Margaret Hodge's speech to the Natural History Museum
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9 November 2007
Good morning everyone and thank you Mike [Dixon] for inviting me here to speak to you today.
As a mother – and grandmother - I’m no stranger to this place, of course. Coming here - and the Science Museum next door – has been a wonderful rite of passage for families and school parties in London for many decades.
So I am absolutely delighted to find myself in my role as minister for Culture in this Government, with ministerial responsibility for these collections.
But let’s begin at the beginning. My starting point is that a better public understanding of science is vital to the future of this country.
In terms of economic success, educational achievement, quality of life and just about every element of the public policy agenda, we will make progress if we can enhance the public understanding of science and technology.
I also believe that museums, galleries and other cultural institutions provide one of the fundamental means by which to secure that understanding.
Something tells me I’m preaching to the converted here.
But there’s another thing we all know to be true. And that is that increasingly today large numbers of people – especially among the young – are feeling alienated from science.
Today I want to explore why that is, what we can do about it, and to ask you, as representatives of the science community, to work with politicians, parents and the public at large to erase the democratic deficit in science.
Let’s begin with the ‘Why?’
Well, sometimes people are uneasy about scientific and technological developments. And they wonder just how able the Government is to regulate and control them effectively. Global warming and climate change, nuclear energy, genetic modification, the BSE crisis, the bird-flu scares, and issues around the location of mobile telephone masts – all have exposed deep public concerns over the governance and regulation of science and the quality and use of scientific advice in Government.
And none have been handled particularly well.
And they illustrate not just how citizens become disconnected from decision making on important issues, but also just how important it is to reconnect.
People are rarely entirely for or against a particular technology. More often they are ambivalent – recognising both pros and cons. At least to begin with. But:
- when national newspapers splash stories about ‘Frankenstein Foods’ across their front pages, in relation to GM products, and
- when every week – or sometimes every day – there are contradictory reports about what types of food or drink are good or bad for us, and
- when every new example of leisure technology has a faster-brighter-better rival on the market within a couple of months of its launch…
A degree of unease and helplessness is hardly surprising, even from those who wouldn’t think twice about engaging confidently in a debate about pretty well any other topic.
Because most of the time, people are able to weigh risks and benefits in a sophisticated way, and to query how fairly these are shared across society. But when it comes to science and technology, too many people panic and question the need for the science or technology in the first place, as well as the motives of industry, academics or governments in promoting it.
And so the debates spirals off in to ever more preposterous directions.
So we in Government – and you as ambassadors for the cause – need to raise our game.
Let’s unpack the argument for a moment. I believe that science is vital to society for two reasons:
- Firstly, it’s about economics. Most of the new economic advances that we can expect in the decades to come will be science driven. Whether it’s in information technology, the life sciences, genetics or pharmaceuticals
- Then, there’s ‘quality of life’. Healthy living, how long we live, our resilience against adversity – all of these too are science driven.
And straightforward culture and creativity – my ‘day job’ in Government, if you like – leans heavily on what you do as well. The visual arts increasingly are technologically-dependent. How many of our novelists these days use a fountain pen and a pad of lined paper? (More than you’d think, actually, but you take my point, I hope).
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The underlying point here is that just about everything we do – at work and at play – is enhanced by, or at least powerfully influenced by, science and technology. And science and innovation are vital to increasing our competitiveness, improving our economy and our quality of life. We need to generate many more highly-trained scientists and researchers to meet the challenges of both global competition and personal fulfilment.
As the Prime Minister [Gordon Brown] said just a couple of months ago, Britain being a “world leader in science” is an important part of the Government’s long term vision for the country.
Indeed this Government sees the quality of UK science as a major national asset. That is why we have increased the Science budget substantially and by 2010-11 it will be £6.3bn. We have also set ourselves ambitious goals for the future in the Government’s 10-year Science and Innovation Framework published in 2004 and the Next Steps document published in 2006. With an informed and engaged public, science can fully play its crucial role in boosting competitiveness, enhancing our quality of life and ensuring a sustainable future.
I believe that museums can play an important role in creating a better informed and more scientifically literate public. Just as science education is no longer just about Bunsen burners, conical flasks and Van der Graaf generators, nor are museums the staid places some of us, or our parents, remember.
We still enjoy seeing the model of the blue whale in this museum, and its tiny beedy eye that has enchanted so many generations of school parties. But we don’t quite share the sense of wonder that our grandparents might have experienced. David Attenborough’s incredible film documentaries have seen to that,
So the emphasis these days has to be far more on interpretation and accessibility. Improving the offer, we call it.
The boost of free entry, Lottery funding and investment through Renaissance in the Regions has enabled museums and galleries to do this.
So our museums link in ever-more closely with our educational institutions. The country's science, engineering and medical research base has been crucial to the social, economic and environmental success of the UK.
But its future depends on science education in schools and universities.
But our inability to lift the numbers of science A-level students – particularly in Physics - has had an impact on higher education and caused concern amongst employers because of the subsequent skills gap in science and technology. This will have a negative effect on the UK economy as science and innovation, conducted by trained scientists, is the basis for research and development and the key to economic growth. We need to compete in this field globally against developing markets like China and India.
The Government is trying to address this. Last month’s Sainsbury Review brings home the point that success here depends upon ensuring that there is a well-educated and enthused supply of scientists, engineers and technicians to drive forward our future economic growth.
On one level, however, we are building from a position of strength. Statistics show us that the UK has a strong ‘pro science’ culture. In 2005, more than 85 per cent of people surveyed said that they thought ‘science makes a good contribution to society’, a figure which was up by five per cent on five years previously.
Furthermore, more than four out of five people think that science will make our lives easier in the future, an increase of ten per cent.
Good stuff, of course. But before we all get carried away with too much back slapping, let’s reverse the figures:
Ladies and gentlemen, one in six of the population didn’t think science made a good contribution to society, and one in five – that’s 12 million of our fellow countrymen – do not believe that science will make our lives easier.
You pays your money, you takes your choice…
Whichever way you present the figures, however, one thing is self-evidently true: there’s room for improvement. There always is.
And may I – at this point – put in a word of praise for STEMNET SEAs? Now, when my jargon-loving advisors first commended this to me, the image that first floated into my mind was a marine one, possibly with a micro-biological flavour to it. In fact, as all of you – I’m sure – will know, but I didn’t, this splendid acronym stands for:
"The Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths Network’s Science and Engineering Ambassadors Scheme".
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And STEMNET SEAS are a very fine thing indeed. They are a group of young professionals who are holding their own in science-based careers, who are prepared to act as role models and mentors for school students. And we now have around 18,000 of them.
And better yet, over one million children have so far been touched by the scheme.
And around 250 new after school science and engineering clubs have been got off the ground.
More formally, the secondary curriculum review proposes new programmes of study to be introduced nationally at Key Stage 3 from September 2008. The Science Curriculum will incorporate the ‘How Science Works’ strand looking at the process of science and will also include cultural understanding as a key concept in the importance of science, which I fully endorse as Minister for Culture.
Now one thing that museums and galleries are particularly strong at delivering is ‘cross-curricular learning’ where knowledge content and approaches from more than one school subject area are brought together, so engaging and motivating students. As research by the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (NESTA) suggests, learners who might assume that they do not like science learning can particularly benefit from such inter-disciplinary approaches. Learning about science in the context of other subjects can help learners to appreciate the creative aspects of science.
Let me give you a couple of examples of museums with art based collections, which supported National Science Week earlier this year.
Based on the week’s theme of “Just Add Water” the Bowes Museum in Durham ran projects on the ‘Science of Silk-Painting’ for pupils at key stage 3. The work explored the two significant scientific processes that occur in the production of silk painting – capillary action which causes the movement of paint on the fabric and the use of salt to create special effects on the painting, which as I’m sure you know, happens because of the hygroscopic property of salt.
Yes, hygroscopic. And I’m prepared to bet that none of my predecessors in this job have ever had to use such a word in a public speech.
Meanwhile at the other end of England the Holburne Museum of Art in Bath ran a workshop for pupils that addressed light in the Science curriculum. The workshop looked at the effects of light in the Museum from a conservation point.
Of course good teachers who are in touch with the latest scientific developments, and who possess the skills and confidence to teach and inspire children and young people – the future generations of scientists – are really important. That’s why the Government, in a partnership with the Wellcome Trust, has created a national network of Science Learning Centres. These centres are working with leading scientific organisations and businesses to provide teachers and technicians with high quality professional development. I am delighted that both the Science Museum and the Natural History Museum are working closely with the London Science Learning Centre.
Research also tells us that museums can play an important role in teachers’ professional development. More than three-quarters of the (407) teachers interviewed agreed that their involvement with museums had helped their professional development. They felt their work with museums had led to an increase in their own subject knowledge and understanding and that it had had an impact on their teaching practice through the introduction to new ideas that could be used in the classroom and new skills that could be used in teaching.
I think the museums community can be really rather proud of that fact.
In Government we recognise the beneficial impact high quality training has on classroom practice and since 2004 DCMS and DCSF have jointly funded a national programme of professional development for teachers working with museums and galleries. The scheme is managed by the Museums Libraries and Archives Council and in its first three years 786 teachers have had “extended” placements in a museum and 2,060 teachers have undertaken professional development with museums.
The funding provided by the DCMS enables our national museums and regional museums to keep up this work, inspiring generations to come. It also allows the private sector to invest in inspiring future scientists, by offering funding for innovative and life-changing outreach and museum-based education programmes.
I have therefore a perfect opportunity to thank the various sponsors gathered here for their on-going support for what is helping provide the UK with a competitive future.
I am grateful to the Chancellor for the positive outcome of the Comprehensive Spending Review, which provides a firm financial foundation for our sponsored museums and regional museums over the next three years. Nevertheless, we will always need the support of private and corporate donors and I am enormously grateful for those who support museums and their activities across the country.
Museums and galleries across England are working with schools in greater numbers than ever before. This work is helping to enhance and enrich delivery of the curriculum at all key stages. Museums have responded positively to the personalised learning agenda. And in tandem with the wider cultural sector museums are key partners in delivering the Government’s Learning Outside the Classroom Manifesto and in providing activities and services for Extended Schools across the country.
There’s nothing showy about this kind of work, but it is making a real contribution to the development of a ‘scientifically literate’ generation, and I applaud all those who take part in it, and make it happen.
Despite these encouraging developments occasionally as the Minister of State for Culture, I hear some people make the criticism that the arts and culture receive too much support from Government and I am asked whether or not I agree there are too many artists and too many young people choosing to read media studies at university. One of my reasons for being here today is to respond to those people who make that rather simplistic criticism. To those people I say we should recognise the reality of living in a pluralistic society means that young people have a vast array of potential careers open to them and that they are free to make choices about their futures. I say don’t make the mistake of viewing the arts and science as polar opposites. My brief as a Minister also covers the creative industries and I am informed by companies in this thriving sector – which since 1997 has seen employment growth at twice the rate of the economy as a whole – is that they need young people with creative skills and a good understanding of scientific principles. I say we need to recognise that where demand is falling in subjects vital to our research reputation and our future economic success, both the Government and the education sector need to look at what they can do to stimulate it. I say that cultural organisations have an important role to play in stimulating that demand.
The museum education projects I have mentioned today are simply the tip of an iceberg. But they show what can be done. They demonstrate the potential of the sector to help re-engage a generation of young people and a sceptical wider public.
But we need more of this. Universities, schools and the academic world in all its incarnations should do more to work in partnership with museums across the country to unlock the potential of their collections to support learning and to build the skills and knowledge of our young people, so that they are able to make the most of their potential.
Museums like this one – and the Science Museum next door – have an honourable record in holding their doors open to allow this to happen. As do many others up and down the country.
I hope that more and more people now decide to walk through those doors.
Thank you.
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