As part of my teacher training I've been researching different education systems around the world - and paying particular attention to that of Finland. One of the interesting things is that they are about to ditch the traditional teaching by subject approach, in favour of teaching by 'topics'. For example the European Union topic will include elements of: languages, history, finance, geography, politics...

Article about it here (if anyone is interested).
Been thinking about the educational opportunities that an LM1 'topic' would have:

• physics (space flight etc)
• geology
• history (of spaceflight)
• pyschology (of human desire to explore)
• culture (impact of the moon in various cultures/societies)

Anyone think of any other interesting opportunities that LM1 would bring to this style of education? I hope one of the products of the educational aspect of the mission is a collection of resources and ideas for use in schools in as many subject areas as possible.

I think you could also open that up to biology and chemistry too but where do you stop? A LM1 topic would truely be multidisciplinary that's for sure.

What does every one else think re Alex's post about thematic approach to education?

Hi Alex, thanks for your post - I'm juggling a hundred and one things at the moment so forgive me for not responding sooner.

I far prefer a thematic, interdisciplinary approach to education as I believe this encourages broad understanding in students, and develops a more flexible approach for when they respond to challenges, however there are some practical and political consequences the project will need to consider.

Perhaps it might be an idea to reflect on the strengths of a thematic model, before turning to the questions it raises.

Let's talk about a fictitious educational LM1 thematic resource called "Lift Off". This project could encapsulate a wide range of subject areas, from the science of propulsion, technical design, engineering, project management, presentation and communication etc. As Martin has indicated, there's no stopping where potentially you might go with this. Those designing the resource will have to make tough choices about what content is included or omitted. Personally I would also like to see the humanities as part of any thematic approach, for example a short review of literature, music, film and art that touches on a given central theme. Suffice to say "Lift Off" would provide an overview of a variety of aspects concerning the launch of LM1 into space.

A great advantage of delivering such a resource would be to encourage a broad uptake among the LM1 community and those not in a formal educational setting, however, in the main, educational institutions may well find it difficult to integrate such a thematically diverse course into their more conventional subject specialisms (who teaches it? is responsible for it? Which department pays and resources it? etc.)

Much of institutional education is focused towards delivering easily demonstrable outcomes through an exam system. I view this as a consequence of the the politics of education. That is, how political influence on educational institutions causes them to justify and develop curriculum that can be sold within a student marketplace. Once the market is removed from education, the focus returns wholly to learning. Given however that most educational institutions operate within a competitive community of schools, colleges and universities, a thematic approach may be criticized as too generalized, or sadly, dismissed as impractical.

Some people will want to specialize in a particular area, and for these it would be great to see short LM1 courses like those at Future Learn:

www.futurelearn.com/

On balance I think it would be to Lunar Mission One's best advantage to deliver both subject specific educational resources as well as broad thematic content.

Alex: "I hope one of the products of the educational aspect of the mission is a collection of resources and ideas for use in schools in as many subject areas as possible."

I couldn't agree more! This would not only inspire students across disciplines, but would also spread the word far more widely about the project