Formation of an integrated course for the 5–6th grades as a component of integral natural science education

- Засєкіна, Тетяна Миколаївна (orcid.org/0000-0001-9362-5840) (2020) Formation of an integrated course for the 5–6th grades as a component of integral natural science education Педагогічна освіта: теорія і практика, 2 (29). pp. 171-186. ISSN 2309-9763

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Abstract

In the article, the problem of developing natural science course for the 5–6th grades as a component of school natural science education is considered. The actuality of this problem is caused by the fact that in Ukraine a system of the reformation of general secondary education has been started. A new state standard of the third generation of the primary education has been approved. A project of the state standard of basic education has been developed. The next stage is the development of curricula and educational programs in which the subject content is determined. We analyzed the information from the websites of ministries, institutions and departments, scientific literature, normative and instructive-methodological documents on the researched problem. The foreign experience of building natural science education in Singapore, the USA, Estonia and Russia is studied. Certain tendencies are revealed. In many countries around the world, natural science education is integral and continuous from preschool to pre-university education. Educational programs form a single complex, which contains cross-cutting components, integrated and thematic modules. In the programs, the content of education is described through the expected learning outcomes. Some of them are aimed at the formation of scientific literacy, which is the central element of assessment in the international comparative study PISA. Some aim at the development of operational skills of doing research (projects), and the other - at the development of personal qualities (values, scientific thinking, creativity, critical thinking, teamwork, etc.). A chronological analysis of the development of natural science education system in Ukraine has been carried out. It was found that so far the content of the natural science courses in the 5–6th grades are considered separately. It plays the role of a transition course from primary school to subject study in secondary school. The course does not ensure the continuity and integrity of natural science education. Further differentiated study of separate natural subjects reproduces the classical logic of the subject content without reliance on this propaedeutic course. Based on the analysis, we have substantiated the theoretical foundations, structure and content of the natural science course in the 5–6th grades as a component of the system of natural science education. Variants of construction of a system of natural science education depending on the role and purpose of a natural science course in the 5–6th grades are offered.

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