Billy McClune

Critical Reading of Science-Based News Reports: Establishing a Knowledge, Skills and Attitudes Framework.

A recognised aim of science education is to promote critical engagement with science in the media. Evidence would suggest that this is challenging for both teachers and pupils and that science education does not yet adequately prepare young people for this task. Furthermore, in the absence of clear guidance as to what this means and how this may be achieved it is difficult for teachers to develop approaches and resources that address the matter and that systematically promote such critical engagement within their teaching programmes. Twenty‐six individuals with recognised expertise or interest in science in the media, drawn from a range of disciplines and areas of practice, constituted a specialist panel in this study. The question this research sought to answer was “what are the elements of knowledge, skill, and attitude which underpin critical reading of science‐based news reports?” During in‐depth individual interviews the panel were asked to explore what they considered to be essential elements of knowledge, skills, and attitude which people need to enable them to respond critically to news reports with a science component. Analysis of the data revealed 14 fundamental elements which together contribute to an individual’s capacity to engage critically with science‐based news. These are classified in five categories “knowledge of science”, “knowledge of writing and language”, “knowledge about news, newspapers and journalism”, “skills”, and “attitudes”. Illustrative profiles of each category along with indicators of critical engagement are presented. The implications for curriculum planning and pedagogy are considered.

Encouraging and equipping students to engage critically with science in the news: what can we learn from the literature?

Many educational reforms have as one of their key goals the promotion of scientific literacy and they encourage engagement with science in the news as one aspect of this. The research indicates teachers using the news do so for a variety of reasons, sometimes with tangential links to the promotion of scientific literacy. Demonstrating the relevance of science to the world beyond the classroom or making links to socio-scientific issues and promoting discussion on ethical dilemmas are all seen as potential reasons for engaging with science–related news. However, media related issues are often not addressed. Increasingly the need for a more comprehensive approach, including, for example, teaching about media awareness in the context of science reporting, is highlighted. The steady growth of literature describing the use of science-related news along with research studies charting students’ responses to science news media has stimulated discussion and study of pedagogical issues and prompted this review. Key literature relevant to students’ engagement with science-related news reports has been contextualised and reviewed to identify core issues for teachers, teacher educators and curriculum planners. These are listed under the headings of curriculum, pedagogy and assessment, the implications are considered and directions for further research suggested.

From rhetoric to reality: advancing literacy by cross-curricular means

Cross-curricularity, literacy and critical literacy are currently promoted as components of a curriculum appropriate for the twenty-first century. The first two, in particular, are prescribed elements of classroom experience in Northern Ireland, which is the immediate context of this article, but also more widely in the UK. Teachers are implementing cross-curricular and interdisciplinary initiatives, but rhetorical imperatives can translate into superficial realities. The reasons for this are explored, as are the reasons why interdisciplinary studies, literacy across the curriculum and critical literacy are deemed to be of significance for education at the present time. The ‘Making Science: Making News’ project is described, in which Key Stage 3 science and English classes worked together, with input from a research scientist and a journalist, to produce articles on space science which were published in local newspapers. The outcomes of the project are discussed from the perspectives of both teachers and learners. It is argued that this project is an example of genuine interdisciplinary activity; that it went beyond literacy skills to a deeper development of scientific discourse; and that, through its media connection, there was potential for building an ongoing awareness in pupils of critical literacy and scientific literacy.

‘A planet of confusion and debate’: children's and young people's response to the news coverage of Pluto's loss of planetary status

Despite calls that the school science curriculum should develop among students an ability to understand and respond critically to science‐related media reports, very little research has been directed toward an important matter relevant to that aim, namely, how children and young people, untutored, react to science in the news. This study sought, in the context of media coverage of the debate surrounding the planetary status of Pluto, to explore this issue. A questionnaire, completed by 350 students aged between eight and 18, showed just over half of the children and young people were able to write relevantly about the subject though it was the gist not the detail of the story they recounted. There was evidence, nonetheless, that this media‐acquired information functioned as active rather than passive knowledge. Students demonstrated relatively few misconceptions and those presented were predominately pre‐existing rather than media‐derived. As with the wider public, many of the children and young people held strong opinions on Plutos loss of planethood. Such responses diminished with age, however, with older students expressing a degree of indifference. The paper concludes with a discussion of some implications of the research findings for science instruction.

Primary school leadership: values and actions

The consequence of legislation implemented in the 1980s for school management can been described as a growing dichotomy between the head as ‘chief executive’ and as ‘leading professional’ that reflects wider political change from social democratic discourse to a political economy one (Hughes, 1976). The research set out here provides an insight into the values of the sampled headteachers and how these values are realised in the contingent environment of school life. The data were obtained using online research journals kept by the headteachers over two four-week periods during the school year. The findings highlight that government policy of improving school leadership as an instrument for raising standards is seriously compromised by pressures of the educational market. As a result, many heads revert to a leadership style of contingency management, (Bush, 1995) coping with day-to-day contingencies, with more complex issues falling to the background of managing the school.

Promoting science literacy via science journalism: Issues and challenges

Science journalism is the source of much of the science an individual will encounter beyond formal education. Science-based media reports, which might have been associated with informal education, are increasingly becoming incorporated into formal school contexts. Unlike science textbooks, the science reported in the news is often tentative and sometimes contested. It can involve difficult socio-scientific issues. Descriptors of ‘science literacy’ generally include reading and responding critically to media reports of science. The challenge of using science-based news effectively encourages teachers to reassess their knowledge and pedagogical practices.