Curriculum Programme

News

Andrew Hunt event at Salters Hall
Tue, 27 March 2007

Nuffield Curriculum Centre

Andrew Hunt and John HolmanAndrew Hunt, Nuffield Curriculum Centre Director, leaves full-time work for Nuffield on 31 March having been involved in Nuffield curriculum projects since 1967. We don't see Andrew stopping for a second, and as far as Nuffield is concerned he will still be involved in Twenty First Century Science and Science for Public Understanding, soon to be a full A-level called Science in Society.

Anthony Tomei and Jo HuntWe held a splendid event for Andrew at the Salters Institute on 19 March, attended by over a hundred of his friends and colleagues from the Nuffield Foundation and the world of science education.

A seminar as well as a party, with speakers John Holman, Paul Black, Mary Ratcliffe, Robin Millar, and Andrew of course.

The event was compered by Nuffield Foundation director Anthony Tomei and many Nuffield Trustees were present.

John Holman first worked with Andrew on the SATIS project in the 1980s. This ASE initiative drew on the ideas of hundred of teachers. In his talk, John spoke about the importance of building capacity in science education. He described the dissatisfaction with science education in the 1950s that led to the major Nuffield projects of the 1960s. Science as taught was often very dull and, according to one source, nearly as boring as Shakespeare could be made to be in English. John found a quote from about 1960 stating the part of the trouble was that 'Science masters lack the intellectual gifts of classics masters.' Well we have moved on considerably since then.

Paul BlackPaul Black addressed the question of who owns curriculum development? Paul has worked on Nuffield curriculum projects from Nuffield A-level Physics to Nuffield Design & Technology via Nuffield Co-ordinated Sciences and Nuffield Primary Science, and more recently Assessment for Learning. He has been involved since being a university representative on the exam board JMB's physics group in the 1960s, and subsequently directed the project with Jon Ogborn. There is no clear answer to Paul's question - successful work involves teachers, universities, independently-funded institutions like the Nuffield Foundation and Salters Institute, publishers and awarding bodies. When asked about his experience, Paul suggested that what he most regretted was the abandonment of the ten level framework in the early days of the National Curriculum. He suggested that staged, mastery learning could have made a significant difference had it been developed and introduced with enough time for detailed development work in each subject.

Stuart Naylor, Brian & Mary RatcliffeMary Ratcliffe talked about the vital role of teachers in successful curriculum development. Mary was for a time chair of examiners for Nuffield Chemistry, and saw how in that project the tentacles spread across the entire community of teachers. Will teachers still be allowed by their schools to have this involvement in future? There were plenty of their representatives present to address this question. Mary first met Andrew in the late 1970s as part of a small group of teachers, in Hertfordshire and Suffolk, working together to develop a mode 3 CSE courses based heavily on Nuffield Secondary Science and then Nuffield 13 to 16.

Robin Millar began with a quotation from a very early edition of School Science Review. In 1916 the writer expressed the need for 'Science for all', and this is still our concern. But the work which produced the Beyond 2000 report and then Twenty First Century Science shows that this does not mean the same science for all. What do we want students to be able to do as a result of their science education? Might exam questions ask students about matters they might actually have to address in their lives rather than being a distant surrogate?

Robin Millar and David Harrison

Andrew Hunt followed all this by talking about the people, places and projects which have been sources of inspiration. In his early education he was inspired by visits to authentic experiences in schools and by a variety of visits to chemical industries.

Later on as a beginning chemistry teacher Andrew started by enjoying the lecture demonstrations from GI Fowles guide to teaching. However he could not convince himself that the O-level courses in the early 1960s, which featured such things as the preparation and properties of ten gases, were right for most young people.

Andrew's involvement with Nuffield O-level Chemistry started in 1967: when working at Manchester Grammar School he attended a course led by John Mathews for London Examinations. John Mathews was always concerned with the backwash effect: what would be the effect of assessment on teaching and learning? Then in the late 1960s Andrew moved to Watford Grammar School, in order to take part in the pilot of Nuffield Advanced Physical Science, a glorious failure of a materials science course - too hard, too much content - which has shaped his thinking ever since. As a complete change, in the mid 1970s, Andrew moved to Durrants Comprehensive School where he developed and taught the Mode 3 CSE which brought him into contact with the strand of thinking inspired by Nuffield Secondary Science.

Andrew Hunt with Nuffield Trustee David Watson and former Trustee Anne Sofer
Andrew's first secondment was to work on Nuffield Co-ordinated Sciences in the mid 1980s. A memorable experience was a formative seminar given by Paul Black on energy and change in the grounds of Cumberland Lodge in the middle of Windsor Great Park. Andrew and his fellow editors Geoffrey Dorling and Grace Monger explored issues of finding a common language and consistent approach to key concepts. Andrew was also greatly influenced by the short reports from Paul Black's Assessment of Performance Unit which showed that even though students could pass their exams, in reality their understanding of what they were being tested on was very far from what he had imagined.

At the same time Andrew was contributing to the SATIS project for which he invented the 'Limestone inquiry', a role play about a new quarry. SATIS was a pioneering project that involved a great many teachers. The development team learnt a lot about how to get the best from practising scientists and engineers without placing too heavy a burden on them.

Angela Hall with Chairman of Nuffield Trustees Onora ONeill and Trustee Michael RutterAll this experience was put to good effect in Andrew's work on Beyond 2000 report and Twenty First Century Science. What do we mean by science for all? There are more challenges for Andrew's successor at the Nuffield Curriculum Centre, Angela Hall.

Here are some more photographs of those present.



Nuffield Trustees Robert May, Michael Rutter, and Genevra Richardson with Ken Gadd

Nuffield Trustee Peter Doyle, Nuffield Director Anthony Tomei and Assistant Director Catrin Roberts

Publishers Elspeth Boardley and Marc Bloch, Sue Howarth and Kath Skillern of Edexcel

Nuffield Trustee David Watson with Nuffield Primary History Director Jacqui Dean