Championing the new GCSEs
It is heartening to read the letters of support in the Times on 12 October under the title 'GCSE Science equips students for the real world'.
The High Mistress of St Paul's Girls School and her Head of Science write that the Twenty First Century Science approach is challenging, rigorous and exciting. Above all, they say, the courses are capable of igniting a passion for scientific inquiry in the brightest minds and could not be more timely.
Roland Jackson, Chief Executive of the British Association for the Advancement of Science, has written an open letter to critics of the courses. See also his letter to The Times.
The letters were written in response to front page article yesterday in which Sir Richard Sykes and Baroness Warnock were given the opportunity to attack the new Science GCSEs. What made this news was a publication from the Institute of Ideas called What is science education for?.
The irony is that The Times quoted Sir Richard Sykes as saying that it is impossible to have meaningful and informed debate about science and society without first understanding how science works, which is best learnt by practical experiment and mastering fundamental principles. This is something that the Twenty First Century Science team agrees with. It is the principle underpinning the GCSE Science course that has provoked the controversy.
Our position is that there are two equally important aims for science education:
- to develop the ‘scientific literacy’ of all students, and
- to provide the foundation for more advanced study in science.
The Twenty First Century Science team is strongly committed to both aims. The project is based on the idea that these aims are better achieved by separate courses running in parallel rather than by courses that try to achieve both aims within a single programme.
So we offer a range of science courses including separate GCSEs in Biology, Chemistry and Physics as well as the course to develop scientific literacy.
We have a complex story to tell and in the circumstances the best approach maybe to enjoy the Guardian's take on what Baroness Warnock is reported to have said.
