Abstract
Currently, science in England is distinctive at General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) in comparison to most other subjects, in that there is a notable stratification of award routes. The most prestigious of these, ‘Triple Science’ (the route for entry for three separate science GCSEs), is championed by English government and industry, but has received scant critical academic attention to date. Drawing on data collected via a national survey of over 13,000 Year 11 students aged 15/16 years and in-depth longitudinal interviews conducted with 70 students from this cohort (from age 10 to 16), we discuss how most students have little if any choice over which science ‘option’ they take at GCSE. Drawing on Bourdieu’s concept of pedagogic action, we unpick how students are ‘channelled’ into making the ‘right’ choices and come to accept their allocation as legitimate. We explore how selective practices around Triple Science create and perpetuate social inequalities, producing different patterns of student identity, aspiration and attainment. In particular, we discuss the identification of Triple Science as ‘for the clever’ and problematise its relationship with the science ‘pipeline’. We conclude by suggesting potentially more equitable ways forward for science education, reflecting on implications for post-16 participation.
Highlights
Science education has long occupied a position of prominence on the English policy agenda
46% of our survey sample reported that they were taking Triple Award, 37% Double award, 5% applied routes and 4% BTEC. 7% did not know what route they were taking. This sample contains a considerably greater proportion of students taking Triple Science compared to the national picture for 2014 figures (Triple = c.26%, Double = c.55%), presumably reflecting either/ both the greater likelihood for schools that offer Triple to participate in a survey of science and the greater likelihood that schools would select their Triple Science students to participate in the survey
In this paper we have attempted to bring to bear some of the problems that we have found to be associated with the current ‘stratification’ of science at Key Stage 4 (KS4) through the different Double and Triple Science award routes
Summary
Science education has long occupied a position of prominence on the English policy agenda. This is in no small part due to wider policy concerns that more needs to be done to improve (increase and broaden) levels of participation in post-compulsory science, which is seen as vital for national economic competitiveness. Concern has shifted to post-compulsory science participation where, despite decades of initiatives, rates and patterns of participation remain remarkably constant. The majority of interventions aimed at improving post-compulsory science participation have focussed on trying to attract more students into science, for instance by making science more 'fun' or interesting, or by highlighting the attractiveness of different science careers ([reference anonymised]). Might this focus on individual level student attitudinal factors be missing an important part of the science participation 'puzzle'?
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