The pursuit of humanity: Curriculum change in english school science

History of Education

Volumn 40, Issue 3, 2011, Pages 291-313

  Donnelly, Jim ^a   Ryder, Jim ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF LEEDS   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

England; Late twentieth century; Science curriculum

Indexed keywords

EID: 79959248079     PISSN: 0046760X     EISSN: 14645130     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/0046760X.2010.521196     Document Type: Article

References (122)

1. HM Treasury, DTI, and DfES, Science and Innovation Investment Framework 2004-14 (London: HMSO, 2004).
2. European Commission, Increasing Human Resources for Science and Technology in Europe: Report of the High Level Group ('Europe Needs More Scientists') (Brussels: European Union, 2004).
3. Committee on Prospering in the Global Economy of the 21st Century, Rising above the Gathering Storm: Energizing and Employing America for a Brighter Economic Future (Washington, DC: National Academies Press, 2007).
4. University of Oslo, http://www.ils.uio.no/english/rose/network/countries/norway/eng/norsjoberg-apfslt2005.pd (accessed August 20, 2009).
5. John L. Rudolph, Scientists in the Classroom: The Cold War Reconstruction of American Science Education (New York: Palgrave, 2002).
6. Mary Waring, Social Pressures and Curriculum Innovation: A Study of the Nuffield Foundation Science Teaching Project (London: Methuen, 1979).
7. David E. Cooper, Meaning (London: Acumen, 2003).
8. James Donnelly, 'The "Humanist" Critique of the Place of Science in the Curriculum in the Nineteenth Century, and Its Continuing Legacy', History of Education 31 (2002): 535-55.
9. Thomson Committee, 'Report of the Committee Appointed by the Prime Minister to Enquire into the Position of Natural Science in the Educational System of Great Britain', Parliamentary Papers ix (1918): para 4.
10. Science Masters' Association, The Teaching of General Science (London: John Murray, 1936), 14-15.
11. Edgar W. Jenkins, From Armstrong to Nuffield: Studies in Twentieth Century Science Education in England and Wales (London: John Murray, 1979): chapter 3.
12. Science Masters' Association, Science and Education (London: ASE, 1957).
13. Association for Science Education, 'Science and General Education, 1971', Education in Science 8 (1971): 31-2.
14. Association for Science Education, 'Science and General Education, 1971', Education in Science 8, (1971): 31-2.
15. Department of Education and Science, Science Education in Schools: A Consultative Document (London: Department of Education and Science, 1982).
16. Department of Education and Science, Science 5-16: A Statement of Policy (London: HMSO, 1985).
17. Gary McCulloch, Educational Reconstruction: The 1944 Education Act and the Twenty-First Century (London: Woburn Press, 1994).
18. Gary McCulloch, Edgar W. Jenkins and David Layton, Technological Revolution? The Politics of School Science and Technology in England and Wales since 1945 (London: Falmer Press, 1985).
19. William Taylor, The Secondary Modern School (London: Faber, 1963).
20. Gordon Nunn, Handbook for Science Teachers in Secondary Modern Schools (London: John Murray, 1951).
21. Science Masters' Association, Secondary Modern Schools Sub-Committee, Secondary Modern Science Teaching (London: John Murray, 1957).
22. Michael Oakeshott, 'A Place of Learning', in The Voice of Liberal Learning. Michael Oakeshott on Education, ed. Timothy Fuller (London: Yale University Press, 1989), 17-42.
23. James Donnelly, 'Humanizing Science Education', Science Education 88 (2004): 762-84.
24. Paul H. Hirst, 'Liberal Education and the Nature of Knowledge', in Knowledge and the Curriculum, ed. Paul H. Hirst (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1974), 30-53.
25. Philip Henry Phenix, Realms of Meaning: A Philosophy of the Curriculum for General Education (New York: McGraw Hill, 1964).
26. P. Atkinson and S. Delamont, 'Mock-Ups and Cock-Ups - the Stage Management of Guided Discovery Instruction', in The Process of Schooling, ed. M. Hammersley and P. Woods (London: Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1976), 133-42;
27. Paul Stevens, 'On the Nuffield Philosophy of Science', Journal of Philosophy of Education 12 (1978): 99-111.
28. John L. Rudolph, Scientists in the Classroom: The Cold War Reconstruction of American Science Education (New York: Palgrave, 2002).
29. Mary Waring, Social Pressures and Curriculum Innovation: A Study of the Nuffield Foundation Science Teaching Project (London: Methuen, 1979).
30. Gary McCulloch, Edgar W. Jenkins and David Layton, Technological Revolution? The Politics of School Science and Technology in England and Wales since 1945 (London: Falmer, 1985).
31. Department of Education and Science, Science Education in Schools: A Consultative Document (London: Department of Education and Science, 1982).
32. Royal Society, Swing from Science in Schools: Report of a Conference Held at the Royal Society on 24 October 1968 (London: Royal Society, 1969).
33. Ibid., 5.
34. Ibid., 8.
35. Council for Scientific Policy, Enquiry into the Flow of Candidates in Science and Technology into Higher Education (London: HMSO, 1968), para. 181.
36. Schools Council, Science for the Young School Leaver (London: Schools Council, 1965), 4.
37. David Layton, Interpreters of Science: A History of the Association for Science Education (London: John Murray/ASE, 1984), chapter 5.
38. Milton Blackburn Ormerod and Derek Duckworth, Pupils' Attitudes to Science: A Review of Research (Windsor: NFER, 1975).
39. Jonathan Osborne and Shirley Collins, Pupils' and Parents' Views of Science in the School Curriculum (London: King's College London, 2000).
40. Edgar W. Jenkins, 'The Student Voice and School Science Education', Studies in Science Education 42 (2006): 1-48.
41. Steven Turner and Karen Sullenger, 'Kuhn in the Classroom, Lakatos in the Lab: Science Educators Confront the Nature-of-Science Debate', Science, Technology and Human Values 24 (1999): 5-30;
42. James Donnelly, 'The Intellectual Positioning of Science in the Curriculum, and Its Relationship to Reform', Journal of Curriculum Studies 38 (2006): 623-40.
43. Michael R. Matthews, 'Thomas Kuhn's Impact on Science Education: What Lessons Can Be Learned?', Science Education 88 (2004): 90-118.
44. Hilda Misselbrook, Nuffield Secondary Science: Teacher's Guide (Harlow: Longman for the Nuffield Foundation, 1971).
45. David Layton, Interpreters of Science: A History of the Association for Science Education (London: John Murray/ASE, 1984): 171. These resources were often published very informally and are not easy to track. They have never been systematically studied as a whole, but some sense of their scale and interpenetration can be gained from the commentaries to be found on the Nuffield Foundation website and its archives at King's College London, http://www.nuffieldcurriculumcentre.org/go/minisite/OurHistory/Page_154.html (accessed October 20, 2009; http://www.kcl.ac.uk/depsta/iss/archives/collect/1nu30-0.html (accessed October 20, 2009).
46. James Donnelly and Edgar W. Jenkins, Science Education: Policy Professionalism and Change (London: Paul Chapman/Sage Publications, 2001), chapter 4.
47. These processes have been documented by both participants and other commentators: e.g. John Campbell, Margaret Thatcher (London: Pimlico, 2001-2004), 543.
48. Kenneth Baker, The Turbulent Years: My Life in Politics (London: Faber & Faber, 1993), 197-209.
49. Duncan Graham and David Tytler, A Lesson for Us All: The Making of the National Curriculum (London: Routledge, 1992).
50. Department for Education and Science and Welsh Office, Science for Ages 5 to 16: Proposals of the Secretary of State for Education and Science (London: Department for Education and Science, 1988).
51. It included such Attainment Targets as 'Information Transfer', 'Exploring and Investigation: Working in Groups' and 'Science in Action: the Nature of Science'.
52. Of course this not intended to imply that the impact of such centralised mechanisms was other than heavily mediated before having any influence in schools and classrooms.
53. Richard Bowe, Stephen J. Ball and Anne Gold, Reforming Education and Changing Schools: Case Studies in Policy Sociology (London: Routledge, 1992).
54. Robin Millar, 'Training the Mind: Continuity and Change in the Rhetoric of School Science', Journal of Curriculum Studies 17 (1985): 369-82 (370).
55. Nuffield Physics, Teachers' Guide I (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1966).
56. DES/WO, Science in the National Curriculum (London: HMSO, 1989), 3.
57. NCC, Teaching Science at Key Stages 3 and 4 (York: NCC, 1993).
58. NCC, Science: Non-Statutory Guidance (York: NCC, 1989).
59. Neville Evans, 'Educare - the Only Policy', School Science Review 76 (1994): 7-11.
60. P. Black, C. Harrison, J. Osborne and R. Duschl, Assessment of Science Learning 14-19: A Report Prepared for the Royal Society (London: Royal Society, 2004), 21;
61. James Donnelly, Ann Buchan, Edgar W. Jenkins, Peter Laws and Geoffrey Welford, Investigations by Order (Driffield: Studies in Education, 1996).
62. DES/WO, Science in the National Curriculum (London: HMSO, 1989), AT1, level 5 onwards.
63. DES/WO, Science in the National Curriculum (1991) (London: HMSO, 1991). Thus, for example, level 5 of the latter suggested that students should 'formulate hypotheses where the causal link is based on scientific knowledge, understanding or theory' (p. 9).
64. Michael Barber, The National Curriculum: A Study in Policy (Keele: Keele University Press, 1996), 48-9, 55-60.
65. Russell Tytler, Re-Imagining Science Education: Engaging Students in Science for Australia's Future (Camberwell, Victoria: Australian Council for Educational Research, 2007).
66. National Research Council, Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2000);
67. European Commission, Science Education Now: A Renewed Pedagogy for the Future of Europe (Brussels: European Commission, 2007).
68. Inquiry Based Science Education.
69. European Commission, Science Education Now: A Renewed Pedagogy for the Future of Europe (Brussels: European Commission, 2007), 12.
70. James Donnelly, 'Interpreting Differences: The Educational Aims of Teachers of Science and History, and Their Implications', Journal of Curriculum Studies 31 (1999): 17-41.
71. Peter Michael Laws, 'Conceptions of Teaching: A Comparison of Their Development in Student-Teachers of English and Science' (PhD thesis, Education, University of Leeds, 2000).
72. James Donnelly, 'Humanizing Science Education', Science Education 88 (2004): 762-84.
73. Joan Solomon and Glen S. Aikenhead, eds, STS Education: International Perspectives on Reform (New York: Teachers College Press, 1994).
74. Jonathan Osborne and Shirley Collins, Pupils' and Parents' Views of Science in the School Curriculum (London: King's College London, 2000).
75. Association for Science Education, Alternatives for Science Education (London: ASE, 1979).
76. Edgar W. Jenkins, 'The Association for Science Education and the Struggle to Establish a Policy for School Science in England and Wales, 1976-81', History of Education 27 (1998): 441-59 (448).
77. Association for Science Education, Education through Science (Hatfield: ASE, 1981).
78. John Lewis, Science in Society: Teacher's Guide (London: Heinemann Educational, 1981).
79. Sue Addinell and Joan Solomon, Science in a Social Context: Teacher's Guide, Science in a Social Context (Hatfield: Association for Science Education, 1983).
80. Association for Science Education, Rethinking Science? Teaching Science in Its Social Context: A Report and Discussion Document (Hatfield: Association for Science Education, 1984).
81. Andrew Hunt, 'SATIS Approaches to STS', International Journal of Science Education 10 (1988): 409-20.
82. Mike Watts and Caroline McGrath, 'SATIS Factions: Approaches to Relevance in Science Education', School Science Review 79 (1998): 61-5, http://www.satisrevisited.co.uk/m1.asp (accessed October 6, 2009).
83. James Donnelly, 'Contested Terrain: The Nature of Science in the National Curriculum for England and Wales', International Journal of Science Education 23 (2001): 181-96.
84. Robin Millar and Jonathan Osborne, eds, Beyond 2000: Science Education for the Future (London: King's College, 1998).
85. Robin Millar, 'Twenty First Century Science: Insights from the Design and Implementation of a Scientific Literacy Approach in School Science', International Journal of Science Education 28 (2006): 1499-521.
86. Jonathan Osborne, Sue Collins, Mary Ratcliffe, Robin Millar, and Richard Duschl, 'What "Ideas-About-Science" Should Be Taught in School Science? A Delphi Study of the Expert Community', Journal of Research in Science Teaching 40 (2003): 692-720.
87. http://curriculum.qcda.gov.uk/key-stages-3-and-4/subjects/science/keystage4/Science_and_the_national_curriculum.aspx (accessed September 23, 2009).
88. http://www.instituteofideas.com/scied2006.html (accessed September 23, 2009).
89. The new GCSE science examinations. Findings from the monitoring of the new GCSE science specifications: 2007 to 2008. http://www.ofqual.gov.uk/files/ofqual-09-4148_GCSE_science_2007_2008_report.pdf
90. 'Royal Society response to the "Twenty-First Century Science" GCSE debate', http://royalsociety.org/news.asp?year=&id=5339 (accessed September 24, 2009).
91. Robert Bud and Gerrylynn K. Roberts, Science Versus Practice: Chemistry in Victorian Britain (Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1984).
92. David Layton, Science for the People: The Origins of the School Science Curriculum in England (London: George Allen & Unwin, 1973).
93. Donald Stephen Lowell Cardwell, The Organisation of Science in England (London: Heinemann, 1972).
94. Gary McCulloch, The Secondary Technical School: A Usable Past? (London: Falmer, 1989).
95. Michael Sanderson, The Missing Stratum: Technical School Education in England, 1900-1990s (London: Athlone Press, 1994).
96. Meriel Vlaeminke, The English Higher Grade Schools: A Lost Opportunity (London: Woburn, 2000).
97. Jacqueline Bell and James Donnelly, 'Applied Science in the English School Curriculum: The Meaning and Significance of "Vocationalization"', Journal of Curriculum Studies 41 (2009): 25-47.
98. Roger Dale, The TVEI Story: Policy, Practice and Preparation for the Workforce (Milton Keynes: Open University Press, 1990), 104.
99. Tony Edwards, Carol Fitz-Gibbon, Frank Hardman, Roy Haywood and Nick Meagher, Separate but Equal? A-Levels and GNVQs (London: Routledge, 1997).
100. Andrew Hunt and Nicholas Russell, GNVQ Science: Your Questions Answered. An Introduction and Guide to GNVQ Science (Oxford: Heinemann Educational, 1994).
101. J.F. Donnelly, An Invisible Revolution? Applied Science in the 14-19 Curriculum (London: Nuffield Foundation, 2009). BTEC is an acronym for Business and Technician Education Council, a former awarding body whose legacy exists mainly in the name of a suite of qualifications.
102. Harry Torrance, 'Assessment as Learning? How the Use of Explicit Learning Objectives, Assessment Criteria and Feedback in Post-Secondary Education and Training Can Come to Dominate Learning', Assessment in Education 14 (2007): 281-94.
103. Kathryn Ecclestone, Learning Autonomy in Post-16 Education: The Politics and Practice of Formative Assessment (London: RoutledgeFalmer, 2002).
104. James Donnelly, 'Representations of Applied Science: Academics and Chemical Industry in Late-Nineteenth Century England', Social Studies of Science 16 (1986): 195-234.
105. Ministry of Education, Science in Secondary Schools (London: HMSO, 1960), 2.
106. Gary McCulloch, Failing the Ordinary Child? The Theory and Practice of Working-Class Secondary Education (Buckingham: Open University Press, 1998), 5, 35-6.
107. Russell Tytler, Re-Imagining Science Education: Engaging Students in Science for Australia's Future (Camberwell, Victoria: Australian Council for Educational Research, 2007).
108. National Research Council, Inquiry and the National Science Education Standards (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 2000).
109. Peter J. Fensham, Defining an Identity: The Evolution of Science Education as a Field of Research (Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic, 2004).
110. See, for example, House of Commons Science and Technology Committee, Third Report 2002, Science Education from 14 to 19, vol. HC 508-1 (2002), para.24.
111. 'Science in schools remains elitist', http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/sep/08/science-schools-education-centre (accessed September 9, 2009).
112. '...a scientific fact ... is simply a barren fact which (the pupil) remembers or does not remember for a time ... It leads to nothing.' Report of Her Majesty's Commissioners appointed to inquire into the Revenues and management of certain colleges and schools, Parliamentary Papers, 1864, xx, xxi, minutes of evidence, q. 494.
113. European Commission, Science Education Now: A Renewed Pedagogy for the Future of Europe (Brussels: European Commission, 2007).
114. Gerald Holton, 'Science Education and the Sense of Self', in The Flight from Science and Reason, ed. Paul R. Gross, Norman Levitt and Martin R. Lewis (New York: New York Academy of Sciences, 1996), 29-53.
115. Editorial, British Journal for the History of Science (1990) 23, 1-2.
116. The following sequence of quotations is illustrative of this. From the National Curriculum in 1989: 'Pupils should develop their knowledge and understanding of the ways in which scientific ideas change through time and how the nature of these ideas ... are affected by the social, moral, spiritual and cultural contexts in which they are developed'.
117. DES/WO, Science in the National Curriculum (London: HMSO, 1989), 36, AT17). From 1995: 'Pupils should ... consider ways in which scientific ideas may be affected by the social and historical contexts in which they develop and how these contexts may affect whether or not the ideas are accepted.'
118. DfE/WO, Science in the National Curriculum (1995), 24. From 2007: Pupils should be taught: (a) how scientific data can be collected and analysed; (b) how interpretation of data, using creative thought, provides evidence to test ideas and develop theories; (c) how explanations of many phenomena can be developed using scientific theories, models and ideas; (d) that there are some questions that science cannot currently answer, and some that science cannot address. http://curriculum.qcda.gov.uk/key-stages-3-and-4/subjects/science/keystage4/Science_and_the_national_curriculum.asp (accessed September 23, 2009).
119. Steven Turner and Karen Sullenger, 'Kuhn in the Classroom, Lakatos in the Lab: Science Educators Confront the Nature-of-Science Debate', Science, Technology and Human Values 24 (1999): 5-30 (36).
120. Michael F.D. Young, The Curriculum of the Future: From the 'New Sociology of Education' to a Critical Theory of Learning (London: Falmer, 1998)
121. J.M. Wilson, 'On Teaching Natural Science in Schools', in F.W. Farrar, Essays on a Liberal Education (London: Macmillan, 1867), 241-92.
122. Herbert Spencer, Education: Intellectual, Moral and Physical (London: Watts, 1929).