Beyond the textbook

Vicki Butler, Royal Society of Chemistry

Science underpins growth sectors across the country and is a central driver of the UK economy. Yet too many young people are missing out on jobs in these sectors due to a lack of science and chemistry skills.

At the same time, UK science education lags behind many of its competitors – its rating for science education in the recent Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) was behind countries including Singapore, Germany, Poland, Vietnam and the Chinese regions of Shanghai and Hong Kong. 

To help address this skills mismatch, we are running a campaign focused on raising the quality of secondary chemistry and primary science teaching in UK schools. The central aims of this campaign are that by 2020, every post-14 chemistry student should be taught by a chemistry specialist, and in every primary school there should be a science subject leader who is a specialist.

Why specialist teaching?

Evidence shows that science teachers with specialist subject knowledge can have a positive impact on a child’s education, with the Department for Education, the National Audit Office, the Wellcome Trust and the Royal Society all having highlighted the benefits it can bring.

Evidence shows that those with a specialist subject background are more able to explain complex concepts effectively and answer detailed questions from pupils. Due to a broader knowledge of their subject, specialists are also more likely to teach beyond the textbook and have greater confidence demonstrating practical work to their class. As a result, chemistry specialist teachers have a positive impact on the decisions of students to continue studying the subject at A-level or university.

A Head of Chemistry in an English state secondary school told us that she would always prefer to recruit subject specialists to teach chemistry: “Specialists are able to provide a better quality of education due to their breadth of knowledge. They’re much more flexible in the classroom and are often more likely to come up with creative ways to teach the subject”.

A shortage in subject specialists

Despite the benefits of specialist teaching, there are currently shortages of secondary chemistry and primary science teachers in England with a degree in their subject. One-third of secondary-school chemistry teachers in England do not have a chemistry degree, with many instead having a biology or general science qualification. Likewise, a Wellcome Trust survey of a sample of primary schools in England found that only 6% had a science subject leader with a science degree, with the overwhelming majority from an arts or humanities background.

Whilst it is more difficult finding the relevant data, anecdotal evidence suggests there are also likely to be similarities in Wales and Northern Ireland, and in Scotland there are likely to be shortages at a primary level.

However, it is not just important to increase the numbers of secondary chemistry and primary science teachers with relevant degrees. Having a qualification from a relevant Subject Knowledge Enhancement (SKE) course, or holding relevant professional experience, should also be viewed as viable alternatives to holding a relevant degree, and at primary school level holding a science A-Level should also be seen as sufficient. It is therefore important to increase the number of teachers with these backgrounds, in addition to those with relevant degrees.

We also need to do all we can to help existing non-specialist teachers. Whilst some non-specialists will already be excellent teachers, many will lack confidence in teaching chemistry or primary science, and would welcome extra support through taking continuing professional development (CPD) courses, or a post teacher training SKE course. Unfortunately, there is currently little opportunity for such teachers to get subject-specific training due to budgetary and time pressures in schools. We are therefore calling for the Government to provide schools with more support for training existing teachers.

What actions are we taking?

We are currently implementing our campaign in England, and plan to launch similar campaigns in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland later in 2014.
In May we published a report – Inspiring, Engaging and Expert: the Formula for World-Class Science and Chemistry Education – which pulls together existing evidence on specialist chemistry teaching in England. This has formed the foundation of the English branch of our campaign, and has been sent to every MP in parliament.

We have discussed the report with MPs, and have received a positive reception to our arguments and recommendations so far. MPs and Lords have asked questions in Parliament regarding specialist teaching, and as a result we expect further parliamentary interventions to be made when politicians return from summer recess.

How you can get involved

There are also a number of ways you can get involved in our campaign. Through our website you can directly email your MP to show your support for specialist teaching. To do this, visit our education campaign page and click the 'Write to your MP' button – this will generate a template email and find your local MP.

If you have time to go and meet your MP to give them your views in person, that is even better. You can download our campaign briefing for more information or get in touch to find out how you can best go about talking to your MP.