Which degree? Fashion design or science?

A nice touch of the Labor policy is the promise that universities will not be disadvantaged financially as a result of the reduction in student contributions.

Of course, the Government disputes the value of the Labor proposal. That may just be politics, but the issue is sufficiently important to call for a bipartisan solution. The long-term consequences are greater than short-term political games.

Our particular interest is in science but our aim is not only to foster the next generation of scientists but also to take steps to ensure the better education of children generally. Our method - to identify the nexus between literacy and science and exploit this in ways that make education effective, beneficial and a pleasure for all involved, children and teachers.

The Academy certainly doesn’t have all the answers but it does have over 40 years experience in the development of successful, innovative science resources in Australian schools - resources that are not only user-friendly for the teachers but have changed their behaviour and attitude to science.

Here are a few words from a letter we received from a teacher in Toowoomba involved in one of our programs, Primary Connections:

In most if not all schools I have taught in, there hasn’t been a recognition of what science can offer children . . . I have always dodged teaching science as much as I could, as have many of my colleagues. What a shame that it’s the children who have missed out - if only I’d had the experience of [Primary Connections] early in my career.

And that’s what the program is all about - giving teachers the competence and confidence to deliver effective teaching of science and literacy.

Primary Connections, a partnership between the Academy of Science and the Department of Education, Science and Training, is our science and literacy educational program and has been an overwhelming success around the country. This national award-winning program has been highly effective in giving primary school teachers the tools to engage their students and harness their natural curiosity for exploring how the world works.

It uses everyday literacies to learn those of science - and science provides the context for learning literacy, catering for the needs of all learners.

Teaching and learning is active and contextualised - and program evaluation shows increased teacher confidence and improved student learning in science and literacy through the use of engaging, hands-on activities.

In two years we have trained 210 professional learning facilitators, who are now developing support models for schools, presenting information sessions to teachers and principals, running workshops for schools interesting in implementing the program and facilitating a professional learning program for groups of school co-ordinators. The program also has professional learning facilitator co-ordinators in every state and jurisdiction within each state (more information).

In a breakthrough link to higher education, I was pleased to welcome to the Academy in Canberra in early February 65 tertiary educators of primary pre-service teachers from every university in Australia to learn in depth about the Primary Connections and its benefits, which they will then incorporate it into their courses of study. As well as giving the pre-service teachers knowledge of and skills in the program, they will also learn about the effective teaching and learning model that underpins the project.