A review of the school science curricula in eleven high achieving jurisdictions

ABSTRACT

The last two decades have seen unprecedented interest in science curricula, with many governments seeing improvements in the performance of their school students in science as key to future economic prosperity. We present the results of an analysis of the curriculum documents for primary and secondary science in Australia (New South Wales and Queensland), Canada (Alberta and Ontario), Finland, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Shanghai and the United States (Florida and Massachusetts). Beyond our specific findings, we note a degree of convergence across these 11 very different jurisdictions. The Asian ones have made and are making changes to encourage students to be more creative and better able to apply their science knowledge and develop their scientific literacy; the ‘Western’ ones are becoming more knowledge focused.

KEYWORDS:

• School science
• curricula
• assessment
• International Instructional Systems Study

Acknowledgments

The data for this research come from a study supported by a grant from the Center for International Education Benchmarking (CIEB), National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE), Washington D.C. We are also very grateful to Brian Creese and Tina Isaacs for directing the project and providing valuable feedback to us throughout it.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The data for this research come from a study supported by a grant from the Center for International Education Benchmarking (CIEB), National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE), Washington, DC.

Notes on contributors

Martin Hollins

Michael Reiss is a professor of science education at UCL Institute of Education, an honorary visiting professor at the Universities of Leeds and York and the Royal Veterinary College, and a fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences. The former director of education at the Royal Society, he has written extensively about curricula, pedagogy and assessment in science education and has directed a very large number of research, evaluation and consultancy projects over the past 25 years funded by Research Councils, Government Departments, charities and international agencies. For further information see www.reiss.tc.

Michael J. Reiss

Martin Hollins is a teacher and independent education consultant. Former director of the North London Science Centre and director of school curriculum projects in science education at Bath University and the BBC, he has taught trainee primary and secondary teachers at Roehampton Institute and led the science and technology team at the Qualifications and Curriculum Development Agency. He currently works on projects specialising in curriculum development and teachers' professional development. He is a governor of a special school and college, a trustee of the Primary Science Teaching Trust and an honorary member of the Association for Science Education.