Europe is undergoing rapid and profound social and political change, and time-honoured methods and practices are being challenged as a result. Nowhere is this challenge more pressing and relevant than in education, which is charged with the task of preparing future generations for the "New Europe." Everyone accepts that education should be for all, that it needs to be extended, and that "education for life" is a phrase with real significance, but how is education best provided? In February 1990 the Academia Europaea council decided to sponsor a study group on education in modern European society funded by the Swedish Riksbankens Jubileumsfond. The report, in the form of this book, deals with many problem areas in European education; for example school quality, examinations, the teaching of foreign languages, and science education. It also analyses the role of the school as an institution in an increasingly complex technological and meritocratic society, and spells out the role of basic education in forming a European identity and consciousness.

Hardbound. This book presents a collection of papers from an international symposium on Science and Education in the 21st Century held at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences as part of a celebration of their 250th anniversary. The papers, written by leading scientists and educators, review the competence achieved by science teaching in secondary schools as well as the issues facing science education. The book also gives the first overview of what we know about sex differences in science achievement and attitudes, and analyses the factors behind these differences. Ecological aspects in science teaching are also discussed as are recommendations about science teaching for the future.