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3. Curriculum Structure

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3. Curriculum Structure 3. Curriculum Structure Introduction To contextualise many of the issues raised by participants during this inquiry, the Committee examined the mathematics and science curricula and how they fit within the overarching curriculum framework in Victoria. The Committee considered the general purpose of mathematics and science education, the broad curriculum framework in Prep to Year 10 and the post-compulsory years, and the specific subjects available to senior secondary students compared with those offered interstate. The role and purpose of student assessment in improving students’ mathematics and science results were also considered. General Purpose of the Mathematics and Science Curricula During this inquiry the Committee received evidence regarding the fundamental and guiding purpose of the mathematics and science curricula. While the finer details of curriculum content were not often touched upon, the central purpose of the curricula was regularly raised as having a crucial influence on the outcomes of mathematics and science education in Victoria. The Committee believes that the mathematics and science curricula should firstly aim to improve the levels of mathematical and scientific literacy of all students. As Engineers Australia stated: All Australian citizens will need to gain scientific, engineering and mathematical knowledge and to develop technological understanding to enable them to make informed decisions about their lives and to engage intelligently in the knowledge economy.59 Secondly, the curricula should seek to help prepare a greater number of students to progress onto specialised studies in the enabling and new sciences at university. As Associate Professor Kieran Lim of Deakin University stated: Traditionally, the State of Victoria has been a manufacturing and industrial powerhouse within the Australian economy.…The strength of the North 59 Ms K. Hurford, Associate Director Public Policy, Engineers Australia, Victorian Division, Transcript of Evidence, Public Hearing, Melbourne, 31 August 2005, p.9. 37 Inquiry into the Promotion of Mathematics and Science Education American, Japanese and West German economies for much of the second half of the last century indicates how fundamental and applied research in Mathematics and Science leads to advances in engineering and technology, with resultant improvement in the community’s health, economic wellbeing and standard of living.60 Many submissions and witnesses emphasised the importance of identifying and promoting a primary purpose of mathematics and science curricula. However, the Committee found that the Victorian Government’s vision for science education does not feature prominently in Victorian curriculum documentation. A variety of participants, including the Science Teachers’ Association of Victoria, suggested that curriculum documents, statements and resources need to be explicit about what is valued in science. The Association stated that: … without a clear notion about what is valued in science the approach to its teaching, including curriculum statements and preparation of resources, can become diffuse: bogged down in memorising factual content or mastery of ‘process’. The excitement of science that arises from its unifying explanatory power and the grandeur of its reach are all too easily lost.61 The goals of raising scientific and mathematical literacy among all students, while also preparing a greater number of students to study science and mathematics at university, may at times seem to be competing goals: Science education for ‘science literacy’ may not fit readily with notions of science teaching as preparation for detailed studies in science.62 The Committee repeatedly heard concerns that irrespective of policy makers’ views on the general purpose of mathematics and science education, the structure of the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) tends to push the curriculum in favour of the preparation of science specialists. A curriculum too focused on the preparation of those who wish to pursue specialised study may be to the detriment of the scientific and mathematical literacy of the remaining majority of students. Specialised science and mathematics studies invariably lack universal appeal and may be perceived to have less relevance to the lives of the wider student cohort. While the Victorian curriculum provides for the pursuit of a generalist science course until Year 10, a number of stakeholders argued that the division of science into 60 Written Submission, Associate Professor K. Lim, January 2005, p.3. 61 Written Submission, Science Teachers’ Association of Victoria, January 2005, p.2. 62 ibid., p.3. 38 3. Curriculum Structure specialised streams in Years 11 and 12 is driving the same division down through the curriculum in the compulsory years. Emeritus Professor Richard White, for example, stated: The curriculum in years 11 and 12 in Victoria has always been towards the specialist end, and, whatever may have been the intent of curriculum developers, in practice has dragged the curriculum in junior years in that direction also.63 The need to prepare students to undertake one or more of the specialised science courses at VCE level necessitates a similar specialised approach at the junior levels. Emeritus Professor Richard White outlined his concerns over specialised programs, stating: An argument against specialist programs is that by divorcing science from culture and society they present a distorted picture of science itself. Part of the distortion is the notion that science is independent of values and cultural beliefs; another part is the separation of physics, chemistry, biology and other science from each other, so that science is perceived as a bundle of disciplines rather than as an integrated, self-consistent account of the natural world.64 Professor Richard Gunstone, of Monash University, supported this view: One of the things we have really mistakenly done in the 20th century in science and maths education is to see the education of experts as needing to necessarily be specific and focused and demanding, where demanding means narrow and you do what you might have done next year this year instead. What we do, then, is produce experts who are dislocated from the society they are supposed to advise …65 The Committee believes that the clear articulation of the purpose of the mathematics and science curricula by the Victorian Government would be of great benefit to teachers and curriculum developers. The Committee envisages that the primary purpose of the mathematics and science curricula is central to the development of government mathematics and science education policy (refer to recommendation 2.1). 63 Written Submission, Emeritus Professor R. White, December 2004, p.1. 64 R.T. White 2003, ‘Challenges, opportunities and decisions for science education at the opening of the twenty-first century’, Innovation in Science and Technology Education, Vol. 8, UNESCO, Paris, p.279. 65 Transcript of Evidence, Public Hearing, Monash University, Clayton Campus, 10 June 2005, p.8. 39 Inquiry into the Promotion of Mathematics and Science Education There are a number of measures that may promote a more coherent approach to the learning and teaching of the different disciplines of science in the compulsory curriculum. The Committee recognises that the solutions to real world problems in science rarely lie in the application of just one pure discipline of science, especially in the enabling sciences. As discussed in Chapter 7, student investigations in science should integrate the traditional disciplines of science, and be focused on engaging students and building scientific literacy. Curriculum Framework in Victoria The two key authorities that have a major role in the mathematics and science curricula are the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) and the Victorian Qualifications Authority (VQA). The two authorities work in partnership when reviewing and enhancing post-compulsory school education. The VCAA is responsible for the curriculum and assessment used across Years Prep to 12 in Victorian schools.66 The VCAA is a statutory authority that reports directly to the Minister for Education and Training. It was established to: develop curriculum for all Victorian schools; assess student learning and monitor student achievement; and conduct research leading to innovative educational programs.67 The VQA is also a statutory body accountable to the Minster for Education and Training. The VQA is responsible for the accreditation, registration, certification and quality assurance of post-compulsory qualifications in Victoria, other than higher education qualifications. The compulsory years curriculum was in a period of transition during this inquiry as the Victorian Essential Learning Standards (VELS) were in the process of being implemented as the basis for curriculum and assessment for Years Prep to 10 in Victoria. The Committee heard that many of the perceived limitations of the Curriculum and Standards Framework (CSF) II raised during this inquiry are likely to be resolved, or at least minimised, as the VELS are introduced. The main post-compulsory qualification is the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). The VCE mathematics and science courses have 66 Victorian Curriculum & Assessment Authority 2005, Annual Report 2004–05, VCAA, Melbourne, p.5. 67 For further information, refer to the Victorian Curriculum & Assessment Authority website, <http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au>. 40 3. Curriculum Structure also recently been reviewed
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