I met Liz at the Westbury Centre in Barking where she works as an advisory teacher. She touched on some of her motivations for applying for CSciTeach initially: “At first there was some concern that it wouldn’t be applicable for Primary teachers, and partly, I just wanted to see if I could get it. But it was as much to demonstrate to others in Primary education that it was attainable as for my own career.” There was a very positive response from her colleagues to the news of her success. “There are plenty of people who are just as viable candidates as I was – it’s just that I got up there and did it first. People were really pleased for me, and at the same time, they realised I could support them in applying for CSciTeach themselves.”

Liz is heavily involved in the ASE, as both Region Secretary and as the recently appointed Chair of their national Primary Science Committee. She feels her job at the Westbury Centre has given her the opportunities to gain the experiential learning required for CSciTeach. “Barking & Dagenham (the Local Authority for whom she works) are very committed to evidence-based practice. I work with subject leaders in their schools, planning support and lessons for year groups and teachers. Much of my role involves lesson demonstration and observation, and trying out programmes with children themselves.”

Two projects that Liz is currently involved with are work on Science Trails – utilising wireless PDA’s and a web-based learning resource and helping to get kids out of the classroom – and developing science-specific Widgit symbols that can be used to effectively develop the learning of all pupils. This is all very much at the cutting edge of Primary science and Liz relishes the opportunity to try things out. “Our work on Widgits and PDA’s is on a pilot level. We do impact analysis to investigate whether this is having the desired effect, and then disseminate the findings to other schools.” This is a prime example of the action research that is held up as important by CSciTeach.

“It’s important to recognise that there are fewer people involved in Primary Science who are genuine specialists, so it won’t be suitable for everyone, but it will get people thinking more about professional development and that can only be a good thing.” In this context, Liz sees CSciTeach very much as an ongoing challenge: “It’s not just a case of ticking all the boxes then going away to vegetate. Revalidation means that you need to show a commitment to your own personal development, and rightly so – you shouldn’t be working in the professional development of others without being committed to your own.”

While Liz feels that anyone serious about science teaching should be a member of ASE, she also recognises that CSciTeach will provide a new way to show ones commitment to science education and should be something that employers can look out for as a mark of quality At a purely pragmatic level, Liz also hopes that it will help teachers meet other standards. “It could be useful at the later stages in teachers’ careers, in meeting threshold standards and those for AST”.

Although she had barely had her award three weeks when we met, it seems clear to me that Liz is already a champion of the designation, to her colleagues and also to trainees and those at the start of their careers. “I want to be able to support people who may not yet qualify for CSciTeach in understanding how their own Professional Development can lead them to it. This is its aspirational quality – it demands the best from teachers in order to meet the standards it upholds.”

Ali Orr

October 2006