New education chief appointed at Wellcome Trust
6 February 2009
In his new position, Professor Bell will lead the development of the Wellcome Trust's education strategy. This will focus in particular on increasing opportunities and strengthening the culture for continuous professional development for science teachers. Professor Bell believes that more training and flexibility will help tackle what he sees as the most pressing issue in education at the moment - ensuring the best qualified workforce.
"If we're going to attract and keep the best teachers, we need to create an environment where they have the confidence and freedom to implement the curriculum in their own style," he argues. "Teachers need more ownership of what they do in the classroom. We need to trust them as trained professionals."
In addition, Professor Bell and his colleagues will look at how to measure the value and impact of research in supporting education policy and teaching practice.
"Educational research has had a bad press in the past, but many of the recent science curriculum developments have been based on research," he says. "We need to look at what works in science teaching, what still needs to be done and how we can then feed that in at policy level to inform improvements in practice. We also need to help teachers to engage with this research and to show them that it's relevant to them."
Appropriately for 2009 - Darwin 200, the bicentenary of the birth of the founder of evolutionary theory - Professor Bell studied a PhD in botany, one of Charles Darwin's key interests. He began his teaching career as a PE teacher before moving across to teach biology. He was Chief Executive of the ASE for six-and-a-half years, has taught in schools and higher education institutions and been involved in science education research and development, including the coordination of a major curriculum project.
Professor Bell's appointment has been welcomed by Clare Matterson, Director of Medicine, Society and History at the Wellcome Trust.
"We are pleased to announce Derek's appointment as Head of Education at the Wellcome Trust," she says. "His experience and standing in the education community will be vital in developing and implementing our new education strategy, especially in this Darwin 200 year."
Contact
Craig Brierley
Media Officer
Wellcome Trust
T +44 (0)20 7611 7329
E
c.brierley@wellcome.ac.uk
About Professor Derek Bell
Professor Derek Bell is Head of Education at The Wellcome Trust and has extensive experience not only of teaching and learning in science but also of the wider range of education issues, including teacher education, higher education, subject leadership in schools, research, project management and network development.
He was Chief Executive of the Association for Science Education for six-and-a-half years, has taught in schools and higher education institutions and been involved in science education research and development, including the coordination of a major curriculum project.
In addition, Professor Bell has undertaken a wide range of consultancies in the UK and overseas and been a member of several advisory and expert panels, including the STEM High Level Strategy Group, National Co-ordinators Group for the National Network of Science Learning Centres, the WISE National Co-ordinating Committee and the Astra-Zeneca Science Education Forum.
From 2002-04 Professor Bell was Chair of the Wellcome Trust Society Awards Panel. He was a member of the Board of the Science Council and currently is a board member of the Engineering Technology Board (ETB) and STEMNET. He was awarded his professorship by the College of Teachers in July 2007.
About the Wellcome Trust
The Wellcome Trust is the largest charity in the UK. It funds innovative biomedical research, in the UK and internationally, spending over £600 million each year to support the brightest scientists with the best ideas. The Wellcome Trust supports public debate about biomedical research and its impact on health and wellbeing.