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It is appropriate to indicate at the outset the scope and some of the limitations of this paper. First, attention will be confined largely to the present century. This is principally because the ASE and its precursors, the SMA and the AWST, are twentieth century organisations and it is the `centenary' of the ASE that provides the raison d'ˆtre for the Science Teacher Festival Planned for 2001. However, it is important not to overlook the fact that a number of individuals who were born in the nineteenth century were either active and/or came to be influential in the present century. This would be the case, for example, with Henry Edward Armstrong and, of course, of most of those involved in the setting up the Science Masters' Association and the Association of Women Science Teachers.
Secondly, a distinction can be made between the history of school science education and the history of school science teaching. The former embraces a range of issues which, while influencing the practice of school science teaching, can be distinguished from it, e.g. the writing and use of textboooks, initial and inservice training, assessment and examinations. It may also have a comparative dimension and, as with any historical study, reflect a variety of historiographical perspectives. The latter may be construed more narrowly as offering accounts, in ways that historians would regard as legitimate, of the activities that have marked school science laboratories and classrooms. It is important, however, that these accounts not only acknowledge the determinants of science teachers' day-to-day work but also locates these in the broader social, political or other context. It is important, therefore, clarify what we mean by `Researching the Lives of Science Teachers'. Without such clarity, it will be difficult to identify the kinds of source material likely to be required and to establish their availability. It will also be difficult to be clear about our intended readership or audience. Is our task principally to alert contemporary science teachers to something of their heritage or are we engaged in a more historically interrogative task ? However we approach our task, my own position is that the history of science teaching only makes much sense if it is presented as part of a wider study that might be described as social history.
Thirdly, even within the timescale I have set myself, I have not sought to be comprehensive in my coverage, either of problems or of sources. I have not listed major educational reports or referred to Parliamentary Papers. In addition, many sources that deserve attention are not specified since they are listed in one or more of the bibliographies listed below. Rather, my purpose has been to prepare a short paper with the twin purpose of prompting contributions from others and helping us be more focused about what we want to achieve and how we might achieve it.
Finally, in this introductory section, my selection of sources is principally from the science education literature, rather than from literatures conventionally associated with, for example, the history of science, scientific biography or the history of education more generally. This reflects partly the pressures of time and partly my more immediate familiarity with the science education literature. It also reflects the fact that some of the sources cited below also offer an introductory guide to some of the sources familiar, for example, to historians of science or of education but unlikely to be so to most practising science teachers. However, I readily acknowledge that this selection from the science education literature is a debilitating limitation and I would argue strongly that if we are to `reconstruct the lives' of school science teachers, we shall need to cast our net more widely than is suggested by the sources indicated in this paper.
Any serious student of science education is now much better served by bibliographic and other sources than was the case say twenty years ago. This is partly because of a growth in interest in historical issues within some sections of the science education community. However, it also reflects an interest among historians of science and others in such fields as scientific biography and the creation, development and role of institutions that have been influential in the education and training of scientists. Among historians of education, the economic instrumentalism that has impelled much of recent reform in education has prompted a renewed interest in the `declinist' debates that marked the latter half of the nineteenth century and in the exploration of other parallels, for example, being secondary technical schools and the government initiative to establish city technology colleges.
Although bibliographies necessarily date, the following remain useful and generous starting points for anyone wanting access to much of the scholarly and other writing relating to school science education in England and Wales during the twentieth century. Although some contain reference to developments in other parts of the United Kingdom, notably Scotland, or in other (mainly Anglophone) countries, the emphasis is firmly upon England and Wales.
W.H.Brock, From Liebig to Nuffield: A bibliography of the history of science education, 1839-1974.
J.F.Donnelly, The Origins of the Technical Curriculum in England during the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Studies in Science Education, 16, 1989, 1-24.
J.F.Donnelly, Technology in the school curriculum: a critical bibliography, Studies in Science Education, 20, 1992, 123-56.
C.Heward, Industry, cleanliness and godliness: Sources and problems in the history of scientific and technical education and the working class, Studies in Science Education, 7, 1980, 87-128.
E.W.Jenkins, Some sources for the history of science education in the twentieth century, with particular reference to secondary schools, Studies in Science Education, 7, 1980, 27-86.
E.W.Jenkins, Science education, history of, in T.Hus‚n and T.N. Postlethwaite, International Encyclopaedia of Education, 2nd. edition, 1994, Pergamon Press, Volume 9, 5324-8.
G.McCulloch, School Science and Technology in nineteenth and twentieth century England: a guide to published sources, Studies in Science Education, 14, 1987, 1-32. (a revised and expanded version appears in G.McCulloch, Towards a Social history of School Science and Technology? In E.W.Jenkins (Ed.), School Science and Technology: Some Issues and Perspectives, University of Leeds, Centre for Studies in Science and Mathematics Education, 19993, 200-46.
Not strictly a bibliography and covering far more than schools in the twentieth century is W.H.Brock, Science Education, in R.C.Olby et al., Companion to the History of Modern Science, London, Routledge, 1990, 946-959. A useful `companion' to developments in a number of countries.
Although not essentially historical, those seeking a wider perspective on school science education in England and Wales, might be referred to the following.
B.Wilson, Cultural Contexts of Science and Mathematics Education, A bibliographic guide, University of Leeds, CSSME, 1981. C.R.Sayers, Cultural and Linguistic Factors in mathematics and science education, University of Leeds, CSSME, 1992.
History of Science Education, in International Encyclopaedia of Education, Pergmaon Press,
For a thorough introduction to English education sources in general, although mainly pre-twentieth century, see W.B. Stephens, Sources for English Local History, Manchester University Press, 1975.
There are a number of books which are concerned directly with aspects of twentieth century school science education. Useful starting points include:
W.H.Brock (ed.), H.E.Armstrong and the teaching of Science 1880-1930, CUP, 1973.
W.H.Brock, Science for all: Studies in the history of Victorian Science and Education, Variorum, 1996.
E.W.Jenkins, From Armstrong to Nuffield: Studies in twentieth century science education in England and Wales, Murray, London, 1979.
D.Layton, Interpreters of Science, London, Murray, 1984.
G.McCulloch, E.W.Jenkins and D.Layton, Technological Revolution ? The politics of School Science and Technology in England and Wales since 1945, Falmer Press, London, 1985.
G.K.Roberts, Chemical Education and Chemical Institutions, in C.A.Russell (ed.) Recent Developments in the History of Chemistry, London, Royal Society of Chemistry, 1985, 24- 48.
M.Waring, Social Pressures and Curriculum Innovation: A Study of the Nuffield Foundation Science Teaching Project, London, Methuen, 1979.
M.Waring, `To Make the Mind Strong, Rather than to Make it Full': Elementary School Science Teaching in London 1870- 1904, in I.Goodson (ed.), Social Histories of the Secondary Curriculum, London, Falmer Press, 1985.
B.E.Woolnough, Physics Teaching in Schools 1960- 85, London, Falmer Press, 1988.
Those seeking a United States' perspective are referred to
R.A.Levin, Educating Elementary School Teachers, The Struggle for Coherent Visions 1909-1978, Boston, University Press of America, 1994
G. E. DeBoer, A History of Ideas in Science Education: Implications for Practice, New York, teachers College Press, 1991.
Studies in Science Education publishes, every two years, a list of theses accepted for higher degrees in British universities. Those of immediate relevance appear in the section entitled `Historical and Philosophical Studies in Science Education'. The list can be augmented by accessing the British Education Thesis Index (BETI) which is available on-line. The ASLIB lists are also useful as are the lists of theses completed or in progress published by the BSHS and the History of Education Society.
The scope of these theses varies considerably, not least because some are doctoral studies, others work for an M.Ed., M.Phil. or M.Sc. The focus of attention also varies greatly and includes individuals, institutions, the curriculum and examinations. Three examples of recent studies will illustrate the range.
K.D.Fuller, Innovation, institutionalisation and renewal in the sixth form; a history of Nuffield A-level physics, Reading, Ph.D. 1992.
D.Coleman, The life and work of John Hall Gladstone (1872-1902) with particular reference to his contribution to elementary science, London, KCL, Ph.D.,1991.
P.Bodily, History of biology teaching at Uppingham School, Leicester, M.Ed. 1991.
These are numerous but scattered through a range of journals concerned with the history of science (e.g BJHS), the history of education (e.g.History of Education), science education (e.g. School Science Review. Education in Chemistry, Physics Education, Journal of Biological Education). Many relevant articles can be tracked down using a journal index (e..g that of the SSR ,available on CD-ROM) or a database such as ERIC or the British Education Index (BEI) which is available on-line.
A number of individuals prominent in school science education during the latter half of the twentieth century are still with us. They, along with serving and retired teachers, are an important resource, the tapping of which will require awareness of the strengths and problems of oral history (See David Crook's contribution to this meeting).
Some individuals have produced published (e.g. Gordon van Praagh) or unpublished (e.g. John Lewis) accounts of their work in science education. As far as I am aware, no catalogue or other guide exists. Some of these individuals hold papers relating to science curriculum development projects with which they were involved. There is still much work to be done on, for example, the science work of the Schools Council, the Nuffield Foundation or the Secondary Science Curriculum Review, the relevant sources for which are extant but often unsorted and uncatalogued.
The records of the Association for Science Education and of the School Nature Study Union are held in the Brotherton Library at the University of Leeds.
Early HMI reports are in PRO Ed.109. Recent reports have been published and Ofsted reports are available via the Internet. Note that LEAs sometimes reported in detail upon the work of some of the schools for which they were responsible.
School log-books may be held at a school or in a local record office. School magazines, alumni magazines and newsletters may also be important. Major independent schools are sometimes able to offer the help of an archivist/librarian.
Exercise books are important as a record of what pupils were required to record and as an indication of how they were taught. There is a need to build up a collection of archival material of this kind. The History of Education Museum at the University of Leeds has a small collection of exercise books as well as of science teaching apparatus. There is also an unordered collection of such apparatus at the Science Museum in London. A new Museum of the History of Education is being set up in Scotland.
These sometimes have a library of cuttings from local newspapers which can be useful for obituaries etc. Local newspapers in the early part of the century often published examination results and other achievements of local schools.
These are likely to hold a range of material including school log books, LEA/School Board Minutes and other records. The (former) GLC record office is important for London.
Apart from Reports of Inspections (see above), the PRO is the principal source for a wide range of papers. There are published guides, supplemented by the volumes produced by the List and Index Society.
These are the obvious sources for graduation details, sometimes augmented by information about employment upon graduation. University Libraries may also hold papers on prominent individuals in the field of science education. For example, the papers of H.E.Armstrong are at Imperial College. Those of R.A.Gregory and A. Smithells are at Sussex and Leeds respectively.
Useful for the early years of the present century, it gives details of graduation and current employment. I am not sure when it ceased publication.
These sometimes contain glimpses of how the subject was taught science at school. For example, John Christie's approach to teaching Alec Douglas-Hume at Eton in 1917 is in the former Prime Minister's autobiography, the Way the Wind Blows. The new DNB is another possible source.
A number of television programmes made in the last thirty or so years show science teachers in action. Such teachers are presumably indicative rather than typical.
Our brief at this meeting is to consider what is involved in preparing biographical studies of science teachers. Others are better qualified than I am to write about the problems of writing biography which, I would suggest, is not the same as writing history. Perhaps this distinction is one with which it is convenient to end.