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Asia-Pacific Forum on Science Learning and Teaching, Volume 13, Issue 2, Article13 (Dec., 2012) |
Development of a Primary Science Parent’s Guide to Empower Parents as Learning Facilitators in Informal Settings
In the Singapore primary education context, science is taught as a subject in the mainstream primary schools, spanning over four years, from primary level 3 to 6. The current Singapore Primary Science Curriculum has an emphasis on ‘science as an inquiry’ which aims to develop the spirit of scientific inquiry among primary school children so that they will acquire science knowledge, process skills as well as science attitudes and values (Curriculum Planning & Development Division Ministry of Education Singapore, 2007). It is also the goal of the Primary Science Curriculum that students will enjoy science and value science as an important tool to help them explore their natural and physical world. In line with the broader vision of the Singapore education – Thinking Schools, Learning Nation, it also aims to prepare students to be effective citizens who are able to function in and contribute to an increasingly technologically-driven, globalised world (Curriculum Planning & Development Division Ministry of Education Singapore, 2007). In recognition that parents can play an important role in their children’s science education, especially as facilitators of their children’s science learning outside the formal classrooms, a Primary Science Parent’s Guide which is in alignment with the Singapore Primary Science Curriculum is specially developed to guide parents to facilitate their children’s science learning at home and in other informal settings (Lee, 2008, 2009).
A Sociocultural and Constructivist Framework
The Primary Science Parent’s Guide adopts a sociocultural and constructivist framework in design (e.g., Falk & Dierking, 1997; Vygotsky, 1978) with the core belief that deep and meaningful learning is more likely to take place in children when they are guided by significant others and given opportunities to interact with their physical and social environments to construct their own meanings and make connections to the real world in their learning process (e.g., Glasersfeld, 1992; Falk & Dierking, 1997; Jaramillo, 1996; Martin, 2004; Palincsar, 1998; Roschelle, 1995; Vygotsky, 1978). The sociocultural perspective of learning contends that meaningful learning occurs in the social context of the learner (Vygotsky, 1978) while the constructivist perspective of learning takes the notion that the learner does not passively absorb knowledge but rather constructs it from experiences (e.g., Chaille & Britain, 1991; Cobb, 1994) which is also a basis for ‘science as an inquiry’ in children’s science learning. As noted by Cobb (1994), theories from the sociocultural perspective informs the conditions for the possibility of learning with the help of more knowledgeable others, whereas the constructivist perspective of learning focuses on what the individual learns and the cognitive processes by which he or she does so. Essentially, as an educational resource for parents, the activities in the Primary Science Parent’s Guide are purposely designed to enable parents to provide learning opportunities in the everyday life contexts for their children to engage in meaningful learning and new knowledge construction when children make connections between science knowledge acquisition and real world applications. Therefore, a blend of both sociocultural and constructivist approaches in the development of the Primary Science Parent’s Guide takes into account the interdependence of social as well as the individual processes in the construction of knowledge in children’s science learning (e.g., Cobb, 1994; Hall, 2007; John-Steiner & Mahn, 1996).
With the aim of developing the Primary Science Parent’s Guide as an educational resource to complement the Singapore Primary Science Curriculum for parents to guide their children’s science learning outside the school, the development of the Parent’s Guide thus takes into considerations the content requirements of the current Singapore Primary Science Syllabus (Primary levels 3 to 6) and the format structure of the current Primary Science textbooks (Lower Primary 3 & 4 and Upper Primary 5 & 6) in its design process. The Primary Science Parent’s Guide consists of two booklets (Lower Primary 3 & 4 and Upper Primary 5 & 6) and its content structure and format are in alignment with the current Primary Science Syllabus and textbooks so as to allow easy reference and use by parents. The science tasks and scenarios provided in the Parent’s Guide also cater to the five main themes in the Primary Science Syllabus and textbooks: Diversity, Cycles, Systems, Interactions, and Energy. These five themes are sub-divided into 23 chapters in the two booklets of the Parent’s Guide (Lower Primary 3 & 4 and Upper Primary 5 & 6). Core science skills and processes as well as science attitudes and values which are emphasised in the Primary Science Syllabus are also incorporated accordingly into the various science tasks in each chapter. (Please refer to Appendix for a brief outline of the themes, chapters and activities in the Primary Science Parent’s Guide.)
In order to help parents to have a better understanding of how they could effectively facilitate their children’s science learning, each chapter of the Parent’s Guide is comprised of concise notes which serve as useful background information for parents, as well as simple hands-on activities, guiding questions and suggested answers. The provision of inquiry-based questioning prompts and suggested responses in the Parent’s Guide aims to enable enthusiastic parents to feel more confident and become more competent to create meaningful learning opportunities and experiences for their children outside the formal classrooms. As the main purpose of the Primary Science Parent’s Guide is to enable parents to directly use the activities or adapt the activities for use in facilitating their children’s science learning process outside the school, most of the hands-on science activities are based on simple ideas and scenarios from the everyday lives by which the materials and equipment needed for conducting the activities are easily accessible by the parents and children. This means that the science activities in the Parent’s Guide do not require sophisticated or complex laboratory equipment, but just simple objects and apparatuses which parents and children can easily obtain from home, supermarkets, gardens and other informal settings. Furthermore, suggested educational websites and internet resources are also included in the Parent’s Guide to provide parents with more available resources to use when facilitating their children’s science learning at home with the aid of information technology.
