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East London Science Teaching

by Randall Hislop - Canada

The difference in the system of education between England and Canada is the greatest learning experience for an educator in my opinion.

I found that there was virtually no nature of science emphasis in England (i.e. What is science and how does it fit into our everyday lives?). I did not miss this emphasis or even notice its absence except in retrospect.

The History of Science is almost funny when I compare the different textbooks. For example there is Lord Rutherford and his famous experiment where he determined that there was an incredible dense positive nucleus in all atoms. In Canada all the textbooks refer to his famous experiment in McGill University of Montreal. There is even a story about how the experiment was an accident which happened because of a miscommunication between Rutherford and a graduate student named Geiger. In England the textbooks only refer to the fact that the experiment was done in Manchester. I am sure that in New Zealand the textbooks probably mention that Lord Rutherford was born in the fishing village of Havelock on South Island. They probably do not bother to mention where the experiment was performed.

Evaluation is almost all done by exam in England. In Canada, it is a mixture of teacher mark and exam.

The science was the same. The classroom situation between teacher and students was very very similar. The other differences just make me think a lot more about the meaning of education and who we as educators are. That is what differences are supposed to do. They are not supposed to initiate competitive "My curriculum is better than your curriculum" urges.

Because I feel only curiosity about the differences and because I reserve judgement on which is better or worse, I find that the memory of the experience is a continual source of mental interest and I would gladly go again to another part of the world like New Zealand to satisfy my curiosity about things like how Lord Rutherford's famous experiment is presented.

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