ASPIRES Research; (2022) "Make it more relevant and practical": Young people's visions for school science in England. IOE, UCL's Faculty of Education and Society: London, UK.

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Abstract

What do young people think about their school science experiences? What would they like to see improved? What should the curriculum cover, and how should science be taught? How can school science best prepare young people for life and the future? How could we help more young people to find school science engaging and worthwhile? There are many views on these fundamental questions. However, decisions about teaching and learning within school science have overwhelmingly been made by adult policymakers and professionals. The views of young people tend to be ignored or sidelined and are routinely absent from education policy discussions. Young people are key stakeholders within education, and their perspectives and experiences are both important and illuminating. As young people in our study explained, they wanted to be “given more of an option on what was being taught to [them]” and called for educationalists to “involve students in decision-making” to better reflect their needs and interests. In this report, we summarise new national survey and interview data from a cohort of nearly 8,000 young people aged 20-22, in which they share their vision for how school science could be improved. As a cohort who have recently left compulsory education and are now moving through further/higher education and/or entering the workforce, these young people offer an insightful and thoughtful perspective into what others might need from school science. Their views can help inform how school science might better engage young people, prepare them for active citizenship, and support wider participation in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM). While many young people agreed that learning science is important1 , only 39% said that they had enjoyed school science and only 25% agreed that the science they learned at school has been useful in everyday life. In fact, 20% felt that school had put them off science. When asked to reflect on their school science experiences, the vast majority identified areas of improvement – only 5% said that no improvements were needed.

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