Editorial : the role of science education in the Mediterranean Region

Abstract

When in September 2002, we gathered for four days in Droushia, Cyprus, to reflect on science education around the Mediterranean, initially very little joined us. It is not just the strong influence on science education that has long been exerted by local historical and cultural traditions. The northern Mediterranean countries now have access to local and European research funding and are genuinely committed to an emerging science education research paradigm that aspires to offer a rigorous evidence – based platform from which to design and support the implementation of new science teaching and learning practices. The southern Mediterranean countries still grapple with the need for economic development and have to rely on the guidance of institutions such as UNESCO to lay the necessary foundation for achieving improved literacy rates in language, mathematics and science. On the eastern and north-eastern shores, conflict continues to evolve and, in that context, efforts to achieve security and to construct new national identities are bound to exert an influence on educational policy and practice. At the very centre of the Mediterranean, small island states strive with issues of governance and resource management in a world that is increasingly competitive on various scales.