A pioneer of interactive science education for children

As a science teacher and academic in education, Lady Sue Tunnicliffe has helped to bring active, hands-on Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) learning to a generation of primary school children, as well as helping to build consensus on its important role in early learning and play.

Before coming to King’s, Sue studied an undergraduate degree in Zoology and spent many years teaching the subject to sixth formers, before changing to teach science, and then moving to primary-school teaching and a stint as Head of Education at the Zoological Society of London. Her PhD research looked at children’s understanding of animals as exhibits in science education and drew on her experience at the forefront of the primary science movement, which sought to transform science education through child-centred, interactive learning from the 1970s onwards.

Four generations at King's

When she joined King’s, Sue followed in the footsteps of her mother, Phyllis, who won a scholarship to read Geography with Latin and French at the university in the late thirties. Sue says her mother still recalls ‘walking through Covent Garden Market en route to lectures’, as well as the pitfalls of taking the tube, which ‘dirtied the edge of her petticoat with grime’. Like her daughter, Phyllis became a teacher after graduating, eventually rising to Head Teacher of a large comprehensive school.

Sue’s son followed her to King’s too, their studies crossing. In 1994, a year before his mother gained her PhD, he graduated in History. This October, the fourth generation of the family will start at King’s, with Sue’s grandson joining as an undergraduate.

Supporting science education in the UK and Commonwealth

Following her PhD, Sue taught at Cambridge and then the Institute of Education (now part of UCL), most recently as Reader in science education and now as active Emerita. She also chairs the Commonwealth Association of Science, Technology and Mathematics Educators (CASTME), which supports STEM learning across the Commonwealth.

On a recent visit to Antigua and Barbuda, she was presented with the Governor General’s Faithful and Meritorious Service Cross for her ‘outstanding contributions to the advancement of science education’. Beyond moments like this, ‘seeing the achievement of understanding in learners’ has been the highlight of her work as a science educator, she says.

Forever a biologist…

Sue puts her successful career in education down to her scientist’s thirst for knowledge and understanding. ‘Ever since I was a teacher, I’ve followed my quest to find out where my students learnt what they brought to class,’ she says. ‘It’s through hands-on learning, observation and building up concepts from birth; we biologists observe and seek patterns.’