NationStates Jolt Archive


PROPOSAL: Education on Science

Of Cascadia
09-06-2005, 21:22
Education on Science

A resolution to increase democratic freedoms.

Category: The Furtherment of Democracy

Strength: Strong

Proposed by: Of Cascadia

Description: The NationStates United Nations,

Recognizing that many people are not very well informed about science and that basic knowledge of science is a necessary requirement to maintain our civilization,

Noting that many students are not interested in science because of classes that are based on answering questions from textbooks and not on free exploration of science through labs and experiments,

Farther noting that society encourages disinterest in science and the social issues that are associated with it,

Declares that the following shall be made law in all member nations:

1. The UN shall encourage interest in and appreciation of science by giving out grants to groups that promote science and the scientific method.

2. The scientific method shall be taught in all schools in all UN member nations. All science and math classes shall be taught by the self-directed exploration of science and the social issues associated with it through labs and discussion.

3. All points of view and the relevant information and studies on them on a scientific topic shall be discussed freely and without any fear of punishment.
Roathin
09-06-2005, 22:35
Greetings.

We might be in error, but we were under the impression that education is generally more a civil right than a political right (although of course, 'civis' and 'polis' are difficult to differentiate at times). Perhaps the proposal in its current form should be more a Human Rights issue.

At the same time, we are concerned with this focus on 'the scientific method'. As many have pointed out, including leading scientists, there is no such animal, or if there is, it is to be found as a collection of widely disparate animals - as in a circus, zoo, or other menagerie. We refer our esteemed colleague to the legendary tome of 'Henry H Bauer', a possibly imaginary sage whose books can still be obtained from the land of the Amazons.
Holyboy and the 666s
09-06-2005, 22:38
2. The scientific method shall be taught in all schools in all UN member nations. All science and math classes shall be taught by the self-directed exploration of science and the social issues associated with it through labs and discussion.

How did math get into the resolution???


3. All points of view and the relevant information and studies on them on a scientific topic shall be discussed freely and without any fear of punishment.

This could be interpreted as saying you couldn't mark an answer wrong on a test, because if the student puts down a totally ridiculous comment, they could claim to be discussing a topic through their own belief, when in reality they didn't study for the test.
Sparren
09-06-2005, 22:40
While noting that this is an authentic proposal, I would point out to the author that there is a proposal of a similar nature that has already passed, Resolution #2, Scientific Freedom. I would agree with anyone who brings up the point that your proposal has better grammar and states the point more clearly.

However, it can be seen that this would be repetitious in concept and passing of law, so I regret to say that Sparren would not endorse this proposal, only because it would restrict nations even further and simply enforce the policy that has already been passed.
Flibbleites
10-06-2005, 05:27
Yet another attempt by the UN in interfere in my nation's school systems. We will not support this.
_Myopia_
10-06-2005, 17:58
First, it is wholly inappropriate for the UN to attempt to regulate teaching methods like this, because the diversity of societies present in the NSUN makes it unlikely that uniform standards on this level can be a good idea.

Second, you assume that all societies have a problem with disinterest in science. _Myopia_ has a long tradition of holding the sciences in high regard, and we don't find that our society discourages students from taking an interest in science.

Third, whilst we would welcome a general endorsement of science teaching and even an encouragement to nations to include details of the nature of scientific theory and development in their curricula, the specific teaching methods you dictate are unacceptable. A good measure of experimentation is always good, but this must be accompanied by some teacher-directed theoretical teaching in order that children learn certain essential aspects of science that might otherwise be neglected, and understand what their practical experiments mean. A portion of textbook learning is also necessary so that many fascinating areas of science may be made open to students that they would not be able to investigate practically.
Quadlia
10-06-2005, 18:11
Quadlia, being in the heart of the Tornado Alley region, thrives on scientific learning. We freely admit that our education system is far from perfect, and always welcome advice from friendly nations, but we refuse with all of our might any sort of forced curriculum from outside our borders. Quadlia cannot support this proposal.


Quadlia
Of Cascadia
10-06-2005, 20:07
I edited the resolution in reponse to comments from other nations. If anyone else has any more comments, please post them.

Education on Science

A resolution to increase democratic freedoms.

Category: The Furtherment of Democracy

Strength: Strong

Proposed by: Of Cascadia

Description: The NationStates United Nations,

Recognizing that many people are not very well informed about science and that basic knowledge of science is a necessary requirement to maintain our civilization,

Noting that many students are not interested in science because of classes that are based on answering questions from textbooks and not on free exploration of science through labs and experiments,

Farther noting that society encourages disinterest in science and the social issues that are associated with it,

Declares that the following shall be made law in all member nations:

1. The UN shall encourage interest in and appreciation of science by giving out grants to groups that promote science and the scientific method.

2. The UN shall encourage the teaching of the scientific method and the self-directed exploration of science and the social issues associated with it through labs and discussion in all schools in all UN member nations by giving out grants to schools and other organiztions concerned with education.

3. All points of view and the relevant information and studies on them on a scientific topic shall be discussed freely and without any fear of punishment.
Holyboy and the 666s
10-06-2005, 21:10
I think this is a good proposal, but i don't think it will get approved. The reason i believe this is your telling the fellow NSUN nations that there is something so wrong with their education system that a resolution has to written to correct it. Though this may not be the intention, that is what someone may think reading the resolution.

PS, don't feel bad. When your writting a proposal, that can sometimes happen. My first draft of my New Diseace Center (Renamed the New Infections Committee) sounded like i was creating biological weapons, when it was intended for a research center for new diseases. Just try to rewrite it in a different manner if possible :D