In many parts of the world, science education occupies a comparatively insignificant place in primary-school education and unfortunately what actually happens in the classroom under the label of science is often totally inadequate. Teacher training both pre-service and in-service, is one of the keys to this problem. Starting from the premise that this training should be carried out in ways more closely related to the active methods which teachers are expected to use in their schools, this sourcebook provides a variety of materials for use in training workshops for primary-school teachers which can be used both in group-work and by individual teachers for independent study. Dr. Wynne Harlen, OBE, is Director of the Scottish Council for Research in Education. She has broad experience of science teaching in schools and colleges of education. Formerly Professor of Education at the University of Liverpool, she has also held academic appointments at the Universities of Bristol, Reading and London. Dr Harlen is well-known in the United Kingdom and internationally for her work in primary-school science education, a field in which she has directed a number of important projects, particularly in relation to assessment of pupil achievement and teacher education. This has included close co-operation with UNESCO in the development of its programme in the field of primary-school science education. Jos Elstgeest is Science Education Co-ordinator of the Regional Pedagogic Centre, Zeeland, in the Netherlands. Before this he worked at the Morogoro Teacher-Training Centre in the United Republic of Tanzania. He has been deeply involved with the African Primary Science Programme and the Science Education Programme for Africa. His work has involved close contact with UNESCO’s programme in science education and he has served as a UNESCO expert at the University of
In many parts of the world, science education occupies a comparatively insignificant place in primary-school education and unfortunately what actually happens in the classroom under the label of science is often totally inadequate. Teacher training both pre-service and in-service, is one of the keys to this problem. Starting from the premise that this training should be carried out in ways more closely related to the active methods which teachers are expected to use in their schools, this sourcebook provides a variety of materials for use in training workshops for primary-school teachers which can be used both in group-work and by individual teachers for independent study. Dr. Wynne Harlen, OBE, is Director of the Scottish Council for Research in Education. She has broad experience of science teaching in schools and colleges of education. Formerly Professor of Education at the University of Liverpool, she has also held academic appointments at the Universities of Bristol, Reading and London. Dr Harlen is well-known in the United Kingdom and internationally for her work in primary-school science education, a field in which she has directed a number of important projects, particularly in relation to assessment of pupil achievement and teacher education. This has included close co-operation with UNESCO in the development of its programme in the field of primary-school science education. Jos Elstgeest is Science Education Co-ordinator of the Regional Pedagogic Centre, Zeeland, in the Netherlands. Before this he worked at the Morogoro Teacher-Training Centre in the United Republic of Tanzania. He has been deeply involved with the African Primary Science Programme and the Science Education Programme for Africa. His work has involved close contact with UNESCO’s programme in science education and he has served as a UNESCO expert at the University of