| Popis: |
Nova Scotia has a small, and declining, student base as its general population both decreases and ages. Schools are being closed or amalgamated, which causes disruption within the school system, between the system and parents, and within teacher education programs. Secondary school programs are particularly affected because there may be too few students to offer a wide variety of science courses. Current provincial curriculum directions arise from public consultations undertaken by the province in 2015. The government has committed to continuing with those directives. Historically science programs in NS have been based on an innovative curriculum developed by the Atlantic Science Curriculum Project in the 1980s. However, the current science curriculum has mostly been derived from the 1997 Pan-Canadian Common Framework and has been minimally updated. Recently, the province has begun modifying the elementary science curriculum and has provided various information and communication technology resources (e.g., probeware, robots, programming tools) to schools. The expectation is that teachers will take a more integrated approach to teaching science across multiple subject areas. Nova Scotia science education faces challenges related to setting entry requirements for BEd programs, providing meaningful professional development opportunities, and including Indigenous perspectives. |
