Nigel Bagnall, Rachel Wilson and Agnes Hu—University of Sydney
This study investigates how schools in a number of different Australian states have incorporated the requirements of the national curriculum into the IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) framework, focusing specifically on science teaching and learning. Researchers used a comparative curriculum analysis, which included both document analyses and interviews, to clarify, analyse and report on the relationship between PYP science and the Australian curriculum science learning area. The study indicated that there are no major obstacles for individual Australian primary schools to incorporate the science teaching and learning requirements of the PYP into the science requirements of the Australian curriculum from foundation to year 6. Although there are substantial differences in terms of content, mostly in relation to the large amount of content covered in the Australian curriculum, PYP science and the Australian curriculum science learning area are fairly well aligned in terms of the skills they develop in students.
