Memorandum submitted by the Field Studies
Council
KEY ISSUE
Fieldwork provision in biology is declining
in British schools. Over 96% of GCSE science pupils will not experience
a residential field trip, and nearly half of A level biology students
will do no fieldwork, or will have a half-day experience near
to their schools[5].
This is despite the very clear educational and personal development
benefits such out-of-classroom activity brings.
Fieldwork should be a vital element of an imaginative
and contemporary science education. It helps students to develop
their understanding of science as an evidence-based discipline
and to acquire the hands-on experimental skills that are an essential
part of science work. Furthermore, out-of-classroom activity provides
an exciting and memorable experience for young people which can
enthuse and inspire them, and will help to link science to their
everyday lives.
The Field Studies Council (FSC) recommends that
the decline in biology field work should be reversed by:
— making fieldwork a requirement rather
than an option in the biology curriculum;
— supporting innovative curriculum
development; and
— providing support for trainee and
experienced teachers.
BACKGROUND
The FSC—a pioneering educational charity—is
the UK's leading independent provider of field courses for biology
students. Every year over 430 schools send pupils on biology field
courses to the FSC's UK network of 17 field centres. In recent
years the FSC has witnessed a continuing fall in numbers of schools
sending pupils on A Level biology courses in particular.
Similar trends at all key stages and extending
to universities appear to be leading to a shortfall in people
with the practical skills needed to support biodiversity related
activities, such as ecological surveying and identification of
plants and animals, and wider careers in rural conservation, urban
development and transport planning. It also undermines the potential
to raise the general level of informed environmental awareness
at a time when there is an increasing demand for students and
their wider communities to be aware of their impact on the world
around them.
The FSC's position has been fully supported
by the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee
which stated "We endorse the view of the Field Studies Council
that fieldwork should be strongly recommended in all courses .
. . In our view, practical work, including fieldwork, is a vital
part of science education."[6]
The Government has itself recognised the need
for more practical teaching approaches including fieldwork in
14-19 science education. There is little evidence, however, that
any existing government initiative or policy is providing a suitable
solution to counter these trends.
CRITICAL FACTORS
A number of critical factors have been identified
by teachers themselves. The most important are:
1. Low priority given to fieldwork in
the 14-19 biology curriculum. The need for field experience remains
optional and is weakly promoted in 14-16 (GCSE) and A level (16-19)
curricula.
2. Lack of confidence by teachers to
deliver fieldwork. Newly qualified biology teachers—many
of whom came from laboratory or desk-based disciplines—do
not have sufficient training to support out-of-classroom teaching.
Due to the retirement of teachers and the demise of local authority
advisers with these skills, they do not have local support to
develop these skills and confidence.
THE EXPERIENCE
OF GEOGRAPHY
FSC research has shown that GCSE geography pupils
in secondary education are ten times more likely to take part
in a residential field course than biology pupils.
In contrast to the option of fieldwork for biologists,
the Key Stage 4 Geography National Curriculum includes a requirement
for fieldwork. "Pupils should be taught . . . to select and
use appropriate fieldwork techniques . . . and instruments"[7]
Because no such direction is given within the
biology curriculum, and fieldwork is only an option for science
pupils, little emphasis is placed on biology fieldwork by Ofsted.
In a recent FSC survey of 56 inspections which commented on individual
subjects, 56% of geography inspections made reference to fieldwork
or out-of-classroom experiences, compared with only 14% of biology
inspections[8]
The significance of Ofsted inspections is such that the general
view among those involved in secondary education is that "If
it isn't inspected, it isn't important."[9]
THE SOLUTIONS
The biology curriculum
Curricula must acknowledge the importance of
fieldwork in helping to deliver the learning outcomes. The need
for fieldwork should be strongly encouraged.
Every A level biology student should have field
experience: fieldwork must become a mandatory requirement rather
than an option in the A level biology curriculum. The critical
role of fieldwork in helping to deliver biology synoptic elements
must be acknowledged.
Teacher training
(i) The Teacher Training Agency should ensure
that all trainee biology teachers have sufficient training to
enable them to deliver basic out-of-classroom teaching.
(ii) The proposed National and Regional Centres
for Excellence in Science Teaching should provide fieldwork-related
Continuing Professional Development (CPD)opportunities for practicing
teachers.
Inspections and monitoring
Inspections by Ofsted should ensure that policy
and practice provide a full and fair entitlement to field experience.
National data should be collected and collated by the government's
advisers enabling trends in fieldwork to be measured.
February 2004
5 School Science Review, December 2002. Back
6
Science and Technology Select Committee; 3rd Report; Science
Education from 14 to 19; 11 July 2002. Back
7
Geography National Curriculum KS4. Back
8
FSC Ofsted 2003 Survey. Back
9
Chief Examiner, FSC Workshop, 3 October 2003. Back
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