National Curriculum Science - Essay Example

Running head: DISCUSSION OF WHAT IS INTENDED BY THE NATIONAL CURRICULUM SCIENCE SCIENCE ENQUIRY National Curriculum Science University Name Abstract Science is a very important subject in day to day life hence it should be encouraged to be taught to all pupils in primary school. When the National Curriculum was introduced in the UK following the recommendation of Education Reform Act 1988, science became a compulsory subject. It is introduced at the tender age at Key Stage 1 whereby pupils are taught how to answer questions by solving them in group work. It has been recommended that the best method for learning science is through group work. This paper discusses the anticipated future of National Curriculum Science in the UK. It elaborates the introduction of National Curriculum as recommended by Education Reform Act in 1988. It further focuses on what is meant by science enquiry in the UK National Curriculum and the impact that has been experienced in our schools especially in Key Stage 1 and 2. It also discusses the altitude pupils have on science and the important of the subject in real life experience today. Introduction In the UK, national curriculum was introduced in England, Wales and Northern Ireland following recommendation of Education Reform Act 1988. However, the independent schools do not follow the national wide curriculum as they are free to set their own curriculum. The National Curriculum is only applicable to state schools of the entire local education authorities. The Science Enquiry 1 came into existence after the introduction of the National Curriculum. A basic curriculum of national curriculum and religious education is required to be taught to all state students according to the Education Reform Act 1988. The main aim of the National Curriculum was to ensure that all pupils in the UK cover certain basic material and as time went on; all state schools had adopted the National Curriculum in their system. Teachers are expected to set learning and teaching objectives that are challenging, realistic and relevant to the group they are teaching according to the Standards for the award of qualified teacher status. These objectives can be set by taking into consideration the level of the pupils, their expected achievement together with their current and past achievements. The entire paper will discuss the intended missions and objectives of the National Curriculum Science in relation to Science Enquiry 1 especially in Key Stages 1 and 2. National Curriculum Science 1 A National Curriculum usually sets out a statutory entitlement that is supposed to be learnt by all students attending state owned schools. It has set target that are supposed to be achieved at the end of each key stage. The curriculum also states how the students are going to be accessed as far as performance is concerned and how the performance will be reported. For a National Curriculum to be effective it should be in a position of telling elaborating the kind of skills and knowledge that will be gained by students and this is useful information to parents, pupils, teachers and even employers. Initially, England, Wales and Northern Ireland education system was governed by Butler Education Act 1994 which was replaced by Education Reform Act 1988 that was implemented in 1988. The following are the main provisions of Education Reform Act 1988. By studying Science, the pupils are able to understand the nature of the universe hence they are in a position of understanding the world. When pupils at the foundation stage study science, they develop a crucial knowledge and skills that enable them to make sense of the real world. This facilitates them to learn other subjects in science such as ICT as they lay a good foundation that is necessary for their understanding. At this stage, children have an opportunity of solving problems, do experiments, plan, make decisions, predict and ask question in a wider context. It is still at this stage that pupils after studying science are in a position of understanding the environment they live in and also find out about the places and people who are of any value in their lives. The teachers do not set any curriculum according to the Standards for the award of qualified teacher status. They responsibility is to plan, monitor, assess and teach the pupils and they are assigned with all responsibilities of class management. Main Aims of Teaching Science to Children The main aims of teaching science at Key Stage 1 and 2 are to:- Help children to be in a position of developing knowledge and understanding of scientific idea, skills and processes in order for them to relate them in day to day life experience. The students who have studied science are in a position of exploring the world around them and are curious to know about the things they observe in their environment. The children too are able to link different experiences and phenomena due to the experience they gain in Science. In order to help children to discover value and attitude by use of knowledge they have gained in science. The children work with others and they gain ideas which they treat with respect after listening to them. They are in a position of evaluating ideas that are not fit to the evidence available but they have respect for already developed evidence. The children after studying science are in a position of developing respect living things and the environment for the sake of their health and safety. In order for children to learn about how to think and find out the way they are supposed to communicate ideas. The children are in position of developing their communication skill when they talk about their work they have developed in science. They make use of charts and diagrams and other mathematical language while communicating scientific ideas they have either learnt or developed as a result of studying Science. Finally the children are able to read widely and even extract ideas from reference books. 1 The Standards for the award of qualified teacher status recommends that pupils should be encouraged to study on their own when they are given assignments to do on their own especially at home. Another importance of science is not only to ensure we have qualified scientist in future but also to ensure that in future, we will have responsible people in the society that will of benefit to the development of the society at large. Initially the world relied so much on industrialization whereby people relied on manufacturing and engineering, but in modern times, developing countries are now depending on service industries such as financial services. This has made science to be relevant in the modern world as it create more job opportunities in the developed countries. For this case, Science knowledge has been of great help to individual in order for them to make an informed decision. This is more so if the science was introduced at the very early stages of Key Stage 1 and 2. 2 According to the standards for the award of qualified teacher status, the teachers are required to have a clear understanding of the areas they teach. In addition, they are also required to noted the progress of their pupils and be aware on how they expect their pupils to achieve more so in sciences. Developing Interest in Science Most people develop interest in science at a very early age and for this case, it is important for the teachers to ensure they teach science with interest in order to make it interesting to the pupils. Scientists interviewed revealed that they were either influence to have interest in science by their teacher or a relative. Due to this reason, science should be highly feature at an early age of Key 1 and 2 to influence more and more pupils who might have an interest in science. According to (Pollard and Triggs, 2000 cited in Ward, Roden, Hewlett, and Foreman, 2005) suggested that pupils have a low attitude toward science at primary level. As pupils grows older at primary, science becomes among the three subjects least liked by pupils. Most of student complained that they disliked science since it was difficult subject. Many girls dislike science more that boys but on attaining the age of 6 year, there is the same proportion of boys and girls who liked science. There is a decline of awareness of learning science as primary school pupils grow older. The girl child should more so be encouraged to learn science since they shy away from the subject for they have an attitude that the subject is difficult. (Ward, Roden, Hewlett, and Foreman, 2005) The Future of Science In order for us to have a bright future in science, we need to ensure that science is taught in our school as per laid down rules in education Reform Act 1988. All through from key stage 1 and 2 the authority must ensure the following is adhered to as far as learning science is concerned. By teaching science in a creative way, our teachers especially in primary school make the subject to be interesting to the pupils. For this case, teachers should adopt modern ways of teaching science to teach it in a creative manner for the sake of ensuring we have future scientists who will bring development in our society. 3 In order to ensure that children advances in science, scientific vocabularies and technical knowledge should be used while communicating to our children. By using this language we facilitate the understanding of science to children. The teacher should use scientific knowledge in most areas of understanding in a number of areas to link between areas in order to enhance understanding of science to children. By application of such scientific knowledge that is personal, we ensure that children get interested in learning more about science. One should be using events and phenomena while he or she is explaining any scientific event and phenomena. This should be encourage to be applicable more to the teacher in order to for them to make pupils to get interest in science and or even enhance whatever they already know about science. The teachers too should be advised to use phenomena as their own ideas when explaining a certain phenomena in order to gain acceptance of ideas. This personal use of phenomena that are like personal ideas ensure that pupils also become creative in terms of doing things or even how they think in general. The children should be encouraged to participate in science practical activities in order for them to know what really happen in the real world. This participation is not only interesting to the pupils, but it also make the students to have a better understanding of what usually happen in real life situation. The pupils should first be encouraged to use simple diagrams and drawings at first and then later on be encouraged to use more conventional graphs and diagrams while communicating and representing scientific information. 4 Learning Science in Key Stage 1 At stage 1, children work in groups to collect evidence that enable them answer questions as they link these questions to scientific ideas they have come across. They do ask questions relating to any creature, phenomena and other materials. They in a position of using reference materials to learn more about what they have learnt as far as scientific ideas are concerned. In their own investigation, they evaluate scientific evidence to prove whether the tests are fair according to the evidence given. At this stage, children are able to draw charts and table and use scientific language while sharing ideas and communicating scientific ideas. Areas learnt at key stage 1 include: life processes; science ideas and evidence; human beings and animals; electricity; sound and light; investigative skills among others. 5 Learning Science in Key Stage 2 Learners at this stage make use of knowledge they acquired at Key Stage 1 as the previous knowledge influences what they will learn or modify from the learning experience. At Key Stage 2, the learner advances their science as they are now able to apply knowledge and scientific ideas they have learnt in science in familiar phenomena in their day to day lives. They think of what they have learnt in science in positive and negative way in terms of what technological and environmental development that has accrued as a result of science. They are in a position of a carrying more complicated investigations either working as a group or even on their own. They are in a position of linking ideas as they are able to explain issues using theories and models they have learnt in science. By making use of more sophisticated scientific language, charts and diagrams; they are able to communicate about the work they have done. Finally, they are able to use reference materials in their work such as books while studying to find out more on what they have studied. 6 As far as Standards for the award of qualified teacher status is concerned, teachers in Key stage 1 and 2 are expected to fully understand the curriculum for the core subjects in order to teach them according to standards that have been set out. Group Working in Science When studying science unlike other subjects, working in groups to solve problems is very important rather than where people work independently. It ensures that the pupils are able work on a certain activity perfectly since they are sharing ideas. In scientific studies, one learns more in group work that when one learn on his own. Group work ensures that pupils are able to develop their mind faster since they are able to develop their ideas progressively together with other pupils. The students on the other hand are taught how to answer question through investigating, researching and collecting information from reference books. By so doing, the student's mind develops and they are able to have a creative mind hence they can be able to tackle any issue in life on their own. 7 Summary and Conclusion We will have a bright in future if science is taught in the recommended ways especially in early stages of education to make interesting to pupils. Since most of scientist first get interested in science during stages in education i.e. Key Stage 1 and 2, there should be more emphasis with the way science is taught in our schools. Our future lie on the education, hence more emphasis should be put on education especially science since it facilitates the way one think. Since the introduction of National Curriculum in 1988 following recommendations of Education Reform Act 1988, there has been improvement in education system in the country. Since science keep on evolving such that new ideas are developed everyday, there is need for the curriculum taught to our pupil also to be reviewed to go with the changing times. In future, we need to encourage our pupils to make use of ICT tools in order for them to develop ICT capability when supporting their learning. 8 According to the Standards for the award of qualified teacher status, all teachers are expected to adhere to the professional code of ethics of the General Teaching Council for England and this ensures that high standards are achieved by our pupils. In conclusion, I can recommend that curriculum should be reviewed occasional to suit the ever growing technology in the world so as to be relevant to the individuals for the sake of bringing development in the society. References Assessing Progress in Science - QCA (2007): Science at Key Stage 1, available from http://www.qca.org.uk/9908.html on January 9, 2007 Education Reform Act 1988 (2000): Education Reform Act 1988, Available from http://www.opsi.gov.uk/acts/acts1988/Ukpga_19880040_en_1.htm, January 7, 2007 National Curriculum in Action (2007): Science: ICT Statutory Requirements, Available From, http://www.ncaction.org.uk/subjects/science/ict-reqs.htm, on January 10, 2007 The Standards Site (2007): Science at Key Stage 1 and 2, Department for Education and Skills, Available from http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/schemes2/science/teachingview=get on January 9, 2007 Ward H. Roden, J., Hewlett, C. and Foreman, J (2005): Teaching Science in Primary Classroom: A Practical Guide: London: Paul Chapman Publishing Read More