The Need for an International Geoscience School Syllabus: Its Development and Publication

International comparisons of school-level geoscience education across the world had shown great variability in the amount and content of the geoscience materials and in the ways in which it was taught. When this situation was discussed at meetings of organisations concerned with international school-level geoscience education in 2012, the decision was taken to develop an international geoscience syllabus that could be used in future discussions with curriculum developers, many of whom have little geoscience understanding. The new syllabus that was developed was based on a holistic systems approach, as advocated in the literature, and is presented in ways most easily assimilated by non-geoscience expert curriculum developers. The more detailed content was determined through an analysis of the geoscience content of curricula of a range of countries, since it is easier to argue for material to be included if it is already being taught elsewhere across the world. The syllabus was published on websites in January 2014. It has the potential to enhance Earth science education across the world, increasing the Earth science literacy of all pupils involved, whilst encouraging some to become the geoscientists of the future.