the contribution of out-of-school learning

Curriculum: The contribution of
out-of-school learning
Martin Braunda
and Michael Reiss
b
*
a
University of York, UK;
b
Institute of Education, University of London, UK
Taylor and Francis Ltd TSED_A_149824.sgm 10.1080/09500690500498419 International Journal of Science Education 0950-0693 print/1464-5289 online Original Article 2006 Taylor & Francis 00 00000002006 MichaelReiss m.reiss@ioe.ac.uk
In many developed countries of the world, pupil attitudes to school science decline progressively
across the age range of secondary schooling while fewer students are choosing to study science at
higher levels and as a career. Responses to these developments have included proposals to reform
the curriculum, pedagogy, and the nature of pupil discussion in science lessons. We support such
changes but argue that far greater use needs to be made of out-of-school sites in the teaching of
science. Such usage will result in a school science education that is more valid and more motivat-ing. We present an “evolutionary model” of science teaching that looks at where learning and
teaching take place, and draws together thinking about the history of science and developments in
the nature of learning over the past 100 years or so. Our contention is that laboratory-based school
science teaching needs to be complemented by out-of-school science learning that draws on the
actual world (e.g., through fieldtrips), the presented world (e.g., in science centres, botanic
gardens, zoos and science museums), and the virtual worlds that are increasingly available through
information technologies.
Background and Introduction