ABSTRACT
The need for lifelong learning in science was made clear to me by a recent conversation with a woman called Mary, who runs a travel recruitment business. She was intrigued to hear I worked in science education and, without warning, presented me with a bag of crisps, saying, ‘You’re a scientist, tell me if these are good for me!’ Mary thought my science education made me an expert equipped to pronounce with confidence on crisps as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ food. I could be an expert in a completely unrelated area of science and so know nothing about the food value of crisps, but this did not occur to her. I had acquired competence in science, I used my knowledge in a professional capacity and would surely ‘know’ about crisps, while she felt incapable of making such a decision. Nevertheless, her asking the question suggests she was unsettled by a sense of ignorance about science, and wanted to ‘know science’ in a lifelong, useful way. Rather than equip her for life, Mary’s science education had no meaning for her after school. Mary would perhaps agree with the statement: ‘The things you do in school are to do with education and to get jobs. You’re not really using them in actual real life’ (A Birmingham 18-year-old, quoted in Bentley 1998).
