What Education do you Miss by Going to School? Children's 'Coming-to-Knowing' About Science and Their Environment

Starting from Whitehead's notions of education as "the art of the utilisation of knowledge" and his rationale for eradicating "the fatal disconnection of subjects which kills the vitality of the modern curriculum," the article explores how these ideas relate to the current political realities of primary education in the United Kingdom and elsewhere. This is exemplified through a focus on learning about one's environment and the consequent tension between direct perception through non-school activities and the teaching of ideas via the formal school curriculum. A resolution is proposed which involves considering the learner's perspective, and the implications for teachers in terms of 'letting pupils in' to the teachers' own learning and their awareness of a plurality of ways of knowing.