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Date: | Fri, 17 Feb 2006 16:00:19 +0000 |
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ISEN-ASTC-L is a service of the Association of Science-Technology Centers
Incorporated, a worldwide network of science museums and related institutions.
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At 14:48 17/02/2006, you wrote:
>in the hands of a well-intentioned educational regime, the very core
>values of science (inquiry, skepticism, seeking proof, etc.) are
>systematically stripped from children...
Many years have passed since Frank Oppenheimer (founder of the
Exploratorium) wrote, "Many people who talk about the discovery method of
teaching are really talking about arranging a lesson or an experiment so
that students discover what they are supposed to discover. That is not an
exploration. The whole tradition of exploration is being lost for entire
generations."
I always get a lot of laughter when I say to a science-show audience that
when a grown-up does this, it's called experimenting. But when a child does
it, it is of course called messing about.
This is a specific area in which science centres demonstrably support
schools. In Britain our National Curriculum (England and Wales), Attainment
Target no. 1 for science is 'Scientific Enquiry' and teachers certainly
find it harder to tick the boxes in this section. Thoughtful messing about
just doesn't sit easily in a formal learning context...
[log in to unmask] * http://www.interactives.co.uk
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Give people facts and you feed their minds for an hour.
Awaken curiosity and they feed their own minds for a lifetime.
*
Ian Russell
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