored the partnership between education, science and technology in support of national development. They
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point out that technology, defined in terms of tools, materials and techniques to meet basic human needs and desires, has traditionally been passed down through generations. Historically, technology has preceded science, while technology education has been independent of science. The partnership between science and technology which developed over the years was not successfully transferred to the classroom, and the partnership between technology and education that existed in traditional cultures did not survive the take-over of education by formal schooling. In the meanwhile, science, which was always a matter of formal schooling, retained its academic orientation (Orpwood and Werdelin, 1987). A meaningful technology curriculum might be one way to challenge this state of affairs. Since the time of John Dewey (1916), there has existed a strong educational argument for using technology to give meaning to, and provide an effective pedagogy for, a range of academic disciplines, including science. In India, Mahatma Gandhi saw the need for educating the brain through the hand (Richards, 2001). The facilitative role of technology in learning science continues to be recognized today (e.g. Schauble et al., 1991). Fairly successful models of technology education exist in different parts of the world, as described in the UNESCO series Innovations in Science and Technology Education. Layton (1993) has reviewed some approaches to integrating science and technology in school and offered some examples from the teaching of design and technology in England and Wales. However, technology has only recently found wide acceptance as a component of the school curriculum, partly, it has to be acknowledged, for economic reasons. Globalization and the economic restructuring taking place in most developing countries, including those of South Asia, have introduced much fluidity into the job market. Changing technologies, the disappearance of familiar occupations, and the emergence of new fields of employment, all mean that workers have to undergo frequent retraining. In the industrial sector, jobs are being re-structured in ways that call for multiple skills on the part of the workers (Lewin, 2000a). What workers need in this changing world is not simply disciplinary knowledge, but flexibility of thought, a wide repertoire of skills, and a capacity to tackle new problems. Another consequence of globalization is the increasing technological imbalance between the developed and developing countries. The enforcement of intellectual property rights restricts the flow of information to the developing world, while globalization is taking away local control of indigenous technologies. Critical sectors like agriculture and the pharmaceutical industry are likely to be controlled in the future by a small number of multinational corporations. Effective national systems of scientific and technological education, combined with regional exchange programmes, could
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enable the South Asian countries to retain access to technologies and to resist being marginalized in the globalization process. Layton, however, has cautioned against economic instrumentalism as a justification for technology education, arguing that it may lead to inflated, and unrealizable, expectations from technology education. Moreover, an instrumentalist view may distort and diminish the educational potential of technology, not least by ignoring the conative dimensions of technology education and its close involvement with a range of global and environmental concerns (Layton, 1994).
Technology education in South Asia UNESCO has been active in promoting technology education in both developed and developing countries. The Report to UNESCO of the International Commission on the Development of Education, Learning to Be: The World of Education Today and Tomorrow, made a convincing case for technology education as a component of basic education (Faure et al., 1972). The report was well-distributed in the developing world, including South Asia. It was abridged and translated into local languages and succeeded in influencing the thinking of many educators. Regrettably, a global survey conducted more than ten years later (UNESCO, 1986) found that, in South Asia, as in most parts of the world, technology education either did not exist or was confused with vocational subjects or practical arts. However, the situation is slowly improving, in terms of organizational structures as well as curricula. A few years ago, Pakistan, as part of an organizational restructuring aimed at integrating science and technology education, merged the Institute for the Promotion of Science Education and Training (IPSET) with the National Institute for Technical Education (NITE) to form a new organization called the National Institute of Science and Technical Education (NISTE) (ADB, 1997). Sri Lanka, in recent education reforms, has replaced the science curriculum at the Ordinary Level of the General Certificate of Education (Grades X and XI) with a science and technology course. At the Advanced level (Grades XII and XIII), a technology stream has been introduced with a bias towards agriculture, industry, commerce, services and professional fields (Presidential Task Force, 1997). The national curriculum framework in India has recommended science and technology education (NCERT, 2000) as a new curriculum component to be implemented from 2002. The introduction of science and technology education in South Asia is facilitated by the generally positive attitudes of students towards science and technology. An international study, which included India, found that students
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in developing countries considered science to be very important for society, and regarded scientists as heroic, intelligent and caring. In Western societies, in contrast, science and technology were often seen in an unfavourable light, responsible for polluting the environment, depleting natural resources, creating unemployment and producing horrific weapons of mass destruction (Sjøberg, 2000; 2001). There are indications, however, that this positive image of science within South Asia might become less pronounced with wider exposure to, for example, English-medium education (Chunawala and Ladage, 1998).
The world of work Though technology education is an innovation in the region, a related subject, namely Technical and Vocational Education (TVE), has long been a mainstay of the educational policy of all the countries of South Asia. Using a slight modification of the terminology introduced by de Vries, TVE in South Asia has generally followed either a ‘craft-oriented approach’ or an ‘industrial or agricultural production-oriented approach’ (de Vries, 1994). Elements of technical and vocational education 2 form part of the curriculum in South Asian countries from about Grade 6 onwards. In Sri Lanka, the current education reforms require ‘Life Competencies’ to be taught in Grades 6–9 (the junior stage) and a technical subject to be introduced in Grades 10-11 ( the senior stage/GCE O Level). Up to the Junior Stage, students are able to move laterally from general education into technical and vocational streams (Presidential Task Force, 1997). Experience of integrating technical and vocational education with general education has rarely been positive. Mahatma Gandhi’s scheme of craftoriented basic education was tried out in India soon after independence, but, within a few years, it was abandoned. Nepal, in its early years of democratic rule, experimented with an ambitious technical and vocational programme which was integrated with general education until the secondary school level. The Indian and Nepalese programmes were abandoned for much the same reasons: a lack of resources, inadequate teacher preparation and a general reluctance on the part of students and parents to depart from an academicoriented education. In Nepal, the integrated programme was replaced in the early 1980s by one that focused on local needs and was directed at students who dropped 2.
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Data presented in this section are drawn from UNESCO/ACEID National Profiles in Technical and Vocational Education.
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out of the general system. Under this new programme, separate technical schools are now provided at three levels: lower secondary, secondary, and higher secondary, each of which is a terminal level. In India, vocationalization of secondary education is still part of official policy and ‘work experience’ and ‘pre-vocational courses’ form part of the curriculum. In reality, however, such courses, except in a small minority of ‘technical schools’, are either non-existent or else completely meaningless. Even in post-secondary schools, where vocational subjects are offered, the choice is usually limited to one or two subjects. Further, the students who opt for the vocational stream often do so not to secure career-related training but because these subjects are considered to be ‘scoring’, i.e. they enable one to score high marks in the final examinations. The most positive experience might be in Bangladesh, where agriculture is a compulsory subject for Grades 6–8, after which it is optional. It is meant to be taught through practical training by field-level experts. Although in Dhaka City this is not practicable, at the village level students do visit fields and use the school’s back lawn as an area for experiments. In Grades 9–10, basic trade training and technological drawing are optional courses. Technical training certificate programmes can be taken up after Grade 8, and diploma courses after Grade 10. Separate streams for technical and vocational education exist at various levels in all the South Asian countries. Given the major shortages of skilled labour in these countries, one would expect a high demand for such education. The reality is quite different. South Asian countries are characterized by low levels of enrolment in technical and vocational education programmes: 1.5 per cent of the total enrolment at the secondary level, compared with 10.5 per cent in East Asia. The situation is worsened by the high drop-out rate from technical and vocational education – around 50 per cent in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Paradoxically, although the number of graduates of institutions providing technical and vocational education is small and falls far short of requirements of the labour market, their unemployment rate remains high (Haq and Haq, 1998). The problem of vocational education is intimately related to universal mass education, as Masri (1994) has recognized. In the early years of mass education, socio-cultural barriers and economic considerations ensured that the majority of students entered the workforce at a young age. Later, a dual system came to prevail within which a privileged few continued their schooling while the majority opted for apprenticeship, on-the-job training or formal vocational preparation programmes. This stage, which assumes a low level of demand for sophisticated skills, is where most South Asian countries stand today. As the ‘bulge’ of mass education moves up the educational ladder to
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include higher age groups, vocational educational solutions have to be found at higher levels. The process would have to be planned in co-ordination with an expansion and diversification of the agricultural and industrial base. Masri recommends that developing countries move towards a system in which vocational preparation is integrated with senior secondary education. At present, despite the focused nature of the programmes in Sri Lanka and Nepal, the unemployment rates of their graduates remain high. In Bangladesh, the employment rates for informally trained workers are higher than those who have graduated from technical and vocational schools. Employers prefer workers who have acquired skills through on-the-job practice. A lack of co-ordination between industry and these schools is the most common shortcoming of the curricula that are provided. Another problem, identified by a World Bank study (World Bank, 1990), is that the curricula are not designed to promote affective objectives like positive attitudes towards work, discipline and employee-employer relationships. Interestingly, this study claims that the primary reason for the failure of new employees in industry is their lack of affective skills in the workplace. The reasons for the general failure of technical and vocational education are the low social status of, and attitudes towards, manual work, which is seen as meant for economically weaker and academically backward students. In addition, technical secondary education may cost up to ten times more than general education, but budgetary allocations are low. However, a survey conducted in Maharashtra, India, by the Ambekar Institute of Labour Studies, suggests that attitudes towards technical and vocational education may already be changing in some regions so that an increasing demand may be expected in the coming years. The technical and vocational education needs of South Asian countries are similar. Dasgupta (1994) has analysed these needs and pointed out the merits of regional co-operation, particularly in research and teacher training.
Some pitfalls of integrating science with other subjects The growing recognition of the importance of technology has created a favourable climate for integrating technology into school learning. Sri Lanka and India have taken the decision to integrate science with technology, and Pakistan is likely to do the same. The rationale for these decisions is not clear, but it is relevant to ask whether technology should necessarily be integrated with science in this way. Clearly, technology has close links with science as well as with its pedagogy. But technology has wider implications that extend beyond science to subject areas like vocational education, social
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studies, art, ethics and values education. The technology education movement should rightly have some influence on all these subjects. However, given the existing organizational and time constraints of the school system, putting the entire burden of integration on science could have negative consequences for meeting specific learning objectives. Previous experience of attempts at integration certainly suggests a need for caution. In the past thirty years or so, many attempts have been made to integrate science with other curriculum components. In Sri Lanka, the environmental studies curriculum at the primary level was replaced in 1982 by ‘Beginning science’ (Leelaratne, 1991), and in more recent reforms science and social studies were combined into ‘Environment-related activities’ (Karunasinghe and Ganasundara, 2000). NCERT in India experimented with subject-based teaching at primary and secondary levels but in the 1980s replaced physics, chemistry and biology with integrated science. In the current curriculum, science and social studies at the primary level are combined into environmental studies. Educationally, it is important for students to make connections between different subject areas, and integration seems to offer a way forward. However, in practice, the integrated curriculum is constructed by experts who are specialists in their own disciplines. Typically the separate physics, chemistry and biology chapters in a textbook are written by different subject specialists and, especially at higher levels, the integration is entirely nominal. Teachers, too, are reluctant to teach subjects other than their own specialized field, and training courses do not equip them to handle an integrated approach. As a result, two or sometimes three subject teachers end up teaching their specialized subject within so-called ‘integrated science’. The environmental studies textbooks conveniently come in two parts which are easily recognized as the former science and social studies. In recent years, there has been a trend towards integrating health and conservation issues within the science curriculum. This is expected to lead to a curriculum that is issues-based, rather than one built around the concepts and principles of science (Leelaratne, 1991). The current science textbooks in India contain substantial components of health, agriculture and environment education. Unfortunately, this has simply led to larger books, with additional chapters, that contain too many facts. These new components burden an already overloaded curriculum and place increased demands upon the students. Perhaps in reaction to this overloading, a recent trend has been to place less stress on learning subject knowledge and, instead, to move the focus of the curriculum towards the development of ‘competencies’ (Byron, 2000). Here, too, the Indian experience has been disappointing. The minimum
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learning levels approach has led to a fragmentation in teaching and assessment, and a tendency to ‘teach the competencies’, which, in the area of environmental studies, has turned out to be yet another list of facts. Subjects are defined by the distinctive ways in which they establish and structure knowledge and by the methods of inquiry that they employ. It needs considerable skill on the part of curriculum developers to bring about meaningful integration of different disciplines without undermining their core concepts.
Technology is ‘doing’ An essential aspect of technology education is practical work, including planning, design, construction and experimentation. From the perspective of child development, the first spontaneous approach to experimentation is based on what could be called an ‘engineering model’. In simple terms, this says, ‘Let’s do it and see if it works’. Practice of this approach in time leads to an appreciation of a hypothetico-deductive method and to an understanding of the role of experiments in science (Schauble et al., 1991; Ramadas et al., 1996). The introduction of technology into schools can be meaningful only if it provides for practical work. However, such work has been the Achilles heel of science and technology education in South Asian schools (Arseculeratne, 1997; Hill and Tanveer, 1990; Bajracharya and Brouwer, 1997). In the current culture of schooling, there is a real danger that technology might be interpreted in a very academic way, as mere information about applications, processes and machines. The Indian policy documents on science and technology education emphasize the importance of practical work (Shukla, 2001), but action is needed to ensure effective implementation. The Presidential Task Force (1997) in Sri Lanka recommended the setting up of activity rooms in all junior schools (Grades 6–9) and laboratories in all senior schools (Grades 10–13). The perennial problem is the lack of equipment. While adequate funding is obviously the first requirement, equally important is a realization that technology is all about the imaginative use of resources. From the curriculum development teams to textbook writers, teacher-trainers, teachers and students – innovation, improvisation and the building up of ideas and resources are needed at all levels.
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Science and technology for empowerment It is instructive here to list some of the basic problems in South Asian countries which the application of science and technology could help to address. At the top of the list are water and food resources, nutrition, sanitation and infectious diseases. The major environmental issues in the region are: •
• • • •
the pollution of water resources (by industrial discharge, household waste, the inadequate treatment of sewage, and excessive or inappropriate use of agricultural chemicals); deforestation (due to increasing cultivation of land, the large scale use of wood as fuel, and overgrazing); a loss of biodiversity (shrinking forests, threatened marine and wetland ecosystems); erosion and chemical degradation of soil due to intensive cultivation and excessive use of agricultural chemicals; and air pollution and other urban environmental problems caused by unplanned growth.
At every level in the school curriculum, one could incorporate activities related to analysing and dealing with such problems. In some cases, for example water resource management, simple traditional solutions have been found to be of value; in other cases, high technology may be useful. Science and technology education should include information-seeking methods of analysis and the development of skill in using tools. Most of these problems also have social and ethical dimensions and these, too, need to form part of a humane scientific and technological education.
A trend towards decentralization Although curriculum development in South Asian countries is largely carried out at the national level, implementation inevitably depends on the exigencies of the local situation. As regional resources and expertise grow in strength, the idea is gaining ground that curriculum change ought to be a more decentralized process. A case study of curriculum managers in Pakistan recommended a co-operative model of curriculum development to accommodate a wider range of interested parties (the ‘stakeholders’), most notably the teachers who are ultimately responsible for effecting curriculum change (Aubusson and Watson, 1999). A start has been made at the administrative level. India and Nepal are experimenting with participatory approaches to curriculum development.
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India has long had State Councils of Educational Research and Training (SCERTs). In more recent years District Institutes of Educational Training (DIETs) were established. In Pakistan, centralized curriculum development has partly given way to a process involving the participation of national as well as regional centres (Hill and Tanveer, 1991). The Maldives has also expressed a wish to involve teachers in future curriculum reform (Byron, 2000). However, the journey from administrative reforms to functional and intellectual autonomy may be a long one. The inclusion of technology in the curriculum provides yet another justification for local initiatives. While the context of science might be described as universal, technology clearly needs to be developed and applied in a local context. A technology curriculum that involves ‘learning by doing’ will have to take into consideration factors that range from the availability of human and material resources to ecological features, the epidemiological characteristics of the population and social relations in the locality. Ideally, this requires the collaboration of curriculum developers with local technologists, entrepreneurs and those skilled in craft work, as well as local industries and research laboratories. Since achieving its independence, Bangladesh has established a tradition of non-governmental organizations working successfully in the field of education. The government has recognized the contribution of these organizations and several fruitful partnerships have developed (Ahmed, 1999; ADBI, 2000). An Indian example of a long-standing partnership between a state government and a non-governmental organization is the Hoshangabad Science Teaching Program (HSTP) run by the non-governmental organization Eklavya. Over the past 30 years, this partnership has developed and implemented a curriculum for primary and middle schools in rural and tribal areas of the State of Madhya Pradesh. One common obstacle to effective local initiative throughout South Asia is the centralized examination system found in all the countries in the region. Here again, Sri Lanka is showing the way forward with the recent introduction of assessment systems that are school-based (Jayatilleke, 2000).
Cultural diversity The countries of South Asia embrace a wide range of religions, cultures and ways of life, and education systems need to take account of this diversity. A number of researchers, however, have suggested something of a mismatch between school science and the wider cultural context of schooling (e.g. Aubusson and Watson, 1999). To try to address this issue, Bajrachrya and Brouwer (1997) have experimented in Nepal with a narrative approach to teaching science that locates the subject within a culturally appropriate context. The
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problem of a mismatch between textbook science and the informal knowledge of students has been studied in India by Chunawala et al. (1996), Natarajan et al. (1996) and Ramadas et al. (1996). As an example of their findings, Natarajan et al. (1996) found that tribal students’ ideas about plants were varied, holistic and rich in ecological content. Textbook presentations, on the other hand, tended to be fragmented and focused on detailed structures. Ironically, in the classroom setting, the tribal students were classified as belonging to disadvantaged backgrounds and their considerable botanical knowledge was routinely ignored or belittled. In the case of the Maldives, where curriculum development, teacher preparation and assessment systems are largely directed from outside the country, the problem of cultural mismatch can be severe (Aubusson et al., 1998). Bhutan has recently begun to prepare culturally appropriate curricula (Gyamtso and Dyupka, 2000). Pomeroy (1997) has given useful guidelines on how science and technology education can be adapted to accommodate diverse cultural assumptions, practices and norms.
The education of girls The South Asian region, with its rich cultural and historical tradition, has witnessed a number of women occupying the highest political positions. Yet, paradoxically, South Asia has not only the lowest literacy rates in the world, but also the largest gap between male and female literacy (64.1 and 37.2 per cent in 1997). Gender disparity in net enrolment ratios is also the highest in the world, with 20 per cent more boys than girls enrolled in primary schools (Haq and Haq, 1998). Within South Asia, those regions with low literacy and school enrolment rates also have high gender disparity. Discrimination against South Asian women, which begins early with female abortion and infanticide, is a consequence of poverty and patriarchal values that support a preference for sons. One indication of the scale of the problem is the highly distorted sex ratio in the region, where there are only 940 females for every 1,000 males. Sri Lanka and the Maldives are exceptions to this generally depressing state of affairs. The Sinhala and Tamil communities in Sri Lanka have traditionally had a comparatively egalitarian set of laws on property ownership (Goonesekere, 1989). The Maldives, within a strict Islamic framework, provides equal educational opportunities to girls and boys at lower levels of education (Waheeda, 1989), although gender discrimination sets in soon after primary school. The overall high literacy rates as well as enrolment ratios in these two countries show minimal gender differences. Haq and Haq (2000), with support from numerous World Bank studies, see women’s education as a necessary prerequisite for the overall
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development of the region. Female education leads directly to falling birth rates and a rising quality of life. The strategies to promote girls’ education suggested by Kazi (1989) and Haq and Haq (1998) include the recruitment of more female teachers, the development of relevant and gender-sensitive curricula, and the provision of culturally appropriate facilities to meet the special needs of girls. A number of recent governmental and non-governmental initiatives have successfully broken the barriers to girls’ education. Examples of such programmes are: the Female Education Scholarship Programme (FESP); the Bangladesh Rural Advancement Committee (BRAC) in Bangladesh; the Mahila Samakhya, the District Primary Education Project (DPEP), and Lok Jumbish in India; the Social Action Programme in Pakistan; the Equal Access for Girls’ Education Programme in Nepal; and the Community Schools in Bhutan (Haq and Haq, 1998). The curriculum is one area where action is possible. A study of literature textbooks in India in the 1970s found a prevalence of sex-role stereotyping and extreme belittlement of women (Kalia, 1979). In other subject areas, the use of nouns and pronouns excluding women and a biased depiction of sex-roles in textbook illustrations have been common. However, at the national level (but less so at the regional level), there is an emerging sensitivity to the gender roles portrayed in textbooks. The new programmes directed towards improving girls’ education have therefore produced their own textual and supporting materials in which, for example, it has become increasingly common to depict girls in active, rather than passive or supporting, roles. Since textbooks in South Asian countries are produced centrally, this is one area where change can have an immediate impact. It would be helpful if the useful set of guidelines prepared by Kalia (1986) could be updated and given wide circulation. Gender bias within society is particularly strong in the case of technology, which is generally seen as a male preserve. School technology education therefore carries the risk of reinforcing, and perhaps even deepening, the gender divide. However, a number of recent developmental projects in South Asia have had considerable success in overcoming the sex-role stereotyping of women and technology. Rural women in Bangladesh and India have been trained in occupations ranging from primary health care and fish farming to solar energy installations and handpump repair. These local examples could form the basis of a technology education programme. Gender equity within technology education can also be promoted by highlighting the social usefulness and ecological impact of technologies (Hynes, 1994), and by selecting exemplar technologies that are of interest to women and girls (Appleton and Ilkkaracan, 1994; Sandhu and Sandler, 1986).
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Supporting literacy and numeracy High drop-out and low enrolment rates reflect the low quality of education offered in the majority of schools in the region. A recent survey in Pakistan revealed that only 34 per cent of children who completed primary school could read with comprehension, and over 80 per cent were unable to write a simple letter. In Bangladesh, only 64 per cent of girls and 57 per cent of boys who complete primary school achieve literacy. Studies in India have found high underachievement even in privileged communities, while in underdeveloped parts of the country the literacy rates of primary school leavers are down to zero. Even in Sri Lanka and the Maldives, which are doing better than the other countries in the region, the pass rate at the school leaving examination is only around 50 per cent (Haq and Haq, 1998). The low quality of verbal and quantitative skills currently achieved in primary schools adversely affects comprehension in all subject areas. Instead of acquiring an understanding of scientific concepts and the processes of scientific inquiry, students memorize facts and procedures that are useful for passing examinations (Government of India, 1993; Hill and Tanveer, 1990). A lack of language proficiency is one reason for the undue emphasis on factual knowledge at all levels of education (Arseculeratne, 1997). The importance of literacy and numeracy for scientific and technological education is well recognized, but this relationship might, with some advantage, be reversed, in other words, science and other subjects could be seen as a means of supporting the development of language and of reinforcing literacy and numeracy. From the earliest years, verbal ability can be developed through learning. Instead of demanding the reproduction of passages of text, exercises in science and technology should require students to describe their own observations and actions orally as well as in writing. Creative writing, critical analysis, the building-up of arguments, the use of causal connectives, and the framing of appropriate questions, can all contribute to language development while helping the students to learn science (e.g. Ramadas, 1998; 2001). In a parallel way, numeracy can be developed through measurement and quantification in the context of a number of subjects, most obviously science and technology. There is a difference here from the abstract ‘word problems’ associated with mathematics education, namely that scientific and technological problems presented to students are real problems and involve realworld data and questions. An example is the Homi Bhabha Curriculum for Primary Science (Ramadas, 1998; 2001). This introduces students to quantification (prediction and estimation, informal comparisons, seriation, picture graphs, Venn diagrams and geometrical ideas in two and three
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dimensions) via familiar everyday activities. The approach requires co-ordination between the mathematics and science curricula from the earliest years to ensure the level of mathematical thinking demanded in the science and technology curriculum is compatible with that required by the mathematics curriculum.
Information technology Of all the various aspects of scientific and technological education, it is information technology that has received most attention from policy-makers in recent years. Pakistan and Bangladesh have introduced compulsory computer education in Grades 9 and 10. In the technical and vocational sector, too, training in information technology has met with much success in India and Pakistan. The Government of Pakistan’s IT Policy and Action Plan emphasizes human resource development and makes comprehensive, wide-ranging and progressive recommendations for education. In addition to graduate and post-graduate programmes, the policy also recommends focused hands-on training in specific areas that are identified by reference to market needs. It recommends the training and employment of women in large numbers in all sectors of the software and telecommunications industry. The provision of IT education to rural and poor segments of society is seen as a strategic priority for social and economic development. The policy also aims to encourage people with special needs to use information technology to allow them to participate more effectively in society (Government of Pakistan, 2000, p. 27). The implementation of courses in information technology is inevitably limited by the availability and maintenance of computers. Here again, there is an unfortunate tendency for such courses to degenerate into copying and reproducing notes on ‘What is a computer?’, without actually getting a chance to use it. Nonetheless, computers and the Internet offer tremendous opportunities to South Asian countries. There have been a number of cases of successful connectivity in isolated rural areas to allow, for example, the sharing of meteorological, health and crop information. Such initiatives could be linked with scientific and technological education in rural schools.
Resources outside school School science and technology education need to be supported by out-ofschool resources meant for children as well as adults. The cheapest and most easily accessed is the print medium, the demand for which increases with
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rising levels of literacy. Access to printed materials is also important for sustaining literacy in new literates. However, the space given to science and technology news and information in mass-circulation newspapers and newsmagazines is typically minimal, although there are creditable exceptions, such as the Dawn newspaper in Pakistan and The Hindu in India. In Sri Lanka the science establishment is particularly active in popularizing science. Several programmes and services of the Sri Lanka Association for the Advancement of Science (SLAAS) are directed at school children and the public. In addition to magazines, lectures, quizzes and exhibitions, the activities of SLAAS include a Media Resource Service (MRS) for science journalists (Jayaratne, 1998). In India, the media resource services for science and technology are run by two non-governmental organizations, Vigyan Prasar and Eklavya. With the spread of the Internet, media resources have become easier to access, and such services could be run all over South Asia at a relatively low cost. In general, however, the availability of scientific and technological literature in the region, especially in the local languages, remains low. Local language publishing suffers from several constraints, ranging from low circulation numbers and a lack of information tools, to unfriendly regulations and troublesome bureaucratic hurdles (Ahmed, 1997). In Bangladesh, the non-governmental organization sector has successfully made use of new information and printing technologies, including desktop publishing, to produce attractive books for their educational programmes. Ahmed has suggested a number of ways to strengthen the publishing industry in South Asia, including regional co-operation to publish and market books in common languages such as English, Bengali, Urdu and Tamil. He cautions, however, that the countries involved would need to co-operate in de-politicizing the content of such books (see Hasanain and Nayyar, 1998). Where literacy levels are low, the print medium has obvious limitations. Equally obvious is the educational potential of the broadcast media, although these tend to be dominated by commercial interests. The Kerala Shastra Sahitya Parishad and various other ‘People’s Science Movements’ in India have experimented with a number of other strategies for promoting scientific and technological education. These include rural forums, women’s forums and ‘Sastra Kala Jatha’ (a science and art procession or march), which includes music, dance and drama based on social-political, health and environmental themes (Vilanilam, 1993). In recent years, India has been participating in the International Olympiads. Such participation can influence scientific and technological education at the regional level, motivating students towards science and also building up capacity in the teaching community.
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SHRESHTHA, K. M. A Review of Technical Education in Nepal. NepalNet: An Electronic Networking for Sustainable Development in Nepal. (http://www.panasia.org.sg/nepalnet/education/index.htm) SHUKLA, R. D. 2001. Teaching of Science and Technology at School Level. School Science, March 2001. New Delhi, National Council of Educational Research and Training, pp. 12–20. SIDDIQUI, M. M. R. 1995. National Profiles in Technical and Vocational Education in Asia and the Pacific (Bangladesh) ACEID, UNEVOC, CPSC. (http://www.chinaacc.edu.cn/wenyuan/unesco/04/h0595e.htm) SJØBERG, S. 1994. Technology Education: Diversity or Chaos? Studies in Science Education, Vol. 25, 1995, pp. 289–97. ––––. 2000. Science and Scientists: The SAS Study. Cross-cultural Evidence and Perspectives on Pupils’ Interests, Experiences and Perceptions – Background, Development and Selected Results. Acta Didactica 1/2000. Oslo, University of Oslo. ––––. 2001. Science and Technology in Education: Current Challenges and Possible Solutions. Invited Contribution to the Meeting of Ministers of Education and Research in the European Union, Uppsala, Sweden, 1–3 March, 2001. (http://www.uio.no/~sveinsj/) SURF: South and West Asia Sub-Regional Resource Facility, UNDP. 2001. Education Profile. (http://www.surfsouthasia.org/NEW/SURF/ GOV/statistics.shtm) TILAK, J. B. G. 1994. Education for Development in Asia. New Delhi – Thousand Oaks – London, Sage Publications. UNDP. 2001. Human Development Report 2001: Making New Technologies Work for Human Development. New York, Oxford University Press. UNESCO. 1986. The Place of Science and Technology in School Curricula: A Global Survey. Paris, UNESCO. ––––. 1992. Aftermath of the World Conference on Education for All. Bulletin of the UNESCO Principal Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific. No. 31. 1990–91. Bangkok, UNESCO-PROAP. UNESCO/ ACEID/CPSC. 1995. National Profiles on Technical and Vocational Education in Asia and the Pacific (Profiles on Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka). Bangkok, UNESCO. VILANILAM, J. V. 1993. Communication and Development. New Delhi, Newbury Park and London, Sage Publications. WAHEEDA, M. 1989. The Role and Status of Women in the Maldives. In: V. Kanesalingam (ed.), Women in Development in South Asia, pp. 53–61. New Delhi, Macmillan India. WATKINS, K. 2000. The Oxfam Education Report. Oxford, Oxfam GB. (http://www.oxfam.org.uk/educationnow/edreport/report.htm)
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WEINER, M. 1991. The Child and the State in India: Child Labor and Education Policy in Comparative Perspective. Princeton, Princeton University Press/New Delhi, Oxford University Press. WORLD BANK. 1990. Bangladesh Vocational and Technical Education Review. A World Bank Country Study. Washington DC, The World Bank. ––––. 1993. The East Asian Miracle: Economic Growth and Public Policy. Washington DC, The World Bank/ New York, Oxford University Press.
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School science and technology education in China Cheng Donghong and Liu Jiemin
In China, primary and junior middle school education are important for nurturing the high-quality labour force and the innovative talents needed for modernization. As a result, the traditional role of education in identifying and training innovative talent has taken on the dimensions of a major and urgent task. In order to fulfil this task, China is actively developing an education system that incorporates a curriculum and pedagogy requiring imagination and creativity on the part of all involved. The curriculum reconstruction that lies at the heart of the educational reform is currently being undertaken on a large scale, and science and technology education form one of its key elements. This chapter outlines the current status of school science and technology education in China and describes the reforms currently underway.
The current status of school science and technology education China is a densely populated country with the largest system of basic education in the world. There are 618,000 primary and middle schools with nearly 200 million students and 10.75 million full-time teachers. The Law of Compulsory Education issued in 1986 has led to a compulsory schooling period of nine years that ensures the right of the young to education. ‘A poor country carrying out a large-scale education enterprise’ is an accurate description of the fundamental situation of China. Despite a per capita GDP of only US$800, by the end of 2000, the nine-year period of compulsory schooling had covered more than 85 per cent of the national population. By the same date, the primary school enrolment rate for school-age children had reached 99.1 per cent, and that of the junior middle school, 88.6 per cent. The numbers of boys and girls were roughly equal, and marked progress had also been made in offering compulsory education to those children who were disabled or very young (See Figure 6.1).
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FIGURE 6.1. The enrolment rate of primary and junior middle schools in China
FIGURE 6.2. Primary and junior middle school enrolment in 1990, 1995 and 2000
Data source (Figures 6.1 and 6.2) Ministry of Education 2001b. The Development of Education for All in China (a Report for the International Conference on Education 46th Session, Geneva, 2001). Beijing, Ministry of Education People’s Republic of China.
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Science and technology education play a vital role in Chinese primary and junior middle schools. The major science and technology courses are natural science and computer technology. In both junior and senior middle schools, students follow courses in physics, chemistry, biology, geography and computer technology. In addition, some well-equipped schools offer elective courses concerned with environmental protection, energy resources, information technology and technological innovation. In addition to these formal courses in science and technology, numerous science and technology societies and education groups support a variety of forms of non-formal science and technology education in co-operation with schools and community organizations. Education authorities at all levels provide much support for these activities, which offer students a much broader vision than they find in the classroom, while helping them to engage with natural phenomena in a practical and exploratory way.
TABLE 6.1. The current science and technology curricula in Chinese primary and junior middle schools (6–3 schooling) 1 measured in class hours per week Grade Course Nature
1
2
3
4
5
6
1
1
1
1
2
2
7
8
2
Chemistry 2/3
Technical and vocational training
1
1
1
3
1.77
3
1.04
2
1.65
1
Technology
% of total course hours 2.94
Physics
Biology
9
1.47 2
2
2
2.16 8.41
Extra-curricular activities*
4
4
3
2
2
2
2
2
2
Total class hours per week
27
28
30
30
30
30
33
33
33
* The extra-curricular activities include those of science, technology, recreation, art and sports.
1.
6–3 schooling: There are two school system in China’s compulsory education: 6–3 schooling and 5–4 schooling. 6–4 schooling means there are 6 years of primary and 3 years of junior middle school education. 5–4 schooling means 5 years in primary, and 4 years in junior middle school education.
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TABLE 6.2. Science and technology curricula in Chinese primary and junior middle schools (5–4 schooling) measured in class hours per week Grade Course Nature
1
2
3
4
5
1
1
1
2
2
6
7
8
9
% of total course hours 2.97
Physics
2
3
1.74
Chemistry
2
2
1.40
Biology
2
Technical and vocational training
1
1
2
2
2.16
1
Technology
1.08 2
2
2
2
2.85 7.54
Activities in Art, Sports, Science and Technology
3
3
2
2
2
3
2
2
2
Total class hours per week
28
29
30
30
30
33
33
33
33
TABLE 6.3. Compulsory science courses in senior middle schools measured in class hours per week Grade Course Mathematics Physics Chemistry
Grade 10
Grade 11
4
4
3
3/2
*
8.48
3/2
3
*
8.48
3
*
4.62
2
2
8.34
Biology Extra-curricular activities except PE
2
Grade 12 Percentage 5
17.80
Technology
4 weeks per academic year ; 12 weeks in total
Social practice
2 weeks per academic year included in technology courses, extracurricular activities
Total class hours per week
35
34
34
• Students majoring in Science continue to select physics (4–6 courses per week), chemistry (3–5 courses per week) and biology (2–4 courses per week). • The above data are from Ministry of Education 1994a and 1994b.
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TABLE 6.4. The experimental curricular model of senior middle school from 1996 (class hours per week) Grade Grade 10 Grade 11 Grade 12 Course Physics 3/2 2(+2) (3) Chemistry 2 2(+2/1) (3) Biology 0 3 (3) Information technology 2 (2) 0 Research study 3 3 3 Technical and vocational 34 class hours 34 class hours 34 class hours Comprehensive training Practice Activities Community Arranged in the extra-curricular activities service Social practice 34 class hours 34 class hours 34 class hours 1 class hour = 45 minutes, the time is the course time (or the additional time) needed for the elective courses. Data source : Ministry of Education 2000. Curriculum Planning for the Full-time General Senior Middle School. [quanrizhi putong gaojizhongxue kecheng jihua (shiyan xiudinggao)] Beijing, Ministry of Education People’s Republic of China.
TABLE 6.5.
National extra-curricular activities of primary and middle school students
Activities China Adolescents Science and Technology Invention Contest (CASTIC)
Participants Primary and middle school students
HSChou Foundation’s Award Program for Future Scientists
Primary and middle school students Middle school students
The National Contest of Computer Design and Technology for Middle School Students
Organizers China Association for Science and Technology Ministry of Education Ministry of Science and Technology National Environmental Protection Agency National Agency of Physics National Natural Science Foundation Central Committee of the China Communist Youth League All-China Women’s Federation Ministry of Education China Association for Science and Technology HSChou Foundation Ministry of Education Central Committee of the China Communist Youth League
Data source: China Association for Science and Technology (CAST)
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During twenty years of social and economic reform, there has been rapid progress in the provision of basic education in China. However, two different judgements are possible about the consequent state of science and technology education in the country. For some, Chinese science and technology education are among the most successful in the world – and there is certainly evidence to support this view. During the 1990s, Chinese middle-school students were very successful in the International Olympiads held in a number of science subjects (see Table 6.6). In addition, the current primary- and middle-school curricula provide an opportunity for in-depth study and lay the foundation for the accomplishments of the distinction that many Chinese students have been able to achieve when they leave the country to study abroad. For others, however, there is concern that Chinese science and technology education are based too strongly on the traditional teaching of individual disciplines, with a marked emphasis on the acquisition of basic scientific
TABLE 6.6. The success of Chinese middle-school students in some International Science Olympiads in 2000 and 2001
Subjects
Session
Contest location
Chinese Gold attendants medal
Silver Copper medal medal
Medals in total
41
South Korea
6
6
42
United States
6
6
31
United Kingdom
5
5
32
Turkey
5
4
1
5
32
Denmark
4
3
1
4
33
Indian
4
3
1
4
12
China
4
2
1
1
4
13
Finland
4
1
2
1
4
11
Turkey
4
2
2
12
Belgium
4
3
46
35
6
Mathematics 6 5
Physics
Chemistry
Informatics
4
Biology
Totals
Data source: China Association for Science and Technology
128
8
1
4
3
46
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knowledge and skills. Teachers pay too much attention to the subject knowledge in the textbook, to the neglect of the knowledge for the practical action needed by the students and the communities within which they live. In addition, teachers fail to promote students’ initiative and to encourage them to think for themselves. Students imitate, and ignore the need to innovate, communicate and work co-operatively with others, despite recent attempts to reform school science curricula by, for example, emphasizing the interrelationships between different subjects. Given these two rather different judgements about the state of Chinese school science and technology education, what conclusion might be drawn about such education in primary and middle schools? Since basic education is education for all, it is appropriate to try and answer this question by examining the scientific literacy of Chinese citizens. In 1992, 1994, 1996 and 2001, the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) undertook four sample investigations to measure the level of scientific literacy. In accordance with international norms, a basic level of scientific literacy was established by reference to the level of understanding of the following four broad aspects of the scientific endeavour: scientific knowledge (terms and concepts), the processes of scientific research, scientific attitudes and values, and the social influence of science and technology. The CAST investigation of 2001 showed that about 1.4 per cent of Chinese citizens could be judged as having a basic level of scientific literacy, compared with 1.2 per cent five years earlier. Though the scientific literacy of Chinese citizens has thus somewhat improved, it is still well below that of more developed countries (e.g. 6.9 per cent in the United States and 4 per cent within the European Community in 1990). It is thus important for Chinese science educators to reflect upon all aspects of the science and technology education currently provided, including its purposes, content, teaching methods and strategies for promoting learning, and the systems in place for assessing and evaluating students’ work. Many factors contribute to the low level of scientific literacy within China, some of which are long-standing. Within the Chinese school system, science education is narrowly defined. It does not accommodate students’ own interests, and no attempt is made to promote positive scientific attitudes. As a result, students neither really understand the value and real meaning of science, nor gain an insight into how scientific research is conducted and validated. Nor do they do grasp the interrelationships of different school subjects or develop an understanding of the links between different parts of the same scientific discipline. The case for reforming current science and technology education in primary and middle schools in China is therefore a strong one.
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Reforming science and technology education in primary and middle schools The goal of school science and technology education reform is to improve every student’s all-round scientific literacy, understood in terms of the four dimensions indicated above. To achieve this goal, attention will need to be given to the following five elements.
Improving students’ access to science and technology education The fundamental objective of nine years of compulsory education is to ensure a basic standard of scientific literacy for all students. The science curriculum should constitute a learning opportunity for all students, irrespective of the region in which they live, their nationality, or their economic and cultural background. Be they boys or girls and however different their abilities and interests, all students should have the same opportunity to study science and to develop their scientific potential to the full.
Promoting students’ intellectual and personal development Science is an essential component of compulsory education. It provides the foundations of further scientific study and contributes to students’ scientific literacy and thus to their lifelong development. Students are likely to continue to study science if they are interested in it and enjoy their scientific studies. It is important therefore that science is taught in ways that are likely to capture students’ imagination. This can be done by engaging them in the processes of scientific inquiry and by the teacher assuming the role of organizer and guide in promoting their learning.
Teaching the nature of science Science education should help students to understand something of the nature of science as a process of inquiry. In addition, they should realize that science and technology are closely connected to social and economic development, and contribute greatly to society as well as to their own personal and intellectual development.
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Emphasizing scientific inquiry The core of science is inquiry and the aim of education is to promote students’ development. The science curriculum should thus combine these two by providing more opportunities for students to engage in inquiry activities. These activities must be challenging, enjoyable and relevant to students’ interests and needs if the desired goal is to be achieved.
Ensuring that school curricula reflect contemporary achievements in science The school science curriculum should mirror contemporary scientific achievements and ideas. This ensures that the school curriculum is kept up to date and that it helps students to develop a sense of science as an ongoing creative activity. It will also help them appreciate the contributions that science and technology are making to the world in which they live, from the renewal of urban or rural areas to the transformation of the material and spiritual well-being of the people.
The general status of Chinese school science and technology education reform In an era of rapid scientific and technological development, there are, at different times and in different ways, demands on everyone in the labour market to innovate, to make planning decisions and judgements, and to solve problems. Thanks to modern information technology, the learning environment is being transformed, the learning space has been expanded and the division between education and training is being blurred. One consequence of this is that the future will be characterized by frequent shifts between the worlds of school and of work. School science and technology education must respond to these shifts.
The specific objectives of curriculum reform in basic education In order to realize the general goal of improving the science literacy of every student, the reform of science and technology education in China has the following six objectives: 1
to replace the emphasis on the acquisition of knowledge with an emphasis on students learning to learn
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2 3
4 5
6
to move from the teaching of individual scientific disciplines towards courses that are integrated, balanced and comprehensive to replace the present difficult and old-fashioned curriculum that emphasizes the memorizing of scientific knowledge, with one that develops students’ intellectual curiosity and encourages them to find connections between science, society and their own personal lives to inspire students to participate actively in inquiry, so as to develop their skills at problem solving, communication and co-operative working to develop and use evaluation and assessment procedures that will promote students’ personal development and teachers’ professional competence; and to shift the emphasis in curriculum management away from rigid central control towards a partnership based upon co-operation between the state, local authorities and schools, so that the curriculum can be more responsive to students’ needs and to local circumstances.
The implementation of the new school science and technology curriculum In order to implement school science and technology curriculum reform, the Ministry of Education is consulting widely with all sections of society. It is said that the new basic education system will be characterized by openness, vibrancy and Chinese socialist characteristics, and will be developed on the basis of previous achievement and experience. In addition, it will promote moral education and students’ practical skills and ability to innovate. The curriculum reform will also encourage students to adjust to a style of studying based upon the notion of learning to learn. More particularly, the reform will require students to learn how to inquire, to conduct research and engage in experiments, to communicate and co-operate, and to assume responsibility for their own studies. Information and communication technologies will have an important part to play in bringing about these changes. The Ministry of Education has established ten Basic Education Curriculum Development Centres in eight universities and two educational research institutes. Since 1999, many education researchers have been involved in the curriculum reform and hundreds of experts have been assembled to develop the standards of the new curriculum. In 2000, the Ministry of Education established thirty-eight experimental regions in twenty-six provinces throughout the country in order to conduct pilot studies of the proposed reform. The Ministry has also provided training courses for the leaders and science teachers in these experimental regions. As an initial step, about 1 to 1.5 per cent of newly enrolled students (i.e. in Grade 1 in primary school, and in Grade 6 or
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7 in middle school) in the experimental regions were involved in the trial curriculum (see Table 6.7) in 2001. In 2002, 2003 and 2004, the percentage of newly-enrolled students will rise to 10, 30 and 60, respectively. By 2005, the intention is that all the students in the experimental regions will be involved in the curriculum experiment. Beyond this, it is anticipated that schools all over the country will implement the new curriculum standards before 2010.
Reforming the content of school science and technology curricula In order to construct a framework for basic science education that will meet the demands of the twenty-first century, the reform seeks to integrate science and technology within the curriculum. The subject-centred model is to be replaced, and scientific knowledge is to be integrated with an understanding of the processes and culture of science and technology. From another perspective, the reform can be seen as seeking to unite mass education with élite education. The learning approach will emphasize the integration of learning through practice, inquiry and co-operative study, both inside and outside school. The new curriculum standards for science and technology education in primary and junior middle schools will require primary schools to provide science courses from Grade 3 onwards, and junior middle schools to offer either separate or integrated science programmes. The integration of science courses with technology, especially information technology, is an important trend. New curriculum standards for senior middle schools are also being developed. The new curriculum structure will be marked by diversity and flexibility.
Principles for selecting curriculum content The selection of content is always a contentious aspect of curriculum change. In accordance with the overall aim of the reform of basic education, a number of principles have been established to help resolve the associated issues. Obsolete content is to be deleted and greater attention given both to the fundamental concepts and theories of science and technology, and to the implications of scientific and technological developments for the future. In addition, there are several supplementary principles governing the selection of the content of science and technology curricula. These are listed below. • •
Content that forms an essential part of the scientific education of a Chinese citizen should be included. Scientific knowledge and skills that are used frequently in everyday life should be included.
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TABLE 6.7. Curriculum reform model for science and technology courses during nine-year compulsory education (trial began in 2001) Grade Course
1
2
Science
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
% of the total class hours
2
2
3
4
4
4
4
8.6 (3.8)
2
2
(1.5)
3
(1.1)
Physics Chemistry Biology Comprehensive practice Total class hour per week
26
26
3
3
(2.3)
2
2
2
2
3
3
3
29
29
30
30
32
32
32
6.4 (6.4)
1 class hour = 45 minutes (Junior middle schools can choose an integrated science course or separate courses such as physics, chemistry and biology. The numbers in the brackets are figures for separate science courses in junior middle schools.) Data source: Ministry of Education 2001a. Curriculum Program in the National Nine-year Compulsory Education [guojia jiunian yiwu jiaoyu kecheng jihua (shiyangao)]. Beijing, Ministry of Education, People’s Republic of China.
• •
•
• •
134
Undue attention is not to be given to existing content in selecting the content of the new curricula. The initial emphasis should be upon the qualitative, rather than the quantitative, expression of scientific and technological concepts. Quantitative expression should be confined to a small number of basic and common concepts and principles. In addition to the above, the importance of individual concepts must be weighed against the need to delete or simplify content, in light of the total class hours available for science in compulsory education, and the importance of allowing sufficient time for students to engage in inquiry activities. The content of the courses should be based on students’ psychological, physical and intellectual needs and abilities. The content of the courses should be that judged necessary for the students’ future intellectual, personal and social development.
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Some specific changes in curriculum content The changes in the content of the curriculum for junior middle schools can be illustrated by using the Life Science, Materials Science and Earth, Cosmology and Space Science components as examples.
Life Science About 40 per cent of the content of the previous biology textbook consisted of an introduction to plants and animals. The writers of the revised textbooks have given more attention to health issues and to advances in the life sciences. The new book stresses the significance of flowers as representatives of the plant kingdom, and the human body as a representative of mammals, and it introduces the basic life processes of other organisms by comparing them with those of flowers and human beings. In this way, the body of knowledge to be learnt is reduced, and attention is directed towards both the diversity of living organisms and the theory of evolution. In addition, students are able to study a range of living organisms from a higher, macroscopic and scientific perspective. Some of the content that students would normally study in senior middle schools, such as the cell, chromosomes and genes, is now presented in junior middle schools, although at a less detailed level. The revised textbook helps students to understand the relationships between the life sciences and society, and to appreciate that humans and the other organisms can live together harmoniously in a sustainable way. Attention is also given to such topics as health care, bio-engineering and gene technology.
Materials Science In the new textbook, some complicated topics have been deleted, there is a reduced emphasis on complex calculations, and more attention is given to students’ own interests and experiences and to the needs of society.
Earth, Cosmology and Space Science The content of the geography curriculum has been reorganized, although the depth and scope are broadly the same as in the past. The treatment of the newly-introduced astronomy and space science is generous and straightforward. Emphasis is given to the ways in which scientific methodology and thinking are common to researchers in astronomy and geology. The curriculum of the senior middle school consists of a basic curriculum and an extension curriculum. The former consists of learning fields, subjects
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and modules, and makes it possible for students to choose courses on the basis of the standards set for the field. These standards are formulated and set by the state which will also establish the level of course credit for the related subjects in each learning field. Subjects are presented in modular form, and the design philosophy of the modules may vary from one to another. The module in one subject can be divided into compulsory and elective elements, and these can be arranged either in parallel or in the order of compulsory courses followed by electives. When the module in one subject is not separated into compulsory and elective elements, the only requirement for the subject will be the amount of credit that can be obtained by the students. Every subject will provide several modules for students to choose from. For example, physics consists of ten modules: optics; thermodynamics; waves and particles; elementary electronic technology; mechanics (two modules); electricity and magnetism (two modules); experimental physics; and an introduction to modern physics. The function of the courses that make up the extension curriculum is to focus students’ attention on the interactions of science, technology and society, to help them to use what they have learnt in order to raise questions and solve problems, and to foster their special aptitudes and skills. Such courses will be developed and put into effect jointly by local government and schools in accordance with regulations issued by the Ministry of Education.
From work-related and technical training to technology education: from aims to content Technology education plays a particular role in deepening students’ understanding of the relationships between science, technology and society, and in helping them understand that science and technology jointly constitute an important productive force. It also helps to develop students’ sense of social and moral responsibility when they come to apply techniques to production and matters of everyday life. Technological innovation and problem-solving rely principally on the ability to design and create, and technological education should form an important part of compulsory education. In the past, however, most Chinese middle schools have only taught work-related training courses, which lay stress on the skills directly related to employment, although a few schools have provided courses in computer education. Technology education has, until recently, lacked recognition, and the form and content of suitable courses have been matters for debate. As a result, stressing the importance of technology education for all has
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been an important part of the attempt at curriculum reform. The traditional work-related and technical training courses, with their narrow emphasis on the teaching of practical skills, are no longer able to meet the demands of a modern, knowledge-based economy. In addition, students need to understand the nature of technological activity and how this differs from, and relates to, science. In particular, they need to appreciate that there is normally more than one solution to a technical problem and that technological change can have damaging, and sometimes unforeseen, consequences for individuals, the society and the environment. Ensuring that students understand that sustainable development is the only way forward for human society is a major objective of technology education. The content of the technology courses in the new syllabus will have greater variety than those of the science courses. Guided by the curriculum objectives, the content of each technology education module will reflect the diversity of local contexts. The central educational authority is encouraging local authorities and schools to develop different curricula and teaching strategies in their programmes of technology education.
Some innovative developments in science and technology education reform While developing quality-oriented education programmes to improve the curricula of primary and middle schools, Chinese curriculum reformers have implemented a number of important innovations. The curriculum project, Learning by Doing, was proposed, launched, and promoted in 2001 by the joint efforts of the Ministry of Education and the China Association for Science and Technology, with the aim of stimulating science education development in Chinese kindergartens and primary schools. An important feature of Learning by Doing, and essential to its implementation, is the high degree of co-operation between scientists, educational researchers and teachers. Learning by Doing seeks to provide opportunities for all pre-school and primary school children to gain experience of exploring the natural world and to construct their systems of rudimentary science knowledge by inquiry activities based upon observing, questioning, imagining, experimentation and communication. It also seeks to lay the foundation needed for the development of the scientifically literate citizens of the future. Following a decision by the Ministry of Education, the project began in Beijing, Shanghai and Nanjing in April 2001. The first pilot project involved
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twenty-two schools and kindergartens in these cities. To facilitate implementation, a Learning by Doing Science Education Centre was founded in Beijing, responsible for overall planning and curriculum model development, as well as for co-ordinating the work in the pilot institutions. In September, 2001, a Learning by Doing science education forum was held during the Annual Meeting of the China Association for Science and Technology in Changchun, China. Dr Wei Yu, Vice-President of the China Association for Science and Technology and the Vice-Minister of Education of China, together with other scientists and educators, presented and explained the philosophy and the implementation strategy of the project to scientific and educational researchers from different parts of the country. A delegation from the Learning by Doing project visited France in November 2001 in order to study the experiences of La Main à La Pâte (LAMAP) being promoted in France by the French Academy of Sciences with the support of the French Ministry of Education. The delegation was made up of thirty university teaching staff, primary education researchers, and teachers from model schools, together with researchers from the China Association for Science and Technology. The visitors had extensive discussions with the French organizers, the scientists, teachers, parents and the students involved with LAMAP. The Chinese visitors gained a better understanding of the LAMAP programme in France and of the Learning by Doing project in China by giving lectures, taking lessons and designing teaching units by themselves. They also developed provisional ideas about how to initiate the training of the teachers of the Learning by Doing materials in China. One result is a series of teachertraining courses that were organized in China in 2002 to support the implementation of the Learning by Doing project in experimental schools after the school year began in 2002. The China Association for Science and Technology recruited volunteer scientists in China to visit these experimental schools and work together with the teachers involved in the Learning by Doing project. The nine basic principles advocated by the Learning by Doing project are described below. 1
2
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Close attention is to be given to each child in ways that acknowledge his or her individual personality. Each child is to be encouraged to investigate and study in his or her own way according to his or her own interests, aptitude and ability. A firm foundation is to be laid to enable children to develop into articulate and well-adjusted citizens. Children should be encouraged to work with their hands, to explore the world around them and to form and voice their own opinions.
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3
4
5
6
7
8
The teaching content, including the materials to be used, should be based on the everyday life experiences of the children. Although the Learning by Doing project encourages a flexible approach to science education by developing modules that reflect local interests and concerns, the work must meet the appropriate education standard set by the state. Close attention should be paid to problems of interest to the children, including those that need to be solved in their everyday lives. These kinds of problems should be regarded as important resources for scientific education. Children are to be actively encouraged towards inquiry, and to experience the process of discovery at first hand. In many ways, this is the core of the Learning by Doing project. Children will be expected to ask questions, make predictions, work individually, record information, explain, discuss and draw conclusions, and communicate their findings and views. The role of the teacher is to support and guide the children’s learning of science. This will include providing appropriate educationally rich materials, guiding children’s observations and problem-solving activities, developing their communication skills, and encouraging them to engage in discussion and become self-confident and articulate in thinking about scientific ideas and processes. Evaluation and assessment procedures must be sympathetic to the teaching approach and supportive of children’s progress. Children will gain in self-confidence by experiencing success and by the judicious use of praise. Attention will need to be given to the process of inquiry as well as to its outcome, and teachers will need to monitor children’s progress to establish what they have learnt and can do as a result of being taught. Teachers will need to determine how far individual children play an active part in inquiry, whether they have their own ideas and try their best to solve problems, whether they can accept the ideas of their peers, and how well they co-operate and communicate with their partners. The implementation of a new science education curriculum requires co-operation between scientists and science educators. Having achieved distinction in their own specialist fields, scientists have important practical insights into how scientific research is conducted. Those whose experience is in science education can draw upon these insights to help develop and implement the Learning by Doing project. The successful implementation of the project requires the mobilization and full support of the children’s families and the wider community. Science museums, universities and scientific research institutes are all resources that can be called upon in aid of science and technology education reform. Learning by Doing advocates that these resources be available to children to provide support, including equipment, for their
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activities. In addition, scientific researchers and college students are encouraged to come into pre-schools and primary schools to develop inquiry-based activities jointly with the children, thereby strengthening their interest in science and improving the teaching of the scientific disciplines. Parents should also use everyday resources to support their children’s scientific inquiries. The Internet is to be used to promote national and international communication and dialogue. The Learning by Doing project will make full use of the Internet to provide information and examples of inquiry-based activities and related materials for teachers, parents, children and others with an interest in school science and technology education. Scientists and educators will be available for on-line consultation. International communication and co-operation will facilitate knowledge and understanding of science education reforms outside China, such as the Hands-on Science Education Experiment in the United States and LAMAP in France. At the same time, information about science education reform in China will be available to colleagues abroad. In the process of implementing Learning by Doing, the project leaders and the teachers will jointly teach the course materials, thereby enriching their experience, improving their practice and strengthening the theoretical basis of the reform.
Science education reform in junior middle schools: the establishment of an integrated science curriculum In the reform of junior middle school science education, an integrated course, Science, has been devised to replace the teaching of the traditional scientific disciplines. The integrated Science curriculum has the following four advantages. It helps students to understand the nature of science as an integral whole, and to develop their knowledge and understanding of cross-disciplinary concepts and principles. It benefits the transference of students’ knowledge from one domain to another and promotes their ability to learn. It helps to systematize students’ ability to engage in science inquiry and offers a broad training in the methodologies of science. It encourages students to pay attention to, and analyse, a range of social issues related to science and technology, thus deepening their understanding of the interactions of science, technology and society. Two notions feature prominently in the new National Curriculum Standard for science: conformity and inquiry. The notion of conformity stresses an integration of the scientific disciplines that highlights the connections between those disciplines while maintaining the fundamental structure of each. It also nurtures students’ scientific literacy by integrating scientific
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knowledge, skills, methodology, attitudes and values. Conformity thus involves much more than simply combining different scientific disciplines. Its fundamental purpose is to help students gain a deeper insight into the nature of science as a whole. The notion of inquiry recognizes that investigative activities are essential to the development of students’ scientific ideas and abilities. The Science curriculum is organized in accordance with what is known about the development of students’ learning, and it places an emphasis on inquiry activities carried out by the students, using everyday materials and equipment with which they are familiar. Science, technology and society courses (STS) have a unique role to play in fostering students’ ability to combine theory with practice, to understand the profound effects of science and technology on society, and to develop a commitment to the notion of sustainability. Given this, the relationships between science, technology and society are given the status of a separate component of the National Curriculum Standard. This National Curriculum Standard divides the Science curriculum into three levels. The first level is the field, of which there are five: 1 2 3 4 5
scientific inquiry (process, method and skills) life science materials science earth, cosmology and space science relationships between science, technology and society.
The first and the last of these have an obviously integrated character, the essential features of which are to be deployed in the remaining three. The second level exploits the idea of themes. For example, a theme such as ‘the structure of materials’ is divided into three parts: particles, elements and the classification of materials. These three are taught in such a way as to promote a systematic and coherent understanding of the structure of matter. The third level involves bringing a variety of perspectives, from the individual scientific disciplines and from STS studies, to bear upon a range of issues, such as those involved in the interaction of human beings with their environment.
Non-formal science and technology education: the China Adolescents Science and Technology Invention Contest To achieve the goals of the reform of science and technology education, it is not sufficient to rely exclusively upon schools and other institutions of
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formal education. It is necessary to combine the formal and the non-formal sectors of education to create a self-motivated attitude towards learning that will promote the scientific and technological literacy of all students. The work of the China Adolescents Science and Technology Invention Contest (CASTIC) illustrates how this might be done. The contest consists of a series of extra-curricular activities which are highly popular and widely supported by Chinese primary and middle school students and their teachers. It is organized jointly by non-governmental and governmental organizations, including the China Association for Science and Technology, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Science and Technology and the National Environmental Protection Agency. The Contest has been held on sixteen occasions since 1982. The goal of CASTIC is to encourage students to participate in a range of extra-curricular science activities because it is believed that only by doing so can they develop their creative and practical abilities, deepen the knowledge they have gained from textbooks and enhance their scientific and technological literacy. The contest enables students from primary and middle schools throughout China to exhibit a variety of inventions and projects, and present scientific essays and reports, and the results of technological innovation, as well as developments in computer software and hardware. The work represents the students’ achievements during their school science and technology courses or at out-of-school educational institutions, and it covers a wide range of scientific fields, including environmental protection, biology, physics, chemistry, electronics and computing technology. CASTIC is not simply a national activity. There is competition at a variety of levels involving, each year, about 15 million students from primary and middle schools. Only those students who succeed at the local level of competition may proceed to the next, provincial, level. Likewise, it is only the provincial winners who may proceed to enter the national contest. This is held annually during the summer vacation and it has become a festival for young amateur scientists and technologists. In order to promote the nationwide development of scientific and technological activity, the national contest has been held in a different province on each occasion. Thousands of students and teachers assemble from all over China, experience the science fair, meet research scientists, attend a youth science forum and workshops, and visit scientific research institutes and cultural sites. Another important feature of CASTIC is the opportunity it provides for scientists and technologists to meet science educators in order to discuss how best to improve primary- and middle-school science and technology education. With 187 national natural science and technology societies as members, and a nationwide system of local branches, the China Association for Science
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and Technology is the biggest non-governmental organization of its type in China. It organizes and co-ordinates the involvement of many scientists in the planning and organization of CASTIC, and enables many others to act as instructors or judges at affiliated local science fairs. CASTIC thus offers a powerful impetus to the science and technology education in local schools and out-of-school science centres. Its commitment to marrying the learning of scientific knowledge with scientific inquiry, the mastery of basic principles with creative exploring, and to allying formal with non-formal education, offers effective support to the attempts to reform scientific and technological education in Chinese primary and middle schools.
Bibliography CHEN ZHILI. 2001. Studying and Following the Spirit of the Decision, Creating a New Stage of Basic Education. In: Kaichuang jichu jiaoyu gaige yu fazhan de xinjumian [Creating a New Stage of Reform and Development of Basic Education], Proceedings of a National Conference on Basic Education, pp. 54–79. Beijing, Union Press. DEPARTMENT OF BASIC EDUCATION OF THE MINISTRY OF EDUCATION OF PRC, Institute for the Curriculum and Textbook. 1997. Putong gaozhong kecheng gaige yanjiu yu shiyan [Study and Experiment in the Curriculum Reform of Senior Middle School Education]. Beijing, People’s Education Press. FU DAOCHUN. 2001. Xinkechengzhong jiaoshi xingwei de bianhua [The Change of Teachers’ Behaviour in New Courses]. Beijing, Capital Normal University Press. GU MINGYUAN. 1996. Suzhi jiaoyu de kecheng yu jiaoxue gaige [Curriculum and Teaching: Reform of Quality Education]. Beijing, China Peace Press. GUO YUANXIANG. 2001. Zonghe shijian huodong kecheng sheji yu shishi [The Design and Implementation of Comprehensive Practice Courses]. Beijing, Capital Normal University Press. INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF SCIENTIFIC UNIONS. 2000. Proceedings of an International Conference on Primary School Science and Mathematics Education, ICSU. Beijing, China, 1–4 Nov. 2000. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION. 1994a. Shixing xingongshizhi dui quanrizhi xiaoxue chujizhongxue kecheng (jiaoxue) jihua jinxing tiaozheng de yijian [Comments on the Regulation of the New Curricula of Full-time Primary and Junior Middle Schools in Accordance with the New Man-hour System]. Beijing, Ministry of Education, People’s Republic of China.
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––––. 1994b. Shixing xingongshizhi dui gaozhong jiaoxue jihua jinxing tiaozheng de yijian [Comments on the Regulation of the Teaching Plan of Senior Middle Schools in Accordance of the New Man-hour System]. Beijing, Ministry of Education, People’s Republic of China. ––––. 1999. Shenhua jiaoyu gaige quanmian tuijin suzhi jiaoyu [Accelerating the Quality of Education], Proceedings of The 3rd National Conference on Education. Beijing, Higher Education Press. ––––. 2000. Quanrizhi putong gaojizhongxue kecheng jihua (shiyan xiudinggao) Curriculum Planning for the Full-Time General Senior Middle School. Beijing, Ministry of Education, People’s Republic of China. ––––. 2001a. Guojia jiunian yiwu jiaoyu kecheng jihua (shiyangao) [Curriculum Program in the National Nine-year Compulsory Education]. Beijing, Ministry of Education, People’s Republic of China. ––––. 2001b. The Development of Education for All in China (a Report for the International Conference on Education 46th Session, Geneva, 2001). Beijing, Ministry of Education, People’s Republic of China. ––––. 2001c. Suzhi jiaoyu guannian xuexi tiyao [Guide to Studying the Theory of Quality Education]. Beijing, Sanlian Press. ––––. 2001d. Quanrizhi yiwu jiaoyu kexue kecheng biaozhun 3–6 nianji, 7–9 nianji [The Science Standards for full time compulsory Education, Grades 3–6; The Science Standards for full time compulsory Education, Grades 7–9]; Quanrizhi yiwu jiaoyu wuli kecheng biaozhun [The Physics standards for full time compulsory education]; Quanrizhi yiwu jiaoyu shengwu kecheng biaozhun [The biology standards for full time compulsory education]; Quanrizhi yiwu jiaoyu huaxue kecheng biaozhun [The chemistry standards for full time compulsory education]. Beijing, Beijing Normal University Press. MINISTRY OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, PROPAGANDA DEPARTMENT OF CCP, CHINA ASSOCIATION FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY, THE CENTRAL COMMITTEE OF COMMUNIST YOUTH LEAGUE OF CHINA. 2001. 2001–2005 Zhongguo qingshaonian kexue jishu puji huodong zhidao gangyao [Guide to China Adolescents Science and Technology Activities, 2001–2005]. Beijing, Beijing Normal University Press. RESEARCH GROUP ON TEACHER TRAINING DURING THE NEW CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION. 2001. Xinkecheng de linian yu chuangxi [The Concept and Implementation of New Curriculum]; Xinkecheng yu xuesheng fazhan [New curriculum and the development of students]; Xinkecheng yu pingjia gaige [New curriculum and evaluation reform]; Xinkecheng yu jiaoshi juese zhuanbian [New Curriculum and
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Changing Teachers’ Roles]. Beijing, Beijing Normal University Press. ZHONG QIQUAN. 2001. Jichu jiaoyu kecheng gaige zhidao gangyao (shixing) jiedu [Explanation of the Guide to the Curriculum Reform of Basic Education]. Shanghai, Eastern China Normal University Press.
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Issues in science and technology education in South Africa: a nation in transformation Colin Wood-Robinson
Although this chapter takes the form of a case study, much of South African education reflects that existing in many other African countries. There is little doubt that, in many respects, African countries are amongst the worst in terms of many aspects of human deprivation. UNICEF (2001) suggests that almost all of the ‘top’ thirty countries in the world in terms of under-5 mortality are from the African continent. Although South Africa is listed as number 66 out of a world total of 187 in this ranking, a number of African countries are even better placed (Botswana – 69 Morocco – 72, Egypt – 73, Algeria – 87, and Libyan Arab Jamahiriya – 123). If one were to exclude the South African white population, the place of the remainder of South Africa would very likely be even higher on the list. Table 7.1 compares a number of other ‘educational factors’ of South Africa with the whole of sub-Saharan Africa. It can be seen from this table that, judged on measures such as the percentage of primary school entrants reaching Grade 5 and male adult literacy rates, South Africa is near the average for sub-Saharan Africa as a TABLE 7.1 Comparison of some educational statistics of South Africa with the whole of sub-Saharan Africa (from UNICEF, 2001). South Africa
Sub-Saharan Africa
Adult literacy rate – Male/Female
67/66
64/46
Radio/TV sets per 1,000 population
355/134
199/47
Gross primary school enrolment ratio – Male/Female
98/86
80/67
Percentage of primary school entrants reaching Grade 5
65
66
Gross secondary school enrolment ratio –Male/Female
76/91
28/22
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whole. In terms of the education of females, the provision of broadcast receiving equipment and the secondary school enrolment ratio, South Africa is comparatively advantaged compared with other countries. In educational terms, where South Africa differs from most other countries on the continent is that for many years there were in existence a number of separate education systems 1 through which, as Gray (1993, p. 7) has observed, ‘White children enjoyed “first world” education while their black counterparts suffered varying degrees of broken down “third world” education’. It is eight years since the first democratic elections in April 1994, yet South Africa is still struggling with the legacy of apartheid. The era of the Nationalist government and its predecessors provided many excellent schools for white pupils. Some of these enjoyed an international reputation. The situation for black pupils, however, was very different. There were great differences in the per capita expenditure on the different sectors of the community as defined by the Nationalist Government of that time. Figures from the South African Institute of Race Relations (1990) showed that white schools received 3,082 Rands 2 per pupil of which R1,200 was for capital expenditure. The comparable figures for black township schools in designated white areas were R764, of which R108 was for capital expenditure. With a capital expenditure more than 11 times as great, it is not surprising that buildings and equipment in white schools were incomparably better than in black schools. Figures for the coloured and Indian communities were R1,359 (R138 for capital) and R2,227 (R160 for capital), respectively. This discrepancy in expenditure showed itself in a variety of forms, such as the pupil/teacher ratios, which were 38 to 1 in black schools and 14 to 1 in white schools. Comparable figures for coloured and Indian schools were 18 to 1, and 19 to 1, respectively. The qualifications of teachers and the quality of their teaching were also widely different across the South African communities. Hartshorne (1985) showed that only 10 per cent of teachers in black schools had Matriculation exemption, compared with 47 per cent in white schools. Whereas almost all white pupils (96 per cent) achieved the level of a School Leaving Certificate, only 41.8 per cent of black pupils reached this hurdle (du Plessis et al., 1990, quoted in Wood-Robinson 1992, p. 267). Du Plessis et al. also showed that 1.
2.
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The author has no sympathy with an education policy that allocated pupils to different sectors of education according to their racial origin. The terms ‘white’, ‘black’, ‘coloured’ and ‘Indian’ are used only because there is no alternative way to describe the structure of the South African education system at that time. At this time 1 Rand was equivalent to approximately US$3. At the time of writing the exchange rate is approximately R1=US$12.
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more than two in five white pupils (42.4 per cent) achieved Matriculation exemption, where the comparable figure for black school leavers was about 1 in 10 (10.2 per cent). In terms of the proportions of the communities reaching this level, the figures are even starker. Thus, as Mehl (1990) has stated, in 1984 only 16 per cent of black pupils reached the school year in which the Matriculation examination was taken, whereas the comparable percentage for white pupils was 73. In all of these instances the figures for the Indian and coloured communities were intermediate between those for the white and black communities. Detailed study of the examination pass rates for different subjects shows that performance in mathematics and the physical sciences was especially poor. Thus in the Transkei (now part of the Eastern Cape Province), the percentage pass rates at the Higher Grade for these two subjects in 1989 were 17 and 24, respectively. The comparable percentages for other subjects were English – 74, Afrikaans – 45, and Biology – 37 (Republic of Transkei, 1990). Rectifying the situation inherited from the years of apartheid poses a challenge to the current government which is not easily met. As Nixon (1988) pointed out more than a decade ago, it would have taken a sum similar to the entire government expenditure to fund the entire South African education system at the same per capita rate that white education received at that time. Thus South Africa at the beginning of 1994 was, in many respects, two countries. The white community enjoyed a high quality of life and with it a high quality of education. Services such as medicine and dentistry were of a very high standard comparable to countries in North America and Western Europe. The white community was quick to absorb new technologies, including information technology. Alongside this was a black community, which was largely poor and rural, or alternatively lived in large townships adjacent to the major cities where they worked. A further structural problem present in the years of apartheid was the complexity of the administration of education. There was even some dispute as to exactly how many education departments there were in the country. The South African Institute of Race Relations (1990) recognized fifteen different major departments of education and four provincial departments responsible for education in the country. However, Gray (1993, p. 7) states that in all there were eighteen departments. White, Indian and coloured education each came under separate elected bodies, which, in the case of white education controlled the four separate provincial departments of the Cape, Natal, Orange Free State and the Transvaal. There was, of course, no elected body for the majority black population. Each black ‘homeland’, whether deemed ‘independent’ or not, had its own education department.
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All of the factors mentioned above contributed to low teacher morale among those working in the most disadvantaged communities. As Hartshorne (1985, quoted in Wood-Robinson 1992, p. 269) observed, Morale is still low: teachers cannot commit themselves fully to their work in a system to which the majority do not subscribe. Add to this that many are inexperienced, under-qualified and dealing with over-large classes, then it is not surprising their classroom style is one of survival, characterized by dependence on the textbook, disinclination to allow pupils to question and discuss, and discipline which is rigid and authoritarian.
The transition to a single National Department of Education overseeing the work of nine Provincial Departments has not been easy. The Northern Province, for example, contains areas previously under the control of six separate departments of education. Each had its own separate structure and personnel. The new Province had to absorb all the staff from the six preexisting departments and this had led to much over-manning on the administrative side. An unusual and interesting factor in South African education prior to 1994 was the crucial role played by a large number of non-governmental organizations (NGOs). As Gray (1993, p. 7) has remarked, It is widely recognized among educationalists in South Africa that most of the creative and innovative educational development work carried out in schools over the past two-and-a-half decades has been through the involvement of these NGOs.
Most NGOs targeted the disadvantaged black schools and drew much of their funds from South African businesses, such as mining companies. A number of foreign governments, not prepared to work with the apartheid government, also provided funds for these NGOs. Most NGOs were involved in what were described as ‘projects’. So many such projects existed that Levy (1994) documented ninety-one involved in science, mathematics, technology and environmental education alone. Some of these were relatively small scale and had an impact on only a small number of schools. Others were large and complex organizations covering large areas of the country. The Science Education Project, for example (curiously not included by Levy), at its peak around the time of the 1994 elections, employed nearly 100 full-time staff and operated in most of the ‘homelands’ as well as in black education in the four white dominated provinces. The Science Education Project must have been one of the most evaluated educational activities on the African continent. Macdonald (1993) lists over 300 evaluation
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references on the project, between its inception in 1976 and 1988. She also considers in some detail the origins, development, policy and role of the project during these years. The role of NGOs in the current educational provision in South Africa is considered below. A few further points about the recent and current position in South Africa need to be made in order to relate the country to others in the continent and in the world as a whole. The latest available figures (1995) suggest that in 1993 the per capita income for South Africa was R8,704, the literacy rate for the country was 82.2 per cent, and the Human Development Index was 0.470. But within the country there were wide differences between the provinces. Thus the per capita income figure for the Northern Province was only R2,569, the literacy rate 73.6 per cent and the level of unemployment was 47 per cent. SALDRU (1993) suggests that, in this province, 62 per cent of households had direct experience of poverty, 60 per cent used wood for cooking, 40 per cent used candles for lighting and only 17 per cent had access to tap water in the home. It is important for the reader to have some understanding of the situation around the time of the 1994 elections. It is essential to consider science and technology education in the wider context of the education system as a whole and in the educational provision in which they are placed. Current issues, which are specific for science and technology education in the country, will therefore be considered after first looking at these wider matters.
Continuing disparity in provision Although the level of educational provision is no longer determined along racial lines, there are still wide disparities. The contrast between schools in rural communities that still cater exclusively for black pupils, and those in some middle class suburban areas, remains stark. Many professional black parents now send their children to schools that were formerly all-white schools. Such parents are articulate and quickly respond negatively to suggestions that there should be some downgrading of provision in these schools in order to provide more for schools catering for disadvantaged children. All parents are expected to make some financial contribution to their children’s schools. Such funds are intended to be used to improve the school in a variety of ways, provide sports, etc. In poor rural areas, the parental contribution may be as low as R25 per year. Many parents are unable to find even this small sum, and some schools allow such parents to contribute to the school in other ways, such as by providing labour to erect fences, clean the school, etc. In more prosperous schools, the parental contribution may be as much
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as R1,500. Such differences in parental contribution further exacerbate the disparate levels of provision in the country. The result is that some schools have sophisticated equipment such as computer laboratories, which provide access to the Internet, computer-assisted learning across the curriculum, and well-equipped science and technology laboratories that compare favourably with schools in North America or Western Europe. But the majority of schools are still desperately disadvantaged and often lack sufficient classrooms, textbooks, and science and technology equipment. They may also be without electricity and running water, and may even have no proper toilets for the pupils and staff. The qualifications of teachers and the quality of their teaching are other factors which exacerbate the disparity of provision. While most teaching staff in the former white schools are graduates and are able to use the school’s equipment to good effect, most of those in disadvantaged schools are nongraduates and have never been trained in the use of equipment to which they have no access. Such disparities in provision are likely to continue for many years. As has been mentioned, a levelling downwards in provision for the best schools would be unpopular with articulate, professional parents. It would also provide very little extra for the thousands of disadvantaged schools, as the number of schools that are well-supported financially is small. The international community and South African business have been active in targeting schools in the most disadvantaged communities. Even so, the scale of the problem remains great.
Language Rollnick (2000, p. 93) has pointed out that ‘It would not be too far-fetched to say that the 1976 riots in Soweto, sparked off by a dispute about medium of instruction, proved to be the turning point in the battle against apartheid in South Africa’. Language is therefore a key and an emotive issue in South African education, where there are eleven official languages. Rollnick has documented a range of current issues related to learning science in a language that is not the mother tongue of the learner. As a direct result of the political events of the late 1970s, the mother tongue is used in South Africa as the medium of instruction for the first four years of schooling, during which English is taught as a subject. Thereafter there is a switch to English as the medium of instruction, although it is common for teachers to ‘switch codes’ in the classroom and to resort to the mother tongue with some frequency. Heugh (1999) has suggested that by the end of four years of learning English as a subject, pupils will have acquired a vocabulary of some 800 English
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words. This is far short of what might be needed to cope with English as the medium of instruction across all subjects. Heugh has also found that the pass rate of school leavers has dropped since 1976, when – largely as a result of the Soweto uprising and other political pressures – the change in language policy was introduced,. Before that time, all primary instruction in South Africa was in the mother tongue, with a switch to 50 per cent English and 50 per cent Afrikaans at secondary level. Heugh implies that this change in policy has been detrimental to learners. Heugh’s views on the benefits of mother tongue teaching are supported by Bunyi (1999), Cummins (1999) and others. The scope of this chapter precludes further exploration of this vital issue, and the reader is referred to Rollnick’s excellent review of the literature on second language learning of science (Rollnick, 2000).
The new curriculum and its implementation The curriculum prior to the first democratic elections was dominated by what had been provided in white schools. Such schools placed a heavy emphasis on academic rigour and quality, and on detailed content knowledge across all subjects. Other communities were reluctant to accept a curriculum which was seen as second best, and this led to very similar curricula right across the education system. It also led to many totally inappropriate sections of syllabuses being provided for pupils in disadvantaged schools. Thus, for example, the detailed structures of a chloroplast and mitochondrion, as viewed with an electron microscope, were included in the science syllabus for junior high school pupils. Yet such pupils had no access even to a hand lens, let alone a light microscope, and had therefore no opportunity to see a plant or an animal cell for themselves. Along with many other countries, South Africa has now begun the process of introducing a new curriculum. One of the first actions of the first National Minister of Education following the 1994 elections was to initiate a new curriculum, which was to be fully operational by the year 2005. This curriculum, known as Curriculum 2005, is a highly imaginative and farsighted curriculum greatly influenced by the outcomes-based education movement in other countries with more developed education systems than that existing in South Africa. In spite of some attempts at re-training, the ability of many South African teachers to implement this new curriculum in the way that was intended has been called into question. Following the 1999 elections, the new Minister of Education set up a committee to review Curriculum 2005. The report of this committee (South African National Department of Education, 2000, pp. vi–vii) found that
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while there is overwhelming support for the principles of outcomes-based education and Curriculum 2005, which has generated a new focus on teaching and learning, implementation has been confounded by a skewed curriculum structure and design; lack of alignment between curriculum and assessment policy; inadequate orientation, training and development of teachers; learning support materials that are variable in quality, often unavailable and not sufficiently used in classrooms; policy overload and limited transfer of learning into classrooms; shortages of personnel and resources to implement and support Curriculum 2005; and inadequate recognition of curriculum as the core business of education departments.
The committee went on to propose the introduction of a revised curriculum structure supported by changes in teacher orientation and training, learning support materials and the organisation, resourcing and staffing of curriculum structures and functions in national and provincial education departments.
The report of the committee has led to a process of re-drafting that is still continuing at the time of writing, although draft documents have been published (South African National Department of Education, 2001). It is interesting to reflect on Knamiller’s views on appropriate science and technology curricula for developing countries, expressed nearly two decades ago (see Knamiller, 1984). He draws attention to the dilemma facing developing countries: on one hand a ‘relevant’ curriculum might address issues such as the lack of nutritious food, of fuel, of water and sanitation, of health care, of adequate housing, of employment opportunities, and the problems of overpopulation; on the other hand, ‘the school with its academic, abstract and urban mystique, that represents the world outside the community – the world that parents long for their children to escape to’. He suggests (ibid. p. 61) that for the ‘outside observer’, agriculture and homecraft, traditional building trades and craft industries, simple accounting and financial management, together with learning to plant trees and improve the efficiency of local stove cookers, to boil drinking water and use safe latrines, to keep immunizations up to date, and to apply oral-hydration therapy to infants suffering diarrhoea, and other self-reliance topics, should form the major part of the school curriculum.
But to the ‘insider consumer’, the children, parents and teachers who inhabit the local community school, educational relevance is viewed as an indirect path to improving life. Success in the traditional academic curriculum leads to a modern sector wage-paying job with money flowing back to enable the family to improve its lot.
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How does the new South African curriculum address this dilemma? The inevitable answer is: by compromise. The four major strands of the Natural Sciences National Curriculum Draft Statement (South African National Department of Education, 2001) are Life and Living, The Earth and Beyond, Matter and Materials, and Energy and Change. In each of these, there is a genuine attempt made to bring science that is appropriate to the rural learner together with science that might be described as more traditionally academic. Thus, for example, in the Life and Living strand, environmental matters and health issues, including responsible sexual behaviour, are prominent, as well as the laying of ‘a solid foundation of science sub-fields such as . . . Botany, Zoology . . . that are offered at Further Education and Training’ (ibid., p. 55).
The changing role of non-governmental organizations The reason for the proliferation of NGOs during the apartheid era was the need to attempt to go some way to rectifying the disparity of educational provision enshrined in the policies of the government of the time. ‘If the Government does not provide adequately for those that are educationally disadvantaged then we must do something to help’ was the type of rationale often articulated by NGOs. But, since 1994, the government has been a legitimately elected body that is constitutionally required to provide an adequate education for all its citizens, whatever their racial origin. There is thus now a widespread view on the part of businesses that their financial contribution to the work of NGOs is no longer required. As a result, many NGOs documented by Levy (1994) have ceased to exist and many others have scaled down their staff to varying extents. The Science Education Project already referred to, which at its peak employed close to 100 full-time staff, now employs only 1, although it does draw on consultancy expertise to support some of its work. But NGOs are still playing a role as ‘service providers’ to provincial departments of education. The advent of the new curriculum, together with the growing awareness of the need for improved school management, has put training demands on provincial departments of education which they are unable to meet. They themselves do not have adequately trained staff to provide in-service training for teachers in key subjects such as mathematics, science and technology, nor do they have the great expertise in the field of outcomes-based education needed to demonstrate the application of such an approach to teachers. Provincial departments also frequently do not have staff with appropriate management skills, who can address the new era in which parents and School
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Governing Bodies have an increasing role to play in the running of their schools. As has been mentioned, the education system at the time of the 1994 elections was in disarray. As Gray (1993, p. 7) has said, ‘black education developed into a fiercely contested political terrain with the general rejection of “illegitimate” authorities’. It therefore became part of an understandable and legitimate culture for education officials, school principals and staff to ensure that the system did not function efficiently. Such a culture, built up over many years, is difficult to dispel. But if quality education is to be provided for all South African citizens, the management of the system at all levels must be improved. Because of the lack of suitable personnel, much in-service work both for teachers and for principals is contracted out to NGOs. But this has serious disadvantages. Fullan (1991, p. 316) has identified reasons why most attempts to develop professional competence in teachers and administrators have failed. A number of these are relevant in the current South African context. •
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One-shot workshops are widespread but are ineffective. This is precisely what is provided by most NGOs working as service providers for provincial departments of education. Topics are frequently selected by people other than those for whom the in-service is intended. In the South African context, negotiations normally take place between senior departmental officials and the service providers, with no reference to the teachers themselves. In many instances the service providers are located at a considerable distance from where the in-service is to be provided. This makes close contact with the teachers difficult prior to their training. Follow-up support for ideas and practices introduced in in-service programmes occurs in only a small minority of cases, and follow-up evaluations occur infrequently. Such follow-up support and evaluations are very rare in the South African context and are again made difficult by the geographical separation of the provider and the teachers. In-service programmes rarely address individual needs and concerns, and the majority of programmes involve teachers from many different schools and/or school districts, but there is no recognition of the differential impact of positive and negative factors within the systems to which they must return. This again is the norm in the South African context where all the schools in a particular district are required to send one (or more) teacher(s) to an in-service workshop.
Almost all of these reasons for the failure of in-service provision can be overcome if effective in-school support visits are provided by those responsible for the teacher training. Such visits enable the provider to discuss appropriate
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topics and individual needs with the teacher, provide support for the teacher who may be experiencing problems of implementation, enable evaluation to be carried out, and identify positive and negative factors in the school to which the teacher has returned. But such follow-up is costly in terms of both staff time and transportation. It is the experience of the author, from working in the Northern Province of South Africa, that at least two staff per subject are required to provide both the in-service training itself and minimal support for all the schools in a district, and there are over thirty districts in the province. There are two possible sources of staff for this work. Each District has a team of Curriculum Advisers whose role should be to provide in-service with its accompanying in-school support. In reality, many of these Advisers are ill-equipped to do this, and in practice spend much of their time running administrative errands. Adequate training is needed to give them the skills required, and a change in administrative responsibilities is also needed to free them to perform their real function. The second possible source of staff is the many Colleges of Education, which have ceased their initial teachertraining function, either because they have been rationalized or because their students have been transferred to local universities. A number of provinces are re-orientating their former colleges to become centres for the continuing professional development of teachers. Once these changes have been implemented, such centres may be able to provide effective in-service with the required level of in-school support.
AIDS The report of the Medical Research Council of South Africa (2001) suggests that 40 per cent of all deaths in the age group 15–49 in the year 2000 were due to HIV/AIDS and that 20 per cent of all adult deaths in the same year were due to AIDS. The first of these figures compares with the report’s estimate that only five years previously, in 1995, AIDS caused just 9 per cent of deaths in the age range 15–49. The report goes on to state that ‘When this is combined with excess deaths in childhood, it is estimated that AIDS accounted for 25 per cent of all deaths in the year 2000 and has become the biggest cause of death’. The AIDS epidemic has a number of severe implications for education. First, deaths of teachers due to AIDS are becoming increasingly common. The age group most vulnerable to AIDS, for women, is that of 25 to 29 years. The proportion of deaths due to AIDS has more than trebled for this group in the past fifteen years. The most vulnerable male age group is that of 30 to 34. The proportion of AIDS-related deaths for this group has
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more than doubled in the same period. These age groups provide a significant proportion of the teaching force across all subjects, and the number of teachers dying from AIDS-related causes is increasing rapidly. There is no reason to suggest that this will not have its impact on teachers of science and technology. Second, AIDS has severe implications for young pupils. Increasingly, children are being made orphans as a result of the AIDS-related death of their parents. Crucial questions must be asked about measures that will be put in place to care for such pupils. The extended African family is often said to look after its youngest members in situations such as this. But when deaths are so widespread, and when the absence of adult family members (who are earning their living in centres of employment outside the rural areas where their children live) is common, the young become very vulnerable. It is the author’s experience that a significant number of children of primary-school age are left to fend for themselves while at school. Third, deaths due to AIDS-related causes are increasing among pupils themselves. This has severe effects on their classmates and teachers, and causes many emotional upheavals in schools. Lastly, there is the issue of AIDS education. It is encouraging to note that AIDS education features high on the agenda of both the National Department of Education and the departments at the provincial level. Most provincial departments now have staff specifically dedicated to AIDS education, and teaching and learning materials have been produced, both to make children more aware of AIDS and to help them to receive guidance as to how to prevent its spread.
Unqualified and under-qualified teachers The poor qualifications of the majority of South African teachers is a major factor impeding the implementation of the new curriculum. This is especially true in the fields of science, technology and mathematics. A recent audit of the qualifications of teachers in the Northern Province (Northern Province Department of Education, 2001), for example, revealed that only 8.9 per cent of science teachers had followed any course whatsoever in their subject at university level. The comparable percentage for mathematics is 10.2, while in the new subject of technology there were no teachers who had followed any course in technology at university level. Ironically, the proliferation of colleges of education under the Nationalist government led to a considerable surplus of teachers as a whole. Many qualified teachers are currently unemployed. However, their qualifications are not
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in the fields of science, mathematics and technology where the shortages are most acute. Provincial departments of education have conducted audits of teachers on a school-by-school basis, with a view to redeploying those who are superfluous in a particular school. Teachers’ unions have negotiated that those who are on permanent contract have priority over others when it comes to appointments being made. Teachers on short-term contracts have not had their contracts renewed. Thus a school that has to lose staff to bring the overall number of teachers down to the level required is unable to appoint a teacher who is qualified in mathematics or science, because this would take the school above the required staffing level. By the end of the year 2000, over sixty teachers of science, mathematics and technology successfully completed their initial teacher training course at the Mathematics, Science and Technology Education College (MASTEC) in the Northern Province. Yet these well-qualified teachers were unable to gain teaching posts in the province. Some have moved to other provinces while others have sought employment outside teaching. Even those schools with a teaching establishment less than that required must give priority to existing applicants who are on permanent contracts, even if their qualifications do not meet the school’s needs in terms of mathematics and science provision. The overall result of these policies of redeployment has been that some well-qualified teachers of science, mathematics and technology are unemployed as teachers, while classes of pupils are being taught by teachers who are either unqualified or underqualified in these subjects. A variety of attempts has been and is being made to improve the qualifications of teachers of science, technology and mathematics. The University of South Africa (UNISA) has a long history of providing courses for teachers at graduate level. Most of these courses are in the distance education mode. But traditionally such courses were not available in the sciences and mathematics. Indeed, it was the policy of the former government to prevent black students from taking such subjects. Hence teachers whose classroom subjects were science and mathematics took courses in Biblical Studies, or in their own language, in order to become university graduates and be paid as such. Other initiatives of the National Department of Education, and some international and national donors, have attempted to improve teachers’ qualifications in mathematics and science. One such initiative in the Northern Province, funded from outside sources (see United Kingdom Department for International Development, 1997), placed an initial teacher training college and a centre for the continuing professional development of teachers together on the same campus. The intention was that student teachers on teaching practice would be placed in schools where the existing teachers were undergoing a programme
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of professional development. The environment in which the students attempted new approaches to teaching would thus be a supportive one. However, the decision by the National Department of Education to incorporate all teacher training into universities led to the break up of this innovative model. There is evidence (Wood-Robinson, 2001a) that incorporation into the university sector has also led to a marked fall off in the recruitment of student teachers in mathematics, science and technology. As noted above, most of the graduating teachers were unable to gain employment in the province.
Science education There has been considerable debate in recent years about the nature of the science experienced by pupils and the role of practical science within it. The growth in pupils’ experience of practical science in the United States and the United Kingdom can be traced back to the major curriculum development projects of the early 1960s. But, as Millar (1991, p. 43) questions, what is this practical work for, and what learning does it promote? Its very takenfor-grantedness means that this question is often not asked; we find it hard to imagine school science without a strong practical emphasis. We reply simply that ‘science is a practical subject’ and leave it at that.
The maxim ‘I hear and I forget, I see and I remember, I do and I understand’ has all too often been assumed to be the case. Some emphasis on ‘the scientific method’ or ‘the processes of science’ has been included in many curriculum projects and national curricula across the world. However, as Millar (1991, p. 46) has noted, ‘all that can sensibly be said about scientific method is that there is no consensus among historians, philosophers and sociologists’. He goes on to suggest that scientific inquiry is really more of a ‘craft’ than it is a set of rules and procedures that scientists agree on and follow. Woolnough and Allsop (1985) identified three distinct forms of practical work, each with its own rationale. Firstly, experiences give pupils a ‘feel’ for phenomena. Secondly, exercises are designed to develop practical skills and techniques. Lastly, investigations are intended to give pupils the opportunity to complete a more open-ended task and behave ‘like a problemsolving scientist’. They imply that curriculum developers and teachers should plan and organize practical activities for pupils with a rationale for each activity clearly in mind. Gott and Murphy proposed two distinct elements of understanding of science – conceptual understanding and procedural understanding. This second element became enshrined in the United Kingdom National
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Curriculum for Science by establishing the exploration of science as a separate element within the curriculum (see Department of Education, 1991). Much has also been written about the role and value of discovery learning in the teaching of science. The stage-managed guided discovery approach of many of the curriculum projects of the 1960s has become less fashionable. In some quarters, it has been replaced by the observation of scientific phenomena as the focus for eliciting pupils’ explanations, regarded as central to a constructivist approach to teaching and learning. Novak (1977) has drawn an interesting distinction between two dimensions of teaching/learning. Along one axis he places a spectrum of learning, from rote learning at one end to meaningful learning at the other. Along a second axis he places reception learning at one end, and autonomous discovery learning at the other. He points out that the first axis ‘represents the form in which information is acquired in cognitive structure’, whereas the second ‘represents the instructional approach employed’. He claims (p. 100) that the failure to recognize the distinction between these two axes ‘has resulted in much confusion in education’. Novak also emphasizes that there is no guarantee that discovery learning is meaningful. Indeed, rote discovery learning may be involved in the trial and error solving of a puzzle, in which the ‘discovery’ is not linked with any existing knowledge in the learner’s cognitive structure. Many authors have drawn attention to the pointless nature of much school practical work. As White (1991, p. 78) has observed, ‘practical work may be no more than the mindless following of directions’. In the context of developing countries, Kahn (1990, p. 134) reports that, from his experience in Botswana, teachers ‘appeared to have no lack of confidence in the value of practical work’. These same teachers suggested that the most important reasons for assigning practical work were: improving understanding of the subject, increasing motivation, and creating a spirit of inquiry. Yet there is little research evidence from developing countries to suggest that the first of these, in any case, is likely to be true. A small study in Zambia carried out by Mulopo and Fowler (1987) suggested that, for teaching facts and principles, a didactic approach to chemistry teaching was more efficient than a discovery approach. But the discovery approach promoted a better understanding of the methods of science and scientists, as well as being more successful in developing scientific attitudes. There is an inbuilt assumption in many countries (both developed and developing) that a large proportion of school science time should be spent on practical work. But this assumption is open to doubt, and is certainly unproven in a developing-country context. Even more open to doubt is the view that a discovery approach is the best way to develop scientific knowledge in pupils.
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As Kahn (1990, p. 134) points out, ‘Unfortunately an informed critique required for decision making has yet to emerge’. He suggests that ‘we really do not know what is being achieved in the current situation, and further research is needed to provide the answers’. He goes on to cite a number of countries (he gives South Korea and Hong Kong as examples) that have a very theoretical approach to science education, yet have highly advanced economies and technologies. Allsop (1991, p. 33) draws attention to the fact that, in many low-income countries, practical science has been encouraged by the supply of kits of equipment, and linked practical workbooks, to schools. (For examples of ‘package deal programmes’, as they have been described by Rogan, 1976, see below.) Yet in thousands of rural primary schools, practical science simply does not happen, and Allsop goes on to suggest three major reasons why this is so. These are: the organizational challenge of practical work with very large classes in cramped conditions; the limited personal backgrounds of teachers in practical science; and the competitive examinations for entry to secondary schooling, which never test practical skills in science. Though the processes of science are enshrined in the new curriculum there has been little discussion in South Africa as to the role of practical activities in the science classroom. Millar’s assumption referred to above is again pertinent here. Whatever the merits or otherwise of practical science, a ‘hands on’ science education of the kind experienced by many North American or Western European children poses great problems in the South African context. Few schools for disadvantaged learners, even at secondary level, have science laboratories. Science equipment is expensive for provincial departments of education where salary costs absorb 90 per cent or more of their education budgets. The teachers themselves have usually experienced science in a totally theoretical way, and are unfamiliar with how to handle the simplest of science equipment. This was at the heart of Rogan’s reasons for setting up the Science Education Project (see Rogan, 1976, also quoted in Macdonald, 1993). Like similar developments in Zimbabwe and Botswana, the Science Education Project in South Africa led to the development of what Rogan (1976, quoted in Macdonald, 1993, p.20) described as ‘package deal programmes’. He went on to state that the package would consist of a certain textbook, apparatus designed to correlate with that text, a teacher’s guide in which the use of the apparatus, the organising of practical work and so on is described, and supplementary materials, such as pupil kits and work cards. These pupil kits will be designed in such a way that pupils will be able to perform practical work at their desks. The kits must be multi-purpose, self-contained and inexpensive. An attempt will also be made to try and determine what back-up facilities and ongoing
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professional encouragement through school visits is necessary for the programmes to be effectively used.
Such ‘package deal programmes’ are still very much in evidence in South Africa a quarter of a century later, where a variety of kits are available, enabling science and technology to be taught at all levels from primary science to matriculation level using equipment and accompanying teacher’s guides. In spite of the difficulties, both in terms of rationale and economic feasibility, of including practical science in the curriculum for all pupils, the South African National Department of Education has placed considerable emphasis on the processes of science. The most recent revised draft of the National Curriculum Statement for the Natural Sciences (South African National Department of Education, 2001) includes (p. 20) the following, as the first Learning Outcome: ‘Learners will gradually develop the process skills needed for scientific enquiry’, and, In teaching and learning, the teacher needs to actively encourage and promote the processes of observing and comparing, measuring and estimating, recording information, sorting and classifying, interpreting information, predicting what will happen if something changes, hypothesising, using models and theories, raising questions about a situation, planning investigations, doing the investigations, communicating scientific information and designing, making or improving a new device. Learners need to be given opportunities to apply the scientific principles, laws and concepts, together with the process skills learned in the solution of meaningful problems appropriate to their grade level.
Another aspect of science education that has recently received considerable attention, in South Africa and elsewhere, is the discussion of social issues in the science classroom. The South African National Department of Education places considerable emphasis on this in the science classroom. Thus the Natural Sciences section of the most recent Draft Revised National Curriculum Statement for Grades R-9 (South African National Department of Education, 2001) includes (p. 21), as Learning Outcome 3: ‘The learner is able to gain an appreciation of the relationship and responsibilities between science and society’. The draft goes on to point out (pp. 21–2) that in recent times there have been growing concerns about the possible negative impact of science and the technologies arising from it. There are serious debates around issues such as: the violation of human rights during clinical trials; infringement of the code of ethics when working with animals; the social and moral issues of cloning and genetic engineering; the use of life support systems and euthanasia; organ transplants;
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environmental degradation; weapons of mass destruction. Increasing calls have been made for scientific innovation to address the problems of poverty, disease and shortage of water, food supplies, energy and shelter. There have also been challenges to the view that science and the knowledge-making process is dominated by Western cultures and males. Learning Outcome 3 will address some of these important issues. You should introduce them when they are relevant and at appropriate levels in the progression through schooling.
Technology education Like many other countries, South Africa has been keen to introduce technology into the curriculum at all ages. In the first four years of schooling, technology is seen to be mainly incorporated in the learning area called the Life Skills Learning Programme, although it is anticipated that many technological skills will also be developed in the other two learning areas of Literacy and Numeracy. At the next stage of schooling, lasting three years, the current draft National Curriculum Statement (South African National Department of Education, 2001, p. 40) advises that due to lack of capacity, it may be necessary to integrate technology and natural sciences into one Learning Programme. Thereafter technology is seen to stand on its own and to be delivered through a separate Learning Programme.
Two issues arise from the understandable desire to give technology a major place in the school curriculum. Firstly, the nature of the technology to be included and, secondly, the capacity of the teaching force to deliver this technology in the classroom. The draft National Curriculum Statement referred to above lists three learning outcomes from the technology component of the curriculum. First (p. 32), learners should be ‘able to demonstrate an understanding of the relationships between technology, society and the environment’. Second (p. 32), the learner should be ‘able to apply technological processes and skills ethically and responsibly, using relevant knowledge concepts’. Third (p. 36), the learner should be ‘able to access, process and use information in a variety of contexts’. The details of the curriculum have justifiably included considerable emphasis on the environment and on areas such as first aid. But the draft is phrased in a very abstract way which most teachers will find difficult to follow. There is also very little explicit emphasis on local appropriate technologies, which could have proved a rich source of material for the curriculum. The existing teaching force is ill-prepared to deliver the kind of technology education envisaged. There are very few teachers with any background or
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training in the field. In the Northern Province, for example, with over 4,000 schools at primary and secondary level, only 142 teachers are currently listed as teaching technology, and all of these have a Secondary Teaching Diploma qualification, in many cases not in technology. There are no technology graduate teachers working in schools in the Province (see Northern Province Department of Education, 2001). Unlike some other countries, South Africa has no former teachers of crafts (such as woodwork and metalwork) on which to draw for the teaching of technology, as these subjects did not feature in the curriculum prior to the 1994 elections. Some attempts have been made to enlist the help of NGOs to retrain teachers to enable them to teach technology, but these have to a large extent been ineffective.
Information technology and computing The South African National Department of Education’s Draft Curriculum Statement (2001, p. 79) makes reference to a third learning outcome concerned with access to, and the processing of, information from a variety of sources. Although not explicitly mentioned, there are implications in phrases such as ‘operates appropriate technologies to access data or information’, ‘uses appropriate technologies to compare, sort, verify and evaluate findings’, and ‘uses appropriate technologies to store data or information in a way that he/she and others can easily access it’, that suggest the use of computer technologies. It has already been pointed out that many schools favoured by professional parents have installed computer laboratories and introduced computer-assisted learning across the curriculum, as well as allowing their pupils access to the Internet. But the vast majority of South African schools lack such facilities. One project, the MASTEC Schools Project, funded by the Department for International Development (DFID), has introduced computers for administrative use to most of the sixty-five primary schools in the Northern Province that the project works with. Some 20 per cent of these also have small computer laboratories equipped with software appropriate for young pupils, which enables the facility to be used across the curriculum. (See Wood-Robinson, 2001b.) Other similar projects drawing on donor funds are also providing comparable facilities. The introduction of computers to rural and disadvantaged schools has an impact far wider than the use of these computers. In many cases, parents, school governing bodies and whole communities have been galvanized into new levels of activity and involvement with their school. Marima et al. (2000) and Wood-Robinson et al. (2000) report that communities have paid for and erected security fences, attached burglar bars to windows, decorated
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classrooms and paid for night watchmen all to provide a safe facility for a single computer. Marima et al. also report that, within a year of introducing two or three administrative computers to primary schools, some 35 per cent of the teachers in those schools became computer literate and able to use both word processing and spreadsheet programs. The motivation levels of teachers have also been greatly increased. The introduction of small computer laboratories for pupils referred to above was initiated because teachers were staying in their schools after formal lessons had finished in order to introduce their pupils to computing. Some teachers even came into school at the weekend to run special computer classes on a voluntary basis, using only the two or three computers that the school possessed. The introduction of computers has thus made an important contribution to the transformation of these schools (see also Constable and Rice, 2000). Several issues arise from the introduction of computers to schools. There has been some discussion in the Northern Province as to how appropriate it is to introduce computing in schools which lack sufficient classrooms for their pupils. The motivating impact on their teachers has already been commented on above. But the question also arises as to whether the country should be left behind or even left out of the global information revolution. The issue is not ‘classrooms or computers?’ The country must have both if it is to compete in the international arena. Another issue is the availability of suitable software to which pupils in disadvantaged black communities can relate. Most available software in English (the classroom language of most schools in South Africa) is designed and produced for pupils in North America or the United Kingdom. The lifestyles depicted are far from those of pupils in rural South Africa. There is therefore a pressing need for suitable software for use not only in South Africa but also in many other countries on the African continent.
Conclusion The move from a government policy dominated by apartheid, with all the inequalities that this brought, to a new democracy is not easy. Understandably, the country and its National Department of Education have been keen to take on board a whole range of issues, such as racial and gender equity, language, social issues and their relationship with science, technology and AIDS as well as evolving an education system that is outcomes-based. The documentation and the rationale are generally impressive, but some might argue that an attempt is being made to implement too much too quickly. Far-sighted and imaginative curricula and new approaches to assessment are
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only as good as their delivery in the classroom. Certainly the dominant issue is not the design of a curriculum but its implementation. Whatever the shortcomings of the Nationalist government prior to 1994, it did not have difficulties of implementation. As Motsoaledi (2001) has remarked, One clear thing on which we and the previous government differ is that once they came up with a policy, they made sure they implemented it, no matter what it took. Of course, the policies were always bad, but the implementation was always excellent and to the letter. In our case, the constitution is one of the best available, the laws are good, the policies are excellent. But when it comes to implementation, we start fighting. With them, they implemented. With us, we enact and then fight.
South Africa has a modern Constitution which is the equal of any other in the world, in terms of equity and the role of all stakeholders in its education system. It has developed a forward-looking curriculum, which could be the envy of its neighbours on the African continent. If viable answers to the following questions can be found, this curriculum could be implemented and serve to provide a viable future for all its pupils, whether they are from previously disadvantaged communities or not. •
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Can ways be found for ensuring that funds made available by the National Government for building classrooms and providing equipment to Provincial Departments of Education are used for the purpose for which they were intended and are not returned to the National Government unspent at the end of the financial year? Can ways be found to ensure that senior staff at Provincial, Regional and District levels are freed from the continual round of workshops, meetings and conferences relating to the curriculum and a host of other issues, so that they can actually manage and oversee the implementation of the new curriculum and other changes brought about by the National Government? Can the skills of senior staff at all levels be improved so that teaching staff are appropriately managed in ways that develop their professional potential and increase their levels of motivation? Can the roles of Curriculum Advisers at District level be redefined to enable them to perform the roles of running workshops and giving in-school support to teachers, instead of performing menial data-collecting and letter-delivery roles? Can teachers’ unions and other relevant organizations be persuaded that unemployed teachers with good qualifications in science, technology and mathematics should be in the classroom performing the vital role for which they were trained?
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•
Can the purchase of equipment and books be better co-ordinated and linked with the appropriate training of teachers, so that the equipment and books are fully and appropriately utilized? Can the considerable funds provided by donors, both international and national, be better co-ordinated and integrated, so that all donor-funded ‘projects’ move in the same direction?
Bibliography ALLSOP, T. 1991. Practical Science in Low-Income Countries. In: B.Woolnough (ed.), Practical Science, pp. 31–40. Buckingham, Open University Press, 1991. BUNYI, G. 1999. Rethinking the Place of African Indigenous Languages in African Education, International Journal of Educational Development, No. 19, pp. 337–50. CONSTABLE, P.; RICE, M. 2000. United Kingdom Department for International Development – Review of the MASTEC Project. Pietersburg, MASTEC Project. CUMMINS, J. 1999. Alternative Paradigms in Bilingual Education Research: Does Theory Have a Place? Educational Researcher, Vol. 28, No. 7, pp. 26–32. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. 1991. Science in the National Curriculum. London, Department of Education and the Welsh Office. DU PISANI, T.; PLEKKER, S.J.; DENNIS, C.R.; STRAUSS, J.P. 1990. Education and Manpower Development, No. 11, Research Institute for Educational Planning, University of the Orange Free State. FULLAN, M. G. 1991. The New Meaning of Educational Change. London, Cassell Educational and Continuum. GRAY, B. 1993. Foreword to M. A. Macdonald, Commitments and Constraints – Evaluating the Science Education Project in South Africa. pp. 7–10. Cape Town, Oxford University Press. HARTSHORNE, K. B. 1985. The State of Education in South Africa. South African Journal of Science, No. 81, pp. 148–51. HEUGH, K. 1999. Languages, Development and Reconstructing Education in South Africa. International Journal of Educational Development, No. 19, pp. 301–13. KAHN, M. 1990 Paradigm Lost: The Importance of Practical Work in School Science from a Developing Country Perspective. Studies in Science Education, No.18, pp. 127–36. KNAMILLER, G. W. 1984. The Struggle for Relevance in Science Education in Developing Countries. Studies in Science Education, No.11, pp. 60–78.
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Issues in science and technology education in South Africa: a nation in transformation
LEVY, S. 1994. Projects Speak for Themselves – Science and Mathematics Education in the Transition. Houghton, Sharon Levy. MACDONALD, M. A. 1993. Commitments and Constraints – Evaluating the Science Education Project in South Africa. Cape Town, Oxford University Press. MARIMA, L.; KHOZA, L; MOAKAMEDI, S. 2000. The Impact of the MASTEC Project CPD Programme on the Schools – Part 2: The Impact of Computers. Pietersburg, MASTEC Project. MEDICAL RESEARCH COUNCIL OF SOUTH AFRICA. 2001. The Impact of HIV/AIDS on Adult Mortality in South Africa. Johannesburg, Medical Research Council of South Africa. MEHL, M. C. 1990. Keynote Address to the Annual Teachers Conference of the Science Education Project held at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. MILLAR R. 1991. A Means to an End: The Role of Processes in Science Education. In: B. Woolnough (ed.), Practical Science, pp. 43–52. Buckingham, Open University Press. MOTSOALEDI, A. 2001. Keynote Address at Graduation Ceremony at the University of the North, 11 October 2001. MULOPO, M. M.; FOWLER, H. S. 1987. Effects of Traditional and Discovery Instructional Approaches on Learning Outcomes for Learners of Different Intellectual Development. Journal of Research in Science Teaching, Vol. 24, No. 3, pp. 217–27. NIXON, P. 1988. Seminar at the Centre for Studies in Science and Mathematics Education, University of Leeds, United Kingdom (unpublished). NORTHERN PROVINCE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. 2001. Audit of Maths, Physical Science, Biology, Accounting, Economics, Business Economics and Technology. NOVAK, J. D. 1977. A Theory of Education. Ithaca and London, Cornell University Press. REPUBLIC OF TRANSKEI. 1990. In-service Education Second Five Year Plan. Umtata, Transkei Department of Education. ROGAN, J. M. 1976. Science Education Project: An Outline. 8 pp. unpublished paper of Science Education Project quoted by Macdonald, M. A. 1993. ROLLNICK, M. 2000. Current Issues and Perspectives on Second Language Learning of Science. Studies in Science Education, No. 35, pp. 93–121. SALDRU. 1993. Living Standards and Development Data base. SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE OF RACE RELATIONS 1990. South African Race Relations Survey 1989/90. Johannesburg, South African Institute of Race Relations.
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SOUTH AFRICAN NATIONAL DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION. 2000. A South African Curriculum for the Twenty First Century – Report of the Review Committee on Curriculum 2005. Pretoria, Department of Education. ––––. 2001. Draft Revised National Curriculum Statement for Grades R–9. Pretoria, Department of Education. UNICEF. 2001. The State of the World’s Children 2001. New York, UNICEF. UNITED KINGDOM DEPARTMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT. 1997. Project Memorandum – Northern Province Maths, Science and Technology Education College (MASTEC). London, DFID. WHITE, R. T. 1991. Episodes and the Purpose and Conduct of Practical Work. In: B. Woolnough (ed.), Practical Science. pp. 43–52. Buckingham, Open University Press. WOOD-ROBINSON, C. 1992. Science Education in South Africa – An Outsider’s View of the Future. Science, Technology and Development, Vol. 10, No. 2, pp. 265–74. ––––. 2001a. Personal communication. ––––. 2001b. Computers in the MASTEC Schools Project, Pietersburg, MASTEC Schools Project. WOOD-ROBINSON, C.; BALOYI, T.; LUKHELE, B.; MAOTO, S. 2000. The Impact of the MASTEC Project CPD Programme on the Schools – Part 1: The Views of the Primary School Principal, Pietersburg, MASTEC Project. WOOLNOUGH, B. E.; ALLSOP, T. 1985. Practical Work in Science. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
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School science and technology for girls in sub-Saharan Africa Joseph P. O’Connor
In this chapter, I comment briefly on the status of the participation and performance of girls in the science, mathematics and technology (SMT) disciplines in primary and secondary schools in sub-Saharan Africa, and on the efforts that have been made by a small initiative, the Female Education in Mathematics and Science in Africa (FEMSA) project, and on the lessons learned from its activities. I also put forward some proposals for mainstreaming action so that Ministries of Education and other action-oriented programmes might push forward the SMT education of girls and women. Over the years, we have highlighted the poor participation and performance of girls in science in Africa, we have documented the problems and the reasons for them, and we have made our recommendations and published various frameworks for action. Yet girls still face serious constraints and difficulties in the scientific, mathematical and technological disciplines at all levels of the education system. In seeking to alleviate this situation, we must bear in mind paragraph 90 of the Framework for Action of the World Conference on Science (UNESCO/Budapest, 1999). This stresses in particular that special efforts should be made ‘to ensure the full participation of women and girls in all aspects of science and technology’ and, to this effect, to ‘promote within the education system the access of girls and women to scientific education at all levels’. We must also note the emphasis on science, technology and mathematics as emerging issues in girls’ education in the thematic study prepared for the World Education Forum (Dakar, 2000). Yet, despite these lofty ideals of where we might wish to be, the actual situation was summed up in the report of the UNESCO World Conference on Science, held in Budapest in 1999, in the following terms. The forums on ‘Women, Science and Technology’ organized by UNESCO in Latin America, Europe, Asia, the Mediterranean countries, Africa, and the Arab countries showed that in all countries, albeit to varying degrees, participation by women in scientific and technological developments was still below that of men, especially in the fields of original research and decision-making related to science and technology policies. On a worldwide scale, science – and, even more, technology – is still a man’s business (Cetto et al., 2000).
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This situation is no longer acceptable. It is economically unacceptable because of the waste of human resources that it entails and it is humanly unacceptable since it prevents half the population from taking part in building the world. It is also intellectually unacceptable since it deprives scientific and technological research of ideas and methods – in a word, of creativity. Furthermore, it mortgages the future since it nullifies any prospect of a general mobilization in support of science in the service of a lasting peace and sustainable development. The importance of SMT education for women was stressed at the UNESCO International Seminar on Forward Looking Approaches and Innovative Strategies to Promote the Development of Africa in the TwentyFirst Century, held in Paris in November 2001.
The importance of SMT for girls and women in Africa The need for the inclusion of girls and women as rightful partners in the use of science and technology for sustainable development was highlighted by the following remarks in the address of United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan to the UNESCO meeting on the Development of Science and Technology in Africa in February 1999. As much as 80 per cent of scientific research is concentrated in a handful of industrialized countries; Africa’s share in the world’s scientific output fell from 0.5 per cent to 0.3 per cent between the mid-1980s and the mid-1990s; Africa as a whole counts only 20,000 scientists, or 0.36 per cent of the world total; and there has been a steady decline in research and development in Africa from an already low level, while the brain drain of Africa’s best and brightest to the industrialized world has increased. And, if Africa is to redress its shortfall in human resources and scientific progress, it must begin by affording the education of girls and women complete and comprehensive equality (Annan, 1999).
The continent of Africa is blessed with vast mineral wealth, great agricultural capacity and a very rich diversity of animals and plants. Yet, as the market value of these commodities declines, the need to add value through scientific and technological refinement will only grow. By helping Africa to develop the necessary knowledge and expertise, we can ensure that Africa itself will reap the benefits of its vast wealth.
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Science for the high-flyers Having more women scientists, and having them in positions of responsibility, is important, and not merely to achieve equity. First and foremost, there needs to be a radical change in attitudes towards women’s roles in science and technology – on the part of men and, equally important, on the part of women themselves. An essential step in this process is the highlighting of the significant role that women do play – and always have played – in advancing scientific knowledge and in technological innovation. The Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) stresses the importance of having more women researchers, on a number of grounds. To ignore them is to leave out a proportion of the more highly qualified personnel and thus decreases efficiency. It also reduces effectiveness since men and women are socialized differently and have different experiences, thus allowing them to bring different skills, ideas and approaches to the work place. This diversity in staffing broadens the perspectives, ideas and experiences that can be brought to bear on solving problems, thereby stimulating innovation and contributing to the creativity that are important criteria for success. We must therefore strengthen the role of women in mainstream science and technology, where their different perspectives and ways of carrying out research could result in a more humane and woman-user-friendly science.
The empowerment of all women through science The role of science in the development of sub-Saharan Africa does not simply require more professional women scientists. In this region, the role of women in agriculture and animal husbandry, as well as in fuel, wood and water collection and the gathering of medicinal and cosmetic plants, make them daily managers of natural resources. Rural women are most severely affected by environmental degradation and they are the most important constituency for research programmes and policies targeted at improving rural livelihoods. This should place them at the centre of efforts to guarantee food security and to conserve or improve the environment. The need to make an effective and appropriate science education available to all women is borne out by the following demographic data. Between 1988 and 2000, the population growth rate of 2 per cent in developing countries has led to an additional billion people in the world – a very large proportion of them in Africa, and the majority of them poor. Between 1970 and 1990,
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the population under the age of 15 fell by 0.6 per cent in the developed countries; it rose by 31 per cent in the developing countries, with sub-Saharan Africa leading with a growth of 89 per cent. Forecasts indicate that the population under the age of 15 in this region will rise by 105 per cent between 1990 and 2025. The consequent burden of providing for food, health and education has led to a disregard for the preservation of natural resources and a tragic ravaging of the land, as in the Sahel. This burden, carried mainly by women, must be relieved by providing the kind of science education for women that will equip them with an appropriate knowledge of science and technology, together with the associated problem-solving skills needed to enable them to be participants and leaders in innovation in agriculture, in providing food security, in caring for family health, in spearheading the fight against HIV/AIDS or in nursing victims, and in caring for the environment.
Agriculture and food security The need for a revolution in agriculture to ensure food security in subSaharan Africa, and in the developing world in general, is elaborated by Professor Gordon Conway in his important book The Doubly Green Revolution. The following is a precise summary of Professor Conway’s case. The original ‘Green Revolution’ was a remarkable achievement. The use by farmers of new, research-based technologies transformed agriculture and created food abundance, thus thwarting the very real threat of famine. Yet, a second and more widespread transformation of agriculture is now required. What is needed is a ‘doubly green’ revolution which stresses conservation as well as productivity. We must ‘design’ better plants and animals, develop (or rediscover) alternatives to inorganic fertilizers and pesticides, improve soil and water management and enhance earning opportunities for the poor, especially women. All this depends crucially on forging genuine partnerships between researchers and farmers on the ground, who can offer invaluable input into the creation and application of new techniques (Conway, 1997).
If we are to forge a ‘genuine partnership between researchers and farmers’, we need to think very seriously about the kind of science education given to girls. In sub-Saharan Africa, the major input to agriculture is provided by women. In the light of the case made by Professor Conway for a ‘doubly green revolution’ the science education provided for girls must produce the kind of women who will play their full part in bringing about this new revolution. In deciding what should be an important element in this science education for girls, we must be prepared to rediscover alternatives to inorganic fertilizers and pesticides by studying carefully the following examples presented in the UNIFEM publication, Women Making a Difference in Science and
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Technology: Case Studies, launched at the World Conference on Science, in Budapest in 1999 (UNIFEM, 1999). • •
•
• • • • • •
Observations from a Ugandan Agriculturist (innovative and important crop research) Indigenous Food Plants in Kenya (growing, using, promoting, and conserving indigenous vegetables on a commercial basis in order to preserve food security and health) Women’s Organization of Agricultural Knowledge in Mali (gender as an important determinant of channels of communication and of the way information is communicated) Drought in Kenya (a return to more traditional practices, and the cultivation and management of local wild species) Salt Extraction in Sierra Leone (alternative methods of salt extraction) Soyabean Production in Nigeria (an alternative way of producing daddawa) Agro-forestry in Kenya (women developing alternatives to the existing systems) Bean Breeders in Rwanda (women’s input into a CGIAR research project) Cassava Processing (Ugandan women’s contribution to the utilisation of the full potential of cassava)
These case studies reveal a wealth of information, never seen in normal basic science and technology curricula, about the scientific knowledge used and developed by women in their ordinary lives. The kind of science education that girls in Africa receive must enhance rather than hinder this knowledge, and encourage its application in the promotion of more productive and environmentally friendly agriculture. We are also aware that when new scientific advances and technological developments hold out the promise for increased wealth and well-being, it is normally the rich rather than the poor who are able to take advantage of them. In addition, within all societies it is men who are able to benefit more than women. The science education received by girls must ensure that this situation no longer prevails.
Health Women have a major role in ensuring the health of the society in areas such as: the provision of clean water and adequate sanitation, and the prevention of water-borne diseases; the provision of food and nutrition expertise, and ensuring a healthy diet for all the family, often in circumstances of extreme poverty; the provision of essential life skills; the fight against disease, especially HIV/AIDS.
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The science education provided to all girls must include skills-based health education programmes that lead to the development of knowledge, attitudes, values and life skills. Girls must learn not just theory but how action can be taken in the school and community, by traditional means if appropriate. We must begin to think about how we can provide school-based health and nutrition services. Schools can deliver health and nutritional services if they are simple, safe and familiar, and if they address problems that are prevalent and recognized as important within the community. Effective partnerships must thus be built between teachers and health workers, and between the education and health sectors. In addition, women must be equipped to participate in effective community partnerships and to become involved in the broader community that embraces the private sector, community organizations and women’s groups.
Technology The pace of technological change is likely to continue to accelerate, with a wider range of basic technologies becoming available to rural women. In terms of the availability of essential information and skills, access to information and communication technologies will become increasingly important, in a situation in which Africa has 12 per cent of the world’s population and only 2 per cent of its telephone lines. Over half of all these lines are in the largest cities. There is only one telephone line for every 235 people in sub-Saharan Africa. The costs of installing and maintaining lines are higher in Africa than in other countries, even when compared to other developing countries, and the reliability of the service is quite poor. Education, especially for girls at primary level, must play a leading role in providing and updating the skills and competence of individual citizens, and in producing a citizenry that is empowered to judge the quality, accuracy and usefulness of information. This will be essential for a flexible workforce that can respond to the rapid changes in technology, and for the self-employed. This will demand increased collaboration within the workplace, and new links will have to be forged between formal schooling and enterprise-based training and learning. We must thus begin to provide a science education for girls that ensures that all women – whether engaged at the highest level of scientific excellence, either in the private or public sectors, or striving to care for their families as peasant farmers, or in the fast-growing urban slums – are empowered to use science in the solution of their problems, whether they are high-flyers or not.
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What kind of science education for girls? What is taught to the upcoming generations, and how women are presented and perceived in terms of their capabilities, will be extremely important in fashioning a science and technology that is gender sensitive and more responsive to basic needs. Most children in Africa, especially girls, see science and technology as imported ideas with little application to the practical problem-solving needs of everyday life. Female participation in learning science is especially inadequate. The kind of science education provided for girls must: emphasize skills and processes rather than content; take due account of the science, mathematics and technology of the community; learn the research lessons from the various programmes outlined in the UNIFEM document, and by organizations such as the International Center for Research in Agroforestry (ICRAF), in relation to the science used by women in their daily lives, and from the research carried out by non-education sector organizations; be seen to be useful and applicable; involve learning that is based on hypothesizing, experimentation, curiosity and the questioning of existing procedures, and is dynamic and leads to an improvement in problem-solving skills; and make use of textbooks that present motivational information about the achievements of women scientists, and inventions pioneered by women, and help to build the belief that women’s different perspectives and ways of looking at the world, and of carrying out research, are benefits, and not hindrances, that could result in a more humane and woman-user-friendly science.
The FEMSA project The main objective of the Female Education in Mathematics and Science in Africa (FEMSA) project has been to improve the participation and performance of girls in SMT subjects at primary and secondary school level. The initial two-year phase involved four countries (Cameroon, Ghana, the United Republic of Tanzania and Uganda) and concentrated on research into, and the documentation of, the constraints and difficulties faced by girls in learning the SMT disciplines, and the reasons for these. Phase II involved national action plans to explore, refine, document and implement possible solutions to the problems surrounding the science education of girls. In this second phase, eight further countries were added: Burkina Faso, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Senegal, Swaziland and Zambia. Phase II led to action at both the local, ‘grassroots’, level, and nationally, where efforts were made to increase awareness of the need for reform in the key areas of curriculum
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development, teacher education, and assessment and examinations, in order to promote greater interest in SMT by girls, and to make their SMT education more relevant to their needs and experiences.
The status of SMT for girls in sub-Saharan Africa Primary education In general, throughout the sub-Saharan region of Africa, all students in primary schools study the same disciplines, so that girls’ participation in science at this level is a function of their enrolment and retention in school. Of late, largely due to the impact of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, we have seen almost all the recent gains made in improving girls’ enrolment and retention lost. In Malawi, the general pattern in the enrolment of girls in the primary education sector has remained more or less the same over the years. For instance, the enrolment of girls has increased only slightly, from 47.0 per TABLE 8.1. Year
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
Drop-out rates in primary schools in Malawi, 1996–2000 Sex
Std 1–2
Std 2–3
Std 3–4
Std 4–5
Std 5–6
Std 6–7
%
%
%
%
%
%
F
7.63
5.41
(6.05)
18.22
8.24
4.67
M
6.73
6.61
(32.18)
19.85
8.77
5.62
F
5.06
4.49
(2.55)
12.42
7.12
4.54
M
6.30
5.23
(0.28)
14.75
7.07
6.48
F
6.02
4.84
(4.89)
19.52
5.41
9.31
M
7.68
5.66
(3.53)
21.05
6.31
9.41
F
4.68
5.63
(7.29)
17.25
4.03
4.73
M
5.02
4.92
(4.49)
19.83
4.77
5.77
F
8.02
4.83
(5.29)
16.43
4.87
7.65
M
5.94
4.29
(2.97)
16.71
5.89
7.67
Note : 1. The figures in Column Std. 3–4 are negative ( ) because of repetition in Std. 4. 2. Similarly, the figures indicate very large drop-out rates in the Column Std 4–5 for the same reason as in (1).
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cent in 1996 to 48.6 per cent in 1999. However, the enrolment of boys and girls declines as they progress from Standard 1 to Standard 8. The decline for girls is greater than that for boys: while the average enrolment of girls in Standard 1 is 50 per cent, that in Standard 8 is 40 per cent. This means that the percentage of boys has increased from 50 per cent in Standard 1, to 60 in Standard 8. Most girls and boys drop out of school in Standard 1. Many of them also drop out in the junior classes of Standards 2 to 4. After Standard 4, relatively more girls than boys drop out. The trend in drop-out rate for girls increases steadily, from 9.8 per cent in Standard 5, to 12.9 per cent in Standard 8. The situation in Malawi between 1996 and 2000 is shown in Table 8.1. In Uganda, girls’ enrolment began to fall in 1996. In 1998, it fell from 47 to 41 per cent in Grade 7 and, in 2000, from 48.5 to 42.7 per cent. However, there is some increase in overall enrolment: from 46 in 1996 to 48.3 per cent in 2000. At primary level there is generally little difference between the performance of girls and boys, although there are fewer girls than boys getting higher (A) grades and more girls than boys getting the lowest (E) grade, as indicated by the data from the United Republic of Tanzania presented in Table 8.2. A similar situation exists as regards mathematics grades. In Kenya, the results of the Kenya Certificate of Primary Education examination, published in November 2001, showed that only 270 girls (33 per cent) were counted in the top 800 students in the country, although they accounted for 48.5 per cent of the candidates in the examination. The situation was the worst in North-Eastern Province, where there were only 12 girls in the top 100 students. However, there was evidence of improvement in girls’ performance in mathematics (a mean score of 48 per cent, compared with 53 for boys) and science (a mean score of 54 per cent, compared with 61 for boys). TABLE 8.2.
General primary-school leaving examinations results, United Republic of Tanzania – 2000
Grades
A
B
C
D
E
Total
Male
551
14 649
39 510
96 626
59 310
190 646
%
76.74
73.02
61.01
47.59
41.44
48.93
Female
167
5 412
25 249
84 371
83 821
199 020
%
23.26
26.98
38.99
52.41
58.56
51.07
Total
718
20 061
64 759
160 997
143 131
389 666
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TABLE 8.3.
General performance in mathematics nationwide The United Republic of Tanzania, 2000 GRADES A
B
C
D
E
Male
1 528
10 626
21 425
33 079
123 965
%
82.11
73.37
64.13
54.91
44.32
Female
333
3 857
11 984
27 168
155 715
%
17.89
26.63
35.87
45.09
55.68
Total
1 861
14 483
33 409
60 247
279 680
Secondary education At the stage where students are offered a choice between arts, humanities and the sciences at the secondary level, fewer girls opt for the sciences, with biology and mathematics being the most popular option, and physics being the least popular. The most recent figures from Malawi and The United Republic of Tanzania (Tables 8.4 and 8.5) illustrate the situation. TABLE 8.4 Subject enrolment for the Malawi secondary-school leaving examination, by gender Biology Year
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
Boys Girls
15 695 7 682
16 563 8 447
22 964 12 739
23 715 13 745
26 411 15 736
Year
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
Boys Girls
15 303 7 352
17 051 8 935
20 960 11 437
22 830 13 450
26 026 15 696
Year
1996
1997
1998
1999
2000
Boys Girls
4 583 2 416
4 564 2 626
5 587 3 079
4 463 3 102
4 665 3 175
Mathematics
Physical Science
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TABLE 8.5.
Subject
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Basic maths
Add. maths
Computer Studies
Performance in science, mathematics and technology disciplines for the Tanzanian Certificate of Secondary Education Examination (CSEE) 1996 – 2000 Sex
GRADES A
B
No.
75
174
624 1 554 3 458
2 427
%
0.45
1.03
3.70
9.22 20.52
14.41
M
No. %
411 2.44
780 2 303 3 591 3 878 4.63 13.67 21.31 23.02
7 085 42.05
10 963
F
No. %
206 0.87
316 1.34
639 2 687 5 342 2.71 11.40 22.66
3 848 16.32
9 190
M
No. %
813 1 166 1 672 5 368 5 363 3.45 4.95 7.09 22.77 22.75
9 019 38.26
14 382
F
No. %
56 0.14
197 0.49
867 3 223 14 786 2.15 7.99 36.63
4 343 10.76
19 129
M
No. %
167 0.41
507 2 073 5 899 12 588 1.26 5.14 14.61 31.19
8 646 21.42
21 234
F
No.
75
158
304 2 809 17 964
3 346
21 310
%
0.16
0.34
0.65
7.14
M
No. %
577 1.23
952 1 484 7 078 15 486 2.03 3.17 15.10 33.03
F
No.
1
6
13
28
%
0.16
0.97
2.11
4.55
F
C
D
F
5.99 38.31
PASSED PRESENT 5 885
10 091 21.52
25 577
30
48
78
4.87
7.79
M
No. %
47 84 134 197 76 7.63 13.64 21.75 31.98 12.34
462 75.00
538
F
No. %
0 0.00
6 14 2 7.14 16.67 2.38
22 26.19
24
M
No. %
1 18 20 17 4 1.19 21.43 23.81 20.24 4.76
56 66.67
60
2 2.38
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Tertiary level The general picture presented by the tables above becomes bleaker at the tertiary level, where women are seriously under-represented in science, engineering and technology in the sub-Saharan region. The Inventory of Women Scientists in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Countries, published by the African Academy of Sciences, indicates that the percentage distribution of women scientists across the various fields of science is as follows: Biological Sciences, 34.0; Chemistry, including Bio-Chemistry, 13.4; Food Science and Nutrition, 10.5; Medicine, 9.7; Agriculture, 5.6. The remaining 26.8 per cent are engaged in all the remaining fields of scientific endeavour, with the best-represented areas being Environmental Science and Mathematics. In the SADC countries, as many as 61.7 per cent of women with scientific qualifications are engaged in education, compared with 24.3 per cent in medical/research institutes and 10.7 per cent in ministries or government departments. Only 3.2 per cent are self-employed or work for private firms. The low level of enrolment of women in SMT disciplines at the tertiary level is illustrated by the data for selected disciplines from the United Republic of Tanzania, presented in Table 8.6.
Some reasons for the poor participation and lower performance of girls in SMT The major school studies carried out during Phase I of FEMSA indicated the following as the main reasons for the relatively poor participation and performance of girls in SMT disciplines. Poverty. This often results in the education of boys being given priority when household incomes are limited. Socio-cultural barriers. These are often augmented by the burden of HIV/AIDS, which has brought a halt to many of the gains in girls’ education made over the past ten years. The belief that science and mathematics are a ‘male preserve’. There is a strong, all-pervading, traditional, conservative belief among parents, teachers and students that mathematics and the scientific subjects are a male preserve. The FEMSA school studies revealed that girls are socialized from an early age, in almost all communities, and in all of the FEMSA countries, to believe that science, mathematics and technology are male domains, that they require ‘struggle’, are ‘difficult’, and thus are not for the ‘weaker’ girls. As a result, it is widely believed that girls are innately incapable of performing well in
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TABLE 8.6.
Enrolment in Selected SMT Disciplines at Tertiary Level in the United Republic of Tanzania 1996 – 2000
Field of Study
1996/1997 1997/1998 1998/1999 1999/2000 2000/2001 F
M
F
M
F
M
F
M
F
M
Adv. Dip. Civil Eng.
0
20
0
40
4
41
4
64
6
83
Adv. Dip. Elect. and Telecom. Eng.
3
15
8
29
8
23
19
76
29
109
Adv. Dip. Electrical Eng.
0
21
0
40
3
34
4
54
10
77
Adv. Dip. in Information Technology
0
0
11
16
32
35
32
51
41
66
BSc Agric. Education Extension
-
-
-
-
5
23
16
60
21
89
BSc Agriculture Economics
-
-
-
-
3
44
18
101
39
141
BSc Agriculture
64
285
55
245
27
201
29
197
30
171
BSc Agricultural Engineering
0
0
1
27
0
11
0
6
2
40
BSc Agronomy
9
65
16
61
10
72
11
74
6
70
BSc Animal Science
17
112
21
115
18
121
17
131
23
139
BSc Architecture
10
62
8
81
9
91
10
122
14
123
BSc Building Economics
13
62
7
57
9
84
12
120
10
118
BSc Computer
4
68
6
80
5
99
8
80
9
79
BSc Engineering
25
748
27
778
37
761
58
856 168 990
BSc Environ. Science Mgt.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
32
45
BSc Environmental Engineering
6
44
6
46
16
69
14
106
16
105
BSc Forestry
12
84
13
71
17
79
15
107
19
115
these subjects. Since these beliefs are found among parents, teachers, and male students, it is not surprising to find that the girls themselves come to believe the myth that SMT is only for boys and men. The attitudes of parents. Many poorly educated parents, especially in the rural areas, want their daughters to study those subjects that will enhance
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their prospects of making a good marriage. They perceive the study of mathematics and science as somehow likely to make their daughters ‘abnormal’, and as not conducive to making them good wives, mothers and homemakers. Among such parents there is also a commonly held view that girls are academically less capable than boys. Since girls are considered less capable, they often receive less encouragement and are rarely challenged at home or school to strive to succeed in their academic work. Poorly educated parents are also ill-equipped to help their daughters with subjects about which they themselves know little. They do not see the importance of studying SMT subjects, and of the development of a scientific and problem-solving approach to life’s everyday problems. They see the study of mathematics and science after school as taking an inordinately long time, and thus reducing their daughters’ chances of marriage. The attitudes of teachers. Many teachers, including women teachers, despite much lip service to the equality of girls and boys, just do not believe that girls have the ability to succeed in mathematics and science. They thus have very low expectations of girls’ ability to perform well in SMT subjects. Year after year, schools post on their notice boards national examination results, which show large numbers of girls as failures. Many teachers, when asked what is being done in their school to improve the situation, simply shrug their shoulders with the throwaway remark, ‘That’s the way these girls are! There is nothing you can do!’ Among women who have succeeded in mathematics and the sciences, there is a strong belief that teachers actively discourage girls from studying these disciplines. Sometimes this is in a misconceived effort to spare the girls difficulty and problems. In many cases, it actually derives from the teachers’ desire to spare themselves the trouble of having to ‘struggle’ with girls, whom they believe cannot understand the subjects anyway. The attitudes of students. Many male students do not believe that girls can cope with mathematics and sciences and, in mixed classes, they give their fellow girl students a hard time through non-cooperation and active harassment. This belief is graphically summed up by the taunt of a boy to a girl in his class who was top in chemistry, ‘You will do very well in the chemistry examination! But you will fail in the marriage exam!’ Unfortunately, many of the girls themselves subscribe to the view that these subjects are too difficult for girls. Furthermore, the girls believe that there are few opportunities for them in careers which are mathematics- or science-based. They also believe that, even if they succeed in making a career in these disciplines, they will not be allowed to attain their full potential in what they perceive to be male-dominated professions. Insensitive teaching. Many teachers are unaware of the special difficulties that girls face in the learning of mathematics and science. This is often
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revealed by the extent to which girls are ignored when questions are being asked in class, and by the fact that many questions addressed to girls do not require reasoning or serious understanding of the topic to be answered correctly. Girls who give incorrect answers are simply ignored or passed over, while boys are challenged to struggle for the correct answer. There is little knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses that girls bring to the learning of SMT. Most teachers, even female teachers, have higher expectations of boys. Many of the everyday examples of scientific processes used by teachers are drawn from the world of men and boys. An authoritarian/didactic approach to the teaching of mathematics and science. The classroom approach to the teaching of mathematics and science is almost entirely authoritarian: lecturing, note-taking, and question and answer sessions dominate the lesson. Little practical work is done, due to an alleged shortage of equipment and consumables. As a result, experiments and other procedures are demonstrated by the teacher, while the students watch and take notes. It is believed that ‘real science’ can be found only in the laboratory in the midst of fancy and expensive equipment, and not outside in the compound among the ordinary, everyday things of life. The development of a scientific, curiosity-stimulating, wondering way of thinking is abandoned, in favour of the learning of nomenclature, definitions and standard procedures. The experience of the interventions implemented during Phase II of FEMSA indicates that girls learn SMT disciplines better when there is a less didactic and more hands-on approach. Inappropriate and irrelevant syllabuses. Most secondary school syllabuses seem to assume that all students are going to become fully-fledged professional mathematicians and scientists at the end of basic secondary schooling. Analysis of current SMT syllabuses reveals that the curriculum for each level is based on the needs of those who will proceed to the next level. We still have the dream that one day the time will come when all graduates of the primary system will proceed to secondary education, and that larger numbers from the secondary school will proceed to some form of tertiary education. But the cruel fact in all the countries of sub-Saharan Africa since independence is that the vast majority of the school leavers from the basic system will go no further, and that large numbers do not even complete the primary cycle. Only a very small number from the secondary level proceed to the tertiary level. SMT courses are entirely content-based. Despite the many fine statements in syllabus objectives, the learning of science does not involve learning the processes of science. There is no room for curiosity and the questioning of accepted procedures, no room for creativity and new thinking or wondering if something might be done better, and no room for raising new questions,
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hypothesizing and testing the hypotheses generated, or for making adjustments in the light of experimentation. Poor facilities, lack of equipment and consumables. Even where facilities are available, teachers do not use them, citing demanding syllabuses and the time-consuming nature of practical work. Inefficient and unsuitable examinations. Examinations mostly test students’ rote memory and knowledge of terminology and nomenclature. The general picture that emerged from an analysis of school-leaving examination papers in the FEMSA countries is that, while the papers were gender neutral, many questions tested only knowledge. At the primary level, the knowledge tested is not particularly useful, and at the secondary level it is mainly knowledge of scientific terminology and definitions. Due to the burden of household chores, girls have less time to study and consequently less chance of performing as well as boys on items that test only rote memory. Few items test practical applications, creativity or reasoning. Most tests consist of multiple choice items, especially at the primary level. Multiple choice tests favour aggressive risk-takers who make educated guesses, and the boys are generally more aggressive than the girls. A lack of role models. There are relatively few women teachers of single subject sciences or mathematics, and few girls, especially in the rural areas, ever come into contact with a woman scientist. The situation regarding women teachers is borne out by the data from Malawi in Table 8.7.
TABLE 8.7. Teaching staff in the Malawi secondary education system, by sex and qualification, in 1999 School Type
Graduates
Diploma
Unqualified
Total
Male Female Male Female Male Female Male Female Government
199
66
289
85
67
24
555
175
Grant aided
79
24
102
45
10
15
191
84
Command Day Secondary Schools (CDSS)
63
27
96
32
2 170
592
2 329
65
Private
60
16
134
9
254
17
448
42
Total
401
133
621
171
2 318
638
3 383
942
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FEMSA intervention efforts The following were the main interventions carried out in the FEMSA countries in order to improve the participation and performance of girls in SMT subjects at primary and secondary school level.
Sensitization and awareness-building activities These were designed to change the attitudes of students, teachers, school administrators, parents, the wider school community and decision-makers, as well as mainstream policy. A major component of all FEMSA interventions was aimed at sensitizing the main actors to the existence of a complex and serious problem, and the reasons for it, and at building up an awareness that the problem must be, and can be, tackled at source, i.e. in the local school community. The initial task was to change the attitudes of teachers, students and parents, and to work at school/community level to use the existing structures to address the problem. Without modifying attitudes and building up the belief that girls are just as capable as boys of succeeding in SMT disciplines, no meaningful reforms can be attempted at the more academic levels of syllabuses, pedagogy and assessment systems. The local communities, which provide the students to the school system and nurture the belief that SMT is a male domain, must be more intimately involved in addressing the problems faced by girls, and they should not be simply regarded as the bankers for cost sharing in education. The activities have included the following six elements. First, the findings of the FEMSA school studies on the problems facing girls in SMT, and the reasons for them, have been disseminated. This made use of the data collected during the school studies and during the national seminars. Second, brainstorming sessions were conducted to indicate solutions that might be implemented by the school community. These sessions drew inspiration from the national action plans that had been drawn up during the national seminars. Third, advice was provided to girls about such matters as early pregnancy, sexual harassment, HIV/AIDS and reproductive health, and the appropriate steps to be taken. Fourth, career guidance and counselling were provided to girls in school, including information about available career options and paths in the fields of science, mathematics and technology, to enable them to make better-informed decisions in relation to subject choices. Fifth, parents were encouraged to be more interested in the activities of the school, to be willing to visit the school and talk to the teachers, to inquire about the progress of their children, especially the girls, and to seek advice on how they can help them. For this, the school administration and teaching
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staff must be willing and sympathetic, and encourage visits by parents. Finally, local people and leaders were identified to act as counsellors and trainers, and the teachers were trained in the mobilization and gender sensitization of school communities.
Motivational activities to stimulate girls’ interest in SMT disciplines All of the FEMSA countries have carried out a range of motivational activities to encourage girls to become interested in the SMT subjects and realize their importance for their lives after school. These activities have ranged from setting up FEMSA Science Clubs, holding Science Camps for girls and promoting special FEMSA Science Days and Science Olympiads, to sponsoring Award Schemes for girls who perform especially well in SMT disciplines and documenting the achievements of prominent women scientists who could act as positive role models for the next generation of women scientists.
Teacher capacity building The teacher capacity-building activities that have been implemented across the eleven FEMSA countries have endeavoured to provide discussion and brain-storming opportunities for the teachers, so that they can develop strategies to create a learning environment that will be more sympathetic to the needs of girls in the SMT disciplines. During these sessions, teachers need to discuss, not how they teach mathematics and science, but the extent to which they can create an environment in which girls can learn mathematics and science. The following are the main issues that have been addressed in an effort to build teacher capacity: effecting attitude change, building awareness of the constraints and difficulties faced by girls, changing classroom dynamics, understanding the strengths and weaknesses of girls, identifying those SMT topics which are difficult for girls and devising alternative teaching approaches, creating a changed learning environment and developing a girl-friendly teaching approach.
Developing instructional materials This was combined with small-scale in-school research projects aimed at documenting SMT in the everyday lives of girls and women, and it was designed to help obviate the problematic areas for girls in existing syllabuses, textbooks and other support materials. Emphasis was placed on linking
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school SMT to SMT practised in the community and to the use of locally available materials. This was to be supplemented by efforts to develop more effective and appropriate methods for assessing the attainment of girls in SMT.
Supplementary classes and remedial classes for girls These were based on a diagnosis of the areas of weakness encountered in girls’ learning of SMT.
Mobilizing community support for schools The purpose here was to provide the necessary facilities for the learning of SMT. The objective of the various school-based initiatives was not only to benefit the individual schools and communities, but also to provide information and examples of good practice. Such examples could then form the basis of a ‘package’ that could be made available to Ministries of Education and other players in SMT education for girls, especially in the areas of curriculum development, teacher education, and testing and assessment.
The lessons and achievements of FEMSA The Mid-term Review (MTR) of the FEMSA project reported as follows: The girls have responded. FEMSA is having an impact already, ‘like a bush fire’, as one observer noted. FEMSA girls say they are happy, confident and can compete as equals in the SMT classes. Girls hold their heads up high, they are confident and they now enjoy SMT. They say the sky is the limit and they can deal with any SMT challenge. FEMSA has ridden on a great wave of enthusiasm generated by vigorous gender sensitisation efforts and has palpably touched the lives of girls in SMT classrooms. Due to a new perception in FEMSA communities regarding inherent female ability, participation rates in SMT have increased and there are many more girls studying in secondary school science streams than five years ago. In some schools the change is already visible. They are now performing well in many schools. Teachers, heads and parents are pleased with these signs which reinforce their work and spur FEMSA to more activity. The MTR Country Report on the Tanzania programme noted: There is truly a groundswell of enthusiasm and a great vibrancy about the FEMSA (Tanzania) programme. Girls are happy – many are ecstatic about SMT. They talk in wonder about how they have found their place in SMT classes. Their faces light up and they laugh as they compare their new-found confidence with the dismal
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experiences they had a few years ago and the expectations they had of themselves faced with maths classes and the prospect of failing science. Teachers, too, share this enthusiasm. They are getting used to explaining to visitors about their newly performing SMT girls. They are proud of themselves and the time and effort they put into FEMSA activities. They have every right to be. They are a cohesive team, a great FEMSA Team in Tanzania, from the National Coordinator through Zonal Coordinators, to the heads and the front-line FEMSA workers who are the FEMSA teachers. And the National Advisory Committee is solidly supportive (Final report of the Mid-Term Review of Phase II of the FEMSA project, 2000, p. 5).
These comments about the FEMSA schools and teachers in the United Republic of Tanzania could be repeated about any one of the eleven countries. FEMSA has had an immense impact on the schools and communities in which it has been based. Moreover, apart from the change in the girls’ self-esteem, their growing confidence in their ability to tackle SMT, and the quantifiable improvement in examination performance, the impact of FEMSA has been obvious in a number of other respects, described below. Participation and performance. During the FEMSA Consultative Group meeting held in Nairobi at the beginning of December 2001, each of the eleven National Co-ordinators presented evidence of the improvement in participation and performance of girls in SMT in the FEMSA schools. It is important to note that virtually all of these schools across the eleven countries are ordinary schools, with no special characteristics apart from the support given by FEMSA. Their achievements should therefore be capable of replication in other schools. Attitudes. There is a totally new climate in all the FEMSA schools. The sensitization activities, and the motivational activities to popularize SMT and an interest in SMT careers and to make girls aware of the importance of SMT, have led to a situation in which girls are fully confident of their ability to succeed in SMT, where they are fully supported by their male fellow students, and where teachers and the school administrators believe that their girls will perform well. In most of the FEMSA schools, these sensitization and motivational activities have become part of normal school practice. Wider impact on the whole school community. This has been most marked. Parents are much more supportive of their girls, and their boys, to such an extent that it is not only the SMT subjects that have benefited. All subjects have shown some improvement. Parents are much more conscious of the fact that they have a role to play in the education of their children and that they should therefore be involved in coming up with solutions to the problems that the girls and boys are facing. This was aptly captured by one Malawi parent in the following words:
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‘We had always thought that teachers do not do a good job, that is why our pupils fail. The teachers also felt the same. But through discussions with the teachers, we have discovered that sometimes it is us parents making the mistake . . . sometimes we have to work in partnership with the teachers in order to help our girls learn science. . . . For example, we have to see their notebooks, help them if we can, and give the girls time to read their books and write homework’ (Report of the Lessons and Achievements of FEMSA Malawi, 2001, p. 9).
Greater understanding of the dimensions of gender and SMT education. The FEMSA activities have added to our knowledge of the strengths and weaknesses of girls, of girl-friendly teaching approaches, of topics that are problematic for girls and ways of dealing with them, and of the ways in which everyday applications of SMT in the lives of girls and women can be exemplified. There is a large volume of ethnographic evidence available in the logs of all the FEMSA school centres that needs to be documented in the future. Enhanced teacher professionalism. All of the teachers involved in the project have found a new sense of professionalism. It as if their dignity has been restored. They are proud to have been entrusted with the task of finding solutions to the problems and to have been given the opportunity of disseminating these to a wider audience. Long-dormant innovative and imaginative skills in SMT have been awakened, and teachers have been productive in terms of coming up with new approaches. Increased administrative and managerial support for change. There has been impressive backing from Heads, Principals and School Administrators for the work of the FEMSA project. Schools are convinced that the FEMSA interventions work and are conscious of the fact that improvement in SMT performance has led to improved overall performance by the school. There is a growing belief that problems can be tackled at the school level, without having to wait for instructions to come from the national or regional level. Wider interest in FEMSA activities. In most countries, there has been increasing interest from the mainstream education system in FEMSA activities, together with a region-wide recognition of the problems and the need to do something about them. There is considerable goodwill to do something about improving the participation and performance of girls in SMT, but many people are unaware of what should be done and are only waiting for the kind of way forward presented by FEMSA.
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The action now needed to improve girls’ participation and performance in SMT education In the recent past, there have been several regional and international meetings that have addressed the issues surrounding the SMT education of girls. These have led to various declarations of intent, e.g. the Ouagadougou Declaration of 1998, the Budapest Framework for Action of 1999, the Lusaka Declaration of 2001 and the Paris Declaration of 2001. All of these spell out broad frameworks and idealistic plans of action. What is needed, now that we have understood the importance of SMT education for girls and women in promoting the sustainable development of sub-Saharan Africa in the twenty-first century, is a blueprint for concrete action to be undertaken at individual country level. The experience of the FEMSA project over the past six years indicates that concerted action must be taken by the mainstream education system to ensure that systemic change is brought about in a number of key areas, each of which is considered below.
Changing attitudes Although all statements of National Education Goals and curriculum and syllabus objectives for the various levels of education spell out very clearly that education is as much concerned with the affective, as with the cognitive, domain, the business of changing attitudes to girls’ education, and in particular to girls’ SMT education, has largely been left to NGOs and community-based organizations. The sensitization and awareness-building activities, motivational activities to arouse girls’ interest in SMT, discussion and brainstorming sessions, and various other efforts to change community attitudes, have mainly been carried out outside the mainstream education system. In order for further progress to be made, attitude change towards girls’ learning in SMT, and towards their embracing of SMT careers, must begin to be reflected in mainstream practice, with special emphasis placed on the following: informing the wider society, especially in rural areas, of the importance of scientific and technological knowledge and skills for enriching the lives of all women, for ensuring food security and improved health for themselves and their families (including helping in the fight against HIV/AIDS), for caring for the environment, and for the elimination of poverty; disseminating information throughout the education system about the constraints and difficulties (and the reasons for these) faced by girls in the learning of SMT; introducing effective sensitization approaches to
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changing the attitudes of parents, teachers, students, field staff and policymakers towards girls in SMT; strategies for maximizing effective collaboration between Ministries of Education and other organizations; and strategies for involving school communities, working closely with educational, civic, political and religious leaders, in promoting attitude change.
Curriculum development Ever since 1 January 2000, at seminars, workshops, brainstorming sessions, political gatherings, and barazas between civic leaders and local people, we have been hearing about the role of science and technology in the sustainable development of the countries of sub-Saharan Africa. Travelling around these countries, we see, even in the remotest areas, the application of science, and the use of basic and ever more sophisticated technologies. Meanwhile, educationalists continue to talk about preparing young people for life in the new millennium by empowering them in science and technology. Yet, when I look at the SMT syllabuses and curricula that I have encountered across the twelve FEMSA countries, I realize that we are firmly embedded in the 1960s. Science, mathematics and technology are dynamic disciplines. They don’t stand still but are ever moving forward to new discoveries and developments. The growth of scientific and technological knowledge over the past forty years has been phenomenal. Yet it is not reflected in our SMT curricula in subSaharan Africa. Since it is likely to be the case for the foreseeable future that a majority of pupils leaving primary education will not proceed to secondary school, and that the majority of students leaving secondary school will not go on to further formal education, we must design SMT courses at primary and secondary levels that meet the needs of those leaving formal education after these levels. All SMT syllabuses are designed in the belief that students will learn their science and technology using equipment, apparatus and consumables that one expects in a well-equipped laboratory. Examinations are based on the same belief. Yet we know that the vast majority of schools do not have this costly and sophisticated equipment. Truly, science curricula are in urgent need of radical overhaul, which must take into account the following factors. It must consider the strengths and weaknesses that girls bring to the learning of SMT disciplines, and their previous out-of-school experiences, as well as the indigenous scientific knowledge of women in their lives outside school, as outlined in various FEMSA publications, and its use in science and technology courses. The SMT that girls experience out of school, and women experience in their everyday lives, and the areas of SMT that are essential in empowering women and which could be incorporated into existing syllabuses, are important. The overhaul must also allow for the links between school
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SMT knowledge and the SMT of the community, and the need to enrich the school community with information on the use and importance of science. It is important to identify the topics in SMT syllabuses that girls find more difficult than boys, the causes of this greater difficulty and the strategies available to overcome or minimize them. The notion that ‘real science’ can only be done in the laboratory – by men and women in white laboratory coats, and with the aid of expensive equipment – must be debunked. The use of the local environment, locally available materials, and the indigenous knowledge base must not be seen as a second best, or improvised, approach. It is important to draw on the work, knowledge and skills of local craftsmen, artisans, and fundis, the local environment and the world of work in local industries. Girls’ absences from school need to be accommodated by adopting a cyclic, rather than an on-off, approach to SMT syllabuses and textbooks. Such absences have multiple causes and are particularly detrimental to the learning of hierarchical subjects such as SMT. SMT syllabuses should be structured to take account of the key drop-out points for students, especially girls, in the primary and secondary cycle, in order to ensure that appropriate and necessary knowledge and skills have been imparted before the students leave school. Finally, it is necessary to ensure that terminal students at each level have acquired the necessary SMT knowledge and skills, while providing those proceeding to the next level with the more abstract platform needed to continue their studies.
Teacher education Promoting girls’ participation and performance in SMT will require major changes in classroom dynamics and teacher behaviour, among female as well as male teachers. Another prominent mobilizing cry heard throughout the past few years of FEMSA efforts has been ‘Let us develop a girl-friendly teaching methodology!’ Yet, while interactive sessions at seminars and workshops to determine the core ingredients of such a methodology produce much that is already known about the problems that girls have with SMT, few ideas emerge about what we really expect the teacher in the classroom to do about the situation. Teacher education courses must address the following issues and ensure that SMT teachers are equipped to develop a girl-friendly teaching approach. •
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What are the characteristics of girls’ approach to the learning of SMT? In what ways is this different from the approach of boys? What strengths and weaknesses do girls bring to the learning of SMT, and how can maximum use be made of the strengths? How can the weaknesses be minimized?
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•
•
•
•
• •
What are the difficult topics in SMT subjects for girls? Why do girls find these topics difficult? What alternative approaches can be used to deal with the topics identified as difficult for girls? How should gender responsiveness in the classroom and an awareness of girls’ special problems be promoted in pre-service and in-service teacher-training programmes? What guidelines are needed on the effective use of practical approaches and locally available materials, on how best to incorporate girls’ out-ofschool experience into learning, and on how to provide girls with opportunities to develop skills that they were denied by these experiences? How can more women teachers be encouraged to take on the teaching of SMT subjects in upper classes in both primary and secondary schools, so as to act as role models for the girls? How can teachers be best trained to manage the larger classes that occur as more countries strive to achieve education for all? Schools have largely ignored developments in the world around them, at a time when they have lost their monopoly as purveyors of knowledge and information. There is a need for greater openness to the world of work and to an understanding of the methods of teaching and training in the world beyond school. How can education systems fundamentally rethink how to make schools more diversified and exciting learning zones, involving more personalized and individual approaches?
The assessment of girls’ attainment An analysis of primary-school leaving science examination papers for nine sub-Saharan African countries, carried out in 1999, revealed that between 50 and 80 per cent of the items tested knowledge, with 41–45 per cent of the test items demanding simple recall. In addition, most of the items tested knowledge that was unlikely to be of any practical use to pupils in their lives after school. There is some evidence that, due to their greater powers of observation and creativity, girls perform better on higher-order items. Analysis of primary-school leaving science examinations in Malawi indicates that the items on which girls performed better than boys tested higher levels of cognitive skill. Action will be required by national examination boards in order to improve the assessment of girls’ attainment in SMT disciplines. Most examinations at primary-school level within the region involve multiple-choice type items. Preliminary results in the Netherlands with ‘open-ended’ questions on standardized mathematics tests indicate that females outscore males on items of this type.
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The substantial reform that is needed of examinations in the SMT disciplines requires ongoing research to find alternative ways of assessing girls’ attainment in SMT. There is some evidence that girls are more susceptible to methods that foster co-operation rather than competition. Reform also requires a willingness to explore the use of continuous assessment together with the terminal examinations. However, there are serious risks of manipulation and inflation of scores in those education systems in which progression to the few places available at the next level is heavily dependent on examination performance. The FEMSA experience has shown that sexual harassment of girls is still a major issue. Given this, continuous assessment based on subjective evaluation of girls may pose even more problems for girls. Another requirement is the development of item banks of higher-order test items to examine comprehension, application, reasoning ability and creativity, as well as knowledge. In addition, teachers and publishers of educational textbooks must be encouraged to develop and use more of these higher-order test items. Finally, adequate procedures are needed on the part of examination boards to inform schools, teachers and students of pending changes in examinations, examination performance and areas of strength or weakness displayed by candidates. It will be necessary to prepare teachers for moves to use more higher-order items in examinations, and to develop their capacity to prepare their students to respond to such items. Effective examination reform will have a major impact on improving the teaching/learning of SMT subjects. No curriculum change or revolution in teaching styles and approaches will have any impact if school leaving examinations continue to encourage rote memory and the cramming of facts and definitions.
Remedial support for girls In all FEMSA countries, remedial classes for girls in SMT have been especially effective as a means of demonstrating that girls can perform as well as boys in SMT, as well as a means of building up girls’ own self-esteem and confidence in their ability to perform well. All participants have been made aware of the potential pitfalls. For, if what goes on in normal classes should also happen in these remedial classes, then the whole effort will have been counter-productive; and, if remedial classes are not based on a careful diagnosis of girls’ real learning needs, they will be ineffective. Nevertheless, remedial classes, if properly designed and organized, can be a real source of information about specific areas of difficulty for girls, and, if linked with the efforts in instructional-materials development and teacher capacity-building, can make a major input into overall efforts to improve girls’ SMT performance.
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The following must be provided in mounting a programme of supplementary support for girls: guidelines on how to base remedial support for girls on a careful diagnosis of their learning needs, how to design teaching approaches and learning materials that address these needs, and how to train teachers to undertake special classes; documentation of the areas of special difficulty that have been revealed by remedial classes and the provision of this information to curriculum development centres, teacher education Departments, and examination boards; guidelines indicating the most successful approaches used in programmes offering supplementary support in SMT to girls, and outlining the efforts that have been made to incorporate these efforts into normal classes; suggestions on how these supplementary activities might be used to develop alternative assessment strategies; and ways of incorporating remedial classes into normal school practice and remunerating teachers who become involved in extra work.
Mainstreaming reform efforts All of the FEMSA countries have given serious consideration to ways in which the lessons and achievements of the project might be taken on board by the mainstream education systems in their countries. They have designed mainstreaming packages outlining the activities to be implemented by curriculum development departments, teacher-education institutions and national examination boards, with a view to eventual formal presentation to their Ministries of Education and other relevant government departments. The country that has made most progress in mainstreaming is the United Republic of Tanzania, and its approach is being used as the basis for reference by the other ten countries. FEMSA (T)/United Republic of Tanzania considered the intervention phase to be a research phase/experiment whereby data on trial models were gathered and refined, with the aim of designing a mainstreaming package in promoting the SMT education of girls. To be able in a holistic manner to address gender equity in SMTE, FEMSA (T) started the process by considering three levels of systemic change. These were the micro-level systems, which include the school and its community; the meso-level systems, which include the regional administration and local government; and the macro-level, which includes the policy making level, i.e. Ministries and their agencies, and capacity-building institutions. The mainstreaming process started by holding meetings and workshops at micro and meso levels, whose results highlighted the development of conceptual frameworks for mainstreaming the various systems.
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A national brainstorming workshop was held to bring together senior policy makers in the Ministry of Education, FEMSA and the Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE) Tanzania, the University of Dar es Salaam, and other relevant stakeholders. A national action plan for mainstreaming was drawn up, which identified the key actions to be undertaken and the key players to be involved in implementing them. A high-level joint FEMSA/Ministry of Education committee was formed to ensure that the action plan would be implemented. Much work remains to be done to ensure that the relevant changes and reforms are undertaken, especially in the key departments dealing with curriculum development, teacher education, and assessment and examinations.
Conclusion The UNESCO International Seminar on Forward Looking Approaches and Innovative Strategies to Promote the Development of Africa in the Twenty-First Century (Paris, November 2001) stressed the importance of science and technology education. It placed a special emphasis on the empowerment of girls and women with scientific and technological knowledge and skills, and drew up a formidable framework for action. What now remains is for each individual country to translate this framework for action into pragmatic interventions in the key areas of curriculum development, teacher education, assessment and examinations. All countries in the region, after the World Education Forum, Dakar, 2000, have pledged renewed efforts to achieve education for all, and are in the process of developing national action plans to bring this about. It will be important to draw upon the lessons of FEMSA over the past six years as an input into these national plans, in order to improve the participation and performance of girls in the SMT disciplines, in the interests of promoting sustainable development for the sub-Saharan region of Africa. The activities of the FEMSA project have been integrated into the strategic work programme of FAWE with effect from January 2002. A major contribution of this will be the dissemination of the lessons and achievements of FEMSA and the mainstreaming of packages throughout sub-Saharan Africa.
Bibliography ANNAN, K. 1999. Address to the UNESCO meeting on the Development of Science and Technology in Africa.
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CETTO, A.M.; SCHNEEGAN, S.; MOORE, H. 2000. World Conference on Science for the 21st Century: A New Commitment. Paris, UNESCO. CONWAY, G.R. 1997. The Doubly Green Revolution: Food for All in the 21st Century. London, Penguin. UNESCO, Declaration on the Use of Scientific Knowledge and Science Agenda – Framework for Action of the World Conference on Science, Budapest, 26 June-1 July 1999 see http://www.unesco.org/pao/ events/31cen.htm for details. UNIFEM. 1999. Women Making a Difference in Science and Technology: Case Studies. New York, United Nations Development Fund for Women.
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Science and technology education in Europe: current challenges and possible solutions 1
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This chapter describes and analyses some of the challenges facing science and technology education by relating these to their wider social setting. Although the focus is on aspects emerging from a European (or Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD) context, some of the issues raised are likely to have a wider validity. After describing the problematic pattern of student enrolment in science and technology, the chapter suggests a series of underlying reasons for the difficulties that have arisen. The description is necessarily tentative and exploratory, and it is intended to present ideas for a discussion of possible explanations. This is followed by a similar analysis of who needs science and technology education, and for what purposes. The point here is that the problem of student recruitment may be perceived differently from different perspectives and by different interests. Hence, views on suitable strategies to overcome it may also vary. The chapter also offers a critical description of school science and technology education, together with a brief account of some recent international trends. These trends may provide ideas for possible ways forward.
Science and technology: key features of modern societies 2 No period in history has been more penetrated by and more dependent on the natural sciences than the twentieth century. Yet no period . . . has been less at ease with it. This 1.
2.
This chapter is based on an invited contribution to a Meeting of Ministers of Education and Research in the European Union, held in Uppsala, Sweden, 1–3 March 2001. Science and technology are different, but related as forms of knowledge and as types of activities. Science is concerned with developing general and universal explanations of the natural world; technology is concerned with finding workable solutions to practical problems. Technology is not the same as applied science, and scientific understanding does not always precede technological developments.
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is the paradox with which the historian of the century must grapple (Hobsbawm, 1995, p. 522).
Our societies are dominated and even ‘driven’ by ideas and products from science and technology, and it is very likely that the influence of science and technology on our lives will continue to increase in the years to come. Scientific and technological knowledge, skills and artefacts ‘invade’ all realms of life in modern society: the workplace and the public sphere are increasingly dependent on new, as well as upon more established, technologies. So, too, are the private sphere and our leisure time. Scientific and technological knowledge and skills are crucial for most of our actions and decisions, as workers, as voters, as consumers, etc. Meaningful and independent participation in modern democracies assumes an ability to judge the evidence and arguments associated with the many socio-scientific issues that appear on the political agenda. In short, modern societies need people with scientific and technological qualifications at the highest level, as well as a general public that has a broad understanding of the contents and methods of science and technology, coupled with an insight into their role as social forces that shape the future. Science and technology are major cultural products of human history, and all citizens, independent of their occupational ‘needs’, should be acquainted with them as elements of human culture. While science and technology are obviously important for economic well-being, they must also be seen from the perspective of a broadly-based liberal education. 3 One might expect the increasing significance of science and technology to be accompanied by a parallel growth in interest in these subjects and in an understanding of basic scientific ideas and ways of thinking. This does, however, not seem to be the case, especially in the more developed countries of Europe and the OECD. The evidence for such claims is in part based on ‘hard facts’ (educational statistics relating to subject choice in schools, enrolment in tertiary education, etc.), in part on recent large-scale comparative studies like Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) (described later in this chapter), and in part on research into, and analysis of, contemporary social trends. The situation is briefly described and analysed below.
3.
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The term ‘liberal education’ is here used as synonymous with the concept of Bildung (used in e.g. German and Swedish), formation used in e.g. French, dannelse (used in Danish and Norwegian), etc.
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Challenges and perspectives Falling enrolment, increasing gender gap? In many countries, recruitment to scientific and technological studies is falling, or at least not developing as fast as expected or planned for. This lack of interest in science often manifests itself at the school level at the age where curricular choices are made. In many countries, there is a noticeable decrease in the numbers of students choosing (some of) the sciences. The trend is consolidated in admissions to tertiary education. A similar trend has been observed in some areas of engineering and technology studies. It should, however, be noted that there are large (and interesting) differences between the various European countries, and between the different disciplines within science and technology. The drop in recruitment has been particularly marked in physics and mathematics. In many countries, there is also a growing gender gap among students choosing scientific and technological subjects at both school and tertiary level. Many countries have had a long period of steady growth in female participation in traditionally male fields of study, but this positive trend seems now to have been broken in some countries. It is a paradox that the break is most marked in some of the Nordic countries, where gender equity has been a prime educational aim for decades. For example, while the Nordic countries come out on top of all the countries in the world on the Gender Empowerment Measure – an indicator developed by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP, 2001) – the same countries have very low female participation rates in science- and technology-related occupations and studies. Concern about unsatisfactory enrolment in science and technology is voiced by many interest groups. Industrial leaders are worried about the recruitment of a qualified work force. Universities and research institutions are anxious about the recruitment of new researchers, and education authorities are worried about the already visible lack of qualified teachers of the science and technology subjects. In some countries, the difficulty of recruiting sufficient numbers of new entrants to the teaching profession has become a matter of national concern, especially when the level of recruitment does not even allow for the replacement of those who are retiring. This concern is often based on comprehensive appraisals of the education and labour markets. The concern is not confined to numbers. There is also a more or less identifiable falling off in the quality of the newcomers. A lower quality may, of course, be a consequence of the fact that very few candidates compete for
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places at institutions where the entrance qualifications were previously very high. Many institutions of higher education are unable to fill their places in science and technology with students of a satisfactory quality.
Statistical information and large-scale comparative studies There are many excellent sources of up-to-date international information and analysis on education. Here are a few of them. UNESCO is the United Nations agency with a global responsibility in this field. It defines common indicators to facilitate valid international comparisons, and collects relevant data. These are published in comprehensive statistical reports that are also available via the web site http://www.unesco.org/ At regular intervals, UNESCO also publishes more analytical, global reports, together with more targeted and specific reports on progress in the field of education. The UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS) is the United Nations depository for education and literacy statistics on a national, regional and global scale. It not only collects relevant data but also calculates pertinent education indicators and has developed international standard classifications in order to facilitate valid international comparisons. These statistics and indicators can be consulted at http://www.uis.unesco.org The OECD has an education directorate, and it publishes an important annual report, Education at a Glance (i.e. OECD, 2001a). These, as well as other reports, including underlying statistical annexes, are available online at http://www.oecd.org/ Although the focus is on OECD countries, the data as well as the research cover other countries. For science and technology (as well as for mathematics) education, TIMSS has become very influential. TIMSS is one of many studies carried out by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). Background information as well as downloadable reports and data files are available at http://timss.bc.edu/ TIMSS will be followed up in years to come (from 2002), although the acronym TIMSS will get a somewhat different meaning (e.g. T for ‘Trends’ instead of ‘Third’). The OECD has recently developed its own set of studies of student achievement, PISA, which covers some thirty OECD countries, together with some non-OECD countries. It aims to assess how far students who are approaching the end of compulsory education (about the age of 15) have acquired some of the knowledge and skills that are essential for full participation in society. The first report (OECD, 2000a) presents evidence from the first round of data collection on the performance in reading, mathematical and scientific literacy of students, schools and countries. It reveals factors that influence the development of these skills at home and at school, and examines the implications for policy development. Other reports and rounds of data collection will follow, and these studies are likely to have a great political significance in the future. Reports, background material and statistical data are available at http://www.pisa.oecd.org/
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The problems in recruitment are revealed by a range of objective and uncontroversial educational statistics. Cross-national data on a range of issues are now collected and published by UNESCO, the OECD, the European Union and other organizations, and the development of common descriptors and criteria has made its possible to make comparisons between different countries and regions. Evidence about pupils’ achievements, quality, interests, and so on, is available from a number of research projects, including TIMSS and PISA. Some details are given above.
Achievement studies – the critique Large-scale comparative studies such as TIMSS, and, to a lesser extent, PISA, may have the (possibly unintended) side effect of harmonizing or universalizing science (and other) curricula across nations. Test format as well as curriculum content may come to provide standards, ‘benchmarks’ or norms for participating countries, as well as for other countries not immediately involved in the research. In fact, the term ‘benchmark’ is frequently used in TIMSS. An example is the ‘TIMSS 1999 Benchmarking Study’, which compares states and districts across the United States. Furthermore, the international and cross-cultural nature of studies such as TIMSS has necessarily required the development of test items that can be used regardless of educational or social context, in an attempt to avoid ‘cultural bias’. As a result, these test items tend to become decontextualized and rather abstract. This approach runs contrary to recent thinking about teaching, learning and curriculum development, in which personal and contextual relevance is emerging as a key educational concern. The publication and availability of TIMSS items in many countries might even be said to provide an ‘incentive’ to use tests that, in both their closed multiple choice format and their lack of social context, run contrary to national or local traditions. Comparative research in education is important, but there is an obvious need to complement the valuable data from TIMSS-like studies with more open and culturally sensitive information and perspectives (Atkin and Black, 1997). The PISA study is an attempt to widen the scope of such large-scale studies, and the underlying framework for PISA is, in contrast to TIMSS, not bound to school curricula. The publication of the first results from PISA (OECD, 2001b) suggests that the PISA studies will answer some of the criticisms raised against the IEA-based studies such as TIMSS. PISA will continue to develop and produce new results for at least a decade. Nonetheless, TIMSS and PISA do share some common characteristics. They are both high-level initiatives ‘from the top’ to monitor scholastic
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achievement, and the main results are published as rankings or league tables. The media coverage of these projects, assisted by their own reporting, often trivializes the educational enterprise, reducing it to a contest of national prestige. The studies are also, with some exceptions, confined to rich countries in the OECD. In most countries, these studies are initiated and heavily funded by governments and Ministries of Education. This reflects the legitimate needs of decision-makers and politicians to obtain comparative data on the scholastic achievement of their pupils and to have some measures of the efficiency and cost-benefits of their national education systems. In an age of globalization and economic competition, national authorities are increasingly concerned about how well their own education systems compare with those of others. This, of course, assumes that quality can be measured against common standards. Similarly, national authorities have a legitimate need to obtain comparative international data relating to such parameters as unit costs, the effectiveness of teacher training, the significance of class size and resource deployment. One may, with considerable exaggeration, characterize projects such as TIMSS and PISA as the educational parallel of so-called Big Science or techno-science. The scale and costs of these comparative studies are many times higher than the kinds of research in which most science educators are involved. The institutions that undertake these studies are often government agencies for research and development, or research institutions from which the government may reasonably expect a degree of loyalty. Such large-scale research projects do not emerge from an independent and critical academic research perspective, and one may use Ziman’s concept of ‘post-academic science’ (Ziman, 2000) to characterize them, their loyalties and their implicit values and commitments. Not unexpectedly, those who pay the bill also influence the ‘definition’ of what counts as science. Given the strong domination of this work by the United States, it is no surprise that there seem to be no test items that relate to topics such as the theory of evolution, human reproduction, sexual minorities or sexually transmitted diseases. If such a science curriculum is used to define ‘benchmarks’, it may lead to a narrow conception of relevance, and hence to a lowering of standards, rather than, as intended, the opposite.
Scientific and technological illiteracy and the public understanding of science Projects such as TIMSS and PISA describe the levels of achievement of children of school age. However, they also reflect a political concern about how the general public relates to science. This concern has many dimensions.
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These include the nature and level of public scientific and technological knowledge, public attitudes and interests, and, of course, the degree of public support for scientific and technological research and for the community that undertakes it. The overuse of acronyms (such as PUST – Public Understanding of Science and Technology) has become an indicator of growing unease about the situation. There are academic journals devoted to the relevant issues (e.g. Public Understanding of Science), and several research institutions study the challenges involved in promoting the public understanding of science. Phrases like ‘scientific illiteracy’ are also used, more or less fruitfully, to describe the situation. There is a rich literature in the field, and this is marked by the many, and often conflicting, meanings of some of the terms used. This position has been well reviewed and analysed by Jenkins (1997). In a series of studies dating back to the 1970s, Miller defined and measured scientific literacy in the United States (e.g. Miller, 1983), and his approach is evident in research subsequently undertaken in this field in many other countries. See, for example, the influential Eurobarometer studies (e.g. EU, 2001). A key research institute in this field is the International Center for the Advancement of Scientific Literacy (ICASL) in the United States. With support from the National Science Foundation (NSF), this institute regularly undertakes and publishes surveys of public scientific literacy, as well as of public attitudes to science and technology. There is also international participation in some of these surveys. The Center presents itself the following way: Not more than 7 percent of Americans qualify as scientifically literate by relatively lenient standards. Recognizing this serious problem, governments in most industrialized nations are making concerted efforts to address the issue of pervasive illiteracy (ICASL home page http://www.icasl.org/).
Such studies and conclusions are open to several sorts of criticism (Jenkins, 1994, 1997). The questions asked in these studies are often derived directly from academic science, so that laypersons are asked to provide answers to questions such as ‘How many planets are there around the Sun?’ and ‘Which is the larger, an atom or an electron?’ The studies can also be seen as attempts by the scientific community to promote its own agenda and interests by lamenting the level of public understanding of science. Further, given the strong domination by the United States among the organizers of large-scale comparative studies, these seldom accommodate cultural or social differences in the context within which the alleged scientific and technological literacy is presumed to be required.
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Several researchers have taken a different approach to the public understanding of science, and investigated ‘scientific knowledge in action’, i.e. the use made of it in real-life situations (see, for example, Irwin and Wynne, 1996; Layton et al., 1993) Such studies provide a very different understanding of what constitutes ‘the problem’ and how it might be addressed. In spite of the criticism indicated here, reports like the biannual Science and Engineering Indicators (NSB, 2000) provide a wealth of information on many aspects of scientific and technological research in society and education. Although they are North American, these voluminous studies (at often more than 500 pages) include an important comparative perspective. Reports such as the 2000 National Survey of Science and Mathematics Education (at http://2000survey.horizon-research.com/) also provide valuable data as well as analysis and comparative insights. Based upon almost 6,000 participating science and mathematics teachers in schools across the United States, this study was sponsored by the National Science Foundation. Statistical data and most surveys, however, do not shed much light on the underlying causes of many of the present educational concerns. Why have science and technology apparently lost their attraction for many young people, and what might be done to remedy this situation? Without some answers to these questions, intervention programmes designed to increase interest in science and technology are unlikely to succeed.
Disenchantment with science and technology – some possible reasons It is not easy to understand what is causing the difficulties in recruitment to scientific and technological studies, or the more specific, related problems such as the gender gap. Reasons for the lack of faith in, and dissatisfaction with, contemporary science and technology have to be sought in the youth culture and in society at large. The decline in recruitment must be understood as a social and political phenomenon found in many, although not all, highly industrialized countries, but very seldom in less developed countries. This means that the current situation can hardly be explained fully by events or reforms in each individual country. It is necessary to look for more general trends that are common to different countries. The following is an attempt to suggest underlying reasons for the present difficulties, from the perspective of a European country. The listing is tentative, and it needs critical scrutiny and modification in each country. The first point refers to schools, the others are related to wider social trends.
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Outdated curricula Many studies show that pupils perceive school science as lacking relevance. It is often described as dull, authoritarian, abstract and theoretical. The curriculum is often overcrowded with unfamiliar concepts and laws. It leaves little room for enjoyment, curiosity and a search for personal meaning and significance. It often lacks a cultural, social or historical dimension, and it seldom treats the contemporary issues related to science and technology.
Science: difficult and unfashionable? Scientific knowledge is by its nature abstract and theoretical, and it often contradicts ‘common sense’ (see, e.g. Wolpert, 1993). It is also often developed through controlled experiments in artificial, ‘unnatural’ and idealized laboratory settings. Learning science therefore often requires hard work and considerable intellectual effort, although there is little doubt that school science could, and should, be better tailored to meet the needs and abilities of pupils. Concentration and sustained hard work do not seem to be a dominant feature of contemporary youth culture. In a world where so many ‘channels’ compete for the attention of young people, subjects such as science and technology are readily perceived as unfashionable.
A lack of qualified teachers Science and technology are often poorly treated in the preparation of teachers of children of primary-school age. Moreover, those students who choose to become primary-school teachers are often those who did not study, or did not like, science themselves in school. The present decline in recruitment of science teachers in many countries is particularly evident in secondary schools. In part, it can be attributed to a general decline in teachers’ status and relative salary, found in a number of countries. The rather low number of students with scientific backgrounds are able to find more tempting and better-paid jobs than teaching. In addition, the teaching profession is becoming increasingly female, especially at the primary level (For data, see e.g. OECD, 2001a and UNESCO, 2000).
Anti- and quasi-scientific trends and ‘alternatives’ In many Western countries, there is an upsurge of ‘alternative’ beliefs in the metaphysical, spiritual and supernatural. These movements are often collected under the label of ‘New Age’, and they comprise a rich variety of
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world-views, practices and therapies. They include beliefs in unidentified flying objects (UFOs), astrology and several forms of healing. A common denominator is often the rejection of scientific rationality, which is often characterized pejoratively as mechanistic and/or reductionist. Although most ‘alternatives’ reject science, some, however, base their ideas on misinterpretations of ideas taken from modern science, like the uncertainty principle and other elements of quantum mechanics, the theory of relativity and the more recent chaos theory.
Postmodernist attacks on science and technology These may be seen as the more substantial and academic version of the critique embedded in the ‘alternative’ movements referred to above. Many postmodernist thinkers reject some of the basic elements of modern science, including its basic epistemological and ontological tenets. In particular, they reject notions like objectivity and rationality. More extreme versions of postmodernism assert that scientific knowledge claims say more about the researcher than about reality, and that all other ‘stories’ about the world can be accorded the same epistemological status. In this tradition, notions such as ‘reality’ or ‘truth’ are seldom used without inverted commas! These postmodernists’ attacks on established scientific thinking have been dubbed, somewhat dramatically, the ‘Science War’. They have been met with strong counter-attacks from the scientific community. Books with titles such as The Flight from Science and Reason (Gross et al., 1997), Higher Superstition (Gross and Levitt, 1998), A House Built on Sand – Exposing Postmodernist Myths about Science (Koertge, 1998) and Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals’ Abuse of Science (Sokal and Bricmont, 1998) indicate the tone of the ‘conflict’. Although science as knowledge or as an activity per se is unlikely to be shattered by these attacks, the ‘Science War’ creates an atmosphere of hostility and doubt that deserves to be taken seriously.
Stereotypical image of scientists and engineers Many research studies reveal that the perceived image of the typical scientist and engineer is stereotypical and problematic. Featured in cartoons, nurtured by some sections of the media and serving the plot of many popular films and plays, the image of the ‘mad scientist’ is commonplace. Scientists, especially those working in the mathematically demanding physical sciences, are perceived by pupils as authoritarian and boring, having narrow and closed minds, and as somewhat crazy. They are not perceived to be kind or helpful and as working to solve the problems of humankind. It is interesting to note,
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however, that this somewhat negative image of scientists is found only in the developed and rich countries. Young people in developing countries perceive science and technology as the key to progress and development, and the people working in these areas are correspondingly regarded as heroes and helpers. Cross-cultural evidence from drawings and creative writing on such issues is presented in Sjøberg (2000, 2002).
Disagreement among researchers perceived as problematic Scientists disagree about and debate many contemporary socio-scientific issues, for example, the causes of global warming, the effects of radiation and the possible dangers of genetically modified food. Such discussions are part of the normal processes involved in the healthy development of new scientific knowledge, and many argue that this open debate, this ‘science in the making’, is the hallmark of the scientific endeavour (Latour, 1987). In recent years, debate about scientific, technological and socio-scientific/technological issues has become the staple of the mass media, rather than, as hitherto, being confined to the professional research journals and academic conferences. Vigorous debate and disagreement in public may, however, confuse and disappoint those whose acquaintance is limited to the certainties of school science, where scientific knowledge is presented, especially in textbooks, as secure and never as controversial or contested.
Problematic values and ethos of science The traditional values of science are meant to safeguard objectivity, neutrality, disinterestedness and rationality. These and other values of science were described by the sociologist Merton (1979) who coined the acronym CUDOS (Communalism; Universalism, Disinterestedness, Originality and Scepticism) to represent them. They have since come to be seen as the core ethos of science. Taken to the extreme, however, these values may seem to justify an absence of ethical considerations and a lack of empathy with, and concern for, the social implications of science. The search for universal laws and theories may encourage an image of science as abstract and as unrelated to, and disconnected from, human needs and concerns. In these circumstances, science comes to be perceived as ‘cold’, uncaring and lacking a human face. Ziman (2000) has commented upon on the issue of values and ethics in science. He describes how recent developments in the development of science have put even the traditional academic ethos under stress. He calls this new contemporary science ‘post-academic science’ and he urges the scientific
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community to become more ethically involved than ever before (Ziman, 1998).
Dislike of an over-ambitious science? The achievements of science may call for admiration, but some also prompt unease, as exemplified in the quotation above (pp. 256–7) from the historian Eric Hobsbawm. Many people dislike the image and ambitions of modern biotechnology, and have an emotional and irrational fear about scientists who are ‘tampering with Nature’ or ‘playing God’. They dislike the notion that individual men and women can be seen merely as instruments for the survival of their genes, as suggested by Dawkins in The Selfish Gene (1989). They are suspicious of what they read about the mapping of all the human genes through the Human Genome Project, and they fear the ‘progress’ related to cloning and gene manipulation. Similarly, many people react emotionally when physicists talk about their quest for ‘The Final Theory’, also called ‘The Theory of Everything’, or the search for ‘The God Particle’ (the title of a book by Nobel laureate Leon Lederman). So while the high ambitions and great achievements of modern science may attract some young people, they are likely to scare others. For some, science is also seen as intruding into areas that are to be considered sacred, and the notion that, in principle, science can explain everything is unwelcome. Others like to think of the natural world (‘Nature’) as sacred and mystical, rather than as explainable, controllable and rational. An avoidance of science may thus in fact be a deliberate choice of values and therefore not something that may be remedied by simply providing more information, especially by the scientists.
The new image: Big Science and techno-science Science used to be seen as a search for knowledge, driven by individual intellectual curiosity, and, historically, scientists have been rightfully described as radicals and revolutionaries who often challenged religious and political authority. The contemporary perception of science is different in a number of fundamental ways. Recent decades have brought a fusion of science and technology into what is called techno-science or ‘Big science’. The work of NASA and CERN, and the Human Genome Project are examples. Today’s scientists and engineers often work to serve national, industrial or military interests. The historical shift of scientists from being radical, anti-authoritarian rebels, to loyal workers on the payroll of industry, the military or the state can be overdrawn but it is real and had been well described by Hobsbawm (1995,
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pp. 522–57). The earlier image of the scientist as a dissident or rebel has been replaced with a less exotic image of a worker loyally serving those in power and authority. The previously privileged perception of the scientist as a neutral defender of objectivity and truth is increasingly questioned by the media, by many scholars (e.g. Ziman, 1996), and by pupils in schools.
Scientists and engineers: no longer heroes? Not very long ago, scientists and engineers were considered heroes. The scientists produced progressive knowledge, and fought superstition and ignorance; the engineers developed new technologies and products that improved the quality of life. This image is, however, now the stuff of history, at least in the more developed countries. For many young people in these prosperous, modern societies, the fight for better health and a better material standard is an unknown history of the past. The present, generally high, standards of living are taken for granted, rather than understood as fundamentally dependent on advances in science and technology. The fruits of science and technology are there for all to buy off the shelf. What attracts the attention of these young people are often the present evils of environmental degradation, pollution or global warming. The triumphs of the past are set aside in the readiness to blame science and technology for many of the serious problems of the present.
The new role models: not in science and technology We live in an intellectual, cultural and social world, in part created by the media. Football players, film stars and pop artists receive global publicity and earn fortunes. The lives of journalists and others working in the media seem interesting and challenging. Although few young people enter these careers, the new role models on either side of the camera create new ideals. Young people also know that lawyers and some of those trading in the financial markets earn ten or a hundred times more money than the physicist in the laboratory. They also know that a lack of knowledge of physics or mathematics is unlikely to hinder those who pursue such careers (although a judge in court is often asked to consider evidence based on scientific arguments and/or statistical inferences). A white-coated, hardworking and not very well-paid scientist in a laboratory is thus not a role model for many of today’s young people. The social climate, especially in developed countries, is not one in which it is easy to convince young people that they should concentrate on learning science at school or beyond.
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A communication gap between scientists and the ‘public’? The scientific and technological establishment is often confused and annoyed when confronted with criticism, especially when, historically, it has enjoyed prestige and generous finance, and has experienced few problems in recruitment. Confronted with public distrust and scepticism, the need now is to justify scientific and technological research and development in public forums. The immediate reaction to this new situation is the search for scapegoats, and too often these are found in the schools and in the media. The fundamental difficulty is often perceived by the scientific and technological establishment as a lack of information. Criticism and scepticism are often seen as derived from ‘misunderstandings’ and/or a lack of knowledge on the part of the public. In some instances, this may of course be the case, but, more generally, there is a need for a greater degree of self-criticism within the scientific and technological community, allied with an awareness that communication is a two-way process. At least some of the points above may have some validity as explanations for the current disenchantment with science and technology, although the weight to be attached to each shall, of course, vary between countries. Also, while it is a relatively straightforward matter to address some of the points, others are more deep-rooted and lie outside the direct influence of political decisions.
Contradictory (and optimistic) trends? It is evident from the points raised above that the issues surrounding recruitment to science and technology are many and varied. Some of the recent trends are also contradictory. A falling enrolment seems to suggest a decline in interest in science and technology. This, however, is the case only if enrolment in science and technology education is taken as the sole indicator of interest in these fields. Other indicators give other messages. For instance, young people in many countries are more interested than ever in using many kinds of new technology. It is a paradox that the countries that have the most problems with recruitment to scientific and technological studies and careers are precisely those with the most widespread use of new technologies by young people. Examples include cellular telephones, personal computers and the Internet. There seems to be an eagerness to use the new technologies, but a reluctance to study the disciplines that underlie them. Popular science and technology magazines have also retained their popularity in many countries, and television programmes about science, the
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environment and technology continue to attract large audiences. Furthermore, survey data for EU member countries (often including some other countries), such as the ongoing series of Eurobarometer surveys, do not give support to general claims about falling interest in, and negative attitudes towards, science and technology. Indeed, to the contrary, these studies indicate a high level of public interest in scientific and technological research and a high level of acceptance of such research as a national priority (EU, 2001). The Eurobarometer studies also document the fact that doctors, scientists and engineers have high esteem, much above that enjoyed by lawyers, businessmen, journalists and politicians (EU, 2001). Scientific and technological skill and knowledge are acquired and developed in many different contexts, and not simply in formal settings like schools. The media, museums of various kinds, the workplace and even ‘everyday life’ provide other learning contexts. Most of the impressive skills that young people have in handling personal computers, the Internet, cellular phones and all sorts of electronic devices are acquired in informal out-ofschool settings. When the Eurobarometer asked members of the public where they had acquired their scientific knowledge, television, the press and the radio featured much more prominently than either schools or universities (EU 2001, p. 13). Young people often develop more advanced skills in information and communication technology than do their teachers at school, even though their understanding of the underlying physical principles may be totally lacking. Young people, as well as many others, demonstrate an impressive ability to learn and acquire new skills that they deem to be of relevance to their daily life. Educational authorities might learn important lessons from these areas of learning, seeking to support them while avoiding gender, economic, social or other inequalities in access. Likewise, teachers in schools might well utilize the skills and the knowledge of the young in new and inventive ways.
An international concern The growing importance of science and technology in many countries, its increasingly problematic status and enrolment provide the background to a growing political concern about science and technology education. In many countries, the situation has attracted political attention at the highest levels, and, in some cases, projects and counter-measures are planned or have been put in operation. The Swedish NOT-project (http://www.hsv.se/ NOT/) and the Portuguese Ciencia Viva (http://www.ucv.mct.pt/) are examples of large-scale national programmes. Some of these programmes
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have also initiated research, prompted discussion, and undertaken other efforts directed at improving understanding of the dimensions of the problem. Institutes of scientific and technological research, universities, and industrial organizations have also established more or less co-ordinated intervention programmes. Organizations concerned with ‘Big science’ have also become involved. A prime example is the project Physics On Stage (POS http://www.estec.esa.nl/outreach/pos/), organized jointly by the European Laboratory for Particle Physics (CERN), the European Space Agency (ESA) and the European Southern Observatory (ESO). POS, and many other such intervention programmes by professional bodies have seldom undertaken a convincing analysis as to why they are facing the problems of falling enrolment. Some of their descriptions of the situation lack empirical evidence and are more emotional than rational. Many institutions seem to be driven by nothing more than a need to ‘do something’ about the situation. From the available studies in the field, it also seems premature to claim that the public understanding of science and technology is deteriorating, although such claims are often voiced from interests groups on behalf of the scientific and technological establishment. One could, however, argue that the public understanding of science and technology needs to be much better than it is, given the crucial role science and technology play in contemporary society. General claims about falling standards, however, do not seem to be justified.
Who needs science and technology – and why? The problems surrounding recruitment to scientific and technological subjects can be viewed from several different perspectives. These range from industrial and governmental anxiety about national economic competitiveness to concerns about empowerment at the grassroots level to protect and conserve the natural environment. Different conceptions of the recruitment ‘crisis’ suggest different solutions and, as indicated below, there is a range of stakeholders, each with an individual argument to present. Industry needs people with a high level of qualification in science and technology. Modern industry is high-tech and it is often referred to as a ‘knowledge industry’. The need here is for highly qualified scientists and engineers for survival in a competitive global economy. While such survival is also a matter of national economic well-being, young people will not base their educational choices on what is good for the nation.
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Universities and research institutions have a similar need for researchers (and teachers) to maintain study at a high international level and to train future generations of experts, researchers and teachers. Industry, universities and other research-based organizations thus need to recruit a highly skilled elite. However, the size of that élite may be quite modest, even in a highly industrialized society, and it would be a mistake to have this group principally in mind when reforming science and technology education within schools. A policy based mainly on the needs of this élite could decrease even further the proportion of young people interested in school science and technology, and who wish to continue their studies in these fields. Schools need large numbers of well-qualified teachers, but many countries face a problem of both quality and quantity in recruiting to the profession. Well-qualified and enthusiastic teachers are clearly the key to any improvement in the teaching of science and technology in schools, not least in laying the foundations for the future development of the knowledge, interests and attitudes of ordinary citizens once they have left school. Science and technology teachers are also influential in recruiting people to the scientific and technological sectors of employment. The long-term effects of a shortage of good science and technology teachers can be very damaging, although they may not be as immediately evident as a comparable shortage in industry and research. Teachers of science or technology need a broad education; a solid foundation in the relevant academic discipline(s) is important, but it is not enough. They need broader perspectives and skills in order to cope with the kinds of challenges set out earlier in this chapter. In particular, they need not only a foundation in the scientific or technological disciplines, but also an understanding which places these disciplines in their historical and social contexts. Achieving this is likely to require significant reforms in teacher training. A modern labour market requires people with qualifications in science and technology. This need is great and growing fast, as knowledge and skills based on science and technology become prerequisites for employment in new or emerging sectors of the labour market. It is not only doctors, pharmacists, engineers and technicians who need a scientific or technological education. Health workers, for example, handle complicated and dangerous equipment, and secretaries and office staff need good computer literacy. Likewise, lawyers and juries in court trials have to understand and critically judge evidence and statistical arguments in which knowledge of science, and considerations of probability and chance, play an increasing role. New, as well as more traditional, technologies often dominate the workplace and those with skills in these areas may have a competitive advantage in securing employment or promotion. Many countries have also identified
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a need for people with scientific or technological skills to replace those retiring in the near future. Beyond this, the general need is for a workforce that is flexible, willing to learn new skills and able to respond positively to ongoing change. A good grounding in science, technology and mathematics is important here since many innovations are likely to be derived from scientific and technological research and development. Science and technology education are required for participation as a citizen in a democracy. Modern society is dominated by science and technology, and citizens, acting as consumers and voters, are confronted with a range of science- and technology-related issues. As consumers, we have to take decisions about food and health, the quality and characteristics of products, the claims made in advertisements, etc. As voters, we have to take a stand and be able to judge arguments related to a wide variety of issues. Many of these political issues also have a scientific and/or technological dimension. In such cases, a knowledge of the relevant science or technology has to be combined with values and political ideals. Issues relating to the environment are obviously of this nature; but so, too, are issues relating to a wide range of other matters, including energy, traffic and health policy. It is important that social and political issues should not be seen as ‘technical’ and thus be left in the hands of ‘experts’. A broad public understanding of science and technology is an important democratic safeguard against ‘scientism’ and the domination of experts. The above ‘democratic argument’ for scientific and technological education assumes that people have some understanding both of scientific and technological concepts and principles, and of the nature of science and technology and the role they play in society. Among much else, people need to know that scientific knowledge is based on argumentation and evidence, and that statistical considerations about risks play an important role in establishing conclusions. In short, while everyone cannot become an expert, everyone should have the intellectual tools to be able to judge which expert, and what kind of arguments, one should trust. A note of caution, however, is appropriate. Addressing the problem of recruiting potential Nobel Prize winners and researchers to work at CERN or elsewhere may require quite a different educational strategy from that needed to promote a broad public understanding of science or the protection of wildlife and other natural resources. If so, the challenge is to combine these different concerns and strategies within a flexible education system that also accommodates the notion of lifelong learning. The following questions indicate some of the choices that have to be made. Should one favour early specialization and the identification and recruitment of the more able? To what extent, and until what age, should one have a comprehensive
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system for all, or, on the other hand, introduce streaming and selection? Should one maximize the individual freedom of pupils to choose according to their interests and abilities, or should one postpone choices and retain a core curriculum of important content to be covered by all? How should one support ‘lifelong education’ and develop adult education and on-the-job-training?
Science and technology in schools Present curricula: the critique Science curricula are key factors in developing and sustaining pupils’ interest in science. There seems to be a broad agreement about the shortcomings of traditional curricula that still prevail in most countries. The implicit image of science conveyed by these curricula is that it is mainly a massive body of authoritative and unquestionable knowledge. Most curricula and textbooks are overloaded with facts and information at the expense of concentration on a few ‘big ideas’ and key principles. There seems to be an attempt to cover most, if not all, parts of established academic science, without any justification for teaching this material in schools that cater for the whole age group. Many new words and ‘exotic’ concepts are introduced on every page of most textbooks. Although very few pupils will pursue further studies in science, preparation for such studies seems to be a guiding curriculum principle. There is often repetition, with the same concepts and laws presented year after year. Such curricula and textbooks commonly lead to rote learning without any deeper understanding, so that, unsurprisingly, many pupils become bored and develop a lasting aversion to science. Moreover, this textbook science is regularly criticized for its lack of relevance and deeper meaning for the learners and their daily life. The content is frequently presented without being related to social and human needs, either present or past; and the historical context of discoveries is reduced to biographical anecdotes. Moreover, the implicit philosophy of textbook science is considered by most scholars to be a simplistic and outdated form of empiricism. It should also be noted that science is often seen by students as demanding and difficult. Scientific ideas are not always easy to grasp, and their understanding sometimes requires concentration and hard work over a long period of time. Many young people today in technologically advanced countries do not readily make the commitment necessary to learn science. If they are to make that commitment, pupils will need to be strongly motivated and
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to sense that they are learning something worthwhile, interesting and valuable to them. This does not often seem to be the case. Although science per se can be seen as difficult, the demands of school science can, of course, be adopted to suit the age of the learners.
The priorities of the learners? Children in developing countries are interested in learning about nearly everything! This is possibly a reflection of the fact that for them, education is a luxury and a privilege, and not seen as a painful duty, as is often the case in more wealthy nations. Some of the results are hardly surprising since they fit well with the stereotypical interests of girls and boys. The surprise, however, is that the actual differences are so extreme. Take learning about ‘The car and how it works’ as an example. In Norway, 76 per cent of the boys and 33 per cent of the girls are interested. Japan is even more extreme, although the actual numbers are much smaller: 36 per cent of the boys, and only 6 per cent of the girls. The results for the car-producing Sweden are also of interest: 83 per cent of the boys and only 32 per cent of the girls wanted to learn about the car. No other country has such a large difference between girls and boys on this particular item. In spite of the great gender disparities, some topics seem to be high on the list for girls as well as boys in most countries, as the following data indicate. Most popular among girls and boys in most countries are the following: • • • • • •
the possibility of life beyond earth computers, PCs, and what we can do with them dinosaurs and why they died out earthquakes and volcanoes musical instruments and sounds the Moon, the Sun and the planets
Similarly, one can identify a list of the least popular topics (for girls and boys) in most (mainly the rich) countries. They include: • • • • • •
how to improve the harvest in gardens and farms how plants grow and what they need plants and animals in my neighbourhood detergents, soaps and how they work food processing, conservation and storage famous scientists and their lives
From this list, we see that the concern to make science and technology more relevant by concentrating on what is ‘concrete, near and familiar’ will not necessarily meet the interests of the children. They may, in fact, be more interested in learning about the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe, extinct dinosaurs, planets, earthquakes and volcanoes.
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When pupils have a choice, the science curriculum has to compete for popularity and attention with other school subjects. Many of these subjects have qualities that meet the students’ needs for meaning and relevance. The content of such subjects is less authoritarian, and it is easier to accommodate the opinions and feelings of the learners. This is seldom the case in school science as it is currently taught. The situation was well captured in a headline in the Financial Times some years ago: ‘Science attracts fewer candidates. Students switch to newer subjects thought to be more interesting and less demanding’ (15 August 1996). If scientific and technological education are to meet the needs of the learner and be seen as relevant and meaningful, it is important to know what the learners themselves find interesting and challenging. A number of research projects have tried to map these interests and challenges. The box above contains a brief description of one such project, entitled Science and Scientists (SAS), which explores various aspects of relevance in the teaching and learning of science and technology. Some forty researchers from twenty-one countries collected data from about 10,000 pupils at the age of 13. 4 The purpose of the study was to provide an empirical input to debates over priorities in the school curriculum, as well as identify the pedagogies that are likely to appeal to the learners. The SAS study is presented elsewhere (e.g. Sjøberg, 2000 and 2002), together with some of the results that relate to interesting topics in the science curriculum (one of the seven items in the SAS study). The questionnaire contained an inventory of sixty topics for possible inclusion in the science and technology curriculum, and the children simply marked the ones about which they would like to learn more. One important result of the study is that, to build on the interests and experiences of the learner, it may be necessary to abandon the notion of a common, more or less universal, science curriculum, in favour of curricula and teaching materials that are more context-bound and take into account both gender and cultural diversity. Plans for a more systematic follow-up study to the SAS project have been developed under the acronym of ROSE: The Relevance of Science Education. (Although ‘T’ does not appear in the acronym, Technology will be a key concern.) The target population will be 15-year-old pupils, in other words, those towards the end of the compulsory school in many countries, and before streaming usually takes place. (A description of the project is 4.
The countries are: Australia, Chile, Ghana, Hungary, Iceland, India, Japan, Lesotho, Mozambique, Nigeria, Norway, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, the Russian Federation, Spain, South Korea, Sudan, Sweden, Trinidad and Tobago, Uganda, the United Kingdom and the United States.
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given at http://folk.uio.no/sveinsj/) Researchers and research institutions in more than thirty countries have expressed their interest in participating in this project.
Science and technology in schools – recent trends and responses The challenges facing science and technology education outlined above have been met in different ways. Many countries have introduced more or less radical reforms, and there has been support for curriculum development and experiment. The reforms have been directed at both the content and framing of the curriculum and at pedagogy, in other words, at teaching methods and the organization of the learning processes. There seems to be something of a general weakening of the traditional academic influence on the organization of the school curriculum and its content. An underlying concern, when ‘everyone’ attends school for twelve to thirteen years, is that science and technology should contribute to the more general aims of schooling. The tendency, therefore, is to gradually redefine what counts as valid school science by broadening the perspective to give attention to some of the social and ethical aspects of science and technology. Some of the trends are discussed briefly below. Although listed separately, many are related, and while not all are found in all countries, collectively, they paint a picture of discernible change.
Towards ‘Science for All’ More emphasis is being given to those aspects of science that can be seen as contributing to the overall goals of schooling. The key notion is that of liberal education (allmenn dannelse, allmänn Bildning, Bildung, Formation, etc). Less importance is attached to the traditional academic content of school science and to school science as a preparation for more advanced studies. Specialization is postponed to the last few years of schooling.
Towards more subject integration In the early years of schooling, science and technology are often more or less integrated with other school subjects. Only later are the sciences presented as separate disciplines. The level at which this specialization begins varies between countries. In general, the separate science subjects are taught
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only at the later stages of schooling. In Norway, for example, this occurs only in the two final years of the upper secondary school.
Widening perspectives More attention is being given to the cultural, historical and philosophical aspects of science and technology, in an attempt to portray these as human activities. This increased attention may enhance the appeal of these subjects to those pupils who are searching for some ‘meaning’ to their studies, rather than the acquisition of factual information and established, orthodox explanations of natural phenomena.
The nature of science (NOS) The ‘nature of science’ has become an important concern in the curriculum. This often means a rejection of the stereotypical and false image of science as a simple search for objective and final truths based on unproblematic observations. The recent emphasis on understanding of the nature of science is inevitably related to the attempt to give more attention to its social, cultural and human aspects. Science is now to be presented as knowledge that is built on evidence, as well as upon arguments deployed in a creative search for meaning and explanation.
Context becomes important Increasing attention is being given to presenting science and technology in contexts that have meaning and relevance for the learner. Themes or topics that illustrate scientific or technological principles are drawn from everyday life or current socio-scientific issues. These themes or topics are often by their nature interdisciplinary, and teaching them requires collaboration between teachers with expertise in different disciplines. In many cases, a project approach to learning is appropriate, although many teachers require training to work in this way.
Concern for the environment Environmental questions are increasingly forming part of school science and technology curricula. In the new Norwegian curriculum, for example, this is even reflected in the name of the relevant subject, which is called ‘science and environmental study’. Environmental concerns often embrace socioscientific issues, the treatment of which also frequently requires project work undertaken in an interdisciplinary setting.
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An emphasis on technology Technology has recently been introduced in many countries as a subject in its own right or as an integral component of general education (as in Sweden). In other countries, it has found accommodation within the science curriculum, although not simply as a source of interesting examples invoked to illustrate scientific theories or principles. In Denmark, for example, the name of the relevant new subject is ‘nature and technology’. As a curriculum component, however, ‘technology’ is often confusing and incoherent. In some places, technology is placed in the context of ‘design and technology’ (as in England and Wales). In others, the term technology implies modern information and communication technologies. Moreover, in some the stress is on the technical (and underlying scientific) aspects of technology, while, in others, emphasis is placed on the interactions of science, technology and society. Attention to technology, utility and practical examples is often used to build confidence in the children since, through technology, they can come to understand that science and technology are not just about knowing but also about doing and making things work.
Science, technology and society (STS) STS has become an acronym for a whole international ‘movement’ within science and technology education (see e.g. Solomon and Aikenhead, 1994). The key concern is not only scientific and technological content, but also the relationships between science, technology and society. The trends described above, notably the relevance of context, increased attention to environmental concerns and the role of technology, are fundamental to the STS approach.
Attention to ethics When scientific and technological issues are treated in a wider context, it becomes evident that many of the topics have ethical dimensions. This is most obviously the case when dealing with socio-scientific issues, but ethical questions are also involved in discussions relating to so-called ‘pure’ science, e.g. what sorts of research ought to be prioritized (or even allowed) and to what extent is it legitimate to use animals in research? Attention to ethical issues may give science and technology a more human ‘face’, and it is also likely to empower future voters with respect to taking a stand on important political issues.
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Less is more ‘Less is more’ has become a slogan for curriculum development in a number of countries. More attention is given to the ‘great stories’ of science and technology and to the presentation of key ideas and their development, often in an historical and social context. These key ideas replace (the impossible) attempt to present pupils with an encyclopedic coverage of the whole of science. By adopting this so-called narrative approach, it is hoped to convey an understanding of the nature of science and technology, to nourish pupils’ curiosity about, and respect for, work in these fields, and to avoid the curse of an overcrowded curriculum that currently leaves so little time for reflection and the search for meaning.
Information technologies as subject matter and as tools Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are technologies that are clearly associated with science and technology, not least because the ‘hardware’ consists of science-based technologies and the ‘software’ relies upon basic mathematics. As a result, the underlying physical and technical ideas are to an increasing extent treated as important and distinct components of school science and technology curricula. However, ICTs also provide new tools that can be used in teaching science and technology. The whole range of conventional software is used, including databases, spreadsheets and statistical and graphical programs. In addition, modelling, visualization and the simulation of processes are important. ICTs are also used for taking time series of measurements of a wide variety of parameters (‘data logging’). Science and technology are likely to be key elements of strategies to develop ICTs as a resource for promoting teaching and learning. It is also likely that science and technology teachers, by virtue of their training, are better equipped for this task than many of their colleagues, although the former, too, are likely to need to have their skills brought up-to-date by means of suitable training programmes.
Ways forward? The preceding paragraphs make clear that the challenges facing contemporary science and technology education are multi-faceted. In addition, those challenges, and the strategies for overcoming them, are perceived differently
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by the different groups with a legitimate interest in science and technology education. The perspectives of industrial leaders are often different from those of environmental activists. It has also been argued in this chapter that the problems related to the level of interest in, and the attitudes towards, science and technology cannot be regarded as solely educational, but need to be understood and addressed in a wider social, cultural and political context. As a consequence, the range of possible ‘solutions’ may be as large and diverse as the ways in which the problem is framed. Despite this, it is possible to recognize some degree of broad agreement about the reforms that need to be undertaken. Agreement can be reached, for example, about the need to stimulate and maintain young children’s curiosity about natural phenomena and how things work. There can also be agreement that everybody would benefit from a broad knowledge of key ideas and basic principles in science and technology, and an understanding and appreciation of the key roles played by science and technology in contemporary society. Knowledge and appreciation of scientific theories and ideas as major cultural products of humankind also probably constitute an uncontroversial curriculum goal. This list could be continued, but these examples indicate that it should be possible for different groups to work together to achieve what is often called ‘scientific and technological literacy’. Other issues are necessarily more controversial. How critical a stance should education adopt towards the involvement of science and technology with the authority of the state, with ‘sensitive’ military or industrial research, or with political activism? To what extent should early selection and specialization be encouraged, or permitted, in order to identify and recruit talented students for advanced scientific and technological studies? It is the difficult task of educational and political authorities to balance often-contradictory concerns and, of course, to stimulate public debate about them. Finally, if it is the case that the problems of recruitment to, and attitudes towards, science and technology are deeply embedded in a wider social context, then those problems cannot be solved simply by reforming schools, teacher training institutions, universities or their curricula. Precisely because they are so deeply embedded, they are not amenable to easy one-off solutions. The need is for reforms that are context specific, embrace multiple approaches and are implemented over long periods of time. Initiatives will also have to be monitored, and their development and outcomes subjected to ongoing evaluation that is informed by evidence and careful analysis.
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Bibliography ATKIN J. M.; BLACK, P. 1997. Policy Perils of International Comparisons. Phi Delta Kappan (September), pp. 22–8. AIKENHEAD, G. 1998. Culture and the Learning of Science. In: B. Fraser and K. G. Tobin (eds), International Handbook of Science Education. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers. DAWKINS, R. 1989. The Selfish Gene. (2nd ed.), Oxford, Oxford University Press. EU. 2001. EUROBAROMETER 55.2 Europeans, Science And Technology. Brussels, Eurobarometer Public Opinion Analysis. (available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/dg10/epo/eb.html) GROSS, P. R.; LEVITT, N. 1998 (1994). Higher Superstition. The Academic Left and Its Quarrels With Science. Baltimore, MD., Johns Hopkins University Press. GROSS P. R.; LEVITT, N.; LEWIS, M. W. (eds.) 1997. The Flight from Science and Reason. Baltimore, MD., Johns Hopkins Press. HOBSBAWM, E. J. 1995. Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century 1914–1991. London, Abacus. IRWIN, A.; WYNNE, B. (eds.). 1996. Misunderstanding Science? The Public Reconstruction of Science and Technology. Cambridge, Cambridge University Press. JENKINS, E. W. 1994. Public Understanding of Science and Science Education for Action. Journal of Curriculum Studies, Vol. 26, No. 6, p. 601. ––––. 1997 Scientific and Technological Literacy: Meanings and Rationales. In: E. W. Jenkins (ed.), Innovations in Science and Technology Education, Vol. VI. Paris, UNESCO Publishing. KOERTGE, N. 1998. A House Built on Sand – Exposing Postmodernist Myths about Science. New York, Oxford University Press. LATOUR, B. 1987. Science in Action. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press. LAYTON, D.; JENKINS, E.; MACGILL, S.; DAVEY, A. 1993. Inarticulate Science? Perspectives on the Public Understanding of Science and Some Implications for Science Education. Nafferton, Studies in Education Ltd. MERTON, R. K. 1979. (original 1942). The Sociology of Science. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. MILLAR, R.; OSBORNE, J. (eds.) 1998. Beyond 2000. Science Education for the Future. London, School of Education, King’s College London. MILLER, J. D. 1983. Scientific Literacy: A Conceptual and Empirical Review. Daedalus, Vol. 112, No. 2, pp. 29–48. NSB. 2000. Science and Engineering Indicators – 2000. Arlington, Va., National Science Board, National Science Foundation. OECD. 2001a. Education at a Glance, 2001. Paris, OECD.
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––––. 2001b. Knowledge and skills for Life – First results from PISA 2000. Paris, OECD. (Reports are available at http://www.pisa.oecd.org/) SJØBERG, S. 2000. Interesting all Children in the ‘Science for All’ Curriculum. In: R. Millar; J. Leach.; J. Osborne (eds.), Improving Science Education – the Contribution of Research. Buckingham, Open University Press. ––––. 2002. Science and Scientists: The SAS-Study Cross-Cultural Evidence and Perspectives on Pupils’ Interests, Experiences and Perceptions – Background, Development and Selected Results, Acta Didactica, No. 1 (2nd, ed. rev.). Oslo, University of Oslo. (Available at http://folk.uio.no/sveinsj/) SOKAL, A.; BRICMONT, J. 1998. Fashionable Nonsense: Postmodern Intellectuals’ Abuse of Science. New York, Picador USA. SOLOMON, J.; AIKENHEAD, G. 1994. STS Education – International Perspectives on Reform. New York, Teachers College Press. UNDP. 2001. Human Development Report 2001: Making New Technologies Work for Human Development. New York/London, Oxford University Press. (available at http://www.undp.org/) UNESCO 2000. World Education Report 2000. Paris, UNESCO Publishing. (available at http://www.unesco.org/) WOLPERT, L. 1993. The Unnatural Nature of Science. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press. ZIMAN, J. 1996. Is Science Losing its Objectivity? Nature, Vol. 382, pp. 751–4. ––––. 1998. Why Must Scientists Be More Ethically Sensitive Than They Used To Be? Science. No. 282, pp. 1813–14. ––––. 2000. Real Science – What It Is, What It Means. Cambridge University Press.
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School technology education in Europe in the early twenty-first century: towards a closer relationship with science education Marc J. de Vries This chapter offers some impressions of possible and desirable future developments for school technology education in Europe. In the last decades of the twentieth century, technology education emerged as a new or substantially renewed school subject in many countries worldwide. As we are now at the beginning of a new century, many people feel the need to reflect on the future direction of the school curriculum. Here I will argue that the relationship between science education and technology education will be a particular issue of concern.
Previous developments in European school technology education Several years ago I described how different types of technology education had developed in various countries of Europe (de Vries, 1994b). Quite different approaches were evident, each with its own specific bias (a craftoriented approach, an industrial-production-oriented approach, a scienceoriented approach, a design-oriented approach, a ‘high-tech’ approach, an engineering-concepts approach, a general capabilities or key competencies approach, and a social-issues-oriented approach). There was a general tendency within Europe at that time to strengthen the position of technology education as a separate school subject or learning area in the curriculum (de Vries, 2000b). This also happened in a number of other countries outside Europe. More recently, however, there seems to be something of a movement in some countries to establish closer relationships between science education and technology education. In the United States, for example, the National Science Foundation (NSF) has funded a number of educational research and development projects directed towards this end. In itself this is quite remarkable, since the traditional focus of NSF has been exclusively on science education. Evidently NSF has noticed that there are opportunities to
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promote science by establishing relationships with the new, upcoming subject technology education. More recently, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) has also shown a growing interest in technology education as a partner for school science. AAAS has already organized two conferences dedicated to establishing a research agenda for technology education. In Israel, where technology education had developed quite rapidly by the end of the last century, technology for general education was not even defined as a separate subject, but was immediately integrated into a subject entitled ‘Science and Technology’. Given the growing importance of international contacts in technology education, these efforts to link science education and technology education will inevitably have some influence on European countries. That influence, already evident in the Netherlands and Finland, will require European countries to confront the question of whether close links between technology and science education are possible and desirable.
New tendencies linking science education and technology education in the school curriculum Some European examples In the Netherlands, school technology education has developed very rapidly. This makes it of particular interest as a case study of developments in technology education in Europe. Since 1993, technology education has been a compulsory subject in the first two grades of Netherlands secondary education (pupils aged 12 and beyond). Attainment targets have been fixed by law to set the conditions for curriculum development. These targets are specified in relatively modest detail, leave a large degree of freedom and are to be reviewed every five years. In primary schools, technology does not constitute a separate subject, but the attainment targets for the primary curriculum contain some elements of technology. Individual teachers can thus involve their pupils in technological activities, and these are mostly based on their own personal experiences and interests. In senior secondary education, some elements of technology can be found in physics and chemistry, both subjects that can be chosen for diploma examinations. This means that technology education is only taught separately from science at the junior secondary level. In 2001, it was proposed that, from 2004, physics, chemistry, biology and technology be integrated into one subject, ‘science’. Although it is
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possible that when the details of the proposal are published, they will be rejected by the Ministry of Education, the direction of future developments seems clear. It seems highly probable that school technology and science will become much more closely linked than before, if not in 2004 then at some subsequent date. In Finland, the tendency towards linking science and technology education has been ongoing for several years. The last decade of the twentieth century saw the introduction of ‘technical work’, a curriculum subject based partially on the old craft tradition (Cygneus, one of the most prominent scholars who stimulated craft education in the Scandinavian countries, was from Finland). The Ministry of Education has been frequently confronted with proposals to integrate technology within science education. Doing this in the near future would probably mean rendering obsolete the valuable experience gained of technology education in the recent past. For that reason, it can only be hoped that, for at least the foreseeable future, technology will remain an independent subject in the Finnish school curriculum, in order to allow teachers to build upon and exploit the experience gained towards the end of the twentieth century. In the United Kingdom, too, there are signs of a growing relationship between science education and (design and) technology education. In 2000, the issue was addressed in a report from the Engineering Council (Barlex and Pitt, 2000). The authors overtly stated that science education and (design and) technology education were still quite separate components of the national curriculum and claimed that this curriculum was failing to stimulate teachers to seek closer links between science and technology. The report also made clear that there were many barriers to establishing these links (in this chapter, too, we will pay attention to such barriers, see below), despite the fact that experts in both fields recognized their importance. There was, however, a specific rejection of the notion of integrating science and technology, principally because of some fundamental differences in the nature of scientific and technological activity. The report referred to the Technology Enhancement Programme, funded by the Engineering Council, as an example of an attempt to provide materials for teachers to implement elements of science in their (design and) technology lessons. Promoting closer relationships between science education and technology education is an important issue for the Engineering Council, and it is likely to welcome and support any further attempts to translate these relationships into curriculum materials that teachers can use. Another example of a project that seeks to exploit science-technology relationships in education, but at the primary level, has been described by Johnsey (2000). In this curriculum initiative, scientific concepts and principles are used in design project work. In general,
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the impression is that the approach is feasible and helps pupils to recognize some of the ways in which science and technology are linked. In Germany, the Verein Deutscher Ingenieure (VDI, the German Association of Engineers) organized a conference, in March 2001, concerned with educational policy. One outcome of the conference was a plea to the government to strengthen the position of science and technology education in the school curriculum. Throughout the conference, science education and technology education were constantly mentioned in connection with each other. It was stated explicitly that technology should have its own position in the curriculum, that both science education and technology education were indispensable elements of the school curriculum, and that there were evident advantages in seeking links between science and technology education (‘interdisciplinary work’; see VDI’s website www.vdi.de for a summary of the conference). It is striking that here, as in England, it is the engineers who show a particular interest in linking science education and technology education. In most cases in Germany, technology education (Arbeitslehre, i.e. ‘labour education’, is used in several Länder to indicate this school subject) is more related to economics, but evidently VDI is of the opinion that relationships with science education should be strengthened. In France, there seems to be no tendency as yet to seek closer relationships between science education and technology education at school level. Recent decades have brought the emancipation of Technologie, the distinctive character of which has been used to justify its separate position in the school curriculum (in particular at the junior secondary education level, the Collège; see Desvoy et al., 2000). Since 1985, the main focus of the subject has increasingly been on the social and economic aspects of technology, as realized in an approach called Projet. This French term has a more specific meaning than the English word ‘project’. In the context of French education, it is associated with a specific sequence of phases in the development of an industrial product. The practice of technology education in France often tends to have something of a ‘high tech’ bias (computers, electronics, robotics), partly in response to the industrial orientation given to Technologie since 1985. There are certainly ample opportunities here to use elements of science in technology education, as was recognized by Hörner in his description of the French situation for a German readership (Hörner, 1996), and a number of French textbooks for technology education have clearly taken full advantage of them. The above is just a selection of countries in which a trend, or at least the beginnings of a trend, towards seeking close relationships between science education and technology education can be recognized. That trend can have a positive impact on technology education; on the other hand, there
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are certainly a number of barriers to be overcome if such relationships are to be realized in practice (see below).
The advantages of closer relationships between science education and technology education For a variety of reasons, a stronger relationship with science can have a positive impact on the development of technology education. Most obviously, the status of technology education is likely to rise by enhancing its association with a subject that has been traditionally accorded a high status by school boards and parents. Technology education has had to struggle with a negative image stemming from the long-standing assumption that it involved little more than tinkering and craftwork. It is also still the case in a number of countries that industry continues to overlook the potential of technology education as an introduction to the world of manufacturing. A clearer link with science education could help to overcome this failure of perception. A further advantage of a closer relationship between school science and technology is the development of a sound conceptual basis for technology education. The conceptual basis of school science is well-defined, and helping students to develop their understanding of it has been at the heart of science teaching. Technology education lags behind here, in part because the emphasis in the past has been on the development of technical skills. A more cognitive dimension to technology education has been slow to develop and gain acceptance. This is partly because, unlike science education, technology education draws upon many disciplines that differ significantly from each other. It should also be noted that having a clearer relationship with science education will help technology educators to present a more realistic image of technology, since many contemporary technological developments are strongly dependent on exploiting scientific knowledge. This, of course, does not justify characterizing technology as applied science, because other types of knowledge are also necessarily involved in technological development. But there is no doubting the importance of scientific knowledge in contemporary technological development, and it is important to make this clear to students who are following courses in technology education. The task, however, is not without problems.
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Obstacles to closer links between science education and technology education The mismatch in the conceptual levels of scientific and technological developments At first sight, it appears quite logical to link science education and technology education since it is commonly accepted that technological advance draws heavily upon scientific concepts and procedures. If it is also accepted that both science education and technology education should accurately reflect their respective original disciplines (i.e. science and technology), then promoting closer relationships between the two subjects seems essential. However, scholarly examination of the interactions of science and technology shows that the case for close links may not be quite so simple (see Sarlemijn, 1993 for a typology of technologies based on their quite different relationships with science). The interaction of science and technology is much more complicated than that implied by the popular notion of ‘technology as applied science’ (de Vries, 1996). This notion was often encouraged within science school curricula that presented technology as the result of the straightforward application of scientific principles to the solution of practical problems. To the extent that this notion has any validity, it holds only for some twentieth-century (and subsequent) technologies. The most familiar examples are the transistor and the laser, which can be seen as the outcome of ‘applying’ quantum physics. But it is highly questionable whether examples of this kind can be accommodated within the science and technology programmes provided as part of general education. There is thus a dilemma. Only in a few cases is the elementary scientific knowledge taught in the early years of education of technological significance. The scientific knowledge and concepts underlying many technological developments are not taught until towards the end of secondary schooling. As a result, it is difficult to find convincing examples of technological projects that enable teachers to make clear to pupils how scientific knowledge can influence technological innovation. The most obvious examples are conceptually too difficult for pupils to understand, and the examples at an appropriate cognitive level are inappropriate since scientific knowledge did not really play a vital role in their development.
The background of teachers as an obstacle Many technology teachers do not have a background in science and a large number of those now teaching the subject previously taught art and craft (de Vries, 1994a). This has ensured that, in most European countries, technology education is characterized by the creative elements of design rather than by the more exact demands of theory and calculation. Enhancing the scientific
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dimensions of school technology education inevitably threatens the confidence of those teachers with little or no scientific background in their training. This is not something that can be remedied by a simple programme of retraining. Teachers will need to re-conceptualize their understanding of technology, and this will require time, careful guidance and step-by-step change. This issue is considered further below.
An imbalance between science and technology In promoting closer links between school science and technology education, it is important to retain an appropriate balance between the two broad disciplines. This is particularly the case when, as noted above, there are moves towards integrating science and technology into a new composite curriculum component. In such circumstances, technology could readily become subservient to science, perhaps even to the extent that technology is once again regarded as ‘applied science’ and/or only serves a motivational and illustrative role in the teaching and learning of science. This is a particular risk in those countries where the position of technology education remains vulnerable, either because of its still negative image and/or because of its weak conceptual basis. Succumbing to such a risk would bring school technology education back to where it was decades ago, when it was almost non-existent in most European countries, and waste the capital that has been invested in its development. The investment includes the development of curriculum materials, the retraining of teachers, the equipping of laboratories and workshops, and the setting up of associations of technology teachers to promote professional debate. All this will be wasted if steps are not taken to safeguard the position of technology in any new combined curriculum component. In the case of the Netherlands, the mere name that has been suggested for such a component for the early years of secondary education highlights the danger. Rather than something like ‘science and technology’, the name ‘science’ was proposed, with its obvious implications for the subordinate status of technology. The general position would seem to be that school technology must be given time to secure its own standing and authority as a distinctive curriculum component, before attempts are made to integrate it with science.
Historical, philosophical, and design-methodological analyses as a conceptual basis for school technology To understand the interrelationships of science and technology, it is helpful to study the historical developments of both fields of activity. Such studies have shown that technology certainly cannot be reduced to ‘applied science’ as was often assumed in the past (Layton, 1974). Technology in many cases
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preceded science. Some early science was a systematic collection of technological experiences that were generalized into scientific ‘laws’, more appropriately described as ‘rules-of-thumb’. Later, such knowledge, and also more fundamental and abstract knowledge from which the fields of classical mechanics, classical thermodynamics and classical electromagnetism were constructed, proved important to technologists of different kinds. However, it was not until the beginning of the twentieth century that scientific knowledge commonly preceded technological applications (see the reference above to the development of lasers and transistors). To gain more specific insights into the science-technology relationship, it is often useful to study the work of industrial laboratories in which scientific and technological research go hand in hand. The histories of such laboratories reveal that the relationships between science and technology can be of very different kinds. For example, the history of the Philips Research Laboratories illustrates that there have been three different patterns of science-technology interaction in recent times (de Vries, 2001). In the early decades, the work in these laboratories was characterized by what might be called ‘science-enabled technological development’. The company decided upon the development of a new product and the scientists in the laboratory undertook related basic research while simultaneously engaged in product development. From the end of the Second World War until the early 1970s, scientific knowledge was developed that did not (yet) have any connection with new products (de Vries, 1999). The expectation was that new ‘fundamental’ scientific knowledge would ultimately lead to new, perhaps dramatic, technological developments. Scientists were therefore to be given as much freedom as possible and not be bothered with practical issues relating to new products. The most recent period of the history of the Philips Research Laboratories shows a third pattern of interaction, in which scientific knowledge is developed only to meet the specific needs of product development. In contrast to the earliest period, it is not the scientists who take the lead in product development, but the engineers in the product division of the company. This historical analysis shows that the science-technology relationship is manifold and varied. The richness of this relationship must therefore be taken into account when enhancing the relationship between school science and technology (de Vries, 2000b). Important insights into the relationships between science and technology can also be gained from philosophical, rather than historical, studies. The philosophy of technology is a relatively young discipline and, as a result, there is not yet a generally accepted set of theories and principles (Mitcham, 1994, provides a good introduction to this field). In particular, the epistemology of technology is still very much in its infancy, although it is argued
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that an analysis of the nature of technological knowledge can introduce new elements into the wider epistemological debates. Moreover, technological knowledge has some distinct features that make it different from, for instance, scientific knowledge (Ropohl, 1997). In the current general philosophical debates about knowledge, the issue is whether or not the concept of knowledge is properly defined by the phrase ‘justified true belief’. This definition suggests that all knowledge is based on belief and becomes knowledge when we find justification for that belief and when that belief is not in conflict with reality (i.e. when it is ‘true’; see Audi, 1998, for an introduction to epistemology). The definition of knowledge as ‘justified true belief’ suggests that truth is the primary criterion for a belief to be called ‘knowledge’. Technological knowledge, however, in many cases seems to require a different criterion, namely a normative one. In science, a theory can be true or untrue. It does not make ultimate sense to say that it is ‘good’ or ‘bad’ except by reference to truth or falsehood. In technology, however, knowledge does have aspects of the ‘good’ or the ‘bad’ (in the design or reliability of a device, for instance). In the philosophy of technology, efforts are currently being made to characterize technological education. Philosophical analyses of technology can be useful in establishing well-grounded relationships between school science and technology, as well as demarcating the boundaries between them. Vincenti, in his book What Engineers Know and How They Know It, has provided seminal insights into the nature of technological knowledge (Vincenti, 1990). In this often-cited book, he distinguishes six types of technological knowledge: fundamental design concepts (operational principles and normal configurations), design criteria and specification, theoretical tools (mathematics, reasoning, laws of nature), quantitative data (descriptive and prescriptive), practical considerations and design instrumentalities (procedural knowledge). This typology was the outcome of his case studies of design in the fields of aeronautics, and he has shown that only in a small number of cases was science the origin of the technological knowledge. Moreover, when technological knowledge is derived from scientific knowledge, the latter has to be transformed and re-contextualized before it can be used for technological purposes (see also Layton, 1993). This reworking of scientific knowledge for technological purposes needs to be taken into account when seeking to promote links between science and technology education. The Vincenti approach to understanding the nature of technology fits well with what is sometimes called the ‘empirical turn in the philosophy of technology’ (Kroes and Meijers, 2000). Another approach would be to seek a relationship with philosophical discussions about the nature of technological artefacts. These discussions lead to the notion of such artefacts having
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a dual nature – physical and functional. Artefacts are physical in that they can be characterized by the material from which they have been made, by their shape, their colour, etc. But they can also be characterized by the function they are to fulfil. Knowledge about artefacts can then be fourfold (de Vries, 2002): knowledge of their physical nature (knowing natural phenomena), knowledge of the functional nature (knowing what functions are needed or desired), knowledge of the relationships between their physical and functional natures (knowing what phenomenon can be used for what function of the artefact), and knowledge of the processes through which this relationship can be realized in practice. This approach too can be supported by empirical studies. In addition to history and philosophy, important insights into the nature of technological activity can also be obtained from studying design methodology, i.e. from a systematic study of the ways in which designers think and how they undertake their work. This, too, is a fairly young discipline. In the early years of design methodology, efforts were made to produce prescriptive schemes and flowcharts for designers that would guide them through the design processes. These were based on the assumption that what was being designed was less important than the processes involved since these possessed a general character. In the course of time, this idea was abandoned (Cross, 1993) as researchers became aware of the fact that design processes are not independent of content. There is a striking analogy with research in technology education, where the relationship between the content of the design process (what is to be designed) and the process itself has been established through empirical studies of how pupils undertake design projects in the classroom (McCormick, 1997). Design methodologists now tend to distinguish between procedural and content knowledge (e.g. Bayazit, 1993), and to emphasize that these two types of knowledge interact in the design processes. Such analyses have also pointed out the ‘tacit’ character of much design knowledge (Schön, 1983). The term ‘tacit knowledge’ was used for the first time by Polanyi and has been adopted by design methodologists to indicate that portion of what designers know but which is not made explicit (‘codified’). The knowledge that designers derive from science often already has a codified character, but, in design work, it is used in combination with tacit knowledge. This combination also needs to be taken into account when promoting the greater use of scientific knowledge in technology education.
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Strategies to promote links between science and technology education Curriculum development In many countries, curriculum development takes place within the context of specified attainment targets or standards. Usually there are separate sets of attainment targets or standards for science education and for technology education. Barlex and Pitt have commented that, in the United Kingdom, this separation is so strict that it actively hinders, rather than stimulates, contacts between science and technology teachers. The same judgement can be made about the kerndoelen (attainment targets) in the Netherlands. Yet this need not be so, since it is possible to use the normal processes for revising attainment targets or standards in order to underscore the relationships between science and technology, without denying the specific character of either subject. One strategy would be to define common themes or contexts in each set of attainment targets or standards. ‘Energy’ could be such a theme, as well as ‘Transportation’ or ‘Communication’. Another approach would be to specify attainment targets or standards that are common to both science and technology. An extension of this approach would be to have entirely common standards or attainment targets for the two subjects, although, in such a case, it would obviously be very important not to lose sight of the distinctive educational contribution that each can make. Curriculum development intended to promote links between science and technology can thus be undertaken using the normal processes for curriculum revision and in a manner that is gradual, rather than abrupt. A gradual approach has the merit of providing time for teachers to undergo the training necessary to give effect to the intended changes in the curriculum, and for educational publishers to develop the texts and other materials needed to support classroom practice, drawing, where necessary, upon the relevant research findings.
The initial and in-service education of teachers In a number of countries, it is already common practice that teachers can be awarded teaching certificates and degrees that involve the study of both scientific and technological subjects. This, however, does not guarantee that teachers are trained to make useful combinations to the teaching of these two subjects. Usually the scientific components of a joint qualification are studied in one department and the technology components in another. Each department retains its own content and teaching approach so that the
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boundaries between science and technology are not crossed. The only way to enable teachers to combine science and technology in their teaching is to bring these two activities together within programmes of initial teacher education. It is also important that in-service education courses for teachers of science help them to gain some understanding of what is involved in technology education, and vice versa. In the case of science teachers, this would also involve some contact with industrial practice. Both in initial and inservice training programmes, specific attention should be paid to co-operation between science and technology teachers and departments, and to the encouragement of collaborative, team teaching.
Educational research: linking theory and practice Technology education is a relatively new curriculum component and one that is still being developed. In such a situation, the intellectual support of research into technology education is perhaps even more critical than for school subjects that already have a well-established position in the school curriculum. But, as in other learning areas, there often seems to be a gap between theory and practice in technology education (Benenson, 2000). This is partly because most writing about technology education addresses theoretical curriculum issues, rather than reporting on empirical studies of the ways in which technology education is realized within schools (Zuga, 1997), although there are, of course, some important exceptions (de Vries, 2000a). In addition, researchers rarely seem to take into account teachers as a possible readership when securing publication of their work in the professional research journals. This makes it difficult for teachers to adjust their teaching in the light of research findings. It would be useful if researchers made contact with teachers at an early stage of their research (perhaps even when establishing their research agenda) and kept them actively involved throughout the process (rather than treating them simply as contacts or as objects of their research). There is a parallel obligation upon teachers to respond appropriately to new insights gained from research in technology education. Research projects should preferably involve both development and more fundamental studies of practice since this is more likely to bring about change in the way in which teachers work. Although there have been a number of studies of the relationships between science and technology education, there remains a need for research to identify, evaluate and implement ways of successfully integrating scientific knowledge into technology design projects in classroom practice. As far as implementation is concerned, educational support centres have an important role to play in ensuring that teachers are provided with the necessary guidance and support. The work of Obschestvo Remeslenova i zemledelcheskovo Trouda (ORT) in Israel provides an excellent
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example of continued support and guidance for teachers in combination with research and development work. As ORT particularly is concerned with science-technology combinations, it is very useful for those involved with technology education in Europe to study the way ORT operates in Israel, as well as in other countries worldwide.
From StS to STS A critical reader of this chapter may perhaps comment that no attention has been given above to a long-established attempt to bring science and technology closer together in the school curriculum, namely the Science, Technology and Society (STS) tradition (Solomon and Aikenhead, 1994). It is noteworthy that attempts to introduce STS into schools have met with more success in North America than in Europe. Within Europe, there are only a few examples of substantial efforts to realize STS education, and most of these can be found in the United Kingdom, with projects such as Science in its Social Context (SISCON) and Science and Technology in Society (SATIS). In the Netherlands, the Project Leepakket Ontwikkeling voor Natuurkunde (PLON) certainly had an impact on examination programmes for physics education, but it did not lead to a more general STS approach in schools. Europe also lacks an STS association such as the National Association for Science, Technology and Society (NASTS) in North America – within which the European involvement is inevitably very limited. It may be that European school systems are less flexible than their North American counterparts and/or that, as far as European systems are concerned, there are limitations in the STS approach applied in North America. The STS movement emerged as science educators sought to make their subject more socially relevant to pupils and students. An obvious way of attempting this is by including technological developments within the school curriculum, since most of the social debates about science are directly related to developments of this kind. However, in many cases, the technological developments themselves received little attention. The emphasis was upon their social implications and consequences, marked by a tendency to focus on specific controversial issues such as nuclear energy and environmental problems. Given these issues, the negative aspects of technology inevitably received more attention than the positive. This bias can be understood against the background of the period in which STS courses emerged, namely the 1970s, during which concern first began to be voiced on a large scale about a number of technological developments. In broad terms, the STS movement started from science, and then incorporated society, leaving
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technology in the middle only because many social issues stemmed from technological developments. As a result, the nature of technological activity and processes itself was never a significant component of STS education, which might therefore perhaps be better abbreviated as StS. Since Europe has not developed an STS tradition, the StS ‘problem’ has also been absent. In principle, this will make it easier to create a subject or learning area in which science and technology are brought together (and combined with social aspects of scientific-technological developments) in a more balanced way.
The science of technology There is one development in technology education that will have a positive influence on the emergence of a closer relationship between science and technology education. In recent decades, technology education, in Western Europe as well as in other parts of the world, has moved away from a school subject dedicated to the acquisition of handicraft skills towards one that combines skill acquisition with a cognitive element. It is this cognitive element that builds the bridge to science education, because it prompts a search for general technological concepts and principles (‘seeing the order in the chaos’, De Vries, 2000c). The teaching of general concepts and principles is a characteristic of science education. When this happens in technology education, it is perhaps permissible to refer to a ‘science of technology’. In many European languages, this is included almost by definition in the word used to refer to the discipline, for example, Technologie in Dutch, French and German, as distinct from techniek, technique and Technik, respectively, in the same languages. The shift from techniek, technique and Technik to Technologie in technology education will certainly serve as an enabling factor in the process of linking school science and technology. However, the search for a conceptual framework for a ‘science of technology’ is far from a simple matter. In Western Europe, and especially in Germany, many insights have been offered by scholars such as Blandow and Wolfgramm (see Blandow, 1993, and Wolfgramm, 1994/5). Although today there are doubts about the validity of some of the elements of their notion of an Allgemeine Technologie (General Technology), the idea of developing a set of general concepts and principles still seems relevant. In their approach, the emphasis is on the concept of systems. Technological products are described as systems in which all processes can be described as changes in the flow of materials, energy and information. These changes can be described in terms of a limited number of basic functions, such as transporting, transforming,
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connecting, dividing, storing and retrieving. In Germany and the Netherlands, these concepts are used to structure the textbooks for technology education at the secondary level. In the Netherlands, the most successful series of textbooks is entitled Technologisch (i.e. Technological), a title chosen to indicate the basic philosophy of the books. This is that while the technological phenomena around us may seem to be chaotic, technology education helps us to recognize the ‘logic’ (the ‘techno-logic’) that underpins them. In these textbooks, this logic is not limited to the concept of systems. Consider, for example, the way in which ‘connections’ are presented. In principle, there might appear to be an infinite variety of connections. Closer inspection, however, reveals that they can be reduced to three broad categories: connections that make use of the particular shape of the individual parts, connections that make use of an additional material (such as glue), and those that make use of an additional object (such as a paperclip). Another example concerns the field of transportation. In the textbooks, pupils are made aware of the fact that, although the number of methods of transportation may seem to be infinite, they can all be characterized by a limited number of variables: the type of storage, the energy source, the medium (land surface, water, air, space) and the degrees of freedom in steering it (one for a train or a pipeline, two for a car or a boat, three for a helicopter or submarine). A third example is the topic of ‘transmissions’, where four broad categories accommodate the seemingly limitless by specifying the transformations that the transmissions bring about, namely: rectilinear into circular motion, circular into rectilinear motion, circular into circular motion (e.g. with a change of speed), and rectilinear into rectilinear motion. These examples illustrate how general technological concepts and principles can help pupils to order and understand technological phenomena. The parallel with scientific phenomena is clear, and, to this extent, a conceptual approach to school technology education brings the subject closer to science education. In each case, the intention is to develop an understanding of individual phenomena by drawing upon generalized and abstract principles. The essential difference between the two subjects, of course, remains. In the case of science, the principal goal is understanding. For technology, understanding is ‘only’ a step on the road to intervention and action in the creation of new products and processes.
Some policy implications It is clear that the attempts in a number of European countries to move school technology towards a closer relationship with science education are
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not without problems, and that a well thought out and carefully stated educational policy is very important. Previous educational developments have shown that it is essential that the various stakeholders in education be involved in the process of policy-making and realization, if this process is to be effective (Black and Atkin, 1996). This means addressing the interests and concerns not only of teachers and pupils, but also of school boards, parents, the inspectorate, (commercial) publishers, teacher trainers, educational researchers and, of course, the government as a policy-maker itself. In the case of technology education, the manufacturing and service industries are also important stakeholders with a role to play in technology curriculum development. Attainment targets and curricular guidelines must be specified with sufficient clarity so that those to whom they are addressed, such as teachers and publishers, understand clearly what is required of them. Teacher educators need to be able to develop new initial and in-service training courses to teach the knowledge and skills necessary for teachers to make the desired changes. Textbook authors and publishers will have to transform the attainment targets, ‘standards’ and curriculum advice into usable curriculum material for teachers and pupils. Industry can provide support of various kinds, ranging from equipment and other material resources, to expertise, advice and a commitment to raising the status of technology education within the school curriculum. The inspectorate will need to monitor carefully the extent to which desired changes match the reality of teachers’ practice in classrooms and workshops. School boards will have to create the conditions needed in schools for the changes to be made. Parents will have to show that they are willing to support change, not least by refraining from over-hasty and ill-informed criticism. Last, but not least, it will be for teachers and pupils to work together to promote curriculum reform. The highly complex process of bringing about lasting change in the curriculum and in pedagogy depends critically upon effective dialogue between the many interested parties. Straightforward ‘top-down’ or ‘bottom-up’ approaches are unlikely to succeed. The successful introduction of technology into the Netherlands education system suggests that something of each is needed. At appropriate moments, the Netherlands government gave a top-down impetus to the process by introducing measures that required action on the part of others. In 1993, the government decided that technology education was to be a compulsory school subject for all students in the first two grades of secondary education. Without this top-down initiative, it is unlikely that the recent developments would ever have occurred. In contrast, responsibility for specifying the form and content of school technology education was given to the teacher-training institutes. They took the rather general attainments targets and transformed them into teachable
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and learnable courses and materials. Without this ‘bottom-up’ contribution to curriculum reform, technology education in junior secondary education would never have met with the success it currently enjoys. But the national impact and general acceptance of this contribution is directly linked to the government’s application of existing successful practice in technology education to produce the next generation of (compulsory) attainment targets. This in turn led to the writing (or revision) and publication of textbooks that reflected ‘best practice’ in school technology education. The consequence of this approach to constructing and presenting a new curriculum subject is that its implementation was widespread and rapid. Within perhaps no more than five years, technology education in the Netherlands had achieved a position comparable to that of any other country. The same approach augurs well for the attempt to forge closer links between school science and technology.
Bibliography AUDI, R. 1998. Epistemology. A Contemporary Introduction to the Theory of Knowledge. London and New York, Routledge. BARLEX, D.; PITT, J. 2000. Interaction. The Relationship between Science and Design and Technology Education in the Secondary School Curriculum. London, Engineering Council. BAYAZIT, N. 1993. Designing: Design Knowledge, Design Research, Related Sciences. In: M. J. de Vries, N. G. Cross and D. P. Grant (eds.), Design Methodology and Relationships with Science, pp. 121–36. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers. BENENSON, G. 2000. Reflections on the AAAS Technology Education Research Conference. In: F. Cajas (ed.), Proceedings of the AAAS Technology Education Research Conference. AAAS, S.l. BLACK, P.; ATKIN, M. 1996. Changing the Subject: Innovations in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education. London, Routledge. BLANDOW, D. 1993. Innovation and Design for Developing Technological Capabilities in General Education. In: M. J. de Vries; N. G. Cross and D. P Grant. (eds.), Design Methodology and Relationships with Science. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers. CROSS, N. G. 1993. A History of Design Methodology. In M. J. de Vries, N. G. Cross and D. P. Grant (eds.), Design Methodology and Relationships with Science, pp. 15–27. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers. DESVOY, S.; GAUDEAU, E; GLOMORON, F.; LE BACON, R.; LEBEAUME, J.; MARTINAND, J.-L.; QUÉNARDEL, J. 1998. Enseigner la Technologie au Collège. Paris, Hachette Livre.
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VRIES, M. J. 1994a. Teacher Education for Technology Education. In: M. Galton; B. Moon (eds.), Handbook of Teacher Training in Europe. London, David Fulton/Council of Europe. ––––. 1994b. Technology Education in Western Europe. In: D. Layton (ed.), Innovations in Science and Technology Education. Vol. V. Paris, UNESCO Publishing. ––––. 1996. Technology Education beyond the ‘Technology is Applied Science Paradigm’. Journal for Technology Education, Vol. 8, No. 1, 7–15. ––––.1999. Transforming Inventions into Innovations as a Major Concern of the Philips Research Laboratories Management: A Historical Perspective. In: A. Inzelt and J. Hilton (eds.), Technology Transfer: From Invention to Innovation, pp. 145–60. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers. ––––. 2000a. Can We Train Researchers and Teachers to Make a Team? Win-Win Strategies in Technology Education. In: H. Middleton (ed.), Improving Practice through Research: Improving Research through Practice. 1st Biennial International Conference on Technology Education Research, pp. 1–12. Brisbane, Griffith University. ––––. 2000b. Industrial Research and Development Labs: How They Inform Science and Technology Curricula, The Journal of Technology Studies, Vol. XXVI, No. 1, pp. 64–70. ––––. 2000c. Seeing the Order in the Chaos. In: G. E. Martin (ed.), Technology Education for the 21st Century. New York, Glencoe, pp. 207–12. (CTTE Yearbook). ––––. 2000d. Technology Education. Towards a new school subject. In: B. Moon, M. Ben-Peretz and S. Brown (eds.), Routledge International Companion to Education, pp. 910–20. London, Routledge. ––––. 2001. 80 Years of Research at Philips. The History of the Philips Natuurkundig Laboratorium, 1914–1994. Eindhoven, Stichting Historie der Techniek. ––––. 2002. Toward an Empirically Informed Epistemology of Technology. Techné, Vol. 6, No. 1. HÖRNER, W. 1996. Allgemeinbildender Technikunterricht im westlichen Europa. In: M. Brauer-Schröder and H. Sellin (eds.), Technik, Ökonomie un Haushalt in Europa: erste Bestandsaufnamen und Perspektiven. Baltmannsweiler, Schneider Verlag Hohengehren. JOHNSEY, R. 2000. Identifying Designing and Making Skills and Making Cross-curricular Links in the Primary School. In: J. Eggleston, Teaching and Learning Design and Technology. A Guide to Recent Research and its Applications. London/New York, Continuum. KROES, P. A.; MEIJERS, A. W. M. 2000. Introduction: A Discipline in Search of its Identity. In: P. A. Kroes, A. W. M. Meijers (eds.), The DE
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Empirical Turn in the Philosophy of Technology, pp. xvii–xxxv. Oxford, Elsevier Science. LAYTON, D. 1993. Technology’s Challenge to Science Education. Cathedral, Quarry or Company Store? Buckingham/Philadelphia, Open University Press. LAYTON, E. T. 1974. Technology as Knowledge, Technology & Culture, Vol. 15, pp. 31–41. MCCORMICK, R. 1997. Conceptual and Procedural Knowledge. In: M. J. de Vries and A. Tamir (eds.), Shaping Concepts of Technology. From Philosophical Perspectives to Mental Images, pp. 141–59. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers. MITCHAM, C. 1994. Thinking Through Technology. The Path Between Engineering and Philosophy. Chicago, University of Chicago Press. ROPOHL, G. 1997. Knowledge Types in Technology. In: M. J. de Vries and A. Tamir (eds.), Shaping Concepts of Technology: From Philosophical Perspectives to Mental Images, pp. 65–72. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers. SARLEMIJN, A. 1993. Designs are Cultural Alloys. In: M. J. de Vries, N. G. Cross and D. P. Grant (eds.), Design Methodology and Relationships with Science. Dordrecht, Kluwer Academic Publishers. SCHÖN, D. 1983. The Reflective Practitioner. How Professionals Think in Action. New York, NY, Basic Books. SOLOMON, J.; AIKENHEAD, G. (eds.). 1994. STS Education. International Perspectives on Reform. New York, Teachers College Press, Columbia University. VINCENTI, W. G. 1990. What Engineers Know and How They Know It. Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Press. WOLFGRAMM, H. 1994/5. Allgemeine Techniklehre. Hildesheim, Verlag Franzbecker. ZUGA, K. F. 1997. An Analysis of Technology Education in the United States Based upon an Historical Overview and Review of Contemporary Curriculum Research. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, Vol. 7, pp. 203–17.
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Technology education in the Russian Federation: is the perspective clear? M. Pavlova and J. Pitt
There are two main trends in technology education in Russian schools. One is a modernized ‘industrial arts’ in which students learn prescribed areas of knowledge and skill. The pedagogy of transmission that prevails here ranges from the expert to the ignorant. It is really a continuation of the Labour Training of the Soviet period. The other trend, which is supported at a central level by the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation, is closer to the design-based model that can be found in many Western countries. Here the students design as well as make, and the emphasis is much more on student-centred, active learning methods. The focus here is on teaching through ‘projects’.
The education system in the Russian Federation The Russian Federation comprises twenty-one republics, six territories, forty-nine provinces, two cities of federal significance (Moscow and St Petersburg), the Jewish autonomous province and ten autonomous areas. The population is around 150 million. Compulsory education in the Russian Federation comprises nine years at school. Children commence school at the age of 6 or 7, attending primary school for three or four years. At the age of 15, they may leave school to work, or to study at the different types of vocational schools, or they may stay in the main school until the age of 17. Around half leave school at 15 and proceed to full-time study or part-time study at vocational schools (Ministry of Education 2001). The state guarantees free education until the end of secondary schooling, but access to further levels of education is based on competition. Today, there are also private universities. The education system is governed by the 1992 Law on Education and amendments to it made in 1996. Power is divided between federal, regional and school levels, and the development of curriculum for primary and
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secondary schools is their shared responsibility. The majority of schools are state schools. In the academic year 2000/2001, there were only 635 private schools in the Russian Federation, compared with 65,899 state schools throughout the country (Ministry of Education, 2001). In all state schools technology education is compulsory. Technology education was introduced as a compulsory learning area in Russian schools in 1993, with 808 hours allocated over the period from Year 1 to 11. It has (in theory, at least) replaced the old subject ‘Labour Training’, which occupied a significant place in the Soviet curriculum. In almost every school, boys and girls follow a different curriculum from Grade 5 onwards. There are also variants for urban and rural areas. It must be noted that Russian schools are very short of money. Teachers’ salaries can be as little as US$40 per month, and there is very little, if any, money for books, equipment and materials. In this chapter, we examine the main trends and discuss some of the main problems of the shift from Labour Training to technology education. But since technology education in the Russian Federation is not widely discussed in Western literature, it is appropriate to look first at its historical context.
The origins of technology education in the Russian Federation The Russian educational tradition To understand the nature of Labour Training, it is helpful to look at the wider Russian educational tradition. This can be defined as encyclopedic, based on the ideas of Comenius (1967) and the belief that all students should acquire as much knowledge as possible about all valid subjects appropriate to their age. Pansofia, or universal wisdom, was considered to be the general aim of education. After the revolution of 1917, there was a strong belief that transmission of the universal curriculum was the route to liberty, equality and fraternity. These ideas have their roots in the French revolution. Lyotard (1996, p. 484) has described the educational policy of the French Third Republic as follows. The nation as a whole was supposed to win its freedom through the spread of new domains of knowledge to the population. . . . The State resorts to the narrative of freedom every time it assumes direct control over the training of the ‘people’, under the name of the ‘nation’, in order to point them down the path of progress.
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The same description can be used to characterize the understanding of the relationship between education and the state in Soviet Russia. All students had to follow the same basic core curriculum, and all state schools had to offer the same subjects, with the standard numbers of hours per week and the main aims and topics of each subject. Universalism implied uniformity of students’ achievement and school quality. Learning science was associated with the acquisition of systematic knowledge about the physical world. The abilities of logical thinking, deduction and abstract thinking, together with a systemic approach to understanding the world, were seen as the aims of education. Central control of the school curriculum became the main managing principle for decades. The outline comparison of educational traditions within the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom in Table 11.1 makes the point clear.
Labour Training After 1917, technical, practical subjects were incorporated within general education. The overall approach to the curriculum was ‘essentialism’, which meant that all-important knowledge (that which enables each child to function adequately in society) was divided into subjects. Labour Training was one such subject. Indeed, Labour Training and the ‘polytechnic principle’ were proclaimed as the foundation of the developing Soviet school. This meant teaching scientific principles that underlie manufacturing processes, and training in practical skills using a variety of tools and equipment. EveryTABLE 11.1.
Some characteristics of Russian and British educational traditions
Russian Federation
United Kingdom
focus on group
focus on individual
universalism and uniformity
child-centred humanist approach
Pansofia – general wisdom, encyclopedism of knowledge, width of knowledge
specialization, individual needs, depth of knowledge
moral issues considered from intellectual rather than emotional viewpoint
moral capacities including sensibility, commitment to duty, capacity for informed decision-making
theoretical approach to scientific inquiry
empirical approach to scientific inquiry
emphasis on content
emphasis on process
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one had to have experience and knowledge in practical areas. This presented the opportunity to develop more effectively the productive forces of society and, as a result, society itself. The 1920s brought a short period of pedagogical experimentation. Educators were trying to push the essentialist tradition of Russian education towards a more humanist paradigm. Child-development was considered to be the main aim of education. New active methods of teaching became popular and the curriculum was restructured around themes (or projects), rather than subjects. The development of practical skills became part of each project. At that time, education was influenced by a mixture of Dewey’s ideas (Vulfson, 1992) and other progressive views. The project approach in the English sense (of ‘practical’ projects) was applied to Labour Training. However, educators soon realized that this method did not allow the teaching of structured knowledge to the students. Working in groups gave some children the chance to avoid learning, and group work proved to be very time-consuming. ‘Practical’ projects, in particular, came in for strong criticism. Another argument against the innovations of the 1920s stemmed from the need to train very quickly a large workforce with at least a minimum level of literacy, so that students could start working and become economically productive as soon as possible. In sum, it was more important to meet the immediate needs of the economy than the interests of the students. Labour Training remained a separate subject in the school curriculum for most of the Soviet period and was compulsory for students of all grades. Very structured knowledge and skills were transferred to students. They made identical objects following the instructions given to them, in accordance with an ‘object-process’ system of training that proved very effective in developing their skills. Students had to make a specified variety of objects and master a specified list of processes. The curricula for boys and girls were different with metalwork/woodwork and electricity for boys, and cooking/ sewing and electricity for girls. However, for a period of ten years (just after the Second World War), Labour Training was omitted from schools. The main aim during this decade was to train engineers and scientists to enable them to compete successfully with capitalist countries. As a result of this policy, almost 100 per cent of school graduates entered universities, colleges and institutes, and there were more engineers than workers (Tkhorzevskiy, 1987). The technological achievement was such that the Soviet Union was able to put Sputnik into space and Soviet education began to be regarded as among the best in the world, largely because of the excellent standards of school science and mathematics education. Other industrialized countries responded in the 1960s by undertaking science and mathematics curriculum reform
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on a massive scale. In more recent times, a report in the United States, A Nation at Risk (National Commission on Excellence in Education, 1983), saw improvement in mathematics and science education as essential for the national security of the country. As in the 1960s, curriculum reform was once again on the political agenda in many education systems throughout the world, with funds being made available on a large scale. In the Soviet Union, the response was the re-introduction into schools of Labour Training, closely connected with mathematics and science via the polytechnic principle. The main change to Labour Training within the 1984 reforms was the strengthening of links between schools and industry. Each factory had several schools appointed to it as partners. The school had to organize productive labour at school for students up to age 15, and at the factory from age 15 to 17. In this way, policy-makers tried to cultivate a workers’ ideology among students as well as help them with their future careers. The policy, however, proved to be extremely inefficient, with few children graduating from school having any desire to work at a particular factory. During the entire Soviet period, in accordance with an internationalist ideology, students were taught a ‘neutral’ working process, applicable in industry in any part of the world. The Russian craft tradition was not mentioned at all. During the Gorbachov period, many schools received permission to teach crafts instead of providing Labour Training. While this was a progressive movement that led towards further changes at that time, there was nothing in the ‘practical’ area of the curriculum that anticipated the radical reforms of the 1992 Law on Education.
The engineering tradition Another influential factor in developing technology education is the Russian engineering tradition. In very broad terms, the humanistic tradition proclaimed by educational reformers (see below) stands opposed to an engineering tradition that has very strong roots in the Russian Federation. In Soviet times, the engineering tradition was linked with a philosophy of technological determinism, which was part of Marxist-Leninist ideology. The development of the forces of production was seen as the main factor that determined the historic process. Tools, equipment, machines and technical systems were regarded as the leading elements in the development of these forces. The official view was that ‘technology determines everything’, and politicians and educators alike put their faith in the so-called scientific-technological revolution and the transformation of scientific activity into a direct productive force to achieve political, economic and social goals (Josephson,
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1992, p. 27). As a result, technology was considered as an applied science (the polytechnic principle at school was based on this concept) so that, at the theoretical level, there was a direct path from scientific knowledge to technological artefact. In accordance with this paradigm, it was necessary to first learn theory and then learn how to apply it. Technology was not considered in a social context. This is in contrast to the humanistic approach, in which technology is seen as an integral part of social change. The belief that science and technology are value-neutral remains dominant. Josephson argues that scholars have hesitated to recognize science and technology as the products of social, political and economic forces. They reject the argument that technology is inherently political, requiring the creation of specific infrastructures and social relations for its introduction. Rather, they argue that technology can be used or abused in any social or political setting (ibid., p. 26). As will be seen below, this philosophical construction of technology is a significant influence on the way that technology education has developed in Russian schools.
Educational reform: the 1992 Law on Education The introduction of technology education was a part of a large-scale educational reform that started in 1984. The impact of the ‘Pedagogy of Cooperation’ movement has been well-documented in Western literature (see, for example, Sutherland, 1999), so it is not discussed here. In 1991, the break-up of the Soviet Union provided an opportunity to establish an education system for the new Russian Federation, and President Yeltsin’s first order concerned the development of education. The Law on Education adopted in June 1992 identified the priorities of reform as principles of state policy. They included the introduction of humanistic and human approaches towards education, decentralization, the diversification of types of schools and the reform of teacher training. The essence of the 1992 law was the move from a political paradigm to a teaching paradigm and from a totalitarian society to a civic society (Russian Federation, 1992). Equally important was the emphasis placed on students’ development. Despite this bold attempt at change, educational policy continued to accord the acquisition of systematic knowledge the most honoured position in the school curriculum.
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Developments 1993–2001 Technology education as a ‘new’ learning area Technology was introduced as a new learning area in 1993. This led to a period of some confusion among teachers. During 1994–1995, the Ministry of Education announced three rounds of competition to draw up the best standards for technology education. But by 1997, only the Draft of the Standards had appeared, and this as an unpublished report. By the end of 1998, full standards for technology education had been approved and published by the Ministry of Education (Lednev et al., 1998). To become law, these standards required parliamentary approval, but at the end of 2001 they still had not passed through the Duma. Despite this, the Ministry of Education recommended that they be implemented. As the rationale and standards for the subject had not been published, it was very difficult for teachers to understand the nature of the new subject and why they needed to change their existing practice. Most schools thus stuck to their old courses of Labour Training. Traditionally, the main way of initiating change in the Russian Federation has involved developing a theoretical basis to support the change being sought. Having established this basis, implementation then follows. In the case of technology education, where conceptualization of the key ideas was weak, such a theoretical basis was lacking. Research by Pavlova (2001a, pp.181–2) shows that Labour Training, rather than technology education, continues to be the practice in the majority of schools. But the situation is mixed. Some teachers are critical of the technocratic aims of Labour Training and prefer a humanistic approach to technology education. They recognize that technology education is much wider than technical education because of the emphasis on developing the generic skills of students and on promoting the ability to think creatively and imaginatively.
Standards for technology education The Federal Standards specify the compulsory minimum content for the learning area, Technology, for both city and rural schools (with differing contents for boys and girls), the requirements for assessing the level of students’ achievements, and the criteria for evaluating the implementation of the Standards. They have been developed for all eleven years of schooling, and they officially define technology as ‘a science [body of knowledge] regarding the transformation and use of materials, energy and information for the purpose and interest of man’. This science includes the study of methods
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and means (machines, technic) for transforming and using the mentioned objects [material, energy, information] (Lednev et al., 1998, p. 247). This understanding of technology is different from that found in other countries, such as the United Kingdom and Australia, where technology is defined as an activity. In the Russian Federation, at school, technology is seen as an integrative learning area that synthesizes the scientific knowledge from mathematics, physics, chemistry and biology, and demonstrates their use in manufacturing, the energy industry, communication, agriculture, transport and other activities of the person (ibid., p. 247).
Technology education is developed within the technology-as-applied-science paradigm. As a result of a knowledge-based understanding of education, the Standards express the aims of technology education as: the development of students polytechnically, to acquaint them with modern and prospective technologies of processing materials, energy and information, via the application of knowledge in the areas of economics, ecology and enterprise; the development of general working skills; the development of students’ creative and aesthetic abilities; the acquisition of life skills and practices, including the culture of behaviour and non-conflict in the processes of work; the provision of students with the ability to engage in self-learning and study in the professions; and the acquisition of work experience which could inform career choice (ibid., p. 248). The overall aim of technology education remains that of ‘assist[ing] in preparing students for an independent working life, [and] for the mastery of mass-professions’ (ibid., p. 248). The authors of the Standards thus invoked the traditional concepts of mass production with the attendant need for large numbers of trained workers. They did not consider generic competencies. As noted above, different content has been specified for urban and rural schools. For urban schools, the curriculum is structured around the eleven areas: mechanical sciences and the technology of resistant materials; electronics, electrical engineering, radio electronics, automated machinery, computing; information technologies; graphics; house culture, food and textile technologies, technology at home; building technologies (painting and maintenance work); artistic development of materials, technical creativity, artistic construction design, artistic-decorative creativity; industry and career
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guidance; manufacturing and the environment; home economics and the basics of entrepreneurial activity; and choosing a career (there is a separate standard on this) (ibid., pp.250–1). It is stated that it is important to provide different courses for different students. Thus, students have to choose one of the courses according to their interests. In practice, this leads to different curricula for boys and girls. For both courses, there are common topics, namely, information technologies, graphics, the artistic development of materials, the branches of industry and career guidance, home economics and the basics of entrepreneurial activity. The Standards tend to reinforce gender stereotyping rather than question it, and serve to legitimize a gender division in which boys are seen as future heads of families, and girls as being primarily responsible for running the home. In the rural schools, there is greater emphasis on agriculture and horticulture, and attention is given to animal and poultry husbandry and the growing of plants and crops. The engineering side of the curriculum is taught with reference to the maintenance of agricultural machinery. The Standards prescribe a large body of knowledge and skills that have to be taught to students. As a result, the extent to which individual teachers can cover any other issues is limited. The current Standards require that students learn about the history of technological development, together with the social and environmental consequences of such development in industry, agriculture, power and transport. In practice, however, most of the teaching is focused on developing technical skills and the acquisition of knowledge. Lip-service is given to learning through projects, and, overall, the essence of the subject remains the same as in Labour Training. Students have to learn different skills, with some theoretical lectures and instruction, but the subject remains rooted in the traditions of Labour Training, a content/ module-based and knowledge/skills-oriented curriculum.
The Khotuntsev-Simonyenko programme The most widely used programme for school technology education – that of Simonyenko and Khotuntsev – follows the Standards very closely. This programme, based on modules, is supported by a wide range of books that have been adopted in many regions of the Russian Federation. Each year, students are expected to acquire a large body of knowledge and develop a wide range of skills. Although there is one project tacked on at the end of each year’s work, there is little scope for creativity, investigation and decision-making. There is thus a contradiction between the ideals of the 1992 Law on Education – with its emphasis on developing each student as a creative, pro-active
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individual, capable of lifelong learning – and the mainstream practice in technology education in schools. Many educators from all over the country have criticized this approach to technology education. Interviews conducted by the authors in 1997 and 1999, encountered the following criticisms: • • •
• • • • •
The programme presents too eclectic a view of the subject, given that the rationale for the integration of the modules is unclear. The specified content is too broad and cannot be covered in the time available. The rationale underpinning the approach to technology education is essentially an extension of that used to justify Labour Training; the same philosophy leads to the same methods of teaching. One project at the end of each year is not enough to enable students to understand the nature of a design-based approach. The theoretical basis of the subject is under-developed. The nature of technological activity has not been analysed to provide an important source for developing technology as a school subject. There is a separate curriculum for boys and girls. The statements about technology and values are not explicit enough.
Nonetheless, it is possible to identify in the Standards two important developments: the emphasis on the concept of technological culture and the reference to technological projects.
The concept of technological culture Discussion of the concept of technological culture emerged in parallel with the process of writing and publishing the Standards for technology education. Some influential documents on technology education (see, for example, Ovechkin and Simonenko, 1998) stated that the transmission of technological culture should be the main aim of technology education. For other commentators, the main aim of technology education is the development of technological culture, understood as mastery of the system of methods and means of transformative activity (of the person) for the creation of material and spiritual values (Atutov, 1998, p. 7). What is the difference between technology and technological culture? In the Russian context, technology is associated with engineering, it evokes the technocratic. To incorporate values within technology education, a different and broader concept of technology is needed. In English-speaking countries, the concept of technology is interpreted in both broad and narrow
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senses. When technology is discussed in a more restricted way, cultural values and organizational factors are regarded as external to it. Technology is then identified entirely with its technical aspects, and the words ‘technik’ or simply ‘technique’ might often be more appropriately used (Pacey, 1983, p. 5) The concept of technology understood in a broader sense includes values. In the Russian Federation, the concept of technological culture is invoked to overcome the narrow technocratic interpretation of technology. Technological culture is an important sphere of the general culture of mankind which reflects on each historical stage . . . the aims, character and the level of the transformative, nature-friendly, creative activity of the people, which is realised on the basis of science and technik, and the ethics of production relations (Atutov, 1998, p. 5).
In the consultation materials about the concept of technology education (Ovechkin and Simonenko, 1998), technological culture was defined in terms of the transmission to future generations of knowledge about the ‘technosphere’ and the ability to use its achievements in the interest of the individual, taking into account wider cultural considerations. It defines the place of the person in nature and the extent to which he may safely interfere with, and manipulate, the natural world. Technoculture thus defines the Weltanschauung (world-outlook) and self-understanding of the individual, and accommodates the unity and harmony of the material and spiritual culture of the society in which that individual lives (ibid., pp. 12–13) The concept of the technosphere serves as a source of knowledge for technological culture. It is based on Vernadski’s theory, presented at the beginning of the twentieth century (Vernadski, 1994). The technosphere is considered as a part of the planet Earth and embraces the natural world, the individual and the wider society. Mankind has created an artificial world and exists within it. The activities of designing and making artefacts, the artefacts themselves and their influence on the individual, society and the natural world, are organized within a global structure. The technosphere consists of man-made elements that have been created by the purposeful transformative activities of people. It is a result of, and a driving force for, the development of the human society. Thus, it is argued that in the Russian Federation the concept of technological culture is used to broaden understanding of technology, to present it in a humanistic paradigm. In the current Standards, the importance of technological culture is stated several times, regrettably without any discussion on how it is to be understood and interpreted.
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The place of ‘Projects’ in technology education The other new element in the Standards is the recognition of projects as an important method of promoting students’ creativity (Lednev et al., 1998, p. 247). The Standards specify that students should do one project of approximately twenty hours at the end of each academic year, making ten projects in all. The nature of the project is that it summarizes what has been learned by the student, and requires the use of the skills and knowledge developed through a traditional way of learning. The statement about the importance of projects appeared in the Standards as a result of work done by the international programme ‘Technology and Enterprise Education in Russia’.
The programme ‘Technology and Enterprise Education in Russia’ The main approach to developing technology education in recent years has been via the international programme ‘Technology and Enterprise Education in Russia’. The programme was established in 1996 with the aim of developing a rationale, standards and curriculum in technology education using the Project Method (or design-based approach) as its basis. It has functioned at national, regional and local levels, preparing teaching materials, enhancing competencies among teachers and teacher trainers, and organizing effective dissemination of the results. There have been four official pilot regions. For 1998-2002, the British Council has been involved in funding projects in two regions, Nizhnij Novgorod and Greater Novgorod. The programme has generated huge interest all over the Russian Federation. Teachers who are following a more design-based approach are moving towards an inductive approach to knowledge and a constructivist approach to knowledge acquisition. They are more likely to give students the experience of a technological phenomenon and ask the students to explain it using scientific language. Their model of the science-technology relation is one of mutual interaction, rather than technology as the straightforward application of science. Central to the whole approach is that the students identify real needs, and design and make products (or services) to meet those needs. From an early stage, the Ministry of Education was impressed by the results achieved. Dr M. Leontieva, the official with overall responsibility for the school curriculum, made a significant contribution to this process towards the end of 1997. Addressing the nature of technology education and the most effective methods of teaching it, she wrote in Schools and Industry:
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It is necessary to elaborate a system of teaching in which the project method is at the heart of the programme . . . Undertaking creative projects is considered one of the more effective means of labour training and technological education. Through realising projects, students develop and strengthen the habit of analysing situations relating to consumers, economics, ecology and technology. It is important [for students] to develop their ability to evaluate ideas, starting from real needs and material resources, to learn how to make technological and economic decisions appropriate to their designs, the needs of the school and to the potential market. (Leontieva, 1997, p. 4)
Leontieva adds that it is essential to move gradually to teaching by the project method, taking into account the specific situation in individual schools and vocational educational establishments, and to do so while maintaining a degree of continuity with the past. The project approach received a further boost early in 1998. The City of Greater Novgorod and the surrounding region, in conjunction with the University of Novgorod, organized a large conference entitled Technology ‘98. The conference attracted delegates from all over the country, many of whom had read Leontieva’s article and wanted to know what the ‘project approach’ was all about. Some were frankly incredulous that school children were capable of designing as well as making. Work done by a British Advanced-level student who designed a gag for dogs undergoing dental surgery provoked the comment: ‘This is not a pupil’s work – you have copied it from the patent office!’ However, most participants were impressed by the testimonies of Russian teachers from other cities who had tried the project approach, as well as inputs from the ‘Technology and Enterprise Education in Russia’ Project. Such was the interest generated by this event that the federal ministry issued a further circular to all regions of the Russian Federation, recommending active consideration of the project approach at all levels (Leontieva, 1998). In July 2000, the Federal Ministry of Education asked the ‘Technology and Enterprise Education in Russia’ Project to develop an alternative programme for schools, based on a design-based approach to the subject. This work has been done. By the end of 2001, the World Bank had organized a competition for producing a new range of technology books, based upon the project method, for Grade 5. The result consists of a collection of projects, a methodological book for teachers, a students’ reference book, two workbooks (one for boys and for girls), a collection of projects, and a book for administrators and school directors to help them get up to speed on ‘normative legislative documents’ on technology education. The World Bank is also funding training courses to promote the dissemination of these books, as well as competitions to develop a further series of books for Grades 6–9.
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Other significant trends – the pioneering work of Obschestvo Remeslenova i zemledelcheskovo Trouda (ORT) Another important initiative in technology education in Russia relates to the work of ORT, an organization founded in 1880 in St Petersburg with the original aim of promoting the education of Jewish students in Russia. It is now a worldwide training and education organization, with activities in over 100 countries. One of its central aims is the development of world-class technology education. In the Russian Federation, there are four ORT centres located in Moscow, St Petersburg, Samara and Kazan that focus on technology in schools. This international movement is developing a different approach to technology education, in conjunction with ORT centres in other countries. ORT aims to introduce modern technologies into the classroom. Their schools are highly computerized and ICTs are used widely in all subject areas. In technology, hardware has been developed to teach computer control, electronics, pneumatics and other control systems, and kits have been developed to simulate industrial manufacturing processes, and to promote a knowledge and understanding of structures and mechanics and other technical concepts. The underlying assumption of ORT is that learning through projects is important to developing children’s creativity, and the organization has developed a wide range of teaching materials in which a systems approach to technology education is seen as central. The sort of equipment found in ORT centres is beyond the wildest dreams of most Russian schools. ORT has deliberately adopted this approach, both to develop an approach to technology education that is rooted in modern technologies, and to show what can be done if schools are properly resourced. Taking a long-term view, ORT is working for the day when the Russian economy is stronger, taxes are collected more efficiently and educational funding reaches the levels of ten years ago, or even of industrialized countries in the West.
Summary Russian technology education is subject to conflicting influences. On the one hand, there is a student-centred, mainly process-based approach and, on the other, a content/module-based and knowledge-oriented approach. The former is design-based and based on the project method. It aspires to the ideals of the 1992 Law on Education, which called for the development of creative, proactive individuals. The latter, in which the current Federal Standards for Technology and much current practice are rooted, is an extension of traditional Labour Training.
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The contribution of technology education to other fields The Standards for Technology Education include a reference to health education (teenager hygiene). Also, children in the workshops are taught about basic safe working practices, both in relationship to handling materials, tools and equipment, and in working with others. The safety regulations for school workshops are very strict about the heat treatment of materials: for example, there is no brazing or welding before Grade 9 and the use of cookers is limited before Grade 6 or 7. In contrast, the safety guards on machine tools such as lathes or milling machines are conspicuous by their absence. Although energy issues, ecology, and the whole concept of sustainability are still largely on the margins of technology teaching in most schools, the term ‘sustainable development’ is used in the Standards with a connotation of environmental sustainability (other components of the concept – economic, social and cultural sustainability – are not stated). It is not something to which many technology teachers, who entered teaching with a crafts or technical background, have given much thought. However, there is important work being done by Khotuntsev and others, who are putting ecology onto the agenda of technology education (Khotuntsev, 2001). This work is being done through publications, conferences, in-service training and via Olympiads. The development of ecological awareness or sensitivity among children was one of the aims of the 1992 legislation, but, until now, there has been a dearth of teaching materials for technology teachers to use.
The promotion of best practice and narrowing the gap between research and practice At present, there is little academic research in the Russian Federation into technology education. In the past, the Russian Academy of Pedagogical Sciences (now called the Russian Academy of Education) held a near monopoly on research and controlled the publishing of periodicals. The Academy consisted of several Institutes, one of which dealt with Labour Training, the precursor of Technology. These Institutes carried out research projects in the belief that educational practice could be improved by the application of research findings. However, there was a wide gulf between theory and practice, and the roles of researcher-theorist and practitioner (i.e. teacher) were
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kept separate. An instrumental form of reasoning (means/ends) was employed, and the model of change was research-development-diffusion. Educational research employed theories of change that brought teachers’ practice into line with theorists’ ideas. Everything started from theory. The main paradigm within the methodology of educational research was positivism, with a strong belief that research within this tradition leads to scientific and soundly based knowledge. The main aim of inquiry was to develop generalizations and to find relationships between measured variables. If a problem occurred, the theorists tried to solve it by developing a new theory. The Academy maintained a number of experimental schools for testing new methods of teaching, textbooks, equipment and furniture, and visual aids. Thus all educational reforms in the Soviet Union were from the ‘top down’. Changes to the education system were aimed at keeping society stable. For further analysis, see Pavlova and Pitt (2001). The collapse of the Soviet Union and a shortage of funds for education left the Academy in a weak position for much of the 1990s, and there has been little research into technology education. However, the curriculum development undertaken by Technology and Enterprise Education in Russia (TandEEiR) is significant. TandEEiR started from the assumption that it is important to involve teachers in curriculum development and reflected the belief that good practice was more likely to grow from teacher-generated action-research than through the top-down methods of the past. The result is the development of new practice – pupils learning technology through projects – and associated professional knowledge. This new pedagogy is incorporated into pupils’ books, books for teachers, and in-service training courses.
The promotion of best practices: opportunities and impediments Traditionally, there has been a well-developed system of sharing and promoting good professional practice. It works at different levels – the school, areas within a city or rural region, or even a city itself. Teachers discuss their practice, observe and discuss each other’s lessons, and present the best examples of their work to the in-service institutions. This is then disseminated through the in-service courses. Sometimes these accounts of practice reach the Ministry where they can be summarized and published through a series of information letters. However, there are institutional impediments that block the dissemination of this good practice in technology education on a national scale. We have identified six such obstacles. First, there is a relatively new federal standard concerning the pre-service
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training of technology teachers (State Committee of the Russian Federation on Higher Education, 1994/2000), constructed almost wholly in terms of the old pedagogy. This assumes that the principal task of teachers is to transmit technical knowledge and skill, that the main vehicle for achieving this is the lecture and the demonstration, and that the more technical knowledge and skill that each teacher has, the better. As a result, in five years of training prescribed for technology teachers, less than 10 per cent of the time is spent in the classroom, and future teachers neither learn through projects themselves, nor learn how to teach through projects from direct experience. Rather they might learn about the project method. The Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation realizes that the teacher-training universities are a major block to change, but at present seems uncertain about how to address the problem, as university rectors enjoy a degree of autonomy. New technology teachers are thus formed in the old mould. The second obstacle to the emergence of new, good practice is the widespread use of the current Simonyenko and Khotuntsev programme for technology education, which, as noted above, is also based on the old teaching and learning paradigm. There is a wide range of books, sold widely throughout the Russian Federation, to support this programme. Even Simonyenko himself does not consider the books totally suitable for the way in which technology education is developing in the Russian Federation, with its increasing emphasis on teaching through the project method. Third, the lack of choice in books for schools, it seems to us, is in itself a further obstacle to change. In Soviet times, there was no competitive commercial sector in educational publishing. For a book to be published and the ideas contained within it disseminated, the manuscript first had to pass through an Expert Committee (there was one such committee for each subject) and receive a seal of approval. It was then published by the Ministry. There are now several commercial educational publishers, but approval by the Expert Committee is still held to be essential for credibility in the market. As with any government body, the Expert Committee has both conservative and progressive members. However, the World Bank, through the National Training Foundation (its Russian agent for these purposes) is contributing significantly to the development of alternative textbooks for technology education. Significantly, the World Bank has chosen the books prepared by TandEEiR for national publication. Fourth, the role of school inspectors is significant. We have found that some of the best teachers in Nizhny Novgorod have been inhibited from trying out new ideas in the classroom because they were fearful of adverse criticism from inspectors who failed to understand what they were trying to
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do. Some teachers also suffered from school heads or directors for the same reason. Since approval from inspectors and directors is instrumental in teachers’ being awarded a pay increase, this is a serious disincentive for teachers who might want to pursue a more design-based or active learning approach to teaching technology. Fifth, there is a serious lack of means of fostering communication among teachers at national level, so that emerging practice and new professional knowledge might be analysed and disseminated. There is a journal for technology education, Schools and Industry, which is published in Moscow and reaches most schools in Russia. However, the editorial line is very conservative and attempts to place articles in this journal by Russian teachers using a design-based or project approach have been unsuccessful. Few teachers have access to the Internet (although this is changing) and developments in technology education are hardly the stuff of daily papers. At the time of writing, there is no professional association of technology teachers and the old trade unions do not attempt to provide a vehicle for teachers to develop their professional knowledge and skills. There is an Association of Deans of Faculties of Technology and Enterprise, which represents the teacher-training universities, but as mentioned above, the ability of such universities to deliver new courses is limited. There are conferences and Olympiads, which can bring teachers together. However, it is the authors’ experience that most conference agendas are largely filled with formal presentations and allow little time for discussion. Furthermore, the financial position of teachers, many of whom are on monthly salaries equivalent to only US$30–40, prevents them from attending conferences outside their own regions. Finally, there is the question of how new practices are interpreted when perceived through the cultural or psychological filters of the old transmissionbased approach to teaching. The tradition of giving a lecture on theory and then teaching about applications runs deep. The idea that children can learn from activity and experience, and that theory can be developed through reflecting on experience, is novel to many technology teachers. The word ‘design’ cannot be translated directly into Russian, either as a noun or a verb, and the phrase metod proyectov (project method) has had to be coined for the new approach. But even the word ‘project’ causes confusion! Traditionally, a project is understood as a piece of theoretical work. It reflects ideas, dreams, theories that should not necessarily be implemented into practice. There is a phrase in Russian that can be translated as ‘project and its realization’. For a long time, projects have been used in higher education as the basis for assessment, and lecturers never helped students to do their tasks. Implementation of the project was not the measure of its success. Projects were related to work on paper.
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The picture overall, therefore, is that there is little research into technology education and there are numerous institutional blocks that impede dissemination or even discussion of what progress has been achieved through teacher-generated curriculum development and action-research in the development of ‘best practice’. However, Pavlova and Sasova (1999) have shown that teaching that involves the project method is perceived by school directors, teachers and students to have positive results. In sum, the method has a positive influence on the economy, allows teachers to pay more attention to individual students and enhances teachers’ satisfaction with their work. It also promotes students’ ability to draw upon knowledge from a range of school subjects and widens the opportunities for their personal, social and intellectual development. Beyond this, it is evident that the Federal Ministry is committed to reform and is willing to use expertise and funding from abroad to achieve its aims.
The contribution of Information and Communication Technologies We have already mentioned the work of ORT. In each ORT centre, there are suites of computers that allow teachers to teach computer control, data logging, computer simulation and CAD-CAM. ORT’s long-term strategy is to develop what is possible in schools using state-of-the-art hardware and software, against the time when computers become widely available in schools. At present (December 2001), few school pupils and students, university students, and teachers at any level have widespread access to any computers. As a result, the contribution of digital ICTs to the teaching and learning of technology is not significant nationally, although this lack inevitably encourages a greater emphasis on oral communication skills! The common practice in schools is that at the end of a technology project, each student ‘defends’ his or her project to the whole class. This requires presenting the artefact that has been made, and explaining the design and manufacturing decisions that lie behind it. In the authors’ opinion, this leads students to become highly articulate. It also allows for questions from the teacher and other students, and is therefore very useful for assessment. The Federal government has a programme to provide computers for all schools over the next two years, although it is not known at present what this will mean in terms of access for students or even individual teachers. Finally, in the context of information and communication technologies, it is pertinent to mention graphic communication skills. In the Russian Federation, there has been a subject called Technical Drawing that students
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have studied in Grade 9 (thirty-four hours) and, in some cases, in Grade 8 as well. The thinking behind this was that everyone should be able to read a technical drawing or follow a set of graphically presented instructions. Many pupils found this boring, and schools have difficulties in finding teachers to teach it. At the same time, there is relatively little teaching of the basic communication skills needed for designing, such as two-dimensional and three-dimensional sketching (including perspective), rendering, creating rough visuals and making presentation drawings. Now that the move towards a design-based approach to technology education appears to be established at an official level, technology teachers will find themselves having to move into such unfamiliar areas.
Technology education, ethics and human rights: the relationship of school technology to ‘vospitanie’ In the Soviet tradition and beyond, educationists and hence schools were interested in obrazovanie (learning) and vospitanie (commonly translated into English as ‘upbringing’). The aims of vospitanie were defined by the state and thus each teacher had some idea as to what an ideal school leaver might look like. Teaching was well-resourced and taken seriously, and seen as the responsibility of the community, society and family. Within schools, class tutors were in charge of co-ordinating this area of development. Vospitanie was the educational matrix through which students developed their spiritual and moral values. The main emphasis for teachers of Labour Training was ‘love of work’ and patriotism. When Boris Yeltsin redefined the goals of education in 1992, the emphasis shifted towards the personal development of each child and the family, while recognizing that all children grow up in a social environment. Technology teachers are expected to give some basic careers education (called ‘professional orientation’), but the ideological commitment to developing the ‘correct’ work ethic has diminished in importance. In the Standards on Technology Education, emphasis is on the development of patriotism, family values, the culture of the home and conflict resolution. The concept of home is considered to be very important and teachers are required to pay special attention to cultivating family, regional and national traditions, and to promoting common or communal human values. In a period in which the social demands made on schools are not clear, many teachers are uncertain about how to promote student development (interviews, 1999). Is the teacher’s role now to create an environment in which students assume responsibility for their own development, or is there still a social consensus that their duty is to pass knowledge on to the next generation?
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The Federal Standards for technology consider the role of ethics in the process of growing up in the modern world. That is, they assume that values will be at least implicitly addressed in the classroom. Yet, in the authors’ opinion, this is hardly the case (research project, 2001). Male teachers, in particular, seem to feel more comfortable, for example, teaching students how to turn mild steel on a lathe than leading a debate on the ethical issues involved in the life cycle of steel-based products! In contrast, female teachers appear to feel more at home in dealing with the ethical issues that may arise in their classes. The Technology and Enterprise Education in Russia Programme is attempting to enrich the vospitanie component of technology education in terms of education for sustainable development and the changing role of the teacher. Of course, there is a hidden agenda in the way that any subject is taught. All teachers are de facto role models. The shift towards a designbased approach to Technology and its teaching through projects requires a different relationship between teacher and pupils. It is a shift from the expert-instructing-the-ignorant, or transmission model of teaching, towards a pedagogy of co-operation, in which the teacher and students are partners. The teacher is still in charge, but the student is encouraged to take more responsibility for his or her own learning. This carries clear ethical messages to the students: you are significant, your decisions are important and you are responsible for the consequences of your actions. It encourages mutual respect, something that was not so easy when the teacher, as expert, could decide whether the student was right or wrong. Empirical research carried out by Pavlova and Sasova (1999) showed that a sense of self-worth and recognition, a direct result of the new approach to technology teaching, was perceived as a significant benefit by students, and by their parents and teachers.
Scientific and technological literacy Polytechnical education is one of the aims of technology education. The Minimum Federal Requirements for Technology state that school leavers should know about ‘the role of machines and technology in the development of civilization, the social and environmental consequences of the development of industry, agriculture, power and transport’. There are further requirements concerning a knowledge and understanding of transport, machines, mechanisms, electrical appliances and the properties of a wide range of materials, and of manufacturing technologies. On the face of it, these look like the requirements for promoting public understanding of technology in a broad sense. In practice, however, the science-technology-society
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issue is seldom addressed. In part, this is due to time pressure and to teachers’ predisposition to focus on knowledge and skill related to making. But it is also due to the professional background of many technology teachers, who have entered teaching via the armed forces or trades in civilian life, and who feel ill-prepared to take on this wider educational agenda.
The relationship between technology and science The word ‘science’ (nauka) in Russian refers to any systematic body of knowledge. It is not confined to the physical sciences and biology; it can refer to literature or history. There is little discussion in educational circles in the Russian Federation about the ‘public understanding of science’, in the Western sense of the word. The epistemological assumption underlying science education is that there exists a body of scientific truth in physics, astronomy, chemistry and biology, and that the task of the teacher is to impart knowledge of this truth to his or her students. As already noted, many teachers regard technology as the application of science. A traditional technology teacher might thus start a lesson by lecturing on the scientific theory underlying, for example, an electric circuit, or the nutritional content of some food, and then have the students do some practical work related to this science. The approach is deductive, rather than inductive.
The relationship between formal and non-formal educational activity In Soviet times, there existed a network of ‘Palaces of Pioneers’, which served as centres for a huge range of extra-curricular activity, including the making of things such as jewellery and clothes, model boats and planes. After-school clubs or circles have replaced many of these Palaces of Pioneers. Although many are obliged to charge fees, these are generally low, and the activities are widely supported by children of all backgrounds. There is often more scope for originality here – indeed, a design-based approach to making things – than there is in the more traditional technology classes in schools. Some teachers also run technical ‘circles’ at their schools after classes. Non-formal educational activities include the Olympiads. The Soviet Union celebrated excellence in all fields of endeavour, and there remains a deeply-rooted Russian tradition of regional and national competitions. Winners receive more than honour and a medal or trophy; winning can be a passport to university or other prestigious institutions of higher education. Each year there are a number of technology Olympiads, and students prepare
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for them in schools and in the after-school clubs. Regional education authorities somehow find money to send their star students and their teachers to the finals. It is our opinion that the Olympiads serve a useful role in bringing together, in informal settings, some of the keenest technology teachers in the country.
Initial and in-service teacher education In-service teacher training has long been a tradition in the country; indeed an individual teacher’s grade and grade increases can depend on attendance at in-service training courses. Most regions have a well-established infrastructure for in-service training, with regional and local centres. There are some significant activities within individual regions. In Nizhny Novgorod, for example, the in-service educational training institution, Nizhegorodski Institut Razvitiia Obrazovaniia (NIRO), runs courses for practising technology teachers from the oblast, and these courses are based on action-research projects based in schools. The central thrust has been the introduction of the teaching of technology through the project method. To date, some 1,800 teachers have attended these courses. NIRO also organizes after-school in-service sessions for technology teachers in their local ‘methodological centres’. These are virtual centres. Teachers from clusters of schools (usually somewhere between six and ten schools) meet in one of the schools, usually under the guidance of a ‘methodology expert’, to discuss matters of common interest, share experiences and listen to speakers. NIRO uses the ‘methodological centre’ network to great effect as a vehicle for disseminating good practice. NIRO has also been instrumental in setting up a Centre for Technology Education. This employs teams of teacher-trainers who run courses for teachers in the different localities. These teacher-trainers are all practising classroom teachers, who have qualified as trainers in the project method through a programme supported by the Federal Ministry of Education, the British Council, and the Department of Education and Science of the Nizhny Novgorod Region. Eventually, the Centre for Technology Education plans to run training courses in other regions of the Russian Federation, and to establish a web site and a range of distance learning courses. We have referred already to problems relating to initial teacher education. There are fifty-seven universities where new technology teachers are trained. However, as long as this training is based on the existing Federal Standards for teacher training, these institutions are a de facto brake on progress.
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Some policy implications We have described above how technology education in the Russian Federation is at a turning point. The old construction of the subject, with its associated pedagogy and underlying epistemology, is inconsistent with broader education goals that focus on the development of creative, pro-active students, capable of planning their own work, of investigating, of making decisions, and of lifelong learning. Nonetheless, the old methods remain in use in the majority of schools, and any process of transition is invariably slow. Standing in contrast to these older methods are the design-based approach or project method, as developed by Technology and Enterprise Education in Russia, and the advanced technology, systems-based approach that has been developed by ORT. The design-based approach has clear support from the Federal Ministry of Education but, as discussed above, there are many obstacles to change.
At a federal level Many teachers have heard of the new approaches, and there is a thirst for training in the new teaching methods. There is clear empirical evidence that, in classes where technology teachers have adopted a design-based approach, there is greater student motivation and teacher satisfaction. Students develop confidence and a range of skills that go far beyond the technical competence needed to make something. But in a multi-ethnic country that has eightynine regions spread across twelve time zones, there needs to be a systematic plan for disseminating new practice as it develops. There is a curious inconsistency at the centre. On the one hand, education ministers and senior civil servants see a design-based approach or the project method as very important. It generates exactly those broad, generic skills that the country needs through active, self-directed learning. Yet these same officials ask for publications and training manuals to instruct teachers how to teach in a different way! There seems to be an assumption that the only thing teachers need to do in order to change their professional practice and ideas is to read a manual. In our opinion, the first priority should be the development of in-service training courses, so that teachers can jointly develop their own new practice through action and reflection. The experience in Nizhny Novgorod described above is important here. In Yakutiya, a vast, sparsely populated part of north-eastern Siberia, staff at the Namsty Pedagogical College have been working with school technology teachers over the past three years, developing a design-based approach. The results are startling and show what can be
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done when teachers are encouraged to take responsibility for their own professional development, under the guidance of tutor-mentors. Second, the Federal Standards for training technology teachers need to be fundamentally re-examined. As a new Standard appears, there needs to be a parallel in-service training programme for university lecturers and tutors. It would be wise to free some pedagogical universities from the current Standard and allow them to pilot some new courses based on the new pedagogy. Third, the Federal Ministry needs to encourage diversity in approved programmes and books for use in schools. To achieve this, it might be necessary to assess the impact of the Expert Committees and see how the committee that oversees technology might be assisted in its work. In the longer term, minimum federal requirements will need revision to emphasize capability in designing as well as making, and to strengthen the sciencetechnology-society dimension. Although there is no formal requirement that boys and girls have different curricula, this happens in practice and it should be discouraged by the Ministry. Fourth, there need to be more vehicles for communication between teachers and educators at all levels. At the very least, the editorial policy of Schools and Industry needs to be more open. A professional association of technology teachers is needed, as is a range of opportunities for web-based or other forms of distance learning, so that teachers can find out what is going on in other parts of the country. The National Centre for Technology Education, based in Nizhny Novgorod, should help in this respect.
At the regional level How might regional administrations do more to support innovation in technology education? Again, the first priority must be to support in-service training initiatives. The inspectorate should be kept informed so that individual inspectors can encourage rather than discourage innovation and reform. School heads also can be urged to encourage innovation, especially in teaching methods. In some regions, a closer relationship between industry and education is beginning to reappear in technology education. Although it is too early to see where this will lead, the possibilities of industry-education partnerships at a regional level are worth exploring. Finally, there is the regional component of the technology curriculum, which can be constructed in a way that is unique to each region. This allows a significant and welcome flexibility in curriculum planning.
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At the school level Teachers need the assurance that innovation will be valued and rewarded. They need time for in-service training, and encouragement to develop themselves as reflective practitioners as they develop their range of teaching methods. They also need money for books, materials and equipment, not to mention a more secure economic position in society.
Conclusion The Russian Federation is attempting radical educational reform with very limited financial resources. The reform of technology education is part of a wider drive towards the humanization of the school curriculum. The most significant change is towards a new paradigm of teaching and learning, in which students learn through projects. Emphasis is increasingly on pupils’ creativity and their development, rather than on the acquisition of prevocational knowledge and skill that characterized Labour Training. However, although this trend is supported at a federal level, the Russian Federation is a huge country and there are deeply-rooted cultural obstacles to such an approach. It is too soon to predict to what extent the reforms outlined above will flourish.
Bibliography ATUTOV, P. R. (ed.) 1997. Didaktika tehnologicheskogo obrazovanija Chast 1 [Didactics of technology education. Part 1). Moscow, Institute of Secondary Education, RAO. ––––. 1998. Didaktika tehnologicheskogo obrazovanija Chast 2 [Didactics of technology education. Part 2). Moscow, Institute of Secondary Education, RAO. COMENIUS, J. A. 1967. The Great Didactic of John Amos Comenius. (Trans. and ed. M. W. Keatinge.) New York, Russell and Russell. JOSEPHSON, P. R. 1992. Science and Technology as Panacea in Gorbachev’s Russia. In: J. P. Scanlan (ed.), Technology, Culture, and Development: The Experience of the Soviet Model, pp. 25–61. Armonk, New York, Sharpe. KHOTUNTSEV, Y. L.; SIMONENKO, V. D. (eds.). 1995. Programmu srednih obscheorasovatelnuh uchrezhdenij: Trudovoe Obuchenie: Tehnologija (1–4 klassu, 5–11 klassu) [Programmes for secondary schools: Labour
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Training: Technology (Grades 1–4, Grades 5–11)]. Moscow, Prosveschenie. KHOTUNTSEV, Y. L. 2001. Chelovek, technologii, okruzhaustchaja sreda [Person, technology, environment]. Moscow, Ustojchivuj mir. LEDNEV, V. S.; NIKANDROV, N. D.; LAZUTOVA, M. N. (eds.). 1998. Uchebnue standartu shkol Rossii. Gosudarstvennue standartu nachalnogo obstchego, osnovnogo obstchego I srednego (polnogo) obstchego obrazovanija. Kniga 2. Matematika I estestvenno-nauchnue distsiplinu [Learning Standards for Russian Schools. State Standards for primary, secondary education. Book 2. Mathematics and Science]. Moscow, Sfera, Prometej. LEONTIEVA, M. 1997. Ob osobenostjah obuchenija po programmam obrazovatel’noj oblasti ‘Tehnologija’ (N: 760/14–12, 17.06.97) [About particularities of studying according to the programmes in the educational area ‘Technology’]. Moscow, Ministerstvo obstchego i professional’nogo obrazovanija. ––––. 1998. O reshenii konferentsii ‘Tehnologicheskoe obrazovanie –98’ (211/ 14-12, 18.02.98) [About the decisions of the conference ‘Technology education – 98’]. Moscow, Ministerstvo obstchego i professionalnogo obrazovanija. LYOTARD, J.-F. 1996. The Postmodern Condition: A Report on Knowledge. In: E. L. Cahoone (ed.), From Modernism to Postmodernism. An Anthology, pp. 481–513. Cambridge, Blackwell. MINISTRY OF EDUCATION 2001. Rossijskoe obrazovanie k 2001. [Russian education by 2001] www.ed.gov.ru/obzor, (revised 1 Feb. 2002). NATIONAL COMMISSION ON EXCELLENCE IN EDUCATION. 1983. A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform. Washington, DC, Government Printing Office. OVECHKIN, V.P.; SIMONENKO, V.D. 1998. Kontseptsija technologicheskogo obrazovanija shkolnikov v obscheobrasovatelnuh uchrezdenijah Rossijskoj Federatsii [Concept of students’ technology education in schools of the Russian Federation]. Bryansk, Bryanski Pedagogical Institute Press. PACEY, A. 1983. The Culture of Technology. Oxford, Basil Blackwell. PAVLOVA, M. 2001a. Theorising Knowledge in Technology Education: Policy Analysis of Four Countries. Unpublished PhD thesis, La Trobe University, Australia. ––––. 2001b. Values in Technology Education. Unpublished report on the first phase of the research project. PAVLOVA, M.; PITT. J. 2001. Action Research as an Effective Way of Developing Educational Policy. In: E. W. L. Norman and P. H. Roberts (eds.), IDATER 2001 International Conference on Design and Technology Education, Research and Curriculum Development,
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pp. 106–11. Loughborough, United Kingdom, Department of Design and Technology, Loughborough University. PAVLOVA, M.; SASOVA, I. 1999. Report on Results of the Pilot Project in Schools of Nizhny Novgorod. Unpublished. Partly presented in M. PAVLOVA; PITT, J. (2000). A Design-based Approach to Technology Education – Is It Acceptable Practice in Russia? In: P. H. Roberts and E. W. L. Norman (eds.), IDATER 2000 International Conference on Design and Technology Education Research and Curriculum Development, pp. 147–54. Loughborough, UK, Department of Design and Technology, Loughborough University. RUSSIAN FEDERATION. 1992. Zakon ob obrazovanii [The law regarding education]. Vedomosti S’ezda narodnuh deputatov RF i Verhovnogo Soveta RF, 30. STATE COMMITTEE OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION ON HIGHER EDUCATION. 1994/2000. Gosudarstvennuj standart vusshego professionalnogo obrazovanija: gosudarstvennue trebovanija k obazatelnomu minimumu soderzhanija i urovnu porgotovki vupusknika po spestialnosti 030600 ‘Tehnologija I preprinimatelstvo’ (kvalifikatsija-uchitel tehnologii predprinimatelstva: 3 uroven vushego professionalnogo obrazovanija [State educational standard for higher professional education: state requirement for the compulsory minimum content and level for graduate specialization 030600 ‘Technology and Enterprise’ (Qualification – the teacher of technology and enterprise; 3rd level of Higher Professional Education), Order No.180, 5 March 1994 (revised draft 2000), Moscow. SUTHERLAND, J. 1999. Schooling in the New Russia: Innovation and change 1984–95. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan. TKHORZHEVSKIY, D. A. (ed.). 1987. Metodika obutchenija predmetu Trudovoe obutchenie [Methods of Teaching Labour Training]. Moscow, Prosveshchenie. VERNADSKI, V. I. 1994. Zhivoe veschestvo i biiosfera (Living matter and the biosphere). Moscow, Ustojchivuj mir. VULFSON, B. L. 1992. Djon D’ui i Sovetskaya pedagogika [John Dewey and Soviet pedagogy]. Pedagogica, Vol. 9–10, pp. 99–106.
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Challenges, opportunities and decisions for science education at the opening of the twenty-first century Richard T. White
At the beginning of the twentieth century, science had not established a secure place in the school curriculum in any country, yet by the century’s end science was a major subject in secondary schools everywhere, and had penetrated deeply into primary schools. Although it is easy to assume that this success is permanent, if science is to remain as a lively and worthwhile part of the curriculum, a spectrum of people – teachers, politicians, curriculum designers, test constructors and researchers – will have to cope with new challenges and seize the opportunities that come with them. Obviously the present prominence of science in schools is connected with the remarkable advances in scientific knowledge and their successful application in technology that occurred in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Governments supported science, and consequently science education, because they perceived that strength in science was essential for national prosperity and security. Students followed their government’s lead and accepted science enthusiastically because of its intellectual challenge, colour and excitement, and because it opened attractive careers to them. Dramatic discoveries and new technologies may well continue to occur in the twenty-first century, and provide a continuing spur to science education. They are also likely to present new problems. Science does not advance uniformly on all fronts, so that different fields capture attention at different times. Relativity and quantum physics and nuclear technology dominated science in the first half of the twentieth century, biophysics and genetics in the second half. Designers of curricula and educators of teachers have to consider how to cope with such unevenness. The advance of science, however uneven, is not the sole twentiethcentury trend that is relevant to the place and nature of science education in the future. National movements replaced colonialism, stark differences in wealth between nations became obvious, the world population multiplied, multinational companies heralded the globalization of economies, awareness grew that technology has a darker side and fundamental movements in religion proliferated. Together, these trends bring tensions and new challenges for science education. For instance, globalization might reduce local needs
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for scientists and technologists. Will it then be sensible for poorer nations to invest in science education, when in the short term it would cost less to hire foreign experts at need? Or will this leave them in permanent economic subjection? Should a small nation aim at preparing scientists for a niche market, so that for instance it becomes a force in arid land agriculture or in genetic cloning? What should then be the form of its school curriculum? What effect would a specialist curriculum have on the training of its teachers? There is growing awareness that the benefits that science has brought are accompanied by costs. Technology is seen to be two-edged. There is concern about damage to the environment, and about the social consequence when machines replace humans in routine jobs, concern that sophisticated weapons and machines enable strong nations to enforce their will on the weak while at the same time enabling terrorists to harm people (if not governments) in any country, rich or poor. These concerns affect the popularity of science. What can education do to meet them? Fundamentalism in religion, though not necessarily incompatible with science, does not fit easily with it. It can promote non-scientific or antiscientific beliefs about creation or medical procedures such as transfusion and transplants. What is science education to do about this? Ignore the alternative beliefs, oppose them directly and overtly, or find an accommodation? Issues such as these create important and difficult challenges for school science. The challenges apply to the curriculum, the methods of assessment, the supply and training of teachers, classroom practice and research. The people who have to meet these challenges are teachers, administrators, government ministers, curriculum designers, examiners and test constructors, teacher educators, and researchers. The challenges provide them with opportunities to create new procedures and so keep science education vibrant.
The curriculum Many of the political and ethical issues of the present day involve science. Although the school curriculum should equip all citizens with knowledge that allows them to contribute to sensible decisions on pollution, population growth, genetic engineering, consumption of resources, and global warming, can it also provide the grounding that future science specialists will need? Each country has made its own decisions about the nature of its school curriculum and about who manages it. One decision to make is whether control will be central or local. In practice, curricula reflect the interplay of perceptions of national and local needs, tradition or habit, new ideas that
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may be indigenous or imported, and the resources that are available in terms of teachers, materials and texts. The strength of habit should not be discounted. The American curriculum movements of the 1950s and 1960s – Physical Science Study Committee (PSSC), Chem Study, Biological Sciences Curriculum Study (BSCS) and others – gave energy to science teaching and emphasized new themes such as the importance of models in science and of unifying notions such as field (gravitational, electrical and magnetic) and natural selection, but even these massive efforts did not revolutionize curricula or teaching. The new curricula included more or less the same topics as the old, and teachers taught them in much the same way as they had always done. There is a massive inertia in education systems. So, one challenge for science educators and administrators who believe that the fundamental nature of the curriculum needs changing is, how shall they overcome this inertia? Or, to put it another way, once they have determined the procedures of the new curriculum, how can they put them into effect? Tradition impedes change to the curriculum, but does help science by maintaining unquestioned its place in the overall curriculum of schools. Science might, however, gain in vitality and direction if its protagonists had to justify again its role in education. What purposes does it serve, and hence what science should be taught and in what manner? A fundamental question for all nations is whether they need a curriculum for the preparation of future scientists or a curriculum for all students that will produce citizens who are informed enough to understand and contribute to decisions that involve science. Fensham (1988) divides the demands that can be placed on science curricula into two groups: political, economic and subject-maintenance demands, on the one hand; and cultural, social and individual demands on the other. He points out that, irrespective of whatever their stated goals might be, in practice, curricula concentrate on the first group and ignore the second. Solomon and Aikenhead (1994), and Millar and Osborne (1998) are among others who have called for a shift in the emphasis from the first group to the second. An argument against specialist programmes is that by divorcing science from culture and society they present a distorted picture of science itself. Part of the distortion is the notion that science is independent of values and cultural beliefs; another part is the separation of physics, chemistry, biology and other sciences from each other, so that science is perceived as a bundle of disciplines rather than as an integrated, self-consistent account of the natural world. Fortunately, there is evidence that many teachers are aware of the issue of values and are prepared to raise controversial issues in science lessons (Cross and Price, 1996). There are two further concerns about specialist programmes. One is
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that probes of alternative beliefs reveal that the programmes are often ineffective at their primary task of producing sound basic understanding of science (see Pfundt and Duit, 1994, for a bibliography). The other is that in countries such as the United Kingdom and Australia, and no doubt others, the numbers who go on from these programmes to university study are not sufficient to maintain in the future the present number of teachers of science, so the system is not self-sustaining. Given these concerns, why then do specialist programmes continue to flourish? Specialist programmes fit systems where the compulsory years of schooling end two years or more before the age of entry into tertiary education. In such systems all students in the final years of schooling, whatever they are studying, are specialists-in-training. By making the study of science optional in senior school, these systems husband the limited numbers of qualified teachers while supplying sufficient entrants to universities to meet the immediate national need for scientists and engineers. When nearly all students complete secondary school, a specialist programme does not fit all and may not meet all of a nation’s needs. Authorities then have to decide whether to replace the specialist programme with a generalist one, or to add the generalist one while maintaining the specialist as well. The need to prepare for specialist training and the need for general understanding are not obviously incompatible, but it is hard to find any country that maintains satisfactory programmes for both. Specialist courses came first, when the upper age of compulsory schooling was low. Generalist courses then have to compete with them for teachers, resources and students. White (forthcoming) sets out conditions that must be in place for a generalist course to flourish: there has to be widespread dissatisfaction with the specialist curriculum, universities must accept that the generalist curriculum provides an adequate preparation for further study, and the new curriculum must be attractive. The second of these appears to be the most difficult to achieve. A key decision for each country is whether its needs are better met if its schools prepare a certain number of students for subsequent specialist training or provide all of them with general understanding of science. The challenge is then to put in place the conditions that make it possible to meet the need. Reformers who favour science for all should note, however, that this challenge is severe. ‘For more than 350 years there have been efforts to formulate a philosophy of science education that reflects a lived curriculum for everyone in contrast to the career orientation of school science courses’ (Hurd, 2002, p.4). Hurd notes that all that ever happens is an updating of the traditional subject matter. Whether the course is to prepare for further specialist study or for informed citizenship, decisions do have to be made about content. What
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topics should the course include? Science is a broad discipline and a rapidly growing one. Not only is there growth within existing specialisms, but also the appearance of new ones, such as biogeochemistry. It is impossible to teach even the fundamentals of all sciences to the one group of pupils. Less obvious, but at least as important, is selection of goals. Science is not merely a collection of facts and principles, but involves skills and ways of thinking. The process/product debate remains relevant. Then there are emotional aspects: attitudes to science itself and views about its place in human life. The mix of these outcomes, and the relative emphases placed on them, has to be decided. Several factors, which have to be balanced, influence decisions about content and goals. Among them are the nation’s needs, individuals’ needs and the available resources. Resources include teachers, space and equipment. It may seem obvious that if there are no teachers of physics then there is no point in introducing a course on advanced physics, but authorities do occasionally fall into this error. Because needs and resources vary, different countries will make different selections of content and goals. Each should develop its own curriculum. Although a country can take ideas from elsewhere and adapt them, it is unlikely to find in another country a curriculum that fits exactly its own needs. Many did use the United States courses of BSCS and so forth, even though these were not completely suitable for them, because of the cost of developing their own courses. Constructing a curriculum is a challenge, but it also has to be seen as an opportunity to create something of national value. The early years of the twenty-first century might be a time for radical rethinking of content. Astronomy has rarely been a major part of school science curricula, yet could promote useful understandings not just of science and its methods but also of the Earth and how humans should conduct themselves. It provides an appreciation of the fact that the Earth is a unit, and that all people share its fate: ‘What entity, short of God, could be nobler or worthier of man’s attention than the cosmos itself? Forget about interest rates, forget about war and murder, let’s talk about space.’ (Rucker, 1984, p. 91). All cultures possess histories of astronomy that are compatible with modern scientific work. All have interesting cosmologies that link with religions. Astronomy exemplifies the purpose of science to explain the nature of the physical universe. It includes elements of physics, chemistry and biology. It is colourful and dramatic. At school level students can make interesting observations with a minimum of equipment. Astronomy is, of course, capable of being taught badly. Nothing could distort understanding of science more, or do more harm to the appeal of science, than lessons where students stay
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seated while incomprehensible figures (‘the Sun has a mass of 2 x 1030 kg and a diameter of 1,385.000 km’) are thrown at them. This is also a time to revise established subjects. Authorities have to decide whether to resolve conflicts between science and alternative systems of belief. Should science courses deal with the widespread interest in astrology? In some cases, such as the Milingimbi project in Northern Australia (Northern Territory Department of Education, n.d.), science can be shown to be consistent with traditional tribal beliefs, but in others, such as the JudaeoChristian account of creation, compatibility is less obvious. Should science courses address creationism and try to eradicate it, or just ignore it? A different sort of faith is that which many physics teachers have in numbers. A move to more emphasis on conceptions and less on algorithms could produce deeper understanding and increase appreciation of the intellectual ferment of the subject. Many students come to perceive physics and other sciences as closed subjects in which the knowledge is fixed and unalterable. Closed subjects are dead and unlikely to interest students. Curriculum designers might consider whether less drill on substitution in formulae and more emphasis on human stories such as the search for the structure of DNA – or on controversies such as the source of AIDS, or on ethical issues such as cloning – would show students that science is speculative, creative, and human.
Assessment Many people take assessment to be synonymous with tests. A more comprehensive view is that it encompasses all judgements that are made about behaviour and performance. Tests are a tool to aid assessment, but are not the only means. Teachers assess their students continually, by reflecting on their responses to oral questions in class, by listening to their comments and by observing them. These moment-to-moment assessments are important, especially whenever formal testing covers only a small fraction of the goals of the science curriculum. In its closed format and concentration on facts and principles, much current testing is consistent with a programme for the preparation of specialist scientists. For courses intended to provide a general understanding of the nature of science and an appreciation of its place in history and in contemporary life, tests ought to be more open-ended, requiring informed discussion of options for public issues for which science is relevant and including measures of attitudes. Goals of the curriculum should determine the style of assessment, while in practice it often works in reverse, with the tests defining the goals. Much testing is routine, with test constructors
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employing a format from custom, rather than choosing the style to fit the properties that the test should assess. Common test forms are multiple choice, short answer and essay. Widespread use of multiple choice in large-scale testing is understandable, since it minimizes the time and cost of marking. Multiple-choice items are more tedious to construct than short answer items or essays, and no more penetrating, so there is little point in a teacher using them with a single class. Also, though multiple choice is well-suited to the testing of recall of facts (though no better than are short answer items), it is not as appropriate for testing outcomes such as understanding or ability to marshal an argument. Excessive reliance on multiple choice reduces the validity of an assessment. Understanding, as a goal of science curricula, is not a simple notion, and so requires subtle tests. Certainly the more someone knows, probably the better his or her understanding; but the nature of the knowledge also matters as does how well the learner perceives that the facts fit together. Knowledge in science has diverse forms. There is declarative knowledge, i.e. knowledge of facts and principles, and procedural knowledge, i.e. knowledge of how to do things, such as how to substitute in formulae, balance chemical equations or design experiments. There is knowledge that allows us to recognize members of classes such as sedimentary rocks, colloids and monocotyledons. Learning in science also involves the acquisition of motor skills, such as the reading of gauges, the making of microscope slides and the use of apparatus such as pipettes. Understanding requires the integration of these elements into a meaningful whole, so that the learner can use the knowledge to explain phenomena and to cope with new tasks. A simple test in a uniform format is not going to provide a valid measure of such a complex construct as understanding. A range of methods is necessary. One advance that could be implemented immediately is the replacement – in the classroom and in mass testing – of multiple choice, short answer and essay tests with test forms that originated in research: e.g. concept maps (Novak and Gowin, 1984), prediction-observation-explanation tasks (Champagne et al., 1980), Venn diagrams (Gunstone and White, 1986), drawings (Novick and Nussbaum, 1978), word association (Shavelson, 1974) and interviews about interviews and events (Osborne and Freyberg, 1985). Invention of yet more forms would add to the validity of tests. Assessment needs attention in physics in particular. Much testing in physics requires calculations, sometimes in solving difficult problems and often in routine substitution in formulae. The ability to carry out quantitative exercises is certainly important in physics, but so is the ability to explain. A greater proportion of items that called for explanations of phenomena or for
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qualitative answers would increase the validity of physics tests. It might also make physics more attractive.
The Internet The Internet has the potential to change teaching and learning to almost as great a degree as did the invention of printing. Printing did not obviate the need for teachers, but it did add to the resources available to learners. It also increased the skills that learners and their teachers had to master if they were to make good use of the new technology. We have a similar situation at the beginning of the twenty-first century. The Internet provides access to enormous amounts of scientific information, but knowing how to find it, to evaluate it and to learn from it are not trivial skills. They have to be learned and they have to be taught. Printing brought the need for skills beyond the deciphering of groups of letters into meaningful words and sentences. To learn from books, students had to put what they read into their own terms, relate the information to what they already knew, sort out the important points and evaluate their credibility. Similarly, there is much more to learning from the Internet than logging on and searching the web. Students have to discriminate between relevant and irrelevant information, evaluate the credibility of the source, analyse arguments and synthesize a coherent meaning. Those who master these skills will have a huge advantage in learning. The skills of finding information are relatively simple, yet those of processing it are complex. We do not know enough about the complex skills: what they are, or how to teach them. Research is at an early stage, and occurs at only a few centres. The Knowledge Integration Environment project at the University of California at Berkeley is developing and evaluating computer programs that guide learning from the Internet (see Linn, 2000, and other articles in the August 2000 special issue of the International Journal of Science Education). A further parallel with printing and reading demands consideration. A common research finding is that students whose homes are well-stocked with books achieve more at school. Acquisition of books is as much a matter of wealth – being able to afford them – as of inclination, although, of course, not everyone who can afford to buy them does. With the Internet, poor people who cannot afford a computer will not be able to access information. Even if their school has computers, students who do not have a computer at home are less likely to know how best to use them. Computers in schools will be helpful, but will not bring the poor up to the rich. Like all inventions,
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computers and the Internet widen the gap between rich and poor. This will be evident within a nation, but even more so between nations. The Internet challenges teachers and students to acquire new skills, researchers to define these skills and find out how best to teach them, governments to find the resources to provide access to computers and UNESCO to ameliorate the differentials between nations.
Teachers Supply and retention Some may think that computers and the Internet are about to reduce, perhaps even remove, the need to employ human teachers. That belief reflects a simplistic notion of learning as the transfer of knowledge, when learning is actually a complex process that needs close guidance. Computers will actually increase the demand for skilled teachers who can help students to learn efficiently and with understanding. The need to attract, train and retain science teachers will remain. Even rich countries never seem to have sufficient qualified science teachers. In recent times shortages of teachers of physics and chemistry have been particularly acute. The obvious, and at least partially correct, explanation is that other careers appear more attractive. There is a challenge here to governments and other employers of teachers to make teaching more attractive through better conditions. Once science teachers have been attracted, it is important to keep them. Many do leave teaching long before the end of their working lives and often after only a year or two. Researchers might do more to investigate reasons for resignations and to publicize them in order to bring about a change in policy. A community should aim to get a positive return on the money it invests in the training of a science teacher. The rate of return increases as the teacher gains experience, so while it is folly to lose teachers at all, it is particularly foolish to let them go just as they become fully productive. The loss to a community is severe if a science teacher moves to another field, such as marketing, but even worse if he or she leaves the country altogether. The national investment is then totally gone. Of course another country has then gained, but in many cases the teacher goes to a richer country that is covering its own shortage by importing teachers. This is a form of economic looting, since the receiving country has not had to pay for the training. The overall damage to the poor country is greater than the
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overall benefit to the rich, because poor countries have relatively few qualified science teachers. The loss of each one is marked. Whether rich or poor, countries should stem the drain of science teachers by providing better work conditions. Remuneration is obviously an important factor. When the investment in training is taken into account, good salaries and differential tax concessions make economic sense, and so does supporting science teachers with adequately equipped teaching laboratories. Money is not the only factor. Teachers need respect and status, and praise rather than abuse. This is not just so that they will feel good about themselves, but mainly because their standing in the community affects the way in which their students behave in class. Where teachers have low status, they have more trouble with delinquent behaviour and their days are less pleasant. A challenge for community leaders is to raise the status of teachers. It is also a challenge to teachers to merit that support. They have to behave, and be seen to behave, in a manner that commands respect. In addition to receiving support from outside, teachers will do well to support each other. Professional partnerships overcome the isolation that teachers experience if they do not venture beyond their own classrooms. Opportunities for leadership exist in the formation of partnerships, within a single school as well as in larger forums.
Training The training of science teachers is intimately connected with attracting and retaining them. This applies to pre-service (or initial) training and in-service training. There is a naïve view that teaching is simple. In fact, it is a complex art, involving a rapid succession of subtle decisions about what action to take next. Teaching probably involves more moment-to-moment decisions than any other profession. It requires intense concentration. Learning to teach is a lifelong process, in which progress occurs through reflection on events. Initial training cannot provide all the knowledge and skills that a reflective teacher will eventually need to acquire. Pre-service training should, nevertheless, give a sound basis for continuing development. What then should it include? The obvious answer is a mix of science and pedagogy, as is the present common arrangement, but this still leaves several issues to be resolved. One is the length of pre-service training. The modern state of science creates a problem, in that its size and scope is too great for anyone to be knowledgeable in all its branches. Teachers, though, who have to teach an integrated general science course have to know something of most branches of science. Even those who specialize in one branch should have a
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broader understanding so that they can show their students how their subject fits with others. Should students in a course of fixed length and who are intending to teach take a broad programme of studies in which they do not specialize in any other science? The disadvantage is that inevitably the resulting science qualification will be seen as inferior, and the more capable students will shun such programmes. Increasing the length of the programme to allow both breadth and depth is hardly an option, both because of the cost that would need to be borne by either the student, the government or the future employer, and because the delay in gainful employment would reduce enrolments. Nor is it an option to increase the time given to science at the expense of the time given to pedagogy. Indeed, there is a case for more time to be spent on training in pedagogy. Recent advances in learning theory, with the development of models of information processing and constructivism, and the introduction of concepts such as metacognition and zone of proximal development, and the additional skills that students will need to be taught (such as learning from the Internet) have increased the knowledge and skills that teachers should possess. Shulman’s (1987) notion of pedagogical content knowledge places further pressure on training time. Preparation for teaching science is not simply a matter of acquiring knowledge of science and general classroom skills; it requires a deeper understanding of content. Teachers need to be aware of the inevitability of alternative conceptions, must know in which topics these conceptions are prevalent and what the most common forms are, must know techniques for bringing them to light, and must know what to do about them. This is not trivial knowledge, and it is not possible to acquire it in a single year that also has to include the important topics that all teachers should study, of the history and philosophy of education, didactics and psychology. Pedagogical content knowledge complicates training in another way. In most science teacher-training systems, one group of people teaches science and another group pedagogy, with negligible interaction between these groups. This arrangement minimizes students’ understanding of pedagogical content knowledge. The argument for more science and more pedagogy, and a system more favourable to pedagogical content knowledge, creates a dilemma. To be effective, the programme has to be longer. But for it to be affordable, to whomever pays for it, it cannot be much longer than current programs. Also, to be attractive, the programme cannot delay students’ entry to income earning. Resolution of this dilemma is a challenge. One possible solution is the internship model that many countries follow in the training of nurses and medical practitioners. On completion of initial
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training, graduates could be employed for a year or more on reduced classroom hours while they undertook further study. The cost of internship has to be weighed against the financial loss that now occurs through incomplete training and early resignations. Effective internship requires experienced teachers to be mentors. This leadership role would add to their professional satisfaction.
Research Research in science education exploded in the second half of the twentieth century. Until the 1960s, Science Education was the sole journal in which the bulk of articles were about research. Other journals reported an occasional research article, but mostly contained descriptions of demonstration techniques or laboratory exercises. Europe, Asia, Australia, South America and Africa appear to have had no journals dedicated to research in science education. New journals began to appear as research schools of Education expanded in the 1960s and research associations formed. The American National Association for Research in Science Teaching (NARST) produced the first issue of the Journal of Research in Science Teaching in 1963; the Australian Science Education Research Association formed in 1971 and produced the first issue of its journal Research in Science Education in the same year; the Spanish journal Ensenanza de las Ciencas began in 1983; the Journal of the Korean Association for Research in Science Education began in 1977; in Japan Rika Kyouikugaku Kenkyu (Journal of Research in Science Education) began in 1960 and Kagaku Kyoui Kenkyu (Journal of Science Education in Japan) in 1977; and the main French science education research journal Didaskalia began in 1993. Whereas the 1954 volume of Science Education ran to 443 pages – a large proportion of which was taken up with minutes of meetings, news and notes, and book reviews, rather than with reports of research – in 2000 it and the Journal of Research in Science Teaching (JRST), Research in Science Education (RISE) and International Journal of Science Education (IJSE) together contained 3,750 pages, almost all of it reporting research. One consequence is that it is hardly possible for one scholar to maintain acquaintance with the whole field. As well as surging in quantity, research in the fifty years leading up to 2000 exhibited a revolution in style and a growing internationalism. The revolution in style came when information processing and constructivism replaced behaviourism as the major model of learning. The new models drew researchers’ attention to individual differences and the complex mix of factors that affect learning. With the publication of a special issue in
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the second volume of JRST (Piaget, 1964), Piaget’s long series of studies of children’s intellectual development and views of phenomena reached the attention of science educators in the United States and other English-speaking countries in the 1960s, and opened to them a research paradigm that differed from the prevalent tightly-designed psychological experiment. It took some years, however, before Piaget’s technique of interviews became fully accepted. White (2001) found only three articles in the 1975 volume of Science Education and none in JRST or RISE that reported results of interviews, though by 1995 together they contained forty-four. Interviews and other subtle methods of probing understandings revealed that children often held beliefs that were at odds with those of scientists and that these beliefs persisted in the face of instruction. This discovery surprised and fascinated researchers. Investigations of alternative conceptions soon dominated the field. At first the studies merely documented beliefs, but soon researchers set out to find ways of bringing students’ beliefs into line with those of scientists. This turned out to be surprisingly difficult. A classic early example is the study by Gunstone et al. (1981). It may have been the failure of attempts to eradicate alternative conceptions that led researchers to take greater interest in the operations of classrooms and the behaviour of groups. The number of articles in Science Education, JRST and RISE that reported observations of learning, mainly in classrooms, more than doubled between 1975 and 1995 (White, 2001). A later, possibly related, development was interest in adults’ knowledge of science. Studies (e.g. Lucas, 1987) found that most people had either learned little or had retained little of the science knowledge that they might have been expected to have acquired in school. These results raise concerns about the goal of science education to produce informed citizens who can understand and contribute to community policy on science-related issues. A journal dedicated to this specialty, Public Understanding of Science, began publication in 1992. Growth in internationalism has been evident not only in the spread of research associations and journals, but also in attendance at conferences and in the authorship of journal articles. Until well into the 1970s, attendees at meetings of NARST and the Australasian Science Education Research Association (ASERA) were almost exclusively local nationals, but by 2000 both had many foreign attendees. Appreciation of the value of international links led to the formation in 1995 of the European Science Education Research Association. At its meeting in 2001, scholars came not only from nearly every European country but also from the other continents. Of 182 papers submitted, one in three of the affiliations of the first-named authors were from outside Europe (namely: Asia, with 28; the Americas, 25; Australia, 6: and Africa, 4).
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Similarly, scholars from not only many Asian countries but also from Africa, the Americas, Europe and Australia attended the 2001 International Conference on Science, Technology and Mathematics Education for Human Development in Goa. In journals, only 3 of 335 authors in the first five volumes of JRST (1963–1967/8) were not from North America (the three were Piaget, and two other Europeans who presented papers at the special conference that NARST organized on Piaget’s work), while for 1996–2000, 161 of 641 JRST authors listed affiliations outside North America. Only 6 of 102 authors in the first five volumes of RISE (1971–1975) were not from Australia, but for 1996–2000 there were 174 out of 309. Internationalism has not, however, gone as far as it might. Reference lists of articles show that in science education, as in education generally, researchers (myself included) rarely cite work that was published in a country other than their own or the United States, and especially any that are in a language other than their own or English. This represents a major challenge. Monitoring progress towards meeting it is a simple research exercise itself. Two vital challenges for researchers are to maintain the high level of energy that has been evident in science education for several decades and to increase the effect that their work has on what happens in classrooms. Although economists caution that booms do not last for ever, national economies did grow at a fast rate through most of the second half of the twentieth century. This economic boom was an essential element in the contemporaneous boom in research. Growing economies were linked with growing demand and need for higher education. The greater demand for secondary and tertiary education and rapid population growth inevitably increased the need for teachers. At the same time, science and technology became more and more prominent in politics, business, and indeed almost all aspects of society. The need for good teachers of science multiplied. The importance of science education and the large number of people engaged in it supported energetic programmes of research. The combination of factors that underpins research in science education is not permanent. Some factors might continue well into the twenty-first century, but not all. The great expansion of universities after the Second World War occurred when the prestige of science was high and unquestioned. A large proportion of the most able students studied science, and many went into teaching and later into educational research. Late in the twentieth century, however, perhaps because of unimaginative curricula or poorer employment prospects or because dehumanizing technology had produced a more negative image of science, many able students turned to law, medicine and commerce. As well as the loss of able people from science, there is an additional loss from teaching. Many of the students who flooded into higher education
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in many countries in the 1950s and 1960s were the first of their families to enter a university. They came from artisan, labouring and shop-keeping communities, not academic or professional ones, and to them teaching was a step up in status. Many exceptionally able people entered teaching. Some still do, but now more people are aware of a wider range of professional careers, so the proportion of able people entering teaching and who might then go on to careers in research may have decreased. In sum, the flow of scholars into research in science education is not assured. Numbers and ability might fall, and the research enterprise falter. Governments can act to counter a potential decline of research through policies to encourage the study of science and to improve the conditions for teachers. Researchers would be wise, however, not to leave all the responsibility with the government. They can act themselves. Routine and unquestioning use of procedures amounts to stagnation, whereas for research to remain vibrant there has to be continued reflection on methods. Researchers should invent new methods to fit new perceptions of learning and teaching. The revolution in which tightly designed artificial psychological experiments gave way to rich qualitative descriptions (White, 2001) was not only a symptom of a lively field, but also a source of its life. Change, and the arguments and discussions that go with it, attracts researchers. The seminal article by Campbell and Stanley (1963), ‘Experimental and quasi-Experimental Designs for Research on Teaching’, marked the peak of rigorous experimental design. Its excellent analysis of designs and threats to the validity of conclusions improved the design of experiments, but also stimulated discussion about the shortcomings of the psychological model of experiments itself. Notions such as ecological validity (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) appeared. Piaget’s (1964) article in the second volume of JRST reached receptive readers. Observations, interviews and rich descriptions of complex interactions in classrooms became popular, and now form the new orthodoxy. This shift in paradigm has provided energy and vigour to research for two or three decades. The stimulus must eventually wane and new developments will be necessary to maintain an active state for research. The form that new developments take, if any do occur, cannot be forecast with confidence. It is unlikely, for instance, that anyone in 1960 foresaw the coming of studies of alternative conceptions even though there had been an early example in the work of Oakes (1945, 1957). Similarly, what happens in the twenty-first century might surprise us. It is possible, though, to point to several developments that have the potential to continue to stimulate research action. Unfortunately, none will be easy to implement. The first potential development is a synthesis of the tightly designed quantitative experiment with the looser but insightful qualitative investigation.
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The strength of well-designed experiments is their elimination of irrelevant factors as explanations of outcomes. This was also their weakness, as the ‘irrelevant’ factors can often be the ones that have most effect. Even when carried out in a classroom rather than a psychological laboratory, the experiment was often brief, involved a task that clearly was not part of the normal curriculum, and was administered by a stranger who was not the students’ usual teacher. The strength of the later descriptive studies is the richness of the insights they provide into the complex mix of factors that determines behaviour. Their weakness is their subjectivity, through which one fears that researchers see only what they hope or expect to see, and infer only what accords with their thesis. A synthesis that combines the strengths and reduces the weaknesses of the methods obviously is desirable. Developing it is not a trivial task, but progress towards the synthesis is evident in recent studies (e.g. Tunnicliffe, 1996) that report detailed statistical analyses of qualitative data from observations and interviews. Longitudinal studies are a second potential development. True longitudinal studies have not been common, simply because they are difficult. They require time, assurance that the researcher will be able to complete them and confidence that the question at issue and the data collected will remain relevant. Researchers under pressure to publish do not find them immediately rewarding. The apparent alternative, cohort studies that compare blocks of students of different ages, has the advantage that the researcher can collect all the information at the one time and not have to wait years while the participants grow. Cohort studies also have disadvantages. Because they compare changes with age in terms of groups, not of individuals, they smooth out irregularities in the way people change and produce the illusion that development is regular and continuous. Cohort studies cannot show that individuals do not progress smoothly or behave consistently, nor show how an experience at one time continues to affect an individual’s behaviour over years. They have less power than longitudinal studies to reveal the complexities of intellectual and social development, and of the factors that affect learning. There is a place for cohort studies, but not as a replacement for longitudinal studies. The number of longitudinal studies reported at the 2001 meeting of ESERA indicates that researchers are increasingly willing to engage in them. Further potential lies in widening the subjects of science education research. White’s (2001) analysis shows that two important groups are rarely studied: preschool children and adults other than teachers. With preschool children, the difficulty is communication; with adults, access to them. The few studies that have been done of preschool children’s beliefs (e.g. Bliss and Ogborn, 1994) help our understanding of the formation of alternative
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conceptions. Those of adults measure success with the goal of creating informed citizens. Lucas (1987) overcame the difficulty of access to adults by hiring a market research firm to conduct the interviews that he had planned. Advances in communication and the growth in numbers of researchers in many countries increase opportunities for international studies. Governments already fund the large-scale testing programmes of the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA) and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The most recent IEA study, the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS), assessed science knowledge at several age levels in schools in more than forty countries. The tests employed are open to criticism for their emphasis on simple recall and the heavy reliance on multiple-choice format. TIMSS also reported information on curricula, class sizes and other aspects of schooling, which is more valuable though less publicized than the results of the tests. In 2000 the OECD began its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to monitor the reading, mathematical and scientific literacy of 15 year olds. The PISA definition of scientific literacy is ‘the capacity to use scientific knowledge, to identify questions and to draw evidence-based conclusions in order to understand and help make decisions about the natural world and the changes made to it through human activity’ (OECD, 2000, p. 74). Since PISA assesses more than a 100,000 students, it employs a written test of which two-thirds consists of multiple-choice or short answer items, while only one-third calls for explanations and other extended answers. Large-scale surveys such as TIMSS and PISA have a place, but their reliance on mass tests leaves room for more penetrating comparisons. Although individuals cannot command the resources available to governments, they can carry out useful international studies capable of providing deeper insights into teaching and learning than do the large-scale surveys. A model is the series of studies in which a team of Japanese and Thai scholars compared national groups on beliefs about time and on the rate of development of notions of speed (Mori et al., 1974; Mori et al., 1976). More recently, Takemura (1998, 1999) led a project that involved researchers from seventeen countries in studies of scientific literacy and beliefs about science. These studies illustrate the effect of religion and of national cultures on learning of science. A particularly interesting study is that reported by Sjøberg (2000), in which students from twenty-one countries (including six from Africa, which is underrepresented in the TIMSS and PISA surveys) completed a questionnaire on their out-of-school experiences, interests, what they think science is about, and what it means to be a scientist. The results should
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stimulate much reflection in curriculum designers, teachers, and ministry officials. ‘The profile of experiences and interests does, however, vary strongly between countries. This fact should call for caution when it comes to “importing” foreign curricula and foster a sceptical resistance to the pressure to “harmonize” science curricula across the globe’ (Sjøberg, 2000, p. 185). Sjøberg notes that gender differences are highest in Northern European countries, a surprising result given the overt social policies of those communities, and one which directs attention to implicit messages about science and gender in texts, teaching, and public media. The study found that the image of science is more positive in developing countries than in ones that have forgotten how science delivered their present comfort and wealth, and now think only of the threats it holds for their lifestyle. Implications for curricula are clear. While research has found out much about the complexities of teaching and learning, a great challenge that they have barely begun to meet is to discover how to translate the principles they discover into action in the mass of classrooms. Expressions of doubt about the impact of research appear from time to time (e.g. Finn, 1988). Although rebuttals (e.g. Shavelson, 1988) and arguments citing the indirect nature of the relation between research and practice (e.g. Nisbet and Broadfoot, 1980) usually follow, more obvious examples of the effects of research would be welcome. Researchers have an opportunity to demonstrate the practical value of their work. Two illustrations of what might be done are the programme Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education (CASE) and the Project for Enhancing Effective Learning (PEEL). In CASE (Adey and Shayer, 1994), the researchers provide teachers with direction and materials for the conduct of lessons, and training and support over long periods. They do not merely present teachers with an account of their earlier research and expect the teachers to translate the recommendations into action, but work intensively with the teachers in making that translation. In PEEL (Baird and Mitchell, 1986; Baird and Northfield, 1992), teachers control the project, sharing experiences of their efforts to promote metacognition, and calling on researchers for advice and support when they feel they need it. Both approaches are fruitful and promise to be long-lasting. Responsibility for realizing the potential that research has for improving learning lies not only with researchers. Teachers and teacher associations can also do much. In the past, teachers had the excuse that narrow behaviourist research was not relevant to classrooms, but this excuse no longer applies. School authorities might do more to assist teachers to be active in subject associations, where they can hear about relevant research and even engage in research.
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Conditions of teachers’ work are not the only factor that inhibits them from undertaking research. Another is the model – which pervaded thinking through much of the twentieth century – that one group, i.e. researchers, finds out and recommends principles that the other group, i.e. teachers, then puts into practice. An alternative model is that rather than two distinct groups there is a continuum from abstract research, at one end, to unreflecting teaching at the other, and that individuals who are involved in education can be at different but not fixed places on the continuum, and can move back and forth along it. Naturally their conditions of employment and their predilections mean that some habitually lie more towards one end than the other. The separation of research from teaching is due in part to the mystique that surrounds research, the notion that it has arcane practices, which must be mastered before a first step is taken. An opposed view is that reflection on practice is in itself legitimate research and is something that any teacher can do. Criteria of quality must apply, of course. Feldman (1996) and Loughran et al. (2002) provide examples that suggest that the revolution in research that occurred in the twentieth century may yet be matched by a revolution in teaching in the twenty-first.
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School technology education: the search for authenticity John Olson
Technology education, which, in many countries, has achieved a place in the general curriculum of the school, is, as Raizen et al. (1995) have noted, citing Layton (1994), a ‘subject in the making’. It is so in a number of ways. In some countries, notably the United States and the United Kingdom, it has emerged from, and still reflects, a long tradition of vocational education. However, there are forces leading the subject into more abstract dimensions and away from this vocational legacy. These include movements that stress the design aspect of technology and others that emphasize the interconnections of science, technology and society, the so-called STS movement. There are also those who conceive of technology education as a preparation for working in the so-called ‘knowledge economy’, a conception in which there is a strong association made with the use of computers in education. Such preparation prioritizes generic mental abilities rather than craft capability. Indeed, the rhetoric can become quite confused when technology comes to be understood as ‘information technology’ (IT), and sometimes as ‘educational technology’ more generally. This confusion can be seen in the way in which some libraries catalogue books about technology! Both Layton (1993, 1994) and Raizen (1995) have shown how technology education has emerged from craft and occupational education, and have described the links that the subject now has to science and modern day vocational education. As Raizen et al. (1995) have pointed out, ‘the relationship between technology education and vocational education is not so direct and simple. The dual general and vocational education functions of technology education have been the source of considerable ambiguity and misunderstanding’ (p. 34). The ambiguity deepens when the borders between science and technology education weaken. As Layton (1993, p. 57) has suggested, ‘the inclusion of technology as a component of general education poses intriguing problems of curriculum organization and interrelationships’. Layton suggests that, besides being made a subject in its own right, technology education can be served by incorporating elements of it within the science education curriculum. Put another way, technology is served by being given some space in
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the context of science education. The context, it should be noted, is that of science, not technology. How this would work, and how well, is a matter for debate. Layton (1993, p. 64) notes that ‘a number of developing countries have reconstructed their science syllabuses to make them relate more effectively to contemporary personal and national needs’. In such countries, science serves the needs of technology education through incorporation of elements of technology into science lessons. An example of assimilating technology to science education can be seen in the approach taken by Trumper and Gelbman (2001). They note that the Israeli government report Tomorrow 98 proposes that mathematics, science and technology education be broadened to appeal to all students. The authors illustrate how this might be done in science education. They give the example of the problem of controlling thermal energy associated with the design of transistors. As well as graphing the performance of transistors in relation to voltage and current, students are asked to consider how heat affects resistor performance and to consider what problems have to be resolved in manufacturing transistors. While they do not have to do any design work with transistors, they are made aware of factors in the production of such items which go beyond what can be understood simply from a physics perspective. There is a kind of ‘science humility’ in this approach, which advances from the rituals in physics education of determining error of measurement to asking questions about how things can be made effectively. Thus, science education incorporates technology: ‘air time’ is given to issues that go beyond measurement to embrace aspects of production. While science can serve technology, technology can also serve science. As Layton (1993, p. 61) notes, ‘a closer association of school technology and science could bring benefits to science. The articulation of science with practical action would project a more authentic view of the nature and creative foundations of scientific knowledge. . . . It could encourage recognition of the tacit, craft contribution to the generation of knowledge’. It is possible to see a rather more superordinate role for technology in the curriculum than that exemplified by the transistor example. Technology can do more than just make science seem relevant. Technological issues in society might become one basis for selecting content to be studied in science in order to promote technological literacy. Chemistry in the Community – a United States science project – has already done this, as we shall see later. For such a project to work, however, as Jenkins (1992) has pointed out, scientific knowledge has to be refashioned so that it can be used in domains of action that are ‘markedly context bound’. This refashioning, often called making science and technology education more ‘authentic’, locates scientific
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knowledge within a broader technological framework, closer to the lives of the students, and it provides, as Jenkins also notes, room for personal interpretation and judgement. In this way, science would be incorporated into the domain of technology and serve the broader purposes of such education. Scientific knowledge would be subordinate to the demands presented by the technological issues under consideration. Instead of science providing time ‘on the air’ for technology ideas (a minor service), science would provide the background needed to explore technological issues. Salience would be determined by reference to those issues and not to the grammar and syntax of science. These different approaches to exploiting the connections between technology and science presuppose that we have ideas about the role of technology in general education and especially about the nature of technological literacy. Frameworks for thinking about these matters go beyond science and technology. They include some based on environmental concerns, especially those relating to the notion of sustainability, with issues flowing from questions about sustainability constituting a framework for an STS approach. As Fiens and MacLean (2000, p. 37) have argued, school science education ought to be embedded at the ‘core of the education for sustainability paradigm’ (p. 37). Put another way, they are saying that sustainability ought to constitute the framework within which science is embedded. It is worth emphasizing that the idea of education for sustainability draws as much on diverse areas of human activity within a context of evaluation and decisionmaking as does the concept of technology literacy. Fiens and MacLean propose that science teachers see their subject in a new light, in the context of social issues. This approach is the basis of a project for the Asia-Pacific Centre of Educational Development (APCED), sponsored by UNESCO. Teachers were asked to test materials designed to enhance student interest in, and concern for, issues of sustainability. Teachers came together from time to time to share their problems in implementing this different approach to science education. They discovered that environmental issues were understood differently in different cultures, and that there was no one approach to the general topic of sustainability. As a result, no pro-forma could be applied to frame the presentation and discussion of sustainability. Substantive ecological issues were seen differently in different places and had to be dealt with in culturally sensitive terms. It would not be difficult to substitute technological literacy for the term sustainability and to see technology teachers working alongside science teachers in the above approach if it had been based on such collaboration. To know what is sustainable is to know much about which things are made, about how they are made and what effects they have on the environment.
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Fiens and MacLean argue that science should be taught in a larger framework, which is not science and which has to do with the built environment and with issues in culture and in society. One could argue that this larger framework actually comprises technological literacy, a quest for a sustainable future that entails much more than scientific knowledge. It isn’t enough to call on science alone in developing education for sustainability. The answers lie within science and elsewhere. They lie also within cultures that are not universal as science is said to be. These cultures and their values affect how different people think about sustainability and about the broader questions of technological society. Haidar (2000) has addressed some of these cultural dimensions. He reports that the university science professors he talked to in Arabic countries found ideas in Islamic thought that supported technological literacy. He notes that the important Islamic concept of ijthad, which means ‘executing an utmost effort to do one’s best to know something’, is an important influence underpinning efforts to unlock natural and technological mysteries. This is especially the case for those mysteries to which a culture attaches particular importance, namely those that entail the ‘welfare of human beings without altering or destroying nature and [helping] children in schools to develop free thinking’. Encouraging ijthad, Haidar argues, ‘will open the gates for our children to interact critically with science and technology’ (p. 272). Fiens, MacLean and Haidar all highlight an important fact about technology, namely that different cultures see technological development and its consequences differently. This suggests that efforts to create global approaches to technology education are bound to fail, despite the many trends that assume a global uniformity of educational purpose and approach. Indeed, much international testing in science seems to be based on assumptions of such uniformity (Gaskell, 2001). Such testing is concerned with issues such as economic competition and the readiness of students to enter the work force. Technological literacy is widely expected to play a role in preparing these students for employment. How is technology education thought to perform its educational role? One of the slogans associated with this role, as we saw above, is ‘technological literacy’ – literacy here being a taken-for-granted educational benefit. In the case of technological literacy, one version says that the literate person can ‘read’ the made environment and cope with the challenges it presents. What is understood by this is not just the ability to make something but also to assess critically what is made. This understanding of technological literacy resonates with the broader notion of education for citizenship and is an integral part of it. Other versions of technological literacy stress a more
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vocational approach. We shall turn to these now before returning later to the question of literacy within the broader context of citizenship.
Literacy and the knowledge economy Raizen et al. (1995) note that technological literacy ‘enables young people to consider a wide range of careers in the higher performance workplace’. This perception of technological literacy focuses on gaining career information rather than on an ability to critique the made environment, and it is close to the goals of traditional vocational education as career preparation, although the careers then prepared for were in the highly industrialized world of manufacturing. Such a quasi-vocational goal applies to the curriculum as a whole, the career emphasis in technological education simply reflecting the way in which schooling in general is now being justified. Technology education is a central element of this rationale since economic development is often construed in terms of higher technology on a global economic scale. In the context of this emphasis on the ‘knowledge economy’, and on the skills that are said to be needed to survive and compete within it, the goals of technology education take on an abstract, generic quality. As Raizen et al. (1995) acknowledge, ‘In a design problem there are no exclusively right answers, but rather a range of possible solutions . . . A critical component of generating alternative solutions is cognitive modeling – that is, imagining problem solutions in one’s mind and exposing those ideas to others’. Kimbell likewise holds that ‘this interrelationship between modeling ideas in the mind and modelling ideas in reality is the cornerstone in design and technology’ (Kimbell, 1991, pp. 44–5). This shift to a more abstract and generic approach to technology education can be seen in the design approach now common in the United Kingdom. In the design movement, we see an approach to teaching technology that has similarities with school science education. In each case, students follow a formulaic approach: ‘design and make’ in technology, and ‘experiment and test’ in science. Both approaches privilege process over content. As Donnelly and Jenkins (1992, p. 2) suggest, technology education requires an active, problem-solving approach which ‘places considerable emphasis on the technology project . . . which relies heavily on the design loop or cycle and the notion of technology as the application of independent knowledge and decontextualized skills which jointly constitute ‘theory’’ (p. 2). Apart from the economic rationale of preparation for work, there are, of course, other reasons for planning a curriculum in terms of the design cycle, in technology, and the experiment, in science. Such an approach
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provides a basis for lesson planning, a locus for teacher expertise and a reduction of complexity for teaching purposes (Olson, 1992). In addition, an emphasis on generic thinking skills provides students with skills that can be used in other learning contexts and other school subjects that stress abstraction. The emphasis on cognitive outcomes gives the formulaic approach a certain prima facie validity. Linking school technology to employment in the higher technologies is also a selling point for key stakeholders within technology education. Raizen et al. (1995, p. 43) have argued that ‘no matter what the content, a technology curriculum must encompass problem identification and design process including cognitive modeling and understanding of systems’. Here the emphasis on abstractions is particularly evident. Why this emphasis? The authors assert that ‘the design process is a valuable way for students to combine knowledge and skills learned elsewhere and to apply them to solutions of new problems’ (p. 43). There are, of course, critics of this emphasis on generic skills in technology education. Donnelly and Jenkins (1992, p. 44), for example, note that the teaching of Craft, Design, Technology (CDT) in English schools sought to escape from the craft tradition by ‘borrowing the language and organizational strategies of school science’. Their research in schools in England suggested that pupils have difficulties in developing design briefs and in assessing knowledge and resources. They concluded that the ‘intellectualization’ of technology education privileges the cognitive dimension of making, to yield images and diagrams ‘which are essentially pedagogic or assessment artefacts. . . . It also undervalues “thinking hard” and the notion of knowledge in action that allows for tacit responses based upon experience and familiarity with materials’. It further marginalizes the kinds of experience ‘which are most immediately technical and cannot be dealt with by a process of design and planning’ (p. 50). This emphasis on apparently transferable, generic skills is part of a more general rationalization of schooling in terms of the development of abstract cognitive ability. Technology education reflects this trend. However, not all theorists stress the abstract aspects of cognition. Some see cognitive development taking place differently according to the different situations which call for abstract thinking. We shall return to this issue later. Now we need to return to another strand of the literacy idea.
Literacy and citizenship As much as the cognitive goals of technology literacy may be to the fore in policy and research, there is another way in which technological literacy can be construed. Such literacy can be thought of as the ability to respond
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critically to the complexities of technological innovation, through being able to read and think about what technology creates or might create. This approach can be seen as being in opposition to an understanding of technological literacy in terms of generic ‘thinking skills for global competition’, and, in its most general form, it is related to issues of sustainability. As can be seen, there are tensions between these two ideas about literacy which arise from the inherent ambiguity of the literacy idea itself, it being a slogan and thus inevitably vague. Calling for intelligent ‘knowledgeworkers’ emphasizes one domain of human capability, calling for critical appraisal of technology in the light of sustainability, another. So the usefulness of invoking technological literacy as a way of rationalizing technology in the curriculum seems limited and, when encountered, requires considerable unpacking to get at what is really being advocated. Similarly, much the same can be said of the slogan constructivism in science education, a term often used to characterize a ‘new’ approach to teaching science that takes into account the point of view of the student. This vague slogan can mean a number of things, not all of which are consistent with each other. It could mean taking student interests – that is to say ways in which students construe science-related events – into account in planning lessons. It could also mean taking into account the misconceptions students have about science concepts in order to disabuse students of them, no matter what the student interest in the subject matter might be. Indeed, the latter approach downplays student interests and seeks to find ways to overcome these, within the limited framework of correct and incorrect science concepts as defined by the curriculum. One view supposes a studentcentred framework with a likely technological framework; the other a relatively strict subject-centred one. So the question of how to pursue technological literacy takes on different guises. The issue for some is that not only are models not being built, but that the designing of models does not exist in a meaningful context. The learning, one could say, is not ‘situated’. The challenge teachers face, based on this view of literacy, is to have students confront the realities of the materials needed to build something, as well as the realities that result from its use. How can teachers situate technological activities? What is required in the way of teacher capability? What does it mean to teach the subject in an authentic way? How are the desired cognitive skills to be developed? It is to such issues that we now turn.
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Teaching technology In 1995, the New Zealand government published its first national technology statement. Technology was to be a new subject in the school curriculum. Teacher education to support the new curriculum was undertaken during the academic year 1995–96, after preliminary trials of the curriculum. However, teachers using the draft curriculum, who came from other fields, had little knowledge of practice and those who had a craft background had limited ideas about technology education (Compton and Jones, 1998, p. 153). This ‘often resulted in classroom activities emphasizing a simplistic step-by-step design process’. Such issues of teacher expertise reflect the challenges that technology curricula face. On the one hand, newcomers to the subject lack a base of experience on which to ground their activities, and, on the other, those already experienced in one version of the subject have difficulty in seeing it in a new guise. These are difficult problems for the future of the subject. What can teacher education do? Teachers coming from a vocational-education background are faced with a new subject, more radically new than they perhaps realize at first encounter. Teachers coming from outside vocational education may be better off, being more familiar with the emphasis on process and problem-solving now common in other subjects, especially science. As a response to the problems teachers encountered in New Zealand, technology teaching capability was to be enhanced through short courses and graduate work. This contrasts with how vocational teachers are trained; they have had to acquire trade expertise over time before they could achieve teaching qualifications, by no means an overnight process. The idea that teachers can quickly learn what is needed to teach technology may reflect the generic nature of the curriculum specification, especially that based on the design approach, the newness of the subject and the urgent need for teachers. The irony is that the extensive training undertaken by teachers who came through the trades may now be rendered obsolete in relation to new forms of technology education, with the risk that they will become unskilled. Other countries have evolved new technology curricula from more traditional approaches based on craft. Consider, for example, the case of Ontario, Canada, where different problems face teachers coping with a new curriculum. Gardner and Hill have addressed the problems faced by technology teachers at the secondary level in Ontario, Canada, as the subject moves into the mainstream of general education. Such teachers, they say, feel caught in a ‘ghetto’ because they have trade, but not university, qualifications. They are expected to collaborate with colleagues under the new Broad Based Technology curriculum which emphasizes interdisciplinary work and generic
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problem-solving. They find their colleagues in other subjects less than willing to collaborate. Some of the teachers feel the new curriculum erodes their expertise because it downplays the traditional trades emphasis. Again, there is a risk of teachers becoming unskilled. Beyond this, schools that cannot hire enough trades-qualified teachers may hire graduates without proper trade qualifications, a strategy that reflects ‘an untenable belief’ that ‘anybody can teach technology’ (Gardner and Hill, 1999, pp. 230–1). These issues of status and competence have implications for the way technology education as a general subject will evolve under pressure for more interdisciplinary work. Most subjects in secondary school are taught by people who usually have a background in their subject, and a basis, if not always a will, to reach out to other subjects when interdisciplinary work is called for. Technology teachers, lacking technical training or feeling less than adequate because of a lack of university qualifications, may find this process difficult. There is also the question of what is specified in the technology curriculum. As noted above, there is a move to specify in detail learning outcomes in terms of skills. This can be seen in science as well as in technology education. When teacher expertise in the subject is weak, the specification of generic skills as outcomes can be a way of mitigating this problem. However, there is a concomitant risk that important substantive content will be badly taught or even not taught at all. Of course, the argument is that it does not matter what the subject content is, as long as the specified cognitive capabilities are promoted and teachers can be trained to teach the generic skills. Such an argument is aligned with the pressure upon schools to develop generic skills applicable across many work situations. This is a vocationally oriented approach to the school curriculum that leaves out many other functions of schooling including citizenship education. Gardner and Hill (1999) also note that education for prospective elementary school teachers often does not include any preparation for teaching technology, and that most teacher candidates do not have a background in technology. How can these teachers implement curricula that specify outcomes based on an understanding of technology? The danger is that this problem will be set aside and schools will forge ahead with inadequate resources, with the result that formal, often mandated, curricula, will be based on assumptions that the schools cannot meet. The pressure from governments to include technology in schools at all levels may exceed their capacity to do so. This is the concern expressed by Rowell et al. (1999) who looked at how a school board in Alberta, Canada, approached the problem of implementing technological problem-solving within the framework of a mandated science programme. They found that
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those designing the elementary science curriculum sought to provide technology contexts in which to teach the science. This approach, they argue, reinforces the idea that ‘technology is applied science’ (p. 51). Teachers, they found, did not have enough experience to critique this view, and the problem-solving approach was taken for granted, with little attention given to the nature of the problems themselves posed in the science lessons. They saw that the main emphasis was on a problem-solving approach itself. Why this emphasis on process at the expense of substance? Rowell et al. think it ‘may have resulted from a major thrust in manipulative problemsolving in the elementary mathematics program in recent years’. They note that ‘the legacy of process approaches to learning persists despite contemporary debate about the situated nature of learning’, and comment that ‘whether such . . . generic procedures characterizing successful problem solving can be delineated has been questioned by many researchers’ (Rowell et al., 1999, p. 50). Similar difficulties have confronted teachers in the Netherlands (Black and Atkin, 1996; Raizen et al., 1995) where technology was introduced as a new subject in the basic education programme in accordance with the new national curriculum for the lower junior secondary schools. Teachers with an already full curriculum had to add technology as well. These teachers were not expert in this field. Nonetheless, the curriculum as a whole espoused a more self-directed and problem-centred approach to learning. However, teachers were concerned about developing basic skills in the allotted time, and about the planning of such open-ended activities; they were especially concerned with how to approach related social issues from a limited background in the subject. Not surprisingly, they found the extra subject a burden to implement, and they ‘continued to emphasize skills like technical drawing, producing pieces of work and other manual proficiencies and often justified their practice by claiming that their students were less interested in the theoretical than the practical aspects of technology’ (Black and Atkin, pp. 57–8).
Questions of teacher capability Molwane found that teachers in Botswana had difficulty implementing an activity-based approach to school technology. Arguing that ‘at the core of the subject [design and technology] is the design process’ (2001, p. 208), he analysed how teachers presented design activities using the established stages which form the norm of design, and which presuppose a high level of student activity and considerable one-on-one student-teacher interaction. How well were teachers able to operate in this teaching mode?
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Molwane found that teachers interacted mainly with the class as a whole across all five of the design phases of needs, ideas, making, production and evaluation. He noted that ‘Most lessons are lecture-method based, where explanations with illustrations are the core of design activities. [These] promote passive learning where students are engaged in simple recall learning activities.’ (p. 210). It is apparent from Molwane’s study (and hinted at in the earlier example above) that the classroom relationships between teacher and student presupposed by the design approach do not sit well with teachers who are not well acquainted with problem-solving approaches. The degree of student freedom to pursue interests and the time it takes to follow that approach appear to worry teachers who are, it must be acknowledged, under pressure to meet curriculum content specifications and also often subject to assessment tests and, in some countries, perhaps inspection and sanctions of various kinds. The problem is not that the students are not capable of self-directed activity or that such activity is unproductive. An interesting example of selfdirected spontaneous craft work is given by Growney who found that students in Ghana were highly engaged outside of school in making toys from found materials. Most of her time was spent in Accra, where ‘children showed me how they made toys from “found” materials . . . waste materials from home . . . [They] disassembled the tin cans between their feet’ (2001, p. 221). Using a knife and a rock, they took the can apart, flattened it and made it into something new. This they did for themselves outside of the school context. When she asked the students how they learned to do this, they said that their siblings had taught them. Growney thought that children in the United Kingdom ought to see how these children in Ghana used materials at hand. To facilitate this, she developed a website with ideas about using ‘found’ materials, and she encouraged students in the United Kingdom to think about how waste materials could be reused. The emphasis is on sustainability. The website is set out in the form of a design technology brief similar to that used in the scheme of work for design and technology published by the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority in England, ‘so that teachers familiar with that will find it easy to implement’ (Growney, 2001, p. 222). The contrast between the children in Accra making toys for themselves and the imagined work of the students in England following a design brief is rather arresting. On the one hand, there are spontaneous activities guided by others with experience, the children’s peers. On the other, there is a formal brief involving no one with experience in an activity that did not arise from within the world of the children themselves and was aimed at an abstraction rather than fun with toys otherwise not available. However, Growney sees that there are possibilities beyond play in these
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toy-making activities, and it is interesting to think about how the experience of the Accra children could be translated into a school in England. She is also concerned about the ability of teachers to translate the Accra experience into action. Could something from the experience of children in England give rise to making something, perhaps toys for others? Does it take a design brief ‘object lesson’ to suggest to teachers how the Ghanaian example might lead to useful classroom activity? Why restrict the opportunities in this way? Why is there this stress on the formulaic approach rather than on making toys as such? There are interesting opportunities for classroom research here, not only to explore the rationale behind the emphasis on creating briefs, and their effects on learning, but also to look at other approaches teachers might bring to bear in developing activities, such as occasions for collaboration and for student talk about making things (as we shall see below). There are also questions concerning the capabilities and resources teachers need in order to develop activities in technology in their classrooms, workshops or laboratories. Hennessy and Murphy, also in England, have argued that collaboration and talk would enhance the learning of design and technology, but that there is in fact a lack of these in secondary curricula and in practice. They noted that the demands upon teachers coping with limited time and resources often results in ‘quick fixes’ and the giving of solutions to pupils. The teacher’s occupation with these demands often results in a majority of children working unsupervised in technology classrooms; knowing when to intervene then becomes a real problem (Hennessy and Murphy, 1999, p. 26).
These authors are clear that teachers do not have enough time to interact meaningfully with all pupils. One of the reasons that they give to account for this is what they call the ‘tyranny of achieving’, which arises when the demand for ‘product outcomes . . . undermines the design process and pupils’ problem solving activity . . . and leads teachers to lose sight of rich exploratory and collaborative discussion’ (p. 26). They also raise the issue of the lack of ‘authenticity’ in the school technology curriculum. This ‘authenticity’ they equate with considering applications in the outside world. The source of the difficulty is the national curriculum in England, and its failure to deal with social ‘needs’. They conclude that there is little hope that a significant emphasis on authentic activity will develop imminently in technology classrooms in England, and cite a report from the British Design Council that suggests that pupils perceive no link between classroom design activity and the external business world (p. 27).
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There are, of course, needs in the world outside the classroom that go beyond the business world. The focus on business needs leads one to ask how authentic a technology education would be that shuns actually making things in favour of concentrating on design with business interests in mind. We will return to this issue in the final section of this chapter.
Technology and authenticity Hill (1998), in Canada, suggests, following Anning et al. (1996), that many design activities result only in a ‘model’ (or a drawing) rather than a ‘prototype’. The model exists only on paper whereas a prototype is actually built. She says that until there is a prototype, the design cannot be assessed in practical terms. She notes that problem-solving involving technology, human and environmental interactions differs from the ‘design, make, appraise cycles based on closed design briefs that are teacher assigned and unrelated to the students’ world’ (p. 203). Following Jones (in Jones et al., 1995), she points out that students building models do not often consider the limitations presented by the materials needed to build them, nor do they think what materials might be appropriate in considering their design. There is the further question of the utility and worth of what is made. How are such questions to be answered? In not having to consider the limitations of materials, nor the potential utility of what is designed and perhaps made, one could argue that the work lacks authenticity from a technological point of view, that is, from a view larger than the design or the making process itself. One way of enhancing the authenticity of projects in technology is to base them in the community. Hill (1998) describes a project in a secondary school involving Grade 10 students in a Manufacturing Technology course. Members of the community were asked to submit a list of projects they would like to see done, and students selected from these lists. One student worked with a retirement home on the problem of moving large volumes of wet clothes from washing machines to dryers, and dry clothes from the dryers to tables where the clothes were folded. Those who did this work regularly suffered back injuries so there was a call to improve the bins used to move the clothes. Through discussions with administrators, recognition of the problems was gained, an essential first step. In another project at the same home, there was a need to build a gardening table. Meetings were held to discuss how this might be done, given the wheelchair-bound residents of the home. Both sketches and models were made. Materials were tried in turn until a suitable prototype was built.
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Students were interviewed about their experiences. One said ‘Community projects give you a good experience in all different types of things, school subjects and life. . . . It doesn’t just lead to one thing you are going to do; it gives you variety’ (Hill, 1998, p. 215). Hill concluded that ‘to be authentic, technology education needs to relate to real-life problems or contexts . . . The design process is not a neat systematic process’ (p. 217). Clearly there are many demands made on the teacher in such an approach, and it is worth considering the resource implications of such exemplars. What transpires back in the classroom is also of interest. How do students bring together these experiences to deepen their understanding of them? What are students learning other than that there are real-life aspects to their course? Research on the learning outcomes of such experiences would provide a better understanding of the way student thinking is affected by the activities in which students engage. In addition, research into the resource demands entailed would give an indication of the policy implications of working in the way illustrated by Hill’s exemplars. It is interesting to note that a similar approach to authenticity can be found in the ChemCom science education project in the United States. Chemistry in the Community is a secondary school course designed to help students understand how chemistry relates to issues that are important in the local community. This science project was developed by the American Chemical Society, an organization comprised of chemists from industry, government and academia. As the report which described this course put it, the organization of the course is based on the principle that students should learn how scientific knowledge relates ‘to matters of consequence for individuals and the community . . . They have done this within chemistry teaching . . . [but not] by integrated science teaching’ ((Black and Atkin, 1996, p. 50). The ChemCom textbook is divided into eight units such as water needs, conserving resources, climate, health and nuclear chemistry. The authors note that ‘the units have one common message. Sound decisions must be based on all available evidence; some of this evidence is scientific, some is the expression of the views of interested parties, and all of it impinges on the social consequences of science’ (p. 50). It is not hard to see this course as a form of technology education with a strong basis in science. Such a course reflects a blurring of the line between science and technology education, once each contributes to an STS framework. While this course was designed to fit into existing places for chemistry in the curriculum, one can see how possibilities for interdisciplinary work might arise. One can also see the challenges for the science teacher called upon to move quite dramatically out of the realm of expertise in chemistry to areas involving the assessment of risk, the nature of political pressures on science policy and the like.
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The need for an interdisciplinary approach seems evident in the way this course is structured. However, the burden placed on the chemistry teacher seems large, as is the burden placed on the technology teacher in the earlier example of community-based technology teaching. Research into the possibilities of collaborative work amongst teachers, and into the demands of such work, as well as the views of the students who take such courses, is needed. In the case of ChemCom, such research was undertaken as part of a large, well-funded United States project looking into innovations in mathematics, science and technology. Teachers were asked to give an account of their experiences teaching this course. The remarks of one teacher, quoted in the project report, are instructive: ‘Unfortunately I teach in a system that clings to the notion that traditional high-school chemistry is somehow essential to preparing all students for “college”. . . . Some [teachers] fear that “digression” is equal to disorganization, the “loss” of a planned lesson’. (Black and Atkin, 1996, p. 160). Another teacher expanded on this theme: [Some teachers] found themselves less comfortable in the role of discussion leader than in the role of teller. Teachers . . . whose [expertise is in chemistry] find it . . . troublesome to spend so much time on issues and applications, or let issues dictate the choice of chemical content (p. 161).
The views of these science teachers are not surprising. Gaskell notes that while STS goals may be espoused in official curricula and some STS courses, such as ChemCom, there are many forces acting against such an approach. He concludes that ‘STS is most commonly able to gain a foothold in the school curriculum only where it does not threaten established versions of science’ (Gaskell, 2001, p. 389). There is much that can be achieved that is educationally important by regarding social issues as central to curriculum planning, and, as we shall see later, doing this is essential if progress is to be made. The sway of subject expertise persists in the way these teachers think about their subjects and the strength they draw from having such expertise. Teachers have many reasons to hold on to tried and true approaches to their subject (Olson, 1992), and calls for them to depart radically from these approaches must be made with these in mind. Somehow, teachers and innovators will have to work out how transitions to new practices can be made. As the writing team of the OECD report notes, The changes [demanded by innovation] require teachers to question their traditional subject practices and classroom routines. What is to be their role as transmitters of subject matter? Will they require new sources of authority in respect of their subject? . . . For example, in technology, teachers have to cope with an expansion of the
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subject from the traditional craft-based approaches to making to consider also the examination of technology in society . . . Likewise new teaching technologies require teachers to reflect on the technical basis of their work (Black and Atkin, 1996, p. 145).
As we noted above, teachers may well be more comfortable with teacherdirected and controlled lessons. Why they might be is worth asking. It is not possible to insert innovative practices into the classroom and ignore what has evolved over time. Much the same could be said about abandoning the practices of trades-based technology education in favour of abstract design activities based on high levels of student independence or, as some would have it, neglect. Teachers may feel that the kind of student-teacher relationship in the context of shop activity is different from that of design. Machines require a certain kind of teacher presence not required by paper and pencils, and teachers may be reluctant to abandon direction of the classroom even if those machines are no longer there. Questions about what teachers are trying to achieve in technology classrooms leads us to consider just what it is that students actually learn within them.
Learning in technological education In discussions about the goals of technology education, reference is often made to the desirability of students learning skills that can be transferred, that are wanted in the workplace – to education that results in the smart worker. There is some doubt as to whether this is possible. Hodson, for example, notes that ‘transferability [of skills] depends on familiarity with the relevant concepts, and so a demonstrated capacity to perform a skill in a particular context is no guarantee of skill in a conceptually different context’(1996, p. 126). What are the contexts of the subject? There is a danger of basing subjects like technology and science within contexts which are too narrow and thus lacking in authenticity. Hodson, in this regard, notes that conceptual change models for science education emphasize science as a way of knowing, at the expense of science as a social process. An emphasis on science as a way of knowing, he argues, leaves out many other dimensions of the nature of science as an activity. He includes in his list such dimensions as: social and economic considerations; the status of the researchers; the roles of influential scientists, journal editors and publishers; and the priorities of funding agencies. Science, he argues, takes place in a context much broader than a system of concepts and epistemologies. This context comprises issues which are in themselves not science but which bear on what students can learn from science about the larger world they inhabit. These learning possibilities
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arise in ‘situated’ conditions involving those who are on the inside of the practice helping those who are on the outside, ‘experts’ and ‘novices’. ‘Opportunities [are provided] for critical questioning [by the novices] . . . informed by critical feedback from the expert . . . [Such are the] stock and trade of the apprenticeship approach . . . in “real life” practical situations’ (Hodson, 1999, p. 247). Parallel arguments might be made for the teaching and learning of technology. Design and other aspects of technology take place within the context of human values. Designs are subject to constraints, not only from the need to shape materials, but also as regards the status of what is made – in a social context where, to take two salient examples, working life and human relations with nature may be at issue. Issues arise such as: whether a thing can be made; and if so, under what conditions should it be made; and whether or not it ought to be made at all. For example, using asbestos in construction posed problems of design, but also, as it turned out, problems having to do with worker and consumer health. The nature of the material affects both design and health. We should ask what can be learned from such histories. The real life situations that Hodson talks about are real because of their complexity. Having to think about these issues, Hodson says, promotes intellectual independence. However, it promotes more than that. Students learn about how our social dependencies work, about who decides, who implements and whose interests are served (Noble, 1995). They also learn that readiness for work and for coping with other aspects of living in a technological society can be served by a common education which does not separate working from other activities that go on after school. Vocational and general education are part of a single educational process. Kerre points out that, in traditional African education, no discernible dichotomy between general (liberal) and vocational (practical) education existed. Vocational education and training were considered critical in preparation for adult life. From cradle to grave, the knowledge, skills and attitudes of a community were handed down through customs, songs, poems, taboos, riddles, proverbs and apprenticeships in various occupational areas including ironmongery, blacksmithing, construction, making utensils, food preservation and medical practices (1994, p. 104). Linking academic and vocational education within an STS framework is one way to enhance humanistic goals of general education. Gaskell notes that the idea of linking academic and occupational curriculum has a rich history . . . Dewey [argued] . . . for an education through occupations rather than an education for occupations . . . Future citizens will need to be productive in the world of work. They will also need to have a frame for dealing with the fragmenting tendencies of
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technology and for providing a sense of community and moral purpose to life (2001, p. 393; see also Taylor, 1991).
What might this frame be for technology education? Possible ways of framing become clearer when we consider the contributions that women have made to technology.
Technology and gender The question of gender in technology is often presented as the problem of interesting girls in science and technology, as an issue about recruitment into technology education and beyond. The underlying issue is often regarded as one of perception. So, for example, Raizen et al. claim that ‘presently schools are not as successful as they should be in interesting girls in science and technology’, adding that research ‘supports the view that females work through solutions in a more intuitive and process-related way . . . boys . . . more from a perspective of rules and logic’ (1995, p.134). In the light of the differences in the way girls and boys think about problems, they recommend that ‘technology education must engage girls equally as much as boys. Teachers should make active efforts to review and select projects and activities designed to appeal to girls’ (p. 134). Such efforts are now widespread. Volk and Ming, for example, looked at student attitudes to technology in Hong Kong and found that significant differences existed between girls and boys on many of the items . . . [Yet] the analysis revealed that when boys and girls had significant interaction with technical toys and/or had a working space at home [there was] a [positive] statistically significant interaction . . . with their interest in technology. This may indicate that a stronger motivation and interest in technology exists for students who have a prior exposure to technology (1999, pp. 57, 64).
The authors noted that girls were often excluded from technical classes due to timetabling considerations and tradition. They call for the removal of such barriers and indicate initiatives underway to address ‘the lack of opportunity for girls to participate in further study’ (p. 68). They also note that at the Institute for Technology a summer institute in high technology is planned using laboratories, tools and mentors to encourage secondary-school girls to pursue studies relating to technology. At the Institute, they say, ‘facilities designed for the . . . campus reduced the past emphasis on craft skills [and moved] toward a wider problem-based exploration of technology’ (p. 69).
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Volk and Ming argue that a de-emphasis on the craft aspect and more emphasis on high-tech and design may enhance female interest in technology education. Raizen et al. also stress the need to contextualize science and technology education so that ‘concepts can be developed as they apply to “real projects” and problems . . . helping students to “make meaning” from their experiences’ (1995, p. 134). Paralleling efforts to attract females to the study of science, Volk and Ming, and Raizen and her colleagues are proposing a different emphasis in the way technology is taught in order to appeal to the way girls perceive and solve problems. They argue for a decreased emphasis on the manual arts, as well as on the making of things, which is perceived to be an unappealing aspect of technology for girls. In addition, linear approaches to problemsolving are seen to disadvantage girls, so a more intuitive approach is suggested. The argument is that this intuitive approach is more suited to dealing with problems that girls favour, unlike the step-wise approach to design used to deal with decontextualized problems of potentially little interest to girls. Here we have critiques of present practice in technology as much as a critique of the older craft-based approaches. According to these authors, neither the manual-arts approach nor the decontextualized-design approach corresponds well with the way girls think. What, then, might form a more appealing approach to technological activity in the school? One way of thinking about this is to consider the way in which women actually participate in technical activities, as opposed to asking students what they think about those technical activities. What roles have women played in technology? Layton (1993) notes that women have been associated with life-sustaining and life-enhancing technologies related to textiles, decoration, childrearing and domesticity. Despite this, and the fact that ‘women have never lived without technology’, they ‘have barely a toehold in the discourse and direction of it’ (Hynes, 1989, p. 33). A good example is the account of women’s role in the technology of salt extraction in Sierra Leone, where they have developed a very sophisticated means of extracting salt from silt at the base of the tree Avicennia africana: The salt-laden silts are collected, mixed with sea water and left to filter through the mud-lined baskets, the shape of which has evolved in order to achieve more efficient filtration. The filtrate is boiled in evaporating dishes until the salt crystallizes. The salt is then dried either in the sun or by heat from the fire. The skill level of the operators is the most crucial element in determining the final quality of the salt, as the operation involves careful control of the boiling in order to obtain the crystallization of pure salt (sodium chloride) and prevent the crystallization of bitter
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magnesium salts and the burning of the final product (Appleton and Ilkkaracan, 1994, p. 150).
These women have the capacity to use natural means to garner salt. Making salt is socially embedded in a way of life. The need for salt in Africa isn’t an isolated problem. It is part of a way of life. As Layton suggests above, rather than be guided by stereotypical images of male-dominated and science-based technologies in thinking about technological capability, we should see that technology historically and culturally has a much broader role in society and that women play major roles in technologies that are important to the society in which they live. One way of going beyond gender stereotyping, with its overtones of power and control, is to look more deeply at the role women have played in technology. Hynes (1989) notes that: Development aid and technologies exogenously introduced into [developing] countries have ignored women’s knowledge and failed to engage them in the design and the use of new technologies. They [exogenous technologies] often destroy the environmental base which has traditionally been used and conserved by women (cited in Layton, 1993, p. 35).
Franklin takes up a similar point in the context of developed countries. She cites Marvin’s (1988) study of the reaction of both the general population and the business community to the introduction of electrical techniques early in the twentieth century. Franklin focuses on the role played by female telephone operators in the use and development of telephone systems: ‘The telephone operators [were] the link between the new technology and the community . . . [They] found ways to make the technology useful. . . . The operator’s role was that of a . . . trouble-shooting engineer as well as that of a facilitator’ (Franklin, 1990, pp. 106–7). Franklin notes that the telephone operators were women who had a central role in developing a new technology without getting much credit for it. She points to the women who first used typewriters as an example of what happens when the users are not consulted when objects are manufactured. The keys were made to avoid jamming, but the keyboard was not easy for the typists to use. Better keyboards might have been made if the users had been consulted in advance of their design. Franklin argues that it is pointless to encourage women to enter technological jobs as they now exist, stating that ‘prescriptive technologies limit the role the workers can play in their use and limit the value of their work: [The workforce is] acculturated into a milieu in which external control and internal compliance are seen as normal and necessary’ (p. 23).
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The division of labour, the specialization and the linear approach to making things involves a loss of control over the work. This comes about because of ‘the inherent trust in machines and devices (production is under control) and a basic apprehension of people (growth is chancy, one can never be too sure of the outcome)’. What can be done? Franklin responds: ‘[If] we do not wish to visualize people as sources of problems, and machines and devices as sources of solutions, then we need to consider [machines] as cohabiters of this earth within the limiting paradigms applied to human populations’ (p. 31). The challenge to education that Franklin’s critique of prescriptive technologies raises is to address such issues in school at appropriate levels. What is the world of work like? How does technology affect life at work and life in general? What effects, for example, do computers have on work and so on? Such questions help us realize that technologies in many ways define the way we live. It is this broadened perspective of technology that the curriculum might embrace. These examples make it plain how technology is not applied science and not a subordinate activity. Furthermore, technologies have histories, have their own cultural form and logic, and are only recently influenced (but not defined by) the appropriation of science knowledge for the purpose of making. Craft has been the basis of technology and science has not altered that fact. Craft has been basic to culture from the beginning. The technologies now evident in our modern culture are more constitutive of it than were earlier ones, but not fundamentally so. Failure to see technology historically and culturally leads us to the false distinction between craft and technology, and blinds us to the pervasive influence of technologies in human society from earliest times. It makes us think that mind and hand exist in separate universes. It is clear that technique in its varied forms has had a pervasive influence in human society from earliest times. The advent of science gives certain additional and potentially destructive power to technology but it does not substantially alter its nature. We see further that technology is not the preserve of one gender, or of any particular country. Furthermore, the question of sustainable technologies arises over time as technologies are developed which are capable of altering nature. The issue of sustainability arises again as a context in which to consider the role of technology education. The many and varied activities of women in the domain of technology lead to the view that the role of women in sustainable technology should serve as a context for discussions about the nature of the technology curriculum. Such a view leads us to a consideration of the role of values in technology education.
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Technology and values Although there is scepticism concerning the ability of teachers to tackle value questions, values are taught in class in any event. Only research can reveal what values are actually taught. It is important for technology educators to consider the contribution that the subject can make to humanistic general education. As Barnett notes, an arrangement by which responsibility for practical capability rested with Technology, and for critical awareness, with subjects such as Social Studies, History or Religious Education, [that is to say] where values had been driven into exile from out of Technology, would be undesirable. This would tend to confirm Technology as a ghetto for ingenious, specialist tinkers, and the Humanities as the natural home for antitechnologists (1994, p. 62).
We know that the technology teacher’s work is suffused with values. They think about what their students ought to do, both as citizens and as workers. They have images of civility in mind which cut across specialized roles to encompass the whole person, and all school subjects are taught with these images in mind. As Kozolanka and Olson suggest: The teachers were concerned about the student’s own unformed social and intellectual habits. They wanted to develop these habits in productive ways. They talked about the virtues of patience, taking pains, not stopping until it’s done, producing quality work, being civil, organized, systematic and methodical. They were concerned that their students become good people (1994, p. 224).
What is the justification for teachers considering the virtues that their students need to develop? Why add this further requirement onto an already difficult remit for technology teachers? The work of Charles Taylor (1991), the Canadian political and moral philosopher, suggests that to the degree that such moral horizons are absent, the work of the school will lack significance. Taylor says that ‘instrumental’ reason, the fruit of which is technology, is valuable in the context of the solution of human dilemmas such as those to do with shelter, health, food and energy. Instrumental reason, however, is not enough. We must also consider how we use those technologies. Taylor says: The agent, seeking significance in life, trying to define him- or herself meaningfully, has to exist in a horizon of important questions . . . What is self-defeating in contemporary culture . . . [is] self-fulfillment in opposition to, the demands of society, of nature, [and shutting out] history and the bonds of solidarity. These self-centered ‘narcissistic’ forms are indeed shallow and trivialized; they are ‘flattened and narrowed’ . . . But this
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is not because they belong to the culture of authenticity. Rather it is because they fly in the face of its requirements. To shut out demands emanating beyond the self is precisely to suppress the conditions of significance, and hence to court trivialization. To the extent that people are seeking a moral ideal here, this self-immuring is self-stultifying; it destroys the condition in which the ideal can be realized (Taylor, 1991, p. 40).
Taylor in effect points us again towards the issue of sustainability. This concept is at root a moral one. How can we humans manage our affairs so as not to destroy the planet and at the same time make things better for the way people live? We have to think about what is good for us as people living in this or that culture and how technique can serve the needs of that culture without destroying the planet. This is a central context for technology education, and many subordinate contexts will continue to flow from it until the lessons are realized day by day in schools, and appropriate action taken. To do otherwise is to court disaster. We have the means to destroy the planet. This is what we think of when we contemplate the ability of machines to harvest nature. It is an uneven fight. Trees in one country and fish in another are sucked up by machines as if there were no tomorrow. Somehow technology education has to help students see the dangers of such machines and systems out of control and imagine what might be the alternative. That is the challenge we face as educators.
Bibliography ANNING, A.; JENKINS, E.W.; WHITELAW, S. 1996. Bodies of Knowledge and Design-based Activities: A Report to the Design Council. Leeds, University of Leeds. APPLETON, H.; ILKKARACAN, I. 1994. The Technological Capabilities of Women and Girls in Developing Countries. In: D. Layton (ed.), Innovations in Science and Technology Education, Vol. V, pp. 145–58. Paris, UNESCO. BARNETT, M. 1994. Designing the Future? Technology Values and Choice. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 51–64. BLACK, P.; ATKIN, M. 1996. Changing the Subject: Innovations in Science, Mathematics and Technology Education. London/Paris, Routledge/OECD. COMPTON, V.; JONES, A. 1998. Reflecting on Teacher Development in Technology Education: Implications for Future Programmes. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, Vol. 8, No. 2, 1998, pp. 151–66.
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DONNELLY, J.; JENKINS, E. W. 1992. GCSE Technology: Some Precursors and Issues. Leeds, University of Leeds School of Education. FIENS, J.; MACLEAN, R. 2000. Teacher Education for Sustainability: Two Teacher Education Projects from Asia and the Pacific. Journal of Science Education and Technology, Vol. 99, No. 1, pp. 37–48. FRANKLIN, U. 1990. The Real World of Technology. Toronto, Anansi Press. GARDNER, P.; HILL, A. 1999. Technology Education in Ontario: Part 2, Implementation and Evaluation. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 201–39. GASKELL, J. 2001. STS in a Time of Economic Change: What’s Love Got to Do with It? Canadian Journal of Science, Mathematics and Technology. Vol. 1, No. 4, 2001, pp. 385–98. GROWNEY, C. 2001. Global Citizenship through Technology Education. Journal of Technology and Design Education, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 220–2. HAIDAR, A. 2000. Professors’ Views on the Influence of Arab Society on Science and Technology. Journal of Science Education and Technology, Vol. 9, No. 3, pp. 257–74. HENNESSY, S.; MURPHY, P. 1999. The Potential for Collaborative Problem Solving in Design and Technology, International Journal of Technology and Design Education, Vol. 9, No. 1, pp. 1–36. HILL, A. 1998. Problem Solving in Real Life Contexts: An Alternative for Design in Technology Education. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 203–20. HODSON, D. 1996. Laboratory Work as Scientific Method: Three Decades of Confusion and Distortion. Journal of Curriculum Studies, Vol. 28, No. 2, pp. 115–35. ––––. 1999. Building a Case for a Socio-cultural and Inquiry View of Science Education. Journal of Science Education and Technology, Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 241–9. HYNES, H. 1989. Reconstructing Babylon: Women and Technology. London, Earthscan publications. JENKINS, E. W. 1992. Knowledge in Action: Science as Technology? In: R. McCormick, P. Murphy and M. Harrison (eds.), Teaching and Learning Technology. Reading, Addison-Wesley. JONES, A.; MATHER, V.; CARR, A. 1995. Issues in the Practice of Technology Education. Hamilton, University of Waikato. KERRE, B. W. 1994. Technology Education in Africa. In: D. Layton (ed.), Innovations in Science and Technology Education, Vol. V, pp. 103–18. Paris, UNESCO. KIMBELL, R. 1991. The Assessment of Performance in Design and Technology. London, School Examinations and Assessment Council. KOZOLANKA, K.; OLSON, J. 1994. Life after School: How Science and Technology Teachers Construe Capability. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, Vol. 4, No. 3, pp. 209–26.
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LAYTON, D. 1993. Technology’s Challenge to Science Education. Buckingham, Open University Press. ––––. 1994. A School Subject in the Making? The Search for Fundamentals. In: D. Layton (ed.), Innovations in Science and Technology Education, Vol. V, pp. 11–28. Paris, UNESCO. MARVIN, C. 1988. When Old Technologies Were New. Oxford, Oxford University Press. MOLWANE, O. 2001. Analyzing Teachers’ Approaches in Design and Technology in Botswana. The Journal of Design and Technology Education, Vol. 6, No. 3, pp. 207–12. NOBLE, D. 1995. Progress Without People. Toronto, Between the Lines Press. OLSON, J. 1992. Understanding Teaching: Beyond Expertise. Buckingham, Open University Press. RAIZEN, S.; SELLWOOD, R.; TODD, R.; VICKERS, M. 1995. Technology Education in the Classroom. San Francisco, Jossey-Bass. ROWELL, P.; GUSTAFSON, B.; GUILBERT, S. 1999. Characterization of Technology within an Elementary Science Program. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, Vol. 9, No. 1, 1999, pp. 37–55. TAYLOR, C. 1991. The Malaise of Modernity. Toronto, Anansi Press. TRUMPER, R.; GELBMAN, M. 2001. A Micro-Computer Based Contribution to Scientific and Technological Literacy. Journal of Science Education and Technology, Vol. 10, No. 3, pp. 213–22. VOLK, K.; MING, Y. 1999. Gender and Technology in Hong Kong: A Study of Pupils’ Attitudes towards Technology. International Journal of Technology and Design Education, Vol. 9. No. 1, 1999, 57–71.
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Postscript Edgar W. Jenkins
This final chapter explores a number of issues relevant to school science and technology in the early years of the new millennium and offers some comments upon them. It does not duplicate the issues raised in the context of specific countries or regions by the other contributors to this volume, and in no sense does it provide an overview of the preceding chapters or constitute a conclusion to them. The approach is essentially interrogative and, in places, intentionally provocative or even speculative.
The search for relevance The social, cultural, political and economic contexts within which science and technology are taught in schools across the world are very diverse, and this diversity has been strikingly illustrated by several of the contributors to this volume. South Asia, with a population of 1.15 billion, has 6 per cent of global real income and houses 46 per cent of the world’s illiterate population. China faces the problems of educating nearly 200 million students and needs 11 million teachers to do so. AIDS and AIDS-related illnesses are a serious problem in many parts of the world: in South Africa, for example, the proportion of deaths from AIDS has more than trebled for the 25–29 age group in the last fifteen years. Communities, not always rural communities, in many countries lack a supply of clean water and have no proper sanitation facilities. Child labour, too, often remains a scourge, and many girls continue to suffer from a range of educational and social disadvantages. To all these difficulties can be added those of teaching and learning science and technology in a second, or even a third, language (for a review, see Rollnick, 2000). In the richer industrialized countries, many young people have turned away from the study of science and technology, and have attitudes towards the scientific endeavour that differ sharply from the more positive and optimistic views of their peers in the less developed parts of the world. In a number of respects, the gap in educational provision between rich and poor is becoming more, rather than less, marked, perhaps especially so in the
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availability and use made of the information and communication technologies, despite the potential that such technologies hold out for distance learning and teaching. Progress is, of course, being made on many fronts. In many communities, illiteracy rates have fallen, clean water and sanitation facilities have been provided, and participation rates in schooling, especially primary schooling, have increased. Even so, great diversity and inequity remain and they present both a challenge to, and an opportunity for, school science and technology education. Scientific and technological knowledge and expertise have much to offer programmes of health and agricultural education, including effective strategies for nutrition and hygiene. Yet, if the challenges are to be met, they will require a multi-agency or multi-sectoral approach that involves, for example, heath-care professionals, science educators, schools, families and the wider community, and the print and broadcast media, as well as governments, NGOs and donor agencies. The task for schools in these circumstances, therefore, is to identify and provide the distinctive contribution that school science and technology education can make to the alleviation of these pressing personal and community needs. Such provision is unlikely to take the form of separate science and technology courses or owe much to conventional academic approaches to teaching the scientific disciplines. What is taught and learnt will be relevant because the focus is on application, with knowledge and skills taught in the context of decision-making and action. To illustrate this focus, Kelly (1980) drew a distinction between ‘issue-based’ and ‘knowledge-based’ studies. Whereas the latter assume that children will continue to the next stage of schooling, the former prioritizes the learning of concepts and skills that will equip them to make decisions about, and participate in community action on, issues relevant to their lives once they leave school. Issue-based studies demand a radically different approach to school science and the ways in which it is taught, and they require courses that have much in common with technology or programmes of environmental education. As Knamiller has noted, Their common concern is the school’s role in examining, incorporating, utilizing and managing new products and processes in order to raise the living standards of predominantly non-scientific populations. They share the features of attempting to deal with human problems at the local community level, to teach the skills of problemsolving and decision-making applied to real-life problems and to increase the production of goods and services among the poor (Knamiller, 1984, p. 74).
In other circumstances, especially in the developed world where knowledgebased studies predominate, relevance is often a more elusive concept. Here,
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school science and technology face the problem of re-engagement with the interests and enthusiasm of young people who live in societies that, as noted earlier in this volume, are often ambivalent about the scientific knowledge upon which they are more dependent than at any time in history. The same young people also show a declining interest in school science and technology, although not, it needs to be remembered, in science or technology more generally. The reasons for this ambivalence towards science, and for the relative unpopularity of the physical sciences as subjects for more advanced study, are varied, complex and, in the absence of hard evidence, the subject of some speculation. Nonetheless, enough is known to suggest with some confidence that the content of school science courses and the way in which science is taught are a significant part of the problem. As a result, many countries have attached priority to reforming school science curricula, often as part of a more systemic and centrally directed package of reform that also includes initial and in-service teacher training, student assessment and new arrangements for accountability and inspection. The precise way in which these reforms are implemented necessarily varies from one education system to another, but most reflect a commitment to promoting scientific and technological literacy, despite the ambiguities and limitations inherent in these as curriculum goals (Jenkins, 1997). Relevance now embraces scientific and technological knowledge, methodology, skills and attitudes that are justified by reference both to future employment and to the need, as a citizen, to contribute in an informed manner to decision making about issues that increasingly have a scientific or technological dimension. The curriculum struggle for relevance has taken a number of forms, most notably the development of so-called Science, Technology and Society (STS) programmes, or the broadening of existing courses to accommodate some of the social and ethical issues surrounding scientific and technological development. However, innovations of this kind have commonly met with resistance, both in formal schooling and in informal settings such as interactive science museums (Macdonald, 1998; Gieryn, 1998). More is involved here than the status, authority and power of the opponents of change. It seems likely that many science teachers, while sympathetic to the changes needed, are not yet convinced by them. They may also, understandably, be wary – both of how the proposed changes might affect the way they currently teach the subjects for which they have been trained, and of what they may be asked to do when confronted with a radically new curriculum. Two other perspectives should perhaps be brought to bear on the question of the relevance of school science and technology courses. The first stems from the findings of research into the public understanding of science and technology. A significant finding shows that, for most citizens, interest
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in scientific knowledge is intimately linked with decision-making or action. In the everyday world, scientific or technological knowledge is often tentative or uncertain, and is considered within its social and institutional contexts; in other words, it is not thought to be objective or value free. There is thus little evidence to support some of the assumptions that underpin the case for school science for all, for example, that scientific knowledge is central to decisions about practical action in everyday life and that scientific ways of thinking constitute the proper yardstick with which to measure the validity of everyday commonsense thinking. A different perspective derives from scholarly studies of what is involved in the notion of applying knowledge and, more particularly, in the equation of technology with applied science. As Layton has shown, the scientific knowledge encountered in formal school settings has to be ‘reworked and integrated with other kinds of knowledge and judgements if it is to be functional for practical action’ (Layton, 1993, pp. 143–4). The implications of this for the argued relevance of much school science are far-reaching and profound. The transformations required of scientific knowledge if it is to form the basis for action are of various kinds. Some are relatively straightforward. For example, water- and excreta-related diseases account for a very high percentage of all sickness in developing countries, and the design and implementation of interventions for the control of these diseases is a matter of great practical importance. The biological classification of such diseases, however, is in terms of the causal agents, such as viruses, bacteria, protozoa or helminths. This is much less useful as a basis for action than an environmental classification which groups diseases into sets of communicable infections with similar environmental transmission patterns. With knowledge reworked in this way, it becomes clear whether, for example the provision of reliable domestic water supplies or of improved sanitation facilities should have priority in efforts to improve health and the quality of life (Layton, 1993, p. 144; Mara, 1983, pp. 45–57).
Other kinds of transformations identified by Layton include: adjusting the level of abstraction of scientific knowledge (e.g. very few everyday, even industrial, practical situations involving acids require understanding at the level of a proton donor), ‘repackaging’ knowledge in order to bring into fruitful relationships components of scientific knowledge which disciplinary and pedagogical considerations have disjoined; and ‘recontextualising’, in the sense of building back into the sciences all those real life ‘complications’ which had been eliminated in the attempt to gain scientific purchase on the problem. ‘Collapsing’ data to yield a practical measure is yet another operation (Layton, 1993, p. 145).
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The preceding paragraphs suggest that some scepticism is needed in judging some of the claims made for school science or technology education. Adult citizens rarely, if ever, act exclusively on the basis of scientific knowledge (decisions in everyday life are too complex for that), and scientific knowledge acquired at school can rarely be applied, in some straightforward way, to the solution of practical problems. It is important, therefore, not to burden school science with responsibilities that, realistically, it cannot hope to meet, and, in assessing its educational claims, to acknowledge the instrumental quality of science itself, in other words, its fundamental concern to understand, predict and control. The power of science lies in the knowledge that it generates of a natural world, the ordered secrets of which yield to appropriate questions, experimentation and empirical evidence. Such generation, however, comes at a price: it requires that science avoid the endless ethical, personal and reflexive characteristics associated with what are usually called the humanities. For some commentators, this distinction between the natural sciences and the humanities is of fundamental significance, since it imposes limits upon the former as a vehicle of moral education (Donnelly, 2002; see also Ogborn, 1995). For others, however, there are pressing arguments in favour of teaching ‘the ethical aspects of science’ (e.g. Reiss, 1999; Sigma Xi, 1993). Whichever stance is adopted, it is difficult to deny science a central place in education in the twenty-first century. It is clear, however, that school science needs a more clearly defined and defensible educational rationale than is currently the case, and one that recognizes both the potential and the limitations of scientific knowledge as a basis for everyday action and decision-making.
Curriculum integration Several contributors to this volume have commented upon curriculum integration and some of the issues associated with it. De Vries, for example, has identified ‘something of a movement towards establishing closer relationships’ between school science and technology, and he offers examples of integration of different kinds and degrees from a number of European countries. While acknowledging the benefits that might flow from closer links between school science and technology, he also cautions that ‘school technology must be given time to secure its own standing as a distinctive curriculum component, before attempts are made to integrate it with science’. Writing from the different economic, educational and cultural context of South Asia, Ramadas notes the ‘many attempts’ that have been made in the past thirty or so years to integrate science with other curriculum components.
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Surveying some of these attempts, she counsels that considerable skill is needed on the part of curriculum developers ‘to bring about meaningful integration of different disciplines without undermining their core concepts’. Several broad conclusions can be drawn from the numerous attempts that have been made in various countries over many years to produce an integrated curriculum and, more particularly, to bring science into closer relationships with mathematics (Orton and Roper, 2000) and technology. Such attempts have not generally been very successful or long lasting and, to the extent that they have, this has usually been at the level of primary or elementary, rather than secondary, schooling. The nature of the integration has also been of very different kinds, the differences sometimes being reflected in terms such as multi-disciplinary, inter-disciplinary and trans-disciplinary, and in the ways in which teaching is organized at the school level. Grundy, for example, has identified six different approaches to integration, ranging from the integration of content, organizational practices and teaching strategies, to the integration of skills and competencies, assessment processes and inclusive curriculum practices (Grundy, 1994). In addition, despite the often unsatisfactory outcomes of many attempts at curriculum integration, the commitment to such integration has endured, although the enthusiasm with which it has been espoused has varied with time and between education systems. This commitment to curriculum integration in the face of experience that can, at best, be described as mixed, prompts a number of questions. What are the arguments for curriculum integration and why has it proved so difficult to achieve? How effective are integrated curricula in promoting desired learning outcomes? These and other questions have been addressed from the perspective of school science by Venville et al. (2002), and the discussion below draws upon their response. Curriculum integration can be justified by arguing that knowledge is indivisible and that school subjects represent no more than convenient ways of organizing teaching and learning. The logical response, therefore, is to try to abolish school subjects, perhaps in favour of a topic- or an issues-based curriculum, in an attempt to make schooling less artificial and more in accord with the multi-dimensional problems encountered in everyday life. More is involved here than an attempt to accommodate a view of knowledge as a connected whole, since it is assumed that, by providing an integrated curriculum, students will find school more interesting and relevant; in other words, the notion of curriculum integration can be supported on both epistemological and practical grounds. Why then has integration proved so difficult, and successful examples of integrated teaching proved so elusive? Venville et al. (2002), drawing upon Tylack and Tobin (1994), respond in terms of the ‘grammar of schooling’
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which, once established, is difficult to change. In secondary schools, such grammar is nurtured and sustained by a wide range of influences and procedures that are almost designed to protect subject interests and boundaries. They include ‘teacher recruitment and identity, subject histories, assessment structures, department politics, subject status, pupil futures and an overcrowded and content-laden curriculum’ (Venville et al., 2002, pp 53–4, and Hargreaves et al., 1996). If an integrated curriculum is to find favour, it must successfully challenge this ‘grammar of schooling’. It must also meet parental, pupil, teacher and other expectations that schools are about promoting academic work rather than, for example, personal or community action. From another perspective, the content of the sciences, especially the physical sciences, can be described as ‘strongly framed and classified’ (Bernstein, 1971). Such framing and classification insulates the content of school science from that of other school subjects and helps sustain the high status of science courses. In contrast, integrated approaches to learning are regarded as weakly classified and weakly framed because there are no strong boundaries between ‘what may be taught and learned and what may not be taught and learned’ (Venville et al., 2002, p. 57). As for the learning outcomes of integrated courses, the relevant research does not point unequivocally to clear benefits, partly because the research that has been done on learning in this context lacks an adequate theoretical base. Those who value the outcomes conventionally associated with longestablished and traditional academic science programmes are unlikely to be persuaded by claims of gains in understanding of a more holistic kind. Likewise, those for whom ‘integrated learning’ is a priority will argue that it is not necessary for pupils to acquire the range of concepts and skills promoted by the teaching of school chemistry, physics and biology. Scientific and other concepts and skills are to be acquired only as and when they are required by the context within which the pupils are working. STS education, environmental education and technology education are examples par excellence of integrated education. It is thus not surprising that they offer a major challenge to the traditions of secondary schooling that prevail in almost all countries, traditions that have not yet been widely overcome.
Accommodating indigenous and personal knowledge One of the notable features of the science education literature in recent years has been the attention given to the relationships between scientific
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knowledge and the indigenous knowledge that has been developed by the communities within which science is taught to children at school. Some of this attention has been part of a wider international exploration of children’s everyday understanding of a range of natural phenomena. Such understanding is often profoundly different from the explanations offered by natural science, and these ‘alternative conceptions’ or ‘alternative frameworks’ have proved to be remarkably resistant to change under the influence of instruction. The nature of these ‘alternative conceptions’ has been wellmapped (see, for example, Pfundt and Duit, 1994 and Driver et al., 1994), and much is now known about how children’s understanding of some natural phenomena, for example, light, develops with age. For many science teachers, the persistence of children’s ‘commonsense understandings’ (to borrow another of the terms invoked to describe them) in the face of instruction is a problem. Understandably, science teachers think that once their students have been well-taught, they should know better than to invoke erroneous ‘everyday’ ideas to explain natural phenomena. The challenge, it seems, is to develop strategies for teaching and learning that will help students to develop a more consistent scientific understanding of the world. For those within the so-called constructivist tradition, one response to this challenge is ‘cognitive conflict’, in other words, placing a student in a position in which the application of his or her own understanding of a natural phenomenon leads to cognitive difficulties that the student must then resolve. One of the difficulties of this approach – that of ‘knowledge in context’ – is discussed below. A further difficulty arises when, as seems to be the case, all forms of conceptual change are regarded as being equally difficult for students, and thus capable of being effected by some common ‘constructivist’ pedagogy. Experience in the classroom suggests that, to the contrary, some forms of conceptual change can be brought about much more easily than others, depending upon the complexity of the scientific ideas and the extent to which they are counter-intuitive. Thus, most secondary school students are likely to find greater difficulty with the ideas surrounding the motion of projectiles than they are with the notion that light travels in straight lines and can be reflected by a plane mirror. It should also be noted that the view that students (and, more generally, adults) ought always to explain natural phenomena in terms that accord fully with the canon of scientific knowledge presents problems. Phrases such as ‘the Sun rises in the east’, ‘feed the plants’ and ‘keep out the cold’ persist in everyday use – even though the heliocentric universe makes a nonsense of the first, and (in scientific terms) plants make their own food, and cold has no scientific meaning save an absence of heat. Moreover, as work in the public understanding of science has revealed, the seemingly straightforward
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application of knowledge in the world far removed from the laboratory can sometimes be misleading and unhelpful (Irwin and Wynne, 1996), and there may be good reasons for its rejection in favour of other, more local or personal, knowledge and understanding (Layton et al., 1993). What is being suggested here is not that common sense or everyday knowledge should always be valorized over scientific knowledge, or that all forms of knowledge are always of equal worth. Common sense or everyday knowledge is sometimes wrong, and, occasionally, dangerously so. The essential point is simply that, in their everyday activities, people are usually content to use a cognitive model that seems adequate for the purpose in hand. The model may draw upon a variety of sources, but it will always be tested against experience. This, of course, does not make it ‘true’, even though, because it works, it may seem so. The more general point is captured by Bachelard’s notion of a conceptual profile (Bachelard, 1968), which acknowledges that individuals have a variety of conceptual models – in other words, ways of thinking about phenomena. For example, a physicist who works professionally with quantum models of matter is likely, in other contexts, to invoke the notion of matter as a continuum, and, in most everyday practical activities, to act on the basis of this concept. This notion of a conceptual profile, allied with the outcomes of much research into the ways in which citizens interact with scientific knowledge, constitutes a direct challenge to the notion that learning science can, or should, be reduced simply to a matter of replacing students’ alternative conceptions by more orthodox scientific understandings. A different and more radical strand of the literature concerning science education and indigenous knowledge has drawn from social constructivism to challenge, and ultimately reject, the notion that natural science transcends culture. The acultural stance is arguably the dominant view within the scientific community. The most radical challenge to this orthodoxy lies in the view that science is essentially a social construction, so that what is ‘true’ about the natural world is what scientists agree to be so. For social constructivists, western science carries cultural as well as geographical baggage. The response of some members of the scientific community to this challenge has been vigorous (see, for example, Gross and Levitt, 1993; Gross et al., 1996) and ongoing, and it has inevitably spilled over into science education (see, for example, Cobern, 1998). It has led to controversy about the extent to which it makes sense to refer, for example, to African, Arab or Indian science as distinctive indigenous forms of understanding the natural world. 1 It has also prompted a critical review of the assumptions 1.
The debate can, of course, be readily extended to embrace such notions as feminist science, gay science, Islamic science or Brahmin science.
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underlying the links between science education, and economic and social development (see, for example, Drori, 2000). There are, of course, many social forces at work here. They range from a wish to reassert indigenous knowledge and values in the face of those associated with imported scientific and technological developments, through little more than resurgent nationalist or regional sentiment, to something altogether more profound, namely a ‘deep and radical revolt against the central tradition of Western thought’, a revolt which ‘in recent times has been trying to wrench Western consciousness into a new path’ (Holton 1993b: p. 123). Drawing upon the writing of Isaiah Berlin, Holton notes that the ‘old belief system’ that lasted into the twentieth century rested on the following three dogmas. The first is that ‘to all genuine questions there is only one true answer, all others being false, and this applies equally to questions of conduct and feeling, to questions of theory and observation, to questions of value no less than to those of fact’. The second dogma is that ‘The true answers to such questions are in principle knowable’. And the third is that ‘These true answers cannot clash with one another’. They cannot be incommensurate, but ‘must form a harmonious whole’, the wholeness being assured by either the internal logic among or the compatibility of the elements (Holton, 1993b, p. 123). Today, this Enlightenment search for generalizability and rational order is increasingly giving way to ‘celebration of the individual . . . flamboyant antirationalism . . . and resistance to external force, social or natural’. As an Enlightenment undertaking par excellence, science is necessarily directly challenged by these cultural shifts which, among much else, reject ‘the objective world and the very notion of objectivity’ (Holton, 1993b, p. 124; see also Holton, 1993a). It is, of course, not necessary to subscribe to Holton’s analysis or to adopt the extreme position of some social constructivists about the nature of western science and scientific knowledge to draw a number of provisional conclusions from the present debate and to ask a few pertinent questions. Irrespective of whether or not science can properly be regarded as culturally transcendent, science education – in other words, the teaching and learning of science – is markedly sensitive to local culture. To the extent that natural science is reductionist and objective and committed to understanding natural phenomena in terms that are universal and mechanistic, it is unlikely to sit comfortably within cultures that do not share these values and commitments. As a result, attempts to present the task of science education as essentially one of either cultural or logical remediation are both naïve and arrogant, and can be regarded as a form of (neo-) colonialism. The former view
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underpinned many well-meaning but ineffective development initiatives in the second half of the twentieth century; and, despite its ethnocentricity, it has not entirely lost its sway. The latter reflects the belief that western science is the acme of rationality which all other forms of understanding should seek to emulate, and its corollary is that many indigenous explanations of natural phenomena can be dismissed as irrational. There are implications here both for much research in science education and for the use of curriculum materials, including textbooks, in cultural contexts very different from that within which they were prepared and written. The cultural assumptions embedded in many research instruments are rarely explicit but they are powerful, and the transplant of such instruments to a culture that differs significantly from that in which they were constructed may serve to invalidate any findings derived from them. Likewise, adapting curriculum materials designed for one cultural context for use in another is not a simple task. As Wilson observed as long ago as 1981, adaptation must involve much more than incorporating ‘terms of tropical ecology and meteorology, and increased rates of reaction in the warmer climates’ or ‘substituting Lagos for London, cedis for dollars, mangoes for apples’ (Wilson, 1981b, p. 27; see also Wilson, 1981a). It is also necessary to take into account the fact that the students are different and that they come to their science lessons with a different set of cultural assumptions about, for example, rationality, objectivity, and the nature and locus of authority. In many parts of the world, by no means exclusively non-Western, science is now taught within a cultural context that is increasingly wary of, even hostile to, the cultural baggage of western science. This shift, which has gained momentum in the last quarter of the twentieth century, prompts a number of questions. Can the Enlightenment values and assumptions that have made possible the intellectual and practical triumphs of western science be reconciled with, or at least find accommodation within, non-Western cultures that increasingly reject them? If not, what are the implications both for science and for the non-western cultures? Are Western societies themselves, as Berlin and Holton have suggested, also turning their backs upon those same Enlightenment values and assumptions, although not necessarily for the same reasons as non-western societies? Until perhaps the 1980s, the promise that Western science and technology held out for economic and social development helped sustain an uneasy alliance of values between most western and non-Western societies. It was easy to equate science with modernism; a modern age was a scientific age. But once modernity itself began to be questioned, science was inevitably in the firing line. Feyerabend’s provocative writing dismissed the idea of a universal scientific method and characterized Western science as simply one
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way of knowing among many (Feyerabend, 1988). Within the Islamic world, Feyerabend’s ideas – along with those of Derrida, Habermas, Illich and Lyotard – have been used by some commentators to lend support to the claim that western science is an industrial and corporate hegemony that must be rejected in favour of an ‘alternative science’ based upon Islamic, rather than western, values. Likewise, Naidoo and Savage have edited a volume devoted to the notion of ‘Afrocentricity’ within science education, which is defined as according ‘a central place to Africa and African values in all undertakings that concern Africans and their interests’ (Naidoo and Savage, 1998). But what might an Afrocentric science look like, given that the vast continent is home to over 50 countries with more than 500 languages and ethic groups? Likewise, while it is possible in principle to articulate a set of ‘Islamic values’ that stand apart from the ‘modern values’ associated with Western science, it is by no means evident whether it is possible to develop a science and technology based upon these values, and not at all clear what such Islamic science and technology might look like. It is also important not to overlook some of the dangers of attempting to reconstruct Western science in accordance with a set of values that are radically different than those that gave birth to it, and which, despite difficulties, continue to sustain it. In the twentieth century, ways were found of accommodating Soviet genetics with the dictates of Marxism-Leninism, and of marrying science with the dictates of National Socialism. In both cases, science, science education, the state and millions of people were to suffer disastrously. An ‘alternative science’ can readily become an anti-science. As Holton has noted, movements to delegitimate conventional science are ever present and ready to put themselves at the service of other forces that wish to bend the course of civilisation their way – for example, by the glorification of populism, folk belief, and violence, by mystification, and by an ideology that arouses rabid ethnic and nationalistic sentiments (Holton, 1993a, p. 184).
What stance should school science educators take on these issues? Some will wish to follow the late Pakistani physicist, Abdus Salam, who argued that, for developing nations, there is only one path to gaining ascendancy in science and technology – master science as a whole. These societies are not seduced by the slogans of ‘Japanese’ or ‘Chinese’ or ‘Indian’ science (Salam, 1984, p. 285).
Some will counter this view with the claim that, because science is an attempt to make sense of the natural world, every culture and society has its own science and scientists, committed to observation and rational thinking. Such
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a claim, however, ignores the counter-intuitive quality of much of modern science (Wolpert, 1993), a quality that causes difficulty for many students in all parts of the world. Others may seek some kind of accommodation of Western science with traditional beliefs. Ogawa, for example, has described how the ideas and methods of modern science as developed in the West can be adequately taught in Japanese schools within the traditional Japanese world view of Shizen – even though the result, Rika classes, may appear strikingly different from the Western practice of science education (Ogawa, 1998, p. 158).
For Taylor and Cobern, the way forward lies in the development of a ‘critical science education’ that empowers students to develop a sensitivity and an appreciation of the natural sciences as a value laden enterprise; recognise and acknowledge contributions to the natural science by different cultures, religions and societies; and identify and deal with biases and inequities implicit in and imported through the natural sciences (Taylor and Cobern, 1993, p. 207).
Yet others, dismissing or ignoring the warning above, will reject Salam’s view and seek to develop an alternative science and technology that is not seen as conflicting with the values, beliefs and assumptions that they hold dear. It seems likely that, in both western and non-western cultures, debates about the ontological, epistemological and ethical dimensions of western science, and therefore about the form and purpose of science education, are likely to intensify in the early years of the new millennium.
What science(s)? Like its predecessors in the Innovations series, the present volume incorporates the word ‘science’ in its title. However, while the reference to science is convenient, it is important to recognize that there are many sciences, that there are significant differences between them, and that, as far as science education is concerned, much can be lost if attention is not given to the basic disciplines of physics, chemistry and biology. For example, these disciplines make different mathematical demands of students, and the problems of science-teacher supply are usually much more serious in the case of physics than biology or chemistry. Likewise, it is usually helpful to make distinctions between the physical and the biological sciences in any discussions of issues relating to science education and gender.
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The curriculum histories of school physics, chemistry and biology are also different. These subjects were introduced into schools at different times, principally as a result of differences in the way in which physics, chemistry and biology evolved to become established scientific disciplines. In England and Wales, for example, the first science subject to secure a place in the secondary school curriculum was chemistry. Physics was accommodated in the curriculum somewhat later, initially in the form of discrete courses with such titles as heat, light and sound, electricity and magnetism, and mechanics and the properties of matter. Although botany, principally in the form of taxonomic botany, was taught in many girls’ secondary schools, the study of zoology was largely confined to those students intending to read medicine. These disciplines did not give way to biology as a school subject until the mid-twentieth century, by which time the discipline itself comprised many sub-specialisms, including molecular biology, ecology and genetics. In the early years of the new millennium, biology is, in many education systems, the most popular of the school sciences, and not only with girls. In all countries, the form and content of school science owes much to the historical evolution of both the sciences themselves and of schooling. Indeed, had science been schooled in England and Wales in the early rather than the mid-nineteenth century, it is arguable that the first science to find a place in the secondary curriculum would have been geology, rather than chemistry. This historical perspective prompts two broad questions. First, given the differences between the individual scientific disciplines, what are the origins of the wider notion of science education and why has it proved so enduring? Second, how far, and in what ways, have school science curricula responded to the changes that have taken place, in the disciplines themselves, and in the social context of science education, since science was first schooled in the nineteenth century? The answer to the first question lies, in part, in the politics of science and, subsequently, of science education. Many of those actively involved in promoting science in the early nineteenth century were worried about the specialization and fragmentation of science, likening it to a ‘great empire falling to pieces’ (Whewell, 1834, p. 59). The underlying concern was that specialization and fragmentation would impede the progress of science itself by making it more difficult for science – anxious to secure public support and funding – to speak with a single voice. The unity of the sciences was thus important for political purposes. The question was how such unity could be maintained when scientific specialization was both inevitable and quickly becoming a reality – to such an extent that it was impossible for a scientist to keep in touch with developments outside his or her field. The answer lay in promoting a consensus about the methodology of the various sciences. In
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Herschel’s words, ‘natural philosophy is essentially united in all its department, through all of which one spirit reigns and one method of enquiry applies’ (Herschel, 1831, p. 219). As far as science education is concerned, the teaching of this ‘method of enquiry’ became a central justification for teaching science. It enabled the advocates of science education to rebut the claim that teaching science involved no more than teaching facts. It also allowed them to argue that studying science provided an excellent ‘mental training’, an argument that resonated with the claims made for subjects (notably the classics and mathematics) with a high status and a long curriculum history. Influenced by T. H. Huxley’s notion of science as organized common sense, H. E. Armstrong vigorously promoted the teaching of scientific method as a curriculum objective in England, and there were comparable initiatives elsewhere. Although the popularity of Armstrong’s ideas waned, they were re-asserted in the mid-twentieth century when the commitment to teaching scientific method found expression in a range of large-scale science curriculum projects. Students following ChemStudy courses in high schools in the United States and elsewhere were promised that they would ‘see the nature of science by engaging in scientific activity’ and thus ‘to some extent’ become scientists themselves’ (Pimentel, 1960, p. 1 and Preface). In the United Kingdom, the intention was to get ‘pupils to think in the way practising scientists do’ or, as the Organizer of the Nuffield O-level chemistry project expressed it, to learn ‘what being scientific means to a scientist’ (Halliwell, 1966, p. 242). Such objectives were sustained by a psychology that encouraged ‘learning by discovery’, and they became a feature of the worldwide movement for school science curriculum reform that characterized the 1960s. By the 1980s, the language of scientific method was that of ‘process science’, a characterization that lent itself particularly well to discrete, atomized forms of assessment, especially of practical skills. Today, the language has shifted again. The emphasis is now on teaching ‘the nature of science’ and the dominant educational psychology is ‘constructivism’, but the underlying rationale remains much the same as a century or so ago. The commitment of secondary school science to ‘a training in the methods of science’ has survived for a number of reasons. It has remained important to the political rhetoric of science and science education, and it has proved sufficiently flexible a notion to accommodate changes both in curriculum rationale and in ideas about how children learn and should be taught. It has also survived transformations in the scholarly understanding of the nature of scientific activity that have taken place in the last forty or so years, partly because changes in science teaching have tended to lag behind developments in the philosophy of science (Elkana, 1970, p. 21), although there is some evidence of the influence of ideas drawn from the sociology of science.
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What of the second question posed above? How far, and in what ways, have school science curricula responded to changes in science itself and in the social context of science education? Writing about the changes that have taken place in science, particularly during the second half of the twentieth century, Redner concluded that science has changed its ends. It is no longer the old science of the last few centuries. That old science is coming to an end in the sense of approaching the limit of its potential scope . . . Contemporary science is worldly in every sense of the word and quite different in its essential character from the European science of the recent past . . . these differences are apparent in all dimensions of scientific research, intellectual, instrumental and organisational. They are also revealed in the changed relations of science, technology and production (Redner, 1987, p. 15).
Those ‘changed relations’ involve, among much else, the rise of ‘technoscience’ and what Ravetz has called the ‘merger of knowledge with power’ (Ravetz, 1990a). Hurd has described the changes in the nature and practice of the ‘traditional sciences’ in the past half-century as ‘revolutionary’. He notes that ‘hundreds of new sciences have been created that are unrepresented in school science curricula’, and comments that many of them ‘focus on human welfare, and on social and economic progress’ (Hurd, 1997, p. 2). His overall conclusion is that The biosciences now dominate the physical sciences as the center of research. Science has become a basis for social action in our culture and is becoming more a civic science. Strategic research is more socially driven than theory driven. Developments in contemporary science and technology are major elements in the . . . shift to a knowledgebased global economy. The sum of these changes has outmoded the rationale and goals underlying science curricula in schools and most colleges (Hurd, 1997, p. 86).
Hurd is writing from the perspective of the United States, but his comments about the changes in the nature of scientific research and its engagement with production have a much wider validity. They prompt the obvious question, to which we now turn: what of the future?
Looking ahead Hurd’s curriculum response to the changes that he identifies rests on the proposition that students are growing up in a world in which change, intimately related to developments in science and technology, is so profound and rapid that it marks a recognizable discontinuity with the past. That
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discontinuity – the exploration of which has generated a substantial literature – manifests itself in many ways, for example, in the organization of science itself, in how people structure their lives and their work, in how they communicate with one another, in how they understand all these activities, and in that phenomenon which Alvin Toffler named ‘future shock’ (Toffler, 1970). Hurd argues for a science education that reflects the strategic character of most of contemporary scientific research, emphasizes the ‘utilisation of science knowledge for resolving personal-social and civic problems as well as fostering social progress’, helps ‘close the gap between science and human affairs’ and augments ‘our adaptive capacities as human beings’. Put broadly but bluntly, school science must help to prepare young people for life, rather than principally for further study of the scientific disciplines. It is not necessary to accept Hurd’s analysis in its entirety to recognize that, despite expensive and large-scale attempts at reform, school science has not responded well to developments in science, to shifts in our understanding of the nature of the scientific endeavour and to changes in the social context of schooling. There are, of course, parallels between Hurd’s call for a science education that is more responsive to the needs of citizens in the new millennium and the ideas of Bernal in the 1930s and of more recent writers who have drawn upon this tradition, for example, Cross and Price, Jasanoff and Ziman. Such parallels serve as a reminder of the difficulties of effecting lasting and significant change in school science education and, more particularly, of the likely resistance to what might be seen by some as its politicization and an undesirable confusion of science with technology. One response, of course, is that if much of contemporary science is itself politicized and industrialized, then this should be reflected in the school science curriculum. Any curriculum response to the changes that have taken place in science and in the social context of science education is inevitably going to be both difficult and a compromise. Nonetheless, it is possible to conjecture regarding some of the likely characteristics of such a curriculum. First, and perhaps of greatest importance, it must present science as one of the supreme imaginative, creative and intellectual achievements, worthy of study in it own right. While, to borrow Redner’s (1987) characterization, this may be seen as emphasizing the ‘high church’ position of classical science, it is surely beyond contention that pupils should leave school knowing something of what science has to say about matters of great interest and significance, e.g. about the nature and origin of life or the cosmos. The issues here therefore relate to balance and detail. Pupils do not need to learn the fine detail of much of school science, but they do need to understand and appreciate the significance and power of a number of key scientific concepts. Similarly, they
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do not need to acquire a range of laboratory techniques that are often obsolete or, in the case of so-called ‘investigative teaching’, are used to sustain what is frequently little more than a lengthy elaboration of the obvious. What is needed is the knowledge and understanding that will allow pupils to answer questions such as the following: What is the best way to find out what I want to know? What do I need to measure, and what is the best way to measure it? How reliable are the measurements? What confidence can I place in the findings, what is their significance and what assumptions underpin them? Would the findings be different if different assumptions were made, a different methodology employed or if the problem under investigation were understood in a different way? Any school science curriculum appropriate for the early years of the twenty-first century must also recognize that contemporary science takes many forms, most of which are not marked by the coherence, objectivity and certainty traditionally associated with school science – in other words, that ‘science comes in an infinite variety of shapes and sizes’ (ACARD, 1986, p. 15). In historical terms, there has been a shift from a situation in which ‘hard’ scientific facts were seen in opposition to ‘soft’ values, to one in which, inescapably, ‘hard’ decisions (i.e. difficult and definitive ones) have to be made on the basis of a scientific input that is irremediably ‘soft’ (Ravetz, 1990b, p. 22). School science has not responded effectively to this shift, despite the development of STS programmes or courses concerned with the ‘public understanding of science’ (Millar and Hunt, 2002). Initiatives of this kind have not secured an established place in mainstream school science education, which continues to promote a scientific objectivity and certainty that have become obsolete or, at least, valid only in certain cases. School science needs to introduce students not only to a number of fundamental and seminal scientific concepts, but also to elements of the strategic and mandated science that marks much of contemporary scientific effort. Strategic science is that ‘body of scientific understanding which supports a generic (or enabling) area of technological knowledge’ (ACARD, 1986, p. 11). Mandated science refers to the scientific and technological input to the work of bodies mandated to make recommendations or decisions of a policy or legal nature (e.g. regulatory agencies, standard-setting organizations, expert commissions). (Levy, 1989, p. 41). The incorporation of a ‘greater variety’ of science within school courses can be regarded as an attempt to address an imbalance between ‘insider’ and ‘outsider’ science. The former, represented by traditional science programmes, is shaped by different concerns and values from those of the ‘outsiders’, in other words, those who wish to draw upon science for their own
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instrumental purposes and for whom contingency, uncertainty and judgements of potential or actual risk are the norm. The advantages of broadening school science courses to give some attention to this ‘outsider science’ (the term is significant) are considerable. It leads to a greater diversity of science courses, to courses that are more responsive to personal as well as to local, regional or national needs. It legitimizes the discussion of contemporary issues where the underlying science is uncertain and, by addressing such topics as health, diet, disease, sanitation, sustainable development, gene manipulation, advertising, and the science presented in the print and broadcast media, allows a range of scientific concepts to be taught in contexts that are likely to have relevance to pupils’ everyday lives. It also serves to illuminate the interrelationships of science, technology and society in ways that reflect a commitment to helping students become more knowledgeable as citizens, workers, farmers, consumers and parents. No one pretends that a change of this kind is easy. Those, including science teachers, who guard the ‘high church’ position of science will need to be convinced that ‘science for all’ involves much more than a modest adjustment of what has prevailed thus far. The promotion of diversity within science education may not sit comfortably with globalizing or supra-national trends encouraged by projects such as TIMSS or PISA. Teaching techniques will need to be developed that encourage the informed exploration of carefully argued, value-laden judgements, rather than simply the learning of scientific concepts and skills. Assessment techniques will need to be devised that are sympathetic to the new pedagogy. Pupils’ reactions will be important, too, since, for many of them, science is about laboratories, experiments, hard facts and certain knowledge. Like their teachers, they will need to be convinced that science now takes many different forms. It is appropriate to conclude with a brief reminder of the profound global inequities and injustices that many of the contributors in this volume have drawn attention to. While there has been progress in addressing these problems in some parts of the world, elsewhere this is anything but the case. Education, including science education, undoubtedly has a contribution to make to the easing of these problems, although it is a contribution that needs to be neither exaggerated nor underestimated. One thing, however, seems clear. If school science is to play its part in bringing about a better world, then school science and its relationships with technology, in other words, with practical action, will need to change.
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