Node 3 - Overview (continuation)

One of the most challenging tasks in the development of the science literacy of the next generation is the implementation of new curriculum resources and teaching methodologies. In general, implementation of post-Sputnik science education reforms follows a top-down pattern that assumes expertise for curriculum change lies outside school classrooms. Research on the effectiveness of such approaches reveals very limited success in encouraging science literacy in schools, despite considerable investment in funding and human resources.

The Lighthouse Schools Project is a CRYSTALs-supported research project that examines the effectiveness of curriculum implementation in science education when the expertise of teachers is placed at the centre of curriculum change efforts. In this project, teachers at Strawberry Vale School (K-5) were provided workshops and release time to plan and implement a new provincial science curriculum. Through their work on unit development and exploration of science pedagogies, the staff at Strawberry Vale School have subsequently agreed to take on the responsibility for being a “Lighthouse School” that also provides leadership for science education curriculum development to other schools in the district. The agenda of this leadership and the direction of the changes implemented in their school remain firmly with the staff of the lighthouse school and participation in this project by staff members is strictly voluntary.

The overall goal of the project is to enable the number of lighthouse schools in the district to increase, starting next year. A unique feature of this curriculum project is the linking of schools in the district (Greater Victoria) into “families” composed of elementary schools-middle schools-secondary schools, thus the lighthouse school project envisions curriculum development not only as a horizontal engagement (elementary school to elementary school) but also vertical. Examining the extent elementary schools are able to engage in such development and the form such engagement takes comprises part of the research of this CRYSTALs node.

For the past year, the project has focused on introducing the staff at SVS to the research project, examining the “EDU” model for science education planning (a constructivist approach to science education developed by Blades) and the development of teaching kits and unit plans in the school. Enabling this process is the history of SVS as a school with a science focus, particularly in the areas of environmental education; the process is also supported through a significant partnership with the Centre for Excellence in Teaching and Understanding Science (CETUS) in the Faculty of Education at the University of Victoria. CETUS provides release time for teacher professional development, while CRYSTALs focuses on the research aspects associated with examining the effects of this release time on the development of system of lighthouse schools. With the announcement of CRYSTALs funding in May 2005, this node began at the start of the 2005/2006 school year. By this point in the project, teachers have developed several authentic science curriculum resources in the form of teaching kits and unit plans. Through this curriculum work, the school has begun to successfully implement many of the units of the new provincial science curriculum as well as adopt an emphasis on science literacy. Using case study methodology, documentation is underway to examine this curriculum implementation and research will continue to examine how teachers at SVS over the next year develop science education partnerships with other elementary schools in the district. A key question guiding this next step in the research project is the extent a curriculum implementation approach of teachers teaching each other enables and encourages science literacy in schools.