Page last updated at 03:03 GMT, Monday, 30 June 2008 04:03 UK

Physics teacher shortage warning

The government has targets for more physics teachers by 2014

Almost one in four secondary schools in England no longer has any specialist physics teachers, a survey suggests.

The report into the supply of physics teachers, published by academics at the University of Buckingham, warns of a threat to the subject's future.

The government has set targets to promote the number of physics teachers in secondary schools.

But the report's authors warn that half of schools in inner London do not have specialist physics teachers.

The report, by Professor Alan Smithers and Dr Pamela Robinson of the Centre for Education and Employment Research, says that 26% more physics teachers are leaving or retiring than are being recruited.

Lost subject

From September, pupils who do sufficiently well in tests for 14 year olds will have an entitlement to be taught physics. But this report highlights concerns that this will have to be provided by non-specialist staff.

The survey shows substantial differences in the availability of physics teachers - both regional differences and by the type of school. And it raises concerns about the viability of physics as a separate subject.

In inner London, there is a tendency to have general science teachers rather than specialist physics teachers - and 50% of secondary schools do not have any physics teachers.

In contrast, in the Yorkshire and Humberside region, only about 10% of schools do not have any specialist physics teachers.

Where schools have sixth forms, they are much more likely to have specialist physics teachers. However in schools without sixth forms, about two in five schools do not have any specialist physics teachers. Instead they will have teachers from other disciplines who will take combined science classes.

The research also shows that physics teachers are more likely to be concentrated in particular types of school, such as those which are high-performing, grammar, all-girl and faith schools.

The report's authors argue that physics has been pushed into decline by a drive for general science courses. They call for the subject to be supported in a way that protects its separate identity.

"One admissions tutor said 'until recently we have barely admitted that physics existed as a school subject - physics, chemistry and biology have not been allowed to be mentioned in official documentation'," says the report.

The government wants to promote science subjects such as physics and chemistry and has a target that 25% of science teachers will have a physics specialism by 2014.

A necessidade de empobrecer

A necessidade de empobrecer

Vasco Pulido Valente, Público 20 Junho 2008

Cada vez que há uma crise
do petróleo, aparece a
ortodoxia a proclamar
zelosamente duas coisas.
Primeira, que temos de
pensar a sério na energia solar e
na energia eólica. Segunda, que
temos de mudar de vida. É uma
conversa sem sentido. A energia
eólica e a energia solar, no estado
actual da tecnologia, não resolvem
problema nenhum: cobrem uma
pequeníssima parte do consumo e,
sobretudo, são caríssimas. Quanto
à necessidade, e à urgência, de
mudar de vida, nunca a ortodoxia
explica exactamente o que isso
na prática significa: significa um
empobrecimento tão extenso e tão
profundo que, mesmo num país
como Portugal, com a sua miséria
e o seu atraso, 80 por cento da
população não a suportaria.
“Mudar de vida” seria pior do que
uma revolução, seria o fim de uma
civilização.
Com a minha idade, um
homem pode imaginar um país
devolvido de repente a 1948 ou
1949, antes de enriquecer e de
engordar com o petróleo barato.
Bem sei que o Portugal de Salazar
não serve de exemplo (mas já lá
vamos). Por agora, basta falar da
classe média urbana. Em Lisboa
quase não se viam “automóveis”
(como se dizia). Toda a gente
andava de eléctrico (muitos do
século XIX) ou de autocarro (de
resto, poucos). Viagens não se
faziam ou só se faziam de longe
em longe com trepidação e
sacrifício. Em casa, não existiam
electrodomésticos fora a telefonia
(um luxo) e o frigorífico (outro
luxo) e o ocasional aspirador ou
ferro de engomar (o fogão era
naturalmente a gás). Não me
lembro de ar condicionado: nem
na escola, nem na faculdade, nem
no trabalho. As roupas, como
os livros, passavam de irmão
a irmão ou de pais para filhos.
Ninguém desaproveitava comida,
meticulosamente medida e
recozinhada, que ia ressuscitando
de “prato” em “prato”. Ninguém
acendia a luz sem precisar. E o
cinema estava reservado para
sábado ou domingo (um dia por
semana).
Quando comecei a sair de
Portugal, num Mini perigosíssimo,
não encontrei auto-estradas
que me separassem do mundo,
encontrei estradas de vinte e
trinta anos com um trânsito
suportável e até simpático. Em
Inglaterra, apesar da euforia
do tempo, as pessoas contavam
tostões – libras, se quiserem – e
andavam vestidas para “durar”.
Até em Londres (como na
“Europa” inteira) o “automóvel”
não se tornara ainda uma
sufocação. Esse “equilíbrio”
– se me permitem a palavra
– acabou.
O slogan “mudar de vida” é uma
pura fraude, com que os políticos
mistificam a populaça. Tirando
um milagre, voltar à pobreza é
do que se trata. Pela força e pelo
sofrimento.

Experts to champion better maths

Teachers need to acquire greater skills in maths, report says

There is to be a renewed emphasis on mental mathematics in England's primary schools, with 13,000 maths specialists to spearhead better teaching.

The government accepts the findings of a review it commissioned from a team led by Sir Peter Williams.

It will take 10 years and £187m to train the specialists, expected to be drawn from existing teachers.

More help is proposed for youngsters who are struggling. Parents' support is seen as crucial to the whole scheme.

The proposed maths specialists would not necessarily be the existing mathematics coordinators in schools, and smaller schools might have to share.

The proposals assume that 3,000 specialists could be found straight away next year.

The extra 10,000 would complete the necessary training over the next 10 years - though the report acknowledges this would "result in inequalities".

The cost - averaging £20m a year - should be seen as an investment, the report argues.

And campaigners for better maths estimate there are returns of 10 to one on early investment in maths teaching and learning, in terms of long-term savings to the public purse.

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Can you do Maths?

The main recommendations of the report are:

• a maths specialist in every primary school in 10 years
• young children should play with shapes, time, capacity and numbers
• all children should be competent in basic maths by age seven
• children should do more mental maths in the classroom
• parents should work with teachers and help foster their child's interest in maths

The aim is to counter the prevailing culture in which, Sir Peter says, the UK remains one of the few advanced nations where it is socially acceptable - even fashionable - to profess an inability to cope with mathematics.

But his team's report concludes firmly that it is teachers, not parents, who determine what children learn - especially as the way mathematics is taught has changed greatly since most parents went to school.

Better training

Sir Peter says they saw some excellent teaching while visiting schools.

But children are highly attuned to uncertainty on the part of their teachers - who have a wide curriculum to get through in primary schools.

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The report says the basic requirement of trainee teachers that they have a grade C GCSE in maths should stay for now but be reviewed, with a view to raising the hurdle.

Initial teacher training in maths is not good enough, it says.

But the most practical way forward is to improve the ongoing training of practising teachers.

The review team noted that English teachers get five days a year training.

In Scotland, teachers get the same plus another 35 hours - about a week - for personal "continuing professional development", and that should be a long-term aspiration for England too.

National strategies

The government will be pleased to hear the report say that the introduction of the National Numeracy Strategy in the late 1990s had transformed maths teaching.

In turn, the proportion of primary school leavers attaining Level 4 of the national curriculum in tests, as expected for their age, had risen from 59% in 1998 to 77% last year.

But the report calls into question the effectiveness of the revised national primary teaching frameworks and suggests they should be reconsidered and made more "user friendly" for teachers.

The report also argues for more qualified teachers in early years settings, to give pre-school children a better start in maths.

The Department for Children Schools and Families said it would now develop plans for training specialist maths teachers, with a "pathfinder" programme this autumn and full implementation in 2009.

Tests make science dull - Ofsted

Experiments make science more engaging, Ofsted says

Science lessons in England should be made more interesting with more experiments, education inspectors say.

Science standards are good or better in 75% of the schools visited by Ofsted, but there are recurring weaknesses.

Teaching can be weak where teachers lack knowledge and understanding. Many were too concerned with meeting narrow test requirements, Ofsted adds.

The government says it believes that all pupils should be able to experience the excitement of science in action.

The Ofsted report is based on visits to 90 primary and 105 secondary schools in England between 2004 and 2007.

It says the Department for Children, Schools and Families and the exams watchdog should broaden the test requirements in primary school and give greater focus to ensuring pupils understand how science works.

When we do practicals it makes me understand better Boy in Ofsted report

Ministers should also provide more funding to help teachers develop their knowledge and understanding of science.

Secondary schools should ensure that science is engaging and relevant to life in a technological age, the inspectors add.

Primary schools in particular should ensure teaching included enough focus on scientific enquiry and that the focus on tests did not detract from the breadth of the science curriculum.

Chief inspector Christine Gilbert said: "Science is a fascinating and exciting subject, yet for many pupils, it lacks appeal because of the way that it is taught.

"The most stimulating and engaging teaching and the best learning occur when science is brought to life and pupils are given the chance to conduct, record and evaluate their own investigations."

'Investigative skills'

But according to Ofsted there is an over-reliance on worksheets and on telling pupils what to do rather than encouraging them to make their own decisions, inspectors say.

And sometimes pupils misunderstood key principles because their teachers did not understand them well enough to give a clear explanation.

Science teaching is at its best when pupils are encouraged to come up with their own ideas to record and plan their investigations, Ofsted says.

Schools where pupils' achievements are higher focused on developing their investigative skills, the report adds.

One pupil in a particularly successful school said she enjoyed science because she could do what she wanted - pupils were allowed to decide what and how to investigate.

Another boy said: "When we do practicals, it helps me understand better."

But in most lessons, teachers had high expectations and focused clearly on scientific enquiry.

'Investment'

Schools Minister Jim Knight said: "As the Ofsted report today shows there are some brilliant examples of schools bringing science to life. We want all schools to be working at this level.

"We have invested heavily in school buildings and there are now 6,600 new or improved science labs."

He added that £21.9bn was being invested in school buildings over the next three years, much of which could be targeted at improving science labs and facilities.

Ofsted inspects schools only in England, but the issue has already been taken up by the Scottish Parliament.

In April, ministers ordered an overhaul of the way science is taught in Scotland's schools to make it more relevant to the present day.

And education inspectors in Wales have also singled out science teaching as being in need of improvement.

A report last month said standards were lower in science than in almost all other subjects in secondary schools.