YOUR report on science teaching in secondary schools research under the headline “Survey declares science ‘boring’”. (TES, April 9). The word boring does not appear in the report, used either by us or the teachers we quoted.
Whether the science curriculum is boring will depend on two things - the quality of the teaching and each pupil’s own interests.
Our pamphlet makes two basic points. The first is that secondary science teaching is constrained by the curriculum, so that teachers have difficulty adjusting to pupils’ needs and interests.
Our second point is that science teachers need to be allowed greater authority over their work. They should not be treated as merely “delivering” a pre-packaged curriculum.
Dr Jim Donnelly School of education University of Leeds
