NATURAL SCIENCE EDUCATION IN 21 CENTURY: A COMPETENCY-BASED AND INTEGRATIVE APPROACH

Nowadays we can see the decrease of interest of youth to natural sciences and, accordingly, the low level of natural science knowledge. The modern problem of the theory and the practice of the learning in the schools is the problem of the formation of the competences. The investigators of this problem define various competences. According to the new approach to the content of the natural science education it is necessary to reconsider the process of teaching. One of possible ways is the teaching on the integrative base. The integrated teaching is based on interaction of aim, content, methods, forms and results of the teaching process. The substance of the integrated teaching consists of the necessity to unite the educational subjects of different cycles: natural science, humanitarian and art-aesthetic. It is explained so that in the contents of primary (elementary) education there are different aspects of study of the environment through subjects of a natural science, humanitarian and art – aesthetic cycle. The integrated lesson is a form of realization of the integrated teaching. The teachers of primary schools of Lithuania organize the new form of the integrated teaching. It is the integrated day and integrated week. The journal “Natural Science Education” invites the scientists and teachers to take part in discussion of problems of natural science education.