Rider, Teremun Franklin-Jibri;
(2025)
The Case for Genomics: Introducing
Elements of Emerging Science Research
into Curriculum.
Doctoral thesis (Ph.D), UCL (University College London).
Preview |
Text
Rider_10209967_Thesis_Redacted.pdf Download (3MB) | Preview |
Abstract
Curriculum development can be seen as playing a key role in determining what aspects of culture are suitable for preparing upcoming generations through schooling. While literature reveals much about curriculum development as a process, there is still a growing need to study how newly developed knowledge is selected and transformed for purposes of teaching and learning. Using the introduction of genomics into the National Curriculum of England as a basis, the current study sought to examine the processes that transform newly developed scientific research into what is taught in secondary science courses. This focused on studying how genomics knowledge came to be introduced into the National Curriculum for England and what that may reveal about the processes that are responsible for selecting and transforming newly developed knowledge into curricula and secondary science lessons. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight individuals, each with experience in the development of science curricula and science lessons for secondary courses, to explore how genomics knowledge was eventually introduced into secondary science courses through professional learning and science curricula. Employing Bernstein’s Pedagogic Device as a lens, thematic and discourse analyses were used to examine how genomics knowledge was selected and transformed from research science into pedagogic communication such as the National Curriculum and exam specifications. Analysis connected the desire to introduce elements of genomics knowledge into secondary science courses to efforts by several linked organizations within both the public and volunteer sectors to prepare secondary science students as prospective consumers of and contributors to potential genomics-based medicine resulting from the mapping of the human genome. The intermingling of government and nongovernment influences on science teaching is not new but requires greater scrutiny as these relationships extend further into educational policymaking. This holds implications for the study of curriculum as the theoretical boundaries between the production, recontextualisation, and reproduction of new knowledge become harder to distinguish as numerous organizations continue to seek influence in what is taught in science courses. This may require re-examination of the ways we study the selection of knowledge deemed appropriate for schooling through the development of curriculum.
| Type: | Thesis (Doctoral) |
|---|---|
| Qualification: | Ph.D |
| Title: | The Case for Genomics: Introducing Elements of Emerging Science Research into Curriculum |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | Copyright © The Author 2025. Original content in this thesis is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0) Licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/). Any third-party copyright material present remains the property of its respective owner(s) and is licensed under its existing terms. Access may initially be restricted at the author’s request. |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10209967 |
Archive Staff Only
 |
View Item |
