Response to Skills Audit
Terms of reference for the audit of science, engineering and technology skillsObjectives
The audit will focus on the extent to which Australia’s current and future industry and research body needs are being met by the higher education and VET sector in the supply of SET graduates. In particular, it will provide an understanding of where shortages lie and examine:
- the supply of SET skills from all training and education sectors and report on supply trends;
- public and private sector demand for SET skills from industry, the research community and education providers, both now and into the future;
- how successful the education sectors are in meeting existing SET skill needs and responding to emerging needs; and
- the long- and short-term trends in the emigration and immigration of SET graduates and the impact this ‘brain gain, brain drain’ issue will have on Australia’s skills base – particularly as we face an ageing workforce and countries with greater research expenditure. Global demand for skills in these fields will also be analysed.
Background
The Australian Science Teachers Association (ASTA), the professional body of science teachers, is a federation of 8 state and territory science teacher associations. In terms of the major questions for consideration in the audit, ASTA will focus on the demand and supply of SET skills as well as briefly considering the issue of migration. This submission, in particular, will concentrate on the supply of SET skills in schools.
Major Questions for consideration through the audit
Supply of SET Skills
Schools
What are the factors that influence participation in science and related subjects at school, and what impact is this having on post-school participation?
School science is often, unfortunately seen as irrelevant to student’s lives. Physical Sciences are by their nature abstract and can be difficult for students whose cognitive development is not well advanced. The humanity of science is more evident in topics in the biological sciences and study in biological disciplines are also more accessible at the level of cognitive development of many of our students, hence their popularity over the enabling sciences. The challenge for science educators is to change negative perceptions and highlight the importance of broad based scientific literacy in modern society. Teachers must teach the enabling sciences (in particular) in a context that is relevant to student’s everyday lives, so that more students will be turned back on to science. Unfortunately however, currently, the curiosity and enthusiasm for science displayed by many students at the beginning of Year 7 has often become stifled by Years 9 or 10.
Many states are currently rethinking their curricula with the aim being to better address the needs of a changing workforce (eg the introduction of the Essential Learnings in Tasmania). These developments seem to be leading curricula away from a traditional science approach particularly in the enabling sciences. In the long term this may lead to better outcomes for students however in the short term there is considerable concern among science teachers that students will not experience sufficient science in secondary school to prepare them for study at year 11 and 12 and beyond.
A majority of students feel that they have finished with their study of science by the time they finish Year 10. There are many new subjects on offer in the senior years that they may not have had the opportunity to attempt before. For example, in the humanities, students might have studied History and Geography in Years 7-10 but on moving into the senior years still face a larger range of choices in this learning area including such options as Commerce, Business Studies, Economics, and Legal Studies all new courses that students have not had the opportunity to study before. While students will have the option to study the separate disciplines of science in senior years, each is still science and many would have experienced each of the disciplines in each of the four previous years of schooling.
The proliferation of choice in other areas has also affected participation in science and science-related subjects. As retention rates increased, states moved to introduce new courses in order to better cater for the changing clientele. In some states specialist senior colleges can offer up to 120 different subjects, including high interest courses such as photography, audio design, drama production etc hence the competition is high between the subjects to attract the senior students. The introduction of Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses has also increased the range of course offerings for students. Students have a much wider choice of subjects to choose from over recent years and as a consequence, traditional areas of study, such as the enabling sciences, are significantly lower in numbers than was the case even 15 years ago. The enrolments in Science and other subjects are all being limited by the range of choice available to students.
Universities are pressured to maintain and increase enrolments to ensure funding. Some faculties are perceived by some students to be easier career options and have less demanding subjects as entry requirements while science and maths are seen as difficult to access.
Links between schools and young practising Scientists are needed, so that the students hear of the work that real scientists are doing. School students would also benefit from meeting dynamic older scientists. Teachers do not have the access to stay in touch with current scientific research and career information and hence are not always good public relations machines for science careers or for encouraging students to consider teaching as a realistic career option for that matter. It is fair to say that teachers of other subjects, such as Economics and Business Studies for example, suffer from the same perceptions but there are many more examples of successful business people regularly portrayed in the media that encourage students to pursue such careers. The encouragement of positive high profile science role models in the popular media may help in attracting students to careers in science.
Why is there a decline in relative enrolments in science-related subjects?
Some of the reasons for the decline have been dealt with in the previous section. They include the perception that other professions are better paid and more secure; the proliferation of choice has affected participation in science and science related subjects; lack of access to resources that enable science to be taught the way it was intended to be taught, as a practical investigative subject. Many students, particularly in the middle school settings or geographically isolated regions, are being taught by staff with little science background.
University entry is also a significant factor in influencing student choice at secondary school. It is no coincidence that enrolments in enabling science courses at school began to decline when the universities moved enabling sciences from prerequisite status to assumed knowledge status. Students can be accepted into science based courses at university without having studied science at school, provided that their tertiary entrance score is sufficiently high. This change had been made to encourage more students to study science at university but has served to increase drop out rates, presumably a larger proportion of the candidature commence with insufficient background (1). The manner in which science courses are treated in scaling for university entry does not seem to be uniform across Australia.
What are the reasons behind flagging performance in science and mathematics?
What is meant by “flagging performance”? Where is the data that supports this claim?
From a school perspective, the recent international test data, the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) suggest that this is not the case. The most recent TIMSS data did, however, support a decline in the performance of the female students relative to their male peers.
There is a body of evidence on attitudes to science to suggest that girls continue to switch off from science in the middle school years due to the way it is taught and the dynamics of the science class. This may be related to the quality and qualifications of teachers being used to teach middle school science. It would therefore be useful to target some professional development programs to overcome this problem.
Across the nation the position of primary science is also at best ad hoc, with research (2) suggesting that teachers continue to lack confidence, training and resources to teach science and technology to younger students. While each state has a primary curriculum for science, the degree and quality of delivery will vary enormously from school to school. The strong focus on literacy and numeracy in Primary schools, and the interpretation of literacy and numeracy as deliverable only through English and Mathematics, has further degraded the amount of time spent on science and technology in primary classrooms.
What are the sources and impact of careers advice on participation?
Most students have well-developed perceptions about careers in science and business before seeking or receiving careers advice from professionals at school. Many students are aiming for commerce or business courses as these are still viewed as having high status in the community and are in receipt of higher salaries and better working conditions. Teachers contend that most science students are not looking at a career in science. Students are generally going into commerce/business for perceived financial reward or because they are thought to be easier, with less jargon or the extra practical commitment of science courses. Many students who pursue a career in science are striving for a specialist field, e.g. medicine, engineering or physiotherapy, rather than pure science courses. The popularity of the specialist science fields and courses such as Commerce or Business is likely to be also be related to the fact that the career paths are more obvious and clear cut. For example, someone studying optometry knows that they will be an optometrist whereas someone studying Physics or Chemistry will generally have much less idea as to the type of job they will do.
It should also be noted that the aging structure of the science teaching workforce with limited knowledge on the emerging fields within science, such as biotechnology and nanotechnology, are going to have difficulty in providing the type of information and enthusiasm about these fields that would entice students to pursue rewarding careers in science.
What can be done to boost teachers’ science and technology abilities?
While a number of states have instituted changes in curriculum with a view to producing pedagogical shifts in teaching practice in the science classroom as well as including more contemporary science content and ICT skills, research (3) has shown that there is a still considerable gap between the intended and actual curriculum. The introduction of new curriculum needs to be supported with substantial opportunities for professional learning to take place. While the professional science teacher associations with their expertise, networks and experience are well placed to deliver such opportunities, these associations need financial and infrastructure support in order to deliver worthwhile programs on the scale that it is needed. The direct connection of the professional associations with classroom teachers places the associations in a strategically effective position to achieve real change in the classroom.
While quality professional development is the key, wherever training is optional, those in most need will sometimes opt out. Across Australia there are many teachers who have not embraced changes in teaching methodology, but rather have continued with practices used in the 1970s. It is important that the next generation of science teachers are provided with appropriate training so that they can have the confidence to make the link between science and the students’ lives. It should be a priority of government to support science teachers in their early years of teaching so that they can master new methods of delivery and do not revert to the security of the way they learnt science at school.
Support for Early Career teachers of Science should include:
- ongoing professional development delivered “in-service” and not in the teachers own time or at the teacher’s own expense. Another advantage of “in-service” professional development financed by the employer is that it can be made compulsory
- mentoring by experienced professionals with acknowledged skills in providing worthwhile experiences for students
- reduced teaching loads to free up time to view and work with more experienced teachers to help develop the classroom management and teaching craft of the early career teacher
- Beginning teacher registration (while not essential this can certainly be an aid to boosting the science and technology abilities of teachers of science, if it is linked to professional teaching standards).
A particular challenge to the aging population of teachers of science is the introduction of Information Communication Technology (ICT) into the curriculum. There needs to be more targeted professional learning opportunities in ICT. Again, with appropriate financial and infrastructure support, professional teacher associations are well placed to deliver quality professional learning experience for teachers in these areas. Indeed professional teacher associations have been delivering professional development in this and other areas of need for many years. However financial and infrastructure support from government and industry is needed to broaden the reach of these quality programs, much of which is delivered voluntarily by dedicated teachers in their own time.
Supplementing more traditional forms of delivery of professional development, action-learning models could be particularly effective in boosting the science and technology skills of teachers. Internships would enable teachers to use time out of school to gain experiences in laboratories, industry and universities. Teachers also need affordable and regularly upgraded computers for teaching, and with quality access to such technology in all schools.
As each year goes by, all teachers are asked to take on more and more pastoral, curriculum and assessment responsibilities. In addition to the normal responsibilities of all teachers, teachers of science, in particular, are required to take on extra burdens related to occupational health and safety, especially in the handling of chemicals. Teachers spend so much more time dealing with assessment, paperwork and accountability for what they do than was the case five or six years ago. They are being asked to take on many of the roles and responsibilities that were once the provenance of parents and their children. What suffers is the time available for teachers to learn new skills or be innovative with classes. These innovations form the basis of experiences that motivate students to want to study science through making the course material more exciting, interesting and relevant. Once upon a time the non-student contact time allowed teachers the opportunity to participate in professional dialogue, professional reading and attend to professional learning in their discipline. Now most non-class time is spent preparing for next term’s classes, preparing teaching materials, undertaking assessments or finishing all of the uncompleted tasks from term time. This can result in a working week in excess of 60 to 70 hours during term time and 30 to 40 hours during non-contact time, including what should be holidays. This could be one of the reasons many teachers look to other career opportunities, where a more normal and balanced lifestyle can be achieved.
Technology and increased technical (including laboratory technicians) and clerical support are cost effective ways to relieve the burden of other duties and keep our quality teachers in the profession.
Migration
The long and short-term trends in the emigration and immigration of SET graduates and the impact this ‘brain gain, brain drain’ issue will have on Australia’s skills base
ASTA believes it essential to address the ‘brain drain/brain gain’ from the science teaching profession, as well as from other SET industries. It is self evident why the best graduates don't go into teaching. The state of salary and conditions for science teachers is a major influencing factor in the drain out of the teaching profession into other professions and ultimately out of Australia. Many young teachers become disillusioned with the workload, lack of respect within the community and poor salaries and quickly look for opportunities away from teaching where their skills are in high demand and are appropriately rewarded.
While this ‘brain drain’ has been occurring for some time, the problem has been exacerbated in recent years with the opening up of extra working visas to the USA (10,500 extra—due to Australia's free trade agreement with the US). With this greater mobility, Australia’s SET graduates are more likely to head overseas where they can earn considerably more and also work for ‘bigger’ firms, e.g. Boeing in Seattle, JPL and NASA.
Whether the supply of skills from schools, VET, higher education and migration is adequate and of appropriate quality to meet Australian industry’s current and future skill needs.
Present and future supply of and demand for SET skills will be affected by these current issues:
- shortage of funds for basic scientific research, especially in those areas that are not designated ‘priority’ areas by the Commonwealth and those areas that don’t lend themselves to short-term commercial application
- lack of employment security for young scientists. Most young researchers are employed on three-year contracts
- real issues of succession management as 50+ research specialists retire from their fields in the next 10 years
- lack of longer-term research grants to enable substantive progress to be made on projects.
Schools have increasingly become the training grounds to meet the needs of the workforce and industry. Business and industry should take on more of the role in training their workforce with the skills they require. Fewer industries are providing apprenticeships or cadetships with the expectation that schools and universities are there to supply ready-made workers for their needs.
If schools are to take on more of a specific job-training role, changes should be put in place to enable this to occur. Perhaps there is a need to expand school into a formal year 13 as is done in some overseas countries. There is currently not enough time to do everything that is being asked of schools. In some schools, Year 7 science receives about 2.5 hours or less instruction time per week, Year 8 and 9 just over 3 hours a week. In year 10, 11 and 12 this time may increase to approximately 4 hours a week. Mathematics and English usually get the lion's share of available teaching time in secondary schools. As already mentioned, this effect is far more pronounced in Primary schools. Alternatively, perhaps there will need to be more specialisation at an earlier age.
How successful are the education sectors in meeting existing SET skill needs and responding to emerging needs?
There is value in investigating the current and future supply of, and demand for, science, education and technology skills, likewise for the educational resources needed to meet these.
Science teacher associations regularly receive approaches from various groups, including industry associations of an engineering or technical nature, seeking endorsement or assistance in promoting the ‘enabling’ sciences and maths in schools as a vehicle to ensuring their future technical employees. These groups tend to have little idea of current school culture, or how to effectively impact on it, and they often operate in isolation rather than in any unified way. They often fail to appreciate that an effective vehicle for their message lies in investing in the ongoing professional development of science teachers; they generally think in terms of producing yet another brochure/booklet/CD containing all the facts, and getting the science teachers to simply pass it on. Further, there is often a misconception that not for profit professional teacher associations are funded support agencies with large numbers of full time staff. While professional teachers associations are most willing to respond to any venture that would potentially enhance the quality of science teaching, funding is required to maintain these associations which operate largely on the voluntary efforts of a decreasing number of teaching professionals.
One of the main problems from a secondary teacher viewpoint appears to be a lack of specialist physics teachers, in particular, as well as other science teachers in general. It is widely acknowledged that the population of teachers is aging and that there are fewer science graduates choosing teaching who will take the place of those retiring. One way of overcoming this problem may be through the provision of double degrees in science and education to ‘fast-track’ graduates, while another strategy is to encourage teachers to retrain in areas of need.
Generally in industry, the laws of supply and demand dictate that if there is a shortage of suitably qualified people within a professional area, improved salary and conditions will result in order to attract people to fill the gaps. However, this does not seem to occur in teaching. All teachers are considered equal, even though a science graduate may well have a greater HECS debt because of the costs of doing science courses in comparison to arts courses. The cost impact of HECS debt or student loans to complete courses that generally have lower starting salaries in comparison to business and finance is a driving factor. The wealthier industries, i.e. mining, banking, finance, are able to attract the best qualified graduates because of the large differential in salaries and conditions compared to science teaching or other science-related careers.
As stated earlier, there is also an issue in the way in which the current lack of suitably qualified science and maths teacher positions are being filled. Vacancies will often be filling with teachers who are not fully qualified to teach these subjects and are required to do so with inadequate support structures. Students are being put off from doing science because of these ‘science’ role models. This is also true of teachers in the primary area. Little or no science is really being taught because the majority of teachers in this sector of schooling are not qualified in science, and do not feel confident to teach science and maths. Specialist science teachers are needed in the primary school to lift the quality and quantity of science being taught, in a similar way to having specialist Physical Education and music teachers. As the pool of qualified science teachers diminishes at the secondary level, more and more of the ‘middle school’ teaching of science is left to teachers who are not qualified to teach the subject and the cycle continues. There is a need to get more able science teaching graduates into the classrooms around Australia. Stop-gap measures where science graduates without teaching backgrounds are placed in the classroom is no solution either. These measures work on the false assumption that anyone can walk in and teach without appropriate training and mentoring. A graduate may have a lot of science knowledge but know nothing about how to get this information across to students and ensure that learning is taking place.
ASTA, with its member state and territory science teacher associations, tries to promote the status of science teaching as a profession by raising the profile of the importance of science and by providing advice to government and industry relating to science education. Support is also provided through for commencing science teachers through mentoring programs and other support mechanisms. Some state and territory science teacher associations have dedicated professional development programs for early career teachers of science.
It should be a government priority to raise the status and working conditions in order to attract and retain quality science teachers. Migration programs that encourage the science teachers from other countries to take up residence in Australia was a short-term strategy that has worked in the past such as during the 1970s when many Canadian teachers were recruited to Australian schools. These programs rely on attractive conditions in terms of living standards, teaching venues and salary. We are still faced with the problem as no long-term strategy was put in place however enhanced salaries and conditions will go a long way to attracting teachers who have migrated overseas or into other career paths back into science teaching in Australian classrooms.
There is also the reductionist argument that the quality and standard of science education will not improve unless science is valued by the community. This is not likely to occur until the importance of science education is highlighted along with the employment spin-offs for those who are educated in science. For example, when students go through training in cutting-edge science such as bioethics and nanotechnology and are then required to go overseas for work, the community at large is unlikely to see the outcomes of their efforts, and put any value on science education.
Demand for SET Skills
Has the nature of SET skills needed by Australian industry changed over time? If so, how?
There is a much greater emphasis now on manipulating data, reflective inquiry, problem-solving and reasoning in the sciences than in the past. This reflects the shifting and exploding use of technologies in all areas of science. Educational emphases have not always kept up with the pace of this change. The aging teacher population, in particular, has difficulty in keeping up with advances in ICT and needs particular training in this area. Even new graduates fresh from University training programs lack confidence and capabilities in this area. While the new graduates tend to have higher personal ICT skills than those that have been in the profession for many years, they lack the skills to incorporate ICT into their teaching of science. Science teachers need access to specific training in this area if they are to keep up with the burgeoning use of ICT in industry and research.
Working in science has always been a cooperative endeavour. With globalisation there is now significant movement of scientists around the world as they follow private sector demands. Relocation into different environments with different cultures and living conditions is a fact of life for those involved in SET industries in modern society. SET training needs to reflect this dimensional shift.
Note: Discipline Classification
The disciplines listed under ‘Classifying science, engineering and technology’ (pp 8/9 of the discussion paper) are very traditional. Where do cutting-edge or cross-traditional fields such as molecular biology fit? What about geophysics, the space sciences etc? Also, the grouping of Agriculture, Veterinary and Environmental Sciences as one classification seems surprising, particularly given their likely future importance.
SUMMARY
Major issues for science teachers in the ongoing provision of SET professionals for Australian industry
1. Quality of science education
Ensuring an adequate supply of fully trained science teachers
ASTA has concerns about the quality and quantity of graduates moving into science teaching as a profession. The traditional entry path particularly to secondary science teaching, of a science degree with a major in one particular discipline, followed by an education degree or diploma is discouraged by the current system of HECS fees. Yet this is the preferred combination for employment purposes in a recent survey of Heads of Science in secondary schools (4). Science graduates will often move into the non-teaching working environment immediately rather than continue to study 1-2 more years to gain educational qualifications. There is little incentive to study the extra time to gain a career path with fewer opportunities for reward through promotion, salary structures and perceived job satisfaction. Even amongst those that make the choice to complete a postgraduate Diploma in Education, a significant percentage withdraw in their first 2/3 years of teaching. Increases in remuneration and working conditions would serve to attract larger numbers to science teaching as a first choice career, rather than a third, fourth or fifth choice.
There are serious concerns about the ongoing provision of professional development for the teachers of science. In many cases gaining release from schools is difficult and professional development must be undertaken in teachers’ own time and is mostly self funded. This only serves to increase the stress levels of teachers who are already overloaded with duties and severely limits the number of teachers who access professional development on a regular basis.
The science and technology abilities of teachers could be boosted through implementation of well-supported action learning models of professional development for teachers in schools. Internships would enable teachers to use time out of school to gain experiences in laboratories, industry and universities.
There is considerable concern as to the way the current lack of suitably qualified science and maths teacher positions are being filled. Both Government and non-government sectors have attempted to plug the gaps created by a lack of suitably qualified teachers by using teachers from other areas without appropriate maths and science qualifications. Retraining programs designed to provide the necessary skills required for the science classroom are generally short term in nature and lack sufficient rigour to properly prepare the staff involved.
Furthermore, as the pool of qualified science teachers diminishes at the secondary level, more and more of the ‘middle school’ teaching of science is left to teachers who are not qualified to teach the subject, are given limited retraining and support and the so cycle continues. In some cases those put on ‘middle school’ classes lack training in the discipline of science, in other cases they lack teacher training, in some extreme cases they lack both. Greater attention needs to be given to the quality of science education in the ‘middle years’ as this is the time that students make decisions about science, engineering and technology both in terms of senior subject selection and future career paths.
Desired outcomes
- Recognition of the value of professionally trained science teachers – both in terms of career paths and remuneration;
- Greater access to professional development opportunities – the focus of this professional development should be on increasing the levels of scientific literacy in students and strategies for teaching science in context. This can be achieved most cost effectively by supporting the professional development offerings of professional teacher associations.
- A nation-wide focus on improving scientific literacy in the broader community. This would serve to “raise the bar” for all in terms of science, engineering and technology skills. This would require a coordinated effort between the Australian Government, relevant industries and the Australian Science Teachers Association (ASTA).
- The employment of initiatives to increase the number suitably of qualified teachers in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics and Molecular Biology
- Improved working conditions for teachers by relieving the burden of non-teaching tasks. Creative uses of technology, increased laboratory technician and clerical support are cost effective ways of achieving this outcome.
Maintaining and increasing the quality of science teachers
Professional development of teachers is crucial to the quality and quantity of science teachers in the profession. It is important that professional development programs are targeted and produce measurable gains in teacher performance. ASTA would advocate that professional development programs should be planned using the ASTA National Professional Standards for Highly Accomplished Teachers of Science (5) as a framework. The quality of the professional development can then be measured by the gains made as the participants in move towards the Highly Accomplished standard, as measured against the standards (6) . A full certification system against the ASTA Standards would be a powerful incentive for teachers to improve their performance and the National Institute of Quality Teaching and School Leadership should move to develop and implement such a certification system as soon as possible. The work that the Australian Science Teachers Association (ASTA) has done with the Australian Council for Education Research (ACER) will be important in the establishment of such a system of certification. State teacher registration boards have been developing and using generic teaching standards and would be unlikely to achieve real gains in the ability of teachers to improve the SET skills of their students.
Educate and enthuse students to choose SET subjects in preparation for further study and training at a tertiary level.
The prospect of attracting more students to SET will become more of a reality if there is greater consistency in the quality and quantity of science teaching undertaken through the formal years of schooling. Although all state education guidelines state that science will be taught continuously from the commencement of formal schooling; individual schools may not have the human and physical resources to fulfil this expectation particularly in the early years of schooling. In recent years, literacy and numeracy has received a strong push in Primary schools and in early high school years. Few would argue that literacy and numeracy are important as foundation for success in schooling. Unfortunately improving skills in literacy and numeracy has largely been interpreted as teaching students English and Mathematics, which is a narrow interpretation. The teaching of science provides numerous opportunities to develop both literacy and numeracy skills in context and also develop problem solving skills which would benefit students in later life. Thus the teaching of science has suffered at the expense of the amount of time devoted to teaching literacy and numeracy solely through English and Mathematics. There is a strong body of evidence that suggests that the quantity and quality of science teaching needs a significant boost in Primary schools (7) (8) (9).
Resourcing
Teachers need affordable and regularly upgraded computers and access to technology in schools.
Science education must also be better resourced at the school level. Science is intrinsically a practical and investigative learning area, and as such has requirements in terms of resourcing; science teachers, teacher-student ratios, providing technical support staff, as well as funding laboratory equipment and materials and adequate course time. Certainly without increased funding for and recognition of the importance of science (and science education) at all levels of schooling, there will be little improvement in the present situation.
The increased emphasis on risk management has led to greater difficulties in teaching the investigative nature of science. Tightening of occupational health of safety, and in particular chemical safety, has increasingly caused difficulties for teachers as they teach students the investigative nature of science. Increasingly experimental investigations in some areas of science have moved from student practical work to teacher demonstration. It is vital that teachers of science are provided with substantial support in teaching the practical nature of science within current occupational health and safety requirements. The popularity of Vocational Education and Training (VET) courses is largely dependent on the strong and explicit connection with the real world. It is important that the teaching of science makes these real world links in a similar explicit way if we are to retain students in the study of science.
Desired outcomes
- Adequate resourcing of schools so that they can comply with state curriculum requirements for the teaching of science;
- A study on international best practice in the teaching of practical science within occupational health and safety requirements to be commissioned. The results of that study should inform the development of a support package that provides support in the teaching the investigative nature of science within state and federal occupational health and safety legislation;
- The establishment of programs that uphold and encourage careers in science as desirable and rewarding;
2. Build linkages between school science and SET industries
Schools will not be able to solve the problem of a lack of SET skills in the community alone. While schools strive to prepare students for the workforce and to meet the industry, these needs are constantly changing and without substantial external support, schools will not be able to meet the changing needs. As well as linking in with schools and supporting education programs, business and industry also need to take on more of the role in training their workforce with the skills they require. Fewer industries are taking on apprenticeships or cadetships and leaving it to schools and universities to supply ready-made workers for their needs.
Industry needs to make greater efforts to discover what goes on in science education in schools. Groups, including industry associations of an engineering or technical nature, seek endorsement or assistance in promoting the ‘enabling’ sciences and maths in schools as a vehicle for ensuring provision of their future technical employees. But these groups tend to have little idea of current school culture, or how to effectively impact on it, and they often operate in isolation rather than in a coordinated way.
By far the most effective mechanism for achieving change in schools is through the professional development of teachers and resources should be deployed in this direction rather than producing yet another brochure/booklet/CD containing all the facts, and getting the science teachers to simply pass it on. This is not an effective way in which to enthuse and excite students about science. Schools are busy places and it is easy for such promotional material to receive a lower priority whereas overloaded teachers would embrace professional development support that would make their lives easier.
Desired outcomes
- Placement programs for teachers to spend time working in SET industries in order to strengthen the links between school science and the real world;
- Industry to accept its obligations to give comprehensive support to science education in schools, especially to professional development of science teachers, and to put greater emphasis on apprenticeships, cadetships and in-house training rather than leaving this solely to schools and universities;
- Both pre-service and in-service training for science teachers should also include any opportunities to engage with the world of science outside of education, as this engagement is central to ongoing professional learning and development. This can be achieved through forging links between the industries that rely on SET skills for success and the educational institutions.
- Specialist branches of industry to work in collaboration with schools to introduce students to new branches of science, to enthuse them with the possibilities that could open up to them if they pursue a scientific career.
End Notes
(1) Science at the Crossroads? A study of trends in university scient from Dawkins to now 1989-2002: Australian Council of Deans of Science 2003.
(2) The Status and Quality of Teaching and Learning of Science in Australian Schools, A Research Report prepared for the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs: Goodrum, Hackling and Rennie for the Commonwealth of Australia 2000
(3) The Status and Quality of Teaching and Learning of Science in Australian Schools, A Research Report prepared for the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs: Goodrum, Hackling and Rennie for the Commonwealth of Australia 2000
(4) Who’s Teaching Science; Australian Council of Deans of Science (2005)
(5) National Professional Standards for Highly Accomplished Teachers of Science; Australian Science Teachers Association and Monash University 2002
(6) National Professional Standards for Highly Accomplished Teachers of Science; Australian Science Teachers Association and Monash University 2002
(7) Australia's Teachers: Australia's Future. Advancing Innovation, Science, Technology and Mathematics. Australian Government Department of Education, Science and Training 2003
(8) The Teaching of Science & Technology in Australian Primary Schools. A Cause for Concern. Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering. 2002
(9) The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study. ACER (December 2004)
