Microbiology in primary school teaching

Abstract

Within a large-scale report commissioned by the Wellcome Trust [1], primary school teachers were described as facing barriers in teaching science. The top barriers described were the lack of budget and resources, lack of time and curricular importance as well as other issues such as a lack of subject knowledge or confidence and concerns relating to space and resource access. Teaching science is just one part of a primary teacher’s complex role and is a subject in which most primary teachers do not have a degree or A level qualification [2,3]. There is little Microbiology content within the National Curriculum, however, schools can introduce additional scientific content within the Primary Key Stages. Within this context, a Microbiology, Genomics and Bioinformatics researcher in association with Key Stage 2 classes in a Norfolk Junior School carried out a joint project for Microbiology-related science in conjunction with Norwich Research Park facilities in May 2017 and the Microbiology Society. Here we report on the findings from teacher and pupil’s perspectives and consider how Microbiology/Hygiene could be presented to this age group in a classroom setting. 1. ‘State of the Nation’ report of UK primary science education. S. Leonardi et al. CFE Research, Leicester LE1 5TE. September 2017. 2. The Royal Society (2010) Science and mathematics education 5–14. A ‘state of the nation’ report. London: the Royal Society 3. ASE Guide to Primary Science Education (Serret and Earle, 2018), reviewed in https://tdtrust.org/cpd-primaryscience