How Science Works in the UK
secondary school science
curriculum: effects on teachers
Maria G.W. Turkenburg-van Diepen
UK-SERC
July 2, 2012
Overview
•
•
•
•
•
Introduction
Research questions
Methodology
Results
Conclusions
The National Curriculum
(Science)
• ‘Content’: biology, chemistry, physics –
the Ideas of Science
• How Science Works: explore,
investigate, experiment, enquire; The
Nature of Science, how we know what
we know; applications, implications;
communication – the Ideas about
Science
2004
National Curriculum for Science:
• new curriculum for Key Stage 4
(KS4, ages 14-16);
• for first teaching from September
2006;
• new emphasis on How Science Works;
• less prescriptive for biology, chemistry
and physics
Research questions
• How does How Science Works influence science teachers’
classroom practice?
– What do they do now that they didn’t do when HSW wasn’t in
the curriculum? Is there something they wouldn’t do if it
wasn’t for How Science Works? How do they feel about that?
• Does the presence of How Science Works in the science
curricula 11-18 influence science teachers’ thinking about
secondary school science and how it should be taught?
– If so, how? What are teachers’ own views about How Science
Works? Have teachers’ views of science and science teaching
changed since the introduction of How Science Works?
• Do teachers see the more explicit emphasis on HSW as a
positive development?
– If so, why do they think so? If not, what are their reasons?
Methodology
• Semi-structured interviews with teachers
• Observations to ‘support’ self-reporting
• Interviews with other stakeholders
The sample – Main Study
teacher interviews
• Representative... Purposive, email contact;
• 25 teachers in five different types of
schools;
• 14 male, 11 female;
• subject specialism mix
biology:chemistry:physics 10:7:8;
• length of teaching experience: range 1-30,
mean <12, median 10
Interview – change?
Six teachers started teaching after 2006;
of the remaining:
• “Change, certainly” (8)
• “I was doing it all along” (2)
• “We were doing it already, but...” (9)
Change? “Change, certainly”
“We were part way through developing our two-year KS3 at this point and
we wanted it to be skills based. [...] It certainly was the most fun
writing schemes of work we had had in 2006; it was the most fun
because we really did feel as though we were throwing away a lot of
dusty old stuff we didn’t want to do and were forced to do, and we had
the freedom to run with it.” (Teacher C1)
pioneer
embracer
“I suppose the big impact that it has had on my teaching is that I feel like
I am not constrained anymore. I was very pleased actually when it came
in because as I have said I felt like science isn’t something that exists
in a bubble outside the world, science is so crucial to everyday life that
it should be taught in the context of everyday life.” and “now if I am
setting lesson objectives I will set skills as objectives; they are as much
part of the lesson and part of the learning.” (Teacher D1)
follower
“I think initially everybody’s reaction was ‘Oh gosh, there’s this massive
change, and we need to change everything’, but [...] I think we’ve just
tweaked things, maybe, and I think we’re a lot more conscious of making
sure we hit all those targets.” (Teacher A1)
Change? “I was doing it all along”
confident veteran
“New syllabuses come and go, material comes into the syllabus,
material goes out of the syllabus, you know, they switch it
around, and put it in like this, and then they move it around and
take it out like that. Nothing really changes. Nothing changes.”
(Teacher G1)
“I think it's something a good teacher would do in teaching science,
is the applications, and the uses, and the relevance, and
developing important analytical and research skills, and so on.
[...] I think they're useful, and they're beneficial, and they're
important, which is why I did them in the first place, I think.”
(Teacher K1)
pioneer
Change? “We were doing it
already, but...”
• All pioneers?
embracer
“I think to begin with it was much more just about carrying out a
practical, if you like, and being able to carry out an investigation,
and now it’s more about the wider aspects of peer review and
the way that scientific theories develop, rather than just
investigating a practical yourself.” (Teacher F3)
“We've always had discussions and debates, and arguments. As
staff have changed, in the department, we've seen different
approaches come in, which has strengthened some of the work
we've done.” (Teacher I1)
follower
How Science Works (KS4)
Section
Code
1. Data, evidence, theories and explanations
(History and Philosophy of Science – HPS)
H
2. Practical and enquiry skills
I
3. Communication skills
C
4. Applications and implications of science –
Socio-scientific aspects
S
Interview – what is HSW?
H
HIS
H1
I
A2, D1, E1, F2, G1, I1, I3
C1, D2, D3
C2, F1
J3
IS
A1, C3, E2, E3, J1, K1
S
HS HI
B1, F3, G2, G3, I2
50
Skills...
40
30
20
10
0
E3 F2 B1 G1 J1 I2 I3 D2 A2 K1 C3 D3G3 E2 E1 A1 F3 H1G2 C1 I1 C2 F1 D1
2002 House of Commons Science and Technology Committee Report:
“new National Curriculum should require all students to be taught the
skills of scientific literacy”
2003 White Paper: “The aim of this national Skills Strategy is to
ensure that employers have the right skills to support the success of
their businesses, and individuals have the skills they need to be both
employable and personally fulfilled.”
50
Skills...
40
30
20
10
0
E3 F2 B1 G1 J1 I2 I3 D2 A2 K1 C3 D3G3 E2 E1 A1 F3 H1G2 C1 I1 C2 F1 D1
“Well we refer to [HSW] as scientific skills. A large part of it is
planning, hypothesising, doing, analysing and evaluating experiments but
also the area I am very keen on is what actually science is. The kids
think everything in science is a fact and it’s trying to get over to them
that actually everything is theories, models, that whole idea that if
somebody comes up with a better idea that better fits the evidence,
or someone discovers some new evidence then the models and theories
will change, and it’s trying to get that through to the kids really.
There are a whole load of things that go with that but that to me is as
big a focus as the actual experimental skills.” (Teacher F1, emphasis
original)
Influences on teachers’ thinking
• External: all that is posed on a teacher
by national decree
• Internal: anything that is important
within the teacher’s school
• Personal: anything in the teacher’s
background from before and outside
their current school situation
Goodson, I. F. (2003). Professional knowledge, professional lives: studies in
education and change. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Influences on teachers’ thinking external
• The HSW section of the curriculum
itself
– Integration/separation
– Assessment
• Other initiatives
– The UK Skills Agenda
– Assessment for Learning, Personal Learning
and Thinking Skills
– Teacher training
Influences on teachers’ thinking internal
• Cross-curricular activity
– Philosophy, RE, PSHE
• School and department development
– AfL, PLTS
– Better scientists, not just better exam
takers
• School type
– Selective is not restrictive
– Future scientists
Influences on teachers’ thinking personal
• Background and identity
– Family
– University
– Research background
• Growing as a teacher: subject and pedagogy
– Implicit/explicit
– (im)mature philosophy of science
– Confidence and external validation
• Teaching goals
– Making science come alive
– Fathoming the meaning of science in the media
– Intrinsic/extrinsic motivation
Conclusions
• Changes – pioneer, embracer, follower,
confident veteran
• Commitment to various aspects
of/surrounding HSW
– HIS
– Skills, assessment, textbooks
• Multiple influences
– Not just HSW itself