Improving scientific literacy Slide 1 Scientific literacy has become accepted as the main purpose of school science education. This is about more than just knowing lots of scientific facts–it is a way of thinking about the world) As a French mathematician has said - science is no more a collection of facts than a house is a pile of stones. The Grand Challenge I propose for improving Scientific literacy is: Project Director, PrimaryConnections Australian Academy of Science Shelley Peers 1

Slide 2 To provide quality science education for all primary school students world-wide, linked with literacy and numeracy education. I’d like to ask you two questions: How important do you think science education is in primary schools? How well do you think science is currently taught in primary schools? 2

  Slide 3 I’ve asked these questions in Australia and around the world and the answer is usually the same, and that surprises me.  If it is an audience of scientists, hands go all the way up for question 1. Teachers and others put their hand about here, and they say that is because literacy and numeracy are most important. But they say science is next most important. 3

Slide 4 I think this challenge is important for 3 main reasons: Firstly - without science, students have restricted access to understanding how the world works. However, without learning literacy and numeracy, students have restricted access to learning science Secondly - Students need access to scientific ways of thinking, and knowing how to make evidence-based decisions Finally and importantly - science can provide a meaningful context for literacy and numeracy learning. 4

Slide 5 Why do we teach science in schools? Firstly - A competitive economy needs scientifically literate workers and thinkers Secondly - No matter what your occupation, you need some level of scientific literacy for many jobs and to function effectively in a modern society. 5

Slide 6 The next question is, why should we be concerned with scientific literacy in primary schools? The reason is that research is showing that children form attitudes to science and science careers before about 11 years of age. Young children are natural inquirers – they have an awe and wonder about the universe. We need to seriously invest in harnessing this curiosity before students are switched off by poor teaching or wooed by other ‘interests’. By 14 years of age, it is very difficult to re-engage them. 6

Slide 7 So if it is important why isn’t it happening? If you ask most primary school teachers to teach science, they feel like you have asked them to teach advanced Latin – tomorrow! Teacher quality is the single most important school-based factor affecting student learning. In primary school, teachers aren’t well equipped to teach science– they often haven’t experienced good science education themselves, and the principal empathises with them and so doesn’t press them. 7

Slide 8 No matter how much scientists care, science has to compete for attention in the school curriculum. We need to understand: The concerns of ill-equipped teachers Educational gatekeepers – in particular principals and higher level bureaucrats who have limited understanding of the issues Beliefs of the key players - what they believe about science, what they believe about learning science and what they believe about teaching science; How to scale up an effective change processes 8

Chief Scientist of Australia Slide 9 So how do we start? We have good teachers for young children, but they don’t usually understand science. We have scientists who are committed to science education, but they don’t usually understand about the education of primary school children. To move forward, tinkering with existing models isn’t enough – we need to create new paradigms. How do we design models that bring together scientific and educational excellence? 9

Grand challenge for improving scientific literacy Slide 10 All our futures will be affected by improved global scientific literacy. I believe this is best leveraged by investing in improving primary school science education. How do we get scientifically literate teachers in inquiry based classrooms in every primary school? Are there ‘integrated solutions’ that are effective, scalable and sustainable? photo by: Camdiluv, via flickrcc.net To provide quality science education for all primary school students world-wide, linked with literacy and numeracy education. 10