Abstract
I notice in your columns that a discussion has been conducted for some time past on that important subject, Physical Science in School Teaching. Permit me, as one possessing a deep practical interest in this matter, and also as a science teacher of some years' experience, to remark that in Scotland, generally, and in this great educational centre in particular, the chief obstacle which stands in the way of extended science teaching, is the simple apathy of educationalists to the claims of scientific instruction. It were well that, before disagreeing as to the exact mode of teaching, the claims of one science over another, and other points, science teachers should thoroughly agree as to the necessity for more openly enforcing their claims upon the notice of those who sit in high places in the world of educational management. I gladly welcomed an opportunity afforded me by the Edinburgh branch of the “Educational Institute of Scotland,” in December last, to address the members of the Institute, consisting in the main of teachers of all subjects, on the “Place, Method, and Advantages of Biological Instruction in Ordinary Education.” The substance of that address will shortly appear in Fraset's Magazine, and to that medium I would respectfully refer those of your readers who are interested in this question, for a résumé of a science teacher's work and method in the northern metropolis. I would fain hope that the arguments therein stated, as applying to the extension of my especial subject—Biology—may be found to suit the case and claims of science teaching at large. And it may not be inappropriate to conclude by re-echoing the remark with which I started, namely, that if we can succeed in creating a demand for science teaching, by showing the honest claims and true value of scientific instruction in an ordinary educational curriculum, we shall have paved the way for a harmonious and natural after-adjustment ol such questions as have very ably been ventilated in NATURE during the past few weeks.
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WILSON, A. Physical Science in Schools . Nature 13, 412–413 (1876). https://doi.org/10.1038/013412b0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/013412b0