What can we learn from other countries about teaching science investigation skills to primary children?

Abstract

The paper examines the explicit and implicit rationales, in several countries, for the place of science in the primary school curriculum. It relates these to notable contrasts between such countries as UK and Kenya on the one hand, which emphasise the teaching of science investigation skills; and Germany and France on the other hand, which stress the acquisition of knowledge. This comparison is used to highlight questions about the impact of current primary science policy in the English National Curriculum; about assumed links between science teaching and economic progress; and about the ambitions of our broader view of primary schooling in England. It concludes by proposing further international study of the actual learning of investigation skills in the primary phase.