New Trends in Primary School Science Education

This book, published in 1983, contains chapters commissioned by UNESCO and supplemented by material from a meeting of experts on the Incorporation of Science and Technology in the Primary School Curriculum, held in Paris in June 1980. It was aimed at teachers, teacher educators, science curriculum development and research workers, and those concerned with delivering professional development in primary science.

The material is organised into five parts, the first four parts reflecting the issues which emerged for the meeting as the most important at the present time. They are:

*[b]Aims and constraints[/b] — concerned with the more general topics such as the rationale and objectives of science and technology in the primary school, the selection of content and the organization for science at various levels.

*[b]Curriculum materials and their development[/b] — reviewing the changes in curriculum development and illustrating current approaches.

*[b]Theory into practice[/b] — concerning the problems of making a start on science, reviewing the teacher's role in learning and the assessment of learning and the supply of equipment.

*[b]Teacher preparation[/b] — the pre-service and in-service training of teachers and the preparation of teacher trainers to provide suitable courses for teachers.

Part V contains the report of the Meeting of Experts, detailing the main discussion and recommendations of the meeting. References have been added in the report to chapters in the book which take particular points further.