EUROPE: Business backs new way to teach science

A group of European business leaders is backing a European Commission proposal to get students to take more interest in science and mathematics. The initiative has been spurred by a report from an expert group at the commission which last year urged primary and secondary schools to move away from traditional, mainly deductive, science teaching and bring in inquiry-based science education.

According to the High Level Group on Science Education, set up by the commission's directorate general for research, inquiry-based science education - which, with its famous love of acronyms, Brussels has christened IBSE - "has proved its efficacy at primary and secondary levels in increasing children's and students' interest and attainments levels while at the same time stimulating teacher motivation".

The approach is said to be effective with students of all abilities and is beneficial in promoting girls' interest. It also creates opportunities for involving firms, scientists, researchers, engineers, universities and local resources with the students. But while IBSE is approved by the vast majority of educational experts, it has only a small toe-hold in European classrooms.

Now the promotion of IBSE has been taken up by the European Round Table of Industrialists. The round table's vice-chairman, Leif Johansson, said the member companies were committed to supporting Europe's schools, teachers and universities in their effort to put "MST (maths, science and technology) into meaningful life and career contexts, provide access to role models and keep teachers informed of what MST careers are". Johansson, who is CEO of the Volvo Group, promised that the involvement of the companies would be "long term".

The ERT shares with the commission a determination to put Europe at the top of the world league for technology (the Lisbon strategy) and has pledged to develop cooperation between schools and businesses to renew interest in MST in a bid to avoid shortages of skilled engineers in future.

Commission President Jose Barroso said Europe needed to adapt its education and training systems so they provided these skills, alongside specific technical or vocational competences. He said this could only be done through "continuous dialogue between business and education to make sure that curricula meet employers' needs and to ensure that students' ideas were more easily transformed into economic and social value".

alan.osborn@uw-news.com