Abstract
This chapter relates a broadly chronological story of the developments over the last 50 years that have sought to reshape the science curriculum in English schools by introducing aspects of the history of science and nature of science. The chapter highlights key curriculum projects by outlining the contexts in which they developed and summarising their rationales as set out in their publications. It also provides signposts to some of the reports of research and scholarship that have evaluated these initiatives. The chapter shows how the first national curriculum in 1989 was influenced by earlier initiatives as it made teaching about the nature of science mandatory for all. This requirement faded into the background after a few years and then re-emerged with a new rationale as ‘how science works’ in 2004. The chapter ends by looking to the future with a discussion of a new course which contrasts with earlier traditions by focussing the teaching and learning on the history and philosophy of science rather than using ideas from these disciplines to teach about science.
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Notes
- 1.
The Nuffield Foundation website has an account of the charity’s involvement in the science curriculum over 50 years: http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/curriculum-projects
- 2.
All the original Nuffield Biology publications are available from the National STEM Centre eLibrary at http://stem.org.uk/cxhs
- 3.
All the original Nuffield Chemistry publications, including the Background Books, are available from the National STEM Centre eLibrary at http://stem.org.uk/cxew
- 4.
All the original Nuffield Physics publications are available from the National STEM Centre eLibrary at http://stem.org.uk/cxqc
- 5.
All the original Schools Council Integrated Science Project publications are available from the National STEM Centre eLibrary at http://stem.org.uk/cxug
- 6.
The Science in Society Teacher’s Guide and Readers are available from the National STEM Centre eLibrary at http://stem.org.uk/cx9s
- 7.
The Science In a Social CONtext Teachers’ Guide and a series of Readers are available from the National STEM Centre eLibrary at http://stem.org.uk/cx9z
- 8.
All the SATIS units together with a General Guide for Teachers and an update of the first 100 units are available from the eLibrary of the National STEM Centre (Accessed in March 2012 from http://stem.org.uk/cx9n)
- 9.
See the four units in the collection called ‘Celebrating Centenaries of Famous Discoveries’ in the eLibrary of the National STEM Centre (Accessed in March 2012 from http://stem.org.uk/cxg6)
- 10.
All the SATIS 16–19 units together with the three readers, What is Science?, What is Technology? and How does Society decide?, are available from the eLibrary of the National STEM Centre (Accessed in March 2012 from http://stem.org.uk/cxas)
- 11.
The Nature of Science readers were published by the Association for Science Education (1989–1990), and most of them are now available from the eLibrary of the National STEM Centre (accessed in March 2012 from http://stem.org.uk/cx9r)
- 12.
The Exploring the Nature of Science publications are available from the eLibrary of the National STEM Centre at http://stem.org.uk/cxfb
- 13.
From the late 1970s to the early 1990s, the Nuffield Foundation’s support for curriculum development in science, maths and technology education was the responsibility of the Nuffield-Chelsea Curriculum Trust based at Chelsea College.
- 14.
Investigating the Nature of Science is available from the National STEM Centre eLibrary at http://stem.org.uk/rx3a7
- 15.
The invitation came from the Northern Examinations and Assessment Board (NEAB) which later merged with other examining bodies to form the awarding organisation that is now called AQA.
- 16.
Over the period covered by this chapter the older term ‘syllabus’ has been replaced by the term ‘specifications’. Specifications are more explicit about aims, content, assessment model and grade criteria.
- 17.
From 2007, Science for Public Understanding became a full A-level subject with the name Science in Society. The AS specification (syllabus) for Science in Society is very much the same as its precursor and can be downloaded from the AQA website together with past examination papers (accessed in March 2012 from http://www.aqa.org.uk/qualifications/a-level/science/science-in-society/science-in-society-key-materials)
- 18.
For more details of the approach, see the revised version of the AS course textbook (Hunt 2008).
- 19.
Schemes of work and lesson activities originally devised for AS Science for Public Understanding are available as revised and updated versions from the AS section of the Science in Society website: http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/science-society (accessed March 2012).
- 20.
The Science for Public Understanding (now Science in Society) website was developed in response to this criticism (http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/science-society)
- 21.
There are three awarding organisations in England responsible for GCSE and A-level specifications (syllabuses) and examinations. The three were formed by the merger of a number of previous examination boards. The three are AQA, Edexcel and OCR. Specifications and examinations have to conform with national criteria that were formerly produced by QCA but are now controlled by a regulator called Ofqual.
- 22.
The latest version of the Twenty First Century Science GCSE Science specification can be downloaded from the OCR website at http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/type/gcse_2011/tfcs/ (accessed November 2011).
- 23.
This version of the national curriculum for students aged 14–16 will probably continue to apply until 2014. It is available from the Department for Education website: http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/curriculum/secondary/b00198831/science/ks4/programme (accessed June 2012).
- 24.
Details of AQA GCSE Science specifications are available from the website of the awarding organisation: http://web.aqa.org.uk/qual/newgcses/science.php (accessed June 2012).
- 25.
See the Research Report: Background to Published Papers by Richard Gott and Ros Roberts at http://www.dur.ac.uk/education/research/current_research/maths/msm/understanding_scientific_evidence/ (accessed June 2012).
- 26.
The Nuffield Foundation website provides details of the Twenty First Century Science courses (rationale, published resources, assessment methods and support for teachers). See http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/twenty-first-century-science (accessed March 2012).
- 27.
SCORE is a partnership of organisations which aims to improve science education in UK schools and colleges. The organisations: Association for Science Education, Institute of Physics, Royal Society, Royal Society of Chemistry and the Society of Biology.
- 28.
This was found, for example, during an unpublished review of specifications carried out by one of the authors for SCORE in 2012.
- 29.
Information about the course, the published resources and the assessment can be found on this website: http://www.advancingphysics.org/ (accessed in June 2012).
- 30.
Information about the course, the published resources and the assessment can be found on this website: http://www.york.ac.uk/org/seg/salters/chemistry/index.html (accessed in March 2012).
- 31.
Information about the course, the published resources and the assessment can be found on this website: http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/salters-nuffield-advanced-biology (accessed in March 2012).
- 32.
The lessons developed and trialled by the Teaching about Science project can be downloaded from the Nuffield Foundation website: http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/teaching-about-science (accessed in March 2012).
- 33.
See Bycroft (2010) for further discussion of the development of the course.
- 34.
- 35.
Examples such as these may reawaken the concern expressed – with tongue-in-cheek – by Brush (1974) about the risk that teaching students the history of science will have the damaging consequence of subverting a convergent realist interpretation. But as Brush himself concludes, it can be argued that helping students to develop a more realistic picture of how scientists behave will have ‘redeeming social significance’. As Matthews (1994/2014, p. 7) notes, HPS programmes can humanise the sciences, and there is evidence that this makes science programmes more attractive to students, particularly girls. It was this thought which informed the approach of the Perspectives on Science course. In this connection it is worth pointing out that both of the projects exemplified above were written by girls, one of whom chose to change from studying History at Cambridge to studying History and Philosophy of Science because she had found it such an enjoyable subject.
- 36.
The history of science section of the Perspectives on Science course was written by Peter Ellis, with John Cartwright contributing a section on the discovery of oxygen.
- 37.
The term ‘secret garden’ was popularised in connection with a speech by the Labour Prime Minister Jim Callaghan in 1976. He started a debate that led in time to the national curriculum. He argued that it should not be teachers alone that determine the curriculum but that parents, learned and professional bodies, representatives of higher education and both sides of industry, together with the government, all have an important part to play in formulating and expressing the purposes of education and standards.
- 38.
The latest information about the national curriculum is published on the Department for Education website: http://www.education.gov.uk/schools/teachingandlearning/curriculum/nationalcurriculum
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Acknowledgments
We are grateful for advice from Peter Ellis, Edgar Jenkins (University of Leeds, UK), Robin Millar (University of York, UK), Jonathan Osborne (Stanford University, USA), Michael Reiss (Institute of Education, University of London, UK) and Jim Ryder (University of Leeds, UK). We are also grateful to Ralph Levinson, Michael Hand and Ruth Amos at the Institute of Education, University of London, UK, for sharing their research findings ahead of publication.
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Taylor, J.L., Hunt, A. (2014). History and Philosophy of Science and the Teaching of Science in England. In: Matthews, M. (eds) International Handbook of Research in History, Philosophy and Science Teaching. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-7654-8_63
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