Mike Bruton serves on the Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Committee of the MTN Sciencentre, and retains a strong involvement in science education through his public lectures and training programmes.
Below Mike clears up some confusion based around the announcement of
UWC ‘science centre’ and our science centre
"One of the weaknesses with the concept of a ‘science centre’ is that it means so many things to different people. The announcement by the University of the Western Cape (UWC) last weekend that they will shortly be building a multi-million Rand ‘science centre’ is a case in point. What they are building is a five-storey science teaching and research laboratory as a component of the university’s ongoing expansion programme. This will strengthen their capacity to train and offer research facilities to tertiary students, but it will not contribute to developing the potential of young learners at school, or unplugging the bottleneck between secondary and tertiary education.
The MTN Sciencentre is a completely different place. It has interactive displays and a wide variety of educational programmes, offered by its own staff and also by other organisations that use it as an educational platform. The science centre contributes in many ways to preparing young people for careers in science and technology. One of them is to enthuse them about the excitement of science so that they are more receptive to their teachers in classrooms at school.
Interactive science centres are populated with displays that are designed from the outset to educate people, young and old, of all language groups and cultures. They do not compete with schools or universities; they complement them, and achieve unique goals of their own.
One of the strengths of the concept of a ‘science centre’ is that no two are alike as they each mould themselves according to the needs of their local community."
- Mike Bruton
Don't forget to visit our website http://www.mtnsciencentre.org.za for more information on THE NEXT STEP, your support is our future!
Don't forget to visit our website http://www.mtnsciencentre.org.za for more information on THE NEXT STEP, your support is our future!
No comments:
Post a Comment