Home > Revue internationale d'éducation Sèvres > n° 51 > Abstracts

The changing world of science teaching
n° 51, September 2009

In the last ten years or so, an unprecedented amount of attention has focused on the quality of science teaching, and this at the highest political levels, by international organisations and in practically every country in the world.

The results of international comparisons to assess pupils' learning, numerous reports warning of a worrying decline in "scientific vocations", together with the need to promote a solid socially-responsible scientific culture capable of taking on the challenges of the 21st century, have raised awareness of the issue on a worldwide scale.

The outcome of all this can now be seen in many countries, where new education policies are being implemented, thanks to international cooperation among high-level scientific organisations.

This special report, published in the Revue internationale d’éducation de Sèvres, looks at progress on the new teaching methods and reforms underway, highlighting their similarities in terms of objectives and action strategies.

Is it possible that this new vision of teaching science can single-handedly change the course of events, improve the way young people perceive scientific activities and promote high quality scientific education for everyone?

Abstracts

Introduction
Reforming science education : a worldwide awareness
Florence Robine

A pilot programme for learning by doing
Reforming science education in China
Yu WEI
In 2001, the Chinese Ministry of Education and the China Association for Science and Technology launched a joint pilot programme to reform science education, based on the concept of “learning by doing”. Over the last eight years, the project has had a considerable influence on the reform of science education in China. This article discusses the causes, aims and features of the reform, with a particular focus on the development of training frameworks based on ground-breaking research into cognitive science. It also points out that reforming science education is an arduous undertaking that demands a long-term commitment.

Training science teachers: an example of research-action
Selected data from a European project: Cyprus, France, Ireland, Czech Republic, Slovenia
Groupe interuniversitaire projet Sophia
This article reports on research conducted by academics from five different countries as part of a European project on science education. The aim is to construct training modules that will prompt science teachers to start changing their practices and acquiring approaches likely to help pupils build knowledge. Three main focus areas underpin this endeavour: involving teachers in investigation activities; drawing on teachers’ own experience to encourage them to use these approaches in their everyday teaching; promoting a multicultural approach that fosters decentration and broadens the scope of possibilities.

A top-level international scientific collaboration
Science education in Serbia
Stevan Jokić
Between 1980 and 2001, little changed in the way science was taught in the Serbian education system from pre-school to university level. Teachers generally present science in lecture form, with very few experimental activities carried out by pupils. This prompted the author to try to introduce a form of science teaching based on investigation, through a collaboration with the French team responsible for La main à la pâte.

Crucial choices facing science education in Senegal
Ansoumana Sané
This article sets out the situation of science and technology teaching in Senegal. In many aspects, it is also relevant for many other Sub-Saharan countries. The author identifies the characteristic factors of science and technology teaching, and how it relates to the need for national development, of which it is one of the driving forces. A wide variety of differences are curbing the development of this branch of teaching in the education system. And yet, over the last 20 years, Senegal has introduced a number of promising initiatives, which are presented in the article. Additionally, a recently-completed study on the subject, covering every level of education, urges political leaders to develop a strategic instrument capable of improving the situation.

Reforming the primary science programme in the United Kingdom
Wynne Harlen
The primary school curriculum in the United Kingdom is currently undergoing an extensive overhaul. Both the overall framework and the part science has to play in it are being reformed. While the article’s main focus is on changes underway in England, it also refers to curriculum changes in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. It begins by looking at the background to England’s current National Curriculum, in which science has been a compulsory subject since the early 1990s. Many factors, and in particular the negative impact of national tests, put teachers under increasing pressure, necessitating a revision of primary programmes and leading to two, parallel reform processes in 2008-2009. Though based on a good many of the same analyses, especially with regard to pedagogical aspects, the two reform projects differ in ways that bring out crucial questions for the teaching of science.

Improving the teaching of mathematics
The Swedish example
Jesper Boesen, Ola Helenius
This article presents the Swedish action plan for mathematics: the reasons for launching it, its main objectives, and how it was carried out. The authors put forward a fresh view of what mathematics can contribute at school. The action plan aims to generate interest in mathematics among both pupils and the general public. The authors present the actions taken since the action plan was introduced, along with examples of ongoing initiatives.

Developments in science education
The Indian experience
A.K. Sharma
Since the introduction in 1975 of a uniformly-structured education system across the whole of India, science has been at the core of the teaching system. The history of science education in India has been marked by numerous changes and developments. This article outlines the main stages and their underlying goals, analyses the avenues currently being explored and maps out the remaining challenges to be met.

The undertaking La main à la pâte
Pierre Léna
In 1996, three members of the French Academy of Science - Georges Charpak, Yves Quéré and Pierre Léna – launched an initiative called La main à la pâte. It soon won the support of the French Ministry of Education and went on to mark subsequent developments in science education in France, especially at primary school. This approach revolves around active learning of the so-called experimental sciences, the relationship to the real world, questioning and the importance of a command of the language. It has been an undeniable success, as shown by its international expansion. This article describes the background to this innovation and the circumstances surrounding its introduction, before endeavouring to review achievements to date, more than ten years after its inception.

Bibliographic references
Bernadette Plumelle