Norwood (1943)

Notes on the text
Preliminary pages Membership, Contents, Introduction

Part I Secondary education
Chapter 1 Nature of secondary education
Chapter 2 Secondary education as it is
Chapter 3 Secondary education as it might be

Part II Examinations
Chapter 4 Existing examinations
Chapter 5 The reorganisation of examinations (i)
Chapter 6 The reorganisation of examinations (ii)
Chapter 7 The Inspectorate

Part III Curriculum
Chapter 8 The curriculum in general
Chapter 9 Physical education
Chapter 10 Religious education
Chapter 11 English
Chapter 12 History
Chapter 13 Geography
Chapter 14 Mathematics
Chapter 15 Natural science
Chapter 16 Modern languages
Chapter 17 Classics
Chapter 18 Art, music, handicrafts
Chapter 19 Domestic subjects
Chapter 20 Education for commerce
Chapter 21 Wales and the teaching of Welsh

Conclusions and recommendations
Appendix A Note on the Central Welsh Board
Appendix B List of witnesses
Index

Report of the Committee of the Secondary School Examinations Council appointed by the President of the Board of Education in 1941

London: HM Stationery Office 1943

Chapter 15 Natural science
[pages 108 - 113. In the printed version this is Part III Chapter VIII]

The view which we take of the place of natural science in the curriculum can be put quite shortly.

We take it as self-evident that, if education is to fit pupils to live in the modern world and to gain acquaintance with the main departments of human thought, a study of natural science should find a place in the education of all pupils. But this does not mean that pupils with little capacity or interest in natural science should necessarily take it throughout the main school, or that the time given to it or the content of the course should be the same for all pupils in the same school; allowance must be made for strongly developed interest and abilities in other fields, and equally for interest in natural science and the probable needs of a future career. The framing of all courses and the choice of illustrative material should in our opinion be influenced so far as may be feasible by the environment of the school. Yet that influence should not be so great as to cause the syllabus to become 'specialised'; we urge this particularly with regard to natural science in rural schools, for we do not think it in the interest of agriculture or rural industries themselves that the teaching in schools should be directed too closely to these ends.

We would suggest that for the first stage the course in all schools and for all pupils should consist of a general approach to the main fields of natural science. This kind of approach has come to be known as 'general science'. General science is the name given here to an elementary course of study of natural science for which the subject matter, related wherever practicable to the everyday experience of pupils, is drawn from the whole field of natural science and treated as a coherent whole, so that the question of the traditional division into separate science subjects such as physics, chemistry, biology, astronomy and geology does not arise. The course of study, by the scope and treatment of its subject matter, is designed to give pupils, among other things, some knowledge of natural laws and their applications; some acquaintance with scientific methods of thought and investigation and some appreciation of the influence of scientific thought and achievement on human lives. We would advocate the adoption of some form of general science as the most suitable introductory course. But the content or the method or the length of course cannot be prescribed in detailed terms for any school; from many points of view the early part of the syllabus is the most individual part, since it depends upon the powers of the teacher and the opportunities provided by environment to awake the interest, to excite the wonder and curiosity and to offer the breadth of outlook which will create the right attitude towards nature and enquiry into its workings. It should start from the interest of the pupil in what he can and does actually see; and in the earliest stages should range rapidly over a wide field, giving a quick survey of the scope of natural science, of the immensity of its horizon and of the main fields into which its search penetrates. At the outset of his studies the pupil should gain a first definite impression that nature in all its vastness and all its minuteness is the realm into which he is being led. There would be no randomness under a proper method of treatment, since the point of departure would be his own interest and experience, extended by directed observation.

For this first initiation we would use, if it were not likely to be misunderstood, the old term 'physiography' in its literal sense; unfortunately that word towards the end of its life was restricted and its connotation is now not suitable for the elementary work in schools. Nonetheless we feel that the original intention of the word was correct and that an attempt to carry it out would help to set young pupils on the right road. 'That is not science!' a fourteen year old pupil exclaimed, 'That isn't done in a laboratory.' 'This is not science; it's astronomy!' is another authentic protest uttered with all the contempt which thirteen years could command. Of course, similar misunderstandings occur in all subjects; but we feel most strongly that in natural science the first introduction is of the utmost importance. It should create as early as can be an attitude of mind which is ready to accept as natural science observation and discussion about rocks and stars, sea and season, food and machinery, air and animals; the bell jar and thermometer should, in our view, wait till pupils return from a preliminary survey undertaken through description, picture and fieldwork.

After the first stage certain alternatives lie open to schools. Some will teach general science throughout the main school, as they do now. Some schools, we should suggest, should arrange two courses of 'general science'; one of them would be designed with appropriate time for pupils not likely to treat natural science as one of their major subjects; the other, though still general science, would go further and deeper and no doubt would emphasise one or more of the constituent sciences; it would serve the needs of pupils likely to make natural science one of their chief subjects in the sixth form. The choice of general science as appropriate for the whole of the main school would depend upon the sympathies and qualifications of the staff and upon the laboratory accommodation available. In other schools it might be preferred to have a course in general science for some pupils, and for others a course in which the subjects physics and chemistry and biology would be taught on more independent lines than is contemplated in general science.

We have studied with considerable care the case for general science and the case against it. We realise that both as regards content and method it is still in the experimental stage and that its wider introduction into schools must take time. But in our view it holds out great promise, and is much to be encouraged. The method employed - 'topic' or 'problem' or other - is clearly a matter for the teacher: whatever method is adopted, if scientific principles receive adequate stress, as they can, general science will possess the coherence which some of its critics call in question. To this end we urge that degree courses comprising several subjects of natural science should become more common, and be more commonly taken, in universities, in order to increase the numbers of teachers who can undertake the difficult task of teaching general science. Before leaving the main school we add one more observation; general science must be thorough enough to provide a good foundation for sixth form work; any deficiency in this respect is sometimes made a point of criticism. We believe that the foundation can be sound enough for a structure of good sixth form work to be erected upon it, if in the last stage of general science in the main school the specialist teacher of physics or chemistry or biology is given opportunity to assert his special point of view, to treat of topics inside his special science with more detail, and to isolate them from other special sciences to a greater degree than is desirable in earlier stages of the course. In other words, in the fifth form set which contains pupils likely to take up natural science in the sixth form, the separate sciences should begin to be treated separately by teachers with special qualifications in them, and a bridge should thus be made between the general science appropriate to earlier stages and the intensive study of special sciences appropriate to the sixth form.

We pass now to natural science in the sixth form, and the matters to which attention is invited concern, first, those pupils who specialise in natural science and, secondly, those to whom it is not a main interest.

The rigid specialisation prevalent in science sixth forms has long been the subject of criticism in the schools and in the universities and beyond. Our attention has been drawn to it once again in evidence submitted to us from many quarters. Eminent scientists have pressed it upon our notice, urging that the cause of natural science itself in the universities and thereafter is not served in this way. Teachers themselves deplore it, realising that they are not consulting the best interests of their able pupils by rigidly confining their outlook and demanding the assimilation of a largely factual knowledge; if such treatment is bad for able pupils, it is worse for less able pupils. Put shortly, and no doubt in exaggerated form, the issue is this: the universities complain that their science students are one sided; they find difficulty in reading for themselves, in extracting the essence of what they read and in expressing themselves; their general interests are few and narrow, and even in their own field they do not take the synoptic view which is necessary to good work. The industrialist puts forward two main points; the university man whom he employs in the first place shows too little practical grasp of his science, however good his theoretical knowledge may be, and, secondly, he often fails at conference or meeting to do justice to the point of view which his knowledge and skill entitle him to put forward because he cannot express it clearly and cogently. The schoolmasters complain that they are set an impossible task. On the one hand they are asked to train their boys for college entrance scholarships, and those papers demand that, as each new field of natural science is opened up, it shall be added to the school syllabus, till a scholarship paper of today is now comparable with a tripos paper of twenty years ago. On the other hand to meet that demand they must ask for more and more school time, and so must neglect or exclude other subjects to the detriment of the general education of their pupils. To this complaint the examiner in college scholarship examinations would reply as follows: when he sets a problem from a new field, he is asking only for the application of familiar principles to new circumstances, and ability so shown is taken into account in the award of scholarships; he certainly does not wish that the new field should be added to the sixth form syllabus: if it is added, not he but the schoolmaster is to blame.

The initial step to end this pernicious deadlock must be taken, in our opinion, in the universities. We venture to submit that a pronouncement, conceived and expressed on broad lines, should indicate the qualities of mind and character, the general and particular training which it is desired to see in students undertaking university studies in the various fields of natural science. The second step follows naturally: that university entrance scholarships, and those who teach candidates for such scholarships, should carry out the spirit of that pronouncement and should not set up another objective inconsistent with it. At present each of the older universities speaks with two voices: the 'departments' ask for one thing, the college entrance scholarship examinations, intentionally or not, invite another; the schools cannot wholly be blamed if they listen to the insistent demands of a stiff examination which is designed to select on knowledge of natural science from a large number of competitors. If the ideal qualities of the science student, who will eventually have to take his place in industry, in research, in teaching and in countless other occupations, are broadly conceived and stated, then the scholarship examinations, and work in preparation for them, cannot be less broadly conceived if they are not to set up an alternative objective with the inevitable consequence.

Remodelled on lines which will demand less factual knowledge but a surer grasp of principles and method, scholarship examinations might in our opinion be no less effective means than at present for the selection of pupils who will eventually profit from science studies and employ them later to advantage in whatever field they may. Such a change would bring relief to the minds of many teachers, for they would know that they would then be able to pay attention to the general development of their pupils as well as to progress within a special field. The effect of such a pronouncement, and of consequent change in scholarship examinations, would change at once the nature and the spirit of sixth form work.

Finally, we come to the vexed question of the first MB, a subject which we approach as laymen concerned with the work of sixth form pupils. The problem may be summarised as follows, and in this summary we confine ourselves to main issues and disregard the many difficulties with which the existing machinery of examination and exemption confronts the schools. On the one hand the sixth form boy or girl is anxious to shorten a long medical course by taking, while at school, an examination which demands knowledge of subjects which he can learn at school, and which he has learned for some years. With this point of view his teacher has all sympathy and would add that there is much to be said for giving a pupil in his last year or so at school an objective and a course of work which are directly related to his later studies. Yet, as things are, this sympathy is qualified by two misgivings. The first of them is that the course of work demanded by the examination absorbs too much time and must be begun too early, particularly by the less able boys; too narrow a course of sixth form work is in the interest neither of the pupil's general development at school nor of his success as a recruit to the medical profession, in which understanding of men is no less important than technical knowledge. The second misgiving is that portions of the work demanded are irrelevant to the studies of the medical schools; thus time which should be devoted to general subjects is unnecessarily absorbed by studies, and in particular by aspects of physics and chemistry, of which neither the purpose nor the use is apparent.

On the other hand medical opinion, as officially represented to us, regards it as preferable that the courses leading to the First MB [Bachelor of Medicine] should be taken in a medical school; but, since the general principles of the physical and biological sciences should form part of any general education, the First MB examination might reasonably be taken from schools which have adequate teaching and laboratory facilities, but only by those candidates who by virtue of their ability have reached a satisfactory standard of general education at a sufficiently early stage. Arguments in favour of taking the examination from a medical school are that (i) laboratory facilities at school rarely approach those of a university department, (ii) too early specialisation at school is avoided, (iii) school instruction cannot give the medical trend necessary for future medical students are in the minority and teachers are not closely enough in touch with medical needs; the subjects of the First MB examination should be taught by those who are in touch with colleagues who teach professional subjects and have opportunities for research, (iv) to ensure a right adjustment to university life, which some students find not easy, it is desirable that the work of the first year should cover subjects with which school work has already given familiarity.

It is not part of our task to appraise these arguments, and we understand that enquiries into the question of medical education are being undertaken in other quarters. Our concern is with the higher work of schools and the entry of pupils into the medical schools. Nonetheless we regard this matter as of such importance that we go on to put forward suggestions which might contribute to a solution.

We think that it should be possible for pupils to take the First MB examination, or parts of it, from school. But we agree that in their own interest as individuals and as doctors the education of intending students should not be too narrow or specialised during the last years of school. At the same time we recognise that for the purposes of a medical education biology and perhaps to a less degree physics and chemistry need a vocational trend and that this trend can be given only by those who are in close touch with the latest progress in medicine.

It is suggested therefore

(i) that physics, chemistry and biology should be taught in schools without any attempt at vocational trend but on orthodox academic lines;

(ii) that the syllabus and requirements of the First MB in these subjects should be reduced and carefully defined so that pupils should not be asked to cover unnecessary ground and should be able to give a good proportion of time to other subjects than natural science;

(iii) that exemption from the First MB examination should be made possible by means of the 18+ examination, the school leaving examination, of which we have spoken in an earlier chapter;

(iv) that the vocational trend which is necessary should be given to biology, chemistry and physics in the first year of the medical course when anatomy and physiology are dealt with;

(v) finally, that medical students who do not take the First MB at school should have opportunity to take it in the science department of the university.