King’s College London –
Thinking Beyond the Urban Classroom.

With the launch of the Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto in 2006, and the imminent changes to the KS3 curriculum, we believe that a unique opportunity has emerged to extend the work of the successful primary project, Let's Think Through Science, funded by the AstraZeneca Science Teaching Trust to meet the needs of teachers of science at KS3. This project involves training a cohort of teachers to teach science effectively outside, based on lessons learned about promoting thinking in science, and CPD, from Let's Think Through Science and the KS3 CASE (Cognitive Acceleration through Science Education) project. To maximise the impact in one year, we propose to involve teachers working with the London Outdoor Science Project funded by the Field Studies Council (FSC). The end product will be a set of 8-10 innovative teaching resources and a cohort of trained KS3science teachers in 10 urban secondary schools.

There is growing evidence of the benefits of learning outside the classroom (Rickinson et al., 2004). Recent studies have found evidence that a substantial number of teachers are being trained to value ‘Education Outside the Classroom’ (EOtC) (Kendall et al., 2006) and that the number of teachers taking pupils into the school grounds or on local educational visits is increasing (O’Donnell et al., 2006). Nevertheless, in recent years, there is strong evidence that teachers have become more reluctant to take students outside the classroom to engage in secondary science fieldwork (Barker et al., 2002; Lock and Tilling, 2004). Science teachers still perceive significant barriers to taking students outside: as well as funding and health and safety concerns, teachers point to a lack of local opportunities, training and resources to support their outdoor teaching (Glackin, 2006).

The strengthening of science outside the classroom has partly been achieved by London Outdoor Science whose project officer, Melissa Glackin, has developed strategies to enable teachers of KS3 students to use local open spaces for science investigations. London Outdoor Science is a partnership of the FSC and schools in the London boroughs of Camden, Hackney, Islington, Tower Hamlets and Newham. The partnership consists of 15 secondary schools, 38 science teachers and six environmental education officers.

There now exists a cadre of inner-London teachers trained, and willing to take KS3 pupils outside the classroom. The challenge now is integrate what is known about good practice in science education (e.g. Monk and Osborne, 2000) into the outdoor science classroom. In particular, this proposal aims to utilise what is known about cognitive acceleration and assessment for learning, both key aspects of the National Strategy. It aims to promote informal science learning contexts, to raise the quality of teaching during urban fieldwork through CPD and the development of learning activities.

This project will also draw on the partners’ substantial experience in CPD which itself is based on a strong research base (Guskey, 1986; Bell & Gilbert, 1996) which puts teacher learning at the centre of the CPD agenda. The CPD will build on approaches developed at King's through their evidence-based approach to professional development (Black et al. 2004). The focus for this approach involves the processes of collection, analysis and reflection on evidence arising from classrooms and provides the basis and motivation for teachers to transform their practice.

The project should result in 20 teachers in 10 inner-city schools developing their pedagogic skills, in terms of promoting higher-order thinking skills, which will benefit their students both short and long-term. We already have well-tested ideas about how to promote thinking at KS3 science, the challenge now is to extend those activities into the outdoor classroom. By working with a group of teachers already familiar with and committed to science outside the classroom, we will be able to offer a cost-effective CPD programme using novel learning activities based on strong theoretical bases and tried and tested classroom strategies.

The project offers an opportunity to bring together several aspects of contemporary science education pedagogy for the benefit of teachers and students in inner-city areas, traditionally neglected, which still pose substantial challenges to raising standards, as well as offering unique opportunities to motivate pupils who have not seen science as being particularly relevant or enjoyable. This is an ideal time to launch the project because of the coincidence of several policy initiatives: Every Child Matters, the new KS3 National Curriculum, the LOtC Manifesto and the National Strategy, coupled with the need to build on the successes of the London Challenge programme that is scheduled to come to an end in March 2008.

The aims of the project are as follows:

1. To develop and evaluate a set of innovative teaching resources for teachers of science at KS3 which can be used in the outdoor classroom and which incorporate best practice in terms of assessment for learning and cognitive acceleration;
2. To train a group of inner-London teachers in the use of the teaching resources and to support them in the use of the materials with KS3 classes;
3. To evaluate the impact of the project in terms of materials and training strategies and to disseminate the findings widely.

The outcomes of the project are as follows:

1. A pack of 8-10 innovative teaching resources incorporating best practice in terms of assessment for learning and cognitive acceleration.
2. A teachers’ guide available electronically through the London Outdoor Science website.
3. 20 teachers of KS3 science trained in using the new activities.
4. A pack of training materials, based on the project’s outcomes, that can be used by teachers new to the project as well as by those already trained.
5. An evaluation report identifying the effectiveness of the resources as perceived by teachers, students and education officers.
6. Research papers and other material that can act to disseminate the project’s methods and findings (e.g. workshops at the ASE Annual Meeting and Science Learning Centres).

Contact

Justin Dillon - justin.dillon@kcl.ac.uk