Teachers complain of ‘anti-science trends’ in schools

How old is the Universe? What was the Big Bang? Did human beings really evolve from other life forms over millions of years? And did the dinosaurs co-exist with Raquel Welch...  as suggested by such classic movies as One Million Years BC?

These are among the many questions that schoolchildren in most European countries are usually taught to answer in primary school. But science teachers in Malta have long been voicing their private concerns at how such issues - among many others that fall under the loose category of 'science' - seem to be generally neglected in the national curriculum, despite a theoretical commitment to transform Malta into a 'centre for excellence' in various science-related disciplines.

Technically, there is much that can be built on in this regard. Consider, for instance, the rather high international profile Malta enjoys in international scientific circuits: where individual Maltese scientists are active in such cutting edge experiments as CERN in Switzerland - to name but one that has been given global publicity in recent months and years.

And yet, it seems that the actual number of school-hours dedicated to science in schools has decreased in recent years... prompting science teachers to question the policies of an education division that to date seems unperturbed even by an apparent decline in academic performance in science subjects.

Furthermore, individual teachers have reported encountering what they describe as 'anti-science' trends in schools - in particular, targeting specific areas of science which at a glance appear to clash with the more established traditions favoured by religion and folklore. Namely, Darwinian evolution - which seems to contradict the officially accepted tenet of 'creation by God' - as well as accepted scientific notions about the origins of the Universe, which fall foul of the same objections.

These and other concerns recently came to the fore in an ongoing online debate on the subject, in which allusions to "undue influence of religion in the government educational system" were highlighted by more than one educator.

David Pace, a science and geography teacher with over 29 years of experience in the field - also a journalist and outspoken advocate of science popularisation - was more vocal in his concerns than others.

"No, I'm not, both as a teacher and as a parent of a son who attends primary school," was his unequivocal reply, when asked if he was satisfied with the way science is presented as a school subject. "Problems of science teaching at a primary level have been discussed for the last 25 years, and still primary school children have very few science lessons per week. The new Educational Framework is supposed to be tackling this perennial problem, but it also faces certain problems, mostly that increases in the teaching of certain subjects will lead to a decrease in subjects such as geography history and social studies..."

Pace however insists that it would be a mistake to treat the subjects as if they were in competition with one another. "If the educational authorities really want young students to be scientifically aware, science teaching needs to be taught on the same level as other subjects such as social studies and religion."

More worrying still, it seems that in recent years some schools have succumbed to the growing tendency (growing in other countries, at any rate) of teaching creationism on the same level as evolution... possibly even supplanting evolution altogether as the official scientific explanation for the origin and diversity of life.

Some years ago, this newspaper highlighted the case of the Accelerated Christian Academy in Mosta: an institute for students aged between four and 18, which teaches that the earth is only 6,000 years old; that all living things were literally created in seven days by God; and also that dinosaurs co-existed with humans, just like in the Raquel Welch movie.

Despite the incompatibility of these teachings with accepted scientific explanations for the origin of the universe and all it contains, the Accelerated Christian Academy is nonetheless accredited with the Education Division: which in turn is signatory to the Council of Europe's Resolution 1580, urging EU Member States to "firmly oppose the teaching of creationism as a scientific discipline on an equal footing with the theory of evolution and in general resist presentation of creationist ideas in any discipline other than religion."

Other more conventional schools tend not to fall into this particular category of scientific absurdity. But teachers are nonetheless concerned that students are leaving school without taking some very basic elements of scientific education with them. In fact, Pace argues that today's schoolchildren are arguably more exposed to science outside the classroom, than within it.

"Although little or no research has been done on this, I tend to think that many primary school students learn about science mostly from foreign TV documentaries and library books. Once they're at secondary level, they either abandon science subjects, or choose physics, chemistry and biology that prepare them for the exams but still leave a number of lacunae."

Among these lacunae is the traditionally thorny topic of when (or more cogently, how) life on Earth originated.

"Although there is a topic on evolution in the biology syllabus, there is very little about the origins of life; and science students who do not choose biology won't know a lot about the two topics. Recently, the Physics syllabus actually decreased the topics concerning the Origin of the Universe and proofs that support the Big Bang. Compared with British examinations, one will realise that the latter focus more on providing much wider syllabi, that focus on specific topics that need to be known: such as radiometric dating, theories of the origin of the Universe and the Earth, the Origins of Life and Darwinian Evolution, geological time and the age of different animals including dinosaurs, as well as the importance of fossils. Here, these things are only glossed over by secondary school science syllabi."

What is needed to address these and other endemic problems, according to Pace, is a "massive programme of science popularisation".

In Malta, the popularisation of science falls to the Malta Council for Science and Technology. Its chairman, Jeffrey Pullicino Orlando, acknowledges that some problems exist, but also points out that some of the problems are being tackled as we speak.

Echoing at least one of Pace's concerns, he argues that one of the main challenges faced by MCST in this regard is to overcome a stigma of science as a 'difficult' option for students.

"The development of the National Science Interactive Centre, which aims at popularising science through 'edutainment', is the biggest project ever undertaken by the Council," he said when asked to specify what initiatives are currently under way.

"The whole idea behind the setting up of this state of the art facility is to challenge the mistaken perception some have that science subjects should be avoided as they are more 'difficult' than other, academic disciplines, or that science should be confined to the classroom or the laboratory."

On the contrary, Pullicino Orlando views science education as an investment in present and future generations.

"Today's children are, potentially, tomorrow's researchers, academics and professionals. This project will be co-funded by the Maltese Government and the EU. The Council has also organised a number of Science Fairs in different localities which have proved to be extremely popular. NGOs which involve themselves in the sector can depend on the Council for its full backing." The Council was consulted when it came to drawing up the Science Curriculum to be used in our schools.

Will this be enough to bring Malta's basic science infrastructure up to scratch? Possibly, but Pace remains doubtful about the approach.

"It is not the mega-projects such as the Life Sciences Centre that will increase our children's interest in science, but specially trained primary school science teachers that impart knowledge in an interesting and playful way every day... and a media blitz that targets science subjects on the TV, magazines and newspapers," he said.

Like others in the educational sector, he also feels more use needs to be made of ancillary educational tools... not least, television.

"After 25 years... why is it that a new TV station, TVM2, is now showing documentaries by David Attenborough... when I remember watching them all on TVM 30 years ago?" he asks.

"Wasn't TVM supposed to have a strong educational component? What about decent programmes, produced in Maltese? A sort of upgrading of the cash-strapped programmes we used to see on the Education channel? What about authorities such as The Malta Environment and Planning Authority) and The Malta Resources Authority, which deal with the environment, raw materials and water conservation? Can't they help produce science programmes on specific subjects?"

Above all, he argues, we need to move away from the endless discussion phases that go nowhere, and instead invest more in infrastructure.

"It is high time for all the seminars, discussions and workshops to pack it in and for real, concrete steps to be taken.  Unfortunately, the interminable discussions are still going on and our children are still losing out."