Talking Science: Time for a change? Science education reform

This discussion session was presented by the Science Education Policy Alliance (SEPA), which brings together the Association for Science Education, Institute of Physics, Royal Society, Royal Society of Biology and Royal Society of Chemistry to coordinate and collaborate on science education policy, with Professor Dame Athene Donald as Chair. www.se-pa.co.uk

The session opened with a welcome by the SEPA Chair, followed by 15-20 min. presentations by Professor Michael Reiss and Professor Jonathan Osborne. Michael spoke on 'Top issues for reform in science education - How should school science education be reformed?’ After a review of the current position of school science education in the UK (including England), along with a reminder of the strengths, Michael argued that we need first to look at issues of teacher retention and then at possible changes to the curriculum and to the assessment system, that we need a school science education that retains teachers and engages students so that students learn key concepts in science and understand how scientific knowledge is built up, with the result that more of them choose to study science once it is no longer mandatory. Jonathan spoke on ‘Improving science education for all’. He outlined the challenges of the amount of curriculum time for science, the shortage of well qualified teachers, the problem of triple science versus double science at GCSE and the singular focus on academic science, and then presented arguments and solutions for addressing these challenges. Jonathan suggested the following questions for discussion: Should science on the curriculum be restricted to 20% of curriculum time.

What would be the implications?
Apart from paying science teachers more, what should be done to address the chronic shortage of physics teachers?
What changes should be made, if any, to offer a science curriculum that better addresses the needs of the future citizen rather than the future scientist?

There followed a three-way informal conversation, led by the SEPA Chair, leading to Q&A with the audience. Following a tea break, the speakers and audience broke into small group discussions. Key points were shared and noted to inform SEPA’s strategic priorities.