By Kim Polgreen
The GCSE in Natural History is looking good! A group of us from the The Leverhulme Centre for Nature Recovery, Department of Education, University of Oxford, and Oxfordshire Schools Sustainability Network, pooled our ideas for what we liked and, from our perspectives, where we felt it could be even better.
We recognise the huge amount of careful and generous thought, from many people, that has gone into getting the GCSE this far, and having seen a few responses that others have shared, including the wonderful Kit Marie Rackley, a lot of people have clearly put in even more work through the consultation to nurture it further.
OUR recommendations were to to keep fieldwork local, and thereby build a lifelong love and pride in the students’ local green spaces, and maximise equality of access to the GCSE by minimising costs; to recognise the value of natural spaces as places where students can build skills in nurturing human connections as well as connections with the natural world; and to allow teachers to be “learning coaches”, exploring natural history alongside their students, rather than having to be experts from the start.
I hope that people let kids be kids and learn about nature for the pleasure of learning about, enjoying, and thriving within it, and that the assessment can be designed to be equally nurturing. While it is of course a qualification, it’s also an opportunity to explore a creative, joyous, and (therefore) effective way of learning. The late Sir Ken Robinson might have been hopeful.
