Lack of support for science teaching - decline in confidence

Lack of support for science teaching has led to decline teaching confidence

An extra three million dollars to support primary school science teachers is an acknowledgement that science teaching has been starved of resource since the government scrapped the school science advisors four years ago, says NZEI Te Riu Roa National President, Judith Nowotarski.

The government scrapped all its funding for the school science advisors – a group that provided critical support and mentoring for science teachers when it introduced National Standards in 2010.

“For four years this vital part of the curriculum has been neglected while the government continues its obsession with the reporting of National Standards.

“Cutting that service resulted in a big gap in teachers’ professional development and this clearly has had a detrimental effect on their confidence in teaching science.

“We’ve been extremely concerned about this for several years.”

A recent survey by NZEI Te Riu Roa has shown that three quarters of those teachers, principals and support staff who responded indicated they wanted professional development around the teaching of science investigation.

The survey also found that the majority of teachers wanted more professional development around science literacy and the uses of science including the nature of science.

“Currently schools have to pay for science-based professional development and programmes out of their operating budgets and that leaves them with limited opportunities with no overall coordination. Science is a vital part of a student’s core education and should not be overlooked by a continued focus on national literacy and numeracy standards.

“An ERO report last year also found that there are limited opportunities for high quality professional development in science and advised that more support was needed for teachers and principals in this area."

ENDS

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