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THE PROPOSED REFORM OF SECONDARY EDUCATION IN BANGLADESH: IS SCIENCE NEGLECTED OR PROMOTED?1 Mohammad Nure Alam Siddique Ph D candidate, Faculty of Education, Monash University Clayton, Victoria 3800, Australia And Assistant Professor (on study leave), Institute of education and Research University of Dhaka, Dhaka 1000, Bangladesh E-mail:
[email protected];
[email protected]
Introduction This paper reports a comparative analysis of existing and proposed science curricula for grades IX-X in Bangladesh. Students of grades IX-X in Bangladesh are now divided into three streams – Science, Business Studies, and Humanities. Three specialized science units are offered for Science students, these are - Physics, Chemistry and Biology. Other Students study one unit of General science with a view to gaining general understanding on important science topics and applications of science (National Curriculum and Textbook Board [NCTB], 1996). A uni-track (single track, no streaming) curriculum was supposed to be implemented from January, 2006. It was proposed that all students would study the same set of subjects in grades IX-X, including a new ‘General Science’ curriculum. Due to an agitation against the enactment of the new uni-track curriculum, the enactment has been postponed. The curriculum has neither been implemented, nor rejected yet and the debate continues for and against it. One of the main arguments against the new curriculum was that the standard of Science and Mathematics has been lowered, therefore students will have a weaker foundation in science if it is implemented (Mukto-
1
th
This paper was presented to the 17 Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia in
Melbourne 1-3 July 2008. It has been peer reviewed via a double blind referee process and appears on the Conference Proceedings Website by the permission of the author who retains copyright. This paper may be downloaded for fair use under the Copyright Act (1954), its later amendments and other relevant legislation.
2 Mona Dhaka Contact, 2006). On the other hand, I saw some innovative aspects while writing a ‘general science’ textbook for the new curriculum. This situation created a dilemma in my mind, which in turn led me to undertake a comparative study on existing and proposed secondary science curricula in Bangladesh, to see whether science has been neglected or promoted in the proposed curriculum2. This paper reports part of the findings of that study and attempts to find answers of the following research questions: 1. What sort of science knowledge is worth knowing and how is this knowledge treated in the existing and proposed curricula?
2. How do the existing and proposed science curricula fit in worldwide science curriculum trends, especially with the trend in the developing world?
Trends in Science Education Worldwide Two very distinct and conflicting societal demands shape science education programs in different countries. These are: 1. Demand for specialist manpower so that societies and economies can keep pace in a world where scientific knowledge and technology is being exploited in a rapidly increasing way. 2. Demand for a more scientifically literate citizenry, i.e. science education should produce more members of the society who will be able to benefit from the personal and social applications of science and will be prepared to support the changes of a scientific and technological kind that are needed for a good balance between developmental and environmental concerns (Fensham, 1985, p. 417). The first demand dominated in shaping the science curricula in 1960s and 1970s, i.e. the main aim of science education was to prepare an elite group of students for further study of science and related disciplines (Fensham, 1985). Usually such a curriculum involved the rote recall of large number of facts, concepts and algorithms which are not obviously socially useful. Social changes and international movements such as the movements for
2
I conducted this study as part of my Master of Education program in Monash University. I am grateful to
my supervisors Dr Debbie Corrigan and Mr Stephen Keast in the Faculty of Education, Monash University, for their valuable guidance and suggestions in conducting this study.
3 the social responsibility of science, the environmental movement, and the women’s movement led science teachers and educators to rethink the goal(s) of science education (Fensham, 1992). In the 1970s, these movements had been integrated into a single movement: Science, Technology and Society (STS). Two other similar movements follow it, these are -‘Science for All’ and ‘Scientific Literacy’. These movements are briefly discussed below.
Science, Technology and Society As shown in Figure 1, Science, Technology and Society (STS) science is about making sense of students’ social environment, their artificially constructed environment (or Technology) and their natural environment (Aikenhead, 1994). STS education aims to provide students with scientific knowledge that is applicable in students’ everyday lives (Solomon, 1994).
SCIENCE
Natural Environment
STUDENT Artificially Constructed Environment TECHNOLOGY
Social Environment SOCIETY
Figure 1: The essence of STS education (From Aikenhead, 1994, p. 48) Most STS science courses have similar goals but give different priorities to different goals. A balanced STS education may include the following three general goals (Bybee, 1985b, p. 85, quoted in Aikenhead, 1994, p. 50):
4 1. “Acquisition of knowledge” (concepts within, and concepts about, science and technology) for personal matters, civic concerns, or cultural perspectives. 2. “Development of learning skills” (process of scientific and technological inquiry) for information gathering, problem solving, and decision making. 3. “Development of values and ideas” (dealing with the interactions among science, technology, and society) logical issues, public policies, and global problems. Science for All ‘Science for All’ aims at preparing a literate citizenry. Smith (2005) found that school science education in developed English speaking countries has shifted from a narrow, formal system geared for future scientists towards a broader, socially relevant education. Smith added that there was a lack of agreement as to whether the broader and socially relevant education should be made available as the only option for all students or in parallel with the narrower formal system; the UNESCO recommendation was for the first: “Science for All” is not an alternative lower status science education in the formal system. It is an essential and core component of primary and secondary science. The content of “Science for All” courses should be related to real life applications in different societies and should also form a suitable base for those students (the minority) who will need a more rigorous, academic, subject-oriented science at a later stage. (UNESCO, 1983, p. 21, quoted in Smith, 2005, p. 109) The second option is a path of curriculum differentiation which divides school science into high status academic science (emphasis on cognitive goals) and low status nonacademic science (emphasis on relevance and interest) (Hodson & Reid, 1988). Hodson and Reid argued for a common curriculum for all because society is benefited by the full development of skills and talents of all students from it whereas curriculum differentiation leads to wastages of talent. A common science curriculum also ensures a greater pool of talent from which future scientists, technologists and engineers can be recruited. Fensham (1985) suggested for acknowledging the societal demand for specialized manpower if ‘Science for All’ is to succeed. He suggested that it can be done by containing specialized science education within the final years of schooling. Below that agreed containment level, all students will study the same science - ‘Science for All’. A
5 ‘Science for All’ curriculum should include content that has immediate and obvious personal and social relevance to the learners. It should include cognitive, problem-solving and practical skills that are required in doing science. Such a curriculum should organize concepts around broader themes, and should emphasize students’ prior learning along with the new learning in its pedagogy and assessment (Fensham, 1985).
Scientific literacy The movement ‘Scientific Literacy’ makes an attempt to negotiate and articulate the implications of Science for All (Smith, 2005). The essence of scientific literacy is the ability to use scientific knowledge to make informed personal and societal decisions (Lederman & Lederman, 2005). In a similar way, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) refers scientific literacy to students’ ability to think scientifically and use available evidence to make decisions (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development [OECD], 2003). PISA asserts that future citizens do not necessarily need a huge reserve of scientific knowledge; rather, thinking scientifically is needed for all students by age 15 whether or not they continue to learn science thereafter. Citizens require acquiring basic science concepts and science process skills and they must be used in contexts that individuals encounter in life. Accordingly, to assess scientific literacy, PISA 2006 assesses students’ knowledge, competencies and attitudes in learners’ personal, social and global situations, and in the areas of Health, Natural Resources, Environment, Hazard, and, Frontiers of Science and Technology (OECD, 2006). Usually the movements and reforms of science curricula start in the western developed world; the developing countries then follow them (Gray, 1999; Lewin, 1992). Trends in science curriculum reforms in developing countries are discussed next.
Science education reforms in developing countries The goals of “Science for All” are being subscribed to in many developing countries and “science is increasingly being viewed as a subject of life long utility to all students, whether or not they enter science-related careers” (Ware, 1992, p. 5, original emphasis). A more scientifically literate populace is considered as better equipped to contribute to the
6 economic and societal development through informed decision-making in their life (Ware, 1992). Lewin (1993, cited in Earnest, 2003, p. 46) echoed Ware by asserting that the education system in the developing world is expected to help alleviating the basic problems in the society such as unemployment, overpopulation, poor sanitation, fuel shortage, water inadequacy and quality, health care etc. Lewin (1992) and Ware (Ware, 1999) presents the following summary of the trends in science education of developing countries in 1990s: 1. The audience for science knowledge has been redefined- science is for all students, not for only future scientists: future citizens must have a sound understanding of the basic principles of science and technology and their interactions with society to make informed decisions in various areas including economic decisions. 2. The definition of science content has been expanded: Learning facts has been deemphasized; understanding concepts and science processes has been emphasized. More emphasis has been placed on the utility of science to the individual and to society. Therefore, science education has absorbed health education, nutrition, earth sciences, and so forth. 3. New teaching methods based on cognitive research into how students learn science: science instruction has moved away from the teacher teaching toward the students learning; teacher helps students to construct a scientific understanding of the natural world. Students participate in open investigations rather than follow instructions of recipe style experiments. Ware (1999) argued that the ongoing reform of science education is challenging for developing countries because it is multifaceted but the reform will continue. With this note, I intend to examine how reform in secondary science education in Bangladesh fits with the trends discussed above.
Methodology I adopted a constructivist research stance to analyze curriculum documents and textbooks qualitatively. I have considered science textbooks as intended curriculum because they are published by the curriculum authority and exclusively followed by the teachers. They are in fact the de-facto curricula in schools in Bangladesh. I modified and used Bailey’s
7 (1978) Product-Process Framework (Figure 2) for the analysis to find out answer for the first research question, that is, what sort of knowledge (products/content) and process skills (intellectual and practical process skills) are worth knowing in two curricula. As we have seen earlier, curriculum movements emphasize not only on acquiring science knowledge and skills, but on using science knowledge and skills in learners’ context. Therefore I added ‘Application in context’ to the original framework used by Bailey. As seen in Figure 2, the framework consists of three continuums. The first product dimension ‘Broad conceptual content versus Descriptive factual content’ identifies the organization of content - whether science product (facts, laws, definitions, theories) are tied together around a broad overlaying concept or presented as isolated descriptive facts. The second product dimension ‘Pure content versus Applied content’ identifies the nature of science content. The third continuum ‘Intellectual process skills - Practical process skills’ identifies what skills are valued in the curricula.
An emphasis on a particular aspect of the framework has been determined considering whether and/or how the aspect is:
emphasized in the stated objectives/outcomes in the curriculum;
included explicitly in the content section of the curriculum;
discussed in the textbook or suggested to be discussed in the textbook;
suggested explicitly for teaching in the classroom;
to be assessed; and
frequently appeared in curriculum documents.
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Product (dimension 1) Broad Conceptual Content
Descriptive Factual Content
Product (dimension 2) Pure Content
Socially Applied Content
Industrial Application
Domestic Application
Application in Context
Process Dimension Intellectual Process Skills
Practical Process Skills Fi
gure 2: Modified Bailey’s (1978) Product process framework (modification in italics)
Life Situations Areas of Application
Personal (Self, family Social (The
Global (Life across
and peer groups)
the world)
community)
Health Natural resources Environment Hazard Frontiers of science and technology Figure 3: Extension of framework - Application in Context (from OECD, 2006, p. 27)
9 The answer of the first research question gives answer to the second question partly; I analysed other aspects of the curriculum (assessment, practical work, teaching-learning approach etc) to find how the curriculum reform fits with the trends of science education in the developing countries.
Findings of the study I will not present the detailed analysis of curriculum documents; rather will present and discuss the findings briefly. As mentioned earlier, the existing science curriculum consists of two curricula; one is for students of Science stream, the other is the general science curriculum for students of Business Studies and Humanities streams. On the other hand, the proposed science curriculum has been designed for all the students. The analysis of the dcuments reveals the major characteristics of these two curricula. Characteristics of existing science curriculum for Science stream 1. The content is mostly pure content: The science concepts included in the existing science curriculum for Science students are mostly pure content. Most of the content has little relevance to the personal and social life of a learner. The applications of science have been presented as examples; they are not the essence of the science learning. It is interesting to note that the present science curriculum has little emphasis on industrial application (as presented in Fig 4). Table 1 clearly shows that this curriculum has little content that has applications of science in the learners’ real life situations except in the area of Environment. 2.
The content is mostly descriptive factual content: As shown in Figure 5, this curriculum can be placed near the descriptive factual end of a Broad Conceptual Content - Descriptive Factual Content continuum because most of its concepts and information are not tied together strongly by bigger unifying ideas/concepts.
3. Practical process skills are heavily emphasized, intellectual process skills are neglected: The existing science curriculum emphasizes practical process skills heavily compared to intellectual process skills as shown in Figure 6. Intellectual process skills such as analyzing problems, identifying variables, hypothesizing, and interpreting data to make conclusion are not emphasized.
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The proposed science curriculum
Pure Content
Applied content (Industrial)
Pure Content
Applied content (Domestic)
Pure Content
Applied Content (Application in Context) The existing science curriculum
The existing general science curriculum Fi
gure 4: Positions of three science curricula on three Pure Content-Applied Content (Industrial/Domestic/Application in Context) continuums.
Table 1: Emphases on application in context in existing science curriculum for Science students Areas of Application
Personal (Self, family and peer groups)
Life Situations Social (The community)
Global (Life across the world)
Health Weak Weak Very weak Natural resources Weak moderate moderate Environment Strong* Strong* Strong* Hazard Weak Weak Very weak Frontiers of science Very weak Weak Weak-moderate and technology * Mainly in Biology which is not a compulsory subject for science students
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The existing Science curriculum for Science stream Broad Conceptual Content
Descriptive Factual Content
The existing General Science Curriculum
The proposed Science curriculum
Figure 5: Positions of three science curricula on a Broad Conceptual-Descriptive Factual Content continuum based on how the concepts are organized.
The existing science curriculum for Science stream Intellectual Process Skills
Practical Process Skills The proposed science curriculum
Figure 6: Positions of existing and proposed science curricula on an Intellectual Process Skills-Practical Process Skills continuum
Characteristics of existing general science curriculum for Business Studies and Humanities streams: 1. A strong emphasis on applied content: This curriculum has a very strong emphasis on domestic application and a strong emphasis on applications in
12 contexts (see Figure 4) especially in the areas of Environment, Health and Natural Resources (see Table 2). 2. The content is mostly descriptive factual, with concepts that are not tied together by broader concepts. 3. Skills are neglected: Neither practical nor intellectual skills are valued in the existing general science curriculum. Doing is not important at all for the majority of students as performance of practical activities is not assessed for grading purpose. The curriculum does not encourage students to acquire practical skills like weighing, measuring, filtering, using apparatus/instruments that are necessary skills for doing many jobs both at home and at work. This curriculum does not emphasize intellectual skills like classifying, identifying scientific issues, interpreting data and using evidence to reach a conclusion.
Table 2: Emphases on applications of science in context in existing general science curriculum for Humanities and Business Studies stream Life Situations Areas of Application
Personal (Self, family and peer groups)
Social (The community)
Global (Life across the world)
Health
Strong
Very strong
Strong
Natural resources
Moderate
Strong
Weak
Environment
Strong
Strong
Moderate
Hazard
Moderate
Weak
Moderate
Frontiers of science & technology
Weak
Weak
Weak
Characteristics of the proposed science curriculum: 1. Pure and applied content has been combined: The proposed curriculum has a strong emphasis on domestic application and application in context (as presented in Figure 4) or content that has immediate and obvious personal and social relevance to the learners. Among the areas of application, the curriculum shows stronger emphases in the areas of Health, Environment and, Natural Resources.
13 Table 3 shows that the proposed curriculum includes science content in the learners’ personal, social and global contexts. 2. Most concepts included in the proposed curriculum are tied together by broader concepts. 3. The proposed science curriculum emphasizes both intellectual process skills and practical process skills; intellectual process skills are a little bit more emphasized (as seen in Figure 6). 4. The proposed curriculum provides students with opportunities to learn communication skills, social skills and co-operative skills which are new in science curriculum in Bangladesh. 5. The proposed curriculum emphasizes that teachers should consider students’ prior understanding of a concept to teach that concept. 6. Introduction of School Based Assessment (SBA): The proposed curriculum includes school based assessment as a part of the all important certification examination at the end of year ten. Under the existing assessment scheme, non cognitive skills such as communication skills and co-operative skills are not assessed; while the proposed SBA is suitable for assessing these skills. 7. Open investigation has been proposed instead of existing recipe-style practical work Table 3: Emphases on application in context in the proposed science curriculum Life Situations Areas of Application
Personal (Self, family and peer groups)
Social (The community)
Global (Life across the world)
Health
Very Strong
Very Strong
Weak
Natural resources
Moderate
Strong
Strong
Environment
Moderate
Strong
Very Strong
Hazard
Moderate
Weak
Weak
Frontiers of science and technology
Weak
Moderate
Weak
14
Discussion and conclusion The existing science curriculum for grades IX and X follows a path of curriculum differentiation; there are two different science curricula for two groups of students. Three major characteristics of the existing science curriculum for Science students fit well with a traditional science curriculum approach because it includes pure factual content and emphasizes practical process skills. This is not surprising as this curriculum is designed for future science professionals. However, some features of the existing science curriculum for Science students may raise questions. Firstly, this curriculum does not emphasize well intellectual process skills (including investigation skills). Therefore the question arises: Don’t scientists need intellectual process skills? Secondly, concepts are not connected around broader concepts in this curriculum, science students are likely to acquire discrete science facts and concepts; does this help students to build a solid foundation? Thirdly, the existing science curriculum does not emphasize the application of science in industry or in students’ personal lives such as Health and nutrition. One may ask: How will students be encouraged to study a subject in future which has little personal and social relevance? The general science curriculum for Humanities and Business Studies students looks like a low status science curriculum because it emphasizes relevance and deemphasizes cognitive goals. This curriculum focuses on the application of science so much that pure science concepts are neglected. This situation does not correspond with this curriculum’s intention of preparing scientifically literate citizenry as science knowledge is also required for decision making in scientific issues. Negligence in the development of process skills is also a weakness of this curriculum. The proposed science curriculum is in line with the ‘Science for All’ movement; it is designed for all students and aims to prepare a scientifically literate citizenry. It combines pure and socially relevant applied content around broad concepts. Communication, social and cooperative skills, intellectual and practical process skills, and students’ prior learning have been emphasized in the curriculum. Acquiring communication, social and cooperative skills are considered necessary for survival in a modern society (Dettmer, 2006). Emphasizing prior learning is consistent with the constructivist view that meaningful learning occurs only when the learner can integrate the new information to
15 their existing knowledge (Gunstone, 1995; Taber, 2003). The introduction of open investigations replacing recipe style practical work is in line with the worldwide curriculum trends as many developing and developed countries have introduced open investigations in school science (Abd-El-Khalick et al., 2004; Ware, 1999). Open investigation is supposed to help students to acquire science investigation skills. The proposed School Based Assessment will enhance the validity of the assessment, ensure students’ right to get feed back of their work and it might promote teachers’ professionalism as Cheung et al. (1996) suggested. The proposed curriculum may serve the purpose of science education in a developing country like Bangladesh as suggested by Lewin (1993, cited in Earnest, 2003, p. 46) and Ware (1992), because applications of science in the areas of Health and Nutrition, Population, Environment, and Natural resources are emphasized. This curriculum is likely to promote Scientific Literacy because it emphasizes application of science in learner’s contexts. This curriculum may also help students in building a solid foundation of science because this curriculum includes pure science content along with applied content and science concepts are tied together around broad concepts. However, the new curriculum has some weaknesses too. Firstly, industrial application of science is less emphasized in this curriculum which may be discouraging for future science professionals. Secondly, students may not study science seriously because only 150 marks (out of 1100 marks for total curriculum in SSC examination) have been assigned for science. The assigned marks for science subjects in the existing science curriculum for science students are 300 out of 1100; therefore, Science in the proposed curriculum has been less valued in terms of marks allocated compared to science subjects in the existing curriculum for Science stream. Bangladesh - a developing country – faces many challenges in the 21st century. This country is overpopulated with a huge unemployed and unskilled workforce; suffers from natural disasters regularly; depends largely on agriculture; faces severe impacts of environmental pollution, malnutrition and health problems. In this context, the question is whether science education in Bangladesh should continue a path of curriculum differentiation or should it embrace the current trends and innovations in science education. In other words, should we focus on preparing future scientists or go for preparing a scientifically literate citizenry? I would argue that we should go for preparing
16 a scientifically literate citizenry because of the following reasons: Firstly, I agree with the argument of Hodson and Reid (1988) that a differentiated curriculum results wastages of talent and the generation of feelings of inadequacy and discontent among students whereas a common curriculum for all students enhances equality of educational opportunity in a socially-just democratic society and benefits the society by the full development of skills and talents of all students. There is no justification for a specialized science curriculum at the secondary level in Bangladesh where only one third of secondary science students study Science at higher secondary level (Bangladesh Bureau of Educational Information and Statistics [BANBEIS], 2007) and only two percent of population has the opportunity to get a ‘professional job’ (Ilon, 2000). Moreover, a common science curriculum for all students too may be suitable for preparing future scientists, because it ensures a greater pool of talent from which future scientists, technologists and engineers can be recruited. A specialized science education program – designed for preparing future scientists - can be contained at Higher Secondary level. Secondly, I agree with other developing countries’ view (Ware, 1992) that a developing country like Bangladesh should consider Science as a subject of life long utility to all students, not to a few elite students, and a more scientifically literate populace is better equipped to contribute to the economic and societal development through informed decision-making. The education system in Bangladesh should aim to help alleviating the basic problems in the society such as unemployment, overpopulation, poor sanitation, fuel shortage, water inadequacy and quality, health care etc. Ensuring scientific literacy of all students can help in this regard. The content of the proposed science curriculum includes real life applications of science in different areas (such as health and nutrition, water and sanitation, scarcity of power, population and environment) and therefore, the implementation of the proposed curriculum will be a positive move in the present context of Bangladesh. Thirdly, the proposed curriculum introduces some new innovations in science education such as open investigations, school-based assessment, and a constructivist approach to teaching-learning; it also emphasizes acquiring social and communication skills. These new innovations are well accepted in the world now and Bangladesh should also accept
17 them to keep pace with other countries. Considering the above points, it can be concluded that the reform process of science education in Bangladesh is heading towards the desired direction. However, the shift towards a broader ‘Science for All’ curriculum poses some challenges especially for the teachers. Teachers have been used to a certain teaching approach for a long time. They were used to teaching a higher status academic science to students of higher ability (Science stream) and a lower status general science to lower ability students (Humanities and Business Studies stream) separately. Now they will have to teach common science concepts to all students; they will have to teach science to both future scientists and future citizens at the same time in the same class. This will be challenging for science teachers in Bangladesh. Also challenging for teachers is to adapt with new introductions in the curriculum such as open investigations and emphasizing learners’ prior understanding in teaching. Considering the strengths and weaknesses of the proposed curricula and anticipated challenges, I make the following recommendations for improvement and implementation of the proposed science curriculum: Science education should embrace a common Science curriculum for all the students at secondary level, as the existing differentiated curriculum is outdated and it has many drawbacks. The proposed science curriculum should be enacted with some modification since it is better suited to address the challenges in the 21st century. Teachers and others who will implement the curriculum should be provided with rigorous training and sufficient resources on new introductions in the curriculum such as open investigations, emphasizing learners’ prior understanding in teaching and school-based assessment. Marks for the proposed General Science should be increased because a subject is taken seriously by teachers and students if assigned marks are high.
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