SOURCE 2022

I am a science teacher who is interested in teaching overseas. I was curious about how science is taught pre-university in different countries. I conducted a pilot study using an online survey that I created in a secure software program. This survey was emailed to people I knew with contacts in other countries who then could pass it on to their networks. The idea was to gather as many responses as possible from as many different people outside the United States. I received 29 responses from places such as India, China, and Nigeria. My survey was designed to gather qualitative data and the question responses have been classified into similar groups. My questions focused on the style of education systems, such as if there was a standard vocational program, what science topics were taught at which grade levels, and which scientists were covered. This was a pilot study, to see what could be learned about a topic that was difficult to research. One conclusion was that there are many ways to modify the survey to focus on different aspects, and that this could benefit from further research. There are no international standards of education, nor is there a simple way to find out what is taught in other countries. This can make it difficult for teachers who might wish to emigrate or join a volunteer organization to teach overseas. An international database of standards, perhaps hosted by the United Nations, would be very useful in a modern, interconnected world.