The Common Room, Summarised by Centrist

One of the most vigorous advocates of the new science curriculum has been Rosemary (Rose) Hipkins, the mother of our Prime Minister.

Hipkins’ 2006 PhD thesis sets out a programme similar to the one being proposed. 

Hipkins appears to believe that the teaching of science should have a political dimension. 

She argues that science teaching should begin with ‘matters of concern’ rather than ‘matters of fact’. (The four subject areas of the proposed new curriculum – earth science, biodiversity, the food-energy-water nexus, and infectious diseases – are matters of concern.) 

But if science teachers start with matters of concern, they will be faced immediately with ethical and political judgments, a consequence Hipkins seems to welcome. 

Read more over at The Common Room

^{Feature image by New Zealand Government, Office of the Governor-General, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons}