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Community leaders' views of the purposes of science in the compulsory years of schooling Symington, David and Tytler, Russell 2004, Community leaders' views of the purposes of science in the compulsory years of schooling, International journal of science education, vol. 26, no. 11, pp. 1403-1418. Attached Files Name Description MIMEType Size Downloads Title Community leaders' views of the purposes of science in the compulsory years of schooling Author(s) Symington, David Tytler, Russell Journal name International journal of science education Volume number 26 Issue number 11 Start page 1403 End page 1418 Publisher Routledge Place of publication Abingdon, England Publication date 2004-09-17 ISSN 0950-0693 Keyword(s) Civic leaders Science -- Study & teaching Students Education Literacy Summary Accepting that scientific literacy is the primary purpose of science in the compulsory years of schooling leads to the question 'What does scientific literacy mean in a particular community?' This paper reports a study designed to provide some insight into that question. Data were gathered through interviews with a sample of community leaders, in the state of Victoria, Australia, about their views of the purposes of school science. The data reveal that, although most of those interviewed had no formal post-school science education, their life experiences provided them with useful insights into the question raised. The wisdom of such people could make an important contribution during the initial stages of curriculum development in science. As people successful in their own fields, the study participants were lifelong learners. Consequently, their responses suggest that a primary focus of school science must be to provide students with a framework that will enable them to continue learning beyond schooling. This is not just a matter of knowledge or skills, but of feeling comfortable with science. The methods used provide a useful example of how views about education can be gathered from thoughtful, non-expert community members. In this instance, they allowed a reconceptualization of the purposes of school science. These community leaders argued for an education for 'science in life' rather than an education about science. Language eng Field of Research 130212 Science, Technology and Engineering Curriculum and Pedagogy HERDC Research category C1 Refereed article in a scholarly journal Copyright notice ©2004, Taylor & Francis Ltd Persistent URL http://hdl.handle.net/10536/DRO/DU:30002815 Document type: Journal Article Collection: School of Scientific and Developmental Studies in Education Related Links Link Description Connect to published version (restricted access) Go to link with your DU access privileges     Unless expressly stated otherwise, the copyright for items in DRO is owned by the author, with all rights reserved. Versions Version Filter Type Fri, 03 Oct 2008, 14:21:07 EST Wed, 01 Apr 2009, 15:58:01 EST Mon, 24 May 2010, 12:29:35 EST Mon, 31 May 2010, 08:31:27 EST Filtered Full Citation counts:   Cited 8 times in TR Web of Science Cited 9 times in Scopus Search Google Scholar Access Statistics: 407 Abstract Views, 2 File Downloads  -  Detailed Statistics Created: Mon, 07 Jul 2008, 08:35:15 EST

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