Reflections from the Developments of School Science Curricula
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Imitation game: Reflections from the developments of school science curricula SONG, Jinwoong (宋眞雄) Department of Physics Education, Seoul National University What will fulfill this need can be stated in equally simple terms. It is, ironically enough, that science be taught as science. (Joseph J. Schwab, 1962: 188-9) 1.Introduction The Imitation Game is a 2014 British historical drama film directed by Morten Tyldu m and written by Graham Moore, based on the biography Alan Turing: The Enigma by A ndrew Hodges. It stars Benedict Cumberbatch as British cryptanalyst Alan Turing, who dec rypted German intelligence codes for the British government during the Second World War (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Imitation_Game). The ’Imitation Game’ refers to so-calle d ‘Turing Test’ which is a test for artificial intelligence suggested by a famous British ma thematician, Alan Turing (1912-54), who is known as the father of the computer. Through his paper, “Computing machinery and intelligence” (1950), Tuning gave a conceptual fou ndation of AI (Artificial Intelligence), by suggesting the Turing Test, “a test of a machine’ s ability to exhibit intelligent behavior equivalent to, or indistinguishable from, that of a h uman.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turing_test) Science is now considered as one of the core (often three of them) subjects across th e world, together with the national language and mathematics. For example, in PISA studi es, science is included in the three main areas, with literacy and mathematics (e.g. OECD, 2018). And, in TIMSS studies, science and mathematics are the two main subjects for th e international comparison (https://timssandpirls.bc.edu/timss2015/). Then, how could science acquire this precious status in school curriculum? What wer e its main rationales and justifications through which science had been able to persuade th e stake holders of school curriculum to accept this relatively new subject? And, In doing so, what has been the main strategy for school science to meet the needs and pressures fr om the society? Based on a brief review of the historical developments of school science curricula, in ternational as well as Korean (of more recent developments), this paper argues that the ov erall developments of school science curricula can be characterized as a kind of ‘imitation 118 game’ chasing after the presumed ideals of contemporary school science. 2. A Brief Review of the History of School Science It has been around one and a half centuries since science was first introduced as one of regular school subjects in Europe (Turner, 1927). Not only in the West but also in the East, while classics and literatures (e.g. Greek, Latin, Chinese) had been the core of school curricula since the middle age, science began to permeate into school timetables, on the basis of its argued strength as an effective means for mind discipline (e.g. DeBoer, 1991; Bishop, 1994). At the beginning, during the first half of the 19th century in Britain, science was not first introduced into the school curriculum, but into so-called mechanics’ institutes. The mechanics’ institute (MIs) was a kind of self-funded adult education places which were begun to be established following the Industrial Revolution. The first two MIs (Glasgow Mechanics’ Institution and London Mechanics’ Institution) were established in 1823 (Kelly, 1992). The primary purpose of MIs was to self-educate by mechanics and artisans who needed some degree of basic scientific knowledge in order to understand and deal with newly developed machines and instruments brought by the industrial revolution. MIs became very popular not only in Britain but also then British colonies during the second quarter of the 19th century (e,g, Hudson 1851; Hole, 1853). After its peak around 1850 when there were about 700 institutions across the UK (Hole, 1853), the MI movement slowly faded away along with the decrease of its original spirit, i.e. the diffusion of useful knowledge among workingmen (e.g. Song, 2012). While some scholars argue that the mechanics’ institution movement is a part of the history of science education (Song, 2012), it is more common that MI movement is considered either a part of adult education or of technical education. With a gradual introduction of science(s) into some pioneering schools and a rapid decline of MI movement after 1850s, science gradually secured its place in school curricula and expanded its territory by self-dividing from ‘natural philosophy’ into several science disciplines (such as, electricity, magnetism, sound and light, botany, physiology). This inclusion of science in school curriculum was hastened by the establishment of DSA (the Department of Science and Art) and DSA’s examination system (Bishop, 1994). During the second half of the 19th century in Britain, the inclusion of science in school curriculum was strongly supported by a group of prominent scientists (including M. Faraday, J. Tyndall, H. Spencer, T. H. Huxley) made great efforts to advocate the potential and value of teaching science as an effective means of mind training, with a possibility of substituting classics (DeBoer, 1991). This distinctive character of our own times lies in the vast and constantly increasing part which is played by natural knowledge. Not only is our daily life shaped by it, not only does the 119 property of millions of men depend upon it, but our whole theory of life has long been influenced, consciously or unconsciously, by the general conception of the universe, which have been forced upon us by physical sciences. In fact, the most elementary acquisition with the results of scientific investigation shows us that they offer a broad and striking contradiction to the opinion so implicitly credited and taught in the middle ages. (T. H. Huxly, 1880) Maybe the first theory of science teaching in the history was made by a British chemist as well as an influential educator, H. E. Armstrong (1848-1937), who proposed a “heuristic method” of science teaching. The heuristic method was intended to put students as far as discoverer‘s position. Heuristic methods of teaching are methods which involve placing students as far as possible in the attitude of the discoverer methods which involve their finding out, instead of being merely told about things. (original italic. Armstrong, 1902: 396) For Armstrong, “The heuristic method is the only method to be applied in the pure sciences; it is the best method in the teaching of the applied sciences; and as it is a method in the study of those great works of art in language by the greatest minds which go by the general name of literature.” (original italics, Armstrong, 1902: 396-7). This strong belief by Armstrong and his followers was based on their conviction that the core values of learning science can only be achieved by following the exact pathway of scientists. During the first half of the 29th century, science education in Britain and the US took a different route away from the Heuristic method. Partly because of the limits of the Heuristic’ method in terms of its effectiveness and partly because of the realization of the need of ‘science for all’, school science education in Europe and in North America became closer to the issues of society and students. In this context, at the both sides of the Atlantic, school science education moved towards ‘general science’, ‘science and citizenship’, and ‘everyday science’ (Jenkins, 1979; Song, 2001). In this period, science education in the US was under the influence of John Dewey and progressive education movement, while British science education was rather under the influence of socialist ideas towards science and society (Bybee & DeBoer, 1994; Song, 2001). After more than a half a century since Armstrong, the spirit of the Heuristic method was once again revived by two prominent education theorists in the US - Jerome Bruner at Harvard who advocated discovery learning’ and Joseph Schwab at Chicago who were trained as a biologist and established a theory of ‘scientific enquiry’ (Matthews, 1994). Although these two theories were both influential to the 1960s’ school curriculum reforms, for science, Schwab’s theory of scientific enquiry was a more direct impetus for science curriculum reforms, of which outcomes were known as ‘alphabet programs’ (such as, PSSC, CHEM Study, BSCS, ESCP, IPS) and proliferated across the world. This school science curriculum reform movement was mainly initiated and 120 dominated by professional scientists, who were then dissatisfied with contemporary school science teaching. It was a historical moment that the power of science curriculum was handed over from science teachers to professional scientists. Teachers and educators concerned with science face a new situation. They are being asked to fulfill an urgent national need, to act as executors of a public policy which is not of their making. They can no longer treat their duties as determined only by themselves. ... The American Chemical Society, the American Institute of Biological Sciences, the Mathematics Association of America, even the National Academy of Sciences, are now involved in curriculum studies, curriculum revision, and the sponsorship of changes in the preparation and certification of science teachers. (Schwab, 1962: 3-4) For Schwab, the situation of science education was so bad that there was a desperate “need to maintain and support a mode of scientific enquiry which has never before been so urgently required, so visible to the naked, public eye, and understood so little by so few.” (Schwab, 1962: 4). We have remarked that teaching science merely as authoritative facts and dogma has had an extremely bad effect on American attitudes toward science and scientists. Such methods of teaching science divorce the conclusions of science from the data and the conceptual frames that give conclusions their meaning. As a consequence, the student often learns a lesson we never intended to teach.