5. Recommendation

5.1 Of the many issues raised in this Report, the key practical issues concern the need to equip and support teachers in promoting the more effective teaching of risk in their schools. The background to this is given in Section 4.

5.2 We recommend that greater emphasis be given to developing strategies to enable pupils to learn how to relate to, and to handle risk themselves in real life contexts, paying attention both the rational and the non-rational components, in a progression which takes account of their own level of development. The science curriculum has an important part to play, although certainly not an exclusive part.

5.3 To achieve this we recommend that a project be developed in close partnership with an urban LEA, such as the City of Bristol (within which much of the current pilot study was undertaken), in a way which builds on and involves the first hand experience of class room teachers from all phases, of their pupils, and of others in the community with a concern for and experience of these issues.

5.4 The key feature of this project would be the involvement of grass roots practitioners in a central role in developing new strategies. This accords with the thinking of the Teacher Training Agency (David Hargreaves, "Teaching as a Research-Based Profession: Possibilities and Prospects" TTA Annual Lecture 1996)

5.5 The objective would be to highlight and trial strategies and combinations of strategies which have practical promise of making a substantial contribution to the teaching of risk. This could include the use teaching materials which are currently coming on line, and also exploring the potential contribution of developing linkages between pupils and teachers in schools with scientists, engineers and others in the "real world" beyond school. The potential input of "realistic drama" in this area, is also raised in this Report.

5.6 There would be very great merit in meshing this with a concurrent systematic review of all current educational initiatives which focus on developing the young person's understanding of risk, and with a study to deepen our knowledge of the transition from the child's view of risk to that of the adult, exactly as McWhirter (1996) has suggested.

5.7 The outcomes from such a project would form the basis for a compact between schools, industry, professional bodies, government and educationalists for setting in place a single comprehensive programme to deliver and support the effective teaching of risk across all age groups in all schools.